        Books it was, then.  At least those wouldn’t be damaged by any sort of radiation.  Furthermore, they didn’t have batteries to run down, and they would be relatively unaffected by the damp.  He could give them to the aliens, and they could take them back to their ship, to study at their leisure.  It might even be a more tempting prize than him, since they would be able to learn far more information from a book than he could ever provide.