In contrast, the next few hours will live forever in Cal's mind. He came to complete awareness when he realized that he did not know his next move.
"Tinker?" he asked softly.
"Here ... and still going," she said. "Ready?"
Cal swallowed deep. "Yes," he said hoarsely.
"In that case over there ... see it? Take an ampule of local—it's labeled Neo-croalaminol-opium, ten percent. Get a needle and put three cubic centimeters of it into space between the sixth and seventh cervical vertebra. Go in between four and five millimeters below the surface of the bone. Can do?"
"I ... I can't."
"You must! How I wish we had a duplicator."
Cal shuddered. "Never."
"Well, I could show you how it's done on the duplicate, and then the duplicate could fix me up."
Cal gritted his teeth, "And which one would I dispose of? No, Tinker. It's bad enough this way!"