THE ALL-PRO

THE ALL-PRO Read Free Page B

Book: THE ALL-PRO Read Free
Author: Scott Sigler
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thirty foot high double doors.
    John pounded on the glass.
    “Here it comes, Q! Time for the big boys.” The words
PALEONTOLOGY ROCKS
danced on John’s face.
    The trumpet music stopped. The woman in the loud, yellow dress spoke, her voice magnified by the sound system.
    “Welcome to Die ... no ... litionnnnnn! ”
    She waited for the crowd roar to die down. “I am your host and league commissioner, Rachel Guestford. This contest is a three-round affair with a 10,000 total kilo weight limit. No replacement mounts allowed. And now, your contestants. Hailing from Roughland on Rodina, with a record of seven wins and two losses, I give you, the Roughland Ridgebacks!”
    The big double doors to Quentin’s left opened. He knew what was supposed to come out, yet when it did, he could barely believe his eyes.
    “High One,” Quentin said. “Oh ... my.”
    A giant, lizard-looking creature, covered from head to toe in gleaming, red armor. It stomped out of the doors, head low, powerful legs carrying it forward. A long tail trailed behind, parallel to and ten feet above the ground. Behind this huge creature’s head rode a Human wearing ornate armor of black and red. The Human sat in a leather saddle and carried a long, black lance. The monster walked forward. Its jockey raised the lance high, saluting the crowd.
    High above midfield, a holoscreen flared to life. Quentin saw a close-up of the huge animal and its jockey — a squat man covered head-to-toe in high-tech armor that was designed to look ancient, lined with runes and scrolls and filigree. Various holologos advertising dozens of products blazed from the armor’s curved skin. He looked as decorated by endorsements as the Essadari rocket-sleds of the racing leagues. Above the image of monster and jockey, Quentin saw the red and black logo for the jockey’s team, the Roughland Ridgebacks.
    Text scrolled out below the images.
    POUGHKEEPSIE PETE, CAPTAIN, RIDGEBACKS
    And below that:
    TYRANNOSAURUS REX, 6,432 KILOS
    John pounded the glass even harder. “That’s Pete! Come on, Pete! Eat someone!”
    Quentin remembered John’s description of Poughkeepsie Pete. The Human stood all of three feet tall. Hard to tell when he was on the back of a shucking red-armored dinosaur, that was for sure.
    Pete’s mount walked out fifty yards, halfway to the center of the arena, then stopped.
    “He’s always on Old Bess,” John said. “That’s his favorite ride. I can’t wait to see what he brings out with him.”
    As if on queue, more red-armored dinosaurs strode out of the doors. Three fast-and lethal-looking creatures, much smaller than the T. rex. Quentin thought he saw feathers sticking out from spots in the red armor, from the short arms and from between head-armor plates. He looked up to the overhead holo.
    TONY KOESTER / BEISHANLONG GRANDIS / 542 KILOS
    CRITTER CLARK / GALLIMIMUS BULLATUS / 501 KILOS
    IAN BAHAS / ACHILLOBATOR GIGANTUS / 709 KILOS
    “John, why are those so much smaller?”
    “They’re speedsters,” John said. “You never know what game will come up on the wheel, Q. You only get ten thousand kilos total weight for all three rounds. Twenty games, different strategies for each game, sometimes you need mass, sometimes you need speed, sometimes both. Just wait and see.”
    The trumpets blared anew, as did Rachel Guestford.
    “And their opponent,” she said. “Hailing from The Reef in the outer reaches, I give you the Reef Stompers!”
    The big doors at the opposite end swung open. Giant, blue -armored creatures strode out. These looked more like huge, six-legged spiders, or perhaps six-legged crabs — and all had one eye.
    “Eww,” Somalia said. “Those are just disgusting .”
    The first creature’s lance-wielding jockey didn’t look Human. Quentin looked up to the holodisplay. The image showed a spinning logo for the Reef Stompers. Below that, a live image of a blue-armored Quyth Leader rider.
    SABAT THE NIFTY, CAPTAIN, STOMPERS
    The Leader

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