by Black, Jake
Akbar, Ensign (EE)
Ensign Akbar was a crewman aboard Ender’s first colony ship. He showed Ender and Valentine Wiggin to their quarters aboard the ship. When the ship arrived at the colony, Ensign Akbar tried to mediate a conflict between colonists Dorabella Toscano and her daughter Alessandra. Since Dorabella was married to the commanding officer of the ship, Admiral Morgan, she threatened Akbar with disciplinary action for his interference in a family matter. Ender Wiggin, the governor of the colony, encouraged Akbar to resign his fleet commission and to stay in the colony. Akbar chose to do just that.
Alai (EG, ES, SH, SP, SG)
Alai was Bernard’s best friend at Battle School and a member of Ender Wiggin’s launch group. Although initially a member of Bernard’s gang, Alai teamed up with Ender in the group’s first practice in the Battle Room. Together they joined with Shen and Bernard and froze the rest of their group in that first practice.
Alai and Ender became close friends, and both felt a great sadness when Ender was promoted to Salamander Army more than a year before the rest of his launch group. Alai had a tender good-bye with Ender, quietly sharing a sacred expression of friendship as he left.
Ender, not allowed to practice with Salamander Army, put together a group of friends to practice together during Free Play, including Alai. Alai was committed to these extra practices even when rumors of blacklisting for those participating circulated around Battle School.
Ultimately, though, when Ender was promoted again to commander of Dragon Army, Alai believed the lies and rumors disseminated from the Battle School officers that Ender considered himself too good to practice with the “little guys” anymore. Consequently, Alai felt a bit more motivation to defeat Ender in battle. He promised to whip Ender’s ass, stating that the wish of peace they’d shared was not to be.
Alai was one of Ender’s squadron leaders at Command School (after being at Tactical School for one week), commanding fleets of ships that he thought were simulated, but which were actually real. After Ender’s victory over the Formic home world, it was Alai who told Ender about the war on Earth, and the conflicts that arose from it.
He was among those of Ender’s colleagues who were kidnapped and taken to an undisclosed location in Russia where he was forced to play war games with his friends. He hoped that they would be able to contact Peter Wiggin who, he thought, held the key to their freedom.
When it was revealed the former Battle School student and serial killer Achilles Flandres was their captor, Alai and his friends were moved to separate locations throughout Russia. They continued their war games and were only allowed to communicate with each other via e-mail.
Along with his fellow prisoners (minus Petra Arkanian), Alai was rescued by Russian operatives. The mission was unimpeded by Achilles who focused his energies only on Petra.
Alai used his tremendous intelligence to achieve a position of great influence in the Muslim world. He led the powerful Muslim League. Bean knew that he needed Alai’s help, and thereby the Muslim world’s, to defeat Achilles as he continued his plans of world domination. Bean sent their mutual friend, Ambul, to Alai to seek audience for Bean and Petra, who were in hiding. The Muslim world, under Alai’s direction, had become very isolated. Getting an audience with Alai would be very difficult, but Bean believed Ambul could accomplish the challenging task.
Ambul was successful, and Alai dispatched several Indonesian soldiers to rescue Bean and Petra, who were to be kidnapped from the Rotterdam women’s clinic where they’d undergone an embryonic implantation. Alai promised safety in Damascus. It was revealed that Alai was not only the leader of the Muslim League, but was the Caliph who led all Muslims.
Upon Petra’s arrival in Damascus, Alai treated her with somber respect. They were friends from Battle School, of course, but there was an emotional distance between them that they had not felt in their relationship before. Alai promised that while the Muslim world no longer made war on the West, and did not plan to attack China or any other nation, he viewed Achilles as an enemy, and vowed to help find Petra’s stolen frozen embryos.
For months, Alai worked with Bean to plan a military invasion of China, freeing the captured Muslim peoples of Asia. Though Alai didn’t trust Bean as much as he did the rest of his inner circle, they worked well together. Bean encouraged Alai to contact Vlad in Russia and Virlomi in India and to coordinate their attack with the soldiers at the others’ disposal. Alai disagreed, but went forward with the attack anyway.
The invasion of China went very well. The Chinese government ignored the Muslim advances, discounting them as an insurgency. It made Alai a little nervous that it was too good to be true. Petra and Bean reassured him all was well and that it was time for him to make his first live speech as the new Caliph. He would update his people on the progress of the invasion and unify the Muslim world more so than he already had.
Fireworks preceded the speech in Damascus. Many people rushed into the streets to hear Alai address them. Petra and Bean left Alai’s compound and watched the speech from a restaurant.
Alai was hailed as a great leader and a divinely appointed ruler. His soldiers were successful in freeing Asia from the Chinese military, and his influence was felt all over the world.
A few weeks after the victory over China, Alai met with Peter Wiggin and Petra. Peter had hoped to find an ally in Alai. They revealed to the Caliph that his people were murdering innocents in India, and that his position was one of figurehead, without true power. Alai, realizing this was true, took greater control over his inner circle and exercised real influence in the Muslim world. While he did not promise an alliance with the Hegemon Peter Wiggin, he reassured the leader that he would prevent further murders by Muslims in Asia and would take greater control as the leader of his people.
To accomplish this, he left the compound in Damascus and headed for the battlefields of India. There he would kill the rebellious general who led his armies in the killing of innocents that had been broadcast across the news nets. Along the way he met with Peter Wiggin, who asked that Alai name a successor who would be loyal to the Hegemony if Alai were killed in India. Alai made such a statement on a vid, but it was unnecessary. His execution of the rebel general went perfectly, and the soldiers renewed their commitment to follow Alai.
Alai was certain that it would be he, not Peter, who would unify the world. He set up a new compound in India. Virlomi lived in a small hut just outside the compound. Her presence kept the Muslim and Indian people in check as neither side wanted to provoke the other.
Virlomi convinced Alai to marry her, unifying the Hindu and Muslim worlds. But Virlomi’s ambition was too much for Alai, and he quickly fell out of love with her. She wanted to overthrow Peter Wiggin and rule the world; Alai had only wanted peace and unity between the peoples. Trapped in his marriage by threat of war against his people by Virlomi, Alai didn’t know what to do. All he was sure of was that Virlomi had believed she was the goddess of India and was not an equal as he’d thought she’d be.
He was shocked to realize that many of his followers hated him, joining Virlomi’s side because of her expansionist policies. He survived an assassination attempt made by those who were loyal to Virlomi over him. He escaped from India and returned to Damascus where he released a video statement calling for all true Muslims to embrace the religion of peace and to stop attacking others.
He called for revolution, and the result was the breakup of the Muslim world. Eventually, the various Islamic factions would join the Free People of Earth, Peter Wiggin’s world government organization of peace. Alai, still believing himself Caliph, nonetheless left Earth to join a colony in space. It is unknown to what colony he went, though it is believed it was Mecca.
Alamander (SG)
Alamander was an adviser to Alai when the latter became the Caliphate of the Muslim world. Alamander was against the expansionist policies of the Free People of Earth, but for those of Alai and the Muslims.
When it became clear
to Alamander that Alai was not a true expansionist, he joined a conspiracy to kill the Caliph. Alai killed Alamander during the attempted assassination, escaping to continue his reign.
Albion (See Hundred Worlds)
Alvarez, Joao Figueira “Pipo” (SD)
Pipo was the xenobiologist on the planet Lusitania. He worked closely with his son Libo, and studied the native Lusitania life—the pequeninos (or “piggies”). He built relationships with the piggies, gaining their trust, but was forbidden from sharing elements of human culture with them.
He was married to a woman named Conceição, and with her had six children. They were, like most of the population at Lusitania, actively Catholic.
When the leaders of the Children of the Mind of Christ on Lusitania came to him, asking him to see if a thirteen-year-old girl named Novinha was ready to take the xenobiologist certification test, he agreed to let her, though it was early.
Sadly, Pipo’s friend among the piggies, Rooter, was killed by decree of the females of his race. In Rooter’s heart was planted a tree, which the other piggies would later worship. Pipo and Libo were concerned but fascinated by this development.
A few years later, Pipo and Novinha unlocked the secret of the Descolada. The virus unraveled DNA and inserted proteins inside. Pipo recognized something previously hidden from him and raced to speak with the piggies to confirm his findings. He was killed by the small creatures, but unlike Rooter, a tree was not planted in his chest. Libo and Novinha discovered his body.
Andrew Wiggin was first called by Novinha to Speak Pipo’s death. Though the call was rescinded shortly afterward, Andrew was already on his way to Lusitania.
Amaauka, Keikoa (XN)
As a young girl, Keikoa Amaauka fell in love with Han Fei-tzu on the Chinese planet Path. She left Fei-tzu when her family was exiled by the Starways Congress for discovering that the people of Path, who were thought to be godspoken—the chosen vessels for the will of the gods—actually suffered from a genetic mutation that resulted in the symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder. They did not suffer the actual disorder. The godspoken were not controlled by the gods, but by their own perceived compulsion.
In order to manipulate the people of Path, though, the Starways Congress didn’t allow this information to be disseminated among the people. To keep it quiet, the Amaauka family was exiled.
Years later, the sentient computer program, Jane, appeared to Han Fei-tzu as Keikoa, revealing the research to him.
Amado (SD)
Amado was a child of Gusto and Cida, early xenobiologists on the planet Lusitania, and was killed by the Descolada virus.
Amaranth (SD, XN, CM)
Amaranth was a grain invented by the xenobiologists on the planet Lusitania.
Amato ([EE])
Amato was a citizen in the first human colony on a former Formic world, Shakespeare. He divorced his wife.
Ambul (ES, SP, SG)
Ambul was a soldier and toon leader from Thailand in Bean’s first command, Rabbit Army, at Battle School. He was a good, reliable soldier, though he had been known to act insubordinately to commanders whose orders he disagreed with. He was toon leader to Bean’s one-time enemy, Achilles Flandres, who had been assigned to Rabbit Army as a test of Bean’s command ability.
Years later, after Ender defeated the Formics and Battle School was shut down, Ambul returned to his native Thailand. Unlike the many other Thai students from Battle School, Ambul was not considered to be an asset to the government or the military. As such, he returned to normal school.
When Thailand fell at the hands of the Achilles-led Chinese, Ambul escaped with his family to London. He was able to remain hidden in the United Kingdom for months, surfacing only after Bean, who was running underground from Achilles, contacted him.
Bean sent Ambul to visit Alai in Damascus. Alai, one of their Battle School colleagues, had ascended to a position of great influence within the Muslim world. Ambul was to solicit the Muslim world’s support against Achilles and his plans for world domination. Ambul agreed to go on the mission, but was certain it was futile, given the segregated nature of the Muslim League and its general unwillingness to aid non-Muslims.
In setting up the meeting with Alai for Petra and Bean, Ambul made one request: that he fight alongside the Muslim soldiers as they liberate Asia, including Ambul’s home of Thailand. Alai approved the request, and Ambul fought nobly and with full commitment alongside his fellow soldiers. He was assigned to a Muslim army from Indonesia, so he would not look too different from his fellow soldiers.
Once the liberation of Asia was completed, Ambul became the Minister of Defense in Thailand. Peter Wiggin, hoping to find in him an ally, contacted Ambul and assured him that the Hegemony—and Suriyawong specifically—were loyal to Thailand. Eventually, Thailand became loyal to the Hegemony, too, and joined the Free People of Earth.
Ancestor-of-the-heart (XN, CM)
The term “ancestor-of-the-heart” refers to the person for whom a citizen of the planet Path was named. The individual so named is to strive to be equal in honor and nobility to their ancestor-of-the-heart, and seems to share personality traits. An ancestor-of-the-heart is believed to watch over their namesake.
Anderson, Lieutenant/Major/Colonel (EGS, EG, ES)
A teacher at Battle School, Anderson held the most confidence in Ender. He was known to pick his nose when no one was looking, a fact that entertained the Battle School students. It was Anderson who put Ender and his army into battles every day, and was the first to tell his superior, Captain Hyrum Graff, that Ender was the “one” they’d been looking for. He was stern and formal in his approach to the children at Battle School, training them to be model soldiers. He first saw Ender when the boy traveled into space toward Battle School.
One of Anderson’s primary duties was the issuing of orders. He was also responsible for troop assignments. When Ender was promoted to commander of Dragon Army, it was Anderson who spread the rumor that Ender considered himself too good to practice with his launch group friends. Furthermore, Anderson denied Ender’s request for more experienced troops, telling Ender to work with what he had. Anderson also scolded Bean for a rabble-rousing speech in the mess hall, when Ender’s life was threatened by Bonzo Madrid. It was he who gave Ender his new assignment to Command School.
When Ender left Battle School, Anderson was promoted to colonel and given command of the Battle School, succeeding Colonel Graff. Following Ender’s victory and the end of the war, Anderson was assigned to the International Fleet’s Training Division in Biggock County on Earth. He and Graff remained friends.
Andhra (See Hundred Worlds)
Ansible (MP, EGS, EG, GB, EE, SH, SP, SG, SD, XN, CM)
A device that allows instantaneous communication across any distance. Officially called Philotic Parallax Instantaneous Communicator. Originally used only for text information, later version allowed users to appear as holographic images, speaking with one another.
The fundamental principle of the ansible is based on philotic connections: two philotes (having no mass or inertia, but only position) that are connected within a meson are split and carried within the ansible, suspended in a magnetic field. The two philotes remain connected no matter the distance from each other, and when vibration is induced on one end, it is felt instantly at the other.
Antidote Patch (CM)
A medical device, the antidote patch is a transdermal patch that counteracts the effects of similar patches.
Anton (ES, [SH], SP, SG)
Anton was an old man, a former Russian scientist who developed a way to unlock accelerated human development—physical and mental—through manipulation of a single gene within an embryo. His research was meant to be confidential, and to protect it as such, an implant was placed in his brain to cause anxiety to the level of panic if he spoke of it.
When he met Sister Carlotta and she asked questions about the gene, he spoke in code, which initially prevented the implant from activating. He
eventually reached his panic point and fainted, having given Carlotta as much information as he could.
Though still suffering from the internal implant, Anton was released from government custody following Ender’s victory over the Formics. Petra Arkanian sought him out, hoping to learn all she could about Bean’s genetic situation. She wanted to have Bean’s children and needed to discover the truth about his origin, and if it could be undone.
Anton spoke plainly to Bean and Petra, trying to convince Bean to marry Petra and have children with her, if only to stave off the loneliness and sorrow that would otherwise accompany his life. Bean agreed, and admitted to himself that he loved Petra. Their children could be, perhaps, free of Bean’s genetic mutation. Anton told them that Volescu, who had turned the key and created Bean, could unturn it in the embryos where it might exist.
Anton’s life work was complete, and he was settling down with a family of his own. He was engaged to marry a woman younger than he, who had some children of her own. Anton planned to father some children with her and adopt her other kids.
Nearly a year later, Anton was reunited with Bean and Petra in Rwanda where they’d found Volescu working on a biological weapon that would have turned Anton’s Key in all future generations of humanity. His wife was pregnant in the natural way, and Anton was excited to be a father.
He helped a team of scientists examine what Volescu had been doing and tried tracking down the surrogates for Bean and Petra’s stolen embryos. When Bean and Petra’s first child was born, two months premature, Anton examined the baby and learned that it had, in fact, been born with the genetic manipulation he’d discovered.
Anton’s Fiancée/Wife (SP, [SG])
Anton’s fiancée was a woman who lived in Romania and had several children of her own. She was marrying the older Anton, a Russian scientist exiled in Romania, and was going to try to have children with him, too.
