The Authorized Ender Companion (30 page)

He later defended the decision to join Achilles because he thought Achilles was controlling the “Mother Land” of Russia and only wanted to serve Russia. This was doubted by the real military leaders in Russia, and elsewhere, but Vlad stood by it unwaveringly.

When Bean and Petra helped their Battle School colleague Alai plan a military invasion of China, Bean thought turning to Vlad would be wise. Alai was uncertain, but Bean knew if the invasion was to work, it needed Russia’s help. And Vlad was the key to Russia.

Russia did not play a part in the Muslim occupation of Asia. Instead, it stayed on the sidelines and watched. Vlad, not trusted because of his work with Achilles while kidnapped, was not as influential as he appeared.

Several months later, as India began to push back against its Muslim occupiers, Peter Wiggin sought out Vlad, hoping that he would help Russia be an ally in the impending war in Asia. Vlad did not have authority to make any promises, but that was okay with Peter. He actually made Vlad another offer—which Hyrum Graff had also made—which was to leave Earth and begin a new life in space. Like all of his Battle School colleagues, Vlad refused, but promised to think about it.

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.

War raged on between China and the combined forces of India and the Muslim world. Russia decided to attack, hoping to capitalize on a weakened Chinese army. They used plans created by Vlad for their attack. Vlad escaped from Russia and was put into the protection of Peter Wiggin’s Free People of Earth. Vlad gave the FPE copies of all of his plans, which were passed on to China, newly aligned with the FPE, to defeat the Russians.

Pots (SD)

Pots was a pequenino, the native, sentient animal life on the planet Lusitania.

Pre-command School (EG, ES)

Pre-command School was another training facility sponsored by the International Fleet. Not much is known about the school beyond its existence, though it is sometimes thought to refer to the period of time a student spent in Battle School and Tactical School before attending Command School.

Problems in Campaigning Between Solar Systems Separated by Light Years
(ES)

Problems in Campaigning Between Solar Systems Separated by Light Years
was an essay written in Battle School by Bean Delphiki. Its insightful nature garnered Bean the attention of Battle School administrators, such as Hyrum Graff.

Psychiatrist/Psychologist (SH)

The psychiatrist was the top official in the mission that was designed to rescue Petra Arkanian from Achilles Flandres shortly after she returned home from Battle School. The psychiatrist was not a good military strategist, something that Petra made very clear to him. He revealed that though he spoke like a psychiatrist, he was actually a psychologist. Petra mocked him. Moments later, he was shot dead by Achilles, who wanted to keep Petra with him as he set his sights on world domination.

Puladors (SD)

Puladors were insects native to the planet Lusitania. They mated with shiny-leafed bushes.

Pumphrey, Miss (EG)

Miss Pumphrey was Ender’s schoolteacher on Earth when he was six years old. She helped him find his seat in the classroom and remember to go to the bus following his monitor removal treatment.

Purification Box (XN)

The Purification Box was a small area of the Isolation Shed on the planet Lusitania where victims exposed to the life-threatening Descolada were showered with an antidote and endured blasts of radiation to kill the virus.

Qing-Jao’s Teacher (XN)

A scholar on the Chinese planet Path, Qing-jao’s teacher helped her discover her godspoken abilities and talents.

Qu (XN)

Qu was the Chinese city where the fairy tale
The Jade of Master Ho
took place.

Quara (
See
Ribeira von Hesse, Lembrança das Milagres de Jesus “Quara”)

Quim (
See
Ribeira von Hesse, Estevão Rei “Quim”)

Rã “Tomás” (SD)

Rã was a child to Pipo and Conceição, born on the planet Lusitania.

“Rackham,” Kahhui Kura “Mirth” (Actual last name unknown; Rackham used for convenience) (MP)

Kahhui Kura Rackham, or “Mirth” as she was known, was Mazer Rackham’s granddaughter.

Rackham, Mazer (MP, EGS, EG, ES, [GB], [YM], EE, SG)

He was considered the greatest soldier of his time, and one that the International Fleet could not bear to lose. Mazer Rackham seemingly single-handedly saved the world from the first Formic invasion. It was an act for which Mazer felt punished.

Born in New Zealand, Mazer was a warrior in the proudest Maori tradition although he was only half-Maori. He was a smart soldier, and despite the illogical use of a “rear echelon” in three-dimensional space battle, he used his own military prowess to notice the weakness of the Formic armies. He constantly put up with inferiorly talented superior officers before firing (against orders) the missile that destroyed the invasion fleet.

Following the war, Mazer was placed in one of the International Fleet’s courier ships and sent into the stars where his only exercise consisted of electrical stimulus to his muscles. He traveled at nearly the speed of light in an effort to use the relativistic space travel to keep him young enough to command the Fleet in the future. The ship was programmed to return after a preset amount of time and distance. He would have aged only five years, though decades passed on Earth; upon his return to his home planet, he would be expected to assist with the training of a new leader for the Fleet.

Though his victories in the war had become the Fleet’s greatest propaganda tool, and his legend had been perpetuated through the vids that everyone saw, Mazer’s time in space was lonely. He had made the decision to take this short trip alone.

He utilized the ansible for communication with the International Fleet headquarters. Through this method, he communicated with then-lieutenant Hyrum Graff, hesitantly advising him on the search for Mazer’s successor as the heroic general who would save humanity. Graff had located Mazer’s family on Earth and used them to convince Mazer to help him. Mazer was angered that his family, to whom he was considered dead, was used in such a fashion.

Despite his loneliness, Mazer ultimately consented to receiving the letters that accompanied the visual message. The letters were at times challenging to read, but Mazer appreciated the updates on his family. However, through these letters he learned that his ex-wife, Kim Summers, had remarried.

The Computer Voice that provided his only companionship in this stage of his journey reported back to the Fleet Mazer’s emotional responses to the letters. It also reported that he had reprogrammed the ship and computer to allow him complete navigational control. The Fleet had grown concerned over these reports and sent shrinks to evaluate him via ansible. Mazer had decided he would not be coming back to Earth. The Fleet, in its search for a new commander, was on its own.

Mazer instructed the Fleet to give Hyrum Graff sufficient authority to truly find a successor to lead the human forces against the Formics. Then, and only then, would Mazer return to Earth, promising to help train his successor a few years earlier than the original plan. The Fleet had no option but to agree, and promoted Graff. Mazer fulfilled his part of the bargain, returning to Earth to train the new commander.

Mazer met his protégé at Command School. The boy, Ender Wiggin, had been sent to this highest of military schools at a very young age, and Mazer
was assigned to teach him to defeat the Formics. He used silence and levels of deceit to teach Ender to win. Mazer also used physical violence against Ender when they first met. His intent was to teach Ender to fight to win, which Ender learned by retaliating against the older man. Mazer, satisfied that Ender was ready to lead the armies of the world against the Formics, promised that all training from then on would involve the simulators.

Mazer pushed Ender past his limits. But Ender rose above the pressure, and in his “final exam” at Command School, destroyed the Formic home world. Mazer revealed to Ender that the exams and simulators had all been real battles. Furthermore, Mazer told Ender that war was breaking out on Earth, and Ender could never return home.

Ever-defiant to his superiors, Mazer testified on Hyrum Graff’s behalf when the Battle School officer was court-martialed. Mazer and Ender had had several conversations about the Formics, Graff, and Ender’s role in the deaths of Bonzo Madrid and the boy named Stilson. Mazer would never directly confirm any of Ender’s theories. His lack of denial was always enough for Ender to know he was right.

Following Ender’s victory, Mazer was chosen to be the pilot of the first colony ship in the new Dispersion Project, colonizing former Formic worlds with humans. Ender was also placed in this project, alongside Mazer. The two heroes of the Formic wars were side-by-side in the new era of humanity.

It was all a lie, however. Mazer never left Earth or the Fleet. He continued to work with Hyrum Graff in the Ministry of Colonization. Though he was not seen for years during the wars on Earth after Ender’s victory, Mazer resurfaced to offer Han Tzu and Bean Delphiki passage into space, which would save their lives. Han Tzu refused, while Bean agreed. Mazer said Bean would have to help Peter Wiggin establish his world government. The International Fleet had great interest in Peter’s success, and Mazer was determined to do his part in securing it, even if his part was swaying Earth-bound individuals like Han Tzu and Bean to do Fleet bidding.

He accompanied Bean’s wife, Petra Arkanian, to Portugal where she retrieved a girl named Bella, who had been born by a surrogate mother carrying an embryo that belonged to Bean and Petra. Mazer and Graff had tracked down the embryo and learned the truth about Bella’s existence. Mazer accompanied Petra to ensure a smooth transfer from mother to mother.

As Peter built the Hegemony into the Free People of Earth, Graff and Mazer 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.

Mazer and Graff traveled to a neutral site with Peter where they made the same offer to Virlomi, the leader of India who had hoped to marry Peter and expand her own power. Peter refused her advances, and she refused Mazer and Graff’s offer.

As Mazer and Peter spoke together, they agreed the time was right for the International Fleet to give Bean a spaceship. They’d promised to take him and his genetically altered children into space to await a cure for their mutation. Mazer had located all but one of Bean’s children, and under the direction of Peter, delivered them to Bean and Petra.

Mazer also facilitated the divorce between Bean and Petra. He knew much of Petra’s heartache at saying good-bye to her husband and children, as he’d experienced a similar period of sadness when he left Earth after stopping the Formics nearly a century earlier. Petra doubted his compassion, but Mazer reiterated his love for her, Bean, and all the other Battle School children.

Both Mazer and Graff had grown to love the Battle Schoolers as their own children, and only wanted them to have the best possible life. All that he had done over the years was to that end, though his methods may have seemed contrary.

Many years later, once the Free People of Earth embodied every government in the world save the United States, Mazer died. His life and death were immortalized in a series of books on the History of the Formic wars, written from space by Valentine Wiggin.

In these books, Mazer was credited as the military hero he was. But his love for his family and the Battle Schoolers was also an important point. Humanity thought of Mazer as a hero long before Ender defeated the Formics, and they remembered him as such long after world peace was established.

“Rackham,” Mazer Taka Aho Howarth (Actual last name unknown; Rackham used for con ve nience) (MP)

Mazer Rackham’s grandson. With Mazer’s legendary status ever-growing on Earth after the victory in the first Formic invasion, this grandchild looked up to his grandfather, choosing to go by his name. Mazer saw him for the first time alongside the rest of the grandchildren in the message Hyrum Graff had arranged.