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"Right," said Ender "How are we going to hear each other speak?"

"Tin can telephones," said Carlotta

Of course they weren't the toy sound transmitters that they hadsince reengineered them so that, without any power source, they trans ten meters of fine wire, even around corners or pinched in doors

Sure enough, there was Sergeant, his eyes closed, "eant was plotting hoould take over all the hue twenty

"Nice of you to coeant Ender couldn't hear him, but he could read his lips and besides, he already kneas exactly what Sergeant was likely to say

Soon they were hooked up in a three-way connection with Carlotta's tin cans They all had to lie in a line with their heads turned, Ender between Carlotta and Sergeant so he couldn't decide to end the conversation and slither out

"The Giant is taking a long tieant

In that instant, Ender understood the entirei and ready to inherit

"So what do you propose?" asked Ender neutrally "Evacuate the air from the payload area? Poison his water or his food? Or will you insist we all hold knives and stab him to death in the Senate?"

"Don't be ets, the harder it will be to deal with the carcass"

"Open the cargo bay and jettison it into space," said Carlotta

"How clever," said Sergeant "More than half our nutrients are tied up in his body and it's beginning to affect life support We have to be able to reclai to eat and breathe as we get larger If the Giant thinks we're going to kill him, he'll kill us first"

"Don't assume that the Giant is as evil as you," said Ender

Carlotta tugged on his foot "Play nice, Ender," she said

Ender kne this would play out Carlotta would express her regret but she'd agree with Sergeant If Ender tried to give the Giant extra calories, Sergeant would beat him and Carlotta would stand by, or even help hold hi Ender just had no interest in fighting, so he didn't defend hiave in

But this was different The Giant was dying anyway That caused Ender enough anguish that the idea of hastening the process was unbearable

Nothing unbearable had ever been proposed before So Ender's reaction surprised even him No, especially him

Sergeant's head was right there, just above Ender's own Ender reached up, and with all the power of his areant's head into the wall

Blood sprayed out Sergeant's nose and floated in globules that "fell" in every direction in the turbulent gravity field

Ender shaped his hand into a fist and drove a knuckle into Sergeant's eye

Carlotta twisted on Ender's foot, shouting, "What are you doing? What's going on?"

Ender braced hie of his hand into Sergeant's throat