To say he didn't sleep well was an understatement. There was, of course, that one rock in the middle of his back. That rock had followed him all over the twelve worlds, across the universe and back again and, frankly, it needed to go away. He woke several times in the night to Rene coughing, and at one point he just got too warm and had to push her away as he sweated buckets. Then he woke again in a panic when she wasn't there on his chest, reaching for her and pulling her to him. Added to it all was the headache that was building in his temples and a strange tickle in his throat that was getting more painful by the moment. He tried to block all that out and get back to sleep, but once he seemed to finally fall all the way under, he was being woken by a kick to his boot. He startled to find he was alone, and for a moment was a bit disoriented in the dark.

"Starbuck, it's morning. I need some help here." It was Jake's voice that brought him back to the present. He sat up immediately looking for Rene, and became alarmed she wasn't beside him. He started to his feet. Jake reached out a hand to help him up.

"Relax, she's outside doing a bit of recon with Apollo. Max has an eye on them. We need to find some antibiotics, and fast. Boomer's not doing well."

"I'm okay," Boomer mumbled from by the fire, but his words were slurred like he was drunk. "I can walk."

Starbuck could read the truth on Jake's face in the dim light of the cavern. "How bad?"

Jake's answer was to pull the bio monitor out and begin waving it over Starbuck. He reached out to push it away. "I'm fine. How bad is Boomer?" Starbuck asked exasperated. Med Techs were all the same: they never had straight answers and were more concerned with the monitor than with the person.

Jake shook his head as he read the readout. "Rene's warm. So are you. I'm thinking that swim wasn't a good idea."

"Boomer would probably disagree."

But Jake shook his head before he whispered, "Might be the death of him. We need antibiotics. He's not responding to the Clindion or the Piptazz in the medkit hypospray. I got the other med kits from Avery's men, but they already took out most of the antibiotics for their own people. If we don't find some Vancon fast…" He just shook his head.

"Vancon?"

"I tested a sample of the bacteria growing in Boomer's leg. It's susceptible to Vancon."

"And we didn't know this yesterday?" Starbuck asked.

"No, it takes twelve centars to get a definitive result with the ACS."

"ACS?" Why did he have to ask?

"Accelerated Culture and Sensitivity," Jake replied. "Imagine there was a time when they had to wait three days for these kinds of results."

"Okay, let me take care of a problem and then what do you need me to do?"

"I need to clean out the wound again. Need you to hold him. He's not quite with it," Jake answered. "The turboflush is the great outdoors, come back with some water." Jake shoved a metal pot into his hands.

"Yeah, the problem is that here the great outdoors is also a turboflush," Starbuck replied, grimacing at what Jake needed him to do. Oh getting water wouldn't be the problem, but holding his friend down while he groaned in pain wasn't high on his list of fun things to do first thing in the morning. He took a look around the cavern and saw that most of the men were either still sleeping, or working on devouring what was left of the food. He didn't see Avery. "We don't have any sterile cleaner left?"

"No, but if you can get me water I can add Suprachloron Tabs to purify it. It kills micro-organisms."

"How does it taste?"

"Like felgercarb, that's why we're better off boiling our drinking water like Avery and his men do. Besides, I don't want to waste them."

"I'll be right back," Starbuck said and headed for the entrance to the mine. He came around the corner of the dim cave tunnel into bright daylight. The sun was still behind the clouds looking like a big maroon ball in the sky just over the horizon. The red of the clouds was not a color he remembered from a Caprican sunrise. He couldn't help but notice the similarity between the sun and the red eye of a centurion. He could almost hear the drone. If the sun started sweeping across the sky, he was going to take a shot at it.

Max was sitting on a rock outside the entrance, looking at the ridge in front of him. "Morning."

"Where are they?" Starbuck asked trying to get his eyes to adjust to the light.

"The clothes were a good idea. They blend right in, but I've had my eye on them," Max said as he pointed to the top of the ridge. After some searching, Starbuck spotted Apollo's darker hair on the top of the ridge, but could see nothing of Rene. "Avery says they block the thermal signature as well so almost Cylon proof, almost. He headed up the ridge behind us, not sure why, but he said we shouldn't leave."

Starbuck debated hiking up the hill to Rene and Apollo, or at least trading places with Max. Despite the yahrens of dating a med tech working on being a doctor, he didn't like the sight of blood and bone. Made him sick, but his friend needed him. He took care of nature's call and filled the pot from the spring that bubbled up from the ground and became a small creek. He told Max to not take his eyes off them, and headed back in to help Jake.

The wound was already unwrapped and exposed, and the foul odor assaulted the senses as it filled the cavern. Boomer was groaning loudly in pain and Starbuck almost joined in as he saw the purple blotchiness covered in dark blisters, the skin swollen and taut around the gaping wound that poured out some foul liquid. Skin was peeling from the edges of the wound, where the saturated dressings had rotted away at healthy tissue like some kind of acid. "Sagan sakes," he muttered, bile rising in his throat.

"The Suprachloron's over there. Add two to the water you brought." Jake didn't take his attention away from his work.

"Where's the rest of our water?" Starbuck asked and Jake pointed to the three bottles near him.

"We didn't think we'd be here long. We didn't know we'd need this much. Next mission I'm bringing a full pack of it."

Starbuck wanted to tell Jake to save it for Rene, but if she was off taking a morning hike she was probably fine. It was Boomer who was in more need right now. His friend's face looked ashen and gray in the dim light.

"Can you hold him?" Jake gave him a look, reading right through to Starbuck's trepidation.

Starbuck swallowed down his own squeamishness and nodded, reaching for the hypospray. He gave Boomer a dose of pain killer, not even checking with Jake first. The young man merely nodded his approval as Starbuck gripped Boomer's leg, holding it still. The lieutenant was solid muscle, and there was no way that he could hold the warrior down, unless he was cooperating. "Okay Boomer, I'd rather not have to sit on you."

"That makes two of us," Boomer replied, his voice raspy.

"Let's get this over with then, okay?"

"You aren't going to beat me this match," Boomer said up to him, his eyes bright and his face flushed even darker with fever.

"What match would that be?" Starbuck asked wondering what his friend was talking about.

"Triad," he slurred. "You don't have the capstone this time, and get that damn smoke out of my face." Boomer cried out in pain and Starbuck grimaced.

"Can you hurry it up?" he asked Jake, but the young man didn't answer him, just focussing on the task. Methodically, he again irrigated the wound and then packed and dressed it. Weirdly, it seemed like there should be more blood for it to hurt so much. But it was infection eating Boomer's leg alive, nothing else. It seemed to take forever before he was done and Boomer was wringing wet with sweat. Starbuck felt like a bit of a wuss for doing it, but he had to get some fresh air after the experience, mumbling to Jake he needed to check on Rene and Apollo.

He found himself taking big gulps of air to calm his stomach once he was outside. He didn't care how tainted the air might be, it was better than the smell of that cavern.

"They're almost down," Max said giving Starbuck a sympathetic look. "I couldn't take it either. Apollo thinks he knows where we can find what we need. He just needed to see if it was still there. The hospitals aren't."

Apollo and Rene emerged from the brush, both dressed in the hunting sweaters Avery had supplied. Rene's nearly hung down to her knees. They crossed the bottom of the ravine to them, but about midway, Rene leaned over, hands on her knees. Starbuck knew what that position meant and he sprinted off to her side reaching her just as the contents of her stomach spilled to the ground. He reached a hand to her shoulder, holding her up, and brushing her hair out of the way as she retched. Apollo had also paused, waiting on Rene to finish. Starbuck wished he had a cool wet cloth on him for her face, like he always did back on the Galactica. All he could offer was a hand back up as she wiped at her mouth with her sleeve.

"That the first time since getting to Caprica?" he asked. She nodded looking to him with eyes that were bright, much like Boomer's. "Been more than a couple of sectons since you were done with the nausea," he said mostly for Apollo's benefit. He reached out a hand to her forehead, but she backed away before he could make contact.

"I'm fine. Just moved too fast and haven't eaten yet. We found what we need, at least we hope we have." She nodded at Apollo. "I guess being from a good family has more than a few advantages."

He looked to Apollo, confused at the comment. "So what does having mighty fine parents have to do with getting us some medications and off this rock?"

"Well," Apollo answered not hiding his smile. "Not my own mother mind you, she always believed in being more natural in her beauty, but many of her friends had some work done. I think we can find some good antibiotics there, as that was part of the regimen."

"Work? Regimen?"

"Plastic surgery, Bucko. Facelifts, tummy tucks and, well, the rest. There's a clinic they all talked about in our neighborhood. Not good for business when your clients get infections, so I'm pretty sure they loaded them up with lots of antibiotics before sending them on their way. The Cylons didn't think to hit that building, since it looks more like a residence than a clinic, and I'm thinking most of the survivors wouldn't know about it. They don't strike me as the privileged class."

"No, they don't. Their necks are a bit red if you ask me. So about how far you think it is? Are we going to have to hike that seven metrons again?"

"Yes, but at least it's downhill for half the trip," Apollo quipped.

"And uphill for the other half. All joking aside, he's not looking good. We should get going."

"Let me go grab a pack and some extra lasers," Rene said starting to head for the opening of the mine, but Starbuck grabbed her arm.

"No, you're staying here. Jake might need you."

She shook her head at him. "I'm not your old girl friend, the med tech. I can't help him and you'll need some back up. Plus, if you get company, you're going to need a guide through the underground. I'm coming."

She made to move away but he held on. "Max can come with us. You're staying."

"Starbuck, Max was on the Zakar. He's not a rat. You will need me." She met his eyes, but he looked away not happy with how this day was going, almost worse than yesterday.

"Starbuck, we talked about this," Apollo reached out a hand to his shoulder. "Too many emotions. She knows what she's doing. She can get us in an out faster without detection. We can't take Jake because Boomer will need him. Max should probably come with us too."

"I'm just pregnant, Starbuck, I'm not an invalid," Rene added to the argument.

"Jake says she's running a fever," Starbuck spoke to Apollo knowing he couldn't reason with Rene.

"I know, and he told me you are probably running one too. So I should leave you here as well," Apollo answered.

"NO, that's not what I meant!" He let go of Rene's arm and kicked at a rock ,sending it flying. "Fine, fine, only shouldn't we be looking for a raider and getting the frack out of here?"

"Second on the list, my friend, but I'd rather take Boomer back alive, and Jake seems to think time is wasting. If we can't get the meds in time, he's talking amputation."

Starbuck felt like he was the one who needed to vomit. With a laser scalpel, it was possible, probably faster with a blaster, and he did not want to find out the answer to that dilemma today. "Alright, let's go. You need some food," he pointed to Rene, "and you follow orders, got it?"

"You don't outrank me, husband, but for Boomer's sake I'll pretend to listen."

Starbuck wasn't in the mood for the humor, not after holding down his friend screaming in pain. "Apollo, make her do what she's told!"

"I'm not the one who married her, Bucko. Rene, he's right, get some food and some to go. We leave in two centons."

Rene had already headed off to the cavern and Starbuck followed. They packed up just one pack with food and water. Starbuck was tossed a hunter's sweater by Max who had donned one as well. Starbuck pulled it on, then he reached down to one of the packs and dug out a protein bar making sure that Rene took it and consumed it before they headed out.

"Sit tight," he said to Jake as he looked down to his friend, mumbling incoherently in his fevered state.

"Don't take too long. I like him." Jake's eyes were on Rene as he flashed a hand sign that Starbuck had yet to interpret, the hand up, two middle fingers down, thumb extended. They didn't use it often, and when they did it was a fast flash usually followed by a nod of the head. This time Rene flashed it back.

Starbuck took the pack and they headed out. He was about to ask about the hand sign, when Avery's voice called out, "Where you think you're going?" He was perched above the entrance to the mine shaft.