by Scott Sigler
She raised her eyebrows. “Is this how football players usually console their buddies after a bad game?”
“Well, no, but—”
“It’s all right,” she said. She stood, set her mag can on a side table. “I’ll go. And thank you for the beers. I can’t wait to see what your story is, Barnes, but I have a feeling it’s not quite as significant as you think.”
Quentin fought to keep still until the door hissed shut behind her.
“Computer, tell Messal the Efficient I want to see him in my quarters, immediately.”
[RIGHT AWAY, QUENTIN.]
If Messal could get Quentin and the others all the way to the Portath Cloud and back without anyone knowing, the Worker could assuredly set up a secret meeting on Ionath.
“Oh, and computer?”
|YES, QUENTIN?]
“Is the Regulator still in direct communication range?”
[THAT SHIP HAS NOT YET ENTERED PUNCH-SPACE. IT IS STILL IN RANGE.]
“Get Froese on the line, immediately. Tell him it’s urgent. Oh, and tell him he better take this call, because he owes me. Use those words exactly.”
[RIGHT AWAY, QUENTIN.]
All the pieces clicked, and clicked hard. The commissioner wasn’t the only one who could put a plan together. Quentin had team practice, sure, but things would be a little laid back during the bye week — he had enough time to make his plan happen.
GFL WEEK EIGHT ROUNDUP
Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network
Home
Away
Orbiting Death
42
Alimum Armada
3
Isis Ice Storm
27
Buddha City Elite
21
D’Kow War Dogs
10
D’Oni Coelacanths
7
Themala Dreadnaughts
21
Coranadillana Cloud Killers
10
To Pirates
21
Neptune Scarlet Fliers
28
Yall Criminals
35
Jang Atom Smashers
3
Bord Brigands
14
Vik Vanguard
35
Jupiter Jacks
14
McMurdo Murderers
3
Shorah Warlords
28
Sheb Stalkers
14
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
PLANET DIVISION
SOLAR DIVISION
7-0
Ionath Krakens
6-1
Vik Vanguard
7-0
OS1 Orbiting Death
5-2
Bartel Water Bugs
5-2
To Pirates
5-2
Jupiter Jacks
5-2
Yall Criminals
4-3
Neptune Scarlet Fliers
4-3
Buddha City Elite
4-3
Texas Earthlings
4-3
Wabash Wolfpack
3-4
Bord Brigands
3-4
Isis Ice Storm
3-4
D’Kow War Dogs
3-4
Themala Dreadnaughts
3-4
Shorah Warlords
2-5
Alimum Armada
2-5
Jang Atom Smashers
0-7
Coranadillana Cloud Killers
2-5
Sheb Stalkers
0-7
D’Oni Coelacanths
0-7
McMurdo Murderers
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 be
hind 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?
“Never again, Barnes,” Gredok said. “Never choose anything over team.”
Quentin didn’t think that catching a terrorist exactly counted as choosing over team, but he didn’t want to argue the point.
“What about the Touchback’s design flaw, Gredok? Whykor said someone could use it to take control of the ship. What are we doing to fix that?”
“We are installing temporary counter-measures,” the Leader said. “To properly solve the problem, the Touchback needs to be in dry dock for a month. We obviously can’t do that until after the season is complete.”
“If you’re putting her in dry dock, you should also fix the aft lift,” Quentin said. “Fix it for good, I mean, not the tinkering Kate’s crew does. No offense, Kate.”
“None taken,” she said. “This bird is old. We keep fixing things, but these problems will keep mounting up. I’ve been telling Gredok for years we need a new ship.”
“Nonsense,” Gredok said. “The Touchback is perfectly serviceable.”
Quentin thought of his tour with Trevor Haney.
“New Rodina’s ship is only a few years old,” Quentin said. “And they’re Tier Two. Weird they have a bus that’s better than the reigning Galaxy Bowl champs, don’t you think?”
Gredok’s pedipalp hands toyed with a rather obnoxious jade pendant dangling from a thick rope of silver. It took Quentin a second to realize the jade pendant looked like Gredok’s face.
“I shall consider this,” the Leader said. “Perhaps it is time for the City of Ionath to forward a bond issue in order for us to acquire a new team bus.”
Quentin frowned. “You’re rich as hell. The citizens of Ionath don’t profit when we win, you do. So why don’t you just buy one?”
“You still have much to learn, Barnes,” Gredok said. “For centuries, owners of sports teams have understood a critical element of our trade — why spend our own money when taxpayer money spends just as well? And it is free. To us, anyway.”
“A new ship,” Kate said, her voice full of longing. “It would be nice.”
Gredok’s manipulations never ceased to amaze Quentin.
“You asked me up here, and I came,” Quentin said. “Now I have to get back to preparing for this week’s game against the Pirates. I’m heading down to the stadium. Do you need anything else?”
“Just one thing,” Gredok said. “You didn’t tell me about Yitzhak, or Froese’s interest in him. With regard to this Zoroastrian Guild business, is there anything else you want to tell me, Barnes?”
Quentin had just promised he wouldn’t choose anything over team, true, but Kimberlin and Procknow were team. Quentin wanted to believe they were giving up the Guild — or anti-Guild, or whatever they called it — and focusing on football.
“No. Nothing else.”
“Then you may go,” Gredok said.
Quentin left the bridge. Gredok’s question stuck with him, though, made familiar concerns bounce around in Quentin’s thoughts.
Was Kimberlin really done? And even if he wasn’t, didn’t he need to pay the price for his previous involvement? And the big one: was Quentin finding a way to give Kimberlin a pass simply because the man was critical to the offensive line?
“The Pirates are five and two,” he said to himself as he headed for the lift. “You need to focus on that. You’re not a gangster, and you’re not a cop — you’re a football player.”
Saying that made him feel a little better. Yes, he was a football player, and Michael Kimberlin was his teammate.
Things would work out. Quentin knew they would.
From Galaxy Sports Magazine
* * *
EXCLUSIVE:
CULT OF PERSONALITY
BECOMES “CULTS”
MAJOR SPLIT IN
CHURCH OF
QUENTIN BARNES
by YOLANDA DAVENPORT
IN THE GALACTIC FOOTBALL LEAGUE’S twenty-eight seasons, it’s safe to say that the organization has consistently produced larger-than-life personalities. None of those personalities has generated quite the exposure and interest as Quentin Barnes, quarterback of t
he Ionath Krakens. He’s not the first player with a church named after him, nor the first with millions of followers who look upon him as a demigod — but he is the first to see that following grow so large it fractures under its own weight.
The Church of Quentin Barnes recently suffered a schism, or a splitting into multiple factions. Three factions, to be precise. This reporter has learned that Richfield, the High Priestess of the Church of Quentin Barnes and a former teammate of his, will announce that split tomorrow.
“Her Holiness Richfield will make the official announcement tomorrow,” said a CoQB representative, who requested to remain anonymous for reasons of personal safety. “This is a sad day. The differences in the factions are stark, bordering on violent. There is no way these divisions can be repaired. Richfield is a hero for taking the peaceful way out.”
As of now, the Church of Quentin Barnes has an estimated membership of 70 million. When the split occurs, some 25 million of those sentients will form the Orthodox Barnesian Separatists, and another 18 million will become the Reformed House of Quentinism.
“I will state categorically that I have nothing to do with these organizations.”
QUENTIN BARNES
This instantly diminishes the power of the original CoQB, obviously, taking it from the largest sports-based Sklorno ministry to simply a mid-sized church.
As of tomorrow, the two new churches will be officially recognized by the Creterakian Ministry of Religion.
This reporter asked Quentin Barnes for a reaction to the story and learned that he has been aware of this growing schism for quite some time.
“I will state categorically that I have nothing to do with these organizations,” Barnes said. “However, internal disagreements threatened to cause significant bloodshed. Secret meetings facilitated through Commissioner Rob Froese ensured that representatives of the three sects could meet with me. Together, we were able to avoid bloodshed. The three divisions will go their separate ways. I’m not a part of it, but I have made it clear that I will not endorse violence of any kind.”
