Just released (U.S.): The Softwire: Betrayal on Orbis 2 (The Softwire book 2)

The Softwire: Betrayal on Orbis 2 (The Softwire book 2) by PJ Haarsma was just released in the U.S.

Description: Johnny Turnbull - JT to his friends - is a softwire: he has the rare and highly prized ability to communicate mentally with computers. But JT and his friends are indentured servants. They were born from frozen embryos on a seed-ship, and their parents, who were already dead before the children were born, sent the children to the Rings of Orbis in hopes of a better life. JT and the other children will have to work off their parents' debt for the passage as servants on Orbis; when their term is ended, they will have the opportunity to apply to become citizens. In the first book, Virus on Orbis 1, JT had to solve the problem of a malfunction with the central computer, while trying to prove that he wasn't the once causing the problem. Now, JT, his sister Ketheria, and the other children in their group have other problems. Their guarantor, Weegin, is essentially bankrupt, and instead of turning the children over to the Keepers as directed, he takes them to Orbis 2 to sell them. JT ends up with a new job, communicating with the Samirans, huge aliens who live in the water and are responsible for cooling the crystals harvested on Orbis. Because of his softwire abilities, JT is the only one who can communicate directly with the Samirans. The Samirans are upset, and it's JT's job to find out why before the Samirans can disrupt the upcoming harvest of the critical Crystal of Life. If he succeeds, he'll be a hero on Orbis. If he fails, the consequences will be enormous. But JT learns that there are dirty secrets lurking under the surface of Orbis, and that there is more at stake than success or failure of the harvest.
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