Dave. I'll try to be quiet about it."

"Yes, sir." Dave went back to work, grateful that the injuries, bad as
they were, were limited to the Ranger's upper body. If Tarlac had been
beaten all over with the poisoned whip, he probably wouldn't have
survived the night. This way, he had a chance of lasting until he could
get real medical help. Not much of a chance, Dave thought grimly as he
began cleaning his patient's eyes, but a chance. "There," he said at
last. "You should be able to open them now."

Tarlac did manage, though it took most of his strength. His vision was
blurred at first, but blinking soon cleared it enough for him to see
the strain in his rescuer's face. Well, he probably wasn't looking too
good himself, he thought--and that stink! "What's the smell?"

Dave grimaced, pulling a clean blanket up over Tarlac's shoulders.
"Stingweed poison, sort of. You don't want to see what it looks like."
He shrugged. "It does have one advantage, though. It'll heep animals
away, so that's one thing we won't have to worry about."

"I can certainly understand that," Tarlac said dryly. "I'd certainly
keep my distance from a prospective dinner that smelled this bad."

Dave managed a slight smile. "So would I, actually. Especially since
it's probably the only thing that'll keep away any owner of a cave this
nice." He hesitated, then decided he might as well go on; they were in
no position to worry about luxuries like privacy. "The medikit
instructions say the poison may not let you go to the bathroom--but you
should try, if it feels like you have to."

"I don't." Tarlac thanked the impulse that had led him to go on a
low-residue diet over the last week, though he was less grateful for the
rebels' refusal to give him a drink of water.

"It says you should try to drink, at least, and eat if you can--do you
want to try sitting up?"

"Yeah." Tarlac made the effort, groaning, but he needed Dave's help,
and was gasping by the time he was propped semi-erect. He was too weak
and dizzy to hold the cup Dave offered him, and had trouble forcing a
couple of swallows down a throat that felt raw and swollen. He winced
at the pain, but made himself drink more. Whether his kidneys had quit
functioning or not, he knew he'd lost blood and was feverish; he
couldn't afford to let himself get dehydrated, too.

Food was out of the question, though, he discovered when Dave tried to
feed him some stew made out of surviva