The Champion (48 page)

SATURDAY’S PRACTICE
was little more than a walk-through, but it felt great to have his feet back on the blue turf of Ionath Stadium.

Gredok’s response had been mostly as expected: when on Ionath, he didn’t want Quentin leaving the Krakens Building, and when on the road, he wanted Quentin either on the
Touchback
or safe in the opposing team’s facilities. For once, Quentin had been only too happy to do what the owner asked. Quentin still had no idea who the attackers had been working for. That part of the mystery was up to Gredok: maybe his criminal organization could finally do something that would benefit the Krakens.

For now, however, Quentin wasn’t going to worry about it. He relaxed as the water’s heat soaked into his body. A few feet away from him, a ball of Ki writhed slowly, three and a half tons of snake-like linemen relaxing in that species’ unique way.

His love life was a mess, he was lying to his friends about the fight, he had to pay blackmail or become a target of the Creterakian Empire, and someone was trying to kill him — again. But here, he felt safe. Here, he could focus on his job. When it came to football, he always knew exactly what to do. With everything else, he felt clueless.

Over the sound of trickling water, he heard the door open and footsteps approaching. Quentin looked to the darkness of the entryway: was Becca finally coming to join him again?

His heart sank when he saw that it was Michael Kimberlin.

The swirling Ki let out a collective gurgle of recognition, welcoming a fellow lineman to their daily ritual. Kimberlin dove headfirst into the water, making a surprisingly small splash for such a massive sentient. He went fully under, then popped up, treading water.

“Let’s talk about the attack,” he said.

“What’s there to talk about, Mike? Gredok is handling it.”

“That would be fine if it was just some owner out to break your legs,” Kimberlin said. “But it could be bigger than that. When Petra talked to you the second time, she wanted you to be a leader, right? She wanted you to be some kind of unifying figure?”

Quentin hadn’t told anyone about that, not even Becca. To hear Kimberlin say it... it felt
violating
. Bumberpuff had promised he wouldn’t speak to anyone about it, but who knew if the Prawatt had kept his word.

“That’s ridiculous,” Quentin said. “What makes you think she asked me that?”

“It’s not ridiculous, it’s logical,” Kimberlin said. “She probably sees the same thing I see, that you have a unique ability to bring sentients together. Your popularity is unprecedented, Quentin — and I think it’s why you were attacked.”

Quentin didn’t answer. Bumberpuff must have told him about Petra’s visit. Bumberpuff claimed he hadn’t known what the conversation was about, but that had to be a lie ... didn’t it? Mike couldn’t have just figured this out on his own.

“The attack was from another team, Mike, to stop us from winning. So I’m popular, so what? Why would someone want to hurt me because of it?”

Kimberlin kept treading water, stared hard at Quentin as he did. Quentin stared back, his face expressionless; if he could hide his emotions from Gredok the Splithead, he could hide them from Michael Kimberlin.

The HeavyG swam to the wall next to Quentin.

“I was right,” he said, resting one massive arm on the wet tile. “She wants to unify the races to fight the Abernessia, and she wants your help to do it.”

Quentin thought of denying it, but either Bumberpuff had talked, or Kimberlin was just that smart. Either way, it didn’t help anything to insult the man’s intelligence.

“Say that’s exactly what she wants,” he said. “You want to tell me why that somehow makes me a target?”

Kimberlin glanced at the swirling ball of Ki, as if he only now realized they were a few feet away and hearing everything that was said. He glanced at Quentin, raised an eyebrow:
can I go on with them here?

Mum-O, Bud-O, Sho-Do and the others, weaving in and out of the ball, heads appearing then vanishing, black eyes watching. They were quiet, but they were listening. They were Quentin’s silent supporters, never saying a word but always on his side. He didn’t have to ask if they understood that this was a secret, that they weren’t to mention it to anyone — he just
knew
.

“Go ahead,” Quentin said. “Nothing we discuss here will leave this room.”

“Petra wants you to help unify the races, because together, the races can fight the Abernessia,” Kimberlin said. “So if a group wants to
stop
the races from uniting ...”

He let the sentence trail off, leaving it for Quentin to finish as he had done so many times during their tutoring sessions. And like those times before, it worked.

“Then I’m a threat,” Quentin said. “If someone thinks I can unite the races, and they don’t want the races united, I’m a threat.”

Kimberlin nodded.

“But who would want to stop the races from unifying? That would mean more peace, more sentients getting along without hating each other. I mean, not that I’m going to do a
damn
thing, but who would object to all the races getting along?”

“The Zoroastrian Guild,” Kimberlin said. “They want to destroy the Creterakians, not allow races to form stronger ties with them.”

That boogeyman again? Quentin hadn’t expected to hear that.

“But I’m not trying to form stronger ties,” he said. “I’m not doing anything like that.”

“Just because you’re not trying now doesn’t mean you won’t try later. If the ZG thinks you’re a potential threat, they will try to take you out.”

Had they already? Fred had learned that the ZG was behind the parade bombing after the Krakens won the T2 Tourney. If that suicide bomber had gotten closer, he could have killed Quentin.

“The ZG was behind the parade attack,” he said. “Could they have also been behind those fighters attacking us off of Yall?”

Kimberlin nodded. “I believe that was a Guild attack, yes.”

Quentin thought that over. It made sense initially, but as he turned it around and around in his head, it didn’t add up.

“We haven’t had any attacks since then,” Quentin said. “But if they can launch that kind of a strike against us, they should be able to do just about anything. I mean, I’ve been out in several cities since then, and I took a long trip to Earth with no protection at all, not even Choto. If they wanted me dead, wouldn’t I be dead?”

“I don’t think they were after you then,” Kimberlin said. “The Guild has resources, sure, but those resources are limited. They could find some isolated place and build up a force like those fighters, but cities — especially cities with a Tier One franchise — aren’t isolated spots. They are heavily patrolled by system police and the Creterakian fleet, and there are strict weapons bans and technology to detect weapons. That fighter attack probably represented a huge investment for them.”

Quentin stared at the man.

“Wait a minute, Mike ... you said they weren’t after me
then
? Who were they after?”

Kimberlin looked away. Quentin noticed him blinking rapidly — the man had said something he hadn’t intended to say and had been called on it.

“I just meant that it was probably a general attack,” he said.

Quentin shook his head. “Don’t lie to me. You said they weren’t after
me
. The only way you could know that is if you knew who they
were
after.”

“I’m not lying.”

But he was. Quentin could spot it, perhaps as easily as Gredok could.

Kimberlin hopped out of the pool.

“Like it or not, you’re a target now,” he said. “Petra isn’t the only one who sees what you’re capable of. If I can figure that out, then so can the Guild. But maybe you’re right, Quentin, maybe if you
don’t
try to help Petra, maybe if you keep choosing your own needs over the needs of everyone else, then maybe the ZG will forget that you’re a threat to their objectives. Then
you
will be safe — and that’s what really matters to you, isn’t it?”

Without waiting for a response, Kimberlin walked out.

Despite the water’s heat, Quentin started to feel cold. He already had enough enemies — the last thing he needed was to add ruthless terrorists —
mass murderers
— to that list. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t
want
to believe it.

And if he wasn’t the ZG’s target in those attacks, who was? Gredok? Another player? Kimberlin seemed to know a lot ... could
Mike
have been the target?

A small wave splashed against Quentin’s arm. Mum-O had slid out of the writhing ball. His thick twelve-and-a-half-foot body looked so at home in the water. He slowly circled Quentin, one black eye always watching, tips of his vocal tubes just above the surface.

“
Gratchik kollowis jugatach
,” he growled.

The other Ki grunted their agreement.

Quentin didn’t need a translator for that. He understood it as “our blood will spill together.” The Ki knew Quentin was in danger from many sides, and whichever side came first, they would fight along with him.

“Hopefully it won’t come to that,” he said.

But somewhere in the small, hidden parts of his soul, he started to suspect that was just wishful thinking.

Live feed from UBS GameDay holocast coverage

“Hello, gridiron fans, and welcome back to Monday Night Football. I’m Masara the Observant, and with me as we get ready to start the second half is my broadcasting partner, Chick McGee.”

“Masara, what a first half we had. I’m sure when the space-age geniuses in league scheduling concocted this maudlin matchup, they didn’t know the Krakens would be an undefeated, unstoppable juggernaut and that the Armada players wouldn’t be worth their combined weight in fecal material.”

“Chick, that’s a little unfair. Just because the Krakens are up thirty-five to nothing doesn’t mean this game is over.”

“The only way this game
isn’t
over, Masara, is if the Krakens are in the locker room chowing down on the universe’s biggest laxative sandwich, and they spend the second half trapped in the bathroom ducking for cover from a brown hurricane of death.”

“Chick! Can we stick to football?”

“Sorry, Masara. Sorry, folks at home. Right, let’s keep it to football. The Ionath defense has shut down the Alimum attack, forcing
seven
three-and-outs. That’s given Quentin Barnes plenty of opportunities to work his magic, which he did, throwing for five touchdown passes in the first half.”

“That’s a new record, right, Chick?”

“Right you are, Masara. He broke Don Pine’s record of four first-half touchdown passes, set back in ’76 during Pine’s first stint with the Jupiter Jacks.”

“And Barnes has done that
despite
being sacked twice.”

“That’s right, Masara. It looked like a couple of miscues by Krakens fullback Kopor the Climber led to those sacks. I swear, the decision to move Becca Montagne to
third-string
quarterback instead of leaving her at fullback is just mind-boggling.”

“That it is, Chick. We’re almost ready to start the second half. Let’s go down to the sidelines to Jenny Briggs, who talked to Alimum coach Irena Rowe coming out of the halftime locker room. Jenny?”

GFL WEEK SIX ROUNDUP

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network