okay. Dave started to leave the tent, but it occurred to him
that it would look better if he took Theo's gun.

He did so, slipping the heavy disruptor pistol into his belt. He knew
how to use it; his mother had been an Imperial Marine, and had made
sure her husband and children knew how to handle all the weapons she'd
been trained on. He checked to be sure the area was clear, then left
the tent. Everyone seemed to be near the main fire at the center of
camp, but he kept to cover anyway. He knew he should leave without
stopping for anything, but he couldn't. Not with a Ranger being
hurt . . .

The cries of pain were weaker, and as Dave made his way toward the
fire, he found himself hoping the Ranger would pass out. He was
getting too close to stay on the ground, though; he climbed one of the
trees that ringed the campfire and made his way along a limb until he
could see what was going on through the leaves.

Almost immediately he ducked back, half-sick and not wanting to believe
what he'd seen. He'd known it would be bad, the sounds hadn't left any
doubt of that--but knowing didn't make it any easier to watch an
Imperial Ranger being beaten, maybe to death. Dave's first impulse was
to start shooting, but even as he reached for the disruptor in his belt
he realized that would do more harm than good. Firing into the rebels
would just get him recaptured, maybe killed, and that wouldn't do
either him or the Ranger any good. There were too many rebels, and it
looked like they were all mean-drunk.

Where in Chaos were the Marines? Dave thought desperately. They should
be here, stopping this! In the holos, they always came to the rescue--but
in his mother's stories, they were sometimes too late. He inched
forward again, horrified fascination making it impossible for him to
look away. The Ranger's cries had subsided to moans, his body jerking
at every impact of the whip the rebels were taking turns using on him.
After what seemed like hours, even the moans ceased, and he hung limp
in his bonds.

With the entertainment over, the rebels lost interest in their
prisoner, and the ones who hadn't already been overcome by the
refreshments wandered away, too drunk--or, Dave thought bitterly, too
confident of the Ranger's helplessness--to bother posting guards. He
descended from his perch, careful not to lose the disruptor. He didn't
dare use it now, it was too noisy, but it could come in handy later.
Right now what