Scott Sigler - The Rookie

The extra point team lined up.

Quentin found himself standing next to Donald Pine.

“Nice touchdown run, Q,” Pine said, grinning. “Ever notice how you play better when you’re mad?”

Quentin stared at Pine for a second, then it sank in. His face turned red with embarrassment. Even in the biggest game of the year, Pine, the master manipulator, had goaded him into a rage. It hadn’t been personal, it had been calculated. Quentin realized that when the rage hit, he’d forgotten all about his battered body and just played.

Quentin smiled as Pine tousled his hair. Together, they turned to watch the extra point.

Morningstar knocked it through.

Krakens 28, Earthlings 17.

“WELL, CHICK, I think you can say this one is pretty much over. The Earthlings’ backup quarterback, Dan Erlewine, just isn’t the same caliber as Case Johanson.”

“I think the Earthlings are about as done as a three-day-old dog turd, Masara.”

“Chick… we’ve only got a few minutes left, can’t you just try to knock it off?”

“Masara, you’re as uptight as an anal-retentive accountant.”

“You know what? I give up.”

“Hey, Masara, you can’t leave the booth, the game is still on!… well, um, folks, Chick McGee here, now on play-by-play. Dan Erlewine is in the shotgun, and he looks nervous. He’s got to come up with two touchdowns in less than forty seconds. He drops back, looking, looking, he’s going deep to Norfolk! The pass looks short, and Berea’s got it! Interception! That’s the ballgame, folks, the Earthlings are headed to the showers, and the Ionath Krakens are headed to Tier One!”

AN HOUR AFTER the game, every player remained crammed into the communal center room. Mitchell Fayed’s jersey had been taped up to the holoboard. Grass stains darkened the orange jersey, as did Quentin’s red blood and several streaks of Ki black. It hung there, a memorial to their fallen comrade, as if Fayed watched over them, participating in their celebration.

Pine walked up to Quentin. They hugged like long-lost brothers. Quentin didn’t feel any pain this time — with the game over, Doc had injected several brands of rather efficient pain killers.

“You did it, old man!”

“No, you did it, Q!” Pine said, his blazing genuine smile as different from his arrogant grin as night was from day. “You’re a quarterback , and you rushed for 64 yards and caught for another 82. You’re the hero of the game.”

“An MVP performance, eh?”

Pine laughed and shook his head. “Sorry, the MVP goes to Mum-O-Killowe — three sacks and the fumble-recovery for a TD.”

Quentin shrugged and laughed. He’d get his playoff MVP someday. Mum-O-Killowe had savaged the Earthlings offensive line and sealed the game with the fumble return for a TD. He deserved it as much as anyone else.

“Well he earned it,” Quentin said.

“Brother, we all earned it.”

“Looks like we’re in another QB controversy, Tier One season is only a month away!” Quentin said it jokingly, but Pine’s smile faded.

“Hey,” Quentin said. “Did I say something wrong?”

Pine shook his head. “No. And there isn’t a QB controversy, anymore. You’re the guy.”

Quentin stared at the veteran. “Don, you just put the team back into Tier One. I’m not going to go down without a fight, but you finally did it.”

Pine shook his head again. “No. I had my chances, and I pissed them away. I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for you. This team won because of you , Quentin, because of your leadership. I used to have that ability, but not anymore, not like you have it. Look around you — any one of these beings would follow you straight into hell. And believe me, Q, that’s what Tier One is — hell on a football field. They’ll follow you. I’ll follow you.”

The words stunned Quentin. Donald Pine, two-time Galaxy Bowl champ, one-time League MVP, was going to be his backup. Permanently. Quentin Barnes, dirt-faced orphan from a backwater planet in a backwater system, would lead the Ionath Krakens into Tier One.

“Don’t stand there with your jaw open,” Pine said. “I swear, you Purist Nation guys never shut your mouth. Now go congratulate your teammates.”

Quentin moved from player to player, thanking them, congratulating them, celebrating with them. It struck him as he danced with Sklorno, hugged Humans, clacked his armor off the chest of Ki and butted heads with Quyth Warriors (the most annoying of all the various races’ celebratory habits), he no longer thought of them as aliens. They were Krakens , pure and simple. They were his teammates, his fellow warriors. He’d been through hell and back with them, fought together on the field and off, killed and been killed, all in the name of winning.

Winning together.

Winning as a team.

He could never go back to the Purist Nation.

He reveled in the joy of accomplishing his second-highest goal. His ultimate goal? Winning a Tier One championship.

He was on a collision course with that now, on a collision course with a Tier One Championship. The only variable was time…

From the Ionath City Gazette

Hometown Hero Leads Krakens to Championship

By Toyat the Inquisitive

EARTH — Last night the Planetary Union shook in fear under the weight of the Quyth Concordia’s newest and best home-grown secret weapon: Yitzhak Goldman.

Goldman, a Human native of Ionath City, led the Krakens to a 24–19 win in the Tier Two Championship game, played at Hudson Bay Stadium on Earth. Goldman, who was named the game’s MVP, threw for two touchdown passes on the day, one to Milford, and the second to Richfield. Goldman, who has been third on the depth chart for most of the season, was tapped to lead the team in this critical championship match-up.

“We had two injured quarterbacks, and Goldman stepped up,” said Krakens’ head coach Hokor the Hookchest. “Our semifinal game left us with a lot of beat-up players. With the Tier One season only a few weeks away, we needed to rest some beings.”

Another key performer was Krakens running back Yassoud Murphy, who posted the first 100-yard game of his young Upper Tier career. Murphy picked up most of the yardage on a stunning 44-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter, a play that gave the Krakens a commanding 24–12 lead.

“The offensive line opened up a huge hole, and I ran through it,” Murphy said. “I’m buying those guys a beer. In fact, I’m buying them a lot of beers. Hey, you want a beer? I’m buying.”

Murphy’s jubilance was echoed in the Krakens’ locker room, where quarterbacks Donald Pine and Quentin Barnes drenched Goldman in the football tradition of a “Champagne shower.”

The Krakens move into Tier One for the first time in ten seasons. They don’t have much time to rest, however, as the Tier One season begins in only four weeks with a visit to the Isis Ice Storm of the Tower Republic.