Book One of the Travelers by D.J. MacHale Page A

time for the break.
    The Blue Team headed for the break area. The crackling energy they’d all shared at the start of the game had evaporated. Even the zenzens seemed defeated.
    Coach Jorsa approached Kasha, a look of concern on her face. “Do I need to take you out?” she asked. “You seem to be hesitating. Do you have injuries from last week? You played very hard. It would be no dishonor.”
    â€œI’m fine,” Kasha said. How could she explain to the coach that she couldn’t see the game the same way anymore? She wanted to win, she wanted the team to be proud and victorious. But for some reason she just couldn’t do it at the expense of the gars.
    Boon slumped beside her. “Well, at least we got this close,” he said with a sad smile. “That’s better than nothing, I guess.”
    Kasha looked at her friend’s disappointed face and felt a flash of defiance. “Don’t count us out yet,” she told him.
    I will get this team to victory , Kasha vowed. For Boon. For them all.
    Now she just had to figure out a way to do it without putting any gars in danger.

E IGHT
    I t’s not over yet,” Coach Jorsa told the disheartened Blue Team. “If you go out there thinking you have already lost, then you definitely will. So if there’s anyone feeling that way, dismount and I’ll put someone else in!”
    All of the klees glanced at one another, wondering if anyone would take themselves out of the game.
    Kasha stared down at her zenzen, not wanting to catch anyone’s eyes. Can I really do this ? she asked herself. Could she avoid using the gars? Or would that guarantee that the team would lose? That wouldn’t be fair either.
    She just couldn’t bring herself to abandon the game. She’d come so far—and she knew she was one of the strongest players.
    But was she strong enough to score without gars?
    She was determined to try.
    â€œAll right then!” Coach Jorsa declared. “If you’re staying in, then you’re committed to win!”
    The Blue Team klees let out a group roar and chargedback out onto the field, fired up and ready to play. Gars from both teams scattered across the turf, ready to move quickly.
    Kasha took a breath. She’d given herself an impossible task. Simply being on the field put gars at risk. Everywhere she looked there were dangers: fast-moving zenzens and determined klees wielding powerful scoops.
    Yet if she avoided the ball, she’d lose the game. Maybe she should just play guard? Keep the klees from scoring?
    â€œKasha. Face-off!” Coach Jorsa shouted.
    There went the “guard only” plan.
    Kasha trotted to the center of the field. This time her opponent was a large black-and-white-spotted klee. Gars surrounded them, ready to follow klee orders to catch or steal the ball.
    This is stupid , she thought. Just play the way you always play. With or without gars, go for the goal.
    The game master tossed the ball into play, and Kasha lunged for it. The ball landed neatly in her net and the game was on.
    Kasha kicked her zenzen and took off. She swerved to avoid the gars surrounding her, trying to block and distract her. Who was open? She scanned the field. There weren’t any gars around Boon. She hurled the ball in his direction.
    The ball whizzed by him, as Kasha watched in dismay. How could he have missed the pass? Then she realized—the reason he’d been open was that he wasn’t in a good position, so he hadn’t been expecting the ball.
    Red Team and Blue Team gars raced over and flung themselves onto the ball. Kasha winced. The pileups were another way gars were injured—just the kind of thing she was trying to avoid.
    A Red Team gar emerged from the pile with the ball. Boon galloped to him and used the handle of his scoop to try to knock the ball away, while a Red Team klee rode up to defend. The gar looked panicked.
    â€œHere!” Kasha screamed.