Pequeninos - Fictional History Within The Series

Fictional History Within The Series

The pequeninos were discovered on the planet Lusitania 1886 years after the formation of the human ruling body Starways Congress (around 3066 years after Ender's Xenocide, i.e. around AD 5250) by a group of Brazilian colonists of Roman Catholic religion.

This was only the second contact between humans and intelligent alien life, the Formics being the first, and Starways Congress decided to impose strict limitations on any kind of contact between pequeninos and humans — if any mistake were to occur it would be on the side of too little association, not too much.

Since preventing the piggies from knowing of the humans' existence was already impossible, other limits were imposed: the small colony of Milagre, Portuguese for "Miracle", was entirely surrounded by a high pain-stimulating fence intended to prevent both humans and pequeninos from crossing it. The only ones allowed to pass the fence were the scientist studying the pequeninos and his or her assistant, and they were never allowed to ask questions that reveals too much of human lifestyle to the pequeninos, to answer pequenino questions about humans or to bring with them any equipment whatsoever, other than the clothes they wore.

However, all these measures ended up eventually proving a complete failure — partly because the pequeninos were able to chew a native grass with anesthetic properties to cross the fence in secret and observe humans from up close. Also because the human xenologers' own feelings of compassion were making them unable to coldly observe the pequeninos even in times of suffering, without moving to help them. Reluctantly at first and systematically later on, Libo and his assistants taught the pequeninos the use of arrows and other undiscovered tools, the basics of herding and agriculture, and they even modified certain human plants to make them better fit for pequenino consumption. No barrier on cultural contamination lasted either—Miro and Ouanda ended up offering the pequeninos printouts of The Hive Queen and The Hegemon as well as a copy of the Gospel of John.

Two dark stains in the history of human-pequenino relationship were the brutal killings of the first two xenologers, Pipo Figueira and 17 years later his son Libo Figueira, at the hands of the pequeninos. In both cases each of them had been asked to bring a pequenino, Mandachuva and Leaf-eater respectively, to the "third life" to celebrate a recent accomplishment. Not understanding the pequenino transformations, in both times the human xenologers refused, preferring to sacrifice their own lives in the process — the piggies, likewise not understanding that the humans lacked the ability to pass on to a "third life", killed the xenologers thinking they were honoring them. For more details see the section on notable pequeninos.

The history of the pequeninos came to a radical turn with the coming of Ender Wiggin to the planet, who at the time was also seeking a planet suitable to relocate the one surviving Formic Hive Queen. The artificial intelligence Jane travelling with him, wishing to bring matters to a head, revealed to Starways Congress all the violations that the xenologers had committed to help the pequeninos: as a result the colony was faced with the prospect of forced removal. In response the human colony was forced to fully rebel against Starways Congress, taking down the fence and signing a treaty with the pequeninos.

That treaty ensured that technological and scientific know-how would no longer be kept secret from the pequeninos who eagerly wished to learn how to reach the stars: all barriers to communication would be broken down. At the same time all pequenino tribes entering that agreement would no longer be allowed to engage into aggressive war against other tribes. Pequenino law would apply within the forest, while human law within the colony and land given to them, and the bugger queen would likewise be allowed a place on the planet. Lusitania now transformed into the home of three species, and the third species would act as arbiter in all disputes between the other two.

This treaty was signed in ink and then sealed by blood as Ender Wiggin helped the pequenino called "Human" to his third life — by the rules of the treaty, the first and last time a human being would so help a pequenino. After this was accomplished, Ender Wiggin wrote the "Life of Human" as the third piece to accompany "The Hive Queen" and "The Hegemon" as the story of the three known intelligent species of the galaxy.