The Ender Quintet (Omnibus)

by Card, Orson Scott

  “A speaker for the dead says this?” said Dom Cristão.

  “You were there,” said the Bishop. “You were there the first time, weren’t you. When the buggers were destroyed.”

  “Last time we had no way of talking to the buggers, no way of knowing they were ramen and not varelse. This time we’re here. We know that we won’t go out and destroy other worlds. We know that we’ll stay here on Lusitania until we can go out safely, the Descolada neutralized. This time,” said Ender, “we can keep the ramen alive, so that whoever writes the piggies’ story won’t have to be a speaker for the dead.”

  The secretary opened the door abruptly, and Ouanda burst in. “Bishop,” she said. “Mayor. You have to come. Novinha—”

  “What is it?” said the Bishop.

  “Ouanda, I have to arrest you,” said Bosquinha.

  “Arrest me later,” she said. “It’s Miro. He climbed over the fence.”

  “He can’t do that,” said Novinha. “It might kill him—” Then, in horror, she realized what she had said. “Take me to him—”

  “Get Navio,” said Dona Cristã.

  “You don’t understand,” said Ouanda. “We can’t get to him. He’s on the other side of the fence.”

  “Then what can we do?” asked Bosquinha.

  “Turn the fence off,” said Ouanda.

  Bosquinha looked helplessly at the others. “I can’t do that. The Committee controls that now. By ansible. They’d never turn it off.”

  “Then Miro’s as good as dead,” said Ouanda.

  “No,” said Novinha.

  Behind her, another figure came into the room. Small, fur-covered. None of them but Ender had ever before seen a piggy in the flesh, but they knew at once what the creature was. “Excuse me,” said the piggy. “Does this mean we should plant him now?”

  No one bothered to ask how the piggy got over the fence. They were too busy realizing what he meant by planting Miro.

  “No!” screamed Novinha.

  Mandachuva looked at her in surprise. “No?”

  “I think,” said Ender, “that you shouldn’t plant any more humans.”

  Mandachuva stood absolutely still.

  “What do you mean?” said Ouanda. “You’re making him upset.”

  “I expect he’ll be more upset before this day is over,” said Ender. “Come, Ouanda, take us to the fence where Miro is.”

  “What good will it do if we can’t get over the fence?” asked Bosquinha.

  “Call for Navio,” said Ender.

  “I’ll go get him,” said Dona Cristã. “You forget that no one can call anybody.”

  “I said, what good will it do?” demanded Bosquinha.

  “I told you before,” said Ender. “If you decide to rebel, we can sever the ansible connection. And then we can turn off the fence.”

  “Are you trying to use Miro’s plight to force my hand?” asked the Bishop.

  “Yes,” said Ender. “He’s one of your flock, isn’t he? So leave the ninety-nine, shepherd, and come with us to save the one that’s lost.”

  “What’s happening?” asked Mandachuva.

  “You’re leading us to the fence,” said Ender. “Hurry, please.”

  They filed down the stairs from the Bishop’s chambers to the Cathedral below. Ender could hear the Bishop behind him, grumbling about perverting scripture to serve private ends.

  They passed down the aisle of the Cathedral, Mandachuva leading the way. Ender noticed that the Bishop paused near the altar, watching the small furred creature as the humans trooped after him. Outside the Cathedral, the Bishop caught up with him. “Tell me, Speaker,” he said, “just as a matter of opinion, if the fence came down, if we rebelled against Starways Congress, would all the rules about contact with the piggies be ended?”

  “I hope so,” said Ender. “I hope that there’ll be no more unnatural barriers between us and them.”

  “Then,” said the Bishop, “we’d be able to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Little Ones, wouldn’t we? There’d be no rule against it.”

  “That’s right,” said Ender. “They might not be converted, but there’d be no rule against trying.”

  “I have to think about this,” said the Bishop. “But perhaps, my dear infidel, your rebellion will open the door to the conversion of a great nation. Perhaps God led you here after all.”

  By the time the Bishop, Dom Cristão, and Ender reached the fence, Mandachuva and the women had already been there for some time. Ender could tell by the way Ela was standing between her mother and the fence, and the way Novinha was holding her hands out in front of her face, that Novinha had already tried to climb over the fence to reach her son. She was crying now and shouting at him. “Miro! Miro, how could you do this, how could you climb it—” while Ela tried to talk to her, to calm her.

  On the other side of the fence, four piggies stood watching, amazed.

  Ouanda was trembling with fear for Miro’s life, but she had enough presence of mind to tell Ender what she knew he could not see for himself. “That’s Cups, and Arrow, and Human, and Leaf-eater. Leaf-eater’s trying to get the others to plant him. I think I know what that means, but we’re all right. Human and Mandachuva have convinced them not to do it.”

  “But it still doesn’t get us any closer,” said Ender. “Why did Miro do something so stupid?”

  “Mandachuva explained on the way here. The piggies chew capim and it has an anesthetic effect. They can climb the fence whenever they want. Apparently they’ve been doing it for years. They thought we didn’t do it because we were so obedient to law. Now they know that capim doesn’t have the same effect on us.”

  Ender walked to the fence. “Human,” he said.

  Human stepped forward.

  “There’s a chance that we can turn off the fence. But if we do it, we’re at war with all the humans on every other world. Do you understand that? The humans of Lusitania and the piggies, together, at war against all the other humans.”

  “Oh,” said Human.

  “Will we win?” asked Arrow.

  “We might,” said Ender. “And we might not.”

  “Will you give us the hive queen?” asked Human.

  “First I have to meet with the wives,” said Ender.

  The piggies stiffened.

  “What are you talking about?” asked the Bishop.

  “I have to meet with the wives,” said Ender to the piggies, “because we have to make a treaty. An agreement. A set of rules between us. Do you understand me? Humans can’t live by your laws, and you can’t live by ours, but if we’re to live in peace, with no fence between us, and if I’m to let the hive queen live with you and help you and teach you, then you have to make us some promises, and keep them. Do you understand?”

  “I understand,” said Human. “But you don’t know what you’re asking for, to deal with the wives. They’re not smart the way that the brothers are smart.”

  “They make all the decisions, don’t they?”

  “Of course,” said Human. “They’re the keepers of the mothers, aren’t they? But I warn you, it’s dangerous to speak to the wives. Especially for you, because they honor you so much.”

  “If the fence comes down, I have to speak to the wives. If I can’t speak to them, then the fence stays up, and Miro dies, and we’ll have to obey the Congressional Order that all the humans of Lusitania must leave here.” Ender did not tell them that the humans might well be killed. He always told the truth, but he didn’t always tell it all.

  “I’ll take you to the wives,” said Human.

  Leaf-eater walked up to him and ran his hand derisively across Human’s belly. “They named you right,” he said. “You are a human, not one of us.” Leaf-eater started to run away, but Arrow and Cups held him.

  “I’ll take you,” said Human. “Now, stop the fence and save Miro’s life.”

  Ender turned to the Bishop.

  “It’s not my decision,” said the Bishop. “It’s Bosqu
inha’s.”

  “My oath is to the Starways Congress,” said Bosquinha, “but I’ll perjure myself this minute to save the lives of my people. I say the fence comes down and we try to make the most of our rebellion.”

  “If we can preach to the piggies,” said the Bishop.

  “I’ll ask them when I meet with the wives,” said Ender. “I can’t promise more than that.”

  “Bishop!” cried Novinha. “Pipo and Libo already died beyond that fence!”

  “Bring it down,” said the Bishop. “I don’t want to see this colony end with God’s work here still untouched.” He smiled grimly. “But Os Venerados had better be made saints pretty soon. We’ll need their help.”

  “Jane,” murmured Ender.

  “That’s why I love you,” said Jane. “You can do anything, as long as I set up the circumstances just right.”

  “Cut off the ansible and turn off the fence, please,” said Ender.

  “Done,” she said.

  Ender ran for the fence, climbed over it. With the piggies’ help he lifted Miro to the top and let his rigid body drop into the waiting arms of the Bishop, the Mayor, Dom Cristão, and Novinha. Navio was jogging down the slope right behind Dona Cristã. Whatever they could do to help Miro would be done.

  Ouanda was climbing the fence.

  “Go back,” said Ender. “We’ve already got him over.”

  “If you’re going to see the wives,” said Ouanda, “I’m going with you. You need my help.”

  Ender had no answer to that. She dropped down and came to Ender.

  Navio was kneeling by Miro’s body. “He climbed the fence?” he said. “There’s nothing in the books for that. It isn’t possible. Nobody can bear enough pain to get his head right through the field.”

  “Will he live?” demanded Novinha.

  “How should I know?” said Navio, impatiently stripping away Miro’s clothing and attaching sensors to him. “Nobody covered this in medical school.”

  Ender noticed that the fence was shaking again. Ela was climbing over. “I don’t need your help,” Ender said.

  “It’s about time somebody who knows something about xenobiology got to see what’s going on,” she retorted.

  “Stay and look after your brother,” said Ouanda.

  Ela looked at her defiantly. “He’s your brother, too,” she said. “Now let’s both see to it that if he dies, he didn’t die for nothing.”

  The three of them followed Human and the other piggies into the forest.

  Bosquinha and the Bishop watched them go. “When I woke up this morning,” Bosquinha said, “I didn’t expect to be a rebel before I went to bed.”

  “Nor did I ever imagine that the Speaker would be our ambassador to the piggies,” said the Bishop.

  “The question is,” said Dom Cristão, “will we ever be forgiven for it.”

  “Do you think we’re making a mistake?” snapped the Bishop.

  “Not at all,” said Dom Cristão. “I think we’ve taken a step toward something truly magnificent. But humankind almost never forgives true greatness.”

  “Fortunately,” said the Bishop, “humankind isn’t the judge that matters. And now I intend to pray for this boy, since medical science has obviously reached the boundary of its competence.”

  17

  THE WIVES

  Find out how word got out that the Evacuation Fleet is armed with the Little Doctor. That is HIGHEST PRIORITY. Then find out who this so-called Demosthenes is. Calling the Evacuation Fleet a Second Xenocide is definitely a violation of the treason laws under the Code and if CSA can’t find this voice and put a stop to it, I can’t think of any good reason for CSA to continue to exist.

  In the meantime, continue your evaluation of the files retrieved from Lusitania. It’s completely irrational for them to rebel just because we want to arrest two errant xenologers. There was nothing in the Mayor’s background to suggest this was possible. If there’s a chance that there was a revolution, I want to find out who the leaders of that revolution might be.

  Pyotr, I know you’re doing your best. So am I. So is everybody. So are the people on Lusitania, probably. But my responsibility is the safety and integrity of the Hundred Worlds. I have a hundred times the responsibility of Peter the Hegemon and about a tenth of his power. Not to mention the fact that I’m far from being the genius he was. No doubt you and everybody else would be happier if Peter were still available. I’m just afraid that by the time this thing is over, we may need another Ender. Nobody wants xenocide, but if it happens, I want to make sure it’s the other guys that disappear. When it comes to war, human is human and alien is alien. All that ramen business goes up in smoke when we’re talking about survival.

  Does that satisfy you? Do you believe me when I tell you that I’m not being soft? Now see to it you’re not soft, either. See to it you get me results, fast. Now. Love and kisses, Bawa.

  —Gobawa Ekimbo, Chmn Xen Ovst Comm, to Pyotr Martinov, Dir Cgrs Sec Age, Memo 44:1970:5:4:2; cit. Demosthenes, The Second Xenocide, 87:1972:1:1:1

  Human led the way through the forest. The piggies scrambled easily up and down slopes, across a stream, through thick underbrush. Human, though, seemed to make a dance of it, running partway up certain trees, touching and speaking to others. The other piggies were much more restrained, only occasionally joining him in his antics. Only Mandachuva hung back with the human beings.

  “Why does he do that?” asked Ender quietly.

  Mandachuva was baffled for a moment. Ouanda explained what Ender meant. “Why does Human climb the trees, or touch them and sing?”

  “He sings to them about the third life,” said Mandachuva. “It’s very bad manners for him to do that. He has always been selfish and stupid.”

  Ouanda looked at Ender in surprise, then back at Mandachuva. “I thought everybody liked Human,” she said.

  “Great honor,” said Mandachuva. “A wise one.” Then Mandachuva poked Ender in the hip. “But he’s a fool in one thing. He thinks you’ll do him honor. He thinks you’ll take him to the third life.”

  “What’s the third life?” asked Ender.

  “The gift that Pipo kept for himself,” said Mandachuva. Then he walked faster, caught up with the other piggies.

  “Did any of that make sense to you?” Ender asked Ouanda.

  “I still can’t get used to the way you ask them direct questions.”

  “I don’t get much in the way of answers, do I?”

  “Mandachuva is angry, that’s something. And he’s angry at Pipo, that’s another. The third life—a gift that Pipo kept for himself. It will all make sense.”

  “When?”

  “In twenty years. Or twenty minutes. That’s what makes xenology so fun.”

  Ela was touching the trees, too, and looking from time to time at the bushes. “All the same species of tree. And the bushes, too, just alike. And that vine, climbing most of the trees. Have you ever seen any other plant species here in the forest, Ouanda?”

  “Not that I noticed. I never looked for that. The vine is called merdona. The macios seem to feed on it, and the piggies eat the macios. The merdona root, we taught the piggies how to make it edible. Before the amaranth. So they’re eating lower on the food chain now.”

  “Look,” said Ender.

  The piggies were all stopped, their backs to the humans, facing a clearing. In a moment Ender, Ouanda, and Ela caught up with them and looked over them into the moonlit glen. It was quite a large space, and the ground was beaten bare. Several log houses lined the edges of the clearing, but the middle was empty except for a single huge tree, the largest they had seen in the forest.

  The trunk seemed to be moving. “It’s crawling with macios,” said Ouanda.

  “Not macios,” said Human.

  “Three hundred twenty,” said Mandachuva.

  “Little brothers,” said Arrow.

  “And little mothers,” added Cups.

  “And if you harm them,” said Leaf-eater,
“we will kill you unplanted and knock down your tree.”

  “We won’t harm them,” said Ender.

  The piggies did not take a single step into the clearing. They waited and waited, until finally there was some movement near the largest of the log houses, almost directly opposite them. It was a piggy. But larger than any of the piggies they had seen before.

  “A wife,” murmured Mandachuva.

  “What’s her name?” asked Ender.

  The piggies turned to him and stared. “They don’t tell us their names,” said Leaf-eater.

  “If they even have names,” added Cups.

  Human reached up and drew Ender down to where he could whisper in his ear. “We always call her Shouter. But never where a wife can hear.”

  The female looked at them, and then sang—there was no other way to describe the mellifluous flow of her voice—a sentence or two in Wives’ Language.

  “It’s for you to go,” said Mandachuva. “Speaker. You.”

  “Alone?” asked Ender. “I’d rather bring Ouanda and Ela with me.”

  Mandachuva spoke loudly in Wives’ Language; it sounded like gargling compared to the beauty of the female’s voice. Shouter answered, again singing only briefly.

  “She says of course they can come,” Mandachuva reported. “She says they’re females, aren’t they? She’s not very sophisticated about the differences between humans and little ones.”

  “One more thing,” said Ender. “At least one of you, as an interpreter. Or can she speak Stark?”

  Mandachuva relayed Ender’s request. The answer was brief, and Mandachuva didn’t like it. He refused to translate it. It was Human who explained. “She says that you may have any interpreter you like, as long as it’s me.”

  “Then we’d like to have you as our interpreter,” said Ender.