Fintan’s match was up third, and he confidently entered the arena. When he got the green light he dipped his nose and angled his ship to protect the shield, with the intent of turning at the last moment and clipping Melissa. She was heading right into his trap. This would be easy. At the last moment she turned drastically, catching Fintan’s ship with her lance. The momentum flipped Fintan’s ship upwards and he lost his orientation for a moment.
In that moment, his shield was exposed and Melissa knocked it off using the edge of her saucer.
The lights came on. Fintan had lost.
“Can she do that?” he asked Iara.
“She can, and she did,” said Iara. “Nice job Melissa!”
Heather, who had beaten Raj in the first round, won her match too, leading to an all-girl final four.
Iara pulled their names out of a hat. First out was Melissa.
“Come on, be either Ayako or Nizhoni next!” said Zack, wanting his friends to be kept apart, hoping they’d meet in the final.
Next name out of the hat was Heather, making the other semifinal Ayako versus Nizhoni.
“Dang it!” said Zack.
“At least one of them will be sure of being in the final, right?” said Fintan.
“Yeah. Wouldn’t you love to see them go head to head in the final?” said Zack.
The first match was ready to begin. The victory was surprisingly easy for Melissa who seemed to get stronger with each passing game. On the second pass she did a simple feint that caught Heather off guard and knocked her shield off.
Finally it was time for Nizhoni and Ayako to square off. In the end it turned out to be an anticlimax. On the first pass, Nizhoni went in hard and fast, ready for a last second feint, but Ayako was ready. She lifted her ship, turned it, and clipped Nizhoni’s shield as she passed. The shield wobbled a little, but as Nizhoni decelerated at the end of the arena, it fell off. Victory to Ayako.
Nizhoni was upset, but took defeat well. “Nicely done,” she said to Ayako. She left the arena to watch the final match-up. Before the match, Fintan opened a comms channel with her and gave her thumbs up. “Nice job!” he said to her. Nizhoni smiled back but said nothing.
“Let’s wish Ayako some luck,” said Zack.
Nizhoni nodded. “I don’t think she’ll need it!”
It was an intriguing matchup. Melissa had looked useless until she beat Fintan in the quarters and blew past Heather in the semis. Ayako was the clear favorite having taken out both Iara and Nizhoni.
“Don’t count Melissa out though,” said Zack. “She’s better than she looks.”
The first few passes were cautious, with neither player attacking aggressively trying to avoid a quick defeat. After the sixth pass, Iara made a big show of yawning and shrank the dimensions of the arena a little. This spurred Melissa.
At the next pass the American girl screamed a battle cry and charged so fast that Fintan thought she would not be able to stop once she reached the end of the arena. Ayako wasn’t bothered, and in response she decelerated.
“Clever,” said Fintan. “She’s staying back from Melissa, so that Melissa has to decelerate before they contact, or she’ll overshoot and lose.”
Ayako’s move played off. Melissa was occupied with decelerating, and lost her concentration long enough for Ayako to accelerate, corkscrew and clip Melissa’s shield off.
Ayako had won the jousting tournament.
***
They assembled back in the classroom later.
“So,” said Iara. “What have we learned from this?”
“Never joust with your teacher?” said Zack.
“Ha,” said Iara, not really laughing.
“It’s simple,” said Iara. She held up her arm and flexed a bicep. For a woman as slender as she was, she had an impressive bicep.
She pointed at it. “While sometimes you can win with this,” she said, and then pointed at her head. “When you use this you will always win. It wasn’t the strongest, the fastest or the most skillful that won this game. It was the one that used her head better than any of us.”
She bowed to Ayako, who bowed back.
“Nice job, Ayako Katsuragi.”
She gracefully accepted the praise, but modestly added. “It’s just math. I figured out what you were doing and programmed my ship to counter.”
Chapter 29. Green Squadron.
Zack was to get his chance at playing in a game sooner than he expected. The game with Green started well: early on, Simon performed a brilliant move to split the Green defense, and leave Red Two wide open to score. From then on they were able to try to catch Green Squadron as they tried to break. Before half time, Green pushed forward, but Red Two intercepted and pitched a long ball forward to Red Six (Melanie) who scored easily.
Half time was two-zero. Simon’s half time talk was much more cheerful than the last game, but still he kept with his starting eleven, to Zack’s disappointment. The second half started fast, with Green being much more aggressive. Red Five lost her concentration, and dropped the ball, and Green were able to capitalize by scooping up the loose ball and scoring.
Tension began to set in as Green chased the equalizer. The momentum was turning again, as they seemed to be first to every loose ball, and Red seemed to be getting slower with each play.
“They need a break for heaven’s sake,” said Zack. “Why won’t he trust us?”
Then, as Simon got ready to call a time out, Green were able to break through and score again, tying up the game.
Simon got his timeout and the team had a ‘huddle’ where comms were open and they could all see each other’s faces on their heads-up displays.
“What is going on out there?” yelled Simon. “What’s wrong with you guys? You are playing like pansies!”
“They’re tired,” said Zack.
“What did you say, nugget?”
“I said they’re tired,” said Zack. “You are insisting on playing the same eleven without any substitutions and Green are taking advantage of that. Your team is tired.”
“Oh and you think you could do better?” said Simon
Zack didn’t respond.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought, so shut up, you got that?”
“Sir,” said Red Two
“What is it?”
“We need to substitute. Give the nuggets a chance.”
Simon glared on his monitor.
“Okay,” he said. “Thirteen, Fifteen, Sixteen and Seventeen, you’re in. Three through Six, you’re out.”
That meant that Zack, Fintan and Nizhoni were in. There were only four minutes left.
“Don’t screw this up,” said Simon.
As they were the freshest, they spread out across the center of the park. Melanie played up front along with Red Seven.
Fintan watched closely, monitoring how Green was adjusting to the situation. At first they were cautious, feeling out the new Red players, but when Nizhoni grabbed the ball and made a run for goal, they quickly double teamed her and intercepted her pass towards Zack. Green now rushed downfield, trying to carry the ball through the hole that Nizhoni and Zack had left behind.
Simon moved to intercept, with Red two dragging behind him blocking the goal. Something didn’t seem right, and Fintan then noticed a Green ship breaking down the right hand side. As the ball holders were moving leftward, the winger’s move was discrete and isolated. Fintan couldn’t reach in time to block him. It was clear that they were going to engage Simon and Red two, and they’d spin the ball out to the wing player who’d likely have an open goal.
“Simon!” said Fintan. “Disengage!”
“What, nugget?” said Simon. “What are you talking about?”
“Do it! Look right.”
Credit to Simon, he saw the plan, so he quickly turned and moved to intercept.
“Nizhoni, Zack, break forward!” said Fintan. They didn’t ask why, and they charged forward into the gap left by the Green attack.
Green p
assed the ball right, before they saw Simon’s move and he was able to intercept. He launched the ball forward to Zack who charged the goalkeeper, passing to Nizhoni at the last second. She had an easy drop into the open goal. Red had taken the lead 3-2.
Fintan looked at the clock. There were only a few seconds left. Simon ordered a full press, one-on-one with Green, making sure that they couldn’t put any kind of move together. It seemed like an eternity before the buzzer rang. Red had beaten Green!
***
After the game, during the celebration, a member of Green Squadron approached Fintan.
“You’re the Irish one, aren’t you?” he said in a thick Irish accent.
“Aye,” said Fintan, smiling.
“A little birdie tells us that some of you guys in Red have a study group goin’ on Friday nights,” the boy said. “Except you don’t really study anymore, you do somethin’ more interesting. Is that right?”
“It might be,” said Fintan, a little more guarded.
“Well, we have somethin’ a little more interesting for you. Can some of us come to your next meeting? You’re not the only ones who are keepin’ an eye on things, y’know?”
Fintan nodded.
“Let’s meet in the game halls in the city center. You know how to get there, don’t you?” the boy said.
“Yes.”
“So it’s a deal. See ya there, next Friday, seven o’clock,” said the boy, who walked off.
***
On Friday night Fintan and the others made their way to the game hall. He didn’t realize that only he and Nizhoni had been there before, so the others were a little taken aback.
“Here’s where we practiced before the fresher’s game,” said Nizhoni. “It’s a cool place.”
They entered and looked around. Fintan wasn’t sure he would even recognize the guy again. A girl with Green Squadron uniform bumped into him roughly as she walked past.
“Huh?” said Fintan. He put his hand in his hip pocket and there was a note there.
He read it out. “Tube station. Five minutes.”
“Maybe she likes you,” said Zack.
“Feel free!” said Nizhoni.
“They want to meet somewhere else, obviously,” said Heather.
Fintan shrugged and led them out, back across the road towards the train station. The girl was waiting on the platform, alone.
“I was right,” said Zack, smiling.
“Wait,” said Fintan.
A train arrived and she got on, meeting their eye as she did so.
“That was a look,” said Zack. “More than a glance, less than a stare. We’re traipsing around here for you to go on a blind date.”
Nizhoni glowered at him.
“Hey, I’m not the one she’s ogling,” said Zack.
Two stops later the train stopped, and the girl got off. They followed her.
Zack started to speak but Fintan just said, “Shut up!” quietly. Zack shrugged. Ayako smiled.
They were in an unknown part of city now, near some buildings that looked like they were offices. The girl went into one, and took an elevator upwards.
“You know,” said Raj. “They could just be out for revenge for us beating Green in the last game. They’re taking us somewhere to beat us up.”
“You know,” said a voice from behind them. “I’m surprised that it took the brilliant Red Squadron that long to think that up as our plan. Frankly, I’m disappointed more than I’m surprised.”
They turned, and the Irish boy was standing in the hallway behind them with about ten other members of Green Squadron.
He laughed at their scared expressions. “Don’t worry,” he said. “We’re not interested in pounding on nuggets.”
He gestured to a room behind them. “Please?”
***
They sat in the room, and the Green group joined them. Their faces were grim and hard to read.
“My name is Seamus,” said the boy. “I’m here to welcome your Conspiracy of Light to the real world.”
“How did you know?” said Ayako.
“We didn’t until now,” he said. “Thanks for confirming!”
Zack stood up and slapped his hand to the table. “That’s enough!” he said. “What is going on here?”
The boy turned and looked at him calmly. He ignored the question and asked one of his own.
“Tell me,” he said. “How do they divide the squadrons? What makes me Green, and what makes you Red. Have you figured that out yet?”
They looked at each other in silence.
“We never really thought about it,” said Fintan.
“If you did, it might tell you a lot about this school,” said Seamus.
“Yellow are the brains,” he said. “We’re all smart, or we wouldn’t be here, but they are the brains of the brains. They know stuff, they do stuff most of the rest of us can’t even begin to understand.”
He continued. “Green, us, are the brave. We’re built to be fearless, and that gives us an edge.”
“How?” said Zack.
“How do you think we knew so much about you?” he said.
“Simple,” he continued without waiting. “We spy. It’s amazing how simple it is to break into your laundry and steal some uniforms. Then we’ll have our guys wander around your dining halls listening carefully. You’d be amazed what we hear.”
Fintan looked at Zack, who was dumbfounded.
“That’s brave, right? Not just to spy on you, but to hide in plain sight. Not like sneaking around for information, which of course brings us to our dear friends in Blue.”
“Blue?” said Ayako.
“Yes,” said Seamus. “They are the type that will do whatever it takes to succeed whether honorable or not. ‘Sneaky’ some might say. ‘Ambitious’ others may say. Of course there’s you noble folks from Red. Can you guess what you’re selected for?”
“We’re all-rounders,” said Ayako. “We’re generalists, good at everything, but not masters of any.”
“Very good,” said Seamus. “But, ultimately it doesn’t matter!”
“Why not?” asked Zack.
“Because,” said one of the girls from Green. Her name badge read ‘Wilson’. “Because it doesn’t matter what our differences are. What matters is why the school divides us this way.”
“I bet you have a theory,” said Ayako.
“No,” said the girl. “That’s where you come in.”
“Us?” said Fintan.
“Yes,” she said. “You guys have connections with Trichallik and with another man, one that they call ‘Smith’”
Fintan nodded. “Yes, a little.”
“Much more than any of us,” she said. “We have to put our foot down and say, ‘enough is enough’. We need to know what’s going on.”
“Why?” said Fintan. “Why is it so important to you?”
“The oldest of our group is a third year,” said Seamus, cocking his head at a tough looking girl who nodded back at him.
“Because Green tend to graduate very early,” continued Wilson. “And they never come back.”
“Where do they go?” said Zack
“Military graveyard, most likely,” said Seamus
Chapter 30. Fintan’s Strategy
Her words weighed on Fintan for the rest of the week. Simon had them meeting regularly to strategize for their showdown with Blue. The way the chips had fallen, the winner would square off against Yellow for the championship.
He couldn’t concentrate – it was just too hard to get Wilson’s words out of his mind. Green students had been graduating very early, usually in third year, so they were only fifteen years old, and never being seen again.
Was there a war going on? Where did they go?
No wonder Green’s Starball team hadn’t been doing well. They were young and inexperienced.
“We only have their word for it,” said Zack. “They might be deliberately misleading us.”
“Why?” said Ayako
. “Why would they do that?”
“Do what? Why would Green mislead us? Why would the school send them out to fight and die?”
Nizhoni rested her head in her hands. “That explains it,” she said.
“What?” said Ayako.
“Only Fintan knows this,” she said. “Please don’t tell anyone else, okay?”
They nodded. “We Navajo have known about the city for some time,” she said. “We’ve known about the aliens, about everything. Or almost everything.”
“Almost?” said Ayako.
“Almost,” she said. “No matter how hard we tried, we could never get anyone into Green. The Navajo inside have helped the Navajo outside to get them into good places within the city, so that, should the city bring humankind to the stars, we’d be well placed to break free and go out on our own.”
“Anyway,” she continued. “We could never get anyone into Green, nor could we find anything out about them. We never knew why.”
She breathed deep, closing her eyes, clearly troubled.
“That would mean that they know what you know,” said Ayako. “They know that the Navajo are coming and going as you please, and they’re keeping Navajo out so you don’t find out about Green.”
“Who are they?” asked Fintan. “The ones who are running the city, or someone operating under their noses?”
“My brain hurts,” said Zack.
“Kinda makes tomorrow’s game unimportant doesn’t it?” said Nizhoni.
“Maybe not,” said Ayako. “Maybe by winning this tournament, we’re showing that we can be a good replacement for Green.”
“More cannon fodder for the war?” said Zack.
“We don’t even know that there is a war,” said Ayako. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
She continued: “Maybe by winning, we’re showing that we’re too valuable to graduate early. Red has won the last few tournaments, and I see many older Red Squadron students around.”
“So by winning, we save ourselves, and condemn Green to be ‘graduated early’?” said Zack. “That sucks.”
“Ultimately, we don’t really know anything,” said Ayako. “We should take this new information under advisement and continue trying to figure this out. The best way we have of doing this is to be more involved in the school.”
“How do we do that?” said Zack.
“We win the tournament for starters,” said Ayako. “Those ‘field trips’ they send us on might be important. We need to know what’s going on out there.”