Fixer 13

by G. Michael Smith

  Chapter 23: GB Scouts

  GravBall scouts were anomalies in society. They were not really fixers in the true sense of the word. They did not do anything that was a direct benefit to society. The world could live without them. They could be retired players but, just as often, they were not. They could be scientists. They could even be politicians but that was really rare. The politicians almost always owned the teams and were rich enough to hire the best scouts. All scouts were GravBall experts. They knew everything there was to know about the game. They did, however, like to keep their identities as secret as possible. The worst thing that could happen to a scout was to become a celebrity.

  Home Grown Panic (HGP) was the name of Jayne’s team. They practiced three evenings a week. The day consisted of school, gathering in the cafeteria, practice discussion, practice, and finally back to the cafeteria for food. They played a league game once a week. They won six of the dozen games they played. Many of the losses were a direct result of the team members’ school schedules conflicting with the game schedule.

  There was no doubt that HGP were a good team when everyone was available to play. The team members were from a lot of different courses. The games were scheduled to accommodate the most students. If your team had students in Biome 3 Studies, which was the course without a set schedule, you were often missing players for the games. This week, however, was game 13 and everyone was available to play. This was the first game ever that Home Grown Panic had all their players at the game. They were playing The Crimson Stompers for the second time. They lost the first game against the Stompers. Jayne had not been able to play. She had classes scheduled. In fact, Jayne had only been able to play 4 out of the 12 games. None of this really mattered. League play was really about preparation for the big tournament. Everyone would be able to have a full roster for the tournament because it was scheduled after classes ended.

  Jayne did not want to answer any questions about her new Sergio Partelli so she decided to keep it a secret. She would pretend it was just like any other suit in the team’s suit locker. After putting it on, she ordered it to look like a HGP suit. The suit assumed the yellow and red pattern. Jayne looked at herself and noted the shiny newness that would give away the fact that this suit had not come from the HGP suit locker. She commanded the suit to alter the perceived quality, “Suit – make the uniform look shabbier and more worn.”

  The Sergio Partelli instantly appeared less bright, with worn areas at the elbows and knees. Jayne looked at herself again. The suit, although shabbier, still fit her perfectly. It was obvious that it was tailored for her. None of the suits in the locker would have fit her perfectly. She was just too small.

  “Suit, make the fit less tailored.” Her VID beeped and she looked at the icon flashing in the middle of the screen. It was a message from the suit itself, warning her that what she asked would decrease the safety factor by 5% of the original specs. An override icon was imbedded and Jayne touched it in the affirmative. The Sergio Partelli now looked like any other HGP suit. It was a little baggier and a little too long. Jayne rolled up the legs and the sleeves. She smiled. This suit was still a million times safer than any of the standard GB suits used in the student league. She could only get hurt if she overrode basic safety protocols.

  She left her quarters and took the PUT pad to the gym GravBall tube. She was the last to arrive and she smiled at her team sitting in the tube dugout. Everyone was here.

  Sara stood. “I think we should play the standard eight to start. The Crappy Stoopids always start with six and try to get a quick jump on the score. They will only be able to cover three of the four ball ports ‘cause they need a potential ball carrier behind each port. I guess they feel lucky. If the ball pops out of the port that they are not covering, we will have a free line to the goal.”

  “Let’s see,” said Jayne. “If we score, we will get 6/8 x 10. That’s 7.5 points. They will score 8/6 x 10 or 13.3 points. Is it worth the six points or should we play six players too?”

  “We can send a knocker straight to the goal to stop them from scoring,” piped up Josie.

  “Yeah,” responded Olive. “I can stop anyone of them from scoring if I can get to the goal first.”

  “The problem with that is, we will only be able to cover three of the ports just as if we had six players. Too much defense means not enough offense,” said Jayne. “I think we should play six if that is what they are playing. I prefer to match skill instead of strategy.”

  Spike piped in, “In case you all forgot, the number of players that are played in the half is kept a secret until the game actually starts. I think we shouldn’t try to second guess them. We should play with the number that best suits our style.”

  “We have never had a full contingent of players before. If we play six, we can always have fresh players on the pitch. We can replace whole lines anytime we want and still have a spare to replace anyone who gets hurt. This also gives us a real advantage in the scoring department if they play more than six,” Jayne responded forcefully.

  “But we have never played less than eight,” said Pinky in a worried tone.

  “No, we haven’t,” said Sara. “They will never think we will change how we play because we never have. I think it is about time we did something a little different. Something unusual. I am the captain. It is my call and I say we go with six. We will have two knocker lines of three and two seeker lines of three and one spare. Each of the seeker lines has a potential ball carrier. So on one seeker line we will have Olive, Izzy and Ispy; and on the other, we have Spike, Thirteen and myself. Josie, you and Cannon Ball divide up the rest into two knocker lines. Pinky, I want you to be the spare. You can play any position and if someone gets hurt you will be able to fill in perfectly. Any questions?”

  No one said anything. The lines were formed and the official starting numbers were sent in to the officials. These numbers could not be changed until the second half. The announcement of players was made. The Crimson Stompers had chosen to start with eight players. Jayne could see a lot of commotion on their bench as the numbers were announced. They were surprised by HGP’s choice. They were madly discussing strategy but there was not enough time. Olive’s seeker line and Cannon Ball’s knocker line hit the pitch and took up positions. They chose to cover all four ball ports with only two seekers back. Ispy would be the ball carrier if his port popped the ball. If not, he would quickly drop back to his seeker role. The Crimson Stompers’ strategy was typical of a big team. Not big in numbers, but big in player size. They sent two knockers to each ball port with no one back. Their plan was to get and keep the ball from the get-go by overpowering the single opponent player at each ball port.

  When the ball popped from one of the four ports along the center line of the curved floor, each team tried to gain possession. The grav lines became active when a player had clear possession of the ball. The ball popped anywhere from three to five metres in the air. The ball could be retrieved only as it fell to ground. It became a bit of a scramble to get the ball as it fell. If a ground melee ensued, the referee would stop play. The players took a step back and the floor below the ball would switch to negative gravity. The ball popped up again and a new scramble began.

  Once the ball was clearly possessed by one player, all the grav lines became active. The ball was passed back to a ball carrier who moved the ball down a grav line. The seekers would spread out and signal to the BC which path to the goal was the best. The knockers protected the BC from the opponent knockers.

  The ball popped in front of Izzy and two Stompers. They all watched as the ball reached its apex and began to fall. No player contact was allowed until the ball was within reach. All three players jumped as soon as it was possible to possess the ball. They all hit the ground in a tangle of Panic yellow and Stomper red. A red Stomper uniform rose from the floor in clear possession of the ball. A horn sounded and the tube began to hum as the gravity lines were activated. The ball was passed back to a BC on a grav line. The
Stomper players chose a grav line to run. The stocky blonde girl, whose name was Bridget (she was also called TwoB or BB or Big B or just plain old B), was moving slowly down a high grav line. A knocker could stop her by knocking her off the line from the front or the rear. Side hits were illegal and would result in a penalty. Knocking a strong player moving down a high grav line was not easy. You had to build up speed to do any good. If you took the time to build speed, the BC would cross to a low grav line and run past you. If you just jumped in front of the player, they would, likely as not, simply run over you without stopping. A high grav attack needed the rotating goal to be at its lowest point to score because jumping was impossible. If the goal was high, you would have to pass back to a new BC and try another line.

  TwoB’s timing was perfect. The goal was waning just as she was about to reach the end of the high grav line. A Panic knocker stepped in front of TwoB as a last resort and was bounced like a bowling pin. TwoB simply walked up to the wall as the goal reached its lowest point and slammed the ball home. The red light came on, signaling a score, and 7.5 points came up on the scoreboard.

  There were two viewing areas high up on either the side of the gym GravBall tube. They were designated for executive use. HUB team owners and their scouts used these to watch the HUB games. You couldn’t really see who was watching but someone was always keeping tabs on possible recruitment of student players. Today’s game was no different. Someone was watching. They watched as the ball popped right in front of Josie. She was opposite TwoB and Hank Zoon, also known as Jumper. He was very tall and would probably get the ball just by standing under it. TwoB was not taking any chances. She moved to block any potential jumps from Josie by raising her arms up in front of Josie’s face. Jumper caught the falling ball and quickly flipped it backwards over his head to be caught before the grav lines started. A red uniform caught the ball and flipped it back to a Crimson seeker, signaling a low grav line. The seeker caught the ball, became the BC and began to run down the straight low grav line. The BC was small for a GravBall player, but not as small as Jayne. Jayne glanced back and saw that the goal was reaching its apex. It would be hard to stop the Stomper BC running full speed down a low grav line unless one of the Panic knockers could get to her. Josie was coming down the same line and was trying to catch the BC. Jayne watched Josie running, hands extended, about to make contact with the Crimson Stomper BC and knock her off the line. If she succeeded, the BC would have to pass back to one of her teammates and start the attack again. This would give HGP an opportunity to regroup and mount a defense.

  Jayne looked at the goal. It reached the top and was coming down on her side of the tube. She turned and ran down another low grav line towards her own goal. Somehow she knew this was the way to stop another goal. She jumped. Josie jumped. The Crimson Stomper BC jumped. Josie missed and the BC sailed up in the low gravity towards the goal. Jayne sailed up and reached to block the ball as it sailed from the BC’s hand towards the funnel. Just as Jayne began to fall, the ball landed in her hand and she cupped it and pulled it into the low grav line. The weight of the ball was nearly zero in her hand. In one quick motion she pointed with one hand and tossed the ball down the line with the other. Sara started to run in normal gravity, leapt into the same grav line, caught the ball and hopped, skipped, jumped and slammed the ball into the opponent’s goal.

  The force of the throw pushed Jayne out of the relative safety of the low gravity line and into normal space and normal gravity. Low gravity would have allowed her to drop down to a relatively soft landing but normal space meant normal gravity. She was nearly 10 metres up, falling backwards at an angle, at an acceleration rate of 9.8 metres per second squared. She would hit hard if it were not for her suit. As you started to fall, a standard GravBall suit would immediately signal the system to initiate negative gravity and stop you from smashing full speed into the ground and breaking a lot of important body parts. Putting yourself in a dangerous position, requiring your suit to save you, would result in a severe penalty. It would definitely negate Sara’s goal. It might even get Jayne kicked out of the game. But her suit was a Sergio Partelli—the best GravBall suit ever made.

  Her luck was off the chart. Jayne’s suit was made for the pros. It would only turn on protection a tenth of a second before it was actually needed. It made for some exciting and heart-stopping falls. The fans loved it and no one actually got hurt. Jayne was also lucky—very, very lucky. As she fell, she angled across the pitch and entered another grav line two metres from the ground. Her shoulders entered a gravity pulsar line at its negative gravity maximum. It was like falling into a huge cushion. Her lower half was still falling down as her upper half began to rise up. The angle of her descent resulted in her falling quickly and then being eased onto her feet in the last few metres. She simply stood up in normal space and the gravity pulse zipped past. The suit did not activate because the danger was gone before it was required to activate and, as a result, no penalty was incurred.

  All gravity returned to normal and Sara came running down the tube towards Jayne. She was screaming with joy. “That was brilliant. If you hadn’t pointed down the line, I would never have figured out what you wanted me to do before it was too late.”

  Sara had not seen Jayne fall and magically stop falling. She was babbling, “Your timing on the block was perfect. The throw was not only accurate it was very cool.” She grabbed Jayne and began to spin her around by her hands.

  “I’m glad you saw my signal. That was a great jump you made. Now put me down,” said Jayne.

  “Believe me, it was only made possible by that stupendous play you made in mid-air,” retorted Sara, as she set Jayne down.

  Spike ran up to them both. His face was not happy. He did not see the goal but he saw the aerial acrobatics that took place just after. He had seen Jayne take a big risk and survive.

  He yelled, “What the hell was that? That line you were running in was almost zero grav. The sideways force of your throw threw you right out of it. You could have cost us the game if your suit had gone off.”

  “Well, it didn’t,” said Jayne, pointing up at the scoreboard. All suits were registered with the board before the game. If a suit’s safety functions were initiated, it was displayed for all to see.

  “From what I saw, it should have gone off. I am going to send it in to get checked out,” retorted Spike.

  “The suit is fine. The board tested it before the match and it passed all the required safety protocols,” said Jayne.

  “You were lucky then,” said Spike.

  “Yeah, I know,” replied Jayne. “Now, let’s play.”

  After that, the HGP devised a new strategy on the front line. When the ball popped, the two adjacent front line players moved across to cover, making it three on two. This evened up the primary possession numbers. At the half, the score was 22.5 to 26.6 in favor of Home Grown Panic.

  Near three quarter time, Jayne was knocked hard by TwoB when she jumped for a popped ball. She sat out the rest of the game. Jayne didn’t mind. They were winning. The second half was very defensive, resulting in a final score of 30 to 39.9 in favor of Home Grown Panic.

  The cheer and the handshakes were casual except for the sarcastic comment by TwoB, “Oh, I hope you are alright,” followed by an expression that made Jayne want to punch her in the face. Instead Jayne grinned and air-kissed her. TwoB’s expression became so malicious that she started to turn around and follow Jayne as she passed. Her intentions were inscribed on her face. Jumper, who was behind her, noticed and spun her back around and shoved her forward towards the locker room.

  The team got changed and agreed to meet on the viewing bleachers. Jayne was a quick changer and headed out first. She wore a braid down her back so her hair seldom needed attention. Spike would take the longest. He would have to get that silly horse-tail sticking perfectly straight up before he would come out in public.

  Jayne dropped her knapsack with the Sergio Partelli tucked safely inside, sat and wai
ted for the rest of her team. She looked up and saw a group of men exit the elevator that serviced the executive viewing areas. Three men moved in her direction. Two were more aggressive than the third, who held back. Jayne recognized the third man, who stopped at the end of the bleachers. She sucked in her breath and sat up straight. The other two men sat on either side of her. Jayne glanced back and forth at the two. They were identical twins. The one on her right held out his VID, inviting her to ‘butt’ VIDs. This would transfer his info to her VID. It was like offering a business card a century before. If you held out your VID, you would accept the information transfer.

  He said, “Nice play in the first half. I still don’t understand why your suit didn’t go off or, because it didn’t, why you are still walking around and not a red smudge on the tube floor.” He held his VID still and looked at it.

  Jayne looked at him. It was protocol to quickly get your VID and accept the offered ‘butt’. However, if you did not want to accept it, and did not offer your VID, then the offer must be withdrawn.

  Jayne continued to look at the man.

  The man did not withdraw his VID. “You’re going to want this,” he said and he gestured with his VID.

  “Who are you?” asked Jayne.

  The man on her left spoke. “We are scouts for HUB general.”

  The man on her right continued, “We are subcontracting for Syncopatus Inc. and we would like to talk to you about an offer.”

  The man on her left spoke again. “You do know Syncopatus, the drug company.”

  The man on the right jumped in, “They have a whole stable of teams leading right up to the Pro league.”

  “The Syncopated Warriors are at the top of the central conference right now,” said the other.

  “Yeah. Odds on winners of the Biome Cup,” the other continued.

  “Yeah! Big money is on the Warriors to win,” he finished.

  The man on the left continued, “You won’t want to refuse.” The two men continued talking as if they were one person; back and forth, finishing each other’s sentences.

  After a few minutes, Jayne said, “I really don’t want to think about playing GravBall beyond what I am already doing. I just don’t have the time. I am studying for the Biome 3 tech final.”

  “We know. We will want you later and we want you to accept this VID butt to ensure that you talk to us before you talk to anyone else,” said the man on the right.

  “Yeah, before you accept another offer you must talk to us. We can top just about anything,” said the other.

  “Yeah,” his partner said and he gestured again with his VID.

  Jayne took out her VID and touched it against the offered VID. It was more an act to make them go away than to get their information. Both VIDs beeped and the data was transferred.

  “Thank you, young lady. We will be seeing you soon. Loved your moves in the tube,” said one.

  “Yeah, loved your moves,” said the other and they left her sitting.

  A few minutes later she saw Sara coming towards her with Josie and Olive in tow. Sara spoke first. “Where is Spike?”

  “Probably still fixing his hair,” retorted Olive.

  “That boy spends more time fixing that spike in the middle of his head than any girl I know spends on her hair,” Josie giggled.

  Jayne smiled and looked past them for the third man but he was no longer there. She recognized the third man as the doctor that gave her the connectome scan. It was Professor Greenway. What was he doing watching a student GravBall game?

  She blinked and thought, “Perhaps he wasn’t watching the game. Perhaps he was watching me. But why?”