It was like burial under a dump-truck-load of concrete.
He remembered the rangerform he had captured. The sensitive orifice had been placed ventrally, in what would be the thoracic area....
He groped, felt tough hide set with horny granules. He would be missing skin tomorrow ... if there was a tomorrow. His thumb found the orifice and probed.
The Flap-jack recoiled. Retief held fast, probed deeper, groping with the other hand. If the alien were bilaterally symmetrical there would be a set of ready made hand-holds....
There were.
Retief dug in and the Flap-jack writhed, pulled away. Retief held on, scrambled to his feet, threw his weight against the alien and fell on top of him, still gouging. Hoshick rippled his fringe wildly, flopped in terror, then went limp.
Retief relaxed, released his hold and got to his feet, breathing hard. Hoshick humped himself over onto his ventral side, lifted and moved gingerly over to the sidelines. His retainers came forward, assisted him into his trappings, strapped on the translator. He sighed heavily, adjusted the volume.
"There is much to be said for the old system," he said. "What a burden one's sportsmanship places on one at times."
"Great sport, wasn't it?" said Retief. "Now, I know you'll be eager to continue. If you'll just wait while I run back and fetch some of our gougerforms—"