THE ALL-PRO (63 page)

“I don’t want you to die, Quentin. The Old Ones have not called for you yet.”

“Then
close the shucking doors!
”

George licked his lips. He pulled the handle all the way down. The doors groaned and slid together, the hungry wind’s roar lowering to a whine of loss before it dropped off altogether.

Quentin took deep breaths, held his hands up palms-out. “Okay, just let go of the handle so I can get out of here.”

“No.”

“George, I can’t get to you fast enough to stop you from lifting it and I’m too scared to turn my back if you’re holding it. Just let go.”

George looked left, then right, seeing if anyone was close, if there was some kind of trick.

Just don’t look up, just don’t look up.

George saw nothing. He let go of the handle, held up his own hands, palms-out. “This is your last chance, Quentin. Go now or join me in the Void’s embrace.”

Quentin saw a shadow drop from the ceiling. Tara smashed into George, driving the big Human hard to the deck. George screamed in surprise, in betrayal. Quentin sprinted toward them. Tara wrapped his big pedipalp arms around George’s neck, choking him, trying to hold him down. Despite the extra 360 pounds, George Starcher put a hand on the ground, got to his knees and started to rise, one hand reaching for the glowing red handle.

That was as far as he got.

Quentin jumped, brought his right knee forward as he did, smashing it into George Starcher’s mouth.

George sagged to the deck. He didn’t move. Quentin and Tara the Freak panted, almost waiting for the big doors to open anyway.

For the first time, Quentin noticed that Tara’s cornea swirled a solid, neon pink — the Freak had been just as terrified as Quentin had.

“Thanks,” Quentin said. “Thanks for helping me.”

“I didn’t do it for you,” Tara said. His eye color slowly cleared.

“Then why?”

Tara looked down. “He stuck up for me. That ... that is not something I am used to.” The misshapen Quyth Warrior looked up. “You did the same. Why would either of you defend
me
?”

For some reason — maybe the relief of being alive, maybe the fact that Tara still didn’t get this culture — Quentin laughed.

“Because you’re a Kraken,” he said. “That’s all the reason I need.”

The landing bay doors opened. Bridge crew rushed in, as did Michael Kimberlin and Aleksandar Michnik. Doc Patah led a floating medsled. Once the big HeavyG players had lifted George, strapped him to the medsled and led him out of the bay, only then did Quentin relax.

He lightly punched Tara’s middle shoulder. “Come on, we’re going to the dining deck for a beer.”

“I do not drink beer.”

“Then you can watch me drink one.”

Side by side, Quentin Barnes and Tara the Freak trudged out of the landing bay, leaving the bridge crew to make sure everything was ship-shape.

• • •

KRAKENS DEFENSIVE END CLIFF FROST
did better than anyone could have expected. When it came to pass rushing, anyway.

The HeavyG free agent turned out to be a natural, one of those players that does far more in an actual game than he ever accomplished in practice. He attacked the Dreadnaughts offensive tackles, tight ends, fullbacks ... anyone wearing the dark brown jerseys that tried to block him.

Those that tried to
pass
block him, anyway. He finished the day with two sacks of Dreadnaughts QB Gavin Warren. He knocked Warren down another four times. Cliff Frost could rush the passer. What Cliff Frost
couldn’t
do was stop the run.

When pass-blocking, offensive linemen back up, react to what the defender tries to do to reach the quarterback. For
run
blocking, on the other hand, the offensive linemen gets to step forward and
attack
, using momentum and their mass to their advantage.

If Frost wasn’t pinning his ears back and raging in hard on all-fours, his big HeavyG hands slapping at crimson helmets, his orange-jerseyed body spinning and ripping and pushing, he was basically getting knocked on his ass. When the offensive linemen came
at
him, instead of backpedaling
away
from him, Cliff was worthless.

The Dreadnaughts took advantage of that fact all day, constantly attacking Frost by sending running back Don Dennis on off-tackle plays around the left end. Frost’s inability to stop the run made Hokor put in Wan-A-Tagol at defensive end. But the Dreadnaughts coach Smitty Halibut seemed prepared for this as well — when Frost was in, the Dreadnaughts ran it, when Wan-A was in, Themala dropped back to pass. Wan-A’s pass rush put no pressure on Warren.

Aleksandar Michnik, Ionath’s left defensive end, still brought pressure, but when Warren had to pass he simply rolled right, away from Michnik and toward the ineffective Wan-A-Tagol. That gave Warren time to throw and he used short passes to pick the Krakens apart.

The result was that Themala controlled the ball with long, yardage-chewing, clock-eating drives that kept Quentin & Co. off the field. The Dreadnaughts maintained possession for a decisive 42 minutes and 18 seconds, leaving the ball in Quentin’s hands for only 17 minutes and 42 seconds. The Krakens D held Themala to 20 points — but Quentin’s offense could only post 17.

Quentin spent most of the game on the sidelines, shaking his head at Smitty Halibut’s tactical skill. Quite simply, Hokor had been out-coached. Halibut game-planned for Khomeni’s replacements. An injury to one player could — and did — make a galaxy’s worth of difference.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, Themala had moved to 8-3. The Ionath Krakens dropped to 7-4. Quentin looked to the scoreboard, watched the results of the other games as they came in.

Yall had defeated Wabash 38-36. The loss didn’t impact Wabash, who was 9-2 and already in the playoffs. The game did, however, move Yall to 8-3 — one game ahead of Ionath. The To Pirates, fortunately, beat Isis 28-24, knocking the Ice Storm down to 7-4.

The playoff math was complicated, but one thing stood clear — for the second year in a row, everything would come down to the last game of the season. Next week, the Krakens against the Vanguard. Sunday Night Football. Because there was no Monday Night Football the week before the playoffs, it meant that all other games would finish before Ionath/Vik. By the end of the Krakens’ Week Thirteen tilt, they would know if they were moving on to the postseason or heading home to wait six months for their next shot.

Themala had out-coached Hokor, sure, but Hokor would adjust the Krakens strategy for Vik.
Had
to adjust, because Khomeni would still be out of the lineup.

One way or another, the Krakens had to find a way to win.

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network

THE TO PIRATES
(9-2) are in the postseason thanks to a 28-24 win over the Isis Ice Storm (7-4). The loss nearly crippled Isis’s chances, putting them a game behind Themala and Yall, which are both 8-3. For Isis to get in, Week Thirteen must see the Ice Storm defeat Themala, and Yall must drop its final game to the Pirates. Isis owns the head-to-head tiebreaker against Yall, so if they both finish 8-4, Isis is in.

If Themala beats Isis, the Dreadnaughts finish 9-3 and are in the playoffs. If Themala loses that game, they are 8-4 and out of the playoffs due to being on the bad side of a head-to-head tiebreaker with Yall.

Ionath is also 7-4 but needs more help to make the postseason. The Krakens must win a tough game against the Vik Vanguard (8-3) and also must see Yall lose to the Pirates. Ionath owns the tiebreaker over the Ice Storm, thanks to a 24-21 Week One win, so if both teams finish 8-4, Ionath is in.

There is a possibility that Ionath, Themala, Yall and Isis will all finish 8-4. If that happens, a complex tiebreaker process will ensue.

Yall’s 38-36 defeat of the Wabash Wolfpack kept the Criminals in the playoff hunt. Wabash is already guaranteed a postseason appearance, although the Pack could finish anywhere from the first to the third seed.

Over in the Solar Division, the dance card is full. Neptune (10-1) defeated the Jupiter Jacks (8-3) to take the Solar Division title, lock up a first-place seed and earn home-field advantage in the first and second playoff rounds. Jupiter and Vik will have either the second or third seed, depending on the outcome of their Week Thirteen games.

The Bartel Water Bugs (6-5) claimed the fourth and final Solar playoff spot, thanks to a 17-14 win over the Texas Earthlings (4-7). Even if Bartel loses their final game and Jang (5-6) wins, both teams will finish with 6-6 records and the ‘Bugs get the playoff spot due to the head-to-head tie-breaker.

Relegations

Sala’s 31-13 loss to the D’Kow War Dogs drops the Intrigue’s record to 1-10, sealing its relegation fate. With one game left in the season, Sala is two games behind the next-closest team, the Shorah Warlords (3-8).

The Alimum Armada (3-8) won 27-21 over the Orbiting Death (4-7). That, combined with Lu’s 23-13 loss to the Hittoni Hullwalkers (5-6) means that the Juggernauts (1-10) are relegated out of the Planet Division.

Deaths

Lu Juggernauts center
Rikard Pettersson
, killed on a clean hit by Hittoni Hullwalkers nose-tackle Pro-Co-Pio.

Offensive Player of the Week

Texas receiver
Leavenworth
, who caught 11 passes for 136 yards and two touchdowns in the Earthlings’ 17-14 losing effort to the Bartel Waterbugs.

Defensive Player of the Week

Vik defensive tackle
E-Coo-Lee
, who had six solo tackles, one sack, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery in the Vanguard’s 10-0 shutout of the Bord Brigands.

PLANET DIVISION

9-2 x - Wabash Wolfpack

9-2 x - To Pirates

8-3 Themala Dreadnaughts

8-3 Yall Criminals

7-4 Ionath Krakens

7-4 Isis Ice Storm

5-6 Hittoni Hullwalkers

4-7 OS1 Orbiting Death

3-8 Coranadillana Cloud Killers

3-8 Alimum Armada

1-10 *Lu Juggernauts

SOLAR DIVISION

10-1 y - Neptune Scarlet Fliers

8-3 x - Jupiter Jacks

8-3 x - Vik Vanguard

6-5 x - Bartel Water Bugs

5-6 Jang Atom Smashers

4-7 Bord Brigands

4-7 Texas Earthlings

4-7 D’Kow War Dogs

4-7 New Rodina Astronauts

3-8 Shorah Warlords

1-10 *Sala Intrigue

x = playoffs, y = division title, * = team has been relegated

BEAUTY. DEATH.

Two words that seemed to be opposites, but both applied to the planet Ki, home of the Empire. Nine-point-one billion sentients lived on the Earth-sized sphere. Where Earth’s twelve billion covered the planet with concrete, glass and steel, reducing plant life to the realms of isolated reserves, Ki looked untouched — a lush, endless vista of yellow and red land mass and oceans of emerald-green spotted with fuzzy dots of blue.