Awakening on Orbis Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously.

  Copyright © 2010 by PJ Haarsma

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in an information retrieval system in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, and recording, without prior written permission from the publisher.

  First electronic edition 2010

  The Library of Congress has cataloged the hardcover edition as follows:

  Haarsma, PJ.

  The softwire : awakening on Orbis 4 / PJ Haarsma. —1st ed.

  p. cm. — (The softwire)

  Summary: As the Scion’s guardian, Johnny Turnbull is expected to begin training as a Space Jumper, a role he promised his girlfriend, Max, he would never take on, and which might not be enough to save his sister and friends when Orbis is threatened.

  ISBN 978-0-7636-2712-6 (hardcover)

  [1. Computers —Fiction. 2. Space and time —Fiction. 3. Mercenary troops —Fiction. 4. Science fiction.] I. Title. II. Title: Awakening on Orbis 4. III. Title: Awakening on Orbis four. IV. Series.

  PZ7.H111325Soi 2010

  [Fic] —dc22 2009032482

  ISBN 978-0-7636-5238-8 (electronic)

  Candlewick Press

  99 Dover Street

  Somerville, Massachusetts 02144

  visit us at www.candlewick.com

  “Stop it!” I begged.

  “I can’t,” Theylor whispered. “Ketheria must suffer this.”

  “When will it be over?”

  My sister’s body convulsed while suspended over a thick block of chrome deep within the Keepers’ lair on Orbis 1. I turned away.

  “This is one of the fourteen steps of the awakening,” Theylor reminded me. “We have discussed this.”

  “But look at her. Her eyes are going to pop out of her head!”

  “The glow is doing that. Her eyes will remain firmly inside their sockets,” he assured me. “That is nothing more than an illusion.”

  Glow was a clumsy description of what was happening to Ketheria. Her skin was shining with a lustrous golden light that pulsed brighter, not with each heartbeat but with some otherworldly measure that I was not privy to. I stood by, helpless, and watched as the metal block she floated above refused to absorb the glow, tossing it back while her body deflated with each throb of light. During one convulsion, Ketheria’s head lobbed sideways and her eyes seemed to focus on mine.

  “Ketheria!” I called out, but her vacant stare just bore straight through me. I don’t think she had a clue that I was even in the room with her.

  I felt Theylor place his slender hand on my shoulder. I turned and looked into the eyes of his left head. I had grown to trust Theylor over the last three rotations on the Rings of Orbis, and I searched his bluish face now to find any justification for my sister’s suffering.

  “The Nagools have been waiting their whole lives for this moment,” he said. “They will do everything to make the Scion’s —”

  “My sister, Theylor. She’s my sister, nothing more,” I corrected him. “We traveled from Earth to work on these rings just like the zillions of other aliens who come here every rotation to do the exact same thing. Once our debt is paid, we get to start a new life of our own — as Citizens. That was the deal. Not this! The Scion? The Tonat? None of it makes sense to me, Theylor. I don’t want any of it, and I’m certain Ketheria doesn’t, either. You guys are the ones calling her the Scion. That word doesn’t mean anything to me.”

  Theylor bowed his head before he continued. “Even if you do not want this to happen, you cannot deny that it is happening. This is self-evident.” Theylor motioned toward Ketheria. “Yet for some reason, you resist believing what you see right before your very eyes. Your sister is the Scion, Johnny Turnbull. I assure you that the Nagools will do everything possible to make her awakening a painless experience. I do not understand your anger.”

  “I’m not angry,” I whispered. “I’m confused.”

  “Some things are easier to accept if you simply trust the Universe.”

  That was easy for him to say. He wasn’t a knudnik.

  “Come now,” he added. “I must get you to the spaceport. There is not much time before the Orbis 4 shuttle launches. Your new work rule has already started.”

  Despite the fact that everyone believed Ketheria was the new Scion, the Trading Council insisted that we finish our fourth rotation of indentured service, and the Keepers and the Nagools did not argue. They believed that the Scion had to awaken along the path that the Universe had predicted for him or her, no matter how dangerous that path may be. It was a small miracle that they even let me follow Ketheria to Orbis 1 once she got sick. I had hoped she might come out of her awakening and we could travel to Orbis 4 together, but that did not seem likely now.

  “Please,” I begged. “I was hoping for a little more time.”

  “I am sorry. I have done everything I could just to let you stay this phase.”

  “I’ve been here a whole phase?”

  Theylor nodded, and I remembered the moment when I had found Ketheria in the middle of one of her spells. It was right before we were all about to leave to meet our new Guarantor on Orbis 4. Ketheria had started doodling those little spirals on the walls while everyone else was packing. Soon afterward she slipped into the catatonic state that now consumed her. Usually Ketheria came out of one of her spells by the end of a cycle, but this time she hadn’t. Instead, the glow had started. I told Vairocina, my friend inside the central computer, the moment it began, and she contacted Theylor immediately. Soon Theylor and an army of Nagool masters converged upon Ketheria. As they shuttled both her and me to Magna on Orbis 1, Theylor informed me that the glow was the Source working through her, making connections with the rest of the universe. Max, Theodore, and everyone else were shipped off to Orbis 4.

  “Johnny,” Theylor called. “I’m sorry, but it is time.”

  Reluctantly, I turned from my frozen vigil and followed Theylor out of the room, entrusting my sister to the Nagools. When I thought about waking up the next cycle not knowing a thing about my sister’s condition, I felt as if a Neewalker had clamped his hands around my throat, trapping the air inside me. It scared me and I hated it.

  Theylor paused next to one of the many treelike pillars that supported the largest cavern of the Keepers’ lair located beneath the city of Magna and waited for me. I looked up to where the deep blue stone pillars made contact with the roof. Bands of yellowish light oscillated from the top of the support with a beat that was oddly reminiscent of the glow. I then followed Theylor as he navigated around huge pools of black water that glittered from deep below the surface.

  A small domed craft waited on a rail of shorter pillars next to a platform. I followed Theylor aboard, and we sat in silence during the short trip to the surface. It gave me time to think. What had happened? Why Ketheria? No one had any answers for me, but that didn’t mean no one knew. I had heard stories of other Scions and the horrible fates they met. No matter what part of the universe they came from, new Scions were always persecuted by one group or another, tested until they broke. I had also heard tales of the Tonat, the guardian entrusted to protect the Scion once the awakening was complete. That’s who they wanted me to be. But if the Tonat was so important, why was I leaving my sister behind? It didn’t make sense, but then when had my life on the rings ever made sense? No one ever explained anything here. Three rotations had taught me that most people on the Rings of Orbis protected their knowledge more than they did an Orodi Orb.

  Once we disembarked from the small craft, I followed Theylor up a w
ide staircase that led to two metal doors, scuffed and marred by eons of use. At the top of the stairs, Theylor paused and turned to me. “Others may have come to see the Scion,” he said, as if it were a warning.

  “I thought no one knew where Magna was located.”

  “Idolatry has a unique way of bringing light to the blind,” he replied.

  When Theylor pushed back the thick doors, the glassy glow from a distant star burnished my eyes, and faster than my pupils could contract, a throng of aliens burst upon us.

  “Who are these people, Theylor?”

  “Worshippers,” he replied, holding up his hand to the crowd. The effect seemed to push the people back, which allowed us to move forward. “I did not expect to see so many. I am afraid news of the Scion has spread quickly. This is not good.”

  “Why is the Scion so important to them?”

  “It has been a very long time since a Scion has been discovered. In fact, most people thought it was no longer possible. Your sister is their last hope.”

  There must have been thousands of people gathered there. Every one of them seemed to be whispering something at me. Hushed pleas called to me from every side as we pushed through the crowds.

  “They worship my sister?”

  “They worship the Scion,” he said, as if Ketheria was a separate entity entirely. “And some even worship the Tonat.”

  “I’m not the Tonat, Theylor. The Trust said I have to make that choice, and I don’t want to be a Space Jumper. In order to be the Tonat, I have to be a Space Jumper.”

  “I believe the Trust merely presented you with that choice as a gesture.”

  “A gesture of what?”

  “To appease your fierce need to control your own existence. I wonder how much choice you actually have in this matter.”

  “What does that mean, Theylor? It is my choice.”

  But Theylor did not respond. It frustrated me to be fed these cryptic answers all the time.

  “If this is so important, why won’t you tell me anything else?” I shouted as more people pushed in on us, but Theylor did not answer. His attention was now on the crowd. More and more people rushed toward us, and the crush was beginning to smother me. One alien tugged at my vest, another simply rubbed her hands over me, while another squawked in my face. Theylor tried to force them back, but that only created an opening for more to pour into.

  “Theylor!”

  “I’m trying,” he grunted.

  The crowd now engulfed me. I could no longer see the sky and had lost sight of Theylor in a sea of wanting hands.

  “I have nothing to give you!” I shouted. “I can’t help you.”

  Then someone struck me. It was a quick blow to my forehead, but still painful.

  “Death to the Tonat!” the alien screamed, but the crowd turned on the assailant. At least a dozen worshippers descended on my attacker and delivered blows much worse than the one he had given me.

  “Stop!” I screamed at them, but the crowd swallowed the brawling aliens. Then I saw the flash of a Zinovian Claw, a nasty little weapon that was often equipped with a poison cartridge. “Look out!” I screamed, pointing at the weapon. The effect was instant. The same punishment dealt to the first detractor was unleashed on the claw-toting alien. Fights were now breaking out between different groups, and my body flowed helplessly with the energy of the crowd.

  “Theylor! Help me!”

  Suddenly the crowd blew apart. Bodies wrenched away from me like metal shavings pulled helplessly toward a huge magnet. Theylor stood in the opening, flanked by two Space Jumpers, who immediately descended upon me. Theylor moved calmly, but I can’t say the same for the mass of worshippers.

  “Do you wish for war, Keeper?” a shocked Citizen shouted.

  “We will crush you!” another added as the effect of seeing the heavily armed mercenaries rippled through the crowd.

  “This is a taste of your life now, whether you accept your fate or not,” Theylor whispered to me. “Just imagine what this is going to be like for Ketheria. She is going to need you.”

  “I won’t do it, Theylor. This is not our battle. I don’t know how any of this happened. I’m just a kid from Earth.”

  One of the Space Jumpers grunted.

  “But she is your sister, ” Theylor pleaded.

  “And I will protect her, but it has to be in my own way.”

  Theylor breathed deeply. I knew he didn’t like my answer. “You are naive. Your actions risk your life, they risk your sister’s life, and they might even risk every life in this universe. We will talk of this again,” he said, motioning to the Space Jumpers at my side. And then I was gone.

  A moment later, I was standing in a field, rubbing the smell of sweat-soaked socks out of my nose. The Space Jumper to my left had released me. I looked up and saw the city of Nacreo gleaming in the distance.

  “Hello, Johnny Turnbull. Or do you prefer JT?” a voice called out.

  I turned; a tall, strong-looking humanoid was standing next to one of the Keepers’ fliers. He was wearing a heavy-looking overcoat flung back to expose his tall black boots. When I noticed the small stalactites of flesh that hung from his jawline, I suddenly realized that I had seen this alien before. At Odran’s! The dinner party! This alien was a Trading Council member.

  “You’re the — the —” I stammered.

  “Hach. I believe we’ve met once before. I am your new Guarantor.”

  My first Guarantor was a weaselley little rat named Weegin. The Keepers replaced him with Odran, a vile creature whose scruples were worse than his appearance (and trust me, his appearance was disgusting). My third Guarantor was my friend, a human named Charlie Norton. A cycle never passed when I did not think about him. But Hach was nothing like my previous Guarantors, even Charlie. I’d never forget the way he had confronted his fellow Trading Council member for insulting us at Odran’s party. Hach stood confidently, with his hands cupped, waiting patiently for my reply.

  “Hello. Yeah — JT. That’s what my friends call me,” I told him.

  “I look forward to being your friend, then, JT. If you’ll follow me, the Keepers have arranged transportation to the spaceport.” Hach motioned toward the flier. It was nothing more than a wheel with a cockpit near the center. “Normally I have a driver, but I couldn’t resist flying one of these things.”

  The Space Jumper to my right pushed me toward my new Guarantor. The unexpected force tripped me up, and I fell to my knees. Hach spun around and unleashed a small staff from beneath his cloak. I had the keen sense to duck as he thrust his right arm in front of him, unfolding the device like a double-sided whip. In one complete motion, Hach caught the Space Jumper around the ankles and pulled. The Space Jumper toppled to the ground.

  “What’s it like from down there?” Hach hissed at the fallen Space Jumper.

  “Wow,” I mumbled. I had never seen anyone take out a Space Jumper before. I didn’t think it was even possible.

  “Come, JT,” Hach ordered, and turned toward the flier. Both Space Jumpers glared at me as I walked past. The air around them seemed to ripple as the light folded in on them, and then they were gone, jumping back to wherever they had come from.

  I had seen one of the Keepers’ fliers on Orbis 3. It was basically a large wheel piloted from a cockpit positioned off center and lower to the ground. This cockpit remained in its position as the wheel spun around. Hach took his seat at the controls while I climbed in and sat up behind him. I snuggled in, and the seat conformed to my body.

  Hach uplinked to the control panel using the neural port embedded behind his left ear, and the cockpit closed in around us. The clouded glass slowly became transparent. I was seated slightly higher than Hach, so I had an unobstructed view of what was in front of me. The craft rolled forward and then lifted into the air, picking up speed as the huge wheel spun faster and faster. Soon it was spinning so fast that I could barely see it except for the slight distortion it made in my vision.

  “Comfortable?”
Hach asked, his voice soft in my ears, amplified through the smart material behind my head.

  “Um, yes,” I said. “Thank you.” I was not used to having a Guarantor care about my well-being. (Except for Charlie, of course, but that was different.) Most of the Citizens on the Rings of Orbis treated knudniks with the same respect they gave the dirt between their toes, if they had toes. I wasn’t going to let Hach’s seemingly open manners go to waste.

  “Hach, may I ask you something?” I said.

  “You may.”

  “How did you become our Guarantor?”

  There was a pause before Hach answered. History had taught me that this sort of pause was usually followed by a lie.

  “You were given to me.”

  “By whom?”

  “Your last Guarantor.”

  “Charlie?”

  “Yes.”

  I didn’t know what to say. When could Charlie have entrusted us to anyone? The attack had left him unconscious and he’d never come out of it. During our first rotation back on Orbis 1, Madame Lee had murdered Max’s first Guarantor, Boohral, and since he had not willed his knudniks to anyone in time, the Keepers redistributed Max and the others (much to the anger of Boohral’s brood). I could only assume the same would have happened after Charlie died.

  “When?” I said. “How?”

  “I am not at liberty to say,” he replied. “Policy of the Trading Council.”

  And there it was again, the same nonanswer to my most important questions. Why couldn’t anyone on these stupid rings just tell the truth? Every response was a diversion.

  “Can I ask another one?”

  “How many do you plan on asking?”

  “I — I . . . don’t know.”

  “You may ask me three more questions. I’m sure that’s all we’ll have time for before we reach the city of Nacreo.”

  Three questions? I had a million, and Hach was a Trading Council member. Didn’t they know everything? I watched the city growing in front of me as the flier sped toward the spaceport. Three questions. Better start now.

  “Do you know what’s happening to my sister?”

  “Of course. Everyone does. That’s an odd waste of a question since I’m sure you, too, are aware of that answer.”