The softwire : Virus on Orbis 1

by PJ Haarsma

  “It will be sent shortly . . . pesty one. No one deserves anything, you know. Not with the state my business is in. You’re lucky they don’t ship you through the wormhole.”

  I was too happy to care about Weegin’s empty threats.

  Ketheria and I followed Max to the Trading Hall. Theodore was just as excited as I was and he joined us, too. During the trip on the spaceway, I told him about what happened to me at the Science and Research building, and Max told him about Boohral’s death. But our conversation quickly turned to the use of money and all the things we had read about life on Earth when we were on the Renaissance. I was anxious to see the stores and shopkeepers. I had no idea what to expect, but the chambers in the Trading Hall provided everything I ever dreamed of and more.

  Strange, exotic items from all over the galaxy were on display. I saw speaking animals from the Theta system, metallic fabrics spun from the worms of Gia right before my eyes, and the most amazing alien gadgets. Ketheria purchased some small rubber balls called glowglobes. When she dropped one, it would light up and slide across the ground or bounce in some direction that defied all laws of physics. Ketheria chased them endlessly around the Trading Hall.

  I breathed in the intoxicating aromas of alien food cooked out in the open, and the girls purchased a couple of pouches of toonbas to munch on. Theodore enjoyed them much more than the food pills we ate, even after I told them what they were made of.

  “I like this,” I told Theodore as we walked through the trading chambers.

  “Look,” Max said, pointing to several aliens shuffling by dressed in red and white silk robes. Their faces were painted white, with colored spiral markings, and their feet were bound tightly together. The aliens walked very slowly, with their arms extended to the side. “They’re studying to be Nagools.”

  “What’s that?” Theodore asked.

  “They study OIO. Boohral took it very seriously. It’s from the Ancients. It’s the art and science of cosmic energies,” Max said, shrugging.

  It was like that everywhere I turned. I could have stayed at the Trading Hall for a whole rotation and I would have seen something new on every corner. I loved it. All my worries about the central computer were quickly slipping away, and I was happy.

  Then I saw Switzer. He was bragging to Dalton and another kid when Max strolled up to him.

  “Only two chits and it can open any door I want,” Switzer said, as he held up the crystal, admiring it. “No need to wear this stupid skin anymore.”

  “You’ll get caught,” Theodore warned him.

  Switzer turned to see us standing there. “If you say anything, split-screen, I’ll clobber you,” he threatened. “You, too, Dumbwire.”

  Max pulled open Switzer’s vest, then showed him the crystal in her own.

  “He swiped your own crystal, you idiot, and sold it back to you. He probably scanned it and saw you couldn’t afford much more than two chits,” she said.

  Switzer felt his vest and then grabbed Dalton and checked his. Max was right. There was no crystal in his skin.

  “It happened to someone at Boohral’s,” she said to me. “It’s only programmed to open doors you are authorized for, anyway. Did you even try a door you’ve never been able to access before?” Max asked Switzer.

  “You bought your own crystal sensor?” Theodore laughed.

  Switzer took a step toward Max. He didn’t like to be made fun of by a girl.

  “If you weren’t a girl, I would . . .”

  “What? I’m not afraid of you,” Max said.

  I moved to get between them. “Back off, Switzer.”

  “You’re lucky your boyfriend is here.”

  “He’s not my boyfriend,” Max said.

  Switzer took a step back, smiling. “It’s pretty convenient, isn’t it?” he said.

  “What is?” I asked.

  “Boohral kept your little girlfriend away and now he’s dead. I’m sure they’re going to be asking a lot of questions, probably another tribunal. Maybe I should let them know I have a few things to say. Take you away again.”

  “Go away, Switzer,” I told him. I was finished with his constant conspiracies. He was only sore because he had just wasted two chits on something he already owned and Max had proved it in front of everyone.

  “C’mon, guys,” I said, and led everyone away from Switzer. “Ketheria, show us where you got those toonbas.”

  “That guy is such a malf,” Theodore said when he knew he was far enough away that Switzer couldn’t hear.

  “He might be right, though,” Max said.

  “What? You don’t think I had something to do with Boohral dying?”

  “Of course not. I’m just saying, some people might say something. Boohral died from a malfunction of his sleeper. The central computer controlled his sleeper. They like pointing their fingers at each other around here, haven’t you noticed?”

  “Well, I don’t think there’s enough of Science and Research left to lock me up there again,” I said, but all my worries came rushing back. How was I going to convince anyone that something was inside their precious computer? It wouldn’t be long before another Citizen pointed a finger at me again. The thought of it made me angry. I had done nothing wrong. And I would not let them lock me up again.

  That’s when Ketheria grabbed my vest and pulled me back.

  Several Neewalkers had cornered a group of the dusty dirt aliens, the same kind that Max ran into when we first arrived.

  “I was standing there!” yelled the little creature, which resembled a grimy accordion. “Rarely am I aboveground, and you must stand there also?”

  The Neewalkers laughed and moved their stilts wherever the dirt aliens moved. It only infuriated the dusty creatures more, but that was the goal of the Neewalkers.

  “Now you want to be here! Extremely irregular!”

  I walked straight toward the Neewalkers. Ketheria tried to stop me, but I got their attention anyway.

  “Hey, leave them alone!” I shouted.

  The tallest Neewalker turned toward me and drew a sword so fast it looked like it came out of his skin. Every other Neewalker followed his lead. I had succeeded in taking attention away from the dirt-covered aliens, but now every Neewalker was pointing his weapon at me.

  “Why are you bothering them?” I demanded. “I’m sure the Trading Council has better things for you to do, like hunting down slopcrawlers.”

  “We know of no mission,” breathed the Neewalker. The red markings on his ghastly face twitched, telling me he was lying. He scraped his sword along my chin. “But we are looking for one.”

  “Leave him alone,” Max said.

  “Feisty, for such weak creatures,” the Neewalker said. “I like it. What do you want for this one?” He inched toward Ketheria. His metal stilts blinked and whirled as he moved.

  “She’s not for trade!” I said.

  Computer chip.

  I scanned the Neewalker as he reached for Ketheria. There it was, plain as day — the Neewalker’s stilts were run by a computer attached to its brain. I pushed into the chip and grabbed the first thing I could find.

  The Neewalker’s right stilt gave out just before he touched Ketheria, and he crashed to the ground. His red-and-white face was awash in shock. He wheezed and whirled, trying to get control of his leg. For a split second I wondered if the little girl inside the central computer felt this way whenever she manipulated something on Orbis.

  A large Neewalker reached out and grabbed me by the collar, lifting me into the air.

  “The Softwire,” he said.

  “It should be worth something,” the fallen Neewalker said.

  “Take Ketheria,” I ordered Theodore, but Max was already one step ahead of me. The three of them ran for help while the Neewalkers looked me over as if they had found a crystal on the ground. I pushed into the next Neewalker.

  One more Neewalker arrived, but I recognized this one. It was the yellow-eyed one from the Science and Research building. �
�Let him be, Chiu Layn,” he ordered.

  “But Sar Cyrillus, this is the Softwire,” he said.

  “Yes, I know. We do meet under the most unusual circumstances, don’t we, Softwire?” Sar Cyrillus said in a raspy tone. “You’ve become quite a pain.” He looked down at his crippled comrade.

  I struggled to free myself from Chiu Layn’s grip, but it was useless.

  “I did not know he was the Softwire,” said the red-and-white-faced alien, still trying to get up.

  “This is a perfect demonstration of the fact that you must assess your enemy before engaging. Otherwise, what good are you?” Sar Cyrillus said.

  Sar Cyrillus raised his hand and waved it over the collar of the downed Neewalker. The effect was death; the Neewalker fell still.

  “Do you see how easy it is?” Sar Cyrillus said, turning his attention back to me. “I could be rid of you as easily” — Sar Cyrillus examined his hand with admiration — “but some believe you are useful, and I’m paid to do what I’m told,” he said, dropping his hand with feigned disappointment.

  “What’s going on here?” someone behind me said.

  I turned. “Charlie!” I shouted.

  “It doesn’t look like your friends here are playing fair, Johnny.” Charlie drew a slick silver weapon that snuggled neatly in his big hand. The Neewalkers took a cautious step backward as my friends returned with eight security drones. The sight of the security drones only made the Neewalkers laugh, but they never took their eyes off the weapon in Charlie’s hand. Chiu Layn dropped me, and the other Neewalkers collected the dead one.

  “We will finish this,” Sar Cyrillus snarled.

  The security drones followed the Neewalkers as they walked away.

  “Are you all right, buddy?” Charlie asked.

  “Yeah, thanks, Charlie. Good work getting the drones,” I said to Max.

  “Ketheria found them, but I think the Neewalkers were more afraid of that,” Max said, pointing to Charlie’s gun.

  “This? You kids shouldn’t be seeing that.” Charlie tucked the weapon out of sight. “My name’s Charlie. You must be Max and Theodore. And you must be Ketheria,” he said, bending down to her eye level. She moved behind me. Ketheria had never seen a human adult before.

  “She’s a little shy,” Max said.

  “She certainly looked ready to take on those Neewalkers. C’mon, let me get you kids something to eat. You must be hungry.”

  Ketheria wasn’t shy anymore once the big man mentioned food. She took my hand and we followed Charlie through the Trading Hall.

  Charlie took us to the Earth News Café. It was a shrine to everything earthly. Plasma screens showed digis of Earth cities and holographs of famous digital stars, and they even played music from Earth.

  “When did they make this place?” Max asked.

  “They did it when they knew your parents were coming,” he replied. “Makes ya miss home, doesn’t it, kids?”

  “Not really,” I told him, looking for something familiar in the pictures on the café walls. I thought of my parents and their lives on Earth, but Earth felt as foreign as any other planet I’d ever read about. Even though I was nothing more than a slave on Orbis, it still felt more like home to me than Earth.

  “That’s right. You’ve never been to Earth. Very crowded planet. Always cloudy now, too.”

  Charlie led us to a table, where he introduced each of us to his friends.

  “Everyone, this is Johnny Turnbull, the softwire I told you about. These are his friends Max and Theodore and his sister, Ketheria,” he said.

  “Pleased to meet you. I’m Albert,” said a very tall human with messy hair and thick glasses. Albert knocked over his drink as he got up.

  “Ah, Albert, now look what you’ve done.” A short plump woman with pretty eyes scolded him. “I’m Rose. It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s so nice to finally have some more humans on Orbis. We thought Charlie was pulling our leg when he said he’d met the Softwire. And you’re one of ours, for that matter.”

  “C’mon, kids, sit down,” Charlie said.

  We did just that as Albert and Rose stared. Charlie clipped Albert on the back of his head.

  “What, you never saw a kid before?”

  “Not a softwire, Charlie.”

  “Sorry, honey,” Rose said, smiling at me. “It’s been pretty boring for us lately.”

  “She’s right. Tell us everything. How are your Guarantors?” Albert asked.

  “Mine hates me,” I said.

  “Mine’s dead,” Max said.

  “Oh my,” Rose responded. “And what about yours, sweetheart?” Rose leaned toward Ketheria and put her hand on her head. Ketheria pulled her head back and snuggled toward me.

  “She can’t talk,” I told them. “She’s been that way since she was born.”

  “How about a nice glass of Coca-Cola? That will clear the pipes and get her talking,” said Charlie, punching some buttons on an O-dat at the table. Three large glasses filled with a brown, fizzy liquid materialized on the table.

  “Go on, try it.”

  We each took a glass and sipped. Max sprayed hers all over Albert.

  “Yuck! What is this stuff?” Max asked.

  “International drink of Earth. First company to sponsor a seed-ship to another galaxy.”

  “It makes my eyes water,” Theodore said.

  “Your sister doesn’t seem to mind it,” Rose pointed out.

  Albert was still wiping his glasses off. Ketheria had almost finished her entire glass. She seemed to be enjoying it quite a bit. She finished hers and was reaching for mine when she let out a loud burp.

  “There’s a good earthling,” Charlie said, laughing.

  I liked Charlie and his friends. They made me laugh, too. Albert was always doing something silly, and soon even Ketheria was smiling. When Charlie mentioned the disaster at the Science and Research building, we told them everything. We told them about the Neewalkers, the slopcrawler, and the strange city of Keepers.

  “That’s Magna,” Charlie said.

  “It was once the city of the Ancients,” Albert said.

  “Now the Keepers live below it,” Charlie added.

  “Someone got us out of there,” I said. “I don’t know who, but it wasn’t any Citizen; they think I’m somehow involved with the central computer.”

  “Just like them,” Albert said. “Always trying to find a way to get folks off the rings. Want to keep the riches for themselves.”

  “Let ’em have them,” Rose said.

  “Won’t be much left anyway if they don’t figure out what’s wrong with Big Bertha,” Albert said.

  “Big Bertha?” Max said.

  “Albert works in maintenance. That’s what he calls the central computer. He gets to hear about all the little glitches that have been happening before anyone else,” Charlie said.

  Albert held up the vest he was wearing. It was similar to the skins we wore for Weegin’s World, but an official digital ID badge was sewn in and blue piping ran along the edges.

  “There have been more?” I asked him.

  “Oh yeah. Little things everywhere, but they keep it quiet because it will scare the heckers out of the Citizens. I say, tell them everything and let’s figure out what’s wrong before it’s too late,” Albert said.

  “What do they think is causing it?” Max asked.

  “Not a clue,” said Albert. “But I think —”

  “Don’t start your doomsday talk, Albert. That’s all you talk about. Besides, those Neewalkers scare me,” Rose said.

  “She’s right: let it go,” Charlie said. “Another soda for everyone?”

  Ketheria was the only one who accepted Charlie’s offer. I had never seen her this happy before. I didn’t want the spoke to end. I don’t know why, but I felt comfortable. Maybe this was all there was supposed to be: good friends, something to talk about, nothing more. I made a point not to think about it. I wanted to enjoy myself, too. I didn’t know how long thi
s would last or if it would ever happen again.

  Before we left, Charlie, Albert, and Rose invited us to join them at the Earth News Café whenever we wanted.

  “We’re always here. Don’t be shy,” Albert shouted as we waved good-bye. Ketheria chased her glowglobes all the way back to Weegin’s World.

  I said good night to Max and Ketheria and went to my room. I was feeling content for the first time since I arrived on Orbis. See, it just took a little time, I told myself. I wanted more of this, and I knew it was up to me to find it. I looked at the dream-enhancement headset and put it on. Nothing was going to stop me from enjoying my new home now. I set the dials for color: low; sound: soft; characters: random. I adjusted the headset and closed my eyes.

  Within moments I was wandering through the clouds as if I could fly. Soft music filtered down from above me, and a peaceful feeling breezed through my body. I was high above Weegin’s World on Orbis 1 and the magnificent ring curved up around me on both sides. I could see the lights from the other towns and cities, as well as large bodies of water on the surface of the ring. It was beautiful. I followed the water to Magna.

  Waterfalls surrounded the ancient city and the huge red birds circled high above. I was not afraid of them this time, and I floated down toward them. Soon, I was flying next to them. They beat their giant wings, and one turned to look at me. Its eyes glittered a bright gold, reflecting the distant sunlight, but there was no threat in them now.

  I almost passed her before a shimmer caught my attention. Far below me, behind a building on the outskirts of Magna, appeared the little girl I once mistook for Ketheria. She was dismantling a wall panel attached to the structure. I circled above the little girl without her knowing. She plucked knobs and controls from the panel, jumping back sometimes as sparks flew. After digging awhile, she removed an instrument plate and threw it onto the ground.

  She’s looking for something to play with, I thought. I reached into my pocket and found a lost glowglobe I had retrieved for Ketheria. It was still with me in my dream. I drifted lower and dropped the globe. It bounced erratically in front of the little girl, making her jump back. The ball returned to me when my feet touched the ground. The little girl looked up and bolted when she saw me. I stayed and bounced the ball again.