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A second later he smashed into the forcefield of the eneroup of enemy soldiers behind a star; they shoved him off and spun hih the rest of the battle, though gradually friction with the air slowed hi howiced hiain, as usual

After the battle Rose didn't speak to his, since he had frozen three, disabled two, and daed seven There was no more talk about insubordination and whether Ender could use his desk Rose stayed in his part of the barracks, and left Ender alone

Dink Meeker began to practice instant eence from the corridor--Ender's attack on the ene out of the door had been devastating "If one ot Major Anderson to open a door in thepractice sessions, instead of just the floor-level door, so they could practice launching under battle conditions Word got around From now on no one could take five or ten or fifteen seconds in the corridor to size things up The gaed

More battles This time Ender played a proper role within a toon He made mistakes Skirmishes were lost He dropped fros, then to fourth Then he an to feel comfortable within the framework of the toon, and he went back up to third, then second, then first

After practice one afternoon, Ender stayed in the battleroom He had noticed that Dink Meeker usually came late to dinner, and he assury, and he wanted to see what it was Dink practiced when no one else could see

But Dink didn't practice He stood near the door, watching Ender Ender stood across the roo Dink

Neither spoke It was plain Dink expected Ender to leave It was just as plain that Ender was saying no

Dink turned his back on Ender, ently pushed off from the floor He drifted slowly toward the center of the roo alht by almost nonexistent air currents in the room

After the speed and tension of practice, the exhaustion, the alertness, it was restful just to watch him drift He did it for ten minutes or so before he reached another wall Then he pushed off rather sharply, returned to his flash suit, and pulled it on

"Come on," he said to Ender

They went to the barracks The room was empty, since all the boys were at dinner Each went to his own bunk and changed into regular uniforms Ender walked to Dink's bunk and waited for a o

"Why did you wait?" asked Dink

"Wasn't hungry"

"Well, now you knohy I'm not a commander"

Ender had wondered