The Champion (31 page)

Mezquitic was the last of seven receivers on the Krakens roster. She had returned kickoffs and punts for Ionath before the rookie Niami took over the job. That put Mezquitic on the practice squad; she didn’t even dress for games. She was a good teammate, a hard worker and an eight-year veteran — and none of that mattered, because depth at quarterback was more important than anything she brought to the table.

But if you let Gredok move Becca to quarterback, keep Nancy Wolf at fullback, Mezquitic could stay on one more year, maybe two
.

No. That was a consideration based on emotion, on loyalty. In Tier One, the margin for error was horribly small. Any improvement to the roster could mean the difference between winning and losing — that outweighed emotion and loyalty.

“I’ll check Haney’s footage immediately,” Quentin said. “But Hokor knows his players. Start the trade process, Gredok. I’ll yell if I see any problem.”

“Very well, Barnes,” Gredok said. “Shall I inform Mezquitic of her demotion to Tier Two?”

Gredok and his damn rhetorical questions. The crime lord already knew Quentin’s answer.

“I’ll tell her,” Quentin said.

He turned and walked out, leaving the tiny Leader to stare at his back.

You’re right, Gredok
—
someday my football career will end. When that happens, you and I are going to settle up
.

Quentin had no doubt that day of reckoning would leave one of them dead. But for now, he’d said his piece and got what he wanted — time to put the power battle behind him.

Two weeks of preseason remained before the opening game against the Isis Ice Storm. Quentin would be ready. His Krakens would be ready.

Gredok’s little games could do nothing to derail that.

QUENTIN ALL BUT DRAGGED HIMSELF
into his apartment. He’d just come from the Sklorno section of the Krakens Building, where he’d given the bad news to Mezquitic. As a member of not only the Krakens, but also the Church of Quentin Barnes, she hadn’t taken it well. He’d left her a quivering, vibrating mess lying on the floor, with Hawick, Denver and Milford to see her through the initial round of grief.

He fell more than sat on his couch. He needed a few minutes’ rest, a few minutes to himself. Watching Mezquitic’s reaction had been the kind of thing that drained one’s soul.

His doorbell chimed.

[REBECCA MONTAGNE, AT YOUR DOOR]
his room computer said.

Even better than a few minutes to himself ... a few minutes with Becca.

“Enter,” he said.

He slid to his right to make room for her. Maybe a movie or a show — he wasn’t up for Madden just then — or some basic couch cuddling where they both put their heads back and fell asleep together. That would be just the thing.

Becca walked in, but she didn’t sit down. She stood there, hands on hips, staring at him.

“I just heard the news,” she said. “Nice of you to tell me first.”

“Tell you what?”

“About the trade, Quentin. About you blocking me from playing quarterback.”

Quentin groaned. “Oh, come on, Becca. Not now, okay? I’m not in the mood for this.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You’re
not in the mood
to talk about my goals and dreams? How am I going to get reps at quarterback with both Yitzhak
and
Haney here?”

Was she putting him on? He was exhausted from a day of practice, then position meetings, then arguing with Gredok, then watching footage on Haney, then seeing Mezquitic destroyed by the news of the trade ... he really didn’t have the patience for this crap right now.

“Becca, you’re our fullback. You need to focus on that.”

She jutted her chin out defiantly. “All my life I dreamed of being a Tier One quarterback — that’s
still
my dream.”

“Being an All-Pro fullback and getting a Galaxy Bowl ring aren’t enough for you? Your
team
isn’t enough for you?”

She looked away, embarrassed. “It’s not like that. Of course those things matter, but I did my job. I was the best fullback I could be.”

“What do you mean
was
? You’ve got five, maybe even ten seasons ahead of you if you stay healthy. Don’t you get it? You could be a Hall of Famer.”

He saw her lower lip quivering in frustration. She hated to cry. Like him, she hated having any part of her she couldn’t control.

“I don’t want to be a Hall of Fame
fullback
,” she said, her voice thin and tight. “You of all people should understand that. You of all people should understand
me
— I want to be a quarterback.”

“So we’re back to that again? You want
my
job?”

She rolled her eyes. “Of course I do. Any athlete worth her salt wants to be the starter, but I know I’m not good enough to take the job away from you. You’re the best in the league, maybe the best that’s ever been. I don’t know if I’m good enough to
start
for a Tier One team, but I am good enough to be a backup, and that’s what I want — I’ve earned my shot.”

Quentin huffed. “Don’t be so sure. There’s more to the position than you think.”

She glared at him, rage twisting her features.

He felt stupid, wished he could take those words back — he had completely belittled her accomplishments as a Tier Three quarterback, where she had led her team to a title.

“I see,” she said. “I’m smart enough to block for you but not smart enough to actually run the offense?”

“Becca, come on, that’s not what I—”

“I know what you meant, Quentin. Maybe better than you do. You don’t want me to achieve my dreams. You want to keep me right where I am.”

He blinked. What the hell was she talking about? She’d won a Galaxy Bowl; how was that stopping her from achieving her dreams?

“I don’t want to keep you from anything.”

She wiped away a tear with the back of her hand, then walked to the door. Becca was a warrior, as on-the-field tough as anyone Quentin had ever met, yet at that moment it was clearly all she could do to keep herself together.

Becca tapped her sternum.

“When it
really
mattered, when the title was on the line, you put the ball in
my
hands, not Yitzhak’s. Since you
know
I’m better than he is, I have to assume the reason you’re stopping me from playing where I want to play has
nothing
to do with football skill at all.”

She left without another word.

Quentin stared at the door, unsure of what had just happened. What mattered was where the
team
needed her, not where she wanted to be. The team needed her at fullback — run-blocking for Ju, protecting Quentin, and catching the ball as a constant threat on screen passes. Becca was as big a piece of the championship puzzle as he was.

Almost as big, anyway.

The bottom line was that everyone had a role to play, and Becca was selfishly putting her needs above the team’s. Had it been anyone else, he would have said as much, would have given her a serious verbal ass-kicking, but how could he do that when he was
dating
her?

Being romantically involved with a teammate complicated things.

She would calm down. Together, they had won a championship. If she didn’t rock the boat, they had a great chance at a second — maybe even a third.

Quentin nodded. Becca would wise up. She was tough, she was smart, and she was usually selfless. The Krakens offense wouldn’t be the same without their All-Pro fullback kicking ass and taking names.

Becca would realize that soon enough, and then things would go back to normal.

32

Preseason Week Three

Transcript from the “Galaxy’s Greatest Sports Show with Dan, Akbar, and Tarat the Smasher”

DAN:
And we’re back! Now, I know you might be a little disconcerted with the advertisement you just heard, but we love our sponsors.

TARAT:
I do not share that sentiment, Dan.

AKBAR:
Yeah, Dan, for once I agree with Tarat. I mean, the Church of Quentin Barnes, advertising on our show? Isn’t that some kind of conflict of interest?

DAN:
Akbar, is it a conflict of interest when you get paid for this job?

AKBAR:
Well, no, but—

DAN:
Then it’s not a conflict of interest — but if you want to complain about the sponsors who are the reason you
get
paid, little buddy, then it
will
become one. And fast.

AKBAR:
Ah, I see. I guess don’t have a problem with it after all.

DAN:
I thought so.

TARAT:
Dan, I made a significant income during my days as a player, and I also generate revenue from my independent reporting. Therefore, I am not as dependent upon the relatively meager amount you pay Akbar and me.

DAN:
Come on, Smasher — if someone pays our rates, we’ll probably bring them on as a sponsor. And if they pay
triple
our rates? Well then, I’m the kind of guy that likes to make that happen.

AKBAR:
Triple our rates? Now I
really
don’t have a problem with it.

TARAT:
Akbar, you lead a shallow existence. Dan, does it not strike you as concerning that the Church of Quentin Barnes has that much money? The CoQB didn’t even exist five years ago, and now it is the fastest-growing organization in the galaxy.

DAN:
Smasher, we weren’t all born as six-foot-four, three-hundred-pound athletes.

AKBAR:
With extra arms.

DAN:
Exactly, with extra arms. What I’m saying, Tarat, is that it’s great you have some moolah stashed away, but this amazingly fantastic show we run is a business. Our job is to build a big audience that companies will pay to reach.

TARAT:
You should stop to ask what message those companies want to deliver, Dan. The CoQB is trying to expand beyond just Sklorno and appeal to the other races. Is that good for the game of football?

DAN:
Tarat, with all due respect, I’m moving on to a related topic. Speaking of Quentin Barnes, I think we need to discuss the brilliant roster management of Gredok the Splithead.

AKBAR:
Brilliant? Seems a strong word, Dan, unless you think trading a washed-up kick returner for a second-string quarterback is
brilliant
.

DAN:
I’m not talking about the Haney for Mezquitic trade, Akbar, you idiot. The Krakens won the Galaxy Bowl, and guess how many starters they lost to free agency?

AKBAR:
Um ... none that I can think of.

DAN:
Exactly! We’re talking about the
defending GFL champs
, here, and Gredok has the entire team locked up this season except for Becca Montagne. Mum-O-Killowe, Barnes, the Tweedy brothers ... everyone else is under contract. Because of this, the Krakens return an unprecedented
twenty-one
starters, and that’s not counting Montagne. If Gredok signs her? That’s twenty-
two
— every starter on offense
and
defense will be back.

TARAT:
That is unheard of. Has that ever happened before?

AKBAR:
No, it hasn’t. Every championship team has had to fill at least a few holes.

TARAT:
My sources say signing Montagne shouldn’t be a problem.

AKBAR:
I don’t know about that. She’s an All-Pro making league minimum, and she just picked up Danny Lundy as her agent. He’s going to grind Gredok into the ground.

DAN:
Yeah, Tarat. This is free agent week, which means a lot of teams are going to try and sign her away from the Krakens.

TARAT:
Normally you would be right, but my sources say that — unlike my Human co-hosts — Montagne is interested in something more than money.

DAN:
Oh, I smell another Tarat scoop! Do tell, my linebacker legend, do tell.

TARAT:
My sources say that Quentin Barnes is no longer courting actress and singer Somalia Midori. He is now courting Becca Montagne.

AKBAR:
What
?

DAN:
Holy moly! You heard it here first, sports fans.

AKBAR:
Wait a minute. Wasn’t Montagne engaged to John Tweedy? They had that whole sappy proposal during a home game and everything.

TARAT:
Now it seems that John Tweedy is dating Quentin’s sister, Jeanine Carbonaro.

DAN:
Woah!
Tarat, how did you get this story?

TARAT:
My sources are confidential, Dan. If I told you, then other reporters might find out and try to take those sources away. Other reporters like Yolanda Davenport, who did not break this story.

AKBAR:
You can’t let a single scoop go without rubbing it in Yolanda’s face, can you, Tarat?

DAN:
The Smasher, still competitive as ever.

TARAT:
A good rivalry compels individuals to work harder and be better at their jobs. Today, I am better than Yolanda Davenport. This makes me happy.

DAN:
Well now that the story is out, let’s go to the call-in lines and see what our listeners think about it. Caller one from Satah, you’re on the space,
go
!

CALLER 1:
Longtime listener, first-time caller, Dan.

DAN:
And we love ya for it. What’s your take on this?

CALLER 1:
It’s ridiculous. It’s going to cause nothing but problems. I mean, if the Wrecka dates someone on the
defense
, that’s fine, but an offensive player that’s on the field the same time she is? What happens when the Wrecka accidentally-but-on-purpose misses a block so Barnes can get lit up?