The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1

by P.J. Haarsma

Virus on Orbis 1 is the start to a four-part series entitled, The Softwire.

Thirteen-year-old Johnny has spent all of his life living on a spaceship in route to the rings of Orbis. His parents (as well as all of the other parents on board) where to complete 4 years of work on the rings of Orbis with the hope of eventually becoming citizens. However, there was an error on the ship and all of the adults died in the hibernation pods. The ship continued to pilot itself there, even somehow "hatching" the embryos of the hundreds of children. When the ship docks on Orbis the children are put to work in factories to pay for the cost of passage that their parents were originally supposed to work off. Soon after arrival, the aliens of Orbis discover that Johnny is a softwire - a being with the ability to enter a computer simply with his/her mind. But when the supposedly all-powerful, all-knowing, never-failing central computer starts to malfunction, suspicious is caste upon Johnny and he must find a way to clear his name, as well as save Orbis' computer.

Despite lack of description in some areas (I never really had a clear picture of what things on Orbis looked like, except maybe for Weegin's World), and a few strange plot twists, this was an enjoyable trip into kids' sci fi. I'm curious enough to read another entry and see how things continue to work out with Johnny and his friends.