"I wanted a brother."
"Many who have a brother wish they didn't."
"But the brother I made up for myself, he and I got along fine." Nikolai laughed at the absurdity of it.
"And you saw Bean and thought of him as the brother you once imagined."
"At first. Now I know who he really is, and it's better. It's like . . . sometimes he's the little brother and I'm looking out for him, and sometimes he's the big brother and he's looking out for me."
"For instance?"
"What?"
"A boy that small--how does he look out for you?"
"He gives me advice. Helps me with classwork. We do some practice together. He's better at almost everything than I am. Only I'm bigger, and I think I like him more than he likes me."
"That may be true, Nikolai. But as far as we can tell, he likes you more than he likes anybody else. He just . . . so far, he may not have the same capacity for friendship that you have. I hope that my asking you these questions won't change your feelings and actions toward Bean. We don't assign people to be friends, but I hope you'll remain Bean's."
"I'm not his friend," said Nikolai.
"Oh?"
"I told you. I'm his brother." Nikolai grinned. "Once you get a brother, you don't give him up easy."
15
COURAGE
"Genetically, they're identical twins. The only difference is Anton's key."
"So the Delphiki have two sons."
"The Delphiki have one son, Nikolai, and he's with us for the duration. Bean was an orphan found on the streets of Rotterdam."
"Because he was kidnapped."
"The law is clear. Fertilized eggs are property. I know that this is a matter of religious sensitivity for you, but the I.F. is bound by law, not--"
"The I.F. uses law where possible to achieve its own ends. I know you're fighting a war. I know that some things are outside your power. But the war will not go on forever. All I ask is this: Make this information part of a record--part of many records. So that when the war ends, the proof of these things can and will survive. So the truth won't stay hidden."
"Of course."
"No, not of course. You know that the moment the Formics are defeated, the I.F. will have no reason to exist. It will try to continue to exist in order to maintain international peace. But the League is not politically strong enough to survive in the nationalist winds that will blow. The I.F. will break into fragments, each following its own leader, and God help us if any part of the fleet ever should use its weapons against the surface of the Earth."
"You've been spending too much time reading the Apocalypse."
"I may not be one of the genius children in your school, but I see how the tides of opinion are flowing here on Earth. On the nets a demagogue named Demosthenes is inflaming the West about illegal and secret maneuvers by the Polemarch to give an advantage to the New Warsaw Pact, and the propaganda is even more virulent from Moscow, Baghdad, Buenos Aires, Beijing. There are a few rational voices, like Locke, but they're given lip service and then ignored. You and I can't do anything about the fact that world war will certainly come. But we can do our best to make sure these children don't become pawns in that game."
"The only way they won't be pawns is if they're players."
"You've been raising them. Surely you don't fear them. Give them their chance to play."
"Sister Carlotta, all my work is aimed at preparing for the showdown with the Formics. At turning these children into brilliant, reliable commanders. I can't look beyond that mark."
"Don't look. Just leave the door open for their families, their nations to claim them."
"I can't think about that right now."