The softwire : Virus on Orbis 1 (19 page)

“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 this 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.

After a moment the little girl peeked out from behind the wall. I ignored her but kept making the glowglobe move in all different directions while the little girl watched. Slowly she moved out from behind the wall and tried to pluck the ball from the air whenever it bounced near her. Soon the little girl was jumping and laughing with every attempt to catch the ball.

I moved a little closer.

She almost caught the ball, and giggled with delight. I bounced the ball a little higher, and she lifted herself off the ground to try to reach it. Despite her ability to cause terror, as she chased after the jumping sphere, the little girl seemed as harmless as Ketheria.

I inched nearer.

I was close now. The little girl’s skin flickered lightly in the sun. I could see computer code running under her skin like blood through a vein. Her eyes were the color of a computer chip, and I even thought I could see the circuitry. She pushed her brown hair away from her face. It gave off an unusual sheen, almost plasticlike, and it did not react to the wind.

I caught the ball as the little girl turned. We stood toe to toe.

“Hi,” I said, and smiled.

For a moment I thought the little girl might actually respond. Instead, her eyes glowed bright white and I was instantly transported to the same scorching, barren planet that she had sent me to once before. This time, however, I was tied to the ground. I could feel the sizzling surface burning my back. I let out a scream, but no one could hear me. My wrists were chained to sticks in the ground and the giant red birds circled above, patiently waiting for their dinner to cook.

I woke still screaming, but it hardly disturbed anyone. Switzer grunted and rolled over. I removed the headset and this time I ripped it from the sleeper, destroying it. I would pay whatever Weegin deducted from my pittance for the damage.

I lay back down, but something jabbed into my ribs. It was a small screen scroll. I pushed the lid back and opened the tiny message.

Tell no one? What did this mean? Why didn’t Theylor come to me straightaway? Why was he being so secretive? I put my head on the pillow, but any sleep was now impossible.