# Salva Gordy — Short Fiction character guide

> Salva Gordy in Short Fiction by Frederik Pohl.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Gordy, Doctor Salva Gordy

**First appearance:** 0000-asteroid-of-the-damned

## Snapshot

A former Pasadena professor of mathematics and physics, Gordy now hoes a garden at the end of the world, watching mutated ants and crabgrass overtake his carrots.

## Who they are

Doctor Salva Gordy once taught mathematics and physics in Pasadena; now he sweats over a garden plot, smoking stubs and shaking his head at the rank crabgrass he cannot cut. When John de Terry, a former student, stumbles into his yard, Gordy finds help and an unsettling conversation about lunged ants and humanity's last chance. His quiet guilt — he made a weapon out of something that had nothing to do with war — colors every observation he makes about what comes next.

## Relationships

### [John de Terry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/john_de_terry)

_romantic_

John de Terry and Salva Gordy share a passionate but possibly fraught romantic relationship, marked by intense interactions.

### [the Ants Try Gordy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/the_ants_try_gordy)

_family_

Salva Gordy and the Ants Try Gordy are family members, possibly siblings or parent and child, with a close but strained bond.

### [John de Terry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/john_de_terry)

_romantic_

John de Terry and Salva Gordy share a passionate but possibly fraught romantic relationship, marked by intense interactions.

### [John de Terry](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/john_de_terry)

_romantic_

John de Terry and Salva Gordy share a passionate but possibly fraught romantic relationship, marked by intense interactions.

### [the Ants Try Gordy](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/the_ants_try_gordy)

_family_

Salva Gordy and the Ants Try Gordy are family members, possibly siblings or parent and child, with a close but strained bond.

## In the story

### [Let the Ants Try](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/chapters/let-the-ants-try)

Gordy creates the ant race by planting queens in the Coal Measure forest, is captured by the evolved ants, forced to rebuild his time machine, and barely escapes. He grapples with the guilt of annihilating humanity.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters/salva_gordy
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_18_se/characters