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Hyrum
Admiral Morgan had been in communication with the acting acting governor, Ix Tolo--ridiculous name--because the official acting governor had had the bad manners to take off on a completely meaningless trip right when he was needed for the official public transfer of power. The man probably couldn't stand being displaced from his office. The vanity of some people.
Morgan's executive officer, Commodore das Lagrimas, confirmed that, as far as could be ascertained from orbit, the runway the colonists had constructed for the shuttle met the specifications. Thank heaven they didn't have to pave these things anymore--it must have been tedious in the days when flying vehicles had to land on wheels.
The only thing that worried him was bringing the Wiggin boy down with him for the first landing. It would be easy enough to tell the old settlers that Morgan had come ahead of Wiggin to prepare the way. That would give him plenty of chance to make sure they were aware that Wiggin was a teenage boy and hardly likely to be the real governor.
Dorabella agreed with him. But then she pointed out, "Of course, all the older people in this colony are the pilots and soldiers who fought under Ender's command. They might be disappointed not to see him. But no, it will make it all the more special when he comes down later."
Morgan thought about it and decided that having Wiggin with him might be more of an asset than not. Let them see the legendary boy. Which was why he called the Wiggin boy to his quarters.
"I don't know that you need to say anything to the colonists on this first occasion," said Admiral Morgan. This was the test--would Wiggin be miffed at being held in silence?
"Fine with me," said Wiggin instantly. "Because I'm not good at speeches."
"Excellent," said Morgan. "We'll have marines there in case these people are planning some sort of resistance--you never know, all their cooperation might be a ruse. Four decades on their own here--they might resent the imposition of authority from forty lightyears away."
Wiggin looked serious. "I never thought of that. Do you really think they might rebel?"
"No, I don't," said Morgan. "But a good commander prepares for everything. You'll acquire habits like that in time, I'm sure."
Wiggin sighed. "There's so much stuff to learn."
"When we get there, we'll put the ramp down at once and the marines will secure the immediate perimeter. When the people have assembled around the base of the ramp, then we'll come out. I'll introduce you, I'll say a few words, then you'll go back inside the shuttle until I can secure appropriate quarters for you in the settlement."
"Toguro," said Wiggin.
"What?"
"Sorry. Battle School slang."
"Oh, yes. Never went to Battle School myself." Of course the little brat had to give his little reminder that he had gone to Battle School and Morgan had not. But his use of slang was encouraging. The more childish Wiggin appeared, the easier it would be to marginalize him.
"When can Valentine come down?"
"We won't start bringing down the new colonists for several days. We have to make sure we do this in an orderly way--we don't want to swamp the old settlers with too many new ones before there's housing and food for them all. The same thing with supplies."
"We're going down empty-handed?" asked Wiggin, sounding surprised.
"Well, no, of course not," said Morgan. He hadn't thought of it that way. It would be a nice gesture to have some key supplies with them. "What do you think, some food? Chocolates?"
"They have better food than we do," said Ender. "Fresh fruits and vegetables--that's going to be their gift to us. I bet they'd go boky over the skimmers, though."
"Skimmers! That's serious technology."
"Well, it's not like they're any use up here in the ship," said Ender, laughing. "But some of the xeno equipment, then. Something to show them how much it's going to help them, now that we're here. I mean, if you're worried they'll resent us, giving them some really useful tech will make us heroes."
"Of course--that's what I was planning. I just didn't think of the skimmers on our first landing."
"Well, it'd sure help with carrying cargo to wherever it's going to be ware housed. I know they'd appreciate not having to lug stuff by hand or in carts or whatever they use for transportation."
"Excellent," said Morgan. "You're catching on to this leadership thing already." The kid really was clever. And Morgan would be the one to reap the good will that bringing the skimmers and other high-tech equipment would create. He would have thought of all this himself if he ever had a chance to stop and think about things. The boy could sit around and think about things, but Morgan couldn't afford the time. He was constantly on call, and though das Lagrimas handled most things well, Morgan also had to deal with Dorabella.
Not that she was demanding. In fact, she was amazingly supportive. Never interfered with anything, didn't try to butt in when it was none of her business. She never complained about anything, always fit in with his plans, always smiled and encouraged and sympathized but never tried to advise or suggest.
But she distracted him. In a good way. Whenever he wasn't actually busy with a meeting, he would find himself thinking about her. The woman was simply amazing. So willing. So eager to please. It was as if Morgan only had to think of something and she was doing it. Morgan found himself looking for excuses to go back to his quarters, and she was always there, always happy to see him, always eager to listen, and her hands, touching him, making it impossible for him to ignore her or leave as quickly as he should.
He'd heard from other people that marriage was hellish. The honeymoon lasts a day, they said, and then she starts demanding, insisting, complaining. All lies.
