He got the first one as it started down the ladder with its back to him. He just threw an arm around its helmet and pulled until he heard a snap.
Then he went up the ladder to get at the second one. He hit it, watched it spin across the chamber, crunch against the bulkhead, and collapse.
Now a third one darted away from a bank of levers and tried to reach the spiral stairs, rising to the next level. It wore no suit and its thin body made him think of some horrible creeping plant. He leapt for it, clutched the skinny neck with one hand, and squeezed.
He rushed to the bank of levers, then, and pushed one after another until he heard the scraping of the lower trap-door and the hiss of escaping air.
When he climbed to the upper levels, all the beings were dead except two. He found a short piece of metal and hit them both on the head.
And now his side had begun to ache and he felt bruised and shaky and very weary. He must get back to town ... tell them what he'd done ... bring them to look....
But he should take something back with him to prove the ship was there. He noticed a bright piece of metal sunk into the bulkhead. It was covered with symbols ... a sort of nameplate.
Grasping it with the thin, flat part of two hands, he braced himself against the bulkhead with his other two hands and ripped it loose.
On the way back, he memorized the shape of the symbols. He might want to draw them sometime to show off:
Taggert Steel Company, Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.A.