The Starter (55 page)

...
his two fumbles
...

The knock on Ju Tweedy had always been that he couldn’t hold onto the ball. Fumbles happened, to some guys more than others. Against the Armada, Ju had rushed for eighty-seven yards and a touchdown,
and
caught three passes for forty-three yards and a second score. A great game, by any standard. But Ju’s words back in the VR room rang through Quentin’s head.

As long as we keep winning, the team will keep following your lead, right?

A win against the Armada would have made the Krakens 3-and-4, tied for last with the Yall Criminals. Instead, the loss made the Krakens 2-and-5, once again in sole possession of last place.

Last place... was that where Ju Tweedy
wanted
them to be?

GFL WEEK EIGHT ROUNDUP

(Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network)

With almost two thirds of the season in the books, it’s still anyone’s game in the Solar Division. The New Rodina Astronauts (6-1) claimed sole possession of first place with a 28-13 win over the Bord Brigands (5-2). The Brigands now find themselves in a three-way tie for second with the Scarlet Fliers (5-2), who topped the Chillich Spider-Bears 44-10, and the Jupiter Jacks (5-2), who beat the Vik Vanguard 38-34 on a last-second pass from Shriaz Zia to Denver.

Over in the Planet Division, the Isis Ice Storm moved back into a first-place tie thanks to a 44-14 drubbing of the Jang Atom Smashers (1-6). Isis caught up to the To Pirates (5-2) who were off on a bye week.

The relegation alarms are starting to sound. Jang now finds itself right on the Solar relegation bubble occupied by Chillich (0-7) and the Vanguard (1-6). Ionath (2-5) is at the bottom of the Planet Division, with the Yall Criminals (3-4) and the Hittoni Hullwalkers (3-4) just a game above.

Deaths

No deaths reported this week.

Offensive Player of the Week

Isis quarterback
Paul Infante
, who threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns against the Jang Atom Smashers.

Defensive Player of the Week

Cian-Mac-Man
, defensive tackle for the Lu Juggernauts, who had four solo tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery in a 17-14 win over the Mars Planets.

PLANET DIVISION

5-2 To Pirates (bye)

5-2 Isis Ice Storm

4-3 Alimum Armada

4-3 Coranadillana Cloud Killers

4-3 Themala Dreadnaughts

4-3 Lu Juggernauts

4-3 Mars Planets

4-3 Wabash Wolfpack

3-4 Hittoni Hullwalkers

3-4 Yall Criminals (bye)

2-5 Ionath Krakens

SOLAR DIVISION

6-1 New Rodina Astronauts

5-2 Bord Brigands

5-2 Neptune Scarlet Fliers

5-2 Jupiter Jacks

4-3 D’Kow War Dogs (bye)

3-4 Sala Intrigue (bye)

3-4 Shorah Warlords

2-5 Bartel Water Bugs

1-6 Jang Atom Smashers

1-6 Vik Vanguard

0-7 Chillich Spider-Bears

Excerpt from
“Sky Gods: The Ascent of the Harrah”

by Zippy the Voracious

Chapter Four: The Givers

The year 2432 will always be remembered as the time that everything changed for the Harrah species. It was in that year that the Givers descended through the thick atmosphere of Shorah to land on that planet’s icy surface.

The Givers brought with them technology that stunned the tribes of Shorah, technology that was several centuries ahead of what the Harrah had themselves developed. By the time the Givers departed in 2448, they left the Harrah with the greatest of all modern-day technologies — gravity manipulation and the punch drive, providing the Harrah the ability to explore the stars on their own terms.

But was that technology given to the Harrah too soon?

When the Givers arrived, the Harrah were a tribal-oriented race. Two centuries later, little has changed. Tribal culture still forms the structure of the system’s government. The Yashindi are currently the Accord’s ruling tribe. Below them, each planet is ruled by a specific tribe, and underneath that, specific tribes rule each population center down to the smallest of towns. A tribe may never rule more than one area, city, or planet at a time. Promotion to larger management areas or demotions to smaller ones are a common part of Accord politics.

The Grand Tribe Master of the Yashindi is the Accord’s official figurehead, a position comparable to the President of the Planetary Union, the First Scientist of the League of Planets, or the Emperor of the Ki Empire. However, the Grand Tribe Master’s decisions are not law — all decisions must be approved by a majority vote of the five planetary tribal leaders. Before those leaders can vote, they in turn must get approval for their decision via a vote by the tribal leaders beneath them, and they must get
their
vote approved from the tribal leaders beneath
them
.

As you can imagine, this means it takes a long time for the Harrah to make decisions on anything.

While far from a democracy, this painfully slow process has produced historically prescient choices, including the bold intergalactic political moves that resulted in the acquisition of the planets Satah and Lorah from the Whitok Kingdom and the Planetary Union, respectively.

For all the benefits of this extrapolated tribal culture, however, there are also significant drawbacks. Power is still largely determined by strength. If a tribe wants to move up in rank and acquire a larger territory, it can do one of two things — wait for the tribe above it to vacate a territory by moving up and hope that the ruling powers grant advancement, or it can just wipe out the tribe above it and assume control. These internecine battles are a way of life in the Tribal Accord, continuing to this day despite efforts by the Creterakians to stamp them out.

In the Tribal Accord, a family rules by force, cunning, guile and brutality. Successful warlords hold massive amounts of power. Tribal alliances form, shift, break, and re-form on an almost yearly basis, which makes it impossible to tell who is firmly in control and who is next in line. Vendettas are never forgiven. Many transgressions are payable only by blood, and often by death.

So, let this be a warning to all who travel to the Accord — do so at your own risk. The sky cities are a key part of intergalactic commerce, a popular tourist attraction, and a growing force in the Galactic Football League, but the wrong thing said at the wrong time to the wrong Harrah — or even just wearing the wrong colors — and you could end up on the bad end of a flaying hook.

• • •

QUENTIN HAD SEEN
many amazing things in his season-and-a-half with the Krakens. A prison station turned GFL player testing center, irradiated planets on the road to recovery, artificial constructs the size of small moons, each thing more staggering than the last.

But when it came to sheer size and scope, none of those things could compare to the planet Satah.

“Wow,” Quentin said. “That sucker is big.”

“Eloquent, as always,” Doc Patah said. “You have such a way of turning sheer grandeur into the commonplace of the pedestrian.”

“Is that an insult?”

Doc Patah’s speakerfilm let out a heavy sigh. “No, not really, just a factual observation.”

“Well, I don’t care what you say, Mister Fancy-Pants — that planet is
big
.”

And it was. Bigger than anything Quentin had ever seen. A swirling mass of yellow, orange, and red. “Is that bigger than Jupiter?”

“By over thirty percent,” Doc Patah said. “Satah is the largest inhabited planet in the galaxy, young Quentin.”

“I wish you’d stop calling me that. I’m not that young.”

“Hmmm,” Doc Patah said.

The
Touchback
angled toward the city of Coranadillana. For once, they wouldn’t have to use the shuttle — the
Touchback
could dock at one of the orbital city’s massive piers. Coranadillana’s scope and scale made Quentin’s brain hurt. As big as the
Touchback
was, it moved toward a pier that might as well have been the tallest building in Ionath City turned on its side. And that pier was one of
hundreds
. In fact, if you took all of Ionath City and put it in orbit, you’d have a close approximation of Coranadillana. The piers radiated out from a yellow-tinted dome, inside of which Quentin saw the vague shadows of buildings.

“So, Doc,” Quentin said, “You gonna give me the grand tour? I hear you’re from here?”

The Harrah spun in place, not rising or falling from his hovering position seven feet off the ground. One second his flattish, rigid body was facing the window, his soft, undulating wings gently holding him in place, the next he had pivoted. His six deep, black sensory pits pointed right at Quentin’s face.

“
Who
told you I was from here?”

Quentin took a step back before he knew what he was doing. “Uh... I don’t know.”

“
Who said it?
”

“Doc, I don’t remember. It’s just some talk that’s going around, it’s no big deal.”

Quentin couldn’t detect emotion from the sensory pits, or the curved mouth, or the long tentacles on either side of that mouth. Doc Patah’s voice came from the speakerfilm mounted on his backpack — artificial, yet it carried all the emotion of any agitated Human.

“It is a big deal,” Doc Patah said quietly. “It is an
extremely big
deal, and I would appreciate it if you would squash that
rumor
whenever you hear it. Can you do that for me, young Quentin?”

Quentin nodded.

“Thank you. We can’t have loose lips sinking ships, now can we?”

“What does that mean?”

Doc Patah’s wings waved. He spun in place again to stare out the window. “It means nothing.”

Quentin took a step toward Doc Patah, then another, moving in rather close.

“I may be young,” he said quietly, “but I’m not stupid. I will do what you asked, but I need to know if I’m telling the truth for you, or
lying
for you.”

“Does it matter?”

Quentin nodded. “It does to me.”

The heavy sigh again escaped the speakerfilm. “Young Quentin, the only word for you is
quaint
. Well,
naive
and
gullible
come to mind as well, but
quaint
specifically applies to your beliefs in truth and honor.”

“Your Mister Big-Shot vocabulary means you are obfuscating.”

Doc Patah spun to face him again, and this time, Quentin could have sworn he saw the sensory pits widen, just a bit.

“My goodness,” Doc Patah said. “
Obfuscating?
”

“That’s right,” Quentin said quietly. “I looked it up. Now, answer my question.”

Doc Patah paused for a moment. Quentin stared at him, making a mental note that he had to learn more about Harrah emotional cues. The Harrah weren’t part of the on-field team, and as such, it had never crossed his mind to study up on them the way he studied up on the Sklorno, Ki, HeavyG and the Quyth. But that was an oversight — Harrah were part of the Krakens organization, and as such, he needed to know what made them tick.