The Softwire: Wormhole Pirates on Orbis 3

by P. J. Haarsma

  I jumped up. “I’m going,” I said as the room pulsed red and the chime was replaced with a clang. The O-dats displayed our opponent. It was the Citizen I’d seen with Tinker and her four hooded knudniks.

  “It’s those big guys,” Theodore said, pointing at the screen.

  “The bigger, the better,” Switzer remarked, and headed for the exit.

  “Be careful, JT,” Theodore whispered.

  Ketheria moved toward me. “You don’t have to kill anyone,” she said softly. “There are other ways. Use those first, all right?”

  “I’ll try,” I said, but I couldn’t promise.

  “C’mon!” Switzer shouted from down the hall. “Everyone has to come!”

  “Why everyone?” I yelled after him.

  “C’mon!”

  The three of us followed Switzer down the corridor. I thought it led to the labyrinth, but instead we found ourselves standing in another antechamber. This one was completely white, with two sloped seats clinging to the wall.

  “Subs go there,” Switzer grunted, pointing to the seats.

  “Listen, Switzer, you may not care about winning, but at least let us have a fair chance. Tell me what else is different.”

  The antechamber pulsed like the other waiting room.

  “Nothing’s different. The subs wait in these chairs. They can watch the match from here. Along the way you’ll find gold crystals throughout the maze. If you’re hurt, hit one of those and these split-screens will appear. If you die, don’t worry; the game will do it for you. Now let’s go. You’re the bait.”

  “What? I track. I don’t bait. You have to be the bait.”

  “Forget about it, Dumbwire,” he said. The section of the antechamber closest to him crackled and disappeared, exposing two corridors. Switzer grabbed my uniform and thrust me down the hall closest to me. He turned and took off down the other. The hallway sealed behind him.

  “Be careful, JT,” Ketheria said. “Remember your promise.”

  I jammed the helmet onto my head and ran down the corridor. I never promised, I muttered to myself. I wouldn’t think twice about killing Switzer if I were given the chance. But I needed to push those thoughts out of my mind. I was about to enter the Chancellor’s Challenge, and I needed to concentrate on surviving. It made me very anxious that Switzer was playing the sort. We had never once discussed strategy for our match. For all I knew, I could end up fighting in outer space, collecting cosmic streams of energy while trying to unlock a multidimensional puzzle. Then it hit me. What if I lose? What if I purposely play poorly and simply lose the match? We would be eliminated and no one would die.

  “I already thought about that,” Vairocina said inside my head. “But a survey of the last 2,800 matches in the Chancellor’s Challenge revealed that their computer is not as random as the one you normally play with. Of the millions and millions of possible game scenarios, it seems the Citizens have weighted their computer to choose the games that have the most . . . blood.”

  “But it’s possible, right?”

  “I wouldn’t count on that as a strategy, JT. Be prepared to fight. I took the liberty of adjusting the parameters of your right arm to maximize its abilities, and I have linked to the helmet’s visor through your optical nerve. If you would like, I can monitor the visor while you concentrate on the game.”

  “I would like that,” I replied as I stepped out into the labyrinth to take my place in the bait box.

  My opponent was doing the same, and from where I stood, I could tell that he was just as amazed as I was at the spectacle above us. Towering over my head, circling the playing field, were rows and rows of spectators. They went so high that I couldn’t see where they ended. Bots of different sizes and shapes skittered from level to level, attending to the crowds, while enormous O-dats lumbered through the air, flashing statistics, game shots, and even pictures of me as I entered. Other screens advertised food and clothing just like in the Trading Chambers. The sound from the spectators was deafening. It was as if all the noise was concentrated in one single wave that crashed down upon us as we stepped into our individual waiting areas.

  I tried to search for Max and Athooyi, but that was impossible. Everyone from every ring must be here, I thought. Surely someone would recognize me. Wouldn’t they tell the Keepers? But who? None of the Citizens I knew would rat out another Citizen, and Charlie was dead.

  The floor sparkled, and an energy field shot up around me. The match had begun. What did Switzer choose? my mind screamed out.

  The light in the arena faded. Then the floor slipped away, almost as if it had never been there to begin with. The crowd roared in response. I glimpsed across at my opponent and saw him crouched upon a glowing disc. A narrow metal pole rose up out of the nothingness now surrounding us and supported his platform. The stars around him blinked on, and I stared out into the vastness of space. That meant that whoever picked first from the sort had chosen GAS. We would be fighting in space. Please, please, please, let Switzer have been smart enough to choose MECHANIC in the second round.

  “I detect an atmosphere with oxygen,” Vairocina informed.

  “How?” I asked her.

  “There are a lot of features in your arm I don’t think you’ve ever accessed. At least you will not have to worry about the air.”

  I looked up, straining to see the match on one of the O-dats floating in front of the spectators. I knew they could no longer see us on the playing field. They would be watching Switzer and the other guy working their way through the labyrinth. Not until one of them reached the bait would this part of the field be revealed again.

  As one of the huge O-dats swung near me, I caught a glimpse of an explosion. Good! That meant someone chose TECHNOLOGICAL in the third round. I couldn’t see INDUSTRIAL or MAGICAL creating that sort of explosion.

  “You cannot assume that,” Vairocina said.

  “I’m trying to be positive.”

  Then, from out of nowhere, the wall to my right burst apart and Switzer barreled through underneath the spectators.

  “He’s good,” Vairocina said.

  “I know.”

  Switzer was piloting a strange flier called a rattle basket: two circular discs, each supporting a tall, thin cage for each of the pilots. Switzer stood on the largest, navigating the machine from controls mounted near his wrists. From the way Switzer was crouching, I could tell that this machine was not designed for a human. The second disc swung erratically around him, flinging back and forth whenever he turned the flier. That’s where I was going to sit. I had seen this device before when I was studying the game with Max and Vairocina.

  “Can you believe this piece of crap? Jump on!” Switzer screamed, and then maneuvered the flier in front of me. The back cage flung around, and I caught it with my right arm. Mounted directly behind Switzer was a plasma turret.

  “You were fast!” I shouted.

  “Maybe not fast enough,” he yelled as our opponent stormed the arena, too. The light in the labyrinth grew brighter, and with it came the deafening roar of the crowd.

  “I created a link between you and Switzer through your helmets. You can talk normally,” Vairocina said.

  “Now, please!” Switzer said, still yelling.

  I threw myself into the cage, unhooked the turret, and slid it around in front of me. The huge weapon locked into place with a clank and instantly hummed to life. The glow emanating from the massive gun ignited everything in a blue inferno.

  “You know how to use that thing?” Switzer screamed.

  “Yes.”

  “Then use it now!” he yelled as four more fliers, each manned with two aliens, broke through the wall, firing.

  Switzer swung the flier around, making a wide arc of the arena. Two of the fliers gave chase while one concentrated on our opponent and the other stood guard at the only exit.

  I pumped four blasts at the aliens chasing us. They were Garins, tall monkey-like creatures who must have felt just as uncomfortable as we did w
ith these fliers. None of my shots hit its mark.

  “I thought you knew how to use that thing,” Switzer shouted over his shoulder.

  “I do!”

  “Then kill them!”

  I remembered Ketheria’s request, but I saw no way to appease her. Switzer slowed the flier, and the Garins charged the gap between us.

  “What are you doing?” I screamed at him.

  “Maybe you need to be a little closer.”

  I pumped the turret once more, but the first Garin dodged to his left, avoiding the blast with little effort. Then he jerked the flier to the right, and the back of the flier spun around and locked in front. The pilot aimed his turret right at me.

  I pumped three times in succession. Each shot struck the weakest parts of the flier, shattering it to pieces.

  “Nice shooting!” Switzer cheered.

  The one pilot was still gripping the turret as he spun off into space. I didn’t kill them, I told myself, but I didn’t see much difference.

  The crowd cheered with the explosion and cheered even louder as the other crew took the place of the one I’d just blown up. Switzer cut sharp, turning back toward the opening in the wall and directly in line with the aliens guarding the passage back. The other flier copied Switzer’s maneuver.

  “What are you doing now, Switzer?” I growled.

  “Just shut up, keep your head down, and squeeze that trigger!”

  When I fired, the aliens giving chase returned my favor. With great skill, Switzer dropped the rattle basket twenty meters and my stomach lurched into my mouth. It took everything not to vomit on my visor. The blast from the Garins sailed over my head and directly into the flier of Garins guarding the hole in the wall. The bits and pieces of their unintended target rained down on us as Switzer beelined for the now unguarded opening.

  “Don’t fire at that one,” he ordered. “When they see us reach the opening, they’ll turn on our opponent. We’ll use them to slow those guys down.”

  I could not deny it: Switzer was good — really good, in fact. Why didn’t Switzer just stay and try to win this thing? I wondered. He might even turn into a hero or something if he won. I’m sure he would enjoy that.

  Switzer’s skilled flying and fearless fighting placed us in the winners’ circle for our first match. The other knudniks were nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t help but wonder if our opponents were dead. I felt some remorse, but a very big part of me was glad I was standing in the winners’ circle with Switzer, hearing the crowd cheer for us. Switzer turned and waved to the spectators (more than once), soaking up every drop of their affection. Even if I did feel guilty about my opponents’ deaths, though, I would have to get used to standing under the adulation of this crowd if I was going to survive. I needed to be here at the end of every match, no matter what the consequences.

  Back in our holding cell, Switzer strutted about as if he had just been chosen Chancellor of Orbis 2.

  “You won! Can’t you enjoy that?” he cried, slapping me on the back.

  “I call it surviving,” I muttered.

  “That’s your problem, Dumbwire. You’re not enjoying the ride. That wall behind you could drop on us and kill you right now. Stop waiting for your life to start. This is it; you’d better have a little fun.”

  “Let’s go see Max,” I sighed, ignoring his comment.

  “Shoulda said good-bye to your girlfriend when you had the chance. No leaving here until the Chancellor’s Challenge is done, but I doubt you’ll be leaving here anyway.”

  “What do you mean, we can’t leave?” That was not going to be the last time I ever saw Max!

  “Try it. Door’s locked from the outside.” Switzer strolled over to the chow synth. “You hungry?”

  “Did you keep your promise?” my sister whispered.

  “No, I didn’t, Ketheria! What am I supposed to do out there? Do I need to remind you they’re trying to kill me?” I yelled at her.

  Ketheria recoiled, and Theodore slid over to comfort her.

  “JT, stop it. That was unnecessary,” Theodore said.

  “You’re right,” I mumbled, and sat by myself. It was obvious I shouldn’t have done that. I couldn’t even look at Switzer because I knew he would be smiling right now.

  “I’m sorry, Ketheria,” I apologized. “I tried my best, but we were fighting in space. I don’t think they all survived.”

  “I’m sorry baby-malf, I don’t think they all survived,” Switzer mimicked me in a high, whiny voice while cramming his mouth with a powdery cake-like substance, showering me with little pieces of food.

  “Shut up,” I told him, but he only laughed at me.

  “This is so much fun,” he gushed, licking his fingers. “You guys havin’ fun?”

  I turned my back to Switzer and stared up at the festivities displayed on the O-dats. The other people in the Labyrinth certainly seemed to be enjoying themselves out there. I wondered where Max was. I hoped she was safe.

  “You guys did really well,” Theodore whispered, sitting next to me. “Keep this up, and Ketheria and I won’t even have to go near the match.”

  “I just wish I knew what his plans were,” I replied, glancing over at Switzer.

  “The Ancients’ Treasure is held temporarily underneath the Labyrinth. The Chancellor raises it up for the whole audience to view after the championship round,” Vairocina informed me. “If he is going after the treasure, I can’t see him waiting until the Challenge is over. It would be best to do it now.”

  Her logic worried me, but Switzer was locked in here with us. How was he planning to get to the treasure? He must have thought of another way. Something I just couldn’t see.

  Theodore started to say, “Maybe we can —”

  But Switzer cut him off. “Maybe we can what? Maybe we can get ready for the next match?”

  “Get ready? You don’t even discuss strategy with me. What about the sort? Don’t you even want to plan it out?” I complained.

  “No. You did fine without any discussion.”

  “Suit yourself,” I replied.

  The room pulsed green again.

  “Already?” I moaned.

  “Don’t want to keep the fans waiting,” Switzer remarked, jumping up and grabbing his helmet. The three of us followed him down the corridor. Switzer didn’t say a word to us as he headed off to the sort. Ketheria was silent, too, as she took her seat on the wall.

  “I’ll try my best. You know, not to kill anyone,” I whispered to her.

  “Do what you have to do,” she mumbled.

  I wanted to be mad at Ketheria. I wanted to scream at her, ask her what I was supposed to do. We could all be dead shortly! It wasn’t fair to put that pressure on me. But I didn’t. I wouldn’t. I placed the helmet over my head and turned down the hall.

  “Good luck!” Theodore yelled after me.

  The hallway pulsed red just before I stepped into the labyrinth. The crowd looked even bigger than before, although I didn’t know how that could be possible. It had been packed the last time I’d stood in the bait box.

  My opponent was already waiting. Every point on her body was tapered as if she were built for speed. I wondered if her tracker would use it to their advantage. I didn’t think I could beat her in a foot race.

  I scanned the audience in vain, searching for Max. It was hard to concentrate. I had no plan except to do what Switzer wanted, even though that meant I could be dead at any moment.

  “You can’t think like that,” Vairocina said to me. “I’m working on finding a way out of here, although my resources are limited. I’ve managed to link to their computer through your softwire, but I can’t maintain the connection. Maybe if you made the connection, I would have better access. When this match is finished, we should attempt to do that in the holding cell.”

  “If I make it through this match,” I reminded her.

  “If you don’t, then your sister will have to fight.”

  She was right. What was I doing feeling sorry
for myself? My plan (if I really called it a plan) was to win this contest. I had the experience and the skills to pull it off, and Switzer was a good partner. Let him do what he wanted. I just had to survive and win the Chancellor’s Challenge. That was the only plan I had, and the only one I could control.

  “I agree,” Vairocina said.

  The labyrinth dimmed, the crowd roared, and my heart hit the floor as the stadium filled with water. Any control I thought I had just dissolved. One of the trackers must have chosen LIQUID in the first round of the sort. I glanced at my opponent; she was smiling! Then I saw it — my opponent wasn’t built for speed; she was a swimmer! The alien unfolded her hand, exposing the webbed skin between her fingers.

  This was horrible!

  The alien rolled her head and stretched out a small fin that ran down the back of her neck. I could see gill slits crack open and expose the red tender flesh that would help her breath underwater. I hoped that Switzer had learned how to swim during all those years he was plundering spaceships in the wormhole.

  The water kept rising until it reached the edge of my platform. Turquoise lights banding the arena illuminated the water from below. It would have looked beautiful if it weren’t for the shadows crisscrossing the lights. Something was moving in the water. Something fast. I could not imagine that it was Switzer who had chosen LIQUID in the first round, but why would he choose BIOLOGICAL in the last round? What was he thinking?

  I had no clue what to do. I simply stood there tracking the shadows hunting in the small ocean now lapping at my feet. My opponent stretched as if she were getting ready for a casual swim in the pool.

  “What should I do?”

  “I do not know,” Vairocina said.

  The alien dove into the water like a comet streaking across the sky. The shadows changed direction, tracking her, and then she broke the surface of the water. She landed back on the platform in one graceful swoop.

  I groaned. I was sunk. Worse, I was dead.

  The shadows turned again, away from my opponents, and gathered to my right. Another shadow, much faster, darted through the water and across the arena. It rose quickly and then broke the surface with a roar.