IVTHE SEA THING WAS ALMOST out of the water now, its pseudopods flicking to the bodies of the slain beasts, resting momentarily, then drawing back into the main bulk. Almost instantly, the bodies had been dissolved and assimilated; so fast, indeed, that there was no appreciable interval of time between the flicking of the pseudopod and the assimilation.
“Get in that ship,” Kerry Blane barked. “Get the panel fixed the best you can. Fix up a jury-rig. But fix it so that this ship can move within seconds.”
“But—” Startled knowledge came into Splinter’s eyes.
Kerry Blane twisted at the gun in Splinter’s right hand, tucked it into his belt, pulled at the second. His face was like chiseled stone, and he seemed strangely youthful again.
“No heroics!” he said coldly. “One of us has to get back
