Free Wormhole Pirates on Orbis by P. J. Haarsma Page A

out.
    Charlie sat in awe while we discussed the game as if we had watched it a million times — and we probably had. I was not worried about Dop’s challenge anymore. Actually, I was smiling inside. He wouldn’t see me coming.
What a great cycle that will be!
    “But this isn’t kids from the Illuminate playing,” I said to Charlie.
    “No,” he said. “This is a like a professional sports league back on Earth. The players are competing right now for entry into the conclave. Citizens own many of the players, and it’s very competitive. A lot of money is won and lost on these games. People come from all over to compete. Your school league is separate, but all conclaves are played at the labyrinth.”
    I figured Vairocina could help me learn about the sort before my match with Dop. And I noticed that some of the weapons the players used in the match were foreign to me, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
    The alien in green and silver made it to the bait just before the alien in black. When he entered, the energy fields around the bait dropped and the labyrinth shifted. When the shield was down, the alien in black turned, then fired his weapon at the other bait.
    “That’s cheating,” Max shouted, and the crowd seemed to agree. Athooyi stood up, clutched his chest with his speaking box, and screeched raspy insults toward the glass.
    “Doesn’t do much at this level,” Charlie told her. “Only a little sting, but it can disorient the player. There are very few rules. He will not be penalized.”
    All four aliens fought their way back through the maze. Their plasma rifles obliterated their holographic opponents even though they didn’t do much to the other players. The arena transformed below me. The walls faded away, and a purple light chute sprang up from the center of the floor. The room rotated on its axis.
    “First team through wins,” Charlie said.
    “We know, Charlie,” one of the kids said, snickering.
    I watched on the O-dat as the bait in black covered his tracker from attack. The tracker was much larger than the alien, at least a whole head bigger. They made it through the doors first, but just barely. As they launched themselves into the chute, the crowd behind us roared in disapproval. Instantly, the arena went dark.
    The O-dats now displayed the victorious team landing in the winner’s chambers. The crowd of spectators mostly jeered and shook different appendages toward the displays. A booming voice announced that this was the team’s first victory.
    “They beat the favorites,” Charlie said.
    “They were good,” I said.
    “Especially the tracker,” Max added.
    The bait removed his helmet and held it up in victory. I stared at his face.
    I knew that face.
    I had seen it before, behind the Illuminate, stealing the stridling just the other cycle. There was no mistaking it. Standing with his arms in the air, smiling like a madman, was the thief.
    “Look,” I whispered to Max, pointing at his enormous image.
    “It’s him,” Max exclaimed.
    Charlie turned and asked, “Who is it?”
    I blurted it out before thinking. “That alien. The bait. That’s the person we saw stealing the stridling the other cycle.”
    “What!”
    I turned to Charlie as the pit of my stomach hit the floor. I didn’t say anything, but I’m sure my eyes told him a thing or two.
    “Why didn’t you tell me about this before?”
    “I . . . I tried,” I said weakly. “Then I forgot.”
    Charlie raised his eyebrows and looked at Theodore and then at Max. “Did you forget, too?” he questioned them.
    Max nodded slowly.
    “Let’s try and remember these things a little more, everyone,” Charlie announced. “If you want to be Citizens one day, it’s important to fit in and act as if this place is your own. You wouldn’t want anyone stealing from
you,
would you?”
    “We don’t have anything to steal,” Dalton spoke up.
    “You will, eventually. You won’t always be . . .”
    “Knudniks?” I said.
    “I