First Meetings
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| Author | Orson Scott Card |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Series | Ender's Game series |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Subterranean Press |
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Publication date
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2002 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 149 pp |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 50596863 |
First Meetings (2002) is a collection of Orson Scott Card's short stories from the Ender's Game series. Tor Books republished the book in 2003 under the titles First Meetings in the Enderverse and First Meetings in Ender's Universe and included the more recent "Teacher's Pest", a story about the first meeting of Ender's parents.
The stories in this book are:
Polish: Jan Paweł Wieczorek (John Paul Wiggin) is a very smart child who is being home schooled because his family refused to comply with the populations control laws. One day, Captain Helena Rudolf from the International Fleet shows up to test three of John Paul's brothers for possible admission into Battle School. She notices John Paul reading a book and decides to test him early. He passes the test and gets a very high score for leadership. The IF tries to get him to go to Battle School, but John Paul is only interested in trying to get his family out of Poland so that they can have a better life and he can get a good education. Captain Graff realizes this, but agrees to send the Wieczorek family to America because he hopes that one of John Paul's children will go to Battle School.
This story contains younger versions of important characters in the Enderverse, such as Ender's father John Paul Wieczorek (later Wiggin), Hyrum Graff, and Admiral Chamrajnagar. Other characters associated with the IF appear, including Captain Helena Rudolf and Colonel Sillian.
While going to college, John Paul is assigned to take a Human Communities class being taught by Theresa Brown. First being annoyed at having to take a class being taught by a graduate student, John Paul soon changes his mind as Theresa Brown leads the class through a provocative debate about communities, war, and population laws. Unfortunately, she has just been told that her research project is being taken away from her in an effort to get her father Admiral Brown to come out of retirement. As a result, she does not want to speak to anyone. Determined, John Paul waits outside her office and orders food for her while she talks to her father on the phone. When she finally comes out, he is still waiting for her. She decides to eat with him, and during the meal John Paul tells her about his secret past. As they continue to talk, they both begin to fall in love, even as they realize that they were both set up by the government to do so.
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