Sel Menach was a soldier in the Third Formic War and a xenobiologist on the colony world of Shakespeare, later becoming governor of the planet.[1] He was first introduced in Ender in Exile.
History[]
Third Formic War[]
Sel Menach was an International Fleet soldier that left Earth on a relativistic voyage to go to war with the Formics. He was a pilot of a fighter ship, and was commanded by Ender Wiggin when the war began. He and the rest of his squadron fought in orbit and on the surface of a Formic planet, eventually defeating the aliens when Ender Wiggin destroyed the Formic Homeworld. The surviving members of his battalion colonized the conquered planet, which was later named Shakespeare.[1]
Ender in Exile[]
Sel took on the role of a xenobiologist, studying the native life of the planet and finding how to incorporate it into the humans' diets. During the first year of the colony, Sel struggled to find a cure for airborne worms that would burrow into people's veins and kill them, but eventually cured it with a drug cocktail. He found that the worms fed on a certain plant species and had to wipe it out, which he felt sorry about. By 1 AX, it was confirmed by the Ministry of Colonization that the planet would be the first to receive colonists from Earth (in 40 years), and that it had been named Shakespeare. Around this time, Sel was working on curing a mold affecting Earthborn plants and was approached by his assistant xenobiologist, Afraima. She proposed that the two have children together, disregarding the colony's strict mating rules set in place to restore gender diversity, as Afraima was already married to Evenezer; he turned her down and immediately said he would stop working with her. When Afraima said that she would tell people Sel got her pregnant, he finalized his decision and fired her, but eventually she worked him back down to allowing her to stay, but promising never to bring the idea up again.[1]
After submitting the Ansible report for solving the mold problem, Sel went to the foreman Fernão McPhee and asked for a job. Fernão told him off, saying that he was too important for manual labor and did not know how to do it anyways. Sel then went for a walk to clear his head.[1]
In 36 AX, the colony's governor Vitaly Kolmogorov was on his deathbed. He spoke with Sel and told him to send an encrypted message for him to Ender Wiggin, the appointed governor coming from Earth. Sel and Vitaly assumed that Sel would be elected the next governor, although he did not wish for it. Vitaly expressed concerns that the captain of the incoming colony ship, Quincy Morgan, would attempt to become governor when he arrived. Shortly afterward, Vitaly passed away. After the death of Vitaly, Sel was elected governor, but would step down as soon as the colony ship bringing the appointed governor Wiggin arrived.[1]
Shortly before the colony ship arrived in 41 AX, Sel received communication from Ender Wiggin, who thanked him for nearly 5 years of governance and for his service in the war. Sel replied explaining that he was going to go southward from Miranda to find cooler climates for certain Earthborn plants to live at, and that he would not be there to greet Ender when he arrived. Ix Tolo, the new head Xenobiologist, helped him pack, and told him that his son Po Tolo would accompany him.[1]
The night before he departed, his Ansible alerted him of a message from Minister of Colonization Hyrum Graff, as well as another message from Ender. They entered a video call, where Ender asked him to stay in contact, but Sel refused. In the morning he and Po departed and explored for awhile. After two weeks of exploration, they eventually came across a path made by Formic feet over 40 years before. These led to tunnels, and upon investigation found a cave with stalactites that twisted and writhed. They encountered a seemingly-dead gold-armored six-legged bug that seemed to be more bred than evolved. They hypothesized that they were bred to process minerals by the Formics.[1]
Suddenly, a slug-like creature picked up Po and pulled him to the ceiling, and he had to sacrifice his backpack to get away. Sel told Po to get away as it would take Sel longer, and the creature followed Po. Knowing that the Formics communicated mind-to-mind, Sel made a mental image of the slug going back to the Gold Bugs and the slug did so. Sel realized that the slug was a hybrid, and that it had been spliced with Formic genes to create a creature that could communicate mentally. After some more mental images, the slug carried Sel out of the cave on his back, and Sel gave it food.[1]
While continuing to study the bug, Ender Wiggin and a few others took a skimmer ride over to where Po and Sel were staying. Sel explained the discovery, which peaked Wiggin's interests. Sel also asked if Ender was indeed governor, and he confirmed that Morgan was staying on the ship.[1]
Afterwards, Sel stepped down as governor, with Ender as his replacement.[1]
Around 43-44 AX, Sel worked with Ender to create a currency for the planet. Abra Tolo figured out how to adapt an oil press to make a coin stamper, and one of the chemists came up with an alloy that would not shed gold as the coins passed from hand to hand. The smallest denomination coin had a picture of Vitaly on it, and the other coin had a picture of Sel. Sel insisted that Kolmogorov get the cheaper coin, as "you always give the greatest man the smallest denomination". Instead of calling the coins "fives" and "ones," they became "sels" and "vits".[1]
Personality[]
Trivia[]
- Known email addresses:
- Sel was an Orthodox Jew.[1]
- All of the grandchildren generation of the original colonists of Shakespeare called him "Uncle Sel".[1]
Quotes[]
- "This colony is my life now, Afraima. Yours too. You don't shit in your own soup. Can I put it any plainer than that?"
- — Ender in Exile, page 69