"The Softwire: Virus on Orbis 1" by PJ Haarsma

ISBN: 978-0-7636-2709-6

The seed ship "Renaissance" has been traveling through deep space for a very long time, so long that Johnny Turnbull and all the other children on the ship were actually born and raised on the ship. Their parents, you see, had entered into a contract to come and work on planet Orbis; in exchange for their virtual slave status, they would be rewarded with citizenship when their contracts expired.

Unfortunately there was a problem on the ship and all of the parents died. The contract had prevented them from bringing children to the planet, but they had decided to smuggle their frozen embryos on the ship. As soon as they died, the onboard computer decided to unfreeze the embryos! So the children have been raised by the computer, whom they named Mother; Mother teaches them everything they need to know…she prepares synthetic foods for them, she tells them about their parents, about earth, and about the planet they are going to.

*****

The planet Orbis is occupied by the Keepers and the people of the Trading Council, who thousands of years ago fought a war for control of the planet…and ended up with a truce that allowed the Keepers to rule the planet while the Trading Council controls its riches. In this war, the Keepers were allied to a race of warriors called Space Jumpers. These fearsome warriors could travel through space at will…but only if called by another Space Jumper. The Trading Council is so afraid of the Space Jumpers that as part of the peace agreement, the Space Jumpers are banished form Orbis.

*****

When the Renaissance and its ship full of children arrive, the aliens are upset. They expected full grown humans! They decide to separate the children and give them as slaves to the Trading Council to make up for the money they lost when the parents died on the Renaissance. But Johnny had a special gift. He could talk to Mother without being on a computer…he used his mind. When the aliens take the children and are getting ready to put an implant on them so they can communicate with them…one of the aliens stops Johnny from getting it. He wonders why…if he does not download the software he can't talk with the aliens. Then, through a translation box, one of the aliens tells him to download the software with his mind! And he does. Johhny is the first human softwire…and now the aliens all want him…until the computer that runs the entire planet starts to experience problems…and Johnny is blamed!

What will happen? Read the book to find out!