The door swung open and inside the tiny, leaded shielded compartment the little creature occupying it looked up at me fearfully.
I grasped it by the scruff of the neck and hoisted it out of its seat. The "Centaurian Gladiator" had stopped completely now.
I dropped to the ground and tossed the thing before me. It was about the size of, and looked considerably like a small Terran pig. It was pink, fat, and, as Suzi said later, cute. Right now I didn't appreciate its cuteness.
"Please," it squealed, "don't touch me. I can't bear being hurt!"
I kicked it where its hams would have been had it really been a pig. It squealed again and started out, hampered in its speed by its fat, running across the arena with me after it, giving it kert with the toe of my boot.
It dashed for the helicopter and I gave it one last kick as it scampered for the craft's door so that it flew the last four feet. In the background I could hear the crowd roaring like thunder.
In seconds, the helicopter had taken off and returned to the spaceship above. It was swallowed up and the Centaurian ship blasted off and away. Evidently, it wasn't waiting to see what the Solar System fleet would do when the farce was made known.
I turned, and for a moment stared at the robot the Centaurian had occupied. Then my injuries and fatigue caught up with me. The fog rolled in and I slumped to the arena sands.
I explained later in the hospital room to the diplomats, the I.V.S. reporters, and the others. And I made the explanation as short as possible.