trimmed. As he walked, the little robots cleared out of his way, then scooted back to their places after he passed.
It was the same ship where he’d spent the last three months, but it felt different. He wasn’t the bush-league upstart anymore. He was the starting quarterback of a Tier One football team. He knew this ship now, knew the eighteen decks that rose up beyond the end zones. Well, no, actually that wasn’t true. He knew very little of the ship — pretty much just his quarters, the cafeteria, the Kriegs-Ballok Virtual Practice System and this field. Huh. He’d been so busy doing his job, fighting for this opportunity, that he’d barely explored the ship. Maybe he’d correct that sometime soon. He’d heard rumors that Captain Cheevers was pretty hot. Maybe he’d introduce himself.
At the eighteenth deck, a clear, shallow dome crossed high above the field. Beyond that dome, black space and twinkling stars. So many stars. People said there were something like 400 billion in the Milky Way Galaxy alone. Only a fraction had been explored so far, little more than a half billion or something like that. He didn’t pay much attention to such things, but he’d heard it would take thousands of years just to see all the stars in this galaxy alone... just one galaxy out of 500 billion known galaxies. At best, only a fraction of the Milky Way’s stars would be explored during his lifetime.
Quentin jogged to the middle of the field, where Don Pine and four Human players were waiting by a rack of footballs. Hokor, as always, floated about ten feet above the field in his stupid golf cart. Three of the new Humans were dressed in armor and white practice jerseys. One wore street clothes. Don gave Quentin a smile and a wink, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback’s way of saying it’s your show, but I’m here if you need me .
Hokor looked so idiotic in his golf cart. The thing was built for a Quyth Leader’s small stature, like a child’s toy driven by an angry, one-eyed stuffed animal wearing a Krakens wind-breaker and baseball cap. The visual was a bit comical, but the audio was not — Hokor’s cart had powerful speakers, and when he yelled through them every player winced.
“ Barnes! ” Hokor said. “We picked up a free-agent running back to play behind Yassoud, but we need to see if any of these tight ends can replace Saulsgiver.”
“Okay, Coach. What do you want me to do?”
Hokor waved to the four new Humans, calling them over. Of the three wearing football gear, only one had a helmet on. The man dressed in street clothes shook Quentin’s hand.
“Jay Martinez,” he said. “Free agent running back, happy to be here.”
The man looked agile, but somewhat small. He wasn’t even as big as Yassoud, whom Quentin considered a bit undersized for the position. No one, it seemed, measured up to Mitchell Fayed.
“Jay, I’m Quentin Barnes. Not dressing today?”
Jay tapped his left knee. “Still healing up from an injury I got in the last week of Tier Two. I played for the Damascus Demons in the Union Conference.”
Quentin couldn’t remember the Demons’ record. Damascus was a middle-of-the-pack franchise in the Planetary Union Conference. Martinez didn’t seem like a major acquisition. The Krakens had also signed rookie running back Dan Campbell, but with both Fayed and Pierson gone, Yassoud needed at least one more backup.
“Welcome,” Quentin said, then turned to the first of three men dressed in gear. His skin was the bright white of a Tower native. Not quite as big as Quentin, but young and solid.
“Pietor Jewell,” the man said, shaking Quentin’s hand. “I’m still under contract with the Aril Archers in the Ki League, but they’ll loan me for the season if you guys want me.”
Jewell was a name that Quentin did know. The Archers had entered the T2 Tourney, losing in the first round to the Texas Earthlings. Jewell might not be a super-star, but he was a quality tight end.
“Happy to see
It was the same ship where he’d spent the last three months, but it felt different. He wasn’t the bush-league upstart anymore. He was the starting quarterback of a Tier One football team. He knew this ship now, knew the eighteen decks that rose up beyond the end zones. Well, no, actually that wasn’t true. He knew very little of the ship — pretty much just his quarters, the cafeteria, the Kriegs-Ballok Virtual Practice System and this field. Huh. He’d been so busy doing his job, fighting for this opportunity, that he’d barely explored the ship. Maybe he’d correct that sometime soon. He’d heard rumors that Captain Cheevers was pretty hot. Maybe he’d introduce himself.
At the eighteenth deck, a clear, shallow dome crossed high above the field. Beyond that dome, black space and twinkling stars. So many stars. People said there were something like 400 billion in the Milky Way Galaxy alone. Only a fraction had been explored so far, little more than a half billion or something like that. He didn’t pay much attention to such things, but he’d heard it would take thousands of years just to see all the stars in this galaxy alone... just one galaxy out of 500 billion known galaxies. At best, only a fraction of the Milky Way’s stars would be explored during his lifetime.
Quentin jogged to the middle of the field, where Don Pine and four Human players were waiting by a rack of footballs. Hokor, as always, floated about ten feet above the field in his stupid golf cart. Three of the new Humans were dressed in armor and white practice jerseys. One wore street clothes. Don gave Quentin a smile and a wink, the Hall-of-Fame quarterback’s way of saying it’s your show, but I’m here if you need me .
Hokor looked so idiotic in his golf cart. The thing was built for a Quyth Leader’s small stature, like a child’s toy driven by an angry, one-eyed stuffed animal wearing a Krakens wind-breaker and baseball cap. The visual was a bit comical, but the audio was not — Hokor’s cart had powerful speakers, and when he yelled through them every player winced.
“ Barnes! ” Hokor said. “We picked up a free-agent running back to play behind Yassoud, but we need to see if any of these tight ends can replace Saulsgiver.”
“Okay, Coach. What do you want me to do?”
Hokor waved to the four new Humans, calling them over. Of the three wearing football gear, only one had a helmet on. The man dressed in street clothes shook Quentin’s hand.
“Jay Martinez,” he said. “Free agent running back, happy to be here.”
The man looked agile, but somewhat small. He wasn’t even as big as Yassoud, whom Quentin considered a bit undersized for the position. No one, it seemed, measured up to Mitchell Fayed.
“Jay, I’m Quentin Barnes. Not dressing today?”
Jay tapped his left knee. “Still healing up from an injury I got in the last week of Tier Two. I played for the Damascus Demons in the Union Conference.”
Quentin couldn’t remember the Demons’ record. Damascus was a middle-of-the-pack franchise in the Planetary Union Conference. Martinez didn’t seem like a major acquisition. The Krakens had also signed rookie running back Dan Campbell, but with both Fayed and Pierson gone, Yassoud needed at least one more backup.
“Welcome,” Quentin said, then turned to the first of three men dressed in gear. His skin was the bright white of a Tower native. Not quite as big as Quentin, but young and solid.
“Pietor Jewell,” the man said, shaking Quentin’s hand. “I’m still under contract with the Aril Archers in the Ki League, but they’ll loan me for the season if you guys want me.”
Jewell was a name that Quentin did know. The Archers had entered the T2 Tourney, losing in the first round to the Texas Earthlings. Jewell might not be a super-star, but he was a quality tight end.
“Happy to see
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