The Authorized Ender Companion (16 page)
Read The Authorized Ender Companion Online
Authors: Jake Black
Flash Suit (EGS, EG, ES)
Flash suits were the uniform jumpsuits worn during combat simulations in Battle School. If a soldier took a hit in his flash suit from a flash pistol, he was immobilized.
Flasher/Flash Pistol (EGS, EG, ES)
The primary weapon used in Battle School, Flashers were small boxes that fit in the palm of the hand, glowed green, and froze their victims.
FleetCom/Fleet Command (EG, ES)
FleetCom or Fleet Command was the location of Command School. Housed on the asteroid Eros, it was the central planning location for offensives against the Formics.
Fliers (XN)
Fliers were essentially floating cars, which were used for transporation on the Hundred Worlds.
Floaters (CM)
Floaters were floating cars used for transportation on the Hundred Worlds.
Foreign Minister—Armenia (SG)
The Armenian Foreign Minister wanted his country to join Peter Wiggin’s worldwide confederation of nations, the Free People of Earth. Though a little worried that Armenia would lose its autonomy, he was more concerned with invasion from its neighbors and sought the protection of the FPE. Petra Arkanian and her husband Bean Delphiki negotiated with the Armenian leaders hoping to find a suitable path of entry to the FPE, guaranteeing protection from invasion.
Foreign Minister—China ([SH], [SP])
The Chinese Foreign Minister visited Thailand at the same time that his nation was secretly moving to take over Asia under the manipulative control
of Achilles Flandres. He died of a heart attack on a trip to Washington, D.C., several months after the establishment of Peter Wiggin’s Hegemony.
Formics/Buggers (
See also
Hive Queen) (PL, TP, MP, [PB], [CH], EGS, EG, [WG], ES, GB, EE, IC, [SD], XN, CM)
The enemy of Earth, the Formics were an insectlike species that many thought could have evolved on Earth. Buglike in appearance, they had a hive mind, controlled by the Hive Queen. The Formics had attacked Earth twice before, only to be stopped the second time by Mazer Rackham.
The first invasion had been Earthside in China. The second led to a space-bound fight between starships. The military of Earth, led by Mazer Rack-ham, defeated the Formic invasion by destroying a queen ship. By killing the queen, all of the drones were instantly left without a controlling influence, virtually headless.
Humanity had feared a third invasion to such levels that for more than seventy years, the people of Earth had sent an attacking fleet for preemptive strikes against the Formics.
Although humans had captured some Formics over the course of the invasions, the Formics had died before anything could be learned from them. It was thought that the so-called Buggers were primarily female with sexual organs in a state of atrophy.
The Formics lived on worlds where they carved great tunnels for their hives. Almost like gigantic honeycomb, these tunnels were later explored by human settlers and built upon.
When Ender Wiggin led the fleet that destroyed the Formic home world, the Formics were thought completely eliminated. Ender felt great guilt over the xenocide he’d committed and was grateful to find a Hive Queen still alive. It was hoped that with the Hive Queen still alive, the Formics would one day reflourish.
Formic home world (EGS, EG, ES, [GB], [EE])
The home of the alien race called Formics or Buggers, the Formic home world was destroyed under Ender Wiggin’s command during an “Exam” using the Molecular Detachment Device.
Framlings (
See
Hierarchy of Alienness)
THE LOOK OF THE FORMICS
In preparing the designs for Marvel Comics’ Ender’s comic book series, Orson Scott Card described the Formics’ physical appearance:
“What we need to understand first is that these are
not
insects. They are descended from insects, but certain important evolutionary changes happened. They became warm-blooded. This means that they use blood and insulation and perspiration to regulate body temperature. That requires that there be an endoskeleton rather than the insectoid exoskeleton. This means that there are muscles over the bony structure, and skin over the muscles. We have to think of an evolved carapace, then, but with mammalian elements (no mammaries, though; no chest with breasts and nipples, just raw musculature for a double set of arms).
“We need, then, to work from the skeleton and musculature on out, before we worry about fur. Those middle legs are a problem. They have to be able to bear weight, though not as much as hips and thighs; the joint socket must be extraordinarily flexible, even more than shoulders. There will have to be muscles across the back, not only to allow the midarms to swing wide, but also to let them swing up and back. This is going to shape how the back looks—it won’t be either insectoid
or
mammalian.
“Only when we understand what the skin is covering can we then determine how fur should go. I believe they have adaptable hair. That is, in cold climates, the body grows the hair more thickly and shaggily; in warm environments, the thick longer hairs drop right off (in about two very sheddy days) and what’s left is a downy fuzz. Only then do we see the color of the skin, which will be quite different from the color of the long thick cold-weather fur.
“Only the hair on the head never changes. Think of Caesar’s look—curls, but nothing that covers the face or, especially, the eyes. And none on the antennae.
“We should be able to tell differences between different formics. Even though they don’t talk, we should at least have visual signals the way we do with smiles, grimaces, the face of rage, the face of love, etc. The mouth is going to be the most important aspect of this.”
Free People of Earth (SG, EE)
Free People of Earth, or FPE, was the name of the world government created by Peter Wiggin. Slowly, every nation but the United States joined the governing body, and it was thought that eventually the American government would, too. Peter Wiggin was the organization’s first and only Hegemon.
Free Play (EG, ES)
Free Play was a period of time in the daily Battle School schedule that allowed soldiers/students to play unstructured battles in the Battle Room, refining their skills. Ender used his Free Play to perfect his skills and to train others, which resulted in a banning of Free Play time.
Fukuda, Admiral (CM)
Admiral Fukuda was the second in command of the Lusitania Fleet, which had been ordered to destroy the planet Lusitania. He was a well-respected military man, and it appeared for a brief time that he would be given command of the fleet after his superior, Admiral Lands, tried unsuccessfully to resign.
Fushimi, Shigeru, Jr. (CM)
Shigeru Fushimi, Jr. was a respected businessman on the planet Divine Wind.
Fushimi, Shigeru, Sr. (CM)
Shigeru Fushimi, Sr. was a respected businessman on the planet Divine Wind.
Gales (
See
Hundred Worlds)
Game Room (EG, ES)
The Game Room was a portion of Battle School where students played holographic games. Teachers watched the students play the games to study each student’s individual strategies.
Ganges (
See
Hundred Worlds)
Giant (EG)
The Giant was the primary antagonist in the Battle School game, the “Giant’s Drink.” He was killed in the game by a virtual mouse controlled
by Ender Wiggin. His body decayed, though the game world around it continued to grow and evolve. His body ultimately became a grassy hill.
Giant’s Drink, the (EGS, EG, ES, [EE], XN)
Designed as the final part of the Fantasy Game at Battle School, the Giant’s Drink was a seemingly unwinnable game where the player, appearing as a mouse, is presented with two drinks by a Giant and promised that if the correct one is chosen, the player would be taken to Fairyland. However, both drinks were deadly, and it was impossible to win. Ender Wiggin grew frustrated with the game, and dumped out both drinks. He jumped upon the Giant and killed him by burrowing through his eye.
Ender returned to the game and explored the world that surrounded the decaying body of the Giant. He was confused by the game’s message: “This is the end of the world.” Eventually, the Giant’s body decomposed to the point that it became a grassy hill. Ender returned to the hill a few times.
During two separate return visits to the game, Ender saw a mirror in a castle. The face looking back at him in the mirror was not his own, but his brother Peter’s. This image was very damaging to Ender, as he realized that with all the deaths he’d caused in the game, he was no different from his murderous brother.
Years later, while serving as governor of a human colony, Ender and an eleven-year-old boy named Abra discovered the hill that Ender had seen in the game. It had been created by the Formics as a way to ensure that Ender found a surviving Hive Queen, and was patterned after Ender’s memories of the game.
It is thought that the game led indirectly to the suicide of a Battle School student named Pinual, though that theory has not been verified.
See also
Jane and Hive Queen.
Giria (EG)
Slang language similar to modern pidgin on Earth. Giria was used by the uneducated.
Glass (XN)
Glass was a pequenino, the sentient native life on the planet Lusitania. He was training to become a scientist, and worked as an assistant to Ela Ribeira von Hesse. He helped unlock the genetic manipulation that had been forced on certain people on the distant planet Path. He was also responsible for discovering that Si Wang-mu, a servant in the house of Han on Path, had experienced
the mutation, but had evolved beyond it. This discovery was the key to unlocking the manipulation.
He was also the test subject for the antivirus, the recolada, which removed the deadly Descolada virus from all the life on Lusitania, but allowed the creatures to maintain their sentience. The virus worked, and Glass was made into a worshipped fathertree, the highest honor the pequeninos gave their own.
Glideways (CM)
Glideways were a mode of transportation similar to a moving sidewalk, used throughout the Hundred Worlds and on spacecraft.
Good Ship Lollipop
(EE)
Good Ship Lollipop
was the nickname given by Valentine Wiggin to the first colony ship carrying human settlers to former Formic Worlds. The ship’s official name was
IFcoltrans1
.
Gold Bugs (GB, EE)
Gold Bugs were large insectoids, bred by the Formics to mine for precious metals on one of their worlds. When that world was colonized by humans after Ender’s victory against the Formics, the Gold Bugs were discovered by xenobiologist Sel Menach and his assistant Po Tolo.
Their exoskeleton was seemingly made of the precious metal they mined, making the bugs a precious natural resource themselves.
Grace Drinker’s Daughter (CM)
Like the rest of her family, Grace Drinker’s daughter seemed insignificant when standing next to her mother. Of Samoan descent, the daughter was a smart-alecky child whose comments were often insightful. She lived with her family on the planet Pacifica.
Grace Drinker’s Husband (CM)
Grace Drinker’s husband was known throughout their home planet of Pacifica as a large, almost jovial Samoan man. He had great strength and was supportive of his wife’s work as a teacher of the planet’s religious traditions. He joked often, but the jokes were warnings masked in laughter.
When Peter Wiggin II and Si Wang-mu sought counsel with Grace Drinker, her husband mocked the alien couple, even subtly threatening them.
Grace Drinker’s Son (CM)
To Grace Drinker’s son, the world revolved around his mother. A happy young man, he liked to joke with his family, with whom he lived on the planet Pacifica. He was present when Peter Wiggin II and Si Wang-mu sought audience with Grace and her mentor, the revered prophet Malu.
He was partly responsible for making sure Pacifica’s computer networks were non-Jane compliant, but under secret directive of the sentient computer, also helped to ensure their old computers were still able to hold Jane’s consciousness if the need ever arose. He revealed this to Peter II and Wang-mulate in their visit to his world.
THE HISTORY OF HYRUM GRAFF
Hyrum Graff’s personal history has not yet been fully examined. However, in an upcoming novel by Orson Scott Card and Aaron Johnston, many more details about the future commander of Battle School and Minister of Colonization will be revealed. Aaron Johnston explains:
“The novel (or series, should there be more than one) attempts to answer how Battle School came to be. And it does so by telling the story of young Hyrum Graff.
“About thirty years have passed since the Second Invasion, and the International Fleet claims to have posted a huge army of warships out beyond the comet shield to protect Earth from another Formic attack.
“Many on Earth resent the I.F. for this strategy, preferring instead to have the fleet’s protection much closer to home. If the people knew the truth, that there
is
no fleet at the comet shield, that the fleet is in fact heading toward the Formic home world to destroy it, and that Earth is even less defended than believed, there would be even greater political unrest.
“Amidst all this is sixteen-year-old Hyrum Graff, who lives on a farm in the Midwest with his parents and six siblings. Hyrum is fascinated with Formic technology and has been studying it on the nets for years, even going so far as to make modifications to the farm’s equipment and machines, using principles of Formic engineering.
“Despite his dedication to the farm, however, Hyrum always seems to be in the shadow of his older, stronger brother, Quin, on whom his father dotes.
“As for the farm, it’s been struggling for years despite the family’s hard work, and is now near bankruptcy. Everything changes when the I.F. arrives. They’ve been observing Hyrum for some time now—following his movements on the nets, as well as through other means—and their offer is
simple: they’ll give him a place at their prestigious Pre-command training school and pay a stipend to Hyrum’s family that will keep the farm afloat.
“Hyrum accepts, and at Pre-command, the I.F. recognizes that Hyrum’s skills exceed those of a would-be engineer: his greatest talent is bureaucracy, organizing and motivating people, managing systems, and helping others exceed their own expectations—precisely how he managed the migrant workers on the farm back home.
“But when a dignitary visits Pre-command, Hyrum discovers the truth about the fleet and a secret plot to destroy the ansible and force the fleet back to earth. Young, barely trained, and inexperienced, Hyrum and a small group of cadets must stop those behind the coup and keep the fleet on course.”
