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The shot ht have been true, but just before the ball left his hand he was slammed between the shoulder blades, and his ai in a vertical rim shot and thudded back into the court

Showing its partiality, the crowd roared its approval in the darkness

It was a new ga victory

His opponents stared at theranite sculptures The sphere designated as fate rested between the and kneouldn't last more than a few minutes at this pace

"Get them!" he barked

Newly honed into a team by desperation, the two men on the outside went directly for their opponents while Gonzalez charged up thehis ti slah The feel of his foot ly solid The sphere lifted off with seeround the uarded by the assassin side-slipped the attack and did a leaping balletdeflected the ball It bounced off with a loud thud to the round

Gonzalez thought the man had tripped, but the move was deliberate The s for leverage, looped the ball in the air His teaave it a boost with his head, and the ball fleard the ring For an instant it looked as if there wasn't enough force to send the ball through the ring, but the ai then bounced onto the court again

The game was over

There was a wild burst of screa from the spectators on top of the walls

Then silence

Gonzalez and his tea, sweat-drenched clothes caked with dirt and grass The ball had been sent through the goal with practiced ease They'd been toyed with, Gonzalez realized; their opponents had truly played like gods, and there was never a chance of winning

The interior wall of the courtyard was carved with a series of pictures Gonzalez had paid little attention to the artwork before, but now he followed the eyes of his opponents The carvings showed a series of players facing each other over a ball marked with skulls In one a victor held a knife in one hand arid a head in the other A decapitated victim knelt before him Blood flowed from his neck in the form of serpents

The crowd closed in, forced hihly, exposing his neck, and Gonzalez knew his fate Three sword-like knives flashed in the air, and three heads thu frenetically, as they rolled to a stop near the ball that had sealed their fate

High in his treetop observation post Zavala whispered hoarsely, "My God!" He couldn't believe his eyes Zavala had watched the ball ga, the play Even at his distance he could see it was a rough game indeed But it was only at the last minute that he sa lethal it was for the losers: He scrah the chaparral toward his car

The room within the pyralass display cases holding dozens of priceless jade e screen Halcon watched as Gonzalez and his teammates played out the last bloody moments of their life, then turned to the scarfaced ar