Shuttle landing zone, Hijra [Six months in stasis, twelve years Earth time gone, Tuesday in Fandom]

[momslilassassin]

After saying their final goodbyes to Ender's parents before getting to Ganges, there wasn't really much point to staying awake between stops, and so all three of them went into stasis for the duration of the flight between Ganges and Hijra, a planet they'd picked for its relative obscurity, warm, dry climate, and sand (but not too much sand, Ben had been sure to check. He hadn't come all this way to end up on another Tatooine. There was obscure and there was "furthest star from anything.") Besides, after their trip back to Kaeleer, Ben hadn't exactly been anxious to be alone with his thoughts for much time.

He'd memorized what little information had changed about their new home planet: very quiet, minimal interference from Earth's government (which was now a few generations past Peter's time, and that was a little hard to get used to), made up primarily of Earth immigrants from the Middle East, and Northern and Central parts of Africa. They'd been drawn to the heat as much as Ben had been. With all of his possessions in the duffel over his shoulder, he stepped down out of the shuttle and took his first breath of non-recycled air in six months. "Sure is hot," he said, tilting his head up to the sun. "Feels good. Where's our house again?"

Comments

[endsthegame]

"I heard some of that news," Ender admitted. "But to connect it with our destination here-- I should've paid closer attention."

He tried not to keep such close beads on the Jeesh anymore, for so many reasons.

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

Alai's eyes locked onto Ender's face, noting and filing away the changes in it in the years that had passed between them.

"Not much usually gets past you," Alai agreed, also filing away the use of "our" and "we" in Ender's last two sentences. "Hijra isn't much of a tourist destination: we've been very quiet after the initial growing pains of a new colony passed."

[endsthegame]

"Understandable, though," Ender noted. "These people must be tired of the noise."

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"It has been a rather trying few...centuries to be Muslim," Alai said with a small smile. "Most of those who followed my call to leave Earth were yearning for a life free of dramatics."

[endsthegame]

"So were we," Ender said, a little wryly. His own once-over of Alai was rather more surreptitious than Alai's had been. "But come on, come in - I can offer you a drink of water, at least."

Ben wouldn't like it terribly much, but he wasn't about to slam a door in Alai's face just because Ben had irrational jealousy issues.

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"That's very hospitable of you," Alai said, stepping into the house and sliding his shoes off. "Thank you."

He glanced around, noting furnishings. "You picked a good neighborhood," he continued. "Close to markets but not too close to the noise of downtown. The mosque's a few blocks over, so don't be too surprised by the calls to prayer. Most of the colonists here are practicing."

[endsthegame]

"To be honest, we chose here because it was close to the sea," Ender admitted. They had only just arrived here, and so it took him a few moments to find some glasses in a cabinet. He was grateful to find even that much. "But I did assume that most of Hijra's people would be muslim."

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"Who's the we?" Alai finally asked, perching on the edge of a chair.

[endsthegame]

"My sister Valentine, Ben Skywalker and myself," Ender said smoothly, filling up two glasses with water and setting them down on the table.

Jane had assured him it would be safe.

[momslilassassin]

"Valentine's currently out shopping," Ben said, coming down the stairs barefoot and tousled, but with clothes on.

He'd debated whether he should wear a shirt or not for a while. His eyes met Alai's.

"Alai," he said, nodding his head briefly. "I didn't expect to see you again." There was an underlying "and I was okay with that" to the tone that he couldn't stop.

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

Alai nodded back. "Ben," he said evenly, a small, polite, smile on his face. He'd dealt with a large group of advisers working to undermine him at every turn. Rudeness was easily ignored. "I remember you."

He remembered Ben as snappish and unhelpful, mostly, but he would be an adult here and not point that out. "Are you enjoying your time in our galaxy? Will you be staying long?"

[endsthegame]

"We're not sure how long we'll be staying on this planet," Ender said, stepping in before this could go... somewhere bad. Sigh. "But I don't see us leaving this universe any time soon."

[momslilassassin]

Ben found a seat not too close to Alai and smiled back just as insincerely. "I like the quiet," he said.

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"There's plenty of that on Hirja," Alai said. "And the sea is quite lovely."

[endsthegame]

Mercifully, Ender kept his headdesking internal. "So what do you do these days?" he asked. "Govern, or enjoy the quiet?"

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

Alai smiled, shifting to face Ender more fully. "You've governed. Is there much quiet in it?"

[endsthegame]

"Not much at all," Ender said, with a slight smile. "Even when you try to enforce scheduling limits."

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"The people will always look to me as a spiritual leader," Alai said. "If they didn't, they wouldn't have followed me here. I am content to continue that service to them. I have no need to remain overly involved in the civilian aspects of government."

Though the religious and civilian aspects on Hijra were fairly intertwined, in keeping with the nations the population had been drawn from.

[endsthegame]

"But enough so to be able to find a name on a passenger manifest," Ender noted lightly.

It occurred to him, in at least one part of his mind, how far their current conversation laid from the banter they'd shared in their youth.

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"Eh," Alai said with a little smile, "but there are some names that will always stick out."

[endsthegame]

"I'm trying to make sure I stick out less," Ender said dryly, "But thanks for letting me know it needs work."

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

"At least half of the colony is too young to recognize it," Alai said, "but I'm very glad this Andrew Wiggin is you."

[endsthegame]

Ender's mouth curved up briefly. "Well, since I can't escape being this Andrew Wiggin," he said, "So am I."

Sorry, Ben.

[arcane-delphi.livejournal.com]

Alai ignored the sour look Ben was shooting him and smiled at Ender. "Can I give you a tour of the city?" He turned to Ben. "You and Valentine are welcome as well, of course."

[endsthegame]

"I think we would enjoy that," Ender said lightly, because he wasn't going to give Ben an opening to voice his thoughts. Not on this one. "We'll be here for several months at the very least; it'd be good to have our bearings."