In Death's Shadow

by S. F. Edwards

  Chertsin eyed him, his lip twisting in disgust. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ve got Slamball Champions on my team, you don’t stand a chance.”

  Blazer glanced downfield, and his eyes went wide. He recognized most of Chertsin’s new men and sure enough, they had all played on Championship teams. Two of them had played on the Demons, the team that had beaten Blazer’s Silver Canyon Doradoes back when he was in school. He shot a look at Arion, who nodded back. Swallowing, Blazer turned back to Chertsin. “A team is more than the sum of its parts.”

  ***

  The air burst out of Blazer’s lungs as he slammed to the ground. Sum of its parts or not, these guys are good. I can’t remember the last time I—no, scratch that—it was the slamball final those Demons beat us in. He looked at the sidelines, where Marda sat nursing the injuries of Gokhead and Zithe. Even Zithe’s lycan physiology wouldn’t let him heal a broken arm in an instant.

  How much time is left? Climbing back to his feet, he saw the answer on the back of Deniv’s shirt.

  “10.58 pulses, Score, BF:23, CC: 24.”

  That didn’t give him much time. He turned to look at his defenders; Mikle and Acknit were doing a competent job of it with Bichard in the lead. To Blazer’s surprise, Acknit had proven to be a veritable ball of energy on the field. Blazer only wished that Mikle could stay as focused. The man flirted with every female who happened to pass by the field, regardless of species, when they were on defense.

  They’d done well so far, but they couldn’t last much longer. Blazer turned to the sidelines, where Chertsin sat smirking. He hadn’t been in the game since the first quarter, letting his newest teammates handle the brunt of it. That’s it, Blazer decided, running up to Deniv

  “Hey, Ref, they’ve got players sitting out most of the game, so what’s the deal?”

  Deniv looked at the sideline then back to Blazer as Gavit prepared to toss the ball back into play. “This isn’t the kiddies leagues, Blazer. There is no minimum play requirement.”

  Blazer nodded and turned back towards the sideline. “Well it’s good to see that Chertsin has learned how to delegate. If he stays out of the action permanently, his team might graduate after all.”

  Chertsin’s face went red with rage and he looked out at the field. His new man Talik, the Demon’s co-captain all those annura ago, had been leading the team ever since Chertsin had stepped off the field. Under him they’d tied up what had been, until that point, a near shutout for the Blade Force. “Talik, take a breather,” Chertsin called, and he ran onto the field.

  Blazer held back a smile and turned back to his team, well aware of the evil grin on Zithe’s face. “Chris, I want you to go for the ball. Arion, mark her flanks, and Rudjick, you get to bug Chertsin.”

  Rudjick smiled. “Seriously?”

  “I’m as serious as a hull breech,” Blazer replied. He nodded to Matt and motioned towards Chris.

  Deniv blew the whistle, and Matt let the ball fly.

  Chris intercepted and ran for the goal, Arion rushing ahead of her to knock defenders out of her path.

  Blazer’s pulse pounded as he chased them. Chertsin appeared on a bee-line to intercept Chris, but Rudjick ran past and clipped his ankle. Chertsin tumbled to the grass and raged at Rudjick. “What the Sheol, elf? Watch where you’re going!”

  Blazer grinned as Rudjick shrugged at Chertsin and headed down the field. Saldray, however, heard Chertsin’s calls and rushed after Rudjick, his instinct to protect his friend forcing him to leave the goal exposed. Chris dropped the ball and kicked it through the upper hoop.

  “Four points!” she called out.

  Deniv’s whistle sounded, and the teams headed back for the next kick off.

  Blazer backpedaled to his assigned position and waved Rudjick towards him, Saldray breaking off his pursuit to help Cherstsin to his feet. “I don’t care what you have to do, get that ball from Chertsin. Make yourself a target, then get it back to Matt. He’s good at the long-range plays.”

  Rudjick screwed up his face and nodded, then turned to see Chertsin directing his troops, changing up their whole line. “You got it, boss.”

  For the first time, Blazer didn’t flinch at the title.

  When the whistle blew, Chertsin ran forward and scooped the ball off the ground. Saldray and another Tomeris from his old team took up flanking positions. That didn’t stop Rudjick, however. The nimble little elf weaved past Saldray. Feinting to his left, he dropped behind Chertsin and kicked him in the back of the knees.

  Chertsin collapsed to the grass and lost the ball. Chris scooped it up, but with a giant Tomeris man before her, she lobbed the ball back to Matt.

  Matt ran forward, looking for an opening, but there was none.

  “Arion, give him a vantage point!” Blazer hollered and caught sight of Rudjick dancing around Chertsin, drawing the ire of many on Chertsin’s team. Good work, elf!

  Arion turned, running backwards, and cupped his hands. Seeing that, Matt ran, jumped, set one foot in Arion’s offered hands, and let Arion launch him in the air. Matt soared above the field and lobbed the ball for all he was worth at the apex of his trajectory. The ball tore through the air. The other team jumped for it to no avail, and it sailed through the larger lower loop for one point.

  Matt crashed to the ground with a huge grin on his face. Chris offered him a hand and he took it, smiling. “I would have gone for the upper loop, but my foot and arm aren’t exactly precision tuned firearms,” he laughed and his eyes changed shape, morphing like a telephoto lens.

  “You’re a zoom?” Chris asked as they headed back to their end of the field.

  “Yep, it helps when you’re a sniper.”

  Blazer checked the score; BF:28, CC: 24. Even if they hung back for the two pulses remaining, they could still win. In any other case he would, but he wanted this to be decisive. Plus humiliating Chertsin would make it that much more satisfying. Chertsin was already so mad. Blazer swore that steam would come out of his ears any moment.

  Suppressing a grin, he looked at his sideline. Zithe held his hands in a circle, and Gokhead pantomimed a man passing through his own left hand. Marda glared at Zithe to lower his arm that was wrapped in the speed-heal cast.

  Blazer thought about that a moment. When was the last time I did something that stupid? Glancing forward, Arion nodded back at him. That settled it, and he took up his position.

  The whistle blew and Chertsin once again plucked the ball from the field, but this time Rudjick would be denied. The rest of Chertsin’s forward line tackled the elf, and Blazer heard what sounded like snapped bone echoing from the pile up. “Frag me sideways, Saldray, jerk me off or let go of my junk, man!” Rudjick called out, his voice pained.

  Blazer shook it off and focused on Chertsin, whose hold on the ball was all wrong. He had it tucked hard against his chest, the muscles in his arms straining and the ball bulging. Blazer rushed Chersin, trying not to show what he was thinking. Chertsin smiled and held the ball tighter. Blazer kept his head still. He couldn’t risk revealing that Chertsin held it wrong. Chertsin shuffled left and Blazer mirrored the move, skipping to the right just before the two met, and matched Chertsin’s telegraphed feint.

  Not even breaking stride, Blazer punched the ball from below, launching it out of Chertsin’s hands and over his head. Chertsin ground to a halt and spun about just as Blazer plucked the ball from the air and rushed towards the goal.

  The watching crowd roared with laughter while Chertsin screamed at his team to intercept. But Blazer had a shield. Arion, Chris, Gavit and Matt beat back approaching defenders to open a path to the goal.

  He pumped every iota of energy he had into his legs and ran for it, aware of Chertsin racing after him. He had to concentrate, though, and as he neared the goal, he leapt for the lower hoop, rolling over in the air to push the ball in front of his foot just as his head crossed through it. He released the ball with no time to spare, kicked it through the upper hoop, then pulled his legs back and sailed towar
ds the grass beyond.

  He crashed to the ground to the sound of cheers, and the ball fell on his chest. Blinking, he looked up at the score hovering above the hoops. BF:33, CC: 24. He leapt to his feet and cheered. The hoops had granted him four points for kicking the ball through the upper hoop and an extra point for a Maldron’s Dive through the lower!

  The whistle blew three times, signaling the end of the match, and Blazer raced back to meet with his team.

  “Foul!” Chertsin yelled, drawing Deniv’s ire.

  “What foul?” Deniv asked, trying to keep his voice even.

  “Not a foul, but the ref was biased, and my team was tired…”

  “I have never been biased as a referee,” Deniv hollered, jumping in Chertsin’s face.

  Should I jump in? Blazer debated with himself. Just then, though, Chertsin’s man Talik stepped in.

  “Sir, respectfully, the ref was as impartial as I’ve seen. If anything, he called more fouls on the Blade Force. He’s not to blame for our loss. You and your ego are.”

  Knowing better than to get into that mess, Blazer stayed with his team. They all looked exhausted but also energized. This was just what they needed, and still huffing, he cleared his throat. “Great game, people. I think Matt, Mikle and Acknit have proven themselves, for sure, and we have a great team here.”

  The team hooted in appreciation.

  Blazer had more he wanted to say, though. After taking a swig of water from the bottle Marda handed him, he turned back to the team. “Before next semester starts, we’re supposed to settle on a team specialty. From looking at the new makeup of our squad, I’m confident we can make it all the way without further losses. I don’t know how much you all have been thinking about it, but I have been, ever since we arrived. I’ve all but made up my own mind, but we need to make that decision as a team.”

  “You going to keep us in suspense, or are you going to tell us?” Arion asked, using his shirt to wipe sweat from his hair.

  “I’d rather hear what everyone else has to say first.”

  “You already know what we’ll say,” Marda commented. “Look at our record. Look at how you’ve led us this far. You’ve never led us astray. So what are your thoughts on our future?”

  Blazer was impressed with Marda’s candor. She added a much-needed sense of stability and focus to the team. “Well, after our little experience as prisoners, and seeing what it’s like behind the bars, I can appreciate what a POW must go through. I understand the fear of never getting out, the hope of getting home, and the helplessness you feel when your destiny is not yours to control. If you agree, I’d like to nominate Blade Force to help give people control of their destinies again. I want to free them from captivity and let them live the lives of free sentients. I think the Blade Force should commit itself to becoming a rescue team,” he announced, almost out of breath.

  The team stood there in silence for several moments, everyone exchanging brief glances with one another as they considered Blazer’s words. Zithe turned to the team, the look on his face unreadable. “Though it felt more practiced than your earlier speeches, I say this. All in favor, raise your right,” he ordered, nodding at Blazer and raising his own speed-heal casted right hand.

  Blazer watched in amazement as everyone raised their right hand in agreement, even Acknit, who otherwise seemed to be lying asleep in the grass.

  Zithe elbowed Blazer. “Your turn to make it unanimous, Blazer.”

  Blazer raised his hand in response.

  “Did you really think none of us knew what you were thinking? That this wasn’t the course you would lead us down? None of us would be here if it wasn’t.”

  “So why did you let me make that little speech?” Blazer asked with a smile.

  “Are you kidding?” Marda asked dryly. “You’ve been working on that since we got out of the sims. There was no way we were going to interrupt.”

  Blazer laughed and leaned in to give her a kiss, but froze. This isn’t the time or place, but we’ll get to that later!

  “I agree,” Chris commented, ignoring the almost kiss. “What you said before, when we out on the rocks, it felt better. Wait, what about squadron lead?” Chris asked. “Who’s taking that slot?”

  “I have no idea. The academy hasn’t said one word except that we’ll have a new squadron commander before we’re assigned our primary craft next annura. In the meantime, we’ll fly without one.”

  Arion stepped up and slapped Blazer on the back. “That’s a topic for another cycle. For now, let’s get the Explosions to buy us drinks for hammering Chertsin.”

  UCSB DATE: 1001.075

  Star System: Classified, UCSBA-13, Dorm Room 305

  “We haven’t spoken since you left, how’s it been going there?” Matt’s fiancé, Lademine asked through the psi-comm screen.

  Matt tossed a slam ball in the air and leaned back to catch it. “Good. I mean, the initial round of Special Ops was Sheol, but the last tridec has been pretty good. We’re really coming together as a team.”

  “How many didn’t make it?”

  Matt pulled up the stats on his macomm. “Well, only seven teams made it through once you count all the rebuilt ones. Then another fifty regular cadets washed or quit too.”

  Gavit poked his head over the bed rail. “Wimps, they wouldn’t have made it through the first cycle of Spec Ops.”

  “Oh my God, I thought you were joking in your last stitch when you said Gavit was on your new team,” Lademine replied. “When I told my dad, he said, ‘I can’t believe that little pervert hasn’t been locked up somewhere for pinching the wrong woman’s butt!’”

  “He’s a little more suave than he used to be,” Matt responded with a chuckle, while Gavit did his best to ignore him. “He doesn’t pinch asses at random anymore. Something has really changed in him over the annura.”

  “That’s crazy,” she replied, while mixing the contents of a green ceramic bowl with an old-fashioned wooden spoon. “Classes are going well here, and so is my job. Everyone here is really proud of you.”

  “So what are you making there?” he inquired, as she added diced fruit to the mix.

  “Well, I figured my big man might like a care package full of my specialty cookies. I’m making enough that you can share them with your team,” she replied with a devilish wink, tipping the bowl so that he could see in. “I should be able to send them out next cycle, stasis wrapped so they don’t go stale.”

  “No, honey, don’t,” Matt replied with a smile. “I love your cookies, and the ones you bake too, but the cost to send it here...”

  “Is nothing compared to sending some home-baked love to my man.”

  “Just send me the autocook codes for it.”

  “No way,” she replied, pointing the spoon at him, ingredients plastered on it. He could see her engagement tattoo, a mirror image of his own. “When you can find me an autocook that you can program love into and mix with the same care as I do, I will consider it. But not before then,” she said, pushing the bowl forward until only it and her cleavage filled the frame.

  Matt held up his hands in defeat. He knew better than to argue with her about her cooking. “I miss you, Lademine.”

  “I miss you too, love. So it’s going good with the new team right?”

  “Very. Sheol, that Mikle guy is a great cook. But not as good as you, and the way he always breaks out that camera of his is driving me crazy!”

  “Nice save there, honey. But Gavit Markus of all people. My God he was so, wow.”

  “Yeah, I know, when he was younger, he was not the most subtle of individuals.”

  “You’re forgetting arrogant, but it sounds like he’s settled down?”

  “True, and yeah, he puts on airs sometimes, but it’s still there.”

  “I take offense to that,” Gavit called, jumping down from his bunk and poking his head in front of Matt’s to talk to Lademine. “How’s it going, Lademine?”

  “Good.”

  “I still c
an’t believe that you’re marrying this,” Gavit paused, searching, “decrepit old man.”

  “Well, I had to marry someone after you left me, ten Annura ago.”

  Matt gave a mock hurt look in response and pushed Gavit out of the way. “Oh please, I’m only five annura older than you two and I know that you’ve had a crush on me since the cycle you got out of diapers.”

  She shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.” All three had a good laugh at that. “You just keep my fiancé out of trouble, you hear? I’ve seen the reports of what you were up to in your racing time.”

  “Hey, those stories are blown way out of proportion,” Gavit remarked.

  “Sure they are,” Lademine replied, rolling her eyes. “I should have these done soon, and I will seal them and get them off to you next cycle. How long does it take to reach you?”

  “Depending on the urgency and since it’s coming from Ferelias, probably a little over a decle.”

  “I can put a higher priority on it.”

  Matt thought about it for a moment. “No, it’s expensive enough as it is. The team can wait.”

  “Okay, I’ll see what I can do, but you’re still spending too much time with Gavit, I’ll bet,” she said as a loud thump echoed through the station behind her. “What was…” she managed before the screen cut out and the psi-comm service symbol appeared.

  Matt stabbed at the screen, trying to reestablish the connection.

  “We are sorry, sir,” an operator said as he materialized on the screen. “It appears that the signal has been lost at the source and we are unable to reestablish, please try again later.”

  “Damn,” Matt responded, leaning back in his seat. “A colony the size of Ferelias really needs a dedicated Psi-Comm station,” he moaned.

  “Wait, are you telling me Ferelias is still on that old Tach Comm setup?” Gavit asked.

  “We had a telapath there last annura, but he left. He never gave a good reason.”

  Gavit shook his head. “At least tell me that they’ve upgraded the jump buoy to transmit through the buoy network.”