Read The Softwire: Betrayal on Orbis 2 for Free Online

friend did not reply. “Vairocina?” But still nothing. “Max, do you understand what they’re saying?” I asked.
    “Only pieces.”
    “Me too,” Theodore said.
    “Vairocina?” I yelled inside my head. Why was she not responding? Vairocina always responded.
    The big, ugly alien let Weegin pass. I looked at Ketheria. Her eyes were closed. I tried to take her hand, but Nugget now had both of them.
    “Vairocina?” I called out once more as Weegin pulled us through the door and down another corridor.
    Red globes hung from the walls, illuminating the hallways. Inside each globe something moved, but I could not tell what it was.
    “I don’t like it,” Max said.
    “I’m not afraid of this,” Switzer boasted.
    Theodore was mumbling, “Three hundred twelve, three hundred thirteen, three hundred fourteen . . .”
    He was counting his steps again. “Good idea,” I whispered.
    There are twenty-one of us,
I thought.
If we all worked together, why couldn’t we drag Weegin back the way we came? What about that guy at the door, though?
I didn’t like thinking about running away. It’s not what I wanted to do on Orbis. I was trying to make a life for myself here.
    “Get in,” Weegin snapped. He was stopped in front of three shallow rafts that fit snuggly in a narrow trough. “Get in!” He jerked on the rope, making Ketheria stumble.
    “Where are we going, Weegin?” I asked.
    “Get in or I’ll
cheelo
into the water,” Weegin said. He spoke each word slowly, as if giving time for our translation codec to work, but the codec still failed to translate completely.
    “This isn’t the way to Magna, Weegin. I want to know where you are taking us.”
    Weegin grabbed Grace and pulled her to the water’s edge. The kids closest to her were forced down also. Grace screamed as Weegin wrenched her hand over the water.
    “It’s your choice,” he said, baiting me. “
Tey
Hoolies would
chi
a snack.”
    Grace stared at the water, crying. The black surface rippled. Grace yanked herself back, but Weegin held tight.
    “Don’t, Weegin!” I shouted, stepping onto the raft. “You win.”
    I don’t know if Weegin was lying about the Hoolies, but no one said a word as we loaded ourselves onto the narrow rafts. The metal skiffs then drifted along a river of black water that sucked up the light bleeding from red globes mounted to the walls. A heavy dampness crept over me, and the only sound was Grace’s sniffling. She was attempting to compose herself after Weegin’s threat, but she still flinched every time the water rippled.
    “Do you smell that?” Max whispered.
    A sweet aroma lingered in the air.
    “What is it?” I said.
    “I don’t know.”
    The narrow channel finally emptied into a wide cavern, maybe three floors high. My raft came to a rest at the edge of a large pool crowded with similar skiffs.
    “
Treck
Core City
shool tok
edge,” Weegin said, stepping onto the pool’s concrete banks.
    “What did he say?” Max said, and Theodore shrugged.
    “I don’t know. Just follow him,” I told them. “Unless you have a better idea.”
    Weegin yanked the light rope, and one by one we stepped onto the landing. The rope shrunk as we gathered together. Then Weegin climbed a narrow stone staircase that curved up and along the damp wall and ended at a small arched tunnel.
    “What is this place?” Max asked.
    “It’s not a good place,” Ketheria said as we followed Weegin through the arch.
    Farther down the tunnel, torches of purple fire lit the old stone walls. Weegin stopped in front of a large, fleshy, humanlike alien draped in blue silk. I could hear the high-pitched chatter of several smaller aliens crawling all over him. They looked like bugs, yet they seemed to be talking to each other. The big alien guarded another archway glowing with a red light that reflected off the creatures as they munched on whatever they could pull off his body. He grunted something at Weegin, but I could not hear him over the