"Are you all right?" Asked Sh'urrb of the brightly plumed avian. He opened his large eyes and blinked a couple times.

"I... I am now," he said, dreamily. Sh'urrb rolled her own eyes and turned to the others.

"He's fine," she announced. They were in the group's hovercraft, on their way back to the starcraft field. "Your friends don't like you very much," she told the bird man.

"I know. That's why they throw stones at me..." He looked around, and saw that they'd had to take his harnessed wings off, and he seemed downcast when he saw their condition. "I guess that's the end of my flight era..."

"Not necessarily," Jake said.

"Why not? I can't fly without that, and no one will make me a new one."

"We can have another crafted for you, it can't be that hard to find someone willing to do it offworld." Jake told him.

"So, why the sudden charity act?" Asked Seevi, "who is this guy?"

"Did you see how accurately he was catching and dodging those stones?" Jake said, and the rest all got quiet.

"We're here to ask you to join our softball team," Maxiil said. "If you can play, that is."

"I can play. I can't do anything else, really. But play. Play is good. Is there food?"

The avian, whose name was Creal'w (that's kree-all-whu), collapsed again from exhaustion.

***

The fitting room was hectic, chaotic almost. Eveyrone had their own idea about what kind of uniform they should be wearing. But eventually, Maxiil shouted them down and said, "if you want to play, you're going to play for the Gems. Alabaster's Gems - and our uniform is this," he held up their old uniform. "Yes, it's brown and white. But we can call that alabaster and tigereye if you want."

Everyone shut up. The little man spoke big. Of course, the little man could put Z'ren over his knee (figuratively speaking) and smack him around if he really wanted to.

"I agree," Seevi said. "The uniform is what makes the team consistant - and even though we're not going to be the same as your old team mates, Max, you're still the last two from that era."

"We'll wear it," Enni said, and Anni nodded.

The fitting went more smoothly after that.

The practice field was set up, and Jake watched his team in action. At first they needed a bit of time to get used to one another, and to change around who played what spot. Bushish was fast, at least as fast as Anni, but her height made her ideal for shortstop. She ran bases as well as he did too. Anni was to take outfield, and he covered most of the right field perfectly well.

His clutch brother Enni proved himself an excellent hitter, and with a fast hand on first base. Second base was covered after an initial rush for it, by Tamoth. He would be their spokesman as well, after the little run in with the press as they got ahold of the Gems' training address.

Creal'w was okay at almost everything, but less than exceptional. However, he could catch a ball like nobody's business, and was given the outfield and left. He enjoyed pacing back and forth out there anyway. Waiting to fly again. Farthest from wanting to fly, was Z'ren on third base. His threatening visage kept several visiting reporters from getting in their faces, and that was at least partially why he took the base. Of course, he was also their star hitter.

That left the two remaining original players, and Seevi. Sh'urrb said she was happy being in the outfield, as long as she got to hit first. Maxiil was no good running, his short legs couldn't carry him fast enough around the bases - but as a catcher he was still great, and he could hit a curveball almost as well as if it were sitting there waiting for him.

And Seevi. Their new pitcher.

Jake floated in the dugout, and smiled to himself. They looked good. They looked really good, and they felt great. He knew that. This was all going to pay off.

***

"Who did you pay off!?" Yelled a man in a greenish-yellow coat, "there's no way that this team can be played yet!"

"Yet, there they are, ready," Jake said, calmly. "And no one was paid. I merely applied the team roster to the proper channels and there it is. All legal."

The official from Killer Wave stomped up and down in the little office, and finally spun on the slender Gems' owner. "You might think this is funny, but it ain't and you won't be laffin' too long."

He left the room and Jake glanced at his team. They were all rather surprised to have gotten in before the end of the season. They would not be playing for any awards or the finals - since their record would read as incomplete, they couldn't be allowed. But they were going to try and play their best.

This was after all a grudge match for Sh'urrb and Maxiil. Their last game was against this team - and their lineup hadn't changed at all in the three month absence.

"They're rough," Maxiil warned the group. "They play dirty. So don't be afraid to play a bit dirty yourselves."

Jake cleared his throat, but allowed Maxiil to continue.

"Z'ren, you're the closest thing we have to their size, so it's okay to puff up and snarl. And Bushish? You keep away from them. Stay on your toes."

She nodded, mutely.

Eventually, the game was on. In a well lit arena, with twenty five thousand aliens attending. Tamoth came out first from the dugout, waving his arm wildly and grinning like an idiot.

He was the first one hit by a 'stray' ball. Right in the shoulder. Even Seevie had never seen Tamoth get angry - but now his Stag heritage took full reign. Seevie and Maxiil both had to restrain the slender man, and Jake helped get an ice pack on his shoulder.

Sh'urrb was up second - contrary to her desire to be up first, she wanted to see what they'd be like. And true to form, the Wave were really nasty. Killer even. (They were killer whales, of course. Orca. Playing softball.) She stared right at the pitcher, and sneered a bit. The catcher was going to get a face full of bat if he got even half an inch closer to her rear end than he needed to. Finally, the Killer Wave pitcher thew the ball - and Sh'urrb smacked it into left field. She made it to first, but remained there as the ball came back to the pitcher.

Bushish came up to bat, and trembled. But she was so quick-nerved that rather than ducking the ball that headed toward her, she defended herself with the bat, giving a grounder that went right past the pitcher and drifted too far past second for the baseman to grab it. She made it to first, and Sh'urrb was there on second with no problems.

Snarling, the pitcher changed tactics when Z'ren came to bat. On a par in size, but of different attitudes entirely, the orca pitcher steamed one by the big male, but then Z'ren grinned. His teeth were huge, even, sharp. He might take a good chunk out of the opposing team member.

And he hit the first home run of the night.

The game went on, brutally. Sh'urrb was tripped on her second run around the bases, and scratched her face up. Bushish took a hit to the side of the head, which rendered her delerius for a few minutes. Tamoth came back to hit their second home run, but he was the only runner.

But they kept preventing the Wave from scoring. With one exception, in the seventh, when one of the gigantic Orca hit so hard that he had time to walk around the bases while they tried to locate where the ball might have exited the park.

Eventually, when all was said and done, their first game, and the grudge match, went 5 to 2 in their favor.

The crowd was stunned. The Gems? Playing this well? Against ... the Killer Wave? As a crowd favorite, the Wave fans were not happy. But they did have to admit that this ragtag group of loonies put up a good fight.

So maybe next season, when the game meant something, they'd be back to hurt something.

***

It was one season later, after getting into the semi's but due to another Killer Wave inflicted player accident (leaving Maxiil wearing an eye patch for three weeks) not managing to finish on top, Alabaster's Gems had finally proven themselves to the fans again. They had attracted attention just for coming back at all, but also their old players were ready to admit that they were just too bitter and too hesitant to play the way that this group did. Maybe they were too old. Maybe not.

But these kids, they said, played like they meant it.

At the end of the season, in an all-star game that pitted Seevi's talents against yet another Wave player, there were a lot of very unusual visitors to the game park. Out in the parking lot, there were a set of ... dragons?

Sure enough, it looked as though there were about six dragons - with the wings, and the tail and riding gear that said they were someone's transportation - out in the lot. Tailgating. They had a big folded up metal pen, and they'd brought live animals and had eaten three out of four of them before someone asked who would be cleaning the mess up.

Our riders will, one of them grinned. Yes, a dragon grinned. He was a pretty blue dragon, whose silver companion smacked him on the shoulder and put her head down near the security people.

Our riders are like you, only better. She said, they are police.

"They are not police!" Blurted out one of the rentacops. "Police don't ride dragons! Dragons hardly exist!"

A red male put his head down, of course we exist. Are we not solid enough for you? Or would you like to try finding out how solid we are?

A swirly purple one laughed, it was terrifying.

Here they come! Announced another, who had several colors competing on her hide. But she and her companion had wings on their forearms, and looked quite different from the others. The purple swirly one was the biggest by far.

The security people saw where the Shift Hathian was looking, and noticed that the players of Alabaster's Gems were coming out to their shuttle bus. A group of other people came running up to them, but the security guards were warned not to interfere by the last blue-orange male dragon.

Sh'urrb looked up at the dragons, past the bus. A curly haired young man grinned at her, "you want to see them closer?"

"You just want to see me up close," Sh'urrb said, brushing by Todd and toward the dragons themselves.

Tamoth was staring at the swirly purple, who nuzzled at him in a friendly way. Seevie glanced at the silver, who looked so very proud to be there. The silver's rider was a woman named Abby Red, and she was indeed, like her partner Norm Katz, a dragon riding police officer. The group milled about, and finally Solo 2, Sara Corsair, decided to act.

"Since Lightshow is still in the bathroom," she said, "what a line! Why can't people make bigger bathrooms for women?! Anyway - we'd like you lot to come with us and find dragons. Your team doesn't need transport fees with a dragon. Just a place to set down and call home is all."

"There are dragons on Sylvan," Bushish said, in awe, "but I've never seen one. Not like this."

"Not all dragons are like them," Said Norm, "but some just for you might be in your future."

Jake stood carefully to the side of the bus. He watched, but didn't interfere. If the team needed dragons, they'd get them. If he needed a dragon, would he get one? He didn't have to pay for such a thing - but then, these were sentients, and it was still largely illegal to deal in sentients. He walked up to the team and they paused in their conversations.

"They're really cool," Sh'urrb said. Creal'w nodded frantically.

"I could fly again," he said. "That's my dream."

"I know it is," Jake said. When he turned around it was to greet Lightshow almost face to face - he wasn't as tall as she, and her ample bosom was what greeted him. "I know it is," he said again, only quietly.

"So you should come with us then. We've got access to lots of places, but a few in particular are needing you guys."

"Where?" Maxiil asked. "I mean, I'm not all that suited to a dragon," he heffed and hawed.

"Nor I, but I would indeed enjoy seeing what comes of this," Z'ren said.

"Then let's go!" Lightshow said. She draped her arm over Jake's shoulder, and from what it looked like, he was enjoying the treatment.

***

Maxiil, Sh'urrb and Creal'w chose to head to Cy Dragonstake, where some unusual Hydra-Biped dragons were said to be on the sands. BONDED! Red 3 headed Itaril, Gemtone Red 5 headed Cersyla, Starry Purple 3 headed Llaumvor

Tamoth, Seevi and Z'ren are going to the Ring of Fire Summer of Flames Frenzy sands. BONDED! Silver White Shika Hikaru, Black Silver Shurai Aridan, Brown Camintor

Enni, Anni and Bushish are going to the Enzan Shi Fall Frenzy. BONDED! Dapple Amber Brown Finssyruad, Electric Striped Tawny Red Fariyruad, Translucent White Keliryth

And Jake? Well, after a short stint with Lightshow, he intends to head off to Abri.

NEXT