Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Penelope

She deftly stepped onto the ship, following the guide she and a group had been assigned. On the outside it looked like any old ship that the IF would have in their arsenal, except, it was bigger. Much bigger. It's backside stuck out in a large spike, creating extra room for cargo and citizens. There were no windows, only the blinding reflection of the sun on the ships nose. The thing must steer itself, she thought. She was going to be one of the first people to start a new life on another planet besides Earth. She wanted to be the first citizen off the ship and onto the ground of a planet unknown to many. She knew it wouldn't happen, of course. She would probably only be able to get off after IF officers had already set foot on the planets surface.
"Penelope Argros?" The guide called. She looked up and raised her hand high above her head. The guide made eye contact with her, waved her hand in a small gesture, and lead her to her room first. Opening the door for her and smiling brightly, she said
"Have a wonderful stay! We have soap and towels already set up in the bathrooms. There are extra blankets on your bed and sheets in the dresser. If you need anything there is always someone to help, just ask!" She briskly handed Penelope her room keys and walked away, leaving the door wide open. Penelope figured that she said that to everybody she spoke to, that Penelope was not, by any standards, a unique case.
So with the, no, her keys in one hand, and a small bag in the other, she entered the room she would be staying in. It was of average size, for her. Not too big, not too small. It was perfect. She gently laid her bag and keys on a small dresser next to her bed, presumably the one with the extra sheets in it, and tossed herself onto the soft mattress. Leave it to the IF to provide the most expensive bed that they could.
The lights above her shone down on her face as she thought. She thought about the crew, they seemed nice enough. They were fake in the way they acted and his the dressed, but it was tolerable. She thought back to her home. It was almost just like this, or so she remembered. She remembered how her mother would hold her after she fell, her arms wrapped loosely around Penelope's trembling body. Her words were soft and sweet, but her face showed nothing. At that age, Penelope didn't think about it. It had always been like that, so she didn't care. But come to think of it, her mother was just like the crew, fake. Fake it till you make it, she thought.
It made her giggle, just the fact that that is how she thinks of her mother. She was glad she hadn't been around for the rest of her childhood. After her monitor was taken out, she was finally able to leave. She made it all the way through Battleschool and into Pre-Command school when the famous Ender Wiggin ended the third and final Bugger War. Ender was still a commander when she was just a soldier. She wanted to follow in his footsteps. Hell, everybody did. He was like the fireside in a Roman household. Directly in the center for everybody to look at. She remembered when he was transfered into Command school. She was in the hallway when it happened, watching when he was handed the full sized sheet of orders. She had been lost after getting transfered herself. She was to be commander of Wolf Army. Wolf Army was one of the lowest in the standings, so she expected that Ender never came in contact with it. She remembered how the little boy's hand latched onto Ender's sleeve. His mouth had moved, but she couldn't hear what he was saying. Enders response was quick and short, before he was lead out of sight by a very overweight man.
She ran her hands through her short hair, it was still growing out from Battleschool. It hadn't been all that long since the last war, only a few years. When it was made public that they were going to send out a colony of people to another planet, she was begging her mother to let her go. Not because she wanted the glory of founding a new world, but because she had heard that Ender would be governor, and therefore on the ship. Her mother didn't want her to leave after she has just come home, but her mother wasn't stupid. She knew that her daughter was better off leaving than staying. So, she signed the paper and let her one and only child leave.
There was a soft knock on her door. She swung herself up, taking the two steps it took to get to the door. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see her luggage. How sweet, she thought, they brought it up for me. She opened the door quietly, revealing a young crew member.
"Dinner will be served in under four hours. The ship will be on the general space time schedule, please act accordingly." He handed her a small booklet. Which, when she flipped through the pages, seem to hold all the information that someone needed in order to live on the ship.
    The "general space time schedule" was based off of Florida time. It was almost too obvious that they were trying to make the trip as "magical" as possible. Using all this technical language to talk to ordinary passengers... it was like they were trying to make them believe they were actual astronauts.
    Penelope didn't have to pretend. Not only was she trained to be an astronaut of sorts, but she was inherently a soldier. Everything she had done in her life was to help her someday defeat the Buggers. And now it was all over. She didn't have anything to live by anymore. No oncoming enemy to eliminate. She couldn't help but feel a little sad, knowing that that was the last war. She was happy that it was finally over, of course, but did this mean that she had trained so hard for nothing? A part of her didn't want to know.