Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Cure

They entered a room with no windows, virtually void of any furniture besides a few hand made stools and a makeshift table formed from piles of paper books and one large slab of wood.

Meiji looked at Ender as if to say "did we come to the right place?" But he didn't voice his thoughts and left Ender to guess the details.

The old man tapped his cane loudly against the floor three times and two other people stepped forward from a side room to the left. Neither of them made a move to talk and they were too young for Ender to recognize them.

"This is Lebenen and Andrew-" he cut himself off in the middle of his sentence. "Named after you, kid." He said, tapping Ender's shoe with his cane.

Meiji made a small show of shaking their hands before Ender did, but other than that, he did nothing to acknowledge what was said.

They both mumbled a small, "Hello." Or in Andrew's case: "Hello, pleased to meet you." Ender couldn't help but notice that they were pale and thin.

"How long have you been hiding out here? Are you both Xenobiologists?"

Lebenen nodded, Andrew shook his head.

Lebenen spoke first. "I'm the Xenobiologist, not him. We don't come here very often, but today was a little different."

The old man cut in, then.
"I'm sorry to cut the introductions short, but we have things to discuss."

Ender nodded. "We do. Meiji and I need to know much more than we do if we want to help you."

The old man guided them to the makeshift table and sat on one of the stools rather laboriously. Ender opted to do the same, sitting down in a chair at the opposite end of the table, while Meiji only stood beside him.

"You already know the situation with Admiral Morgan," Lebenen started, "but we have more intel on his daughter I think you might be interested in..." he trailed off, thinking.

Ender waited, but he wasn't attentive enough to not notice Meiji shift uncomfortably next to him.

"We may not know her name, but we know she's about fifty, now. Her mother was in her seventies when she died, if that clears things up."

"Admiral Morgan was already so close to death that she probably didn't have to kill him." Andrew added. His voice was higher than Lebenen's and he kept to himself.

Lebenen laughed. "A flick would've done the job."

"How many of Quincy's men are loyal to her?" Ender asked, cutting the jesting down to a minimum.

Lebenen answered him. "Not many, actually, but she has this sort of... charm to her that gets her whatever she needs."

So they obey, but they aren't loyal.
"Will there be any chance of a revolt if she dies?"

Andrew put on a shy smile and shook his head while Lebenen spoke.
"We've been funneling out propaganda under the radar for years. Not only do people know you're here, but they also rejoice it. You're basically their messiah."

"Well that's a comforting thought." Meiji mumbled. Ender kicked him.

"Is she heavily guarded?"

"There are a few. She keeps most of the men stationed at her fathers old house, so people think he's still alive."

"How many?"

"What?"

"How many guards?"

"She only keeps four."

Meiji spoke next. "Can you arm us?"

"Meiji has knifes from Earth," Ender explained. "But we only have one faux gun, and unfortunately, I don't think that will be enough."

"You mean you want another faux gun?" Lebenen asked.

"No, he means we need two real guns," Meiji answered.

"We don't have the guns you're probably thinking of..." Andrew started. Lebenen finished for him. "But we do have something like it."

Ender was cautious at this. "... What does it do?"

"They're pretty illegal, but me and the only man here make 'em ourselves. All you need to know is that it's almost like a laser gun, but when it hits its target, there's an explosion."

"Actually," Andrew said, looking at Ender and meeting his eyes for the first time. "You've already used it."

Lebenen kept his eyes on Andrew as he spoke. "Well, to be specific, you've used it's ancestor."

"The MD Device." Ender spoke stiffly, but otherwise didn't react to this new information. "I know how it works. How do you fire the gun and keep it from blowing up the planet?"

"Like I said," Lebenen sounded annoyed. "You're working with the Little Doctor's descendant. The Little Doctor itself is too powerful for an on-planet weapon."

Ender looked at Meiji. Meiji raised his eyebrows in a way that said "it doesn't sound like a bad idea."

"Sorry," Ender said, looking at Lebenen. "We won't be using them."

Andrew frowned and Lebenen shrugged.
"Your loss, Ender. They're pretty good at what they do."

"So am I. I won't need them." And then, a thought came to him. "You said you manufacture them here?"

Andrew nodded.

"If I send you the blueprints of an Earth-side gun, how fast can you make it?"

Lebenen smirked. "With or without bullets?"

"Oh, yes, without. Please," Meiji said, not bothering to veil any hint of annoyance.

"Let's say four standard packs of bullets and two guns. How long will that take?"

"Two days."

The old man spoke again. "The two of you boys will stay in here. We can deliver food and the like." He spoke to Ender and Meiji, but then, Ender figured Lebenen and Andrew wouldn't be leaving for a while.

"Alright," Ender said, "but this isn't enough to constitute as the other half of the story. There's something that hasn't been said."

Andrew looked at Lebenen, who's ears went red with apparent shame.
"Yeah, uh, we already have a plan to cure the rest of the colony... and it doesn't require any killing on our part."

"Why didn't you say that before?"

"Because it will end in our deaths. The research for the cure would be destroyed and future generations would have no hope of surviving."

"Don't delay. Put that plan into action as soon as we leave to compromise the girl."

"But-"

Meiji cut him off. "The moment we kill her, you won't have to worry about being killed."