He swam to the steps, climbed out. There was a faint odor of putrefaction in the air.
Tabak said: "These rooms are the laboratories. There are other entrances; but they're all guarded by Nehogans."
He frowned. "What was it you wanted me to see?"
"This way," she said and led him through dissecting tables, past shelves of fantastic creatures preserved in some liquid, and into a small office-like room at the side.
Spread out on a shelf were the contents of Jupiter's pack: the medicine chest, emergency rations, spare ammunition, testing apparatus, prospecting tools, his light carbine, the electroscope and geiger counter. It was all there.
Tabak's violet-blue eyes glittered with excitement.
"There are your weapons, Wanderer-from-Beyond! Now you can drive the Anolyn back into the sea!"
Jupiter's face didn't betray his consternation. The carbine was pitifully inadequate. In fact, so long as the horrible little parasite was fastened to his spinal cord, he knew that he would be incapable of using it against the Anolyn.
If he could only rid himself of the parasite, though, and get to his ship with even a chunk of that idol....
He narrowed his eyes as a new thought struck him.