Shadows in Flight, enhanced edition Read Online Free PDF

with contempt. "You think you're above getting your hands dirty."
    "I was up to my elbows in rat-crab blood," said Ender.
    "He didn't mean literally 'dirty,'" said Carlotta. "You think we're expendable and you're the irreplaceable one."
    "Nobody's expendable," said Ender. "I just won't be much help."
    "You beat me ," said Sergeant dryly. "Don't pretend you're helpless."
    "He's scared," said Bean. "That's all."
    "I'm not a coward," said Ender coldly.
    "We're all scared," said Carlotta.
    "Terrified," said Sergeant. "When those rab bastards came at me I pooped my pressure suit. Nobody in his right mind isn't scared going into unknown territory facing fast-moving enemies and more potential foes that you don't even know about."
    "So why are we doing it?" asked Ender. "The ship is dead, it's not going to follow our trail back to Earth. The human race isn't in danger. Let's just make our report and move on."
    The others didn't even bother to answer such a ridiculous suggestion.

 
     
     
    CHAPTER 8
     
     

     
    "I think we're ready, Father," said Cincinnatus.
    The Giant's voice came over the cabin speakers. "Attach yourself to a wall and strap in. I don't want to have to worry about you bouncing around in there while I'm maneuvering."
    "So you're planning to show off what a hotshot pilot you are?" asked Ender. Cincinnatus made sure that they were all leaning against the wall of the cabin as the walls extended grips to hold them firmly. The lander was designed to carry cargo -- there were no seats. The walls were designed to restrain whatever was placed up against them, whether people or cargo.
    "Eh," said the Giant. "It's been a while since I had a chance to fly a sweet machine like the Hound."
    After the experience of bumping around in the Puppy, Cincinnatus was duly impressed with the Giant's piloting skills. The Hound detached and puffed free of the Herodotus , and then suddenly it was moving forward. There were no lurches, no abrupt changes of direction. One smooth parabola, a marvel of efficiency, and they were positioned over the still-open airlock of the ark.
    From the belly of the Hound, a self-shaping tube extended and created a seal against the surface of the ark, completely surrounding the airlock door. The children watched on a holodisplay at the front of the cabin. They felt the sudden gust as air from the Hound puffed into the tube and the open airlock.
    "We're connected," said the Giant. "When you get the inner airlock door open, command passes to Cincinnatus."
    Carlotta dropped down the tube first and made sure the outer airlock could close behind them, in case some accident detached the tube from the ark's surface. She closed it and reopened it twice. Then she called, and Cincinnatus and Ender dropped down the tube into the airlock, carrying their shotguns, with the spray packs on their backs and the nozzles attached to their wrists.
    Cincinnatus switched on his helmet's display, and after a moment's recon, the helmet computer began to outline and label all the key features of the airlock. That was the easy part -- Carlotta had already programmed in all the information from Cincinnatus's first foray. As they went farther into the ark, Carlotta would orally label whatever she saw that needed labeling, so that the helmets could create maps on the fly, and they would all see the same names for everything.
    Cincinnatus located himself in front of the inner airlock door. He half expected a couple of dozen rabs to be positioned all around the door, waiting to pounce the moment it opened. That's what he would have done, if he'd been in charge of defending the ark.
    The door slid open.
    Nothing moved.
    Cincinnatus slipped into the corridor, orienting himself to stand upright in the narrow space. To Formics, he would seem to be sideways, standing on the wall. Not that it made any difference. He tested the feel of his magnetics and murmured, "Mags five."
    The others gave the same command, tuning their boots to stick even