"Steven Popkes - [SS] Bread and Circus" - читать интересную книгу автора (Popkes Steven)

Tom stopped it with his chest and when the ball hit the ground, he
covered it with his foot. Mike automatically started counting: one.

Tom continued forward onto his other foot, then rolled in midair,
cocking the foot with the ball as limber and graceful as if he’d been a
Velociraptor himself.

He’s been practicing this, he thought with awe. Still counting: two.

Tom let go, all thirty-two hundred pounds of muscle behind the ball. It
shot across the field inhumanly fast. Sebastian never had time to move. It
struck him right in the chest and broke right through his ribs and stomach,
almost breaking out his back.

Sebastian looked at the hole, then at Tom, then fell slowly forward.

The bending of his body popped the ball out his back and it rolled
gently into the goal.

The whistle blew.

****

Al: If that’s not the best finish to a game I’ve ever seen—

John: The referees have just ruled that Tom did not violate the
three-second rule.

Al: Did they have a roughness call on Tom?

John: No. They’ve decided nothing illegal happened and the goal is
legal.

Al: It’s official. Viewers at home heard it here first. The Braves are
going to the series for the first time in six years.

John: Stay tuned for the post-game analysis. After that, we’ll bring
you films and analysis of the Gorilla Sumo matches in Japan. Keep
watching.

****

Mike looked at the cast. It looked garish in the fluorescent lights of the
medical bay. “Thanks.”

“You won’t thank me when the painkillers wear off,” said Wilson. “But
you’ll be in fine shape for the series.”

“So my hand will be okay?”