The Authorized Ender Companion (24 page)

Jane and Valentine II both said they didn’t want to be brought together, both playing a bit of a martyr. But, they both knew in their hearts that they desired to continue in their lives. Jane teased Miro II about this, seeming to mask her hope through laughter.

The Hive Queen turned to the pequenino fathertree named Human to help her figure out how to save Jane. They determined that if they could call Ender’s philote as he died, and store it in Valentine II, they might be able to place Jane in that body. They needed to use the parts of Jane that were originally from the Hive Queen herself—the parts that had been the bridge between the Formics and Ender—as well as the powerful philotic connection that united the fathertrees. It was possible, but they were uncertain it would work.

Jane didn’t know, either, and time was running out. She had taken Peter II and Si Wang-mu to Pacifica and helped Miro II and Valentine II find the home planet of the Descolada. But the order had been given, and she was slowly being terminated by the Starways Congress’s act of terminating the ansibles. She had just enough energy to take Miro II, Valentine II, Ela, and Quara back to the Descolada’s planet.

She was able to communicate with Miro and Peter II in their respective missions, but was losing memories and could feel her consciousness unraveling. She longed to speak with Ender, as he, too, was dying. But the time had seemingly passed.

To make matters worse, Novinha and Wang-mu were both jealous of Jane.

Novinha still wanted her to go away from Ender, and Wang-mu had fallen in love with Peter II.

Jane’s home inside the computer networks was destroyed, and her philotic foundation, her “Auía,” escaped from the networks. A little lost, it instantly traveled throughout the galaxy, searching for a new body wherein to live. It tried living in Ender’s, Peter II’s, and Valentine II’s, but they were all full of competing Auía. She tried the Hive Queen and eventually settled on the pequenino mothertrees.

From inside the mothertrees, Jane helped the trees to create fruit. It was delicious fruit unlike anything the pequeninos had tasted before. But she was not meant to stay in that state. Once Ender died, relinquishing his Auía from within his body, removing Valentine II’s from her body, and joining both Ender’s and Valentine II’s with Peter II’s in his body, Jane was able to make the leap to Valentine II’s now-Auía-empty body. With the Hive Queen’s help, Jane entered Valentine II’s body.

Though her physical appearance was Valentine’s, the soul of the new person was Jane. She still had a shadow of Valentine II’s memories, but the consciousness that dwelled in the body was Jane.

She could communicate in her mind with the Hive Queen, since the Hive Queen had been responsible for bringing her philote from Outspace to begin with millennia earlier. But she was not able to speak mind to mind with Peter II or Miro II anymore. She was, for all intents and purposes, human. She thought she could still perhaps control faster-than-light travel, however.

In her new body, Jane was unable to fully control her human emotions. She often lashed out at Quara and cried until she was sick. Miro II comforted her and taught her about human emotion. Perhaps rashly, but nonetheless fully committed, Jane asked Miro to marry her. He agreed, wanting to keep their engagement secret from Quara.

Almost immediately after expressing her love to Miro, Jane fell into a comalike state. She had, before being driven from the computers, taught settlers on several different planets to connect their old government-ordered-discarded computers to create another network wherein she could exist. With help from the fathertrees, mothertrees (where Jane also still had a philotic connection and could store memories), and the Hive Queen, Jane was able to instantly spread her Auía among all these different homes. The comalike state was her human body’s reaction to her soul traveling from host to host.

Through this bouncing around from network to network, Jane was able to cause faster-than-light travel. She returned her ship to Lusitania. Physically exhausted from the travel, Jane got into a brief physical confrontation with
Quara, but soundly won. Stepping from the ship, she experienced seeing Lusitania through human eyes for the first time. She thought it was beautiful.

As the Lusitania Fleet came closer to destroying the planet, Jane transported Miro and his sister back to the descoladore world. She used her ability to save the scientists from an attack by the descoladores by blinking them out of harm’s way.

She also used her faster-than-light abilities to move Peter II and Wang-mu, without a spaceship, to Lusitania. Again she used the power to pull the deadly Molecular Detachment Device from its course to annihilate Lusitania, replacing it back on the original ship.

She helped Peter II and Wang-mu convince the leaders of the fleet to obey their nonaggression orders, and then teleported them to the descoladore planet where Peter II and Wang-mu convinced Miro II and company not to annihilate the descoladore planet.

She returned to Lusitania for Ender’s funeral, and immediately following the service, went into the pequenino land where, under a mothertree to which she was also connected, she married Miro II. Peter II and Wang-mu were married at the same time. Following some congratulatory remarks from Valentine, Jane made the four newlyweds disappear, presumably for private honeymoons.

It was known that she would continue to facilitate faster-than-light travel. She’d helped evacuate many Formics, humans (including all of Ender’s loved ones), and pequeninos from Lusitania before the fleet arrived. And though she began a human life married to Miro II, she knew that she could potentially live forever.

Starways Congress reconnected the full computer network in which Jane had lived before. And with her connection to the mothertrees, there was ample space to place her Auía once she grew too old to live in Valentine II’s body.

That was years off, though. For the time being, she was more than content to live as Miro’s wife. She was Jane—a complex computer program that was beautifully, simplistically, human.

Japanese Professor (SP)

The Japanese professor was a patron at a restaurant in Damascus when the newly crowned Caliph, Alai, made his first public address. He spoke plainly to his fellow foreigners about the role of Caliph in the Muslim world, and argued with an Englishman who felt that a Caliph meant a return to the old ways of Muslim extremism.

Jaqueline (XN)

Jaqueline was married to Ender’s stepson Olhado on the planet Lusitania. She was a stereotypical mother, rushing her family through the morning routine. She was present when Valentine Wiggin visited Olhado for the first time and eavesdropped on their conversation from the kitchen. She embarrassingly joined them after Valentine commented on the eavesdropping.

Jiang-qing (XN)

Jiang-qing was a Chinese woman who lived on the planet Path, one of the Hundred Worlds settled by humans after Ender Wiggin’s victory over the Formics. She lived approximately three thousand years after the Formic War. She was married to Han Fei-tzu and was the mother of Qing-jao.

Jiang-qing’s dying wish was that her husband would help their daughter grow to be among the “godspoken,” as Jiang-qing had been, which meant the Gods spoke to her, guiding her life for their purposes. Han Fei-tzu promised he would, even if he didn’t truly believe in the godspoken idea.

Jolt (SD)

The jolt was a taserlike weapon carried by the constable of the city Milagre on the planet Lusitania.

Jonlei (
See
Hundred Worlds)

Ju Kung-mei (XN)

Ju Kung-mei was the guard of the Han family on the planet Path. Of Chinese descent, as were all who lived on Path, he was considered kind and respectful of all. His mistress, sixteen-year-old Han Qing-jao, trusted him.

Jung Calvin Colonies (
See
Hundred Worlds)

Kenji the Servant (CM)

Kenji was a loyal servant in the house of Japanese philosopher Aimaina Hikari on the planet Divine Wind.

Kike Force (EG)

“Kike Force” was a nickname given to Rat Army in tribute and mockery of Mazer Rackham’s Strike Force, which defeated the Formics in the second invasion.

Kissing doctors (SG)

The kissing doctors were two doctors who worked at a hospital where the Muslim Caliph Alai was catching a helicopter to take him to India. He noticed the doctors sneaking to the roof near the helipad to make love. As Caliph, Alai could not tolerate this and caught them in the early stages of the act. Embarrassed, they traveled with the Caliph as far as Beirut. They promised Alai they would wait for their impending marriage before engaging in such activities again.

Kitunen, Colonel Jarrko (EE)

Colonel Jarrko Kitunen was the passenger liaison officer on the colony ship that took Ender and Valentine to their first colony, Shakespeare. He taught lessons in Common, the language of the fleet, and was responsible for informing the passengers that the play reading they wanted to do had been canceled by Admiral Morgan.

Kolmogrov, Admiral/Governor Vitaly (GB, EE)

Admiral Vitaly Kolmogrov led a fleet of starships against the Formics. Once the aliens were destroyed by Ender Wiggin, Vitaly was assigned to be the governor of a colony that settled a former Formic world. For decades, while awaiting Ender Wiggin’s arrival as the new governor, Vitaly led his people. He also communicated with Ender while the boy was in transit. The two decided on a name for the colony: Shakespeare. As he grew older, the Admiral/Governor turned the position over to his friend, the colony’s xenobiologist Sel Menach. Vitaly wanted to ensure a smooth transition of power for Ender and knew that Sel would provide that.

He was so popular a governor that a couple of years after his death, his face was put on the coinage created in the colony.

Lands, Admiral Bobby (CM)

Admiral Bobby Lands was assigned command of the fleet that was ordered to destroy the planet Lusitania. The order haunted him, as he knew that he would be held in as low favor as Ender Wiggin had after committing the First Xenocide. Yet, he also felt strongly that destroying the planet, with its deadly Descolada virus, was the best thing to do for humanity.

By the time he reached Lusitania, however, his superiors in both the government and the military ordered him not to destroy the planet but to quarantine it. Against orders, Lands fired the devastating Molecular Detachment
Device against Lusitania. He was shocked to see moments later that it had returned to his cargo hold.

There he was confronted by Peter Wiggin II and had his fingers broken. Peter II gave Lands specific instructions on what to tell the congressional and military leaders about what had happened at Lusitania. Disgraced in front of his crew, Lands tried unsuccessfully to resign his commission and command.

Lands filed the report as instructed by Peter II, and returned to the Hundred Worlds, hoping to avoid criminal charges for doing what he thought was best for humanity, though he’d been proven wrong.

Lankowski, Ivan (SP, SG)

Ivan Lankowski was a Russian-born Muslim who was a close aide to the Caliph Alai. Ivan picked up Petra Arkanian Delphiki at the Damascus airport and took her underground to Alai. She was to be protected at all costs, as she was a friend of the Caliph’s. Ivan spoke little of the details of his orders, but treated Petra (forty years his ju nior) with kindness as she was thought to be carrying a baby.

Lankowski was one of Alai’s inner circle. While Petra and Bean stayed with Alai, Lankowski often called them to meet with the Caliph, referring to him only as “our mutual friend.” He didn’t seem to trust Bean too much, and Bean didn’t fully understand what Lankowski’s position was exactly, but they worked together with Alai and the other military leaders to plan an invasion of China, liberating the captive people of Asia.

When Alai learned that his soldiers were killing innocents in India, having successfully liberated that nation from Chinese rule, he grew angry. As Caliph, he journeyed to India to correct the problem by killing the general there. Ivan followed him to India as a bodyguard and adviser. He was loyal to Alai, and was the only member of Alai’s inner circle in front of whom Alai let down his guard.

Ivan learned of a plan to assassinate Alai and joined the conspirators so he could be close enough to them to protect his friend. When the assassination attempt occurred, Ivan fought against the would-be killers, sacrificing his life in protection of Alai. Alai mourned his friend, pausing in the midst of his escape from the attempted murder to close Ivan’s eyes as he lay dead in a parking garage.

Lars (XN)

Lars was a human male born approximately three thousand years after the end of the Formic War on the planet Trondheim. He was of Icelandic descent,
as most of the colonists on Trondheim had been, and was married to Syfte, the daughter of Valentine Wiggin. Lars and Syfte were married very quickly and traveled with Valentine and her husband Jakt into space, setting out for the planet Lusitania, hoping to protect it from destruction by the Starways Congress.

He was on Lusitania with his parents-in-law when his stepcousin-in-law, Quim, was killed by the pequeninos. He was part of the ill-fated rescue party that unsuccessfully tried to save Quim.

Lavea, Leiloa (CM)

Leiloa Lavea was a philosopher on the Polynesian-colonized planet Pacifica. Her ideologies taught her disciples to seek a simple life. Japanese philosopher Aimaina Hikari had studied her teachings. Her philosophies were known as a religion called the Ua Lava.

Leaf-eater (SD)

Leaf-eater was one of the pequeninos, the native life-forms on the planet Lusitania. He befriended Miro, but knew that Miro didn’t like him as much as the pequenino named Human.

Leaf-eater was one of the pequeninos to speak with Ender and share with him many of their beliefs and rituals. Leaf-eater also saw Miro Ribeira climb the electrified fence that surrounded the piggies’ land, and wanted to plant him as a tree—the highest honor given a pequenino.