"I've broken the law," said Ender, "because the pigs are asking me to go." In fact, they were asking to see me with their own eyes. They have seen the space shuttle landing. They know I'm here. And, I don't know if it's good or bad, they've already read about the Queen of Worms and the Overlord. ”

"They gave the pigs the book?" said the bishop.

"They also gave them the New Covenant," Ender said. "But of course, you won't be surprised to learn that the pigs have more in common between themselves and the queen worms. Let me tell you what the pigs said. They asked me to convince the whole world to end the policy of isolating them. You see, pigs don't look at pens the way we do. We see it as a tool to protect their culture from human influence and erosion. They see it as a tool to prevent them from learning the mysteries we know. They imagined our ship going from star to star, colonizing it, and filling it all over it. Five thousand or ten thousand years from now, when they finally learn what we refuse to teach them, they will go into space and find that all the worlds have been filled. There is no place for them at all. They use our fence as a means of racial murder. We'll lock them up in Lusitania like zoo animals, while we go out and grab all the space left in the universe. ”

"That's nonsense," said Mr. Christopher. "That's not what we're trying to do. ”

"Isn't it?" Ander retorted. "Why are we so careful to prevent them from being influenced by any of our culture? That's not just the norm in anthropological research. Don't forget, our discoveries of Ansepo, interstellar flight, partial gravitational control, and even the weapons we use to destroy the Zerg - all of this is a direct result of our contact with the Zerg. We learned most of the technology from the machines they left behind when they first invaded Earth's system. We use them long before we understand them. Some of them, like the Philozi slope, we don't understand even now. The fact that we were able to enter the space was entirely due to a collision with a high culture that destroyed the caste. But in just a few generations, we have acquired their machines, surpassed them, destroyed them. That's what our fence is all about -- we're afraid the pigs will do the same to us. And they know what it means. They know, so they hate it. ”

"We are not afraid of them," the bishop said. "They're barbarians, for God's sake—"

"That's how we look at the Zerg," Ender said. "But in the eyes of Pippo and Lipo, and Oanda and Miro, the pigs never looked like barbarians. They are different from us, yes, far more than strangers. But they're still people. Xenogene, not xenogenesis. So when Lipo saw that the pigs were in danger of famine and that they were preparing to go to war to reduce the population, he didn't act like a scientist. He wasn't there to observe their wars and record death and suffering. He acted like a Christian. He took the amaranth that Nowanhua had discarded, which was too adapted to Lucitania's biochemical patterns to be useful to humans, and then taught the pigs how to grow and harvest it, and store it as food. I have no doubt that the ascension of the pig population and the amaranth fields are what the Galactic Council discovered. Not a wanton violation of the law, but an act of love and compassion. ”

How can you call such a crime an act of a Christian? The bishop said.

"Which of you has a son who asks for bread and gives him a stone?"

"The devil can quote the scriptures for his own purposes," (Note: Mark Twain quotes.) Mark Twain was a faithless man who often mocked religion, and Ander, as an unbeliever, quoted the Bible, and the bishop, as a Catholic, quoted Mark Twain in response: But Mark Twain's words come from the fourth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, where the devil tempts Jesus. This time, the bishop had the upper hand...... forced Ender to immediately shift the battlefield) said the bishop.

"I'm not the devil," said Ender, "and neither are the pigs." Their babies were starving to death, and Lipo saved their lives by giving them food. ”

"And then look what they did to him!"

"Yes, let's see what they did to him. They sent him to his death. Entirely in the way they sent their own most revered members to their deaths. Doesn't that tell us anything?"

"It tells us that they are dangerous and have no conscience," the bishop said.

This tells us that death means something completely different to them than we are. If you really believe that some people are perfect, bishops, so perfect that continuing to live will only make them less perfect, isn't that a good thing for them, if they are killed and ascended to heaven?"

"You're mocking us. You don't believe in Heaven. ”

"But what do you believe! what do the martyrs say, Bishop Peregrino?

"Of course they are. But those who kill them are brutes. The murder of the saints does not give them a holy surname, it makes their souls fall to hell forever. ”

"But what if the dead don't go to heaven? What if the dead are reincarnated as a new life, right in front of your eyes? If a pig dies, if they dispose of his body like that, it will take root and become something else? What if it becomes a tree and can live for another fifty years or a hundred years or five hundred years?"

"What are you talking about?" the bishop asked.

"Are you telling us that the pigs somehow changed from animals to plants?" asked Mr. Christopher. "The basic principles of biology say that's unlikely. ”

"It's almost impossible in practice," Ender said. "That's why only so few species on Lusitania have survived cycloflexia. Because only a very small number of species are able to make this change. When the Pigs kill one of their creatures, he transforms into a tree. And the tree is at least partially intelligent. For today I saw the pig-people singing to a tree, and without any tools touching it, the tree cut off its own roots, fell down, and split itself into wood and bark that was exactly the shape and shape of the pig-people. It's not a dream. Miro and Oanda and I have seen it with our own eyes, heard the song, touched the wood, and prayed for the souls of the departed. ”

"Does this have anything to do with our decision?" questioned Bosquina. "It seems that the forest is made up of dead pigs. That's a question for scientists. ”

"When I told you that the pigs killed Pippo and Lipo, they thought they were helping them transition to the next stage of their existence. They are not brutes, they are alien species, giving the highest honor to those who have helped them so much. ”

"Another moral shift, isn't it?" the bishop asked. "As you have said in your words today, let us look at Marcus Ribera over and over again, each time from a new point of view, and now you want us to think that the pigs are noble? But I'm not going to rebel against the council, and the only good thing about it is that our scientists can teach the pigs how to make refrigerators. ”

"Listen to me," Ms. Nowanhua said.

They looked at her expectantly.

"You're saying they took away our papers? they've read them all?"

"Yes," Bosquina said.

"Then they know everything I put in my files. About Extendentism. ”

"Yes," Bosquina said.

Nowanhua put her hands together on her knees. "There will be no evacuation. ”

"I don't think so," Ender said, "that's why I asked Ella to bring you here." ”

"Why wasn't there an evacuation?" asked Bosquina.

"Because of Cyclotronia. ”

"Nonsense," said the bishop. "Your parents have found a cure for it. ”

"They didn't cure it," Ms. Nowanhua said. "They controlled it. They stopped it from happening. ”

"Exactly," Bosquina said. "That's why we add additives to the water. Mucocyclotone. ”

"Every human on Lusitania may have to be a carrier of cyclotronism, except for the speaker, who may not have been infected with it. ”

"This additive is not expensive," the bishop said. "But maybe they might be able to isolate us. I can imagine that they might have done that. ”

"There is no place where you can be sufficiently isolated," Ms. Noh said. "Cycloflexia is endless. It attacks any type of genetic material. Additives can be distributed to people. But can they add additives to every piece of grass, to every bird, to every fish, to every little bit of plankton in the ocean?"

"Are they all sick?" asked Bosquina. "I didn't know that before. ”

"I haven't told anyone before," Ms. Noh said. "But I've built safeguards into every crop that I develop. Amaranth, potatoes, everything -- the difficulty is not in making protein available to humans, it's in getting organisms to make their autologous cyclophyte blockers. ”

Bosquina panicked. "So everywhere we go—"

"We will cause the complete destruction of the ecosystem. ”

"And you've kept it a secret?" asked Mr. Christoffer.

"There is no need to say it. No one had ever left Lusitania, and no one had any intention of leaving. Nuo Wanhua looked at her hands on her knees. "Something in this information made the pigs kill Pippo. I'm going to keep it a secret so no one else will know. But now, combined with what Ella had discovered in the last few years, and what the Speaker had said tonight, I now know what Pippo had discovered. Cyclolia not only splits genetic molecules and prevents them from recombining or replicating. It also prompts them to bind to completely heterologous genetic molecules. Ella researched this against my will. All of Lusitania's native creatures thrive in plant-animal pairs. Kabra and Kapym. Water snakes and aquatic plants. Suck flies and reeds. Sindora Bird with Trope Gato. And the pigs and the trees of the forest. ”

"Are you saying that one of them will become the other?" Mr. Christopher was captivated and at the same time unacceptable.

"The pig clan may be a little special, in terms of changing from a pig corpse to a tree," Ms. Nuo said. "But maybe the cabrums were inseminated by Kapim's pollen. Maybe the sucking fly hatched from the ears of reeds. This should be studied. I should have researched it all these years. ”

"Do they know about it now?" asked Mr. Christopher. "From your papers?"

"Not yet. But sometime in the next twenty or thirty years will. Before any other stranger arrives here, they will know. Nuo Wanhua said.

"I'm not a scientist," the bishop said. "Looks like everyone but me understands. What does this have to do with evacuation?"

Bosquina wrenched her hands. "They can't take us out of Lusitania," she said. "Wherever they take us, we'll take cyclotronia with us, and it kills everything. None of the xenobologists in the worlds combined are enough to save a single planet from destruction. Before they get here, they'll know we can't leave. ”

"Well, then," said the bishop. "Our problem is solved. If we tell them now, they won't even send out our fleet. ”

"No," Ender said. "Bishop Peregrino, once they know the consequences that Cycloflexia can cause, they will try to guarantee that no one will be able to leave this planet, forever. ”

The bishop scoffed. "What? You think they're going to blow up this planet? Come on, people, there's no one like Ender in the human race anymore. The worst thing they can do is to isolate us here—"

"In either case," said Mr. Christopher, "what need we do to submit to their control? we can send them a message, tell them about Cyclotronia, inform them that we are not leaving this planet, and that they should not be here, and that will be enough." ”

Bosquina shook her head. "You think none of them are going to say, 'Those Lusitanians, just go around the other world and destroy it.'" They have a starship, they have a well-known tendency to rebel, and they have a murderous pig-clan. Their existence is a threat. ’”

"Who would say that?" said the bishop.

"No one in the Vatican will," Ender said. "But the council doesn't care about saving souls. ”

"Maybe they're right," the bishop said. "You said to yourself that those pigs want to go on an interstellar flight. But no matter where they go, they will cause the same results. Even the uninhabited worlds, right? What are they going to do, endlessly replicating this lonely scene—a forest with only one kind of tree, a meadow with only one kind of grass, in which only the cabra grazes, and above which only Sindora flies?"

"Maybe one day we'll find a way to keep cycloflexia under control," Ella said.

"We cannot base our future on such unreliable odds," the bishop said.

"That's why we have to rebel," Ender said. "Because that's exactly what the council thinks. Just as they did three thousand years ago, in xenoextinction. Everyone is condemning xenoextinction as it destroys an alien race that has ultimately proven to be completely ill-intentioned. But as long as the Zerg seem determined to destroy humanity, the leaders of the human race have no choice but to fight back with all their might. We are putting them in the same predicament again. They were already afraid of the pigs. And once they understand the Spin, all pretense of protecting the pig clan will be abandoned. For the survival of humanity, they will destroy us. Presumably not to destroy the entire planet. As you said, there is no Ender now. But they will certainly erase Miracle Town and erase any traces of human contact. This includes killing all the pigs who recognize us. They will then put the planet under surveillance to ensure that the pigs can never escape their obscurantism again. If you knew what they knew, wouldn't you do the same thing?"

"How can a deceased man say that?" said Mr. Christopher.

"You're on the spot," the bishop said. "The first time you were there, wasn't it. The time the Zerg was destroyed. ”

"Last time we couldn't talk to the Zerg, we had no way of knowing that they were xenospecies and not xenogenesis. This time we were on the spot. We know we're not going out and destroying other worlds. We knew we would stay here in Lusitania until we could get out safely and the cyclone was no longer a threat. This time," Ender said, "we can keep the xenos alive so that anyone who writes the story of the pigs doesn't have to be a teller of the dead." ”

The secretary suddenly opened the door, and Oanda rushed in. "Bishop," she said. "Mayor. You've got to come here. Nuo Wanhua—"

"What's the matter?" said the bishop.

"Oanda, I must arrest you," Bosquina said.

"I'll be arrested later," she said. "It's Miro. He climbed over the fence. ”

"He couldn't do it," Ms. Noe said. "That would kill him—" Then she realized in horror what she was talking about. "Take me to him—"

"Go to Navio," Ms. Christie said.

"You don't get it," Mr. Oanda said. "We can't reach him. He was on the other side of the fence. ”

"So what can we do?" asked Bosquina.

"Close the fence. Ouanda said.

Bosquina looked helplessly at the others.

"I can't do it. The Commission now controls it. Via Ansebo. They will never shut it down. ”

"Namiro is actually dead. Ouanda said.

"No," Ms. Nuo said.

Another figure entered the room from behind Oanda. Short, hairy. None of them had seen a living pig-clan before, except for Ender, but they knew what it was right away. "I beg your pardon," said the pigs, "does that mean we should plant him now?"

No one bothered to ask how the pigs had crossed the fence. They were busy trying to figure out what he meant by planting Miro. "No!" Nuo Wanhua screamed.

The big man looked at her in surprise. "No way?"

"I think," said Ender, "that you should never plant any more humans." ”

The big man stood there dumbfounded.

"What do you mean?" said Ouanda. "You're upsetting him. ”

"I think he'll be more upset before the end of the day," Ender said. "Come on. Ouanda, take us to where Miro is on the edge of the fence. ”

"What's the use if we can't get over the fence?" asked Bosquina.

"Call Navio," Ender said.

"I'm going to him," Ms. Christie said, "and you forget that no one can call anyone now." ”

"I say, what's the use of that?" asked Bosquina.

"I told you before," Ender said. "If you decide to rebel, we can cut the connection to Ansebo. Then we can close the fence. ”

"Are you trying to use Miró's situation to force me into submission?" the bishop asked.

"Yes," Ender said. "He's one of your flock, isn't he? So leave the ninety-nine alone, shepherd, and come with us to recover the lost one. (Note: See Matthew 18:11-18:14 and Luke 15:3-15:7.) Lost here is a pun, and it can also imply that Miro is about to die. ）”

"Now what is?" asked the big man.

"You've got to get us to the fence," Ender said. "Please hurry. ”

They streamed down the stairs, from the bishop's office to the cathedral below. Ander could hear the bishop behind him, muttering something that perverted the scriptures to serve his own ends.

They walked through the cathedral along the side aisles, with the big men walking ahead. Ander noticed the bishop stop by the altar and looked at the small, hairy creature as the human procession followed him. Outside the cathedral, the bishop caught up with him. "Talk to me, talk to me," he said, "just talk about your opinion, if the fence is closed, if we rebel against the Galactic Council, the rules on contact with the pigs will be terminated altogether, right?"

"I hope so," Ender said. "I hope there will be no more artificial barriers between us and them. ”

"Then," said the bishop, "we can preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to these little men, can we? ”

"That's right," Ender said. "They may not convert, but there will be no rules prohibiting such attempts. ”

"I'll have to think about it," the bishop said. "But, my dear unbeliever, perhaps your rebellion will open the door to the conversion of a great nation. Maybe God brought you here after all. ”

――――――――――――――――――――――――――

By the time the Bishop, Mr. Christopher, and Ender arrived at the enclosure, the big man and several women had already arrived. From the way Ella stood between her mother and the fence, and the way Nowanhua reached out in front of her, Ender could tell that Nowanhua was trying to climb over the fence to reach her son. She was crying and shouting at him. "Milo, Miro, how can you do this, how can you crawl over—" Ella tried to talk to her, comforting her. (Irrigation: I don't even understand how the two here can make a mistake...... ）

On the other side of the fence, four pigs stood watching, dumbfounded.

Fear for Milo's life made Ouanda shiver, but she was still sane enough to tell Ander something she knew he couldn't see on his own.

"It's cups, and arrows, and humans, and leafeaters. The Leaf Eater is trying to convince others to plant him. I think I know what that means, but it's okay now. Humans and big men have convinced them not to do that. ”

"But it didn't shorten the distance between us," Ender said. "Why would Miró do such a stupid thing?"

"The big guy explained on the way here. Pigs chew kapim grass, which has a kind of anesthetic effect. They can climb over the fence whenever they want to. Apparently they've been doing this for years. They thought we didn't do it because we were too law-abiding. Now they know that Kapim doesn't have the same effect on us. ”

Ender walked towards the fence.

"Humans," he said.

Humanity is moving forward.

"We have a chance to close the fence. But if we do that, we will be at war with all the human beings who inhabit every other world. Do you understand? The humans and pigs of Lusitania are at war with all the other humans. ”

"Oh," the human said.

"Will we win?" asked Arrow.

"Maybe," said Ender. "Probably not. ”

"Will you give us the queen worm?" the human asked.

"First I had to meet with my wives," Ender said.

The pigs froze.

"What are you talking about?" asked the bishop.

"I must meet with the wives," Ender said to the pigs, "because we must make a treaty." An agreement. A set of rules between us. Humanity cannot live according to your laws, you cannot live according to ours, but if we are to live together peacefully, without barriers, if I want the queen to live with you and help you teach you, then you have to make some promises to us and keep your promises. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I understand," the human said. "But you don't know what you're asking for, dealing with wives. They are not as smart as their brothers. ”

"They make all the decisions, don't they?"

"Of course," the human said. "They take care of the mothers, don't they? But I warn you that talking to the wives is dangerous. Especially you, because they hold you very, very respectful. ”

"To close the fence, I have to talk to my wives. If I can't talk to them, the fence will keep open, Miro will die, and we'll have to obey the council's decree that all humans on Lusitania must evacuate this place. "Ender didn't tell them and that humans could be killed too. He always told the truth, but he didn't always say it all.

"I'll take you to the wives," the human said.

The Leaf Eater walked up to him and stroked the human's belly mockingly. "They gave you the right name," he said. "You're really human, not one of us. "The Leaf Eater pulled his legs and tried to run, but the arrows and the cup caught him.

"I'll take you," the human said. "Now, close the fence and save Miro's life. ”

Ender turned to the bishop.

"It's not up to me to decide," said the bishop, "it's Bosquina's." ”

"I have sworn allegiance to the Galactic Council," Bosquina said, "but at this moment I am willing to make myself a false oath to save the lives of my people." I'm announcing the closure of the fence and let's try to get as much out of the rebellion as possible. ”

"If we could preach to the pigs," said the bishop.

"When I meet with my wives, I'll ask them," Ander said. "I can't promise more. ”

"Bishop!" cried Nuo Wanhua. "Pippo and Lipo are dead outside the fence!"

"Close it," the bishop said. "I don't want to see this colony end and God's work here has not yet begun. He sneered. "But His Holiness had better be sanctified quickly. We'll need their help. ”

"Jane," Ender whispered.

"That's why I love you," Jane said. "As long as I have the right environment in place, you can do anything. ”

"Cut off the ansebo, close the fence, please. Ender said.

"That's it," she said.

Ander ran to the fence and climbed over. With the help of the pigs, he lifted Miró to the top, letting his stiff body fall into the hands of the Bishop, the Mayor, Mr. Christopher, and Nowanhua waiting below. Navio was walking down the hill after Ms. Christie. What they could do for Miro was done.

Ouanda is climbing the fence.

"Go back," Ender said. "We've got him over. ”

"If you're going to go to your wives," said Oanda, "I'm going with you." You need my help. ”

This left Ander speechless. She jumped down and approached Ender.

Navio knelt beside Miro. "He climbed over the fence?" he said. "It's never written in the books. That's impossible. No one can stand the pain of having their head go through the force field. ”

"Will he live?" asked Nuo Wanhua.

"How do I know?" said Navio, impatiently starting to rip off Miro's clothes and stick sensors on him. "No one has ever set foot in this in medical school. ”

Ander noticed that the fence was shaking again. Ella is crawling over. "I don't need your help. Ender said.

"It's time for someone who knows a little bit about alien biology to see what's going on," she retorted.

"Stay and take care of your brother," Ouanda said.

Ella looked at her defiantly. "He's your brother too," she said. "Now, we should both be careful to make sure that if he dies, at least he doesn't die in vain. ”

The three of them followed the humans and the other pigs into the forest.

Bosquina and the bishop watched them leave. "When I woke up this morning," Bosquina said, "I really didn't expect to be a rebel before I went to bed." ”

"I never thought that the Speakers would become our messengers to the Pigs," said the Bishop.

"The question is," said Mr. Christofferson, "whether we will be forgiven for it." ”

"Do you think we're making a mistake?" exclaimed the bishop.

"Not at all," said Mr. Christopher. "I think we've taken the first step towards something really ambitious. But humanity almost never forgives the true greatness of the sublime. ”

"Fortunately," said the bishop, "human beings are not really judges. And now I want to pray for this boy, because medicine has apparently reached the limit of its abilities. ”