Thanks to the tablet coverage, Benedetto’s victims now knew what he had done to them. He had not been very discriminating about whom he stole from, and some of his victims had the power to reach into the prison system. Benedetto was the only one who ever knew whether it was a guard or another prisoner who cut his throat and jammed his head into the toilet so that it was a toss-up as to whether the drowning or the blood loss actually killed him.
Andrew Wiggin felt sick at heart over the death of this tax collector. But Valentine assured him that it was nothing but coincidence that the man was arrested and died so soon after trying to blackmail him. “You can’t blame yourself for everything that happens to people around you,” she said. “Not everything is your fault.”
Not his fault, no. But Andrew still felt some kind of responsibility to the man, for he was sure that Jane’s ability to resecure his files and hide his voyage information was somehow connected with what happened to the tax man. Of course Andrew had the right to protect himself from blackmail, but death was too heavy a penalty for what Benedetto had done. Taking property was never sufficient cause for the taking of life.
So he went to Benedetto’s family and asked if he might do something for them. Since all Benedetto’s money had been seized for restitution, they were destitute; Andrew provided them with a comfortable annuity. Jane assured him that he could afford it without even noticing.
And one other thing. He asked if he might speak at the funeral. And not just speak, but do a speaking. He admitted he was new at it, but he would try to bring truth to Benedetto’s story and help them make sense of what he did.
They agreed.
Jane helped him discover a record of Benedetto’s financial dealings, and then proved to be valuable in much more difficult searches—into Benedetto’s childhood, the family he grew up with, how he developed his pathological hunger to provide for the people he loved and his utter amorality about taking what belonged to others. When Andrew did the speaking, he held back nothing and excused nothing. But it was of some comfort to the family that Benedetto, for all the shame and loss he had brought to them, despite the fact that he had caused his own separation from the family, first through prison and then through death, had loved them and tried to care for them. And, perhaps more important, when the speaking was done, the life of a man like Benedetto was not incomprehensible anymore. The world made sense.
Ten weeks after their arrival, when Andrew and Valentine left Sorelledolce, Valentine was ready to write her book on crime in a criminal society, and Andrew was happy to go along with her to her next project. On the customs form, where it asked for “occupation,” instead of typing “student” or “investor,” Andrew typed in “speaker for the dead.” The computer accepted it. He had a career now, one that he had inadvertently created for himself years ago.
And he did not have to follow the career that his wealth had almost forced on him. Jane would take care of all of that for him. He still felt a little uneasy about this software. He felt sure that somewhere down the line, he would find out the true cost of all this convenience. In the meantime, though, it was very helpful to have such an excellent, efficient all-around assistant. Valentine was a little jealous, and asked him where she might find such a program. Jane’s reply was that she’d be glad to help Valentine with any research or financial assistance she needed, but she would remain Andrew’s software, personalized for his needs.
Valentine was a little annoyed by this. Wasn’t it taking personalization a bit too far? But after a bit of grumbling, she laughed the whole thing off. “I can’t promise I won’t get jealous, though,” said Valentine. “Am I about to lose a brother to a piece of software?”
“Jane is nothing but a computer program,” said Andrew. “A very good one. But she does only what I tell her, like any other program. If I start developing some kind of personal relationship with her, you have my permission to lock me up.”
So Andrew and Valentine left Sorelledolce, and the two of them continued to journey world to world, exactly as they had done before. Nothing was any different, except that Andrew no longer had to worry about his taxes, and he took considerable interest in the obituary columns when he reached a new planet.
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in these stories are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.
FIRST MEETINGS: IN THE ENDERVERSE
Copyright © 2003 by Orson Scott Card
“The Polish Boy” copyright © 2002 by Orson Scott Card first appeared in First Meetings: Three Stories from the Enderverse.
“Teacher’s Pest” copyright © 2003 by Orson Scott Card appears here for the first time.
“Ender’s Game” copyright © 1977 by Orson Scott Card first appeared in Analog magazine.
“Investment Counselor” copyright © 2000 by Orson Scott Card first appeared in Far Horizons, edited by Robert Silverberg.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.
Interior illustrations by Craig Phillips
A Tor Book
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ISBN: 978-0-7653-0873-3
First Meetings Page 16
