Shen nodded.
"The only person who'd ever notice was Bernard."
"He's a pig," said Shen.
Ender shrugged. "On the whole, pigs aren't so bad."
Shen laughed. "You're right. I wasn't being fair to the pigs."
They laughed together, and two other Launchies joined them. Ender's isolation was over. The war was just beginning.
6
THE GIANT'S DRINK
"We've had our disappointments in the past, hanging on for years, hoping they'll pull through, and then they don't. Nice thing about Ender, he's determined to ice within the first six months."
"Oh?"
"Don't you see what's going on here? He's stuck at the Giant's Drink in the mind game. Is the boy suicidal? You never mentioned it."
"Everybody gets the Giant sometime."
"But Ender won't leave it alone. Like Pinual."
"Everybody looks like Pinual at one time or another. But he's the only one who killed himself. I don't think it had anything to do with the Giant's Drink."
"You're betting my life on that. And look what he's done with his launch group."
"Wasn't his fault, you know."
"I don't care. His fault or not, he's poisoning that group. They're supposed to bond, and right where he stands the
re's a chasm a mile wide."
"I don't plan to leave him there very long, anyway."
"Then you'd better plan again. That launch is sick, and he's the source of the disease. He stays till it's cured."
"I was the source of the disease. I was isolating him, and it worked."
"Give him time with the group. To see what he does with it."
"W e don't have time."
"We don't have time to rush too fast with a kid who has as much chance of being a monster as a military genius."
"Is this an order?"
"The recorder's on, it's always on, your ass is covered, go to hell."
"If it's an order, then I'll--"
"It's an order. Hold him where he is until we see how he handles things in his launch group. Graff, you give me ulcers."
"You wouldn't have ulcers if you'd leave the school to me and take care of the fleet yourself."
"The fleet is looking for a battle commander. There's nothing to take care of until you get me that."