How It All Goes Down
The Hive Queen
- The epigraph is from The Life of Human, and it tells about Human eating his way out of the birth canal, growing in the dark of the tree, and then crawling out into the light.
- The chapter opens with Miro, who recovers some from his paralysis but remains much diminished; he can't really work with the piggies in his condition.
- His relationship with Ouanda is very painful, and she treats him like a brother.
- Ouanda is working on translating the piggie languages, and Quim plans to be a missionary to other piggie tribes.
- Ender and Bosquinha are bringing water and computers to the piggies, and Ela is working on finding ways to genetically engineer insects and plants to resist the Descolada.
- Novinha is working to find a way to build resistance to the Descolada into the Hive Queen so she can come out and lay her eggs.
- Miro's terminal is acting weird and letting him see things he shouldn't.
- Ender explains that Jane has chosen to be his friend; he's too involved with Novinha and her family for Jane and he to have the same relationship.
- No mention here that Jane screwing around and ratting Miro out to Starways is why he's crippled, but maybe they'll mention it in the next book.
- Anyway. Jane introduces herself, the magic genie who can show him everything.
- Over to Ender and Olhado, driving out to find a place to put the Hive Queen.
- Jane tells Ender that Novinha almost has the fix for the Hive Queen. She's not flirty or fun like she used to be, but Ender has Olhado and Novinha and the family, so he's not too jealous or upset.
- Olhado suggests sending Miro out on a near light ship to preserve him so he'll be around to handle the Starways Fleet when it arrives; Olhado says that Miro is the best and smartest person on Lusitania, so he should be around to deal with Starways.
- Ender and Olhado talk. Ender says he's Ender the Xenocide, and wisdom is dispensed.
- Ender says he's almost positive the Hive Queen won't try to take revenge.
- Olhado says Miro going away on a near light trip and coming back will be like him dying, but Ender says it's more like him going to his third life, or being born.
- Ender talks to Valentine on the ansible. She's twenty years older how and going to come out to Lusitania to join the revolution. In Ender's time it'll take thirty years for her to get there.
- Ender decides to send Miro out to meet her in space, but when he goes to tell Miro, Miro wants to know why Pipo and Libo were killed.
- Ender says that neither were supposed to get the honor; rather, the piggies were honoring first Mandachuva and then Leaf-eater for their achievements.
- But when Pipo and Libo wouldn't give the piggies the third life, they were killed instead.
- Miro is bitter about his paralysis, and Ender tries to comfort him. He feels that Miro is his own child, and thinks he feels more for him than his own father felt for Ender.
- Ender marries Novinha.
- Before that, though, he gets all the research from Ela and the others, lives with the piggies for a week, and writes the Life of Human. Not only is he the greatest writer ever, but he writes fast. He could have written this whole Shmoop guide in a day while whistling Elton John's "Rocket Man" and destroying several marauding alien species.
- Novinha said she had wanted to write the piggie story, but it's better than Ender did, even if she had to listen to him whistling "Rocket Man."
- Jane carries the Life of Human everywhere.
- Some say it's a fake, some don't care, but some accept the piggies as ramen, which—along with Demosthenes's accusations—stirs up trouble for Starways.
- Ender takes the Hive Queen to her new home, and she lays her eggs. The end… until the sequel, that is.