The Authorized Ender Companion (26 page)

Grace told Malu of the arrival of two off-worlders who sought an audience with the spiritual giant of Pacifica. They did not have time to be purified, so Malu made the journey from his secluded island to the mainland, where he met with Peter Wiggin II and Si Wang-mu, who were hoping to subvert the Starways Congress’s plan to destroy Jane, the sentient computer.

Malu knew of Jane, believing her to be a god, and told the story, through Grace as his translator, of her development and existence. He knew the need to keep Jane alive. Having said his piece, Malu took his leave of Peter II and Wang-mu, only to return very shortly thereafter. He approached Wang-mu. He knew that it was her love that would bring the god Jane and Peter II new life.

Once Ender died, joining his soul with Peter II’s and Valentine II’s, all in Peter II’s body, Malu celebrated, for he knew the god Jane was safe inside Valentine II’s body. But he also knew that his people had disobeyed congressional order, by Jane’s secret direction, and did not discard their old computers that once housed the sentient computer-god.

He was present when the new non-Jane compliant computers were started up, and also watched as their old computers were restarted. The old computers housed a network wherein Jane could potentially live. Malu celebrated when it became apparent that she could live, at least part-time since she was in Valentine II’s body, in their old network and could continue to control faster-than-light travel. His god lived.

Mandachuva (SD)

A native “piggie” or pequenino on the planet Lusitania, Mandachuva was a good friend with the piggie named Rooter. They encountered the
xenobiologist named Pipo, and often spoke with him, teaching him about piggie culture.

Mandachuva lived for many years, befriending not only Pipo, but also his son, Libo, and grandchildren, Miro and Ouanda. He was a reliable guide to the piggie society, which the xenologists on Lusitania relied on.

The male piggie told Miro that they needed metal. It was unclear what the animallike creatures would use metal for, but Mandachuva was insistent. He was equally insistent that the piggies be allowed to speak with the newly arrived Speaker for the Dead, Andrew Wiggin.

When Ender arrived, Mandachuva was one of the piggies to talk with him and share with him the dream his people had of space travel. Later he saw Miro Ribeira climb over the wall that blocked the human and piggie civilizations. With Miro severely hurt, Mandachuva climbed over the wall himself and raced to find Ouanda.

With Ouanda, he went into town to get help for the injured Miro. He was the first piggie that the leaders of the colony had ever seen. These leaders, including Ender Wiggin, followed Mandachuva back to the piggie home, shut off the fence, and tried to save Miro.

He accompanied Ender, his party, and other piggies to see the wives—the female, governing piggies—to negotiate the treaty between humans and pequeninos. He also helped Ender perform the “Third Life” ritual on Human, showing him the highest respect he could.

Maria (SD)

Maria was a daughter of Pipo, the xenologist, born on the planet Lusitania. She died at a young age from the virus known as the Descolada.

Martel (SG)

Martel was a political pundit on the computer nets who commented on Hegemony policy in the years after Ender’s victory over the Formics. Petra Arkanian was the writer behind Martel, under the direction of Peter Wiggin the Hegemon. She filled a role nearly identical to Peter’s sister, Valentine, who wrote as “Demosthenes” during the Formic wars.

Martinov, Pyotr (SD)

Pyotr Martinov was a high-ranking official in the Starways Congress. He worked with Gobawa Ekumbo to enforce the laws against the rebellious planet, Lusitania.

Maternal Grandmother of Bonzo Madrid (PB)

Bonzo Madrid’s grandmother (his mother’s mother) hosted Bonzo and his mother while she recovered from the discovery of her husband’s affair. Grandmother kept some of Bonzo’s old clothes that were too small, and Bonzo thought she was a bad cook.

Mateu, Father (SD)

Father Mateu was a Catholic priest on the planet Lusitania.

McPhee, Fernao (EE)

Fernao McPhee was a soldier who fought in the Formic War and was assigned to help colonize a former Formic planet. As a foreman in communal fields, he refused to give xenobiologist Sel Menach a job when the scientist asked for one.

Mebane, Dr. Howard (SP)

Dr. Howard Mebane was a physician at the Florida-based Mayo clinic. He studied the genetic manipulation that had been performed on Bean Delphiki and was searching for treatment options that would prolong Bean’s life in the face of his accelerated growth.

Meeker, Dink (EG, WG, ES, SH, SG)

Dink Meeker was an older contemporary of Ender’s and Bean’s at Battle School. Born and raised in the Netherlands, he made the derogatory comment that both Ender and Bean could walk between his legs without touching his balls when he first met each soldier.

He was a toon leader in Rat Army and was assigned Ender when Ender was reassigned from Salamander to Rat. That was December, the month of traditional holiday celebration, and Dink secretly gave a gift of a poem to his friend and fellow Dutchman, Flip. Though simple, the gift caused a tremendous problem at Battle School when the religious zealot Zeck Morgan cried foul and insisted that all religious observance be allowed on the station. Dink responded by setting up a secret gift exchange among the students at Battle School, where they would hide small gifts in each other’s socks. It resulted in further dissension at the school when Zeck influenced a Muslim student to lead a group of Muslim students in their ritual daily prayer. Though Dink had broken the Battle School rules by celebrating a holiday, he was not sorry. In fact, the situation only strengthened his feelings about Battle School and its policies.

Dink had a very cynical view of Battle School, the International Fleet, and the Hegemony. He doubted the reality of the Formics and their war, believing the video footage of the invasions from decades earlier had been created by the Hegemony. Though supportive of Ender, Dink Meeker was not a friend; he was a colleague. But his respect for Ender increased in the aftermath of the gift-giving saga as Ender bridged the gap between Zeck and the rest of the Battle School community.

Reportedly, Dink had been promoted to commander on two occasions, but refused the assignment (even hiding in his room until the Battle School administrators moved him back to an army). He liked being in an army more than commanding one.

Nearly two years later, Dink succeeded Rosen as commander of Rat Army. When Ender was promoted to command an army himself, Dink and Ender felt a rift in their friendship. They were in competition with one another, and the fact was, neither was willing to lose. Despite their competition, Dink was still close to Ender. When Bonzo Madrid decided to kill Ender, it was Dink who warned Ender to never be alone. When Bonzo made his move, Dink was there. Although restrained by Bonzo’s friends, Dink tried desperately to save Ender. Ender was victorious in the fight—unintentionally killing Bonzo—and left with Dink, crying.

When Ender left to go to Command School, Dink aligned himself with Bean, a newly promoted commander who had been in Ender’s dominant Dragon Army. The two of them convinced their peers at Battle School to reject the traditional expectations of adhering to the standings in the game, and to focus only on becoming the best soldiers they could.

Dink was a successful commander in Battle School, and was eventually promoted to Tactical School and (a week later) Command School where he was one of Ender’s squadron leaders in the “exams”—the actual battles where the children controlled fleets of starships and fighters against the Formics.

Following Ender’s victory, Dink was one of Ender’s friends who told him that the war that had broken out on Earth had ended thanks to something called “The Locke Proposal.”

Dink was one of the ten former Command School soldiers who were kidnapped after the wars. They were forced by their captives to play war games. Dink was the first to greet Petra Arkanian when she was brought to the war games area, having spent the longest amount of time in solitary confinement. Dink and his fellow prisoners played the games but knew that their captors were not good at staging the simulations.

He was among those of his colleagues who felt contacting Peter Wiggin was the key to their freedom.

Like the rest of the prisoners, Dink was taken by his captor, revealed to be Achilles Flandres, a former Battle School student and a serial killer, to a private location somewhere in Russia. He was still permitted to communicate via e-mail with his colleagues, but was not allowed to be in their presence.

After several months, Dink and the rest of the prisoners, except Petra Arkanian, were rescued by Russian operatives. Achilles thought Petra was the smartest of the group and kept her captive, but did not interfere with the others’ rescue.

With no military to speak of in Dink’s home, the Netherlands, he was sent to the United Kingdom where he was an adviser to the British army. He was approached a couple of years later by both Hyrum Graff and Peter Wiggin and offered a new life in space, free of the unstable political climate of Earth. Like the rest of his fellow Battle School grads, he refused.

As Peter built the Hegemony into the Free People of Earth, Graff again offered Ender’s colleagues the opportunity to leave Earth and govern a planet. It was his fear that Ender’s army would be used in the worldwide conflict, manipulated by whatever political power rose to prominence, and he wanted to prevent that. Every member who received the offer, which did not include Han Tzu, Petra Arkanian, or Alai, said no. The others were already too involved in matters on Earth to leave.

Somewhere along the lines, Dink decided to leave Earth and go to space with a colony, but not as its leader. Petra wrote to him to say good-bye and good luck to him, not fully understanding why he would choose to go but not govern the colony. It turned out, though, that Dink had chosen to govern the colony and would lead the people with whom he traveled once they reached their destination.

Memphis (
See
Hundred Worlds)

Menach, Sel (GB, EE)

Czech-born Sel Menach was a soldier in the International Fleet, and was commanded by Ender and his squadron at Command School. Sel did not fight the Formics at their home world that was destroyed by the Molecular Detachment Device, but near another Formic planet.

After Ender’s victory, Sel helped settle the nearby planet, now supposedly devoid of Formic life, serving as the planet’s xenobiologist. He helped determine the order of marriage for the planet. Because of his reputation for
great intelligence, many women in the colony wanted to have his child. Even his xenobiologist assistant, Afraima, propositioned him, leading him to seek employment away from her.

Never wanting to be a leader, Sel Menach at first refused the position of governor in Shakespeare colony. He only accepted when his friend Vitaly, the first governor, asked him to take it to ensure a smooth transition of power when Ender Wiggin arrived.

As Ender’s arrival grew imminent, Sel dismissed himself from his gubernatorial duties and explored the planet with Po Tolo, the son of his friend and fellow xenobiologist, Ix. Po and Sel discovered the Gold Bugs—a race of insectlike miners who absorbed the metals they mined into their exoskeletons. They had been used by the Formics to mine the planet’s natural resources. Sel and Po devoted the rest of their lives to the study of the Gold Bugs and their cousins that mined silver, copper, etc.

Once these metal bugs were used to create coins for Shakespeare, Sel’s face was minted on one of them in tribute to the job he’d done as governor.

Mercutio (
See
Hundred Worlds)

Meson (XN)

The subatomic particles that make up neutrons and protons. Splitting a meson and carrying the two fragments suspended in a magnetic field creates the philotic connection used in an ansible.

Meta Science
(SD)

Meta Science: The Journal of Methodology
was a prestigious scientific journal among the Hundred Worlds. Ender Wiggin’s stepchildren on the planet Lusitania admired it and read it frequently.

Michi (SD)

Michi was a child on the planet Lusitania. He was friends with Olhado Ribeira von Hesse and enjoyed playing football with him.

Mick (EG)

Mick saw Ender was eating alone in Battle School and chose to sit with him. He went on to tell Ender that every launch group had a soldier no one wanted to be around. Mick was not a very good soldier, telling Ender that no one really noticed him. He was not Tactical School material, and wouldn’t amount to anything. He told Ender also that if Ender wanted to be the best,
he would need to work hard, but it still wouldn’t matter because Ender was nobody.

Milagre (
See
Hundred Worlds)

Mindanao (
See
Hundred Worlds)

Mingo (SD)

Mingo was a child of Gusto and Cida, the xenobiologists on the planet Lusitania, and was killed by the Descolada virus.

Minister of Defense—Thailand (SH)

In the aftermath of an assassination attempt on Bean Delphiki in Thailand, the Minister of Defense in that nation replaced the Chakri as the top military leader in the country. The Chakri had been a conspirator in the assassination attempt, and as such resigned from his position.

Mirabella (ES)

Mirabella, or Bell as she preferred, was a student at the same high school Peter Wiggin attended in Greensboro, North Carolina. She was irritated with Peter’s offer of help on a school assignment because he, being fourteen years old, was much younger than she, and way too young to be the senior he was.

Peter used her rejection as a catalyst for determining how great leaders of the past won over their subjects. He manipulated her later by thanking her for showing him how offensive he was, and telling her how highly he thought of her. She believed it all, but it was a lie.