Wormhole Pirates on Orbis (28 page)

“What’s wrong?” I asked him.

Tinker spun around and cleared his workbench with a swoosh of his mechanical arm. He dragged a thick leather block from the shelf and pried it open. It was a book. I had seen pictures of one on the
Renaissance,
but never a real one. Tinker tore at it, flipping through it, searching manically for something, an answer maybe.

Then he was upon me again, holding the piece of equipment up and repeating the patterns. Each time the device did the same thing.

Tinker slammed the book shut. “You must leave,” he said. His weary eyes now glowed red with fear.

“But the port?” I said. “I need the —”

Tinker grabbed a neural implant port from the mess on the floor and threw it at me, hitting my chest. “Take it, but leave. Leave now.”

“What’s the matter, Tinker?” Ketheria asked.

“I have done nothing,” he hissed, his eyes darting about the room. “I am a faithful follower. I am worthy.”

“I can’t do this myself,” I said, holding up the port.

“I fear your reprisal if I fail,” he said, and lowered his head, bending his body in submission.

“Tinker?”

He would not stand up. “Forgive me,” he whispered, pointing toward the door.

“Let’s go, Johnny,” Ketheria whispered. “We’ll find another way.”

Outside Tinker’s room, I asked Ketheria, “What happened to him?”

“I don’t know. All I sensed was fear. Enormous amounts of fear.”

“What was that thing he had?”

“It’s used to read a person’s nodes. It’s called an Ara.”

I shrugged. It was all nonsense to me. “What’s wrong with my nodes?”

Tinker’s erratic behavior was the least of my worries. I had managed to get a port, but it wouldn’t do Vairocina any good if it weren’t attached to me. I needed Max. She would have this figured out in no time.

“What are you going to do?” Theodore asked me next cycle as we headed to the Illuminate.

“Tell Vairocina I can’t do it, I suppose.”

I walked mindlessly across the plaza and into the Illuminate. A cold gray fog had isolated me from the rest of my world. I welcomed it. I could let nothing in. I had to think of a way to save my sister and my friends. I had to get Max back. It actually hurt my head to think about anything else, and I passed on this cycle’s tap. I watched while Theodore and Ketheria grabbed theirs. I
was
going to save Max’s life, but in order to do that, I would have to risk both of
their
lives.

“There’s going to be some sort of presentation,” Theodore mentioned after he uplinked the tap.

“In the quad,” Ketheria added. “It’s for the Challenge.”

“We’re supposed to wait outside,” Theodore instructed, and I followed.

I enjoyed the distraction. There was no way I could concentrate on my studies, anyway. We walked back outside and stood among the other students.

“How many possible outcomes with the sort?” I asked Theodore.

“Eighty-one, but that doesn’t take into account the computer interpretation of the selection. That number is incalculable,” he said.

“You’ve tried?”

“I’ve tried.”

“Look,” Ketheria exclaimed, pointing across the quad.

A six-wheeled craft dragging some sort of slick metal container maneuvered into the plaza. When it stopped, the container began to swell, branching and forming into a sturdy-looking, multilevel stage equipped with vid-screens and flashing lights. The vehicle backed toward the stage, disappearing underneath it as the Chancellor of Orbis 3 emerged in the center screen — the same Chancellor who had given the fake Theodore his award for the highest test score.

“Noble Citizens,” his voiced boomed from the highest point on the platform.

“That’s impressive!” Theodore gushed, and I had to agree. The stage was the first thing to actually take my mind off the match.

“It is my esteemed privilege, as the Chancellor’s Challenge approaches, to honor those Citizens who celebrate the glory of our great culture through their own sacrifice.”

His mention of the Challenge reignited my fears. “What has a Citizen ever sacrificed?” I scoffed. Ketheria shushed me, but Theodore nodded in agreement.

“We must show our gratitude and pay tribute to those among you who have aspired to honor themselves and their families by entering these noblest of games.”

“What’s so noble about dying?” Theodore mumbled.

“Look upon these fine Citizens and let them feel your joy as they stand proudly in front of you.”

My body vibrated from the surge of music that exploded from the stage. The students cheered as each honored Citizen mounted the steps of the stage and stood under the Chancellor’s vid-screen. First they waved at the Chancellor and then slowly, as their platforms rotated, they turned to face the admiration of the crowd.

“I don’t get this!” Theodore shouted over the music and cheers. “These guys chose to go out and get themselves killed?”

Theodore was right. Why would a Citizen risk his life like this? As far as I figured, the match was just another way the Citizens exploited knudniks. But here were four Citizens willing to die for the
honor
of it. I didn’t get it.

Before I could comment, though, a sparkle of gold near the contestant farthest to the right caught the corner of my eye. I leaned on Theodore and stood on my toes to see over the other students. The gold sparkled again, and my eyes traced the origin to the contestant on the farthest platform. Immediately I dropped my head and forced my way through the crowd.

“Johnny! Where are you going?” Ketheria called out.

“This way!” I shouted. “Come on!”

I needed to get closer. I needed to see it clearly, with my own eyes.

The crowd resisted my efforts to get closer to the stage, but I only pushed harder, leaning forward and never letting my feet stop.

“What’s wrong, JT?” Theodore yelled, but I just kept pushing.

Something about the fourth Citizen seemed very familiar to me. Maybe it was the slender arm waving to the crowd, or maybe the glowing porcelain skin? But it was the glitter of gold that threw me off. At first I thought it was a reflection of something metallic, maybe armor or something on the stage. But when I stretched up and over the crowd and caught a glimpse of the gold-colored
hair,
I panicked. That could only belong to one person.

When I reached the far side of the quad, I could see Riis standing solemnly on the stage, waving to the crowd.

“Riis, no! What are you doing?” I screamed up at her.

She turned toward the sound of her name. She stopped waving when she saw me.

“Why?” I yelled.

She turned away without a response, but I didn’t need one. The look in her eyes was very familiar to me. It held the despair and hopelessness of someone locked in servitude, toiling toward a goal that was not her own. The knudniks on the Rings of Orbis shared that vacant stare, and now Riis did, too.

“Don’t do this, Riis!” I shouted, and the platform began to move away from me.

“What is Riis doing up there?” Theodore asked.

I didn’t know, but I did know two things. First, I would have to fight Riis in the tournament, and second, she would have to lose. At that moment I hated Switzer more than I would have thought possible. He had put me in this situation for his own gain. He was willing to sacrifice the lives of everyone close to me to satisfy his greed. I made a promise to myself to make him pay for that. And that was a promise I planned to keep.

“They will honor their families in battle,” the Chancellor shouted over the cheering crowd. “These are great Citizens. Be proud of them.”

The platform Riis stood on shifted, and she sat as the stage hovered higher before reaching a wingless shuttle floating in the air. I shouted at her again, but it was too late now. She was gone. I would not see her again until the Chancellor’s Challenge. The next time I saw Riis, I would have to kill her.

I did not return to the Illuminate again. I spent every moment preparing for my match. If I wasn’t setting strategies or scoping past players, I fantasized about my revenge on Switzer. If I wasn’t doing either of those, I thought about my cycle with Max, standing and listening to the music.

Sul-sah, of course, was not interested in letting us scope for free. After I traded my pob, Theodore and I began taking items from the house to barter. The first thing I brought was one of the small crystal sculptures that adorned the house. Sul-sah wasn’t impressed, so I collected as many pobs as the other kids would give up, but eventually I began taking larger items: vid-screens, furniture, and computer components that ran the house.

“JT, I think you need to look at this,” Theodore said, removing the tetrascope from his head. Theodore had agreed to only scope other players.

“What is it?”

“It’s Riis’s last game.”

I found the interface in the lobby and quickly accessed her cube. Riis was playing recklessly, almost sloppily. Her thoughts screamed louder than her actions, and her emotions filled my own consciousness.

I will not do it. I will not do it! How dare they do this to me? Do they not love their own child? I despise him. Can they not understand this?

In the game, Riis stepped around the corner without hesitation, firing her plasma rifle at anything that moved.

I’ll give them honor. They can’t refuse me once it’s done. First Families. I spit at First Families! The Chancellor’s Challenge will be my salvation. There will be no union of profit when I’m done. I will win, and the prize money will take me far away from Dop. Far away from this place.

Despite her erratic behavior, Riis fought extremely well and never missed a shot. She played better than most players I had scoped. I realized that my friend would be my biggest threat in the arena.

I removed the scope and whispered to Theodore, “Her parents are planning to marry her off.”

“To Dop, of all people,” Theodore replied. “She’s going to be hard to beat.”

Theodore was right. Not about Riis being a tough opponent — that was a given — but about us
having
to beat her. This was not a match I could lose, and she stood in my way. What else could I do?

“You can’t think about it,” Theodore said.

But I did anyway.

There were many skilled players entering the Challenge. One player, a creature from a distant star cluster, seemed to have gained mythical status with the Citizens. He played only in these types of death matches, and he never lost. Sul-sah told me he was favored to win.

“Thanks,” I replied.

“I’m just telling you the odds.” He shrugged.

“What are the odds on us?” Theodore asked.

“You’re not registered yet.”

“Why?” I asked.

“I don’t know — strategy maybe,” he replied. “Some Citizens don’t reveal who they’re entering until the last minute. Keeps people from backing out. More prize money.”

“Or someone doesn’t want the Keepers to know we’re playing,” I said.

“Could be.”

“So we’re gonna meet some players that we haven’t scoped,” Theodore said.

“Probably.”

It just kept getting worse.

“I’m finished,” I said. “What happens now, happens. I’m ready for the Chancellor’s Challenge.”

We returned home to find one of Switzer’s flunkies waiting for us in the garden, the one who mispronounced Switzer’s name and called him Ceesar.

“Take these,” he barked. The words were almost incomprehensible.

“What are they?” I said, but he did not reply. It was obvious what they were. The green and silver costumes were some sort of uniform, reinforced with a thin protective material over the arms, chest, and neck.

“First spoke. Next cycle. These are the chute coordinates.” He tossed a small scroll to Theodore. Theodore opened it, and the numbers flashed on the screen, then it disappeared.

“I hoped you memorized it,” I said, glad that he had tossed the screen to Theodore and not me.

“I got it,” he replied.

The alien was about to leave when I said, “Where’s Max?”

“You be there, she be there.” Then he left.

His visit made the severity of the situation all the more real for me. If I thought too much, it overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t let that happen. Theodore held the uniform up to his chest, checking its size.

“We’re really going to do this,” he said.

“It’s the only way to get Max back.”

“But do we actually have to play?”

“What do you mean?”

“Switzer’s only using us to get inside. Why can’t we slip away before we have to play? Can’t Vairocina help us do that?”

It wasn’t a bad idea. Switzer said Max would be at the game. We could go along with it right up until the Chancellor’s Challenge started and then somehow slip out of the city before ever stepping foot in the arena. It was so simple, I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of it before.

“You’re assuming we can get Max and slip away, though,” I said.

“If we have her near us, we can make some sort of commotion or something. A distraction. And then take off.”

“Athooyi would see that Switzer wasn’t even planning on winning.”

“And those monsters with him might help.”