Scott Sigler - The Rookie

He had walked only a few short minutes when the environment changed. The buildings looked the same, but the glowing signs showed alien words. Strange music flowing from open doors. If you could call it music — some horrible screeching sound with rhythm. Quentin looked around him, realizing he’d walked right through the Human District and into the Sklorno Cultural Area. Tall Sklorno females wrapped in heavy clothing walked about. Sklorno males abounded, but here the tiny creatures moved in an orderly, calm fashion, nothing like the bouncing madness he’d seen at the game.

He also realized he’d drawn a crowd. Looking about, he saw he was surrounded by Sklorno females. They kept their distance, a good fifteen feet, but ringed him nonetheless.

“Well, well, well, look who’s out on the town!”

Quentin cringed when he heard the deep Human voice — John Tweedy. He turned to see Tweedy and Yassoud standing there. Perhaps leaning was a better description. Both men held magnicans of beer, and both looked like they’d been drinking for hours. They were both stylishly dressed, although the clothes looked a bit worse for the wear, as if they’d both fallen down several times during the night. Tweedy also wore a bandoleer filled with magnicans. TAKE ONE DOWN PASS IT AROUND scrolled across Tweedy’s forehead.

“Hey, Q,” Yassoud said.

“Hey,” Quentin said, staring at Tweedy, bracing himself for some kind of conflict.

“So what’s a racist waste of skin like you doin’ in the Sklorno District?” Tweedy said, his words slurring slightly.

Quentin started to answer, but Yassoud cut him off. “Aw, leave him alone, Johnny. He’s here, ain’t he?”

Tweedy seemed to seriously consider this for almost five seconds, as if it were an advanced trigonometry problem. “Uh… yeah,” he finally said with a definitive nod of the head.

Yassoud laughed. “I’m finding our world-class linebacker ain’t too sharp after you get a few in him.”

Tweedy reached into his bandolier and pulled out a magnican. “Hey, Q, you want a beer?”

It was the last thing he’d expected to hear from John Tweedy. “Sure,” Quentin said, and took the offered can. He twisted the top, feeling the can grow instantly cold in his hand. He took a long drink — the amazing taste exploded in his mouth. He looked at the can: Miller Lager.

“Where the hell did you get this?”

Tweedy’s face furrowed in confusion. “From a beer store.”

“Yeah, but, I mean, how much did this cost ?”

Yassoud laughed. “Five credits for a ten-pack.”

“Five credits? You’re joking.”

Yassoud and Tweedy looked at each other, then at Quentin, and both laughed.

“Okay, fine, so it’s cheap beer,” Yassoud said. “Go to the store and get what you want.”

“No no, it’s great!” Quentin took another long pull, draining the can. “I don’t know how you got it for that price. Is there any left at that store?”

Yassoud laughed and shook his head. “Are you kidding me? There’s a whole wall of it.”

They had to be joking, of course. Miller Lager was ten credits a can back home.

Tweedy and Yassoud started to walk towards a door. Quentin didn’t know what the building was until he saw the glowing holosign: some logo he didn’t recognize, with words he couldn’t read, but in the middle of it was the familiar outline of a football — a sports bar. Tweedy and Yassoud made it as far as the wall before they fell down in a heap. Yassoud attempted to rise, while Tweedy didn’t move.

Quentin sighed. All of the sudden he was the sober one, and knew he had to get his teammates home. He signaled a grav-cab and helped Yassoud stumble in. Then he struggled to lift Tweedy’s 310-plus pounds, breaking a sweat before he rolled the big, muscular man onto the cab’s floor. The vehicle was built to carry all types of sentients, including Ki, which meant there was still plenty of room.

“The Krakens’ Building,” Quentin said. The grav-cab slid noiselessly down the track.

Opening week of the Quyth Irradiated schedule held few surprises. The Glory Warpigs(1–0) topped the Grontak Hydras(0–1) thanks to a pair of interceptions by the Warpigs’ All-Pro corner-back Toyonaka.

Last year’s rookie sensation Condor Adrienne showed why he’s the hope of the Whitok Pioneers(1–0), throwing for 334 yards and three touchdowns in a 42–10 blowout win over the Quyth Survivors(0–1).

Donald Pine, quarterback of the Ionath Krakens(1–0), showed no signs of his age, throwing three TD passes in a 31-7 win over the Woo Wallcrawlers(0–1).

The Sheb Stalkers(0–1) couldn’t manage any answer to “The Mad” Ju Tweedy, who ran for 212 yards to lead the Orbiting Death(1–0) to a 32-7 win. Ju notched three rushing touchdowns, and knocked two Stalkers defenders out for the season.

The Bigg Diggers(1–0) edged out a 21–16 win over the Sky Demolition(0–1).

DEATHS:

Princeton,a kick returner for the Bigg Diggers,was killed on a tackle by Yalla the Biter. League officials ruled that it was a clean hit.

Offense: Condor Adrienne,quarterback, Whitok Pioneers. 31-of-42, 334 yards, three TDs, no INTs.

Defense: Arkham,cornerback, Bigg Diggers. Six tackles, one sack, two interceptions, five passes defended.

GAME TWO: Grontak Hydras (0–1) at the Ionath Krakens (1–0)

QUYTH IRRADIATED CONFERENCE STANDINGS

THE HYDRAS WERE 0–1, but drastically better than the Woo Wallcrawlers. The Hydras wore white jerseys with bright red numbers and yellow trim. The jerseys looked normal, but their leg armor was painted a bizarre red-and-yellow checkerboard pattern. Red facemasks adorned pure red helmets free of any logo.

Quentin watched from the sidelines, his black jersey and orange leg armor pristine and unblemished with dirt or sweat or blood or the blue streaks from the plants that made up the playing field.

Pine’s uniform, on the other hand, was far from clean. A cut on his left forearm had spilled blood all over his shoes and his orange leg armor. He’d been sacked three times. Iomatt-blue stains and dirt marks spotted his uniform. His black jersey had come half-untucked and he’d never bothered to fix it.

Pine had taken a beating. In addition to the three sacks, he’d been knocked down four times and hurried ten. His classic pocket-passing style ran into problems against the Hydras’ defense. The Hydras’ secondary played a lot of woman-to-woman, bump-and-run style, taking away Pine’s accurate short-passing game. That gave the defensive line more time to get to him, which had resulted in the pounding he’d taken thus far. Hokor countered with running plays to keep the defense on its toes. The woman-to-woman coverage also meant receivers were eventually going to get free — Pine had torched the secondary with two long TD passes, putting the Krakens up 23–17. Both TDs went to the right side of the field, to Scarborough. The Hydras’ star cornerback, Wichita, had shut down Hawick on the left side all day long.