Page 325 - Enders_Game_Full_Book
P. 325
"Go study some men, then, Ender. Novinha's family, for instance. By the way, the computer network has officially been barred from showing you where anybody lives."
Ender grinned. "So Bosquinha isn't as friendly as she seems."
"If you have to ask where people live, they'll know where you're going. If they don't want you to go there, no one will know where they live."
"You can override their restriction, can't you?"
"I already have." A light was blinking near the fence line, behind the observatory hill. It was as isolated a spot as was possible to find in Milagre. Few other houses had been built where the fence would be visible all the time. Ender wondered whether Novinha had chosen to live there to be near the fence or to be far from neighbors. Perhaps it had been Marc o's choice.
The nearest borough was Vila Atras, and then the borough called As Fabricas stretched down to the river. As the name implied, it consisted mostfy of small factories that worked the metals and plastics and processed the foods and fibers that Milagre used. A nice, tight, self-contained economy. And Novinha had chosen to live back behind everything, out of sight, invisible. It was Novinha who chose it, too, Ender was sure of that now. Wasn't it the pattern of her life? She had never belonged to Milagre. It was no accident that all three calls for a Speaker had come from her and her children. The very act of calling a Speaker was defiant, a sign that they did not think they belonged among the devout Catholics of Lusitania.
"Still," said Ender, "I have to ask someone to lead me there. I shouldn't let them know right away that they can't hide any of their information from me."
The map disappeared, and Jane's face appeared above the terminal. She had neglected to adjust for the greater size of this terminal, so that her head was many times human size. She was quite imposing. And her simulation was accurate right down to the pores on her face. "Actually, Andrew, it's me they can't hide anything from."
Ender sighed. "You have a vested interest in this, Jane."
"I know." She winked. "But you don't."
"Are you telling me you don't trust me?"
"You reek of impartiality and a sense of justice. But I'm human enough to want preferential treatment, Andrew."
"Will you promise me one thing, at least?" "Anything, my corpuscular friend."