THE ALL-PRO (32 page)

Authors: Scott Sigler

BOOK: THE ALL-PRO

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He reactively ducked when something hit his helmet, slapped against his shoulder pads, bounced off his back. He raised a forearm above his helmet to protect his eyes as ran for the sidelines. There, a clear, curved awning covered the Krakens bench. He ran under it, noticing that the awning looked makeshift, like someone had figured out how to put it up only hours before.

The sound of a wet rain slapped against the clear material. He saw wet things sliding down the other side, leaving streaks of slime in their wake. Rotten vegetables, pieces of spoiled meat, other things he didn’t recognize and didn’t really want to recognize.

Garbage.

The crowd had hurled
garbage
at him.

The other Krakens arrived around him. There was no joyous, unifying sideline huddle this time — they all sought shelter under the awning. He saw Michael Kimberlin, wiping bits of splatter from his arms.

“Michael, what the hell? Why are they throwing garbage at us?”

“At you, mostly,” he said. “You and Ju Tweedy. The rest of us are caught in the crossfire.”

“But why?”

Kimberlin gestured to the stands behind the awning, filled beyond capacity with white-and purple-clad supporters of the criminals. “Quentin,
think
— you were on the cover of Galaxy Sports Magazine for various transgressions against a sport these sentients
worship
. You’re a villain.”

“But ... but we didn’t have a problem against the Ice Storm.”

“That was a home game,” Kimberlin said. “The Ionath crowd will forgive you for anything. Road games, as you’ve just found, are going to be a different story. Krakens fans love you. The rest of the galaxy hates you to a significant degree.”

Quentin had felt like all was lost when he read that article. Then came the support of Gredok the Splithead, of his teammates. Then the huge opening-day win and the love of the home crowd. He’d thought the situation was mostly behind him, felt it would blow over. Now, however, he understood that he would only find favor on Ionath.

He looked for Don Pine, found him standing under the awning farther down the sideline. No garbage on him. Don caught Quentin’s stare, then looked down.

All of this hate — sentients throwing
garbage
— it was all Don Pine’s fault. The great Don Pine, who would not take responsibility for his actions.

Quentin could do nothing about Don at the moment. What he could do, however, was channel the rage he felt into his play on the field. So the Criminals’ fans thought he was garbage?

He’d show them. He’d show them right here and right now.

• • •

THE CRIMINALS WON THE TOSS
. Quentin had to wait to make his mark, but he didn’t wait long — Criminals quarterback Rick Renaud showed why he was the highest-paid player in the game, hitting four straight completions on his first drive. His fourth pass found tight end Andreas Kimming in the end zone for a 27-yard touchdown.

Criminals 7, Krakens 0.

• • •

ON THE KRAKENS’ FIRST DRIVE,
Quentin didn’t even get a chance to throw.

Yall’s best defensive players were Riha the Hammer and Forrest Dane Cauthorn — the middle linebackers in the Criminals’ 3-4 defense. Seasoned veterans in their prime, both had earned All-Pro honors a few years back. They were good. Hokor wanted to go after them head-on. If the Krakens could dominate those two, they could establish a steady running game that would chew up the clock and keep Rick Renaud off the field.

Ju Tweedy took the ball on a sweep to the left, led by Michael Kimberlin, who had pulled from the right side of center to block wide-left. Kimberlin took out Riha the Hammer — HeavyG versus Quyth Warrior — and Ju cut outside. It might have been a long run if Ju had put a move on Cauthorn, but instead Ju tried to overpower the linebacker in a Human-on-Human battle. Cauthorn put his helmet right on the ball — it popped free. Yall recovered.

Criminals’ ball on the Ionath 35-yard line.

The Krakens offense ran off the field. As soon as Ju got up, he sprinted to catch up with Quentin.

“Q! I didn’t mean that. I just lost it!”

“I know,” Quentin said as both players reached the sidelines.

“Seriously, Q! I’m sorry, I–”

Quentin grabbed Ju’s shoulder pad, gave it a single shake, cutting off the running back’s sentence.

“Ju, they threw
garbage
on us. Hold on to the ball.”

Ju’s expression shifted from one of worry to one of resolve. He nodded. Quentin slapped him on the shoulder, then turned to watch his defense.

• • •

IT TOOK RICK RENAUD
exactly one play to find fullback Tay “The Weazel” Nguyen at the 15-yard line. Tay had beaten John Tweedy on a little wheel pattern. The Weazel caught the pass in stride, turned up field and ran over Davenport on his way to a 35-yard touchdown pass.

Just two minutes and ten seconds into the first quarter, Renaud was 5-for-5 for 102 yards and two touchdowns. The Criminals were up 14-0.

If the defense didn’t get to Renaud, put pressure on him, smack him around a little bit, Quentin didn’t see how the Krakens could win the game.

• • •

ON IONATH’S SECOND DRIVE
, Ju didn’t fumble. No matter how badly Quentin wanted to throw the ball, wanted to match Renaud’s stellar performance, he stuck to the game plan. The Krakens kept it on the ground, pounding it up the middle behind the dominant blocking of Sho-Do-Thikit and Bud-O-Shwek. The Criminals seemed comfortable with their early lead, staying back to prevent big passes to Hawick and Milford. When Quentin did pass, they were quick-hits for 5 or 6 yards.

The Krakens’ second drive ate up over six minutes of clock, but stalled at the 11. On fourth down, Arioch Morningstar kicked a short field goal to put the Krakens on the board 14-3.

• • •

THE CRIMINALS ANSWERED
that field goal with one of their own, going up 17-3 early in the second quarter. Renaud’s receivers dropped two passes on the drive, preventing him from a perfect day. That was the only thing that could stop him, it seemed.

Down two touchdowns, Quentin started looking for deeper passes. Too late he realized he was forcing the ball, the fact hitting home only after he threw an interception.

The Krakens offense again ran off the field. The Criminals had the ball on the 50 with a chance to go up 24-3.

• • •

THAT CHANCE ENDED
on a linebacker blitz. John Tweedy and Mum-O-Killowe ran a stunt, criss-crossing their paths and
both
of them beat their blockers. John came in free and clear. Renaud stepped right at the last second to avoid being decapitated, but John managed to grab the quarterback’s jersey and hang on. Renaud tried to pull free, still looking downfield to get rid of the ball and he didn’t see Mum-O in time.

The Ki lineman compressed and smashed Renaud with a full extension. Renaud’s body bounced back like he’d been hit by a speeding hovertank. He didn’t get up. A hush fell over the home crowd as the medsled flew onto the field.

Quentin didn’t wish injury on any player, but he couldn’t help a slight, involuntary fist-pump when the sled extended thousands of silvery filaments to lift the prone Criminals quarterback.

Rick Renaud was out of the game and that meant the Krakens were back in it.

• • •

WITH RENAUD OUT
, the momentum shifted over to Ionath. Ju ran the ball again and again, he and the Krakens offensive line wearing down Riha the Hammer, Forrest Dane Cauthorn and the rest of the Criminals defense. The Krakens cut the lead to 7 when Ju rattled off a 15-yard touchdown run, then tied the game when he snagged another score from 5 yards out.

In the fourth quarter, Morningstar hit a 40-yard field goal. Quentin finished off the game with a 32-yard pass to George Starcher for the final touchdown.

The Krakens ran off the field to more garbage, but that nasty rain was easier to tolerate when accompanied by a 27-17 win, a 2-0 record and a first-place standing in the Planet Division.

GFL WEEK TWO ROUNDUP

Courtesy of Galaxy Sports Network

IN WHAT COULD BE
a changing of the guard, the Ionath Krakens moved to 2-0 with a 27-17 Monday Night Football win over the favored Yall Criminals (1-1). Yall quarterback Rick Renaud was unstoppable in the first quarter, but an injury in the second took him out of the game. With Renaud out, Ionath used a ball-control offense to dominate the game. Ju Tweedy ran for 156 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Krakens QB Quentin Barnes threw for another. Barnes finished 15-of-21 for 231 yards.

As impressive as Ju Tweedy’s performance was, it took a back-seat to Denver’s three-touchdown-catch performance for the Jupiter Jacks (2-0) in their 24-20 win over the Sala Intrigue (1-1). Denver caught eight passes for 115 yards to keep Jupiter tied for first in the Solar Division.

The Orbiting Death (2-0) remains tied for first in the Planet Division thanks to a 21-0 shutout of the Jang Atom Smashers (0-2). This is the first-ever 2-0 start by a newly promoted team.

The To Pirates (2-0) and the Wabash Wolfpack (2-0) also remain tied for first in the Planet Division, while wins by Neptune (2-0) and New Rodina (2-0) kept them tied with Jupiter for first in the Solar.

Deaths

Alimum Armada cornerback
Monsaraz
, who died on a clean block by Wabash Wolfpack fullback Ralph Schmeer.

Offensive Player of the Week

Jupiter Jacks receiver
Denver
, who caught touchdown passes of 55, 43 and 15 yards en route to a 115-yard receiving day.

Defensive Player of the Week

Ionath Krakens defensive tackle
Mum-O-Killowe
, who registered four tackles and three sacks, including one that put Yall quarterback Rick Renaud out of the game early in the second quarter.

13
WEEK THREE:
CORANADILLANA CLOUD KILLERS
at IONATH KRAKENS