Alai returned it warmly. His hands moved on her body.

“Marriage first,” she said.

“Let me guess,” he said. “You want the wedding now.”

“In this room.”

“Will you dress so we can show video of the ceremony?”

She laughed and kissed his cheek. “For publicity, I’ll dress.”

She started to walk away, but he caught her hand, drew her back, kissed her again, passionately this time. “This is a good idea,” he said to her. “It’s a bold idea. It’s a dangerous idea. But it’s a good one.”

“I’ll stand beside you in everything,” she said.

“Not ahead,” he said. “Not behind, not above, not below.”

She embraced him and kissed his headdress. Then she pulled it off his head and kissed his hair.

“Now I’ll have to go to all the trouble of putting that back on,” he said.

You’ll take whatever trouble I want you to take, she thought. I have just had a victory here today, in this room, Caliph Alai. You and your Allah may not realize it, but the gods of India rule in this place, and they have given me victory without another soldier dying in useless war.

Such fools they were in Battle School, to let so few girls in. It left the boys helpless against a woman when they returned to Earth.

18

YEREVAN

From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Re: Can’t believe you’re at this address

When Bean told me what happened at that meeting, I thought: I know one guy who’s never going to go along with any plan of Graff’s.

Then I got your letter informing me of your change of address. And then I thought some more and realized: There’s no place on Earth where Dink Meeker is going to fit in. You have too much ability to be content anywhere that they’re likely to let you serve.

But I think you were wrong to refuse to be the head of the colony you’re joining. Partly it’s because: Who’s going to do it better than you? Don’t make me laugh.

But the main reason is: What kind of living hell will it be for the colony leader to have Mr. Insubordinate in his colony? Especially because everybody will know you were in Ender’s Jeesh and they’ll wonder why you AREN’T leader…

I don’t care how loyal you think you’re going to be, Dink. It’s not in you. You’re a brat and you always will be. So admit what a lousy follower you are, and go ahead and LEAD.

And just in case you don’t know it, you stupidest of all possible geniuses: I still love you. I’ve always loved you. But no woman in her right mind would ever marry you and have your babies because NOBODY COULD STAND TO RAISE THEM. You will have the most hellish children. So have them in a colony where there’ll be someplace for them to go when they run away from home about fifteen times before they’re ten.

Dink, I’m going to be happy, in the long run. And yes, I did set myself up for hard times when I married a man who’s going to die and whose children will probably have the same disease. But Dink—nobody ever marries anybody who ISN’T going to die.