And Ender, now in his 60’s or 70’s
I believe, is still so passive that he does nothing as his wife of
30’ish years just walks away from him. He just shrugs and is like
“oh well, she is hurting really bad so I just have to understand
her and let her be”. It made me sick. You fight for your marriage,
you little cowardly sad sack of crap. I now have zero respect for
Ender as a character. My respect was pretty low after the last book,
but after this, he is now dead to me.
On
Lusitania, Ender finds a world where humans and pequeninos and the
Hive Queen could all live together. However, Lusitania also harbors
the descolada, a virus that kills all humans it infects, but which
the pequeninos require in order to become adults. The Starways
Congress so fears the effects of the descolada, should it escape from
Lusitania, that they have ordered the destruction of the entire
planet, and all who live there. With the Fleet on its way, a second
xenocide seems inevitable.[2]
Lusitania
Following
the events of Speaker for the Dead, a group of characters are
depicted living as members of a Brazilian Catholic human colony on
Lusitania, a unique planet inhabited by the only other two known
species of sentient alien life: the Pequeninos "little ones"
and the Hive Queen. The pequeninos are native to the planet, while
the Hive Queen was transplanted to this world by Ender, partly in
penance for his near-total destruction of her Formic species in
Ender's Game.
After
the rebellion of the small human colony on Lusitania in Speaker for
the Dead to protect the future of the intelligent alien species,
Starways Congress sends a fleet to Lusitania to regain control, which
will take several decades to reach its destination. Valentine Wiggin,
under her pseudonym Demosthenes, publishes a series of articles
revealing the presence of the "Little Doctor"
planet-annihilating weapon on the Fleet. Demosthenes calls it the
"Second Xenocide," as using the weapon will result in the
obliteration of the only known intelligent alien life. She also
claims it to be a brutal crackdown of any colony world striving for
autonomy from Starways Congress. Public anger spreads through
humanity, and rebellions nearly ensue on several colonies.
After
quelling much public discontent, Starways Congress finishes their
analysis of the situation while the fleet is en route. Fearing the
Descolada virus, further rebellions by colony worlds, and other
possible unknown political motives, Starways Congress attempts to
relay an order to the fleet to annihilate Lusitania upon arrival.
After conferring with friends on whether a cause is worth dying for,
Jane (a compassionate AI living in the interstellar ansible
communication network) shuts off transmissions to the fleet to block
the order. As a consequence of this action, she risks her eventual
discovery and death, should the government shut down and wipe the
interplanetary network. No known smaller computer system can house
her consciousness.
On
Lusitania itself, Ender attempts to find solutions to the looming
catastrophes of the Congressional fleet, Descolada virus, and
conflicts among the humans and intelligent alien species. Much on
Lusitania centers around the Ribeira family, including Ender's wife
Novinha and her children. Novinha and Elanora, the mother-daughter
team responsible for most of the biological advances countering the
complex Descolada virus, are unsure if they can manufacture a
harmless replacement virus. Conflicts arise on whether they should
even do so, since the Descolada is intrinsically tied in with the
life cycles of all Lusitanian organisms and may even be sentient
itself. In addition, to try to devise methods to escape the planet,
Lusitania's leading, troublemaking physicist Grego is persuaded by
Ender to research faster-than-light travel, despite Grego scoffing at
the idea. The third biologista of the family, Quara, is convinced
that the Descolada is an intelligent, self-aware species, and
deserves attempts from the humans for communication and preservation.
An additional sibling and Catholic priest, Quim (Father Estevão), is
determined to use faith and theology to head off another form of
xenocide: a group of warmongering Pequenino who wish to wipe out all
Earthborn life via starship, carrying the deadly Descolada within
them.
World
of Path
Starways
Congress wants its fleet back. After all else fails, it sends the
dilemma of the fleet's impossible disappearance to several citizens
of the world of Path, a cultural planetary enclave modeled on early
China. Path's culture centers on the godspoken – those who hear the
voices of the gods in the form of irresistible compulsions, and are
capable of significantly superior intelligence. It later becomes
clear that the godspoken of Path are victims of a cruel government
project: granted great intelligence by genetic modification, they
were also shackled with a form of obsessive-compulsive disorder to
control their loyalty. The experiment is set in a culture bound by
five dictates – obey the gods, honor the ancestors, love the
people, serve the rulers, then serve your self. This is a further
safeguard against rebellion. The superintelligent godspoken are
considered the most devout and holy of all citizens, and any disloyal
thoughts in a godspoken's mind are immediately suppressed by
overwhelming obsessive-compulsive behavior, believed to be a sign
from the gods the thoughts are wrong. The most respected godspoken on
Path is Han Fei-Tzu, for devising a treaty to prevent the rebellion
of several colony worlds after the articles published by Demosthenes.
Great things are expected of his daughter and potential successor Han
Qing-jao, "Gloriously Bright". While doubting the existence
of the gods himself, Han Fei-Tzu promised his dying wife he would
raise Qing-jao with an unwavering belief in the godspoken. The two of
them are tasked by Starways Congress with deciphering the
disappearance of the Lusitania Fleet. Han Qing-jao's secret maid, Si
Wang-mu, aids her in this task, her intelligence (partially)
unfettered by the rigid caste system.
The
young and naive Qing-jao eventually traces the identity of
Demosthenes. Discovering that Demosthenes is Valentine Wiggin,
Ender's sister – but that Valentine has been on a starship en route
to Lusitania for the last thirty years – Qing-Jao concludes that
the only possible explanation is advanced computer software closely
tied to the communication network. This software must be hiding
Demosthenes and publishing her work, while also causing the
disappearance of the Fleet. All but discovered, Jane reveals herself
to Han Fei-tzu, Han Qing-jao and Si Wang-mu, telling them about their
genetic slavery and begging forbearance on their report to Starways
Congress.
Already
harboring suspicions about the godspoken's condition, Han Fei-tzu
accepts the news of Congress's atrocity, as does Si Wang-mu, but his
daughter Han Qing-jao clings to her belief that Demosthenes and Jane
are enemies of the gods. Feeling betrayed by her father, who is
violently incapacitated by OCD from the disloyal thoughts, Qing-jao
argues with Jane. Jane threatens shutting off all communications from
Path, but Si Wang-mu realizes this would eventually lead to the
planet's destruction by Starways Congress. Understanding Jane to be
truly alive and compassionate, through tears Si Wang-mu states Jane
will not block the report. However, Qing-jao compares Jane to the
servants in Path's caste system, merely a computer program designed
to serve humans, containing neither autonomy nor awareness.
Knowing
she has exhausted her last possibilities of stopping Qing-jao, Jane
sacrifices her future and life, unwilling to bring harm to Qing-jao
or the people of Path. A triumphant Qing-jao reports the knowledge of
Demosthenes, Jane, and the fate of the Fleet to Starways Congress.
Qing-jao recommends a coordinated date set several months from the
present, to prepare the massive undertaking of setting up clean
computers across the interplanetary network, after which the
transition to a new system will kill Jane and allow Congress full
control again. Allowing the message to be sent, Jane restores
communication with the Fleet, and Congress re-issues the order for
the Fleet to obliterate Lusitania.
Han
Fei-tzu recovers from the incapacitation of his OCD, despairing over
his daughter's actions, and his unwitting aid in deeply brainwashing
her to serve Congress. He and Si Wang-mu assist Jane and those on
Lusitania in finding solutions to their impending catastrophes.
Planter, a Pequenino on Lusitania, offers his life for an experiment
to determine whether the Descolada gives Pequeninos sentience, or if
they have the ability innately. Eventually, Elanora Ribeira is able
to come up with a possible model for a "recolada": a refit
of the Descolada that allows the native life to survive and retain
self-awareness, but doesn't seek to kill all other life forms. With
the available equipment, however, the recolada is impossible to make,
and they are running out of time against the soon-to-arrive Fleet.
Outside
While
this research takes place, tragedies occur on Lusitania. Father
Estevão Ribeira, the priest attempting to sway a distant
warmongering sect of the Pequeninos from their goal of attacking
humanity, is killed by the Fathertree Warmaker, who took Quim hostage
and denied him the food with the anti-descolada chemicals, so the
descolada infected and killed him on the 7th day of being hostage.
Grego Ribeira spurs a riot of humans to burn down the warmaker's
forest, but the violent mob gets out of his control, and rampages
through the neighboring Pequenino forest instead, massacring many of
its inhabitants – the original friends and allies of humanity.
Under the terms of the treaty with Pequeninos, the Hive Queen is
brought in to hold the peace, setting a perimeter guard of hive
drones around the human colony and preventing further escalation of
violence between the two groups. Grego is locked in jail, despite
eventually stepping between the surviving Pequeninos and his own
riot. The town realizes their horrific rage, and constructs a chapel
surrounding the fallen priest's grave, trying to find penance for
their actions.
Finally,
a breakthrough is made. Knowing the Ansible communication network
allows instantaneous transfer of information, and through knowledge
of how the Hive Queen gives sentience to child queens, Jane, Grego,
and Olhado discover the "Outside". The Outside is a
spacetime plane where aiúas initially exist. (Aiúa is the term
given to the pattern defining any specific structure of the universe,
whether a particular atom, a star, or a sentient consciousness.)
Formic hive queens are called from Outside after birth, giving
awareness to the new body. Jane is able to contain within her vast
computing power the pattern defining the billions of atoms and
overall structure comprising a simple "starship" (little
more than a room), with passengers included, and take them Outside.
By bringing them Outside, where relative location is nonexistent,
then back "Inside" at a different spot in the physical
universe, instantaneous travel has been achieved, finally matching
the instantaneous communication of the Ansibles and Formics. They
quickly arrange to take Ender, Ela, and Miro to Outside. While Ela is
Outside, she is able to create the recolada virus, which is a safe
replacement of the descolada, and a cure to the godspoken genetic
defect. Miro envisions his body as it was before he was crippled by
paralysis, and upon arrival in the Outside, his consciousness is
contained within a new, restored body. Ender discovers, however, the
surreal unwitting creation of a new "Valentine" and new
"Peter Wiggin" from his subconscious, who embody idealized
forms of his altruistic and power-hungry sides.
The
recolada begins its spread across Lusitania, converting the formerly
lethal virus into a harmless aid to native life. The cure to the
people of Path's genetic-controlling defect is distributed, yet Han
Fei-tzu is tragically unable to convince his daughter Qing-jao this
was the true course of action. Confronted with the possibility of
being lied to all her life and dooming many sentient species to
destruction, or an alternative of believing all she ever loved and
trusted has betrayed her – Demosthenes, her father, her friend, her
world – Qing-jao instead continues her godspoken rite of woodgrain
tracing until her death and is honored by those on Path who still
believe in the gods as the last true godspoken. She is elevated to
god status after her death. Si Wang-mu sets off with Peter to take
control over Starways Congress to stop the Fleet closing in on
Lusitania. The new Valentine-persona journeys to find a planet to
which the population of Lusitania can evacuate. The stage is set for
the final book of the four-part series, Children of the Mind.
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