Speaker for the Dead (Ender's Saga, #2) - Orson Scott Card Page 0,135
the Bishop. "You were there the first time, weren't you. When the buggers were destroyed."
"Last time we had no way of talking to the buggers, no way of knowing they were ramen and not varelse. This time we're here. We know that we won't go out and destroy other worlds. We know that we'll stay here on Lusitania until we can go out safely, the Descolada neutralized. This time," said Ender, "we can keep the ramen alive, so that whoever writes the piggies' story won't have to be a speaker for the dead."
The secretary opened the door abruptly, and Ouanda burst in. "Bishop," she said. "Mayor. You have to come. Novinha--"
"What is it?" said the Bishop.
"Ouanda, I have to arrest you," said Bosquinha.
"Arrest me later," she said. "It's Miro. He climbed over the fence."
"He can't do that," said Novinha. "It might kill him--" Then, in horror, she realized what she had said. "Take me to him--"
"Get Navio," said Dona Cristã .
"You don't understand," said Ouanda. "We can't get to him. He's on the other side of the fence."
"Then what can we do?" asked Bosquinha.
"Turn the fence off," said Ouanda.
Bosquinha looked helplessly at the others. "I can't do that. The Committee controls that now. By ansible. They'd never turn it off."
"Then Miro's as good as dead," said Ouanda.
"No," said Novinha.
Behind her, another figure came into the room. Small, fur-covered. None of them but Ender had ever before seen a piggy in the flesh, but they knew at once what the creature was. "Excuse me," said the piggy. "Does this mean we should plant him now?"
No one bothered to ask how the piggy got over the fence. They were too busy realizing what he meant by planting Miro.
"No!" screamed Novinha.
Mandachuva looked at her in surprise. "No?"
"I think," said Ender, "that you shouldn't plant any more humans."
Mandachuva stood absolutely still.
"What do you mean?" said Ouanda. "You're making him upset."
"I expect he'll be more upset before this day is over," said Ender. "Come, Ouanda, take us to the fence where Miro is."
"What good will it do if we can't get over the fence?" asked Bosquinha.
"Call for Navio," said Ender.
"I'll go get him," said Dona Cristã . "You forget that no one can call anybody."
"I said, what good will it do?" demanded Bosquinha.
"I told you before," said Ender. "If you decide to rebel, we can sever the ansible connection. And then we can turn off the fence."
"Are you trying to use Miro's plight to force my hand?" asked the Bishop.
"Yes," said Ender. "He's one of your flock, isn't he? So leave the ninety-nine, shepherd, and come with us to save the one that's lost."
"What's happening?" asked Mandachuva.
"You're leading us to the fence," said Ender. "Hurry, please."
They filed down the stairs from the Bishop's chambers to the Cathedral below. Ender could hear the Bishop behind him, grumbling about perverting scripture to serve private ends.
They passed down the aisle of the Cathedral, Mandachuva leading the way. Ender noticed that the Bishop paused near the altar, watching the small furred creature as the humans trooped after him. Outside the Cathedral, the Bishop caught up with him. "Tell me, Speaker," he said, "just as a matter of opinion, if the fence came down, if we rebelled against Starways Congress, would all the rules about contact with the piggies be ended?"
"I hope so," said Ender. "I hope that there'll be no more unnatural barriers between us and them."
"Then," said the Bishop, "we'd be able to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ to the Little Ones, wouldn't we? There'd be no rule against it."
"That's right," said Ender. "They might not be converted, but there'd be no rule against trying."
"I have to think about this," said the Bishop. "But perhaps, my dear infidel, your rebellion will open the door to the conversion of a great nation. Perhaps God led you here after all."
By the time the Bishop, Dom Cristão, and Ender reached the fence, Mandachuva and the women had already been there for some time. Ender could tell by the way Ela was standing between her mother and the fence, and the way Novinha was holding her hands out in front of her face, that Novinha had already tried to climb over the fence to reach her son. She was crying now and shouting at him. "Miro! Miro, how could you do ' this, how could you climb it--" while Ela tried to talk to her, to calm her.
On the other side of the fence, four piggies stood watching, amazed.