Investment Counselor
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"Investment Counselor" is a science fiction short story by Orson Scott Card. It is part of the Ender's Game series, and tells of the first meeting of Ender and Jane.
It was first published in the anthology Far Horizons, and was later reprinted in the book First Meetings.
[edit] Plot summary
In this story, 400 years have passed since the end of the Formic War. Ender has just turned 20 and has inherited all his assets from the pension fund that he received at the end of the war. It seems he needs to pay massive taxes on them. He is about to be cheated by a greedy tax accountant when he meets Jane, who comes to him in the form of junk mail (seemingly a piece of humor on her part). She helps him with his taxes.
She also prevents the tax accountant from exposing Andrew's identity as the Ender Wiggin, which Ender now fears because it has been discovered the Formics meant no harm; his name has been vilified as the one who committed the Xenocide (complete destruction of a sentient race) of the Formics.
At Jane's suggestion, Ender becomes an itinerant Speaker for the Dead, and his long friendship with Jane begins.
In the book Shadow of the Giant, it is revealed that part of Jane's programming meant to handle Ender's pension was created within the "Mind Game" of the Battle School well after Jane's creation by the Formics. This programming was created at the insistence of Julian Delphiki (Bean).
| Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game series | |
|---|---|
| Ender Quartet | Ender's Game | Speaker for the Dead | Xenocide | Children of the Mind |
| Bean Quartet | Ender's Shadow | Shadow of the Hegemon | Shadow Puppets | Shadow of the Giant |
| Additional books | Shadows in Flight | Ender in Exile: Ganges (working title) |
| Short stories | First Meetings: "The Polish Boy" | "Teacher's Pest" | "Investment Counselor"
Intergalactic Medicine Show: "Mazer in Prison" | "Pretty Boy" | "Cheater" |
| Books | Characters | Concepts | |
