The softwire : Virus on Orbis 1 by PJ Haarsma

civilizations. The only things I found looked like little bits of plastic, some metal, and a lot of dirt. I kept glancing at the chute to make sure nothing was getting past me, but none of it looked at all interesting, much less valuable. I linked to a sorting file just in case I was missing some rare object.
    Before the spoke ended, I found three shoes (I think they were shoes), a laser trigger, and one broken diode crystal — Ketheria actually found that.
    And then I saw it. First it was a familiar instruction notice, then a digi of someone I recognized, and finally the doorplate from my own bedroom on the seed-ship. The Trading Council had dismantled the
Renaissance
for parts.
    I quickly scanned the computer for verification. I had no idea what to ask for. The central computer was massive. In my mind I began shouting: Renaissance!
Earth! Human seed-ship!
Anything that might tell me what was happening.
    Several files containing the name of the seed-ship instantly came rushing forward. I quickly scanned the latest. The seed-ship
was
junked in a deal between the Keepers and the Trading Council. Apparently the human cargo was not enough. The Citizens wanted more. Since he had the Softwire, Weegin got whatever was left over after the others had culled what they wanted. No wonder he was in such a bad mood when we arrived. Knowing Weegin, he would have preferred first pick at the
Renaissance.
    I looked at the other kids. They realized what had happened, too, and were quietly slipping little souvenirs into their pockets. Then it struck me.
    “MOTHER!” I yelled.
    “What’s the matter, Softwire?” Weegin said.
    “Nothing, sir. I’m sorry.”
    “Then get back to work,” he ordered.
    The disc of my parents’ restricted files was no good without access to the main computer on the
Renaissance.
It only mirrored the file paths to the original information, information stored on Mother’s system. If they destroyed Mother, the files would be lost to me forever. I searched the central computer for data stored from the seed-ship. I wanted those files.
    The central computer on Orbis 1 was completely foreign to me. I didn’t even know if I was accessing the central computer or just a network that Weegin used. I also noticed that my translation codec left some things in their original alien languages: weird symbols that I could not recognize.
    “That’s strange.” I made a mental note to figure that out later.
    I searched and searched. Then I went over everything again. Many times I came upon restricted files that disappeared in front of me as they approached or changed file names whenever I tried to open them. No matter what I did, I couldn’t get around the security codes.
    I gave up. I couldn’t find anything on the central computer related to my parents’ restricted files. I was furious. The only thing that I thought might hold some answers was now gone. They had dismantled the
Renaissance,
right down to the bolts. The ship’s computer and its storage devices must have been destroyed.
    I looked up to find my conveyor belt nearly overflowing with pieces from the
Renaissance.
Ketheria was plugged in, trying to help, but she couldn’t get rid of the stuff fast enough. I dove in and chucked everything onto the floor.
    “I didn’t want it then and I don’t want it now,” I said.
    By the time we returned to our living quarters, I felt like an astronaut cut from his lifeline and left to drift through outer space with no hope of returning home. The
Renaissance
was gone. So, too, were my parents’ files.
    Orbis is what you waited for; it’s what you wished for,
I tried to reason with myself. But it didn’t help. I slumped onto one of the lounging pads in the common room. The room had changed once again. I watched Ketheria fiddle with a few alien games before she headed toward the open doors and the forest outside. But the outside was nothing more than a projection created by the central computer. It extended only a few feet