Can any team stop Condor Adrienne? Maybe, but that team certainly isn’t the Ionath Krakens (1–2), who let Adrienne throw for 340 yards and three touchdowns on 22-of-32 passing. Adrienne’s Whitok Pioneers (3–0) torched the Ionath Krakens (1–2) for a 35–10 win.
So will Adrienne be stopped? If so, it might be this week when the Pioneers travel to the Glory Warpigs (3–0). The ‘Pigs remained tied for first thanks to a narrow 14–12 win over Orbiting Death (2–1). The Death couldn’t manage a touchdown against the Warpigs’ defense, which ranks first in all of Tier Two.
Finally a win on the home planet as the Quyth Survivors (1–2) defeated the Bigg Diggers (1–2), 29–24.
Sheb Stalkers (2–1) got back into the playoff hunt with a 1914 win over the Grontak Hydras (1–2), and the Woo Wallcrawlers (1–2) notched their first victory of the season with a 42-6 drubbing of the winless Sky Demolition (0–3).
DEATHS:
This week we mourn the passing of two players, Demolition defensive lineman Kok-O-Thalla and Bigg Diggers’ receiver Martinsville. Martinsville died on a clean hit by Survivor’s defensive back Topinabee, and Kok-O-Thalla died during a fumble pileup. The league has not ruled it a clean death, and is still investigating although no Wallcrawlers player has yet been fined.
Offense: Condor Adrienne, quarterback, Whitok Pioneers. 22-of-32, 340 yards, three TDs, no INTs.
Defense: Yalla the Biter, linebacker, Sky Demolition. Eleven tackles, two sacks and a fumble recovery.
GAME FOUR: Ionath Krakens (1–2) at Sky Demolition (0–3)
QUYTH IRRADIATED CONFERENCE STANDINGS
WITH THE TOUCHBACK hovering in orbit, the shuttle flew Quentin and the other rookies down to Ionath City. This time, however, when they got out, there were Quyth Workers and Quyth Leaders dressed in white uniforms. A red line glowed on the roof of the Krakens’ Building.
“Players line up on the red line,” said a blue-furred Quyth Leader.
Quentin lightly elbowed Yassoud. “What’s this all about?”
“It’s a customs check,” Yassoud said. “Quyth System Police. Don’t worry about it, league rules apply in the Concordia just like they do everywhere else in the galaxy. The customs guys can’t touch you, so whatever you’re carrying, they can’t do a thing.”
Quentin looked down the line and saw Shayat the Thick with his bulging backpack. He then looked at other players, and saw that several of them carried a bag of some sort. Yassoud held a small satchel — Quentin didn’t want to know what was inside.
They stood on the red line with the other rookies. The blue-furred Quyth Leader walked down the line, looking at each one of them in turn. Two white-uniformed workers slid a grav-cart into the shuttle.
“I am Kotop the Observer,” the leader said. “My team will be checking you each time you come back from out-system. I’m sure nobody here is smuggling anything, right?”
Yassoud started laughing, his curly beard jiggling in time.
“Yes, it is all so very funny,” Kotop said. Quentin stared at the little Leader — did he detect sarcasm in the alien’s voice?
Kotop said nothing else, just stared, his one eye a deep shade of black. The workers came out of the shuttle.
“No explosives, no weapons,” one of them said to Kotop.
“You may all go,” Kotop said. He sounded disgusted.
“WE’RE IN TROUBLE,” Hokor said quietly. Despite the fact that every Krakens player was crammed into the central meeting area, Hokor didn’t need volume to be heard. Nobody made a sound. There had been some joking and laughing and boasting as the players filtered out of their respective locker rooms and into the central area, but all of that faded when Hokor used his holopen to decorate the far wall with three large, glowing orange marks.
The marks were the number one, a dash, and the number two.
1-2.
“We’re a losing team,” Hokor said. “A losing team. How does that sound to you?”
No one answered.
“Tweedy, how does that sound to you?”
“Sounds like I’d rather eat a poop sandwich, Coach.”
“Right,” Hokor said. “So why did we allow the Pioneers to throw for 340 yards on us, when we only sacked Adrienne once?”
Tweedy said nothing.
“Berea,” Hokor said to the right corner back, who immediately began to tremble. “What number do you like more, 1-and-2, or 340 yards passing?”
Berea said nothing. Instead, she fell on the floor and lay flat, trembling like a damaged moth.
“And you, Barnes? How does it feel to be on your first losing team?”
“Humiliating, Coach,” Quentin said quietly.
“And you, Kill-O-Yowet?” Hokor’s voice rose in intensity. “I’ve got some numbers for you, too. Which do you like better, 1-and-2, or five sacks. Five sacks.”
Kill-O-Yowet said nothing.
“Do you realize that in one game, we went from allowing the fewest sacks in the conference to allowing the second most? Do you realize that you and your brethren on the offensive line are now the second worst unit in the Quyth Irradiated Conference?”
Kill-O-Yowet let out a low growl, but that was all.
Hokor hit a button, and the “1–2” vanished. He wrote three new symbols.
0-3.
“This is the record of Sky Demolition. They are the worst team in the conference. If they beat us, then, by default, we are the worst team in the conference. If you think you feel bad now, imagine how you will feel if lose to them.”
Hokor paused dramatically. A deathly silence filled the locker room.
He cleared the numbers again. Three names flashed up on the screen: Brady Entenabe, San Mateo, and Yalla the Biter. The holotank flashed two pictures: a tall, blonde-haired Human frozen in mid-throw, and a sprinting Sklorno. Both were dressed in the uniforms of the Sky Demolition: light purple leg armor, deep purple jersey with light purple numbers trimmed in white, and deep purple helmets with three white stripes down the center.
“Brady Entenabe is a second-year quarterback having a surprisingly good year, despite the Demolition’s record. In three games, he has seven touchdown passes and has run for two more. Four of those touchdown passes have gone to San Mateo. Entenabe has also given up five interceptions. He’s thrown for 812 yards, 260 of which have gone to San Mateo. We are going to stop that combination. There is no alternative.”
Hokor hit a button. The pictures faded away, replaced by a moderate-sized Quyth Warrior.
“Yalla the Biter is fast, perhaps the fastest linebacker in the conference. He is faster than John Tweedy. He is faster than Virak the Mean. He has four sacks on the season, along with two interceptions and seventeen tackles. He is the Demolition’s biggest defensive threat. He also has six unnecessary roughness penalties, three for late hits on the quarterback. Last week he was thrown out of the game for fighting. In Week One he killed Princeton, kick returner for Bigg Diggers, on a clean hit. Last week he severed the leg of the Wallcrawlers’ tight end, ending the Human’s career. If the offensive line plays as poorly this week as they did against the Pioneers, I suspect our quarterbacks will be sledded off the field.”