Speaker for the Dead

An excerpt written by San Angelo describes the rules of the Children of the Mind of Christ: Members must be both married and celibate. They pass on knowledge instead of genetics, and they run Catholic school systems.

Relations between the Children of the Mind of Christ and the Catholic Church are strained. Dom Cristão is the abbot of the Children of the Mind of Christ on Lusitania, and he is summoned to meet with Bishop Peregrino. Navio is in Bishop Peregrino’s office, and he explains the Speaker’s threats to Dom Cristão. Dom Cristão suggests they “strike first,” then clarifies that they should prevent the Speaker from forcibly taking authority by complying with him. He then advises the Bishop to tell the community that he instructed the Filhos—members of the Children of the Mind of Christ—to comply with the Speaker.

Ender walks to meet with Dom Cristão. Along the way, Jane tries to goad him into talking, but he ignores her: Many in the Church view jewel implants like the one in his ear that connects him to Jane as sacrilegious, and he does not wish to reveal that he wears one. Jane plays a recording of Valentine’s voice, which makes Ender realize how much he misses his sister. He arrives at the Filhos monastery and notes the difference between the formal gardens of the cathedral and the Filhos’ natural, weedy garden. Dom Cristão greets Ender, and Ender says San Angelo would have appreciated his untended garden. Dom Cristão hopes that Ender’s visit to Lusitania will be short, and Ender replies that when he settles down, he will stop being a speaker and become a citizen.

They go to Dom Cristão’s home, where Dona Cristã, Dom Cristão’s wife, is waiting for them. Dona Cristã jokes that it is her responsibility to keep her husband celibate. Against San Angelo’s guidelines, Dom Cristão and Dona Cristã sleep in separate beds to protect their celibacy. Ender cries because their love reminds him of his relationship with Val. The Filhos agree to help Ender, and Jane makes snide remarks, prompting Ender to turn off his jewel.

The Filhos describe Novinha’s childhood, calling Novinha vain and prideful because she feels responsible for things she cannot control. Dom Cristão found a video of Novinha briefly refusing to tell Libo what she had shown Pipo, and he and his wife then found Novinha’s locked files. They were confused by Novinha’s refusal to marry Libo. Ender remembers that Jane can’t hear the conversation, but he feels he cannot turn the jewel back on without offending the Filhos. To show that he is trustworthy, Ender shares that Novinha refused to marry Libo to prevent him from opening her locked files. The Filhos partially disagree, saying Novinha was driven by self-flagellation.

Ender returns home and attempts to summon Jane at his terminal, but she doesn’t appear nor speak to him. He worries that he killed her when he shut off the jewel, but rejects the idea and types an apology into the terminal. The solitude is unfamiliar and upsetting. Taking out the hive queen’s cocoon, he tries to speak with her, but she doesn’t speak to him either. He sleeps for a while then wakes and sends another message asking Jane to return and telling her he loves her.

In a report, a Starways Congress representative argues that the Congress is powerless without the ansible communication network.

Jane’s mind has 370,000 attention levels, most of which function autonomously. She focuses her top levels of attention on Ender, so when he switches off the jewel, Jane is temporarily injured. She came into being as the ansible network grew after the end of the Bugger Wars. She found the fantasy game Ender played in Battle School and adopted it as her core being. She encountered Ender when he got stuck on a game called the Giant’s Drink, then she revealed herself to him years later while Ender was speaking on the planet Rov.

Jane is disoriented when Ender shuts off the jewel. She reorients herself and realizes Ender didn’t mean to hurt her; he is preoccupied with Novinha and his desire to settle down, understand the pequeninos, and restore the hive queen. Jane knows she will forgive him, but she is not yet able to forget the incident. Instead of returning to Ender, she explores and strengthens herself. She sees Ender’s apology and sends a message of forgiveness but keeps her distance. She also reads Novinha’s files, then subtly notifies Starways Congress that the xenologers have been sharing information with the pequeninos. Congress sees Jane’s clues, and they recommend that the Lusitania Colony be terminated.

A congressional order revokes Lusitania’s license and calls for the seizure of Lusitania’s files and Ender’s ship, for Bosquinha’s demotion, and for Miro’s and Ouanda’s arrests. The humans are to be evacuated, and all evidence of humans will be destroyed.

Olhado teaches Ender how to perform searches on the terminals. Ender pays Olhado by allowing Olhado to access his bank account and transfer funds. To do so, Olhado needs Ender’s name, Andrew Wiggin, and password, Ender. Olhado is troubled by the password, as the name is considered taboo. Once he sees how much money Ender has, Olhado questions Ender’s age. Ender tells Olhado to transfer a reasonable sum to himself and then asks Olhado to compare Libo and Pipo’s files, and he watches Olhado work. Although they don’t make any significant discoveries, Ender is pleased because he has learned how to use the terminal. Olhado realizes this and is annoyed that Ender is keeping secrets.

The next day, Novinha notices Ender’s attempts to raid her files. She is conflicted—upset at Ender’s audacity but aware that Ender is having a positive influence on her family. Quara is speaking at school, and Olhado is engaged and excited. She blames herself for bringing him to Lusitania, for taking him away from his sister, and for the pain Miro will experience when he learns Ouanda is his sister. However, she also feels hopeful and spiritual.

Quim comes to Novinha’s lab in the afternoon and tells her that Olhado and Quara are with Ender. He accuses Novinha of carelessness in allowing the Speaker such access to her children, and Novinha says that if Marcão were alive, she would ask him to hit Quim. Novinha slaps Quim without thinking, and he apologizes for his tone. Novinha is concerned, too, and she asks Quim to take her to Ender’s house. They walk past the river grass, where snakes emerge each year; Novinha remembers how her parents tried and failed to domesticate the grass. Quim tries to teach her about good and evil, but Novinha tells him to be quiet.

Inside, Ender and Olhado are playing a war game. Ender asks her to sit, and Quara says they heard her fight with Olhado. Novinha blames herself for Olhado’s fascination with the war game, but her thoughts are interrupted when Olhado yells in frustration as Ender wins the game. Novinha confronts Ender about his blatant attempt to read her files. He approaches her and says quietly that he knows Novinha locked the files and refused to marry Libo to save Libo and Miro. Despite her sacrifice, Ender says, Miro’s ignorance will not him. Ender asks Novinha to tell him the truth, claiming that it doesn’t matter if the knowledge gets him killed. She refuses, and when Ender compares himself to Pipo, Novinha cries and hurriedly leaves, resenting the power Ender has over herself and her family. An angry Olhado follows, and the hive queen briefly reaches out to Ender to share the peace she feels with him. Quara cheerily remarks to Ender that everyone hates him, then she asks him to watch her do math.