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"Ender in Flight" is a short story written by Orson Scott Card. It tells the story of a power struggle between Ender Wiggin and Admiral Quincy Morgan on the voyage to the colony world of Shakespeare. It was first published in Card's webzine, the InterGalactic Medicine Show in April 2008.[1]
In November 2008, it was republished throughout the novel Ender in Exile. The short story is divided up between the opening email of Chapter 4, Chapters 7-9, and the first part of Chapter 16. Six paragraphs remained unincorporated, summarizing the rest of the voyage found in Exile.[3]
In April 2021, "Ender in Flight" was republished in the illustrated anthology Ender's Way.[2]
Story Details[]
Ender and Valentine Wiggin were on their way to the first human colony planet Shakespeare, where Ender was to become the governor. Most of the passengers on board decided to be put in stasis for the two year duration of the flight. Alessandra and Dorabella Toscano were among the few colonists who chose to stay awake. During the trip, they befriended Ender as Dorabella wanted Ender to fall in love with and marry her daughter. The captain of the ship, Admiral Quincy Morgan, had a power struggle with Ender who he considered to be nothing more than a spoiled teenager. However, as soon as the ship landed the captain was reminded by Ender, and his superiors from the International Fleet, that Ender was his superior officer on the planet and that he had to return to Earth.
Trivia[]
- According to Card, he came up with the idea for "Ender in Flight" while he was writing "The Gold Bug". While working on that short story, he started to think about how Ender got to the colony and came up with the idea of a power-struggle between Ender and the ship's captain.[4]