New Games Read online

  "How would you do that, Mr. Adams?" Laura's was voice still mild and disinterested as she looked out the window.

  "You two aren't listening, you can't stop this. Just one person can't stop the people who are pushing this. Walk away now and don't lose everything."

  Christopher almost sounded sad and Perc really wished he could figure out who thought this would work. Who knows? Maybe it would? The biggest of the big weren't shifters, but there were enough with solid fan bases that the backlash would hurt. But most players didn't know how to use their influence. He'd change that.

  "I can't. You broke the contract and I want my hearing and the contracted medical tests to prove what I'm at risk for."

  Christopher and Geoff exchanged glances, and Geoff nodded. Rimero put his head in his hands and looked like he wanted to duck. Christopher straightened, tugging on his jacket slightly as he gave Perc a look.

  "Mr. Alexander, we have decided to terminate your contract due to your services no longer being needed. You will be paid out through the end of the year and the early termination penalty to us will apply. Rimero if you would bring out that form."

  Interesting, they have the forms ready. This should be fun.

  "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean I'm a good player." Perc offered trying not to smirk.

  "At this point you have proved you are a liability to the team and per the contract we will be dissolving our partnership."

  "If you feel like that is what you have to do." Perc shrugged and signed all the forms, with the payment information, a bulk sum of two point five million. It would be a nice bit of money if the government wouldn't take over fifty percent.

  It doesn't matter. What is about to happen next is where we see if I'm going to walk the walk.

  Geoff smiled at him with a bit of nastiness in the smile. "Feel free to have your press conference, Mr. Alexander, though I doubt anyone wants to hear a has been NFL player."

  Perc smiled back at him as he pulled out his phone and clicked on a few things. "Oh, to just listen to me talk? That I doubt. But listening to everyone else? That might get some attention. Especially when they start protesting that they haven't had any medical tests to back up why they are being suspended."

  "What did you just do?" Christopher demanded, a worried look flashing over his face.

  "Me? I just sent out a few tweets and emails." Perc shrugged affecting an angelic smile. "After all, people do have the right to know exactly what is going on with public figures. That is the argument you've used every time you've had me do a media appearance, is it not?"

  Rimero sighed. "I tried to warn you two, over and over again."

  Geoff turned and snapped. "Warn us about what? He's just a dumb jock who can run down the field and catch the damn ball. Just because he can turn into some fucking cat doesn't mean he has any idea how this game is played. The pressures and deals we make."

  "That is what I've been trying to tell you. He's not a dumb jock."

  Christopher scoffed. "He was drafted right out of college, I saw his GPA, barely a 2.8, and he's been a solid middle player for what eight years? He's like all the others."

  Perc didn't know whether to be amused Christopher had a blind spot or offended on behalf of all athletes.

  "You're a moron, Christopher." Rimero said standing up. "I kept trying to tell you but you would cut me off, and frankly I disagreed with all of this, so I hope you enjoy the domino effect from the firestorm that he just created. You're right, he only had a 2.8 but did you take a look at his classes? He was taking 20 semester hours his last two years, every semester. Plus, the classes he was taking were all for his masters since he finished his BS by the end of sophomore year by testing out of most of them and taking summer courses. He's studying for the bar and I have no doubt will pass on the first try. The lawyer over there, the one you dismissed 'cause she wears a skirt, no offense miss, is his mentor and has been kicking his ass in case law for the last two years as he finished getting his Juris Doctorate last year on top of his master's degree in Communications. So, I'm done. Because as far as I can figure you two just lit your own bonfire and I'm going to sit back and watch."

  Rimero crossed his arms glaring at them and Laura laughed softly.

  "I must thank you, gentlemen. I've been bored and the class action lawsuit you just set off should keep me busy for years. Not to mention setting groundbreaking precedent for collusion between sports leagues for discrimination of players on a medical condition." Her smile widened, and Perc watched both men pale and Rimero snort. "This will be fun. Do have a good day gentlemen."

  Perc's phone had started a steady pinging as they walked towards the door. He paused and looked back. "Oh, you might want to check social media. I suspect you might have some people upset at you."

  Laura's phone dinged as she reached the door. Pulling it up she glanced at it and laughed. "My secretary says we already have twenty athletes interested in joining our class action lawsuit." She had pitched her voice to carry and Perc could hear cussing in the back ground as they walked out.

  Neither of them said anything until they got into her car.

  "I really thought they'd back down."

  Perc shook his head as they pulled out. "No, someone put them in a vice, I just can't figure out who could put that much pressure on so many teams. But I don't think you'll get your lawsuit."

  "Why? This would be so much fun."

  "I think the price just became too high. They've done their sacrificial lamb, me, and now they'll back down because with the amount of people I now have screaming about it with the facts I gave them, they are screwed. Congress, Senate, and the UN have been bending over backwards to try to make sure shifters have the same protection as any other minority. This was a Hail Mary by someone. I just don't know how or why."

  "Darn. Oh well. I'll send you a bill for my time."

  Perc snorted. "Considering the amusement factor that was for you, I should bill you."

  "Probably, but you're still getting a bill."

  11

  New Options

  While some areas of the government and many businesses are rushing to protect the rights of shifters, not everyone is excited to be a shifter. A growing number of threads on some online forums are people who say they shifted once and never again. They are taking vows of no shifting. Some are even seeking admittance into the priesthood to make sure they don't pass on their possibly corrupted biological material even though science has gathered large amounts of evidence that the virus doesn't exist in semen or eggs. But a new tattoo is sprouting up, a circle with a bar across it imposed over a snarling cat. Those are people who have vowed to deny what they did in the two days of the Calling. ~TNN Reporter

  The next day Perc sat at home replying to emails and trying to juggle all the competing requests. It seemed like since yesterday his email inbox had received a thousand plus emails. Well, the one he'd created just for this scenario. Social media had exploded with comments, outrage, and threats of boycotts. The fan base had reacted more violently than he had expected and already people were canceling their season tickets in protest.

  After the meeting, he'd gone home and warned his parents of the forth coming firestorm. There had been no dreams that night, at least not that he remembered, and it left him feeling strangely bereft.

  He tuned the radio to a news station that played in the back ground. It kept him company as he tried to respond to important things and lay the ground work for what they would need to do if they had to push the suit.

  A sudden change in pitch in the announcers' voice caused him to focus on the words not just the rhythm of sound in the background.

  "We've just received word that Officer McKenna Largo and all the children have been found and are safe. There are no major injuries being reported. Current reports indicate she managed to activate a tracking device on one of the children and convince their captors to let them outside, then she delayed until first responders could get to her. There have been reports t
hat some of the captors are dead but information regarding that is still sketchy. We will report when we have more information. This is a KWAK special report."

  "Yes!" Perc wanted to get up and dance, or celebrate, and he didn't even know the woman. "Go you." With a smile still splitting his face he sat back down and remembered the strange dream. The smile faded, and he shook his head.

  What is it with her that has you so fascinated? You've never even met her in person.

  He didn't know the answer to that question and pushed it away. It didn't matter, not now. What mattered was removing options from the sports establishments.

  Laura had sent him a legal case that he wanted to review as it had precedence. It was an old case about someone losing their job when it was discovered they had black grandparents even though they were presumed white. They had won their case, especially as it was after the Jim Crow laws had been struck from most law books.

  When his phone rang, he didn't look at the caller ID, just answered, to lost in the intricacies of the case to remember he was avoiding people.

  "Alexander here," he said, his finger running over the legal ruling and the implications.

  "You just don't know when to shut up and accept what your betters are giving you, do you?" The speaker's words had been modulated with a voice disguiser giving them a creepy disoriented sound that jangled his nerves.

  Perc sat up straight in his chair, suddenly focused wholly on the conversation. With a flick of his hand he shut off the radio to remove any distractions.

  "I'm not sure I understand what you mean." He grabbed a pencil and started writing on the pad everything he noticed about the speaker. Even though the voice was distorted, he could tell it was a man and well educated.

  "You should have just accepted the suspension and what would have come next. You've caused ripples in my plan. I dislike ripples. If you keep following this path your friend's wife will not be the only one crying. A package has been left for you. I suggest you take this warning to heart. It will be your only one." The call disconnected, and Perc fought with his own rage, the cat inside him, and the fear that lanced through him.

  With controlled movement he moved to his front door peering out carefully and spied an ordinary package box sitting there. He didn't open the door, just looked at it through the glass, various options running through his brain. Bomb, drugs, blackmail?

  He had the sudden urge to call JD, but the news story stayed in his mind. He didn't want to distract JD right now. A bicycle going down the street, one of the kids in the neighborhood, made the decision for him. Leaving a dangerous package out there for a kid to find was not acceptable. With a deep breath he went back into his house and opened the door to the back and the pool. Then he cleared the way making sure nothing would obstruct his movements.

  With a deep breath he opened the door and lifted up the package very carefully, making sure to keep it as level as possible. Drawing on his physical skills he moved as smoothly and swiftly as he could to the back and then set the package down on a table and looked at it. This time the UPS symbol caught his eye. Probably not a bomb. UPS might deliver quickly, but they jostled packages around.

  Now feeling ridiculous, he went and got a knife and opened the package. Inside was a single sheet of paper. Giving it a narrow-eyed glare, he went and grabbed some latex gloves, he always kept a box just in case he needed to clean up something.

  I really should have grabbed the box with gloves on too. Oh well, better late than never.

  Pulling on the gloves he pulled out the letter and looked at the letter.

  'This could have been a bomb, anthrax, or anything else. Or I could just have someone kneecap you and your career would be over. But all of those would be beneath me. Mr. Alexander, I dislike ripples and tend to remove them with prejudice and those attached to them. Take this to heart. If you continue, I will make sure not only will you never play football again but even if you pass the bar, there will be no one who will touch you. You will be poison. Enjoy your crusade. I promise you, I will have the last laugh.'

  The letter held no signature and the laser print wouldn't tell him anything. Thoughtful, Perc brought it in and laid it on the desk and then called Laura.

  "Hey, Perc. Questions on that case? I figured it set good precedent."

  "Oh, still reading it. Had another question for you. I just got my first threat letter. Should I be worried or impressed?"

  "Wait, what?" Laura coughed out a laugh. "Read it to me."

  He did, reading it to her even as he listened to the quiet of the house on edge.

  The giggling from the other end caught him off guard.

  "Laura?" He asked now even more off balance than he had been.

  "Congratulations. You've received your first death threat. And you haven't even passed the bar or marched on Washington yet. I'm impressed."

  "You don't think I need to be worried?"

  "Oh, you need to be worried. All his threats are still possible." Her voice lost her humor and became serious. He could almost hear her straighten up in her chair and pictured the serious look on her face. "This is where you decide. You decide what your rights are worth to you. What you are willing to do to protect others, and what you can or can't live with. Take a good long hard look, Perc. No guilt or blame either way but you just entered the big leagues. The decision you make now will drive everything." She took a breath. "Take the rest of the day, pour a drink and think. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

  She hung up and Perc stood there in his quiet office, in his nice house, in his secluded neighborhood and thought about what he wanted. Following Laura's instructions, he poured himself a stiff drink; it was getting late anyhow, and walked out to the pool and sank down in a chair. The box on the table he ignored. Instead he looked at the pool and thought.

  He enjoyed football, he was good at it, and he probably had a good three to four years, if injury didn't sideline him, left. When they had ended his contract, he'd expected to feel a pang of regret, to want to take it all back. But he hadn't, if anything he felt… he felt…

  Perc struggled to identify what he had felt like. The cry of a hawk pulled his attention up to the Red Tail circling. It hung there in the air for a moment then streaked down past the trees.

  That, that is what I felt like. Like I had something to hunt, something worthy of hunting.

  A shiver ran down him as he leaned back closing his eyes.

  Is that me, or my animal? And do I care?

  Suddenly football wasn't enough. And this hunt, engaging as it was, wasn't enough to satisfy him.

  I'm not going to make enough of a difference.

  Frustrated he surged to his feet, set the drink down and stripped. No one would see him his walls were high and right now he needed to see. He called the cat in a way he hadn't since that day in the killing room.

  The change surged through him, fitting into this new body, and this time it didn't feel like a monster or something alien taking over. It felt like a part of him this time and he pushed his head back and roared. The sound rolled up from his chest to explode out his throat in a wave of sound that made him flinch. It echoed through the neighborhood and he heard dogs barking and doors opening. He roared again. Nothing had felt so good in a very, very long time.

  Laughing at the chaos his roar created, he walked over to his pool and stuck his paw in. Wet, odd, but familiar. He jumped in and found out rapidly that this body didn't float as well as his other body.

  Great. Drown in your own pool, moron.

  His pool had gentle stairs that rose out of the shallow corner and with strong, almost frantic, paddling he got to the stairs and climbed out. Only then paying attention to the weird sensations fur and water created.

  Huh. Swimming is not good in deep water. I don't have enough fat, but it sure feels good.

  Perc went back in a few steps and lay in the water, letting his mind drift. But as good as this felt, this still wasn't want he wanted.

  Annoyed he climbed all the
way out and shook himself thoroughly. That felt interesting but good. He started to shift back to human, then paused. That other form, the one he'd shifted into, the one he hadn't heard anyone talk about.

  I wonder if I can do it again, or if that was a one-off thing? Hell, can I even do it from a cat?

  After a good stretch as his beast, he reached for that weird form, the one that walked on two legs and killed so easily. It didn't struggle or fight him, it was just there, ready and willing.

  Holy…

  This time he paid attention and realized he was shorter, but denser, more powerful. He wanted to keep playing with it but the doorbell rang.

  Sighing in frustration he headed that way and paused as he saw the police officer uniform in the door.

  Answering the door like this might get me shot and somehow this form becoming public doesn't sound like a good idea.

  Moving quickly, he darted back out to the pool and grabbed his shorts. He reached for human not really wanting to change and he felt the resistance as he is own desires battled himself.

  No, human now. But this isn't the end. This is what I need to do, something smart, helpful, and right with this form.

  Pulling on shorts, the doorbell rang again as he made his way there and pulled open the door, even as the need for food clawed at him.

  "How can I help you, officers?"

  "Sorry to disturb you, sir. We've received a noise complaint, some loud scary sounds."

  "Ah. Yeah. Sorry. I won't do it again. I got a bit carried away. I apologize." And he even meant it. Next time he'd just do it some place more isolated.

  "Shifter? Cat?"

  "Of a type," he responded leaning against the door jamb.

  "Yeah, we've been getting that. Just treat this as your warning and take some time to find a more isolated place to do it. Apparently, the roar of big cats freaks people out."

  "Will do, officers, sorry." They exchanged pleasantries, he was reminded to not do it again, and they left.

  Perc headed towards the kitchen and started making food. The calories he'd burned demanded to be replenished, but some of what he felt had solidified.