The Softwire: Betrayal on Orbis 2 Read online

  “We’re getting our own rope,” she said, jumping up and running back the way we came.

  “What? Max, wait,” Theodore yelled, running after her.

  I lay there listening for more. What were they doing? Were they trying to escape? Would Switzer really do that? He knew the punishment if he got caught. Even I didn’t think Switzer was that dumb.

  “Almost . . .”

  I jumped up and chased after my friends.

  The lights along the tunnel kept pace with us as we retraced our steps back to Odran’s. When we got there, Ketheria was pacing in the doorway of the dormitory.

  “Hurry, they’re waiting for you at the tank,” she said to me anxiously.

  “Who?”

  “Odran and some of the Trading Council,” she said.

  “Where were you?”

  “Don’t worry. I’m fine. Odran is angry. You need to go. I’ll tell you later.”

  Max and Theodore followed me to the tank. Odran hovered near the edge as four members of the Trading Council posed behind him. I recognized one of them immediately — it was Pheitt, one of Odran’s dinner guests. Each council member was quietly shifting in front of the other, never making eye contact with anyone. Occasionally one would glance down at me from the corner of their big eyes. Odran whirled around as I came up the stairs.

  “Where have you been? It is forbidden to wander off. You have been told of this,” Odran scolded me. His voice was harsh but restrained.

  One council member turned its back to us and slinked away as if our presence was offensive.

  “Your controller told us you needed the garbage from the new shipments discarded,” Theodore said. Max and I both turned when we heard his fib.

  Max added, “We were looking for a place for the garbage.”

  “Convenient,” Pheitt scoffed. “Can we proceed? Punish them later, Odran.”

  I moved toward Odran. “What’s this about?”

  “We need information from the Samiran,” he said.

  I looked at everyone in attendance. “Shouldn’t a Keeper be present?” I asked.

  One alien looked at Odran and frowned. Another, an alien with wet-looking skin, stated, “This is none of their business.”

  “Council member Burash is stating the obvious,” Pheitt said. “Do we need to be explaining this, Odran? To a knudnik?”

  Odran sank into his tank and came up spitting, “How dare you question me, child?” he growled. His bloodshot eyes shifted quickly from the Trading Council members to me. “I do not need the authority of the Keepers. I am the Samiran Caretaker. You will do as you are told, or you will be punished severely!”

  “It is incredible what we must endure from these ungrateful creatures,” a council member said.

  “I assure you this was not my idea,” Odran countered. “These creatures are worthless, in my opinion. If it were not for this one’s softwire abilities, I would have fed them to the Samirans long ago.”

  Odran struck the button on the floor twice with the tall, thin staff and turned back to me. “You are to confirm the rumors that the female is with child,” he said.

  I wasn’t going to debate Toll’s eating habits with Odran. Nothing good could come from embarrassing Odran in front of the Council anymore. I wanted to keep my job, and I didn’t want him taking it out on any of my friends. But Odran seemed nervous to me, fidgeting with something in his tank and constantly looking at the council members out of the corner of his eye. He even glanced at the light chute several times, and his anger felt like an act put on only for these aliens. The council members were now huddled together, whispering to each other. Odran struck the button again, anxiously. He is doing something wrong here, and the Trading Council is participating. I just know it.

  “There is more, Odran,” the last member said. The alien’s pasty face was covered with a yellowish dye in an attempt to cover its sickly skin. Bad choice. “Tell the Softwire.”

  “Yes,” Odran replied. “The Samirans’ work rule, very similar to yours, is due to expire before the Harvest of the Crystal of Life. We need to be assured that the Samirans will extend their work rule to cover this period.”

  “Do they have a choice?” I asked.

  I could see Odran clenching his jaw. The support glider jerked in front of me, blocking my view of the council members.

  “You don’t,” he growled.

  The Citizens had had two thousand rotations to get ready for the Samirans’ release. That’s a long time. Couldn’t they have figured out another way to cool the crystals? Was this going to happen to us? Was our contract going to be voluntarily extended for the convenience of Orbis? I stared at Odran.

  “This is very important,” a council member said.

  I bet it is, but for whom? I said to myself.

  The Samiran surfaced, and I moved to the edge of the tank.

  “Hello, Toll,” I said.

  His big green eyes blinked as he said, “It is a pleasure to see you again.”

  The sound of his voice no longer hurt my head. My brain was used to it now.

  Toll continued, “The Keepers have asked you to speak with me?”

  “No, Odran and some of the members from the Council,” I said. “They want to know if Smool is going to have a baby.”

  Toll’s eyes widened. He stared at the aliens on the platform. Then Toll pushed back, and his tail broke the surface of the water, splashing in the tank behind him.

  “Who has spoken of this to you?” Toll bellowed. There was anger in his voice now.

  “My sister guessed it.”

  Toll shifted about in the water. He slipped into the water, then came up quickly. The council members cautiously stepped back.

  “There’s more,” I said.

  “There always is,” he replied.

  “Your work rule ends before the Harvest of the Crystal of Life. They need you to finish the job before you leave.”

  Toll smacked his tail on the water in frustration. I looked back at Odran and the council as they waited, looking confident. Almost too confident, I thought. That’s when I realized that I was being used. Just like a laser drill or any other tool they owned, the Citizens of Orbis were using me to get more out of the Samirans. What was I doing? I felt dirty, as if I was tricked into doing something bad.

  “You and I have many things in common,” Toll said. “We have both traded a portion of our lives to work for the creatures that control these rings, and we both have families sharing this same burden.”

  “That’s true,” I replied.

  “If I am correct, I also believe that we both want more for our families. Is this also true?”

  Of course it was. I nodded.

  “Does that mean yes?” he asked. “The up and down movement of your head. I assume that means I am right.”

  “You are.”

  “And I also believe there is one small difference between us.”

  “What’s that?” I asked, looking back at Odran, who was watching intently.

  “I know where I come from and why I’m here, but you have many questions. Questions about these rings you live on, questions about why you are here . . . and questions about your past and the lives of your parents.”

  The last sentence resonated in my brain, bouncing around inside my skull.

  I knelt down to the edge of the tank and whispered, “We talked about this, Toll. I need more proof.”

  “First we must come to an understanding. First you and I must make an agreement,” he said.

  “What?”

  “If you are to translate what I say for the Trading Council or anyone else, you must promise me to tell them only what I say to tell them. I must trust that my secrets are safe with you.”

  “Why me?”

  “Your father and I made this same agreement.”

  What secrets? What was Toll offering me? How could he know the answers to my questions? How could he possibly know anything about my parents? I looked back at Odran. I wished Theylor was here, b
ut I couldn’t deceive Theylor either, could I? If Theylor asked for the truth, could I lie to him? I glanced over at Max and Theodore — I wanted to ask them what I should do, but I knew it was too risky. Odran saw me and turned to my friends.

  “Go back to your room, humans,” he said. But they didn’t move. I think they understood that I needed them.

  “Now!” Odran shouted, and they were forced to turn away.

  “Your knudniks are disgracefully disobedient, Odran,” Pheitt spat. “You should let me have them for a few phases. I would show them their place.”

  “Do we have an agreement?” Toll said as I watched my friends shuffle down the stairs.

  I looked up at Odran, who glared at me. There was fire in his eyes. Odran was up to something, and I knew he was using me. But then he wasn’t the only person on the Rings of Orbis to try to use me. I thought of Drapling and how he connived to put me inside the central computer. I thought of Madame Lee and how she used me to try to start a war. Then there was Weegin — he tried to sell me!

  I turned back to Toll and nodded. “Yes,” I whispered.

  “Good,” he replied. “Tell the Trading Council that it is true; Smool is with child, and the child should arrive near the Harvest. I will pull the Crystal of Life Harvest Crystal while she rests. I will need only a few things for the birth of the child, but we shall be fine once the three of us are released from our work rule immediately following the Harvest.”

  “What is he saying?” Odran asked me.

  “Are the rumors true?” another said.

  “Yes, they are,” I replied.

  I stood up and told them exactly what Toll wanted. The aliens huddled together, whispering. I could only hope I had done the right thing. Odran turned to me with a forced sense of superiority.

  “Agreed. Although the Samiran has no right to bargain, we will grant his request in return for his work. He will be released after the Crystal of Life has cooled,” he announced.

  I turned and nodded to Toll.

  “Remember, your softwire ability gives you a great advantage over your oppressors,” Toll said.

  I knelt at the edge of the tank and whispered, “Yeah, but it doesn’t seem to work around here. Every time I try to enter the computer, I keep getting zapped or something.”

  “At times, the best place to hide something is right out in the open,” Toll said. “On the next occasion we meet, I will give you your proof, Softwire.” Then Toll slipped under the water.

  I turned back to Odran and the Council. What did Toll mean: the best place to hide something is right out in the open? Two of the council members turned, talking rapidly as they moved to the light chute.

  “Odran,” Burash said as he headed down the steps. It was more of an order.

  “I have many things to do,” he protested, but the council member would not take no for an answer.

  “In your quarters now, please,” he said firmly to Odran.

  “What did you make me do, Odran?” I asked him.

  “Nothing that concerns you,” he spat. “Go back to your room until I need you again.”

  I looked at Odran. I should have felt betrayed at how easily he had just lied to me, but I was used to it by then. I knew there was more going on than what Odran was telling me. I felt it. I just couldn’t figure it out yet.

  “What deal did you make with the Samiran?” he whispered, before moving toward the council member.

  “Deal?” I said. “I didn’t make a deal.”

  “Beware of what friends you make on the Rings of Orbis, Softwire.” Odran spoke softly, almost as if he was confiding in me, but I knew better. Then he disappeared over the edge to the awaiting council member.

  “What do you mean?” Max said to Ketheria. She and Theodore flanked my sister, her back against an old, torn lounger that looked out of place in the stone room. It was now more than a cycle after my discussion with Toll, and Ketheria had returned from Odran’s unharmed, but I admit I was too preoccupied with Toll and his agreement to be much of a brother to her. Max and Theodore were asking her about what happened with Odran while some of the other kids napped.

  “He’s a believer,” Ketheria told them.

  “Believer of what?” Theodore said. He looked thoroughly confused. His mouth was slightly open and his forehead all scrunched up.

  Max tried to explain to him, “OIO. It’s —”

  “The art and science of cosmic energy,” Ketheria said.

  “Remember the Nagools?” I added, trying to sound interested.

  “I don’t get any of it,” Theodore said.

  “It has to do with the way cosmic energy flows through the universe —” Max started to explain, but Ketheria interrupted her.

  “This universe,” she said.

  “There’s only one universe, Ketheria,” Theodore agrued.

  “No, she’s right. Most aliens on Orbis believe there are an infinite number of universes,” Max said, “but OIO has to do with the way cosmic energies affect our lives.”

  “In its simplest terms,” Ketheria said.

  “And Odran believes in this stuff?” I said.

  “He claims to, but I think he uses it more to manipulate other people than to actually live by its teachings,” Ketheria replied. “Otherwise he would never treat us like this.”

  “It’s fascinating,” Max gushed, her eyes widening. “According to the philosophy of OIO, we are all made up of this stuff called Source, and Odran performed these tests on Ketheria in his quarters —”

  “Tests?” I said, interrupting.

  “Nothing really,” Ketheria said. “Odran simply observed my nodes to measure their spin. It was very interesting, but I think I made him nervous somehow.”

  “Ketheria, what kind of tests? Are you all right? Did he hurt you?”

  “It was nothing. I think he was trying to read my nodes,” she said.

  “Yeah, there are fourteen of them in and around your body that spin or vibrate depending —”

  Theodore cut her off. “Nodes? Spin? What? I don’t get any of it.”

  It was like another alien language to me also. Toll quickly slipped to the back of my mind. “Are you sure, Ketheria?”

  “Don’t worry. It’s alien mysticism. It was fun. I’m hungry,” Ketheria said. Then she got up off the lounger and left the three of us standing there.

  I watched her go through a crate and pick out her favorite food tablets from the supply Charlie had left for us.

  “She acts older than most of the other kids here,” Theodore whispered.

  “She does, doesn’t she?” Max murmured. “She’s golden.”

  Ketheria was in her own little world, and if Odran did hurt her, she certainly wasn’t showing it. She is fine, I said to myself, and then proceeded to tell Max and Theodore about what happened with me and Toll, the deal I made, and how odd the council members acted. I knew Toll wouldn’t mind if I shared with my friends, but I still made them promise not to tell anyone. I did not tell them, however, about what Toll said about my father and the deal Toll made with him. What if it was a lie, a trick? I kept that part of the agreement to myself.

  “There should have been a Keeper present. I feel like I did something wrong,” I said.

  “Something must be wrong with the Harvest, and Odran doesn’t want anyone to find out,” Theodore said.

  “Odran is the one who should be nervous,” Max said. “I can’t believe he hasn’t figured out a way to float those crystals. With all that stuff in his quarters — I bet you I could figure something out.”

  Switzer and Dalton entered the room.

  “Figure what out?” Switzer asked.

  “Where you keep sneaking off to,” she replied.

  “You’re crazy,” he replied. Dalton was clutching the same dirty sack from the other cycle. He slipped in behind Switzer and over to his sleeper. Max watched him the entire time. I knew Max was dying to find out what they were doing. She probably assumed that Switzer had stumbled upon some alien te
chnology or something Max hadn’t seen yet. It had to be driving her crazy, but I was more worried about what Odran would do if he caught them sneaking around.

  Odran entered our room on his support glider. Behind him stood two sturdy aliens with thick necks and low-swinging, muscular arms. They looked nearly identical with large blue eyes and hairless, round heads.

  “Where is the controller?” he demanded, his voice gurgling.

  “Here,” I replied, and stood up.

  “Good,” said our Guarantor. “This is a list of work I need done. I am doubling the work shifts. There is no advantage to having you sit around when time is running out for the Harvest preparations.” Odran handed me one of two screen scrolls. “This is for them. Make sure it is done completely this time, or I will use the enabler myself.”

  I cracked my scroll, and the information sprung onto the transparent screen in front of me.

  “Everyone, over here,” I said. “Besides feeding the Samirans, all of these items are to be hauled to the following places . . .”

  “Before you begin, I have brought two Gleenons to train you on proper procedures to feed the Samirans. I cannot have you injured every time you do this menial work,” Odran said. The two Gleenons bowed their round, shiny heads.

  “Maybe you should have had them show us what to do first,” Max complained.

  “Yeah, like a dozen phases ago,” someone else added.

  “Robots do not require training. You must agree with me, then, that robots are smarter than humans,” Odran replied.

  Whenever Max got angry, she pursed her lips together and bit down hard on her back teeth. She was doing that now.

  “Don’t, Max,” Theodore whispered. “He’s just baiting us.”

  “Do you have a problem, girl?” Odran said, teasing her. “Or does your inferior mind fail to understand my instructions? I’m going to assume that is the problem, because even an animal has the basic instinct to avoid pain.”

  Max turned to me, took the screen scroll, and asked, “You comin’?”

  “Leave the Softwire to his duties,” Odran ordered, handing me the other scroll.

  “Different orders,” I said to Max. “Be careful.”

  “They won’t get me twice,” she said, joining Theodore.