Walman pocketed his coin and glanced sideways at Julia. They were both watching Danziger as he cautiously approached the Koba's den.

"I guess you could say this has been my lucky day." When she didn't answer him, he continued, "I keep thinking, if Alonzo hadn't taken the ATV, it could have been me they fed to that thing." He saw her jaw tighten. "No one would have even missed me until I didn't report in. That wouldn't have been till tomorrow. By then....man, I don't even want to think about it."

"Then, I suggest you keep thinking about how fortunate you've been. I'm sure it will make you feel better if Danziger doesn't come back with enough venom and you have to go for the rest."

Walman grew suddenly quiet and began watching the mechanic's progress with renewed interest.

ooo

Danziger glanced under the rock and saw two large eyes looking back at him. "I guess you wouldn't want to shake hands and let me rip your nails off, would you?"

The rodent hissed at him.

"I didn't think so."

He took a stick and poked at it, backing it deeper into the hole. "Come on, I don't want to hurt you and I'm sure you don't want to hurt me. Just sink a couple of those claws into this piece of wood and we'll call it a day."

He jumped as he was stabbed by a burning pain in his rear. His hand whipped around, landing on a claw that stuck in his thigh. Glancing back, he saw a koba watching him. It must have come out another exit to attack him from behind.

"Of all the dirty tricks..." he began. His vision began to swim as he staggered forward, reaching for it.

It flicked another dart, hitting him in the arm before it scurried off. He felt the sting and the last thing he remembered was the ground rushing up to meet him.

Julia saw Danziger stagger and fall. She grabbed Walman's arm, pulling him with her as she rushed toward the mechanic.

"I knew he could do it, Julia. Look, he got two. That's enough isn't it?"

"I don't know. Stay with him while I try it out. If you can, keep the kobas in sight but don't get stung. I'll need your help to get him and Alonzo into the Rail."

"Julia, be careful around that thing." Walman warned. "It might feel like dessert."

ooo

Julia studied the claws carefully as she approached the writhing mass. The tip was barbed at the end, the venom stored in the hollow body of the nail. Once the nail was lodged, any attempt to remove it opened a passage between the two, allowing the poison to flow freely.

She decided to begin her attack where Danziger's knife had created a small tear. Amber fluid dribbled from the rent. She jabbed the claw into the wound then pulled back, the barb hooked into the tissue, sticking until a stronger tug tore it free. The reaction she hoped for was instantaneous. The tentacle shook violently, spasms traveling down its winding coils. Within seconds, the member lost its hold and dropped limply to the ground. She tried again, this time on a spot where the surface was solid. The point bit into the tough outer layer. This time the reaction was slower, but the outcome was the same.

"Walman, it's working. Put Danziger in the Rail and get over here. Bring all the water you can carry."

ooo

Walman stood silently at Julia's side, following her orders while she worked to free the pilot. She noticed a stick had been wedged into the bands at one point. A closer examination led the doctor to the reason Alonzo was still alive. She reasoned that the small air passage created by the break must run close to his nose or mouth. With a point of reference, she set her sight on widening the passage. As Julia worked, Walman was hard pressed to keep them both free from the feelers and tentacles which reached for them. Julia entrusted her safety to him, completely ignoring the plant's hostile intent as she unwrapped the stunned upper layer.

Gradually, the toxin began to still whole sections of the organism. Walman jumped as a portion came loose and fell to dangle beside him. Looking up, he saw Julia had freed the pilot's head and was holding it in her hands. Walman almost gagged. Alonzo's face was red and swollen, the surface caked with blood and mucus the consistency of Grendler drool.

"Oh my God, Julia," the crewman groaned, turning his face away.

"It's all right," she tried to reassure him. "I just tested the pH level. The reading is much higher than I expected. It must use a more concentrated level for defensive purposes. That was what we were exposed to. Alonzo? Can you hear me?"

The pilot's head rolled loosely in her hands.

"Alonzo, it's Julia. We're freeing you as fast as we can. Please, don't give up. I promise, you're going to be all right."

After aspirating his nose and mouth, Julia soaked Alonzo's head with water, concentrating on his eyes. The corners and lashes were heavily encrusted. Her fingers dug out the slime which had worked its way into his ears, nose and mouth, wiping her hands against her pants to remove the discharge. Walman fed her their supply of water but kept his face averted the whole time.

"He's struggling to breathe. It's still exerting too much pressure on his chest. We have to get the rest of it off him now."

Julia lowered the pilot's head gently, hearing the rumbling wheeze of each labored breath.

Together, they tore into the twisted mass with a renewed fury. They were splattered and burnt with acid but Julia worked with a total disregard for herself. As for Walman, he was not about to let her show him up. Only when she stopped, did he also step back to survey the area they had opened down the center of the mass. There seemed to be some relief of the pressure against the pilot's chest as his breathing eased. As his head pitched forward, he groaned weakly.

Julia took a deep breath and pushed her way through the tangled vines that still enclosed him.

Like a faithful hound, Walman followed her lead and peered in. "What are you
doing?"

Her open palm reached out from the cavity she had all but disappeared into. "I think I can free him, but I need your knife. His arms are tied."

"I'll do it. You hold on to him."

Walman reached over her. His skin crawled as he reached into the mess, but he felt his way to the ropes that bound the pilot and cut him free. Alonzo slumped into Julia's arms. His weight caught her off guard and she fell back into Walman. The crewman staggered under the impact but managed to support them both until they could lower the pilot to the ground.

Julia dropped to her knees and began a quick examination. Beginning with Alonzo's head, her fingers picked through his blood-soaked hair until she found the gaping wound in his scalp. Then, she worked her way down his body, rattling off her diagnosis as she probed and analyzed his injuries. Walman hoped she was talking to herself out of habit and not to him since he didn't understand most of what she said.

Alonzo looked in bad shape. In one way, he reminded Walman of the way a baby looks just after birth: blotched, mucus-covered and blood-spattered right down to the cords still attached to his abdomen. These tentacles maintained their hold despite the fact that they had been torn loose from the main grouping when Alonzo fell.

Walman removed one with effort and saw the pink, fleshy, underside fold into itself. "Julia, what's it doing?"

She looked up, glancing at it for a second. "My guess is, that it's retracting its stomach."

Walman swallowed back bile. "This keeps getting worse and worse. No wonder that kid with the Elder's group said the surface wasn't safe to live on. I wonder how many times we came close to camping next to one of these things?"

"Right now, I'm more concerned with damage it's already done. I need more water to neutralize the acid on his body."

He handed her a jug and warned, "This is all that's left."

"Are you sure? You checked both vehicles? Walman, this doesn't even come close to ..." Sitting back on her heels, she wiped her hands on her pants then donned her gear. "Morgan, I need to know the closest source of water." She listened to his directions. "That's it. Are you sure? All right. I'll contact you later when we head back." She signed off and told Walman, "Morgan says there is a creek about 3 miles from here. I need to rinse Alonzo's body as soon as possible."

"Let's get going then. I'll carry him."

Julia leaned close to the pilot. "Alonzo, can you hear me? We have to move you."

His hand, rigid with pain, groped for hers. Through swollen, blistered lips he tried to speak. She bent as close as possible to listen. Barely a whisper, his words shook her composure.

Walman only caught a glimpse of her reaction before the professional mask slipped into place. It was this plastic face that turned to him.

"I'm going to sedate him as much as I dare. Can you carry him?" At Walman's nod, she bent and pressed the sedi-derm against Alonzo's neck.

The big blond grunted as he lifted his injured friend and headed toward the Rail. Julia followed anxiously at his side, constantly checking her patient.

"The creek is in a direction that will take us from camp. I'll drive the Rail, I want to be close to Alonzo." she told him as they approached the Rail. She stopped, staring. "Where's...?"

"We released him."

"Oh." She sounded disappointed.

"It was him. He was the one who was bragging about what he did to Alonzo."

"I know. I recognized his voice from the transmission we overheard," she said sadly.

"You noticed that too, huh? Well, we replayed it for him, so he knew we knew he was lying. He got real arrogant right before he died."

"He died?"

"Yea, kind of sudden like. Danziger said you didn't expect him to make it."

"Yes, that's right. I did tell him that."

"He wanted us to let him go, so we did."

Julia understood now why Danziger had let the slower ATV go first.

Walman lowered the pilot into the back seat of the DuneRail. He began to strap him in when Alonzo began to thrash wildly, hitting the other man with his arms. The pilot screamed in agony as he did more damage to himself than to the stunned crewmen.

"What's wrong with him? I swear I didn't hurt him."

"It's okay, Walman." On a hunch, she intervened, taking a few blows before she managed to remove the restraints. Released from the bonds, the pilot calmed.

"You drive. I'll stay back here with him."

The Rail took off with Walman driving, Danziger strapped to the front seat, and Julia with Alonzo in the back. The doctor talked softly to the pilot, stroking his hair. She was thankful that he didn't dream, this way the nightmares would only haunt his days.

The drive was arduous, the Rail bouncing and swaying over the rough terrain as Walman had picked the 'shortest distance between two points' route. Julia divided her time between patients. When Alonzo quieted, she checked on Danziger. While his vital signs were nonexistent, Julia knew from experience that this meant nothing. Broderick O'Neill and Morgan Martin had shown similar readings, but they both had recovered. Neither had been stung twice, however, and she knew her conscience would not rest easy until Danziger recovered with no ill effects.

Alonzo's moans sent her back to the pilot's side as they were jolted about. She scanned him for what seemed the hundredth time. The diaglove flashed its factual diagnosis of shock, loss of plasma due to damaged blood vessels, and a possible hair-line skull fracture but she looked past the scrolling data to the more graphic evidence of his condition. Equipment couldn't measure the pain he was experiencing or the mental damage caused by such an ordeal.

The Rail skidded to a stop before a brook of clear running water. Walman jumped out. Following Julia's instructions, he gathered the pilot from the back seat and carried him into the water. For want of a better method, he just sat down with the pilot draped across his lap in the knee-deep current. Julia knelt beside them and began to rinse the sticky residue from the pilot's body. He watched the doctor work, so totally absorbed that everything around her, except for Alonzo, had ceased to exist.

The water stung the burns on Walman hands so he wasn't surprised when the pilot began to resist when the water closed over him. Slippery as a fish, he groaned and twisted away as Julia began to flush his injuries. Walman watched with growing interest as she worked on Alonzo's body using a dexterity that required a delicate mixture of strength and gentleness.

Where their bodies blocked the flow of current, a film soon developed on the water's surface. It spread, catching the sun in a burst of rainbow colors as the oils and digestive fluids broke loose and floated away.

Walman found his attention divided between what Julia was doing and the growing transparency of her clothing. As the material absorbed water, it began to cling seductively to the mounds and curves of her figure. Feeling like a voyeur, he began to squirm under the pilot's weight.

"Are you stiff?"

"Wha..What?" He colored, thinking somehow she had read his thoughts.

"Are you uncomfortable from sitting so long in that position?"

"A little. How much longer?"

"Not too much. I want to dry and bandage him before we head back. I'm counting on you to get us to camp in record time."

Silently, the doctor worried about the trade off she was making. While the water neutralized the acid, it robbed Alonzo's body of heat. Weeping blisters took fluid that needed to be replaced. Hypothermia and shock were real possibilities if she wasn't careful.

Aside from first and second degree burns, Alonzo had a serious head wound plus numerous cuts and abrasions on the front of his body. Julia figured they must have struck him down with a blow to the head. After he was stripped, they dragged him, imbedding dirt into his tattered flesh. Infection was sure to set in. Mentally, the doctor began to prepare herself for a battle that would be waged on many fronts.

"Alonzo?" Julia cupped the pilot's face in her hands and he began to hyperventilate.

He was suffocating. The pressure squeezing the life from him. Tentacles wrapped his face as his body burned in liquid fire. He gasped for air, struggling, as he felt the monster grasp tighten.

"Hold him!"

The pilot's arm shot out and broke Walman's nose along with his hold. Alonzo rolled free and struggled to stand in the current. Julia was there to catch him and cushion his fall, only to be pinned underwater when he came down on top of her.

The water was too shallow to soften the impact and the full brunt of his weight drove the air from her lungs as she hit bottom. Gasping, she inhaled and began to choke. Darkness crowded Julia's blurred vision of the surface, with its life-giving air just a foot or so away.

In a desperate bid to free herself, the doctor struggled under the pilot, pushing against his chest with her arms. There was no gentleness in the hands that wrapped around her throat. Lack of oxygen robbed her of strength as her hands fluttered weakly against the thick veined muscle.

Just as the darkness closed in, the pressure disappeared. Someone reached down to pull her upright. Julia's streaming face broke the surface. She choked, fighting for air, spasms racked her throat, purging the fluid she inhaled.

When she regained her senses, the young woman wiped away her tear-clouded vision for a better focus of her rescuer. Walman's bloody face looked back with concern and she felt him release his grip on her. His other arm encircled Alonzo. The pilot lay slumped against him in an upright position.

"U 'kay?" her crewman asked, sounding rather nasal.

"I think so." The doctor felt her bruised throat. "How about you?" Julia had noticed the damage to the big blonde's face. Not only was it bleeding, but there was considerable swelling under both eyes. He covered his nose with his hand self-consciously.

"Let me see."

He removed his hand grudgingly. "Es et boke?"

"I'm afraid so. You'll have two black eyes to go with it soon."

"Sht."

"Alonzo? You didn't hit him did you?"

"Noh, 'e judst 'ell ovher. "

"He collapsed? He didn't mean to hurt us, it was just a reaction. He must have thought we were the enemy."

Walman pulled the pilot closer so Julia could examine him.

She spoke softly. "Alonzo, can you hear me?" She noticed his eyes were clenched tightly shut. "Can you open your eyes?" Her finger gently prodded his closed lid.

"Hmmm," he groaned and jerked away from her touch.

She glanced at Walman and saw he looked apprehensive, afraid to tighten his grip and set Alonzo off again. "Okay, okay, easy now. I won't force you. We're not trying to hurt you but your injuries are extensive. We're doing the best we can under the circumstances."

Walman felt tremors of pain shake the other man's body as the pilot reached a burnt, trembling, hand out to touch the young woman's face.

She gently laid her hand against his. "Yes, it's me. It's Julia. You're safe now. I won't let anything happen to you."

His hand shook against hers and she spoke to reassure him, "Alonzo, listen to me. I know you are in pain. I'll do all that I can to take it away. Don't be afraid about your sight. I examined your eyes when I first freed you. There was some inflammation but I couldn't see anything that would cause permanent damage. I flushed your eyes with a sterile saline solution right away, but the corneas may be irritated. Once we get back to camp, I'll do a thorough examination to be sure that's all it is. Right now, I'll need to dress your injuries."

Silently Julia cursed the fact that the first-aid kit's supply of one and one half inch gauze wasn't nearly enough. "Walman will carry you back to the Rail where I'll give you morphine. It should help, but the ride back will be rough so, if it's not enough, tell me and I'll give you a partial pain block. I can't give you too much because of the danger of shock."

She looked for some response that he heard her but there was none. His hand was limp in hers.

To Walman she said, "Can you manage to carry him to the Rail if I help you?"

The big blond hoisted the pilot in one fluid motion. Alonzo yelped in protest.

"Careful you don't hurt him."

Walman gave Julia a dirty look. "Wha 'bout me?"

The doctor ignored the question. She didn't like Alonzo's color or his rapid breathing. They were signs of deepening shock. Walman deposited the pilot on the blanket Julia had laid across the back seat of the Rail. The doctor tore her first-aid kit apart, quickly plotting the best use of her limited resources. First, she pumped him with fluids, then added a dose of Morphine for the pain.

His legs and feet seemed to have suffered the worst burns, second degree, which meant the epidermis and corium layers were both being affected. They would have to be wrapped for protection from the dirt the Rail was sure to kick up. Then she moved to his head, cautiously covering the top with its deep gash and extending the covering over his eyes. Alonzo moaned softly as he drifted in the soft fog of a drug-induced stupor. Finally, she created a small canopy with the blanket around his body. It would provide warmth and protection and yet not touch the sensitive skin. She was thankful that he had remained still through it all.

"Let's go!"

Walman rose stiffly, his face throbbing, and dutifully climbed behind the wheel. Julia had taken her position on the floor beside her patient and was already on gear, rapid-firing orders to Morgan about what needed to be done before their arrival. The vehicle sped off. Walman's aching face protested every bump, rut or pounding jar of the Rail, but he counted himself fortunate. He easily could have ended up in the same ground meat shape as Alonzo or a deathlike state like Danziger, but for some reason fate had been kind to him today. The bone-healer vaccine would have him almost as good as new by tomorrow. It was one of the few drugs Julia had been able to synthesize.

The crewman knew the rest of the medical supplies were dangerously low due to Julia's all out attempt to cure Eben Singh and Devon Adair. Eben had died and Devon lay suspended in cold sleep for want of a diagnosis or cure. The doctor's confidence was as low as her drug inventory and Alonzo's life hung in the balance. With the driver's mind so occupied, the miles rolled past until at last the campsite lay dead ahead.

"It looks like the isolation tent is set up." The doctor leaned forward, holding on the front seat and shading her eyes against the sun's glare as the golden orb dipped close to the horizon. "I hadn't realized how late it was. Pull as close to the Med-Tent as possible." Julia turned back to the pilot and arranged the coverings to protect his privacy.

As the Rail rolled into camp, Morgan ran up, his eyes drinking in the sight of the injured men. "What the hell happened? We waited for you to call. I realize the Rover is slow but there might have been something we could have done."

Before the vehicle slowed to a complete stop, the doctor jumped out. "I'm sorry, there wasn't time. We had to move fast and make split-second decisions. Right now, I need stretchers for Alonzo and Danziger. Alonzo goes to isolation. John to the Med-Tent, he's been stung twice by a Koba."

Morgan paled. "Oh, Lord! How did that happen?"

"It's a long story. Walman will fill you in while I try to stabilize Alonzo. Ask Bess if she will keep an eye on John for me right now. She knows what to do."

The doctor began supervising the careful removal of her injured friends. Danziger was completely limp as Cameron and Baines lifted him from the vehicle and laid him in the net carrier. Julia turned and spotted True watching. The child was frozen in place, her eyes wide and terrified as they looked on her father's death-like countenance.

Julia hurried over and knelt beside her. "True, your dad was stung by a koba. We both know how scary that looks but in a few days he should be fine. Your father did a very brave thing. He got what we needed to save Alonzo. Now, he needs care so I want you and Bess to watch over him until he wakes up, just like you did for Morgan, okay?"

True nodded her tear-stained face and never took her eyes from her dad's still form. Julia caught Bess Martin's eye and the woman came over to take the little girl's hand. Together, Bess and True entered the Med-tent to begin their vigil while Julia entered the isolated area just off the main facility.

A heavy plastic had been draped over the Medical Tent. A portion extended out the back to form a small alcove which was also sealed from the main work area in an attempt to form an aseptic environment. Despite primitive conditions, it worked fairly well. Julia had used it once before when a mysterious virus had infected some of the crew. Now the situation would be reversed as the doctor sought to keep out germs, rather than keep them isolated within the plastic bubble. For privacy, the transparent lining was wrapped in canvas, effectively closing off the world.

Donning a fully enclosed sterile suit, Julia gathered her limited arsenal of diagnostic equipment and medicine before ducking into the room which held the pilot. In this small claustrophobic room, the young doctor would wage a battle against death and despair in which her belief and confidence would be tested in ways she never dreamt possible.

ooo
--end Part 3--