“This is a sort of elementary physics lab,” Leoh called out to him. ‘*While none of the objects here are really weapons, many of them can be dangerous if you know how to use them. Or if you don’t know.”
Ponte began to object, ‘This is unreasonable….”
“Not realty,” Leoh said pleasantly. “You’ll find that the equipment is spread around the room to form a sort of maze. Your job is to get through the maze to this platform, and to find something to use as a weapon on me. Now, there are traps in the maze. You’ll have to avoid them. And this platform is really a turntable … but we’ll talk about that later.”
Ponte looked around. “You are foolish.”
“Perhaps.”
The Acquatainian took a few steps to his right and lifted a slender metal rod. Hefting it in his hand, he started toward Leoh.
“That’s a lever,” the Professor said. “Of course, you can use it as a club if you wish.”
A tangle of ropes stood in Ponte’s way. Instead of detouring around them, he pushed his way through.
Leoh shook his head and touched a button on his control box. “A mistake, I’m afraid.”
The ropes—a pulley, actually—jerked into motion and heaved me flooring under Ponte’s feet upward. The Acquatainian toppled to his hands and knees and found himself on a platform suddenly ten meters in the air. Dropping the lever, he began grabbing at the ropes. One f them swung free and he jumped at it, curling his arms and legs around it.
“Pendulum,” Leoh called to him. “Watch your….”
Ponte’s rope, with him on it, swung out a little way, then swung back again toward the mid-air platform. He cracked his head nastily on the platform’s edge, let go of the rope, and thudded to the floor.