Shadow of the Hegemon, the - Book 2 (Ender) Read Online Free PDF Page B

make friends," said Petra.
    "You're a bossy, nosy introvert who likes to piss people off," said the woman.
    "Oh, you actually did some research."
    "No, just observation." So she did have a sense of humor. Maybe.
    "You'd better just pray you can get over the Caucasus before you have to answer to the Armenian Air Force."
    Heavy-foot made a derisory noise, proving that he didn't recognize irony when he heard it.
    "Of course, you'll probably have only a small plane, and we'll probably fly out over the Black Sea. Which means that IF satellites will know exactly where I am."
    "You're not IF personnel anymore," said the woman.
    "Meaning they don't care what happens to you," said Heavy-foot.
    By now they had pulled to a stop beside a small plane. "A jet, I'm impressed," said Petra. "Does it have any weaponry? Or is it just wired with explosives so that if the Armenian Air Force does start to force you down, you can blow me up and the whole plane with me?"
    "Do we have to tie you again?" asked the woman.
    "That would look really good to the people in the control tower."
    "Get her out," said the woman.
    Stupidly, the men on both sides of her opened their doors and got out, leaving her a choice of exits. So she chose Heavy-foot because she knew he was stupid, whereas the other man was anyone's guess. And, yes, he truly was stupid, because he held her by only one arm as he used his other hand to close the door. So she lurched to one side as if she had stumbled, drawing him off balance, and then, still using his grip to support her weight, she did a double kick, one in the groin and one in the knee. She landed solidly both times, and he let go of her very nicely before falling to the ground, writhing, one hand clutching his crotch and the other trying to slide his kneecap back around to the front of his knee,
    Did they think she'd forgotten all her hand-to-hand unarmed combat training? Hadn't she warned him that she'd have his balls in a bag?
    She made a good run for it, and she was feeling pretty good about how much speed she had picked up during her months of running at school, until she realized that they weren't following her. And that meant they knew they didn't have to.
    No sooner had she noticed this than she felt something sharp pierce the skin over her right shoulder blade. She had time to slow down but not to stop before she collapsed into unconsciousness again.
    This time they kept her drugged until they reached their destination, and since she never saw any scenery except the walls of what seemed to be an underground bunker, she had no guesses about where they might have taken her. Somewhere in Russia, that's all. And from the soreness of the bruises on her arms and legs and neck and the scrapes on her knees and palms and nose, she guessed that they hadn't been too careful with her. The price she paid for being a bossy, nosy introvert. Or maybe it was the part about pissing people off.
    She lay on her bunk until a doctor came in and treated her scrapes with a special no-anesthetic blend of alcohol and acid, or so it seemed. "Was that just in case it didn't hurt enough?" she asked.
    The doctor didn't answer. Apparently they had warned the woman what happened to those who spoke to her.
    "The guy I kicked in the balls, did they have to amputate them?"
    Still no answer. Not even a trace of amusement. Could this possibly be the one educated person in Russia who didn't speak Common?
    Meals were brought to her, lights went on and off, but no one came to speak to her and she was not allowed out of her room. She heard nothing through the heavy doors, and it became clear that her punishment for her misbehavior on the trip was going to be solitary confinement for a while.
    She resolved not to beg for mercy. Indeed, once it became clear to her that she was in isolation, she accepted it and isolated herself still further, neither speaking nor responding to the people who came and went. They never tried to speak to her, either, so the