Speaker for the Dead

I wish we weren't dying, Gusto. The next xenobiologist will probably work with standard genetic adaptations and won't follow this up.
      GUSTO: That's the only reason you can think of for regretting our death?
     
      --Vladimir Tiago Gussman and Ekaterina Maria Aparecida do Norte von Hesse-Gussman, unpublished dialogue embedded in working notes, two days before their deaths; first quoted in "Lost Threads of Understanding," Meta-Science, the journal of Methodology , 2001:12:12:144-45
     
     
Ender did not get home from the Ribeira house until late that night, and he spent more than an hour trying to make sense of all that happened, especially after Novinha came home. Despite this, Ender awoke early the next morning, his thoughts already full of questions he had to answer. It was always this way when he was preparing to Speak a death; he could hardly rest from trying to piece together the story of the dead man as he saw himself, the life the dead woman meant to live, however badly it had turned out. This time, though, there was an added anxiety. He cared more for the living this time than he ever had before.
      "Of course you're more involved," said Jane, after he tried to explain his confusion to her. "You fell in love with Novinha before you left Trondheim."
      "Maybe I loved the young girl, but this woman is nasty and selfish. Look what she let happen to her children."
      "This is the Speaker for the Dead? Judging someone by appearances?"
      "Maybe I've fallen in love with Grego."
      "You've always been a sucker for people who pee on you."
      "And Quara. All of them-- even Miro, I like the boy."
      "And they love you, Ender."
      He laughed. "People always think they love me, until I
      Speak. Novinha's more perceptive than most-- she already hates me before I tell the truth."
      "You're as blind about yourself as anyone else, Speaker," said Jane. "Promise me that when you die, you'll let me speak your death. Have I got things to say."
      "Keep them to yourself," said Ender wearily. "You're even worse at this business than I am."
      He began his list of questions to be resolved.
      1. Why did Novinha marry Marcão in the first place?
      2. Why did Marcão hate his children?
      3. Why does Novinha hate herself?
      4. Why did Miro call me to Speak Libo's death?
      5. Why did Ela call me to Speak her father's death?
      6. Why did Novinha change her mind about my Speaking Pipo's death?
      7. What was the immediate cause of Marcão's death?
      He stopped with the seventh question. It would be easy to answer it; a merely clinical matter. So that was where he would begin.
     
     
     
      The physician who autopsied Marcão was called Navio, which meant "ship."
      "Not for my size," he said, laughing. "Or because I'm much of a swimmer. My full name is Enrique o Navigador Caronada. You can bet I'm glad they took my nickname from 'shipmaster' rather than from 'little cannon.' Too many obscene possibilities in that one."
      Ender was not deceived by his joviality. Navio was a good Catholic and he obeyed his bishop as well as anyone. He was determined to keep Ender from learning anything, though he'd not be uncheerful about it.
      "There are two ways I can get the answers to my questions," Ender said quietly. "I can ask you, and you can tell me truthfully. Or I can submit a petition to the Starways Congress for your records to be opened to me. The ansible charges are very high, and since the petition is a routine one, and your resistance to it is contrary to law, the cost will be deducted from your colony's already straitened funds, along with a double-the-cost penalty and a reprimand for you."
      Navio's smile gradually disappeared as Ender spoke. He answered coldly. "Of course I'll answer your questions," he said.
      "There's no 'of course' about it," said Ender. "Your bishop counseled the people of Milagre to carry out an unprovoked and unjustified boycott of a legally called-for minister. You would do everyone a favor if you would inform them that if this cheerful noncooperation continues, I will petition for my status to be changed from minister to inquisitor. I assure you that I have a very good reputation with the Starways Congress, and my petition will be successful."
      Navio knew exactly what that meant. As an inquisitor, Ender would have congressional authority to revoke the colony's Catholic license on the grounds of religious persecution. It would cause a terrible upheaval among the