The Softwire: Betrayal on Orbis 2 by PJ Haarsma Read Free Book Online Page A

them, it seemed to suck the life from their bodies.
    I jumped to the other side of the stage, but Weegin was not as lucky. A piece of the stone wall struck him, pinning him to the ground. He screamed out in pain as the water rose around the stage.
    “The tank. The tank will flood Core City!” someone shouted.
    “This way!” another shouted.
    SenniUg, the alien who had tried to buy me, was now on the lower level. He maneuvered through the water toward us.
    “Hurry,” I shouted. “Head for the stairs.”
    “Don’t touch the water!” Max yelled.
    “Nugget!” Ketheria screamed, searching the stage for her friend.
    The little guy was kneeling next to his unconscious father, too frightened to move. He whimpered and stroked Weegin’s forehead with his big hand.
    “Choo, choo,” he said as Ketheria knelt next to him.
    “We have to help Weegin,” Ketheria begged.
    “No, we don’t,” Switzer replied.
    “Nugget, come with us,” Ketheria urged the alien.
    The little runt looked up at my sister. He would not leave his father. Even though the vile creature had never showed him a single tender moment, he would not go. Instead Nugget tried to pull Weegin from under the rubble. Ketheria began to help him.
    “We can’t,” I said. “Weegin’s fate on Orbis 1 would be far worse than the fate he will suffer here. Trust me.”
    Two of SenniUg’s goons reached the stage, and one grabbed me by the shoulder. Max wheeled around with both fists clenched, catching one alien across the chin and knocking him back into the other one. They both fell into the rising water.
    “Thanks,” I told her, then turned to my sister. “C’mon, Ketheria. Now is our only chance!” I said. More and more aliens rushed the stairs, and fewer of them seemed to care about us anymore.
    My sister stood up as Switzer disabled the last alien with the remnants of a chair. Nugget knelt down next to his father again. He looked up at Ketheria.
    “I find you,” he mumbled. “Nugget . . . stay.”
    Ketheria swallowed hard, but she could not hold back her tears. Her eyes welled up as she scratched Nugget under the chin.
    “Now, Ketheria!” I shouted, grabbing my sister.
    We pushed our way to the stairs as the room shook once more and a wave of water and debris washed away SenniUg and the others.

After SenniUg and his trolls disappeared, little effort was made to stop us. I think everyone was too busy trying to save their own lives at that point. Max stormed through the debris, screaming at anyone who stepped in her way. The large, fleshy humanoid that guarded the door sat slumped in the corner, unconscious and bleeding from his head. A thick chunk of stone lay at his feet, and his alien parasites were gone.
    Ketheria kept looking back and crying out for Nugget.
    “You have to take her, JT,” Theodore said, and I hoisted her up into my arms. This only made her cry louder.
    “Don’t, Ketheria,” I told her. “You’re making it harder. You’re too heavy.”
    We had never been separated before our arrival on Orbis. All two hundred of us lived together on that seed-ship before the Trading Council divided us up. Until then we had never experienced the pain we felt when they took the other kids away. But things were different now. Ketheria
knew,
and I think she feared never seeing Nugget again.
    I stayed close to Max as she navigated through every shortcut, every twist and turn, and found the only dry way out of there. Theodore adjusted our direction a couple of times. His counting had come in handy.
But what do we do now?
I looked back and wondered if I would have left this way with SenniUg. If something hadn’t started destroying the building, would I be leaving without my friends? And who was that screaming back there, anyway? Or rather
what
was that? It was like no computer I had ever entered before.
    Once outside, Theodore said, “I think you should contact Vairocina, JT.”
    Switzer snorted, but he looked too tired to make fun of