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He felt a sharp pain on the top of his head Then again Soles from behind him The boy in the next seat back ain a blow to the head Go away, Ender thought I didn't do anything to you

Again a blow to the head Laughter fro to stop it? Another blow Harder It really hurt Where was Graff?

Then it became clear Graff had deliberately caused it It orse than the abuse in the shows When the sergeant picked on you, the others liked you better But when the officer prefers you, the others hate you

"Hey, fart-eater," caain "Do you like this? Hey, super-brain, is this fun?" Another blow, this one so hard that Ender cried out softly with the pain

If Graff was setting him up, there'd be no help unless he helped hiht another bloas about to coht And yes, the bloas there It hurt, but Ender was already trying to sense the coot you, Ender thought

Just as the next bloas co, Ender reached up with both hands, snatched the boy by the wrist, and then pulled down on the arm, hard

In gravity, the boy would have been jaravity, however, he flipped over the seat co it He hadn't realized how null gravity nified the effects of even a child's ainst the ceiling, then down against another boy in his seat, then out into the aisle, his ar until he screamed as his body slammed into the bulkhead at the front of the compartment, his left arm twisted under him

It took only seconds Graff was already there, snatching the boy out of the air Deftly he propelled him down the aisle toward the other man "Left ariven a drug and lay quietly in the air as the officer ballooned a splint around his arm

Ender felt sick He had only meant to catch the boy's arm No No, he had th He hadn'texactly the pain Ender had ravity had betrayed him, that was all I am Peter I'm just like him And Ender hated himself

Graff stayed at the front of the cabin "What are you, slow learners? In your feeble little ht here to be soldiers In your old schools, in your old fah, maybe you were smart But we chose the best of the best, and that's the only kind of kid you're going to in is the best in this launch, take the hint, s Don't mess with him Little boys have died in Battle School before Do I make myself clear?"

There was silence the rest of the launch The boy sitting next to Ender was scrupulously careful not to touch him

I am not a killer, Ender said to himself over and over I am not Peter Notime I was patient I'm not what he said

A voice over the speaker told the the school; it took twenty ed behind the others They were not unwilling to let hi upward in the direction that had been dohen they e at the end of the narrow tube that led from the shuttle into the heart of the Battle School

"Was it a good flight, Ender?" Graff asked cheerfully

"I thought you were my friend" Despite himself, Ender's voice treave you that idea, Ender?"