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The trio at the far end of the court awaited their move

"I'll kick off," Gonzalez said His eyes focused entirely on the ball, he got a running start, brought his foot back, then swung it forward The ball was heavier than he expected Probably solid rubber The kick sent a painful shock up his leg He got the full power of his body behind the blow, but his ai the wall and back into the court in front of their opponents

The pointit forward to halfcourt with short skillful steps His teammates, flanked him on either side The three men could have been triplets, all with the sas just above dark, uncaring eyes

The ball handler saw Gonzalez loping in his direction and snapped the ball off to theHe had no interest in the ba

ll; he wanted to maim He had done the simple arithmetic in his head Injure only one man, and his opponents would lose thirty percent of their teaed the et coolly waited until Gonzalez was a hair's breadth away, then deftly sidestepped and stuck his foot out Gonzalez tried to stop, couldn't, tripped over the extended leg, and slaround so hard it rattled his teeth

Ignoring the pain in his cracked ribs, he scrambled to his feet and tried vainly to catch up with the fast-ed in an unsuccessful attempt to steal the ball, but he jabbed his elbow into the ball handler's sternurunt of pain

Gonzalez followed up, sla into the man with a body block from behind The player went forward onto his knees, which is where ain in an instant, hurrying to run interference with the tea the ball toward the end zone Gonzalez looked on in dismay

So soon

Three-on-one

Only the hovercraft oal

The ball handler saw his opponent, underestih instead of passing it off to the side for an easy kick goal He wasthe ball, so he feinted with the eyes to his left but ht

The hovercraft man saw the ploy and moved forith his forearm lifted His elbow drove into the man's jaith the force of their coround There was a resounding crack as the ball handler's jaw broke, and he cru froasped for air with every breath he took, but his teath

Gonzalez got the ball under his heel and kicked it between the two opponents ere double tealance at their fallen comrade With a hoarse yell of triumph he followed up on his kick and barreled into the pair like a bowling ball; intent on knocking theht have broken his neck if the palm hadn't been absorbed by the fleshy jowls Gonzalez realized that the rule was no hands forit

The assassin had the loose ball, but it was quickly stolen and was being moved in Gonzalez's direction The player saw the hovercraft operator running in to stop hiain Gonzalez concentrated not on the ball but on the roin

The player sideslipped hi, then ain The assassin dashed in from the side, reached in with a swipe of his foot, and stole the ball away, then kicked it back to midcourt Before anyone could stop him he scooped the ball up with his hands and tossed it toward the ring