Read Away Games: Science Fiction Sports Stories for Free Online

seconds from galactic glory!”
    “Or galactic obscurity,” said the bartender.
    Jeremy nodded. “Damika drove to the basket, and two hundred billion people knew he was going to leap four feet in the air and stuff the ball through the hoop—and then it happened.”
    “I read about it.”
    “That’s the part I hate to watch,” said the bartender.
    “Everyone hates to watch it,” said Jeremy. “One of the Canphorites gave him an elbow just as he was about to take off. He fell, and even on the holo you can hear that crack! when his ankle broke. It sounded like a rifle shot.”
    “He pulled himself up onto one leg to hop off the court,” said the bartender, “and the Canphorite coach began screaming that the tournament rules said that if a fouled player could stand on his own power, he had to take his own free throws. There was nothing about having to stand on two feet. You could see the bone sticking out through the skin, but Damika tried to take the free throws himself. His eyes were glazed, his whole body was shaking from the effort just to keep from falling down, he missed both shots, and that was that.”
    “He never got rid of the limp,” said Jeremy, “and he never played again. We didn’t have much of a team without him, and in more than four centuries we’ve never made it as far as the quarter-finals of the Sector tournament.”
    “The tourists stopped coming …” said the bartender.
    “The investors stopped investing …” said Jeremy.
    “And we were nothing again, just the way we’d been before Damika.”
    “Still, for one shining moment, we were somebody . People from halfway across the galaxy knew about us. Dozens of holo crews landed on Plutarch to interview us.” Jeremy paused. “We knew we were never going to reach such heights again, so we took our planetary treasury and hired the best sculptor in the Democracy to commemorate the moment that Damika grabbed the last rebound in regulation time and scored with two seconds left on the clock.”
    “You haven’t kept it up very well,” I said.
    “It’s four hundred years old,” said Jeremy. “It costs money to keep it up.”
    “And our citizens desert us as fast as they can,” said the bartender. “We had almost half a million inhabitants when Damika played against Canphor. We’ve got about sixty thousand now, maybe a little less.”
    “He’s here for Damika Drake,” said Jeremy.
    “Big surprise,” said the bartender. “Why else would anyone come to Plutarch?”
    “I couldn’t help noticing the similarity in names,” I said.
    “Three-quarters of the boys born on Plutarch are called Damika,” said Jeremy. “Every parent hopes their Damika will one to restore our former glory.”
    “As if it lasted for more than a month,” said the bartender dryly.
    “You gonna take Damika Drake away?” asked Jeremy.
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve got to talk to him, see what he can do first.”
    “I never even asked,” said Jeremy. “Who do you coach for?”
    “The Sagamore Hill Chargers, out of Roosevelt III.”
    “I’ve heard of them,” said the bartender. “You made the semi-finals out in the Albion Cluster last year, didn’t you?”
    “Yes,” I said. “We’re probably one good player away from a title. I did a little research, and I think the Drake kid might be the answer.”
    “Well, you did your research more carefully than anyone else,” said Jeremy. “We’re so far off the beaten track, you’re the only one who’s shown up to recruit him.”
    “Have you seen him play?” I asked.
    “Yeah,” said Jeremy. “He’s good, but he’s not what you need to put you over the top.”
    “Kid needs more muscle, and he telegraphs his passes,” offered the bartender.
    “He’s not much from more than twenty feet out, either,” added Jeremy.
    “You make it sound like a wasted trip,” I said.
    “I hate to tell you, but it is,” said Jeremy.
    “As long as I’m here, I might as well take a look, just