Excerpt
from Ender in Exile
by Orson Scott Card
Ender in Exile : Chapter 1
To:
jpwiggin@gso.nc.pub,
twiggin@uncg.edu
From:
hgraff%educadmin@ifcom.gov
Subj:
When
Andrew Returns Home
Dear John Paul and Theresa Wiggin,
You
understand that during the recent attempt by the Warsaw Pact to take
over the International Fleet, our sole concern at EducAdmin was the
safety of the children. Now we are finally able to begin working out
the logistics of sending the children home.
We assure you
that Andrew will be provided with continuous surveillance and an
active bodyguard throughout his transfer from the I.F. to American
government control. We are still negotiating the degree to which the
I.F. will continue to provide protection after the transfer.
Every
effort is being made by EducAdmin to assure that Andrew will be able
to return to the most normal childhood possible. However, I wish your
advice about whether he should be retained here in isolation until
the conclusion of the inquiries into EducAdmin actions during the
late campaign. It is quite likely that testimony will be offered that
depicts Andrew and his actions in damaging ways, in order to attack
EducAdmin through him (and the other children). Here at IFCom we can
keep him from hearing the worst of it; on Earth, no such protection
will be possible and it is likelier that he will be called to
"testify."
Hyrum Graff
Theresa Wiggin was sitting up
in bed, holding her printout of Graff's letter. "'Called to
"testify."' Which means putting him on exhibit as -- what,
a hero? More likely a monster, since we already have various senators
decrying the exploitation of children."
"That'll
teach him to save the human race," said her husband, John Paul.
"This is not a time for flippancy."
"Theresa,
be reasonable," said John Paul. "I want Ender home as much
as you do."
"No you don't," said Theresa
fiercely. "You don't ache with the need for him every day."
Even as she said it she knew she was being unfair to him, and she
covered her eyes and shook her head.
To his credit, he
understood and didn't argue with her about what he did and did not
feel. "You can never have the years they've taken, Theresa. He's
not the boy we knew."
"Then we'll get to know the
boy he is. Here. In our home."
"Surrounded by
guards."
"That's the part I refuse to
accept. Who would want to hurt him?"
John Paul set down
the book he was no longer pretending to read. "Theresa, you're
the smartest person I know."
"He's a child!"
"He won a war against incredibly superior forces."
"He fired off one weapon. Which he did not design
or deploy."
"He got that weapon into firing range."
"The formics are gone! He's a hero, he's not in danger."
"All right, Theresa, he's a hero. How is he going to go
to middle school? What eighth-grade teacher is ready for him? What
school dance is he going to be ready for?"
"It will
take time. But here, with his family -- "
"Yes,
we're such a warm, welcoming group of people, a love nest into which
he'll fit so easily."
"We do love each
other!"
"Theresa, Colonel Graff is only trying to
warn us that Ender isn't just our son."
"He's
nobody else's son."
"You know who
wants to kill our son."
"No, I don't."
"Every government that thinks of American military power
as an obstacle to their plans."
"But Ender isn't
going to be in the military, he's going to be -- "
"This week he won't be in the American military. Maybe.
He won a war at the age of twelve, Theresa. What makes you think he
won't be drafted by our benevolent and democratic government the
moment he gets back to Earth? Or put into protective custody? Maybe
they'll let us go with him and maybe they won't."
Theresa
let the tears flow down her cheeks. "So you're saying that when
he left here we lost him forever."
"I'm saying that
when your child goes off to war, you will never get him back. Not as
he was, not the same boy. Changed, if he comes back at all. So let me
ask you. Do you want him to go where he's in the greatest danger, or
to stay where he's relatively safe?"
"You think
Graff is trying to get us to tell him to keep Ender with him out
there in space."
"I think Graff cares what happens
to Ender, and he's letting us know -- without actually saying it,
because every letter he sends can be used against him in court --
that Ender is in terrible danger. Not ten minutes after Ender's
victory, the Russians made their brutal play for control of the I.F.
Their soldiers killed thousands of fleet officers before the I.F was
able to force their surrender. What would they have done if they had
won? Brought Ender home and put on a big parade for him?"
Theresa knew all of this. She had known it, viscerally at
least, from the moment she read Graff's letter. No, she had known it
even before, had known it with a sick dread as soon as she heard that
the Formic War was over. He would not be coming home.
Copyright © 2008 Orson Scott Card