Speaker for the Dead

A transcript of a conversation between Cida and Gusto suggests that the few species on Lusitania adapted to live symbiotically with the Descolada; other species could not adapt and are now extinct.

Ender makes a list of questions to guide his investigation of Marcão’s life and death. First, he approaches Dr. Navio, who performed Marcão’s autopsy. Navio is kind but evasive, so Ender threatens to petition Starways Congress to become an inquisitor on Lusitania, which would give him congressional authority over the Lusitanians. As a speaker, Ender has a legal right to access any information necessary to complete his duties. Begrudged, Navio agrees to comply but challenges Ender for proof of his authority as a speaker. Jane pulls up Ender’s documents on the terminal and states Ender’s authority, which shocks Navio and changes his attitude.

Navio explains that Marcão died from a congenital disease in which his glandular tissues were replaced with fat cells. The disease normally starts in the testicles, but Marcão’s did not, as he fathered six children. The children were tested, and none of them carry the disease. Marcão’s genetics had been scanned before he married Novinha, but the scans did not catch the disease.