The Champion (38 page)

Marik finished scanning the crowd.

“No sign of the target,” he said. “Has anyone else reported in?”

“Negative,” Turon said. “He must have left right from the stadium and gone up to their team bus. There is no point to continuing this exercise. You and the others may leave. I will book travel for next week.”

Marik’s eye swirled with black; he knew, because the contact lens reflected it, let him see what was normally invisible to him. He tried to calm himself. This trip had been wasted, but hopefully they would get their chance at Yall.

GFL WEEK THREE ROUNDUP

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network

Bye Weeks:
Neptune (2-0) and Sheb (1-1) did not play this week.

Week 3 ushered in an upset and possibly a changing of the guard, as OS1 (3-0) stunned Yall (2-1) by shutting down the league’s most-productive offense. The Orbiting Death held the Criminals to a single touchdown in the 35-7 rout.

“They’re good, but they had to come to the Black Hole,” said Death signal-caller Condor Adrienne. “Here, everything changes. Our house, our rules.”

Adrienne put in a solid 22-of-33 passing performance for 243 yards and two TDs, but it was rookie running back Danté Diener that ruled the day. Diener ran for 125 yards and three scores.

Renaud had been flying high coming into the game, but the Death defense held him to just 207 yards passing and no TDs. The Criminals’ only score came on a reverse to receiver Concord.

The win keeps OS1 tied for first place in the Planet Division with rival Ionath (3-0). The Krakens hung a 32-10 defeat on host Coranadillana (0-3). Ionath faces Yall in Week 4, while the Death have a bye. A win over Yall would put Ionath a half-game up and give them sole possession of first place.

Bartel (3-0) took control of the Solar Division with a hard-fought 17-13 win over the Buddha City Elite (2-1). Water Bugs running back Robert Shonfelt picked up 104 yards on 20 carries, including both of Bartel’s touchdowns.

Texas (2-1) fell out of first place in the Solar thanks to a 21-20 upset at the hands of Isis (1-2). The Ice Storm fell behind 20-0 in the first half but scored three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to pull ahead.

Deaths

No deaths reported this week.

Offensive Player of the Week

D’Kow War Dogs running back Daniel Carrus, who rushed for 205 yards, including a 95-yard touchdown run, in a losing effort against the Bord Brigands. Carrus broke six tackles on the long TD run, including a pair of collisions that knocked two Sklorno defensive backs out of the game.

Defensive Player of the Week

To Pirates rookie defensive end Johnny Mushet, who had three sacks and a forced fumble in the Pirates’ 35-10 win over Themala.

37

Week Four:
Ionath Krakens at
Yall Criminals

IT WOULD TAKE TWO AND A HALF DAYS
to travel from Ionath to Yall. Hokor scheduled the
Touchback
to depart on Tuesday afternoon. That gave the team Friday for a full-contact practice at Tomb of the Virilli Stadium, home of the Criminals. It always helped to get a feel for the field prior to game day. They would practice at the stadium on Saturday as well, but that was just a walk-through, as no one wanted to get dinged up before Sunday’s clash.

The Krakens returned from Satah, home of the Cloud Killers, on Monday evening. That made Tuesday morning a mad scramble to take care of any planetside business before the
Touchback
departed. Quentin had shuttled down for a nice family breakfast with Jeanine, John, Ju and Ma Tweedy (Ma had been kind enough not to ask about Becca, thankfully), then come right back up again.

Two hours before departure, Hokor called Quentin to his office on Deck Eighteen to address something urgent.

“Urgent” meant Gredok was involved.

Quentin strolled into Hokor’s office. He expected to see Coach and Gredok, but there was one more sentient present — Danny Lundy, sports agent extraordinaire.

Coach sat behind his tiny desk, as usual, wearing his tiny Krakens ball cap. Gredok the Splithead was in his cushy corner chair, black fur gleaming almost as brightly as his gem-studded platinum jewelry. The Dolphin stood in front of Hokor’s desk, off to the side, leaving one chair open for Quentin.

“Hey, buddy,” Danny said. “So happy you could join us.”

Quentin looked from Danny, to Hokor, to Gredok.

“Someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

Gredok’s glossy fur fluffed up slightly, briefly, then lay flat. While there was no color in his cornea, Quentin sensed the team owner was in a positive mood, if not outright happy.

“Well, Barnes, it seems we face an unexpected complication,” the crime lord said. “Danny Lundy says his quarterback client demands a trade.”

Quentin looked at the Dolphin. What was Danny trying to pull? Gredok had won the battle over Quentin’s contract, and that was that.

“I didn’t tell you to talk to Gredok,” Quentin said. “My contract is fixed and I’ll live up to the terms.”

Danny’s head bobbed up and down. The office lights reflected off his wet rainbow-colored skin. “Easy, guy — I’m not here to talk about
your
contract.”

And then Quentin understood.

“Yitzhak wants out? I know he’s still pissed, but he’s number two on the depth chart and he’s getting playing time. That’s way more than he had last year, Danny. And if he leaves Ionath he’ll lose all of that sponsorship money. Did you explain that to him?”

The Dolphin shook his head from side to side, flinging a tiny bit of wetness onto Hokor’s little hat. The coach didn’t seem to notice. He just sat there, his eye swirling with threads of dark blue.

“Wrong again, pal,” Danny said. “I’m not here for Goldman, either.”

Quentin was getting tired of this game. “You don’t represent Haney, and that’s all the quarterbacks we have on this team, so you want to get to the point?”

“You missed one, buddy, one who isn’t on the depth chart. And if my client can’t play quarterback? Then she wants a trade, and she wants it immediately.”

QUENTIN KNEW THE COMPUTER
was announcing his presence, but he didn’t care — he kept pounding his fist against her door.

“Becca! Open up!”

She knew why he was there. If she thought she was going to hide in her room and not talk to him, she had another—

The door to her quarters slid open. Quentin stepped inside.

Becca stood by her holotank, arms crossed, eyes burning with frustration.

“I gather you’re not here to congratulate me on taking one step closer to my dream?”

“You know damn well I’m not,” he said. “Why did you go over my head?”

“I didn’t go over
your
head, you arrogant ass, because it’s not
your
franchise. I asked my agent — who you introduced me to, by the way — to negotiate in my best interests.”

She was going to pretend this was all business?

“It’s my team, Becca. And I told you
no
.”

She threw up her hands. “Since when do you get to tell me what to do? You aren’t the one that pays my salary, Quentin. I’m a grown woman and I will do what’s best for me.”

“We all need to do what’s best for the
team
, not for ourselves.”

She glared at him, her lip half-curled into a sneer.

“That’s easy for you to say. You want to play quarterback, and you’re playing quarterback. Such a sacrifice you’re making.”

He slapped his chest. “In my rookie year I played running back when Mitchell Fayed died. I let Don Pine play quarterback and I ran the ball because
that gave my
TEAM
the best chance to win
, so don’t you lecture me about sacrifice.”

She held up a single finger. “One game! You were a running back for one damn game! This is my fourth
season
at fullback. Every play I’m at risk, just like everyone else. Any play could be my last — I have to go after my dream
now
.”

“This is the life we chose, Becca. You know injuries are part of the game.”

She nodded. “Injuries and death. I know the dangers we face better than you. I’ve killed players — you haven’t.”