prejudice or racism to determine who suited up in the Orange and the Black.
“Yes,” Gredok said. “We will sign Tara.”
Hokor stood up, fur fluffed out full length. “But Shamakath ! You can’t—”
“I can’t ?” Gredok let the word hang.
Hokor paused, then his fur fell halfway to flat. His eye flooded with the green of anxiety — he had overstepped his bounds. Hokor ran a pedipalp over his six antennae. “My apologies, Shamakath . Of course, the final decision is yours.”
Gredok stood. “The decision is mine. And the responsibility, Barnes, is yours. Prepare yourself for an adverse reaction from your Warrior teammates. If you can’t make the other Warriors accept Tara, I will cut him. I am willing to gamble based on your instincts, but we are too close to a championship team to tolerate ongoing disruptions.”
Quentin nodded. “I agree.”
“You agree ?” Gredok said. “How nice for you.”
They filtered out of the office, leaving Hokor to keep flipping through player holos.
Quentin had just taken more control over the franchise, and at Hokor’s expense. Quentin would make it up to him. Once Tara started catching passes over the middle, Coach would see, and everything would work out.
OCTOBER 2683
Transcript of broadcast from Galactic News Network
“Yes, Brad, I’m at Planet Yall in the Sklorno Dynasty, near the scene of tragedy. Flight 894-B, a ship loaded with some fifty thousand Sklorno, exploded near dawn, local time, killing every sentient aboard. This is the worst maritime disaster in this area since the Creterakian conflict.”
“Tom, was this an accident or was it foul play?”
“Well, Brad, that very question is on the minds of investigators from both the Sklorno Dynasty and the Creterakian Empire. A punch-drive explosion caused the disaster. There is no indication of weapons fired at the ship. Investigators are confident the explosion was internal, although it is as yet unknown if that explosion was accidental or if it was sabotage. A group called the Purist Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Creterakian officials say that is unlikely and that the terrorist organization is simply trying to take the credit.”
“Tom, any statement from the Purist Nation?”
“Yes, Brad, the Grand Mullah herself stated that the Purist Nation had nothing to do with the disaster, although she did say that since all the lives lost were, quote, of demonic descent, the deaths were clear evidence of God’s direct interaction in the universe, end quote.”
“So if it’s not a Purist sect, Tom, who would the suspects be?”
“Well, Brad, Creterakian officials think that if it was sabotage, the Zoroastrian Guild has to be behind it.”
“The Zoroastrian Guild being that shadowy organization dedicated to overthrowing the Creterakian Empire’s control of several systems, of course.”
“That’s right, Brad, but what scares experts isn’t the Creterakian analysis, but rather the Sklorno Dynasty’s growing opinion that the culprit is, in fact, the Prawatt Jihad itself. Yall is only a few short light-years away from the Prawatt/Sklorno border. If the Sklorno believe the Prawatt are responsible for this bombing, there could be major ramifications.”
“Is that due to the Sklorno/Prawatt War of 2556, Tom?”
“That and more, Brad. That war lasted two years and cost millions of lives on both sides. It ended without a clear winner, but the Prawatt navy was so weakened that it lost the planet Yewalla to the Rewall Association in 2559. Many think the Jihad still blame the Sklorno for the loss of that valuable world. The Sklorno Dynasty is part of Creterakian-controlled space, but the Jihad was never conquered during the Takeover. While no official contact has been conducted with the hostile Prawatt in some forty years, experts are confident the Jihad possesses the galaxy’s third-largest navy, behind only the Creterakian Empire and the Quyth Concordia.”
“But
“Yes,” Gredok said. “We will sign Tara.”
Hokor stood up, fur fluffed out full length. “But Shamakath ! You can’t—”
“I can’t ?” Gredok let the word hang.
Hokor paused, then his fur fell halfway to flat. His eye flooded with the green of anxiety — he had overstepped his bounds. Hokor ran a pedipalp over his six antennae. “My apologies, Shamakath . Of course, the final decision is yours.”
Gredok stood. “The decision is mine. And the responsibility, Barnes, is yours. Prepare yourself for an adverse reaction from your Warrior teammates. If you can’t make the other Warriors accept Tara, I will cut him. I am willing to gamble based on your instincts, but we are too close to a championship team to tolerate ongoing disruptions.”
Quentin nodded. “I agree.”
“You agree ?” Gredok said. “How nice for you.”
They filtered out of the office, leaving Hokor to keep flipping through player holos.
Quentin had just taken more control over the franchise, and at Hokor’s expense. Quentin would make it up to him. Once Tara started catching passes over the middle, Coach would see, and everything would work out.
OCTOBER 2683
Transcript of broadcast from Galactic News Network
“Yes, Brad, I’m at Planet Yall in the Sklorno Dynasty, near the scene of tragedy. Flight 894-B, a ship loaded with some fifty thousand Sklorno, exploded near dawn, local time, killing every sentient aboard. This is the worst maritime disaster in this area since the Creterakian conflict.”
“Tom, was this an accident or was it foul play?”
“Well, Brad, that very question is on the minds of investigators from both the Sklorno Dynasty and the Creterakian Empire. A punch-drive explosion caused the disaster. There is no indication of weapons fired at the ship. Investigators are confident the explosion was internal, although it is as yet unknown if that explosion was accidental or if it was sabotage. A group called the Purist Liberation Front has claimed responsibility for the blast, but Creterakian officials say that is unlikely and that the terrorist organization is simply trying to take the credit.”
“Tom, any statement from the Purist Nation?”
“Yes, Brad, the Grand Mullah herself stated that the Purist Nation had nothing to do with the disaster, although she did say that since all the lives lost were, quote, of demonic descent, the deaths were clear evidence of God’s direct interaction in the universe, end quote.”
“So if it’s not a Purist sect, Tom, who would the suspects be?”
“Well, Brad, Creterakian officials think that if it was sabotage, the Zoroastrian Guild has to be behind it.”
“The Zoroastrian Guild being that shadowy organization dedicated to overthrowing the Creterakian Empire’s control of several systems, of course.”
“That’s right, Brad, but what scares experts isn’t the Creterakian analysis, but rather the Sklorno Dynasty’s growing opinion that the culprit is, in fact, the Prawatt Jihad itself. Yall is only a few short light-years away from the Prawatt/Sklorno border. If the Sklorno believe the Prawatt are responsible for this bombing, there could be major ramifications.”
“Is that due to the Sklorno/Prawatt War of 2556, Tom?”
“That and more, Brad. That war lasted two years and cost millions of lives on both sides. It ended without a clear winner, but the Prawatt navy was so weakened that it lost the planet Yewalla to the Rewall Association in 2559. Many think the Jihad still blame the Sklorno for the loss of that valuable world. The Sklorno Dynasty is part of Creterakian-controlled space, but the Jihad was never conquered during the Takeover. While no official contact has been conducted with the hostile Prawatt in some forty years, experts are confident the Jihad possesses the galaxy’s third-largest navy, behind only the Creterakian Empire and the Quyth Concordia.”
“But
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