wouldn't worry. "After what The Lords have done,"
she assured, "They're not going to take you away from me for long! You
go do the job you've got to do. I'll be here safe and sound when you
get back. I've got a feeling I'm going to be sending you off on some
secret mischief many a time before we grow old!"
47 So the next day, disguised as a Brother of The Hawk, under a vow of
silence, Bullet left on a plane for Charity. The flight would be long,
and require two transfers, but the conversations on the plane were
interesting even if Bullet could only listen.
48 Smiling Fox was reading the sports news on the first plane. "Who do
you think's going to win the basketball championships," he asked, "the
Swords or the Rockets?"
49 Bullet pointed towards the word Rocket on the front page of the
paper. "Really think so?" questioned Smiling Fox.
50 The man behind them laughed. "I think our good brother has been in
seclusion too long! The Rockets haven't got a prayer."
51 "I don't know," argued Smiling Fox. "The Rockets have got some good
defense men and some fine offense players, too. The Swords are good,
but they're going to have to earn their pay this time."
52 "Excuse me, gentlemen," interrupted a golden- skinned man in front
of them, "I'm a Zoan, and I'm afraid football is the big game where I
come from. I've seen a couple of basketball games on television, but
could somebody please explain to me how the game is played, and why
there's different scores when a man makes a basket?"
53 "It's really a simple game," explained Smiling Fox. "You play on a
circle that's one-hundred twenty feet across, sixty feet from the
center on each side. The basket' s in the center and it's about ten
feet high. You've got four circles painted on the floor, one is fifteen
feet