Last Word
In Memory of a Hero
From: Heap Enscorn, Curator, Cultural Anthropology Museum
April 14, 2025
Duke was still working with the Museum to prepare this inaugural exhibit when he passed away suddenly after a brief illness. He had been an invaluable resource, providing documents, artifacts, and a crucial first-person perspective. Over the years, Duke and his wife, John Nö Bigpants, became friends and generous patrons. I, and everyone here, miss him.
Nö and I talked about what sort of tribute was appropriate for a man so beloved and admired by all of us. Her answer was simple and profound: we'll just tell everyone the truth.
For years, Duke was showered with honors for a decision he deeply regretted. There was no doubt that, militarily, destroying the space vessel was the correct decision. But Duke spent years wishing he hadn't been so certain that day. Learning that the crew had come out to surrender made it harder still to live with what he had done.
His career went very well, but he did not. He drank too much for too many years and kept people at a distance, despite years of therapy. Through all of it, he kept returning to the Lagoon. There were people there he cared about, and things he could do for them. Somehow, to his surprise, they became friends who cared about him in return.
Nö was there through all those years. She had been certain, too, in her decisions to use the Sacrament and land in secret—decisions that caused the deaths of many friends, Bexley children, and her beloved Kutya.
Like Duke, she distanced herself from her peers and chose not to join the line marriage that was being established. And like Duke, she began to heal at the Lagoon. For Nö, that healing came through her love of the creche children and her dedication to the dolphins in her charge. They needed her, and she readily accepted that. Eventually, she learned to accept their love as well.
Duke kept visiting, and they were both good listeners. It took them years to begin talking honestly about what had happened. Once they did, they kept talking. There was a great deal they had never been able to say to anyone.
And there were other things to talk about. The children. Their friends. What they were going to do that afternoon. They began to enjoy themselves.
The day Duke proposed, he told Nö, "I knew I loved you long before I knew what to do about it."
Apparently, he worked it out.
The above photograph commemorates Duke's proposal at the Lagoonion Reunion 15 years ago.
Nö says he would have strenuously objected to seeing this photo in the exhibit; he always said he looked like a whale in it. But Nö insisted. As she told us, "Who doesn't love whales? This is how I always think of him, finally and truly happy."
In the last few years, Nö and Duke were instrumental in convincing the Matriarchy to reengage with Earth. Their informal delegation arrived just in time to attend Duke's funeral at the John Family Mausoleum, off the coast of Monaco.
I invited Nö to make a statement for the exhibit. She demurred at first, but then texted me the following message, which I could convey so long as it was printed in exactly the same language and formatting:
PEOPLE OF EARTH,
The arrival of the Matriarchy represents the culmination of our plan of conquest. Earth will soon be our satellite. Terraforming, or rather aquaforming, will begin shortly.
John Nö Bigpants, Matriarch-Designate
I know well that Europans have a low sense of humor. At first I just laughed the text message off. It's a great joke, though, and so I decided to have my own joke and publish it as is.
It is a joke, right?
I'm pretty sure it's a joke.
But she's not returning my calls.
