Shadows in Flight ( English Shadows in Flight ) is a science fiction novel by American writer Orson Scott Card . When it was released in 2012 , it became the tenth novel published in the Ender Game series . The story continues the plot of the first four books of The Shadow Series (often called “The Story of Bob”). The idea is that Bean (Bob) and his children discover the ancient “ark” during their journey into space [1] .
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Translation into Russian: K. Pleshkov (Flight of Shadows), 2016.
Story
In 2210 the spaceship Herodot left the Earth. On board were Julian "Bean" Delphi and his three infant children - Ender, Carlotta and Cincinnatus, all of whom turned the genetic key of Anton. This genetic change, which Bean communicated to his children, gives them all extremely high intelligence, but causes their bodies to grow uncontrollably, which is likely to kill them by the age of 20.
Subjectively, they fly almost at light speed for five years, but relativistic effects mean that 421 years have passed on Earth — 2631 years have come. When the family left Earth for space, scientists actively tried to find a cure for gigantism , which would not detract from their reason. Several generations passed, they were forgotten, and their mother and "normal" brothers and sisters died many centuries ago.
The children were only alive for six subjective years. Bean's life was prolonged by low gravity aboard the Herodotus, which allowed his heart to continue beating, despite its increasingly gigantic dimensions. At a height of 4.5 meters, the Bean must remain in a recumbent position in the cargo hold in order not to overdo it. He controls and observes everything on the ship through his holographic terminal , often forcing children to have secret meetings, which, in their opinion, the Giant does not hear. Bean and Ender continue to study their genetic condition in the hope of finding a cure.
At one of these meetings, the military-minded Cincinnatus (nicknamed "Sergeant") is trying to enlist the help of his brothers and sisters in the murder of their father, stating that he is draining resources. Sensitive Carlotta (whose specialty is engineering) does not want to take a position, but Ender (expert biologist) strikes Sergeant and breaks his nose for proposing such a barbaric idea, thereby ending his brother's dominance over the family. Ender and Carlotta tell Bina about the plans of the Sergeant, and Bin puts in the place of all three children, reminding them that each of them has high intelligence. The sergeant imagined threats to their security where there are none, because he believes that the Giant is planning to give him the role of a soldier. In this way, he studies the forms of war with the “beetles” and studies the strategy of his father, training himself with weapons. Ender takes over the bulk of genetic research, monitoring the achievements of scientists on Earth. Carlotta, who feels a bit backward with genetic research, serves the family, taking care of all aspects of the spacecraft, since Bean himself was stuck in the cargo hold.
Bean (Bob) and his children discover the ancient “ark” of “zhukerov”. Bean sends the Sergeant alone to investigate the ship, and he avoids attacking small ant animals, which they call "slaves" (rats + crabs). After this initial meeting, Bean reveals his complete plan to his children. They must find out who is piloting this ship and whether it is trying to terraform the planet in orbit in the habitable zone . It was Bean’s intention that all his children live on this planet in safety. Armed with the sergeant’s weapon and the sedative mist spray Ender, the sergeant commands the defense, as Carlotta leads his group to the helm with Bean, who is in contact all the time. The spray proved its effectiveness, and soon they found the camera of Queen Quva, and many workers, dead, found her. In the end, they find a live male pilot form.
In an attempt to communicate, Ender sits, drifting next to them in zero gravity. Male drones approach and communicate with Ender through mental imagery. The group learns that the Ark was shipped long before Ender Wiggin , after whom his son Bean was named, destroyed the “zookers”. Bean learns that workers can rebel against the queen and reclaim their free will. After Bean had slept for a while, his children woke him up, informing him that, studying how the Queen of the hive suppressed her workers, Ender developed the virus to disable its growth gene, leaving their intelligence intact, but saving them from gigantism.
With a new hope for the future, Bean looks at the beauty around him and remembers all those whom he loved and who loved him in his life. Happy for his children and for his short but brilliant life, Bean lies down and dies in the world.
Notes
- ↑ Card, Orson Scott Orson Scott Card's Bibliography (May 10, 2011).