THE ALL-PRO (36 page)

His right hand pressed into wet, cold mud.

That spiritual feeling of
connecting
with the field.

He would not go down.

Quentin pushed hard with his right hand and both of his feet, then felt the Ki lineman’s arms slip away. He was free.

He sprinted right. Ten yards to the end zone, to victory. Could he run it in? Yassoud, facing him, shuffling along the goal line — but the other Coranadillana cornerback was just a step behind him: ‘Soud wasn’t open.

Quentin kept running. The receivers scrambled, trying to find open space.

There, in the back of the end zone, just under the goal post — Starcher, sidestepping to his right, to Quentin’s left. Running right, Quentin turned his body the other way and flicked the ball into the end zone. A lefty running right, then throwing back across the field was a difficult pass under any circumstances, let alone these wet and miserable conditions. The ball wobbled through the air. It seemed to float, seemed to invite the defenders that closed in from all sides.

The ball hung forever, players converging on it, reaching for it ...

... but they were all too late.

A thrill exploded in Quentin’s chest as the ball hit George Starcher in the hands. Touchdown! Victory!

George bobbled the ball.

Quentin’s hyper-focused mind saw the brown leather slide out of Starcher’s hands. The ball dropped. Starcher reached for it lightning-fast, but his big hands knocked it to the ground.

The football hit the black-painted surface with a small splash of brown water.

Pass incomplete.

BLINK

The agonized roar of the crowd snapped back into full-volume existence. Quentin was still running, his slowing momentum carrying him a few more steps. George stood there, looking down at the ball. Cloud Killers players leapt with joy and satisfaction. Krakens players put hands to helmets, or fell to the ground, exhausted and spent, finally claimed by defeat. No penalty flags. Quentin looked at the clock, hoping he’d made some mistake, that there was still time left for one more play.

The clock read: 0:00.

Cloud Killers 28, Krakens 23.

Game over.

• • •

THE KRAKENS GATHERED
in the central locker room. Drained, beat up, the big knot of disappointment stayed lodged in Quentin’s chest. They’d had the game won, an amazing comeback and it slipped away by one dropped pass.

A muddy George sat on a bench against the wall, elbows on his knees, head in his hands. He was rocking back and forth — slightly, slowly, but it still looked somewhat disturbing. Other players stared at him with expressions of disgust or anger. Quentin was one of them — he hated George Starcher in that moment. One dropped pass away from 3-0.

Coach Hokor walked to the holoboard in the center of the room. Some heads continued to look at the floor, some to stare at Starcher, but most turned to look at the coach.

“Krakens, that was a hard loss,” Coach said. “Every team in the GFL can beat any other team on any given day. Every ... single ... team. All of you, take a moment and think to yourself — did you prepare for the Cloud Killers the way you prepared for the Ice Storm?”

Hokor let the question hang. More players now looked toward the floor. Quentin was one of them. He’d spent too much time on calls with Somalia or trying to deal with the fallout of Yolanda’s cover story.

“We will learn from this,” Hokor said. “I wanted a win, but I’d rather learn this lesson now than in the playoffs. We overlook
no one
, understand?”

Heads nodded, eyestalks bobbed.

“And I don’t want to hear anyone blame a single play for this loss,” Hokor said. He didn’t name the play. He didn’t have to. “If we had executed properly in the first half, we would have been ahead and would not have been in a position where we needed to make a play at the end of the game to win. Every one of you had a tackle you just missed, a sack you couldn’t finish, a run you could have broken. A game is not a single play, it is a body of work. A victory or a loss is
sixty minutes
of execution,
not
five seconds.”

Hokor paused again, letting the words sink in. Quentin nodded, noticed that other players were agreeing. Coach was right. This loss wasn’t Starcher’s fault. They had failed as a team.

“This game is
over
,” Hokor said. “Put it behind you. We are still two-and-one, a game out of first place. Next week we have a tough opponent in the Hittoni Hullwalkers. That is all we care about from this moment on. Tell me, are we going to overlook the Hullwalkers?”

A mumbled cluster of no leaked out of the players’ mouths.

Hokor took off his little baseball hat and whipped it down to the ground. “What did you say? Are we going to overlook the Hullwalkers just because of their losing record?”

“No!” the team said in unison.

“I can’t hear you.”

“
No!
”

Hokor picked up his little hat. “Good. Tomorrow night we watch Hullwalker holos. Normal practice on Tuesday.”

He stomped off, his little feet carrying him out the door. The various races filtered into their dressing rooms. Starcher stayed where he was, still swaying.

A hand on Quentin’s shoulder.

Quentin turned, found himself facing Don Pine.

“Q, I know you don’t want to hear anything from me.”

“You got that right.”

“Forget that and listen. You need to talk to Starcher.”

Quentin brushed Pine’s hand away. “I will.”

“Do it
now
,” Pine said. “A drop like that, it can mess with a receiver. Get in their head. Affect their performance.”

“Coach just said we can’t blame it on one play.”

Pine nodded. “Sure, but he’s the
coach
.
You’re
the team leader and it’s
your
pass he dropped — George needs to hear it from you. Go talk to him.”

Quentin stared at the blue-skinned man, wanted to tell him to mind his own damn business, but Pine was right. As usual. Quentin turned and walked over to George.

“Hey, man,” Quentin said. “Don’t let it get to you.”

George looked up, his eyes wide and haunted. “The old ones,” he said. “The firmament has pulled me from the fabric of spacetime and cast me aside.”

“That, or you dropped a pass,” Quentin said. “It happens.”

George shook his head. “It does not just happen. I failed. I am a failure.”

“So make up for it. One dropped pass will be forgotten if you play well next week, right?”

George stared, then nodded — but his eyes didn’t change. He stood. “I have to go. I must talk to my towel.”

George walked to the Human locker room. Quentin watched him walk away.
Talk to his towel
? George was a bit off his rocker, for sure. But who knew? Maybe the towel would have better words of encouragement.

The holoboard displayed updated scores and standings. The To Pirates and Wabash Wolfpack had both won. Those teams were 3-and-0, tied for first.

The Krakens would catch them.

That quest began with a trip back to the League of Planets, with a game against the Hittoni Hullwalkers.

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network

THE WEEK BEGAN WITH
seven undefeated teams, but finished with four. The Jupiter Jacks and the Neptune Scarlet Fliers both stayed at 3-0, the Jacks with 41-7 thumping of the Texas Earthlings (0-3) and the Fliers with a 31-10 win over the Sala Intrigue (1-2).

Two 3-0 teams also top the Planet Division. The To Pirates (3-0) put a 38-14 whipping on the Alimum Armada (0-3), while the Wabash Wolfpack (3-0) notched a convincing 31-10 win on the surprising OS1 Orbiting Death (2-1).

Isis climbed back into the Planet Division title hunt with a 21-10 win over the Yall Criminals (1-2). With quarterback Rick Renaud out due to injury, the Criminals have scored only 10 points in their last six quarters of play. Renaud is expected to return in Week Four against Jupiter.

Ionath (2-1) came into the week undefeated and heavily favored to beat the Coranadillana Cloud Killers (1-2), but were upset by a score of 28-23. Krakens tight end George Starcher dropped what would have been a game-winning pass as time expired. Ionath falls to a four-way, second-place tie in the Planet Division, along with OS1, Isis and Themala (2-1).

Deaths

Neptune Scarlet Fliers fullback
Stephen Pagan
, killed on a late hit by Sala Intrigue defensive tackle Gum-Aw-Pin. GFL Commissioner Rob Froese suspended Gum-Aw-Pin for Sala’s upcoming game against the Jang Atom Smashers and also fined the All-Pro defender 100 kilocredits.

Offensive Player of the Week

Daniel Carrus
, running back for the D’Kow War Dogs, who ran for 132 yards and 2 touchdowns in a losing effort against the Bartel Water Bugs.

Defensive Player of the Week

Smileyberg
, cornerback for the Coranadillana Cloud Killers. Smileyberg scored three touchdowns, one off an interception of Quentin Barnes, one off a fumble recovery and one on a kickoff return.

PLANET DIVISION

3-0 To Pirates

3-0 Wabash Wolfpack

2-1 Isis Ice Storm

2-1 Ionath Krakens

2-1 OS1 Orbiting Death

2-1 Themala Dreadnaughts

1-2 Coranadillana Cloud Killers

1-2 Yall Criminals

0-3 Alimum Armada

0-3 Hittoni Hullwalkers

0-3 Lu Juggernauts

SOLAR DIVISION

3-0 Jupiter Jacks

3-0 Neptune Scarlet Fliers

2-1 Bartel Water Bugs

2-1 New Rodina Astronauts

2-1 Shorah Warlords

1-2 Bord Brigands

1-2 D’Kow War Dogs

1-2 Jang Atom Smashers

1-2 Sala Intrigue

1-2 Vik Vanguard

0-3 Texas Earthlings

Excerpt from
“Sorenson’s Guide to the Galaxy” Science First: The League of Planets

In the realm of business, it is said that you don’t rise to the top without making a few enemies. And if your government is run
like
a business, the same holds true, especially for the CEO of the League of Planets.

The League is one of the stranger government structures in known space. For 164 years, this technologically advanced system has been run as a corporation. A corporation dedicated to one thing: science.

In the League, the prevailing philosophy is that if you take care of science first, everything else takes care of itself. When you look at the League’s standing in the galaxy, it is hard to argue with this logic. The League is far and away the leader in engine technology, ship construction, communications, genetic engineering involving the Human genome, legal body modification and exploration.

The Corporation as Government

The League of Planets is a giant corporation that focuses on scientific achievement. All other elements of government, from defense to trade to agriculture to exploration, center on keeping the scientific bureaucracy running. While the League makes a great deal of profit from technological advances, that money is perpetually earmarked for increased scientific spending and the betterment of life for League citizens. By focusing on scientific advancement, the League has established the highest quality of life in known space.