by PJ Haarsma
I stared down to the end of the riser, searching between the pulses of light to catch a glimpse of what they had in store for us. But whoever stood there waiting was concealed by the garish light, and I could only make out silhouettes against the tall, narrow windows that curved over the auditorium.
The riser opened onto a round stage big enough for all of us and then some. The electrical charge from the fence collected in a channel that encircled the entire area. Standing on the other side were four Keepers, now joined by Theylor and Drapling. Past them, waiting on a raised area made of stone and decorated with metal and crystal, was another group of aliens. They stared at us eagerly, as if sizing us up for something important. Are these our Guarantors? I wondered. My eyes darted from alien to alien, and I noticed that most of them flaunted some item bearing the insignia of Orbis. Whether it was a large belt or a necklace, a pin, or even a crown, each displayed the same symbol — four overlapping rings around a glowing light.
“Trusted Citizens,” Drapling announced, “we have your consignments.”
“So we belong to these guys now?” Theodore whispered.
I knew only Citizens could be Guarantors. “I guess so,” I said.
“Drapling, I want the Softwire,” grumbled one unusually large Citizen. His legs alone were six or seven times the width of my whole body. Perched on top of his massive light yellow form was a small pea-size face. At least twenty wires protruded from his skull and connected to a silver spherical device floating above his tiny head.
“How do they know about you already?” Theodore whispered.
“I think the central computer must have alerted them.”
“Why should you get the Softwire, Boohral?” said another Guarantor, jutting what might have passed for a chin toward the smooth, pale yellow giant. This Guarantor looked much older, with an abundance of wrinkled pink skin. His eyes drooped around the side of his head, and there was a large, clear bubble of skin on his forehead that changed color when he talked.
Boohral’s two assistants immediately struck an aggressive stance in front of the other Guarantor. The assistants wore vests matching the color of Boohral’s belt. I thought they might be Boohral’s bodyguards, but from the frightened expressions on their long faces, I knew they did not want to fight.
“Because, Torlee, there are certain Citizens who should not possess such an instrument,” Boohral said.
“Are you accusing me of something?” demanded Torlee, the fleshy globe on his head flushing a deep red.
“Enough with the ridiculous bickering!” Drapling shouted. “The assignments were made many years ago, before some of you were even involved. We will keep to the original agreements or you will forfeit your claims,” ordered Drapling.
“But we did not know there was a softwire on board!” Boohral shouted. “I demand a hearing before the Trading Council.”
But before Drapling could respond, Theylor spoke up and said, “Friends, please. This is an insignificant event. It does not require the valuable time of the Trading Council. The decree set by the Keepers cannot be changed. The Trading Council has agreed to commit to the cargo and we must disperse them.”
“Do not confuse this with a load of Greepling feed from Tristan,” Drapling said, his voice filled with contempt.
“Nor do I consider it a load of ordinary humans, either,” said another Guarantor with insectlike antennas. “How do we know there are not more softwires?”
The Guarantors grumbled to each other, and the atmosphere grew more and more intense. Boohral appeared to be gaining support.
Theylor raised his arms to quiet the crowd. “I assure you, every human was checked. There is only one,” he said.
“I’ll find it,” Boohral announced, and he pushed his way through the other aliens. The huge Guarantor labored toward a ramp at the end of the stone riser. A few of the children moved away from me as Boohral reached the open area where the Keepers stood. Theylor raised his hand, and the massive alien froze on the spot. I don’t think he could have moved even if he had wanted to.
“Engage the protector shield around the children,” Theylor said.
Drapling walked over to us. “This is for your own protection, but do not touch the barrier.”
With that, Drapling tapped on a portable O-dat molded to his wrist. The channel in the floor began to glow around us, and a force field shot up, surrounding us completely. A few of the kids gasped.
“Convene the Council,” Drapling ordered.
We sat and waited while the Keepers contacted the members of the Trading Council, all twelve of them. I overheard that some members were on other rings, while others were on the moons. A few members were even in distant galaxies. Five members attended the meeting only as holographic projections — larger-than-life three-dimensional representations that paced through the great hall above everyone’s heads. One of the projections was hunched over, talking intently with Torlee, whose head-bubble kept changing color. I noticed Boohral scrutinizing them from the corner of his eye.
“Now,” Drapling announced, “we will begin.”
One of the holographs stepped forward. “Which one of you has chosen to question the decree of the Keepers?”
“I have,” Boohral said.
“Ah, Boohral. You are always trying to change the deal,” said the Trading Council member.
“The deal changed. I did not. We were never told of the Softwire.”
“Nor were we, Boohral,” said the Trading Council member who had been talking to Torlee. She had jet-black skin and piercing silver eyes. “The deceased human cargo was not supposed to bring offspring. They broke this rule by storing embryos — embryos they planned to birth late in the journey. When the adults died from an unknown malfunction on the spacecraft, there wasn’t any knowledge of the unborn, let alone the existence of a softwire.”
“How do you know this?” demanded Boohral.
I wondered the same thing.
“Their ship is in our control now,” she said. “I personally searched the ship’s AI. There is nothing we don’t know,” she said.
I thought about my parents’ restricted files. Did they know about those, too?
The Trading Council member looked like a human, but I could not tell where her skin stopped and her leathery outfit began. Her pure white hair was braided. Strands of it hung in front of her face, while the rest lay obediently against her ebony skull.
“We learned that one of the children was a softwire only when the Keeper tried to install the implant. Theylor suspected the male’s abilities and ran the tests with the central computer. It was only then that the central computer notified us of the event. No one has tried to cheat anyone. The decree stands.”
Our Guarantors grumbled and thumped on the riser.
“Silence!” shouted the Council member.
“But Madame Lee, it is we who must bear the financial burden!” said a knobby, crusted Guarantor.
“Yes, Weegin, that is true,” Madame Lee replied.
“But why?” demanded Boohral.
Drapling stepped in and said, “As Citizens, you have chosen to stock your factories with knudniks, as you like to call them. Therefore you should bear the responsibility in matters like this.”
Boohral hissed in response. In fact, most of the Guarantors either grunted or scoffed at Drapling’s answer.
I leaned in to Max. “What’s a knudnik?” I said.
“I don’t know, but you’ve suddenly gotten very popular. I’m glad you’re the one with the softy thing and not me.”
“See, I told you he was a freak,” Switzer said. He worked his way through the other children and stood next to Ketheria. She stuck her tongue out at him.
“Please. Everyone calm down,” Theylor said. “The honorable Trading Council member has spoken. Madame Lee has upheld the decree of the Keepers, and rightly so.”
“A concession should be made to the Guarantors who do not receive the Softwire,” said the alien with the antennas.
“Speak up,
” Boohral urged the alien. Drapling twisted his left head, and anger boiled in his eyes. I don’t think he was used to compromising with anyone.
“The Softwire has a sibling. Maybe the sister can go to another Guarantor and we can see if this evolutionary break shows up in her,” said Torlee.
“But who decides which of us gets the female?” Boohral asked.
Did I hear right? Split us up? This cannot be happening. I grabbed Ketheria with no intention of letting go.
“This would be an easy solution to our problem,” Madame Lee said. “But the Keeper’s decree is never to break up families. You know the laws.”
“I don’t care about human beings!” Boohral yelled. “You care only because you smell like one. You have sympathy for these weak, pathetic creatures — everyone knows it!”
Madame Lee stood tall, deflecting the full brunt of the insult. Several Citizens moved away from Boohral, and everyone whispered frantically. Then Madame Lee’s 3-D holograph appeared instantly in front of Boohral and sprang taller, immediately towering over him. Boohral’s two assistants stepped in front of him as a glowing blue disc materialized in Madame Lee’s right hand. She hurled the disc at the assistants. Boohral didn’t even flinch. One assistant ducked, moving out of the way just in time. But then the disc turned back, striking the assistant in the back of the head, killing him instantly.
I shuddered in disbelief. This was the first time I had ever seen someone be killed. Instinctively I stood in front of Ketheria. I watched in horror as two small droids lifted the broken body of the assistant into a glass-and-metal coffin. The coffin filled with blue gas as the robots took it away.
“How dare you disrespect these proceedings!” Drapling fumed.
“How is that possible? She’s only a holograph,” Theodore whispered to me.
“You will pay for my loss,” Boohral demanded.
“Be thankful it was not you,” Madame Lee said.
“I am far too profitable to the Council. Your threats are empty,” Boohral said.
“I do not care for Trefaldoors like yourself, Boohral, despite your business skills. Remember your place. If you ever address me in this manner again, I will send you through the wormhole where they eat fat Trefaldoors for —”
They completely ignored Drapling, which only made him angrier. “The deconstructive energy you released by your killing is an affront to the Ancients. How dare you —”
“Everyone, please, this has gotten out of hand,” Theylor said as he stepped between Drapling and the hologram of Madame Lee. Boohral moved away.
“I am sorry, Madame Lee, but you will be charged for Boohral’s loss if he decides to initiate a demand of payment,” Theylor announced while staring at Drapling with one head. The other Keepers scurried about, seemingly distraught by Drapling’s outburst. “Boohral, do you desire to initiate a demand of payment for the destruction of your property?”
“Absolutely,” he replied.
“Then, Madame Lee, by order —”
“Bah!” Before Theylor could finish, Madame Lee threw a fistful of crystals at Boohral’s feet. They sparked as they entered our realm. The remaining assistant scurried to pick them up.
“We have made a decision,” said a Trading Council member with a long tail and feet like a centipede’s. “The Guarantor that receives the Softwire will forfeit one child to each of the other Guarantors. If he does not want to do this, he can forfeit the Softwire to the next Guarantor, who then has the same choice.” With that, the Trading Council member rang a chime and each of the members either left or blinked off.
“That’s not fair. Now I will have an extra mouth to feed,” said one of the Guarantors.
“And an extra pair of hands to charge a fee for,” Drapling said with a sneer, and Theylor once again glanced in his direction.
“Ah, what can they earn for me?” Torlee mumbled. “We should have turned the ship back.”
The force field dropped into the floor again. Theylor motioned us to the center of the room, but no one moved.
“It is all right,” Theylor said. “Come now.”
I stepped forward first, along with Ketheria, then Max and Switzer followed. Slowly, the other children began to move. The stone riser slid away from us, revealing a semicircle of crystal orbs embedded in the floor.
“Quiet, please. When I call out your name, please move behind the Guarantor I direct you to,” Theylor said.
The Guarantors circled around us. Their assistants stayed behind.
“How’s this going to work?” I said to Theodore.
“Eight Guarantors. Two hundred of us. That’s twenty-five for each Guarantor, and whoever gets you has to give up seven,” he quickly replied.
I didn’t care about the math. I hoped this meant that Switzer would finally be out of my life. Slave or not, any sort of existence would be easier without him. One by one, the Guarantors stepped onto the flattened crystal orbs. The orb under each Guarantor changed to a different color.
The process was very quick. Max, Ketheria, and I were all assigned to the same Guarantor — the cragged little alien named Weegin, with the beady red eyes and tough, wrinkled skin. The alien was caressing a white puffy larva in his hands as kids I rarely spoke with lined up behind the other Guarantors.
“Theodore Malone!” Theylor called out, and then pointed to Weegin. “You are assigned to Joca Krig Weegin.”
“Randall Switzer!” Theylor called next. Please let him go somewhere else, I thought. But Theylor pointed and said, “Also Joca Krig Weegin.”
Who was punishing me like this? What were the odds? Switzer looked at me and smirked. Orbis would be no different from the Renaissance — I just knew it. I looked at the kids standing around Weegin. At least I had Theodore, I told myself, and Max, too.
“Who has the Softwire?” Boohral asked when Theylor was finished.
“Joca Krig Weegin does,” Theylor said.
Boohral made a loud clicking noise with his mouth. It was obvious that he was angry.
“Joca Krig Weegin, do you wish to keep the Softwire?” Drapling asked.
“Most definitely,” my new Guarantor replied.
“Argh! Come, humans.” Boohral was gathering his bounty and leaving.
“Do you not want your compensation?” Drapling asked.
“Make it quick.”
“Joca Krig Weegin, please assign one child to each of the other Guarantors. Do not separate the Softwire from his sibling.”
This was my chance. Weegin began pulling children from the group one by one. Take Switzer, I pleaded silently.
But he was weeding out the smallest kids first. “These are no good to me,” he said, adding to my feeling that I was nothing more than cargo to him.
When Ketheria was the only little one left, Weegin sent an other girl over to Torlee, who was still scowling about not getting me, the Softwire. Another boy, whom I had played Quest-Nest with many times in the contest tank, went with the only human-looking Guarantor. But Switzer was still with us. Why can’t he get rid of Switzer? If there ever was someone I wanted to go, it was Switzer.
“One more, Weegin,” Drapling said.
“Give me a good one,” Boohral said.
Weegin looked at Switzer.
Yes.
But then Weegin grabbed Max by the collar instead.
“No, please,” Max said.
I immediately stood in front of Max. “No, take him,” I said, and pointed to Switzer.
“Don’t want to lose your new girlfriend?” Switzer said with a sneer.
Max took a swing at Switzer.
“She’ll do fine,” growled Boohral.
“Do as you’re told,” Weegin snapped in a foul, crusty tone.
“No!” I yelled.
Ketheria’s eyes welled up. I looked at Max.
“Don’t worry. I’ll find out where you live.”
“Move, human,” Weegin growled.
“Watch out for Switzer,” she whispered, swallowing hard and holdin
g back tears. She bent down and kissed Ketheria on the cheek — an Earth gesture we had picked up from the movies. She headed to her new Guarantor — the fat yellow one with wires sticking out of his head. Boohral grabbed Max by the shoulder and pushed her in with the rest of the children. I watched as Max left the hall. Ketheria fought to hold her tears back, but many other children were not that strong. I felt my stomach rip away. I wanted to throw up. I wanted to cry, too, to scream out loud, but I wouldn’t dare let anyone see that, especially Switzer. I swallowed back my tears, stood tall, and took Ketheria’s hand. Not a good start, I thought.
All those years on the Renaissance and never once had I imagined my life would be like this. Max and most of the other kids were gone and I didn’t know if I would ever see them again. My softwire ability made me the center of much unwanted attention. Sure, now the other kids knew I wasn’t crazy when I said I could talk to Mother, and the thing that made me feel different had a name — I was a softwire. But I was still different, and now that Mother was gone, I felt more alone than ever.
The death of Boohral’s assistant flashed through my mind again and again as I rode on the spaceway with my new Guarantor. Would anyone ever initiate demand for payment for the destruction of me or Ketheria, or Theodore even? I was shocked at how casually Madame Lee had destroyed life. I made a point of remembering that. I also made a point to remember to be very careful in my new surroundings.
No one spoke for the entire ride on the spaceway, or the tram ride through a construction zone buzzing with flying robots, or the short walk to the huge structure that I assumed was our new home.
“This is Weegin’s World!” exclaimed our Guarantor, still caressing the infant larva in his hand. “Everyone, stay close to me.”
We followed Weegin into the mouth of a windowless metallic building and down a hallway. Weegin stopped in front of two large glass doors.
“Cover your ears. It can get loud,” Weegin said. “And don’t touch anything. I don’t want to lose any of you on the first day.”
“Better watch it, freak,” Switzer said, bumping into my shoulder, but I didn’t even bother to reply. On Orbis, Switzer was quickly becoming the least of my worries.
