"I have rivals, Vlad. The Caliph has millions of followers who believe that he's the one God chose to be ruler over the earth."
"Aren't you making the same offer to Alai?"
"Vlad," said Peter. "I don't expect to persuade you. Only to inform you. If there comes a day when you think your best hope of safety is to leave Earth, post a note to me at the website I'll link to you in an email. Or if you realize that the only chance your nation has of pea
ce is for all its Battle School grads to disappear from Earth, tell me, and I'll do all I can to get them safely out and off."
"Unless I go to my superiors and tell them all that you just told me."
"Tell them," said Peter. "Tell them and lose the last shreds of freedom that you have."
"So I won't tell them," said Vlad.
"And you'll think about it. It will be there in the back of your mind."
"And when all the Battle School grads are gone," said Vlad, "there will be Peter. Brother of Ender Wiggin. The natural ruler of all humankind."
"Yes, Vlad. The only chance we have of unity is to have a strong consensus leader. Our George Washington."
"And that's you."
"It could be a Caliph, and we'd have a future as a Muslim world. Or we might all be made into vassals of the Middle Kingdom. Or--tell me, Vlad--should we prefer to be ruled over by the government that now treats you so kindly?"
"I'll think about this," said Vlad. "And you think about something else. Ambition was part of the basis by which we were chosen for Battle School. Just how self-sacrificing do you think we'll be? Look at Virlomi. As shy a person as Battle School could possibly admit. But to achieve her purpose, she made herself into a god. And she does seem to play the part with enthusiasm, doesn't she?"
"Ambition balanced against survival instinct," said Peter. "Ambition leads you to great risk. But ambition never leads you to certain destruction."
"Unless you're a fool."
"There are no fools in this park today," said Peter. "Unless you count the spies lying underwater breathing through straws in order to overhear our conversation."
"It's the best the Estonians can do," said Vlad.
"I'm glad to know that Russians haven't forgotten their sense of humor."
"Everybody knows a few dozen Estonian jokes."
"Who do Estonians tell jokes about?" asked Peter.
"Estonians, of course. Only they don't realize that they're jokes."
Laughing, they left the park and headed back, Peter to his chauffered car, Vlad to the train back to St. Petersburg.
Some Battle School graduates came to Ribeirao Preto to hear Peter's invitation. Others, Peter contacted through mutual friends. Members of Ender's Jeesh, Peter met with directly. Carn Carby in Australia. Dink Meeker and Crazy Tom in England. Shen in Tokyo. Fly Molo in Manila. And Dumper amid a council of Quechuas in the ruins of Macchu Picchu, his unofficial headquarters as he worked steadily to organize the Native Americans of South America.
None of them accepted his offer. All of them listened and remembered.
Meanwhile, the guerrilla fighting in India grew more savage. More and more Persian and Pakistani troops were withdrawn from China. Until the day came when there was no one penning in the starving Chinese army in Sichuan province. Han Tzu set it in motion.
The Turks withdrew to Xinjiang province. The Indonesians got back in their boats and withdrew to Taiwan. The Arabs joined in the occupation of India. Han China was free of foreign occupiers, without the Emperor firing a shot.
At once, the Americans and Europeans and Latin Americans were back, buying and selling, helping China recover from empty wars of conquest. While the Muslim nations continued to bleed weapons and wealth and men in the ever-more-brutal war to control India.
Meanwhile, a new pair of essayists emerged on the nets.
One styled himself "Lincoln" and spoke of the need to put an end to bloody wars and oppression, and to secure the rights and freedoms of all societies by giving an honest, law-abiding world government exclusive control of all weapons of war.
The other called himself "Martel," harking back to Charles the Hammer, who stopped the Muslim advance into Europe at Poitiers. Martel kept pounding at the grave danger the world faced from the existence of a Caliph. The Muslims, who now made up more than a third of the population of some European countries, would be emboldened, seize power, and force all of Europe to live under brutal Muslim law.