Page 620 - Enders_Game_Full_Book

"This is getting out of hand," said Novinha. "Grego, try to keep this at the level of rational discussion."
"It's hard to, when the whole thing is so irrational. At‚ agora quem ja imaginou microbiologista que se torna namorada de uma mol‚cula?" Who ever heard of a microbiologist getting a crush on a molecule?
"Enough!" said Novinha sharply. "Quara is as much a scientist as you are, and--"
"She was," muttered Grego.
"And-- if you'll kindly shut up long enough to hear me out-- she has a right to be heard." Novinha was quite angry now, but, as usual, Grego seemed unimpressed. "You should know by now, Grego, that it's often the ideas that sound most absurd and counterintuitive at first that later cause fundamental shifts in the way we see the world."
"Do you really think this is one of those basic discoveries?" asked Grego, looking them in the eye, each in turn. "A talking virus? Se Quara sabe tanto, porque ela nao diz o que e que aqueles bichos dizem?" If she knows so much about it, why doesn't she tell us what these little beasts are saying? It was a sign that the discussion was getting out of hand, that he broke into Portuguese instead of speaking in Stark, the language of science-- and diplomacy.
"Does it matter?" asked Ender.
"Matter!" said Quara.
Ela looked at Ender with consternation. "It's only the difference between curing a dangerous disease and destroying an entire sentient species. I think it matters."
"I meant," said Ender patiently, "does it matter whether we know what they're saying."
"No," said Quara. "We'll probably never understand their language, but that doesn't change the fact that they're sentient. What do viruses and human beings have to say to each other, anyway?"
"How about, 'Please stop trying to kill us'?" said Grego. "If you can figure out how to say that in virus language, then this might be useful."
"But Grego," said Quara, with mock sweetness, "do we say that to them, or do they say that to us?"
"We don't have to decide today," said Ender. "We can afford to wait awhile."
"How do you know?" said Grego. "How do you know that tomorrow afternoon we won't all wake up itching and hurting and puking and burning up with fever and finally dying because overnight the descolada virus figured out how to wipe us out once and for all? It's us or them."