Betrayal On Orbis 2: From The Spectrum Universe (The Softwire Series)

by PJ Haarsma

  “I’m not doin’ any of it,” Dalton replied, and slumped onto his sleeper.

  Nobody argued with him. It felt strange to see him without Switzer.

  “How long do you think he’ll be like that?” Theodore said.

  “Doesn’t it bother you to see him alone?” Max asked him. “You know, with Switzer gone? It feels strange to me.”

  “Why?” Theodore remarked, “Switzer was a mean person.”

  “But he was still a person,” Ketheria reminded him. She went over and sat next to Dalton. Nugget plopped himself next to her.

  “Get that thing away from me,” Dalton snapped, but Nugget only snuggled closer to Ketheria.

  “Leave them,” Max whispered. “Let’s start with the shipment of food that’s arriving.” She headed for the door.

  “We’ll handle the decorations for the entrance,” Grace said. “Come help us when you’re done.”

  Ketheria and Nugget stayed with Dalton. “We’ll be over later,” she said.

  “How long will it take Toll to cool the crystal?” Theodore asked as we followed Max to the receiving bay.

  Max looked at him. “Why?”

  “Well, there won’t be anyone to feed after the crystal is cooled and Toll is gone.”

  I wanted to say, “Don’t count on it,” but I didn’t have to. When we arrived at the receiving area, there must have been at least fifty crates waiting on the stone floor. The smell of rancid meat was immediate.

  “That’s an awful lot of food for someone who’s leaving,” Max remarked.

  “Does Toll eat all of this at once?” I asked.

  “It would take many phases to eat all of this,” Theodore replied.

  I looked at the oxygenated crates. What was all this food for? I could hear the little creatures clawing at the walls. They do seem to know their fate, I thought. Didn’t I know my fate too? Was I ignoring it? I knew the Trading Council was lying — they weren’t going to set Toll and Smool free — and Toll would make them pay for it. I would be just as dead as Switzer as soon as the tank was destroyed. I told you so wouldn’t mean much after everyone was dead.

  Max instructed the robots to disperse the crates, leaving two behind.

  “You’re in for a treat,” she said, and maneuvered the first of the two crates near a long, clear chute. I assumed it emptied into the cooling tank.

  “Just grab them and stuff them in this chute,” Max instructed. “It’s easy, but just be fast.”

  Theodore looked at her, and they both giggled.

  When Theodore removed the lid, the frightened creatures huddled in the corners. They were pink with at least eight arms or legs but no eyes. Two long tentacles sprouted from one end of each thing, flickering about in the air. Max thrust her hand in and yanked one out. It twisted and writhed in her grip.

  “You have to do it quickly, or they’ll die out of the water!” she shouted over the screeching. The little guy flailed his arms about, grabbing at Max’s hair and smacking her whenever he got close enough. Theodore grabbed another as Max plunged the thing into the chute and slammed a release button. The “food” scrambled against the current before it was flushed into the cooling tank.

  “I think the screaming tells the others what’s happening,” Max said.

  “They start to gang up on you if you wait too long,” Theodore added.

  I reached in with my right arm and grabbed one. Two other creatures latched on to help their friend. Another jumped from the water, ran up my arm, and punched me in the face. It was more shocking than painful, but their skin was rough and it scratched my cheek. I held the thing as far from my face as possible. At least they’re putting up a fight, I thought. That was more than what I was doing. But what could I do? Who would help me? Max and Theodore were no better off than me. In fact, everyone in Core City would die if Toll destroyed the cooling tank.

  “The vitamin stuff!” Max shouted. “We forgot it.”

  “I was hoping you wouldn’t remember,” Theodore mumbled, cracking a sealed crate. The stench burned my nose. That’s where the smell of rotting meat was coming from.

  “Dunk them in here first. It makes them easier for the Samiran to swallow. Their skin is too rough,” she instructed.

  “I found that out by myself,” I said as I touched the fresh scratch on my cheek.

  I managed to dunk the little monster into the stinky stuff and then into the chute. I sent it to its death in the tank and reached for another. This little bugger chomped down on my finger.

  “Look, I’m not bleeding,” I said, holding up the arm Orbis had given me.

  The skin was torn slightly. I felt pain but I did not see blood.

  “Let me look,” Max said as Theodore flushed the last of Toll’s meal into the tank.

  “Careful,” I told her.

  “You baby. You have pain sensors, don’t you? Turn them off.”

  I accessed the interface, located the pain sensor, and turned it off. The pain subsided instantly.

  “Done,” I said, and Max stuck her finger into the open wound. “Hey!”

  “Wow, I can feel some sort of metal under your skin.”

  I yanked my arm away. “No, don’t even think about it. It’s my arm.”

  Max put one hand on her hip. “Relax. I have no intentions of taking your arm apart, but doesn’t it make you wonder? If they can make something like your arm, why can’t they figure out a way to float those crystals?”

  “Maybe they don’t want to.”

  “Well, it’s stupid,” Max said, shaking her head. She walked away, deep in thought.

  “Where are you going?” Theodore called out to her.

  “To help with the decorations. To see what this festival is all about.”

  At the entrance to the great hall, the other children had finished unpacking the enormous crystal sculptures that depicted the first arrival of the Samirans and the harvesting of the Crystal of Life. A small locator was attached to the wall, and flying cart-bots guided the sculptures to their resting place high above our heads. The crystals sprang to life with music and vibrant shades of pink, green, and purple that danced about, enacting a different story around each crystal.

  “They’re golden, aren’t they?” exclaimed one girl as another crystal rested on its locator and exploded with color.

  By now Dalton was there with my sister, and he too stared with wonder at the light show. I think he even smiled.

  We worked late into the cycle finishing all the chores Odran had assigned to us. Even Nugget helped out when Ketheria fell asleep on a huge bolt of Gia silk that we used to drape the steps up to the cooling tank. Small flying robots buzzed around our heads all cycle, flashing images of the way things were supposed to look.

  When I finally fell on my sleeper, I was too tired to even say good night. It felt like I wasn’t asleep for even a nanosecond when I heard, “You kids are going to sleep the cycle away!” It was Charlie. He was standing in the doorway. “You ready to see the biggest celebration in the universe?”

  The lack of sleep was no longer an issue as we eagerly piled out of the dorm behind Charlie.

  Our preparations at Odran’s paled in comparison to what the people of Core City had done. It was as if someone had scraped off all the neglect and decay and polished the whole city like a magnificent gleaming spaceship. Everyone was dressed in some sort of costume or elaborate outfit, and every food shop was giving away eats and drinks for free. There were no grumbling mine workers, no cranky shopkeepers, only happy aliens, shouting, dancing, singing, and eating.

  “What do we do?” I asked Charlie.

  “Have fun. Be kids,” he said, smiling.

  “Where will you be?” Max asked.

  “I’ll be right there with Rose and Albert,” he said, pointing to a group of small tables surrounding a street vendor giving away drinks.

  “Hey, kids!” Rose and Albert shouted, waving at us.

  I hadn’t seen them since the Earth News Café on Orbis 1.

&
nbsp; “What are they doing here?” I said.

  “Best festival’s on Orbis 2; everyone knows that,” Charlie replied.

  I was torn between seeing my old friends and exploring the Festival. Some of the other kids had already disappeared into the crowd.

  “Go on,” Charlie told us. “You can visit later.”

  Max, Ketheria, Theodore, and I ran into the crowd. Shop owners who didn’t sell food had imported delicacies from the other rings and were generously handing them out. Ketheria immediately found someone giving out toonbas and parked herself in front of the shopkeeper.

  “Don’t be greedy,” I whispered.

  “There’s enough for the whole galaxy,” the shopkeeper exclaimed. “You never get to see these on Orbis 2.” He gave her another pouch to carry.

  I paused before popping one in my mouth. I thought about how these Trefaldoorian treats had betrayed Toll Town.

  “It wasn’t your fault,” my sister said. “Let’s have fun, all right?”

  “All right.”

  We ran through the streets, tasting every food we could stomach. Theodore sniffed each treat before he put it in his mouth, while Max tried everything that was handed to her without a thought. The sweet and spicy smells of foods cooking open in the streets filled the air. It made me light-headed. It wasn’t long before we were laughing and dancing with everyone in Core City, and any thoughts of Switzer, Toll Town, or Odran were replaced with a giddy sensation that I never felt before.

  “This is better than any Birth Day, ever!” Max declared.

  In one open quad, Max pointed to a child of a Citizen strapped in a metallic chair that skipped across a large reservoir of yellowish-green water like that in the cooling tank. An alien dressed in festive purple and green silks presented the proud parents with a hologram that depicted their child pulling the Crystal of Life as he dipped in and out of the water.

  “Just like Toll,” the child cried, reaching up for the holo with three of his arms. He used his free arm to stuff his face with something yellow, stringy, and slimy.

  Theodore stopped below another hologram and said, “Look, free use of tetrascopes. You can link into the mind of another being and experience whatever they are doing. It’s as if you are them. We can actually be in the parade with one of these.” He scoured the list of people selling themselves as riders.

  “I want to be a miner loading the Crystal of Life,” said a small alien clone, pulling on the skirt of its mother or father (I couldn’t tell).

  “Forget it,” Max told Theodore, and pointed at another screen. “No humans. Says so right there.”

  A large screen floated over the vendor’s head. It read:

  Due to the addictive nature of tetrascopes,

  Keeper decree mandates that the following species

  are forbidden from using these devices.

  Right there, fifth on the list, were humans.

  “I guess tetrascopes are addictive,” I said.

  “Let’s try anyway!” Theodore insisted, and the tall alien in charge only grunted and pointed at the screen, pushing Theodore aside.

  “So much for being friendly,” I mumbled.

  “So much for reading the sign,” the alien replied.

  “Come on, Theodore. There are better things here than tetrascopes,” I said, leading my friends down the street and into a crowd of dancing aliens.

  “Yeah, like that!” Max cried, pointing to something that looked like one of the chairs in the water, only this was floating in the air above our heads.

  One short, stubby alien dancing by himself told us, “They’re for the parade. You don’t want to miss a good spot. You’d better get one.”

  “But we don’t have any chits or crystals,” I said.

  He laughed and said, “No one needs money this cycle.”

  We raced through the crowd and found a long line forming in front of a shuttle cart that was handing out the flying chairs. Max snuck to the front of the line with us in tow.

  “How do they work?” she asked a gruff, stocky alien with a scar around his bald head.

  “They are simple,” he showed us. “Up, down, forward, and back. Stabilizers will keep you from tipping.”

  “Golden!” Max shrieked, and jumped on the metal and plastic device.

  It looked more like a saddle than a chair except for the armrest that housed the controls. In an instant we were soaring above the crowd, zipping in and out of the aliens already waiting for the parade.

  “This is better than Ring Defenders,” Theodore shouted as we chased each other back and forth over Core City.

  “Try and catch me!” Ketheria yelled. Nugget hung on the back of her flying chair. His big feet were locked into the machine and he waved his hands in the air while whooping.

  We caught Ketheria easily when she was stopped by a security-bot.

  “Your behavior has forfeited your seats. Please hand them over immediately,” it informed us.

  “Certainly,” I said, and pushed into the flying robot. The computer chip was so simple. I manipulated its programming and trashed its memory of the last report.

  “Thank you for complying,” it said, and raced away, leaving us with our flying chairs.

  “Perfect!” Max cried.

  “Do you think you should have done that?” Theodore asked, worried as usual.

  “Yes, I do,” I told him, and grabbed his toonbas before I raced away. Everyone chased after me.

  This was the Orbis promised to me on the Renaissance. This was what our parents sacrificed their lives to achieve. This felt good. I squashed my feelings of bitterness, of being cheated, and ignored the fact that this affluent and sophisticated world was not responsible for my happiness.

  I saw thousands of aliens below me, and many were already in place to get the best view of the parade.

  “Look — there’s Charlie!” Max shouted, pointing to the spot we left him.

  I waved as small bolts of light shot up from the ground and exploded into images of Toll or the Orbis insignia. As the ring fell into shadow, the lights in each building flickered on, pulsing with different colors for the Festival. More and more glowing images were fired into the air. Some displayed images of OIO symbols, while others displayed images of home planets. It made me want to launch one for Earth.

  “This is fun,” Nugget said as Ketheria pulled next to me.

  “The parade is going to start soon,” she informed us.

  “Let’s find the best place,” Max said, and dove into the crowd already forming above the main street.

  Every seat was a good seat. Aliens tucked in and around each other, leaving enough room for everyone to see. A lot of people had stayed on the ground, and from where we floated I could see almost the whole parade below me. A horn blasted, and the crowd roared. The first participants of the parade stepped onto the street.

  “It’s Theylor!” Theodore shouted. My friend, along with another sixty Keepers, advanced down the street. He carried a carved, golden staff with the insignia of Orbis high above their heads. It was a metallic-colored hologram of the four rings surrounding a blazing wormhole.

  Drapling followed them with another group of Keepers, maybe twenty altogether. I immediately recognized them as the Descendants of the Light. Their robes were decorated with long silver and yellow vests, and the staff Drapling carried bore the OIO symbol — a vibrant, shining circle atop a silver staff. It lit up the whole street.

  Each Keeper was dressed in a crown of crystals that fit over both of their heads.

  “Theylor!” I shouted, and both of his heads looked up and smiled.

  Behind the Keepers were small flying aliens that shot streams of colored lights over the parade watchers. The lights bounced off buildings or rained down upon the spectators. I watched Theodore turn completely pink as one of the flying light balls landed on him.

  Everyone was shouting over the music and cheering. I saw aliens changing forms as they walked along the parade, and I saw gigantic metallic bea
sts enacting battle scenes with aliens from their home planets. Creatures I had never seen on Orbis before danced through the parade decorated in costumes of metal, light, and crystals. Small Citizen children darted through the spectators wearing holographic masks of Keepers, Trading Council members, and even Toll. I didn’t remember ever being so happy.

  “There it is!” someone above me shouted.

  “Oh, I can’t believe how lucky we are,” another alien cried.

  I moved my chair up to see what they were talking about.

  “What do you see?” I asked the alien.

  The slender creature pointed down the street with its long, black claws. “See them?”

  I squinted to see better, but long, red ribbons tumbling through the air blocked my view. When they cleared, I caught a glimpse of something large and shiny.

  “What is it?” Max shouted over the noise.

  “I don’t know!” I yelled back. Then I saw ten small aliens with thick arms carrying a silver bit and harness like the one Toll used to pull the crystals.

  “Wow! But Toll already has one,” I told the alien.

  “Not that,” the alien snapped, then pointed farther down the street. “That!”

  Past the first harness was another identical harness, only slightly smaller, perfect for Smool. I assumed that, with all this pageantry, they must use these shiny, new harnesses to pull the Crystal of Life. But when I saw what was behind the second metal bit, my heart dropped faster than a human in the cooling tank.

  “What is it?” Theodore asked.

  I looked at it again. It couldn’t be, could it?

  “Watch my chair!” I shouted, and I dove to the street. I jumped off my seat and ran into the crowd. I pushed past an alien dressed in long, green robes and stood at the edge of the parade. A stately Citizen’s belt was visible under the alien’s robe.

  “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?” the Citizen gushed. “I mean what a sacrifice they’re making for Orbis. I couldn’t do it.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Directly behind the new bit and harness for Smool, three small aliens carried a third bit — a bit small enough for a Samiran child.

  “They wouldn’t,” I cried.

  The alien in green looked at me and said, “Oh yes, Toll and Smool have given their child to us so we may continue harvesting the crystals. The Centillian made the announcement at the start of the spoke. Isn’t that joyous? I mean, we did feed them and care for them for two thousand rotations. If you ask me, I think it’s only right,” the alien gushed, the last sentence only a whisper but full of arrogance.