The Champion (58 page)

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network

Bye Weeks:
Bartel (5-2), Ionath (7-0), Texas (4-3) and Wabash (4-3) did not play this week.

Ionath’s bye ensured they would stay undefeated in Week 8
and
remain in first place, but the Krakens (7-0) no longer have sole possession of that honor.

OS1 (7-0) hung a 42-3 shellacking on hapless Alimum (2-5) to move into a tie with Ionath for first place in the Planet Division. Death quarterback Condor Adrienne lit up the Alimum secondary, throwing for four touchdowns and rushing for another.

After starting the season at 2-2, Yall (5-2) has won three straight. The Criminals’ 35-3 drubbing of Jang (2-5) puts them back into the playoff hunt and into a third-place Planet Division tie with the To Pirates (5-2).

“We’re really hitting our stride,” said Criminals quarterback Rick Renaud, who threw for three touchdowns against the Atom Smashers. “I like who we are right now. A few more wins gets us into the playoffs, then we’ll get our chance for payback against OS1 and Ionath.”

Vik (6-1) stayed atop the Solar Division with a 35-14 win over Bord (3-4). The Brigands are still down three defensive starters from the violence that hit Bord last week. They could do nothing to stop running back Travis Johnson. Johnson, who scampered for 208 yards and three touchdowns, is in the running for Rookie of the Year honors along with OS1 running back Danté Diener and To quarterback Abdullahi Ba.

Jupiter (5-2) lodged a 14-3 victory against winless McMurdo (0-7) to move into a tie with Bartel (5-2) for second place in the Solar. The Water Bugs had a bye week.

Neptune (4-3) also climbed back into the playoff hunt. The Scarlet Fliers handed the To Pirates their first loss since Week 1, traveling to the blood-red pitch of Pirates stadium and dishing out a 28-21 defeat to the home team. Fliers quarterback Adam Gurri threw for four touchdown passes, all to receiver Amarillo. The pair combined for scores from 5, 12, 27 and 86 yards. Neptune is now tied with Texas for fourth place in the Solar.

The Pirates have a chance to get back on track next week when they visit undefeated Ionath.

Relegation Watch

With five games to play this year, it’s time to fire up the “Death Clock.” In the Planet, both Coranadillana and D’Oni sit winless at 0-7. It might well come down to the final game of the season, when the two teams meet in Coranadillana.

In the Solar, things look bad for McMurdo. They are two games behind Sheb (2-5) and Jang (2-5). The Murderers lost to Sheb earlier in the year, giving the Stalkers the potential tiebreaker. To finish ahead of Sheb, McMurdo would have to win three of its last five while the Stalkers would need to drop all of their remaining games.

McMurdo’s only realistic chance to stay in Tier One is to win next week’s game against Jang, then win at least one more game while counting on the Atom Smashers to lose all of theirs. That would leave both teams with 2-10 records. McMurdo would avoid relegation thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.

While we don’t know who will make it out of the Planet Division alive, it seems clear that McMurdo is one-and-done and headed back to Tier Two at season’s end.

Deaths

McMurdo tight end Todd Taylor, killed by Jupiter Jacks rookie linebacker Ridley Korika on a clean hit.

Offensive Player of the Week

Neptune wide receiver Amarillo, who caught 12 passes for 186 yards and four touchdowns in the Scarlet Fliers’ critical win over the To Pirates.

Defensive Player of the Week

To linebacker Izic the Weird, who had a sack, forced a fumble and also recovered it, and three pass knockdowns in a loss against Neptune.

42

Week Nine:
To Pirates at
Ionath Krakens

QUENTIN STEPPED
onto the
Touchback’s
bridge, already feeling uncomfortable.

It hadn’t changed since his last visit. The large holographic
Touchback
took up a good chunk of the small space. Just as he remembered, four crewmembers sat in their stations around it. They wore the same orange uniforms. They all saw him enter, all smiled. Even though he’d basically kidnapped them two seasons ago, some things held true: everyone loves a winner.

Captain Kate Cheevers stood by her command chair. In that chair sat Gredok the Splithead. She looked more proper than usual, perhaps because her boss was there. The left chest-flap of her uniform usually hung open, showing a low-cut T-shirt behind it, but now it was buttoned up tight. She still had those elements that made her
Captain Kate
, though: dirty-blonde hair tied in a ponytail hanging down her back, three small gold loops in her left nostril and two more through her right eyebrow, and the gun belt dangling against her right thigh. As far as Quentin knew, Kate was the only one with a firearm aboard the
Touchback
— other than Gredok’s bodyguards, that was. Bobby Brobst and the three-eyed HeavyKi stood back near the crysteel windows, silhouetted by space itself.

“Barnes, come here,” Kate said.

He did as he was told.

“Hi, Captain,” he said. “Never thought I’d be up here again.”

“Why, because the last time you were, you hijacked my ship?”

“
Borrowed
,” Quentin said, trying to add some humor to the situation. “And it is
team
property.”

“Wrong,” Gredok said. “The
Touchback
belongs to the sentient who paid for it. That’s
me
, Barnes.”

Kate held up a finger. “Except when we’re in transit, and Gredok is not aboard. Then my word is law.”

Quentin waited for Gredok to disagree with her; when he didn’t, Quentin knew he’d been brought here for a lecture that carried the team owner’s full endorsement.

“I’m in command,” Kate said. “I’m responsible for the safety of this vessel and everyone on it. So don’t you ever again allow something that could compromise my command of this vessel.
Ever
.”

She barely came up to his sternum. But as with Gredok, size wasn’t indicative of authority.

When Quentin had first met her, she’d hit on him endlessly, making all kinds of sexual innuendo. Clearly, that time had passed; maybe that’s what happened when you threatened someone and kicked them off their own ship, no matter how pure the intention of that act or the final results. He could argue with her, he could pull the star-card and ignore her, he could point to the Galaxy Bowl ring that the Prawatt had helped earn, Prawatt that wouldn’t have been there if Quentin had
not
“borrowed” the
Touchback
, but instead, he took his medicine.

“I understand,” he said. “I apologize about Yolanda and Whykor. I didn’t know they were going to hack into the ship.”

“And when you found out, you didn’t tell me,” Kate said.

“Or me,” Gredok said.

The two smaller sentients stared at him. He could say that Froese made him cooperate, but that wasn’t a valid justification.

“I’m sorry,” Quentin said. “I didn’t think it through. Kate, I should have told you right away. I have no excuse for that. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

Kate gave him a guarded look, as if she’d expected him to argue or be a smart ass. In years past he would have done both, but not anymore, because she was right: she
was
responsible for the safety of everyone on this ship. Quentin’s intentions didn’t matter if those intentions compromised her ability to do that job.

“Well, all right, then,” she said. “I know the commissioner was behind it, so it’s not entirely your fault. Apology accepted.”

“Thank you,” Quentin said.

She looked at Gredok, indicating her lecture was done and it was his turn.

The Leader’s little legs didn’t quite reach the floor. They kicked slightly as he talked. He played with his endless jewelry.

“Barnes, I thought you prided yourself on being a team player.”

“I do,” Quentin said quickly. “Absolutely.”

“And yet you chose Yolanda and Froese over your team.”

Quentin shook his head, started to retort, but Gredok continued.

“You didn’t tell me that one of my employees might be a terrorist,” the Leader said. “If you had, perhaps we would not be down one backup quarterback.”

Quentin didn’t know what to say. Was Gredok implying he would have
kept
Yitzhak on the squad? That he would have obstructed Froese’s investigation?