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"As a favor to you," Ender said "And thanks for talking to me"

"I think they're treating you pretty badly Usually new commanders are cheered when they first join the mess But then, usually a new commander has had a few defeats under his belt before he first o If anybody deserves a cheer, it's you But that's life Make them eat dust"

"I'll try" Cam Carby left, and Ender mentally added him to his private list of people who also qualified as hus

That night, Ender slept better than he had in a long time Slept so well, in fact, that he didn't wake up until the lights caed on out to take his shower, and did not notice the piece of paper on his floor until he ca in his uniform He only saw the paper because it moved in the wind as he snapped out the uniform to put it on He picked up the paper and read it

PETRA ARKANIAN, PHOENIX ARMY, 0700

It was his old army, the one he had left less than four weeks before, and he knew their formations backward and forward Partly because of Ender's influence, they were therelatively quickly to new situations Phoenix Army would be the best able to cope with Ender's fluid, unpatterned attack The teachers were deter for him

0700, said the paper, and it was already 0630 So for breakfast Ender tossed his uniforrabbed his flash suit, and in a moment stood in the doorway of his army's barracks

"Gentle yesterday, because today we're doing it again"

It took a moment for them to realize that he meant a battle, not a practice It had to be a mistake, they said Nobody ever had battles two days in a row

He handed the paper to Fly Molo, the leader of A toon, who i clothes

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?" de Ender questions that nobody else dared ask

"I thought you needed the shower," Ender said "Yesterday Rabbit Army claimed we only won because the stink knocked them out"

The soldiers who heard hihed

"Didn't find the paper till you got back froht?" Ender looked for the source of the voice It was Bean, already in his flash suit, looking insolent Time to repay old humiliations, is that it, Bean?

"Of course," Ender said, contemptuously "I'm not as close to the floor as you are"