"As though they weren't obvious," he snorted, beginning to wave his arms again. "First, your trick of throwing the emerald, the Princess was so kind to honor you with, into the midst of the others and thus diverting the strife from yourself. This was an act of—"
"Strategy," I interrupted him. "The custom is to be found in Terran history. An old maxim of the Sioux Indians was 'Divide and Conquer.' That's what I did. I got my opponents to fighting among themselves so that I could defeat them easier."
"The Romans, not the Sioux Indians," Alger muttered.
"Then you mean that this was actually a maxim of Terra?" the judge said in surprise. I could see the other judges and diplomats, including those from earth, were as shocked as the Martian.
"Well, yes," Suzi told him. "Of course, they usually didn't use quite the method that Jak did...."
The judge snorted again. "Be that as it may, I don't see how Demsi can justify his fleeing before the Calypso gladiators like a common coward. Meet rules are that each gladiator must fight any who oppose him."
Suzi shot a worried look at me.
"Right in accord with Terran history and custom," I said decisively. "For one thing, it was always a basic rule with a Terran general to choose the battlefield where the fight was to be joined. It was considered a major advantage. Another maxim was, 'Git there fustest, with the mostest.' I merely ran to the ground that best suited me, and then, when the Calypso Dwoorfs were no longer the mostest, I fought them one at a time."
The judge raised his eyes questioningly at Alger and was rewarded with a gruding nod.