his squad to follow him. To the bathroom. That's the one place that Bonzo and his boys could plan on Ender having to go, eventually.
By the time Bean got there, it was all over. Teachers and medical staff were clattering down the halls. Dink Meeker was walking with Ender, his arm across Ender's shoulder, away from the bathroom. Ender was wearing only his towel. He was wet, and there was blood all over the back of his head and dripping down his back. It took Bean only a moment to realize that it was not his blood. The others from Bean's squad watched as Dink led Ender back to his quarters and helped him inside. But Bean was already on his way to the bathroom.
The teachers ordered him out of the way, out of the corridor. But Bean saw enough. Bonzo lying on the floor, medical staff doing CPR. Bean knew that you don't do that to somebody whose heart is beating. And from the inattentive way the others were standing around, Bean knew it was only a formality. Nobody expected Bonzo's heart to start again. No surprise. His nose had been jammed up inside his head. His face was a mass of blood. Which explained the bloody back of Ender's head.
All our efforts didn't amount to squat. But Ender won anyway. He knew this was coming. He learned self-defense. He used it, and he didn't do a half-assed job of it, either.
If Ender had been Poke's friend, Poke wouldn't have died.
And if Ender had depended on Bean to save him, he'd be just as dead as Poke.
Rough hands dragged Bean off his feet, pushed him against a wall. "What did you see!" demanded Major Anderson.
"Nothing," said Bean. "Is that Bonzo in there? Is he hurt?"
"This is none of your business. Didn't you hear us order you away?"
Colonel Graff arrived then, and Bean could see that the teachers around him were furious at him - yet couldn't say anything, either because of military protocol or because one of the children was present.
"I think Bean has stuck his nose into things once too often," said Anderson.
"Are you going to send Bonzo home?" asked Bean. "Cause he's just going to try it again."
Graff gave him a withering glance. "I heard about your speech in the mess hall," said Graff. "I didn't know we brought you up here to be a politician."
"If you don't ice Bonzo and get him out of here, Ender's never going to be safe, and we won't stand for it!"
"Mind your own business, little boy," said Graff. "This is men's work here."
Bean let himself be dragged away by Dimak. Just in case they still wondered whether Bean saw that Bonzo was dead, he kept the act going just a little longer. "He's going to come after me, too," he said. "I don't want Bonzo coming after me."
"He's not coming after you," said Dimak. "He's going home. Count on it. But don't talk about this to anyone else. Let them find out when the official word is given out. Got it?"
"Yes, sir," said Bean.
"And where did you get all that nonsense about not obeying a commander who gives illegal orders?"
"From the Uniform Code of Military Conduct," said Bean.
"Well, here's a little fact for you - nobody has ever been prosecuted for obeying orders."
"That," said Bean, "is because nobody's done anything so outrageous that the general public got involved."
"The Uniform Code doesn't apply to students, at least not that part of it."
"But it applies to teachers," said Bean. "It applies to you. Just in case you obeyed any illegal or improper orders today. By ... what, I don't know ... standing by while a fight broke out in a bathroom? Just because your commanding officer told you to let a big kid beat up on a little kid."
If that information bothered Dimak, he gave no sign. He stood in the corridor and watched as Bean went into the Dragon Army barracks.
It was crazy inside. Dragon Army felt completely helpless and stupid, furious and ashamed. Bonzo Madrid had outsmarted them! Bonzo had gotten Ender alone! Where were Ender's soldiers when he needed them?
It took a long time for things to calm down. Through it all, Bean just sat on his bunk, thinking his own thoughts. Ender didn't just win his fight. Didn't just protect himself and walk away. Ender killed him. Struck a blow so devastating that his enemy will never, never come after him again.