"All's well so far," I told him. "We don't need to worry about the
slight burns from a guard beam. They're hard ultra-violet. They won't
even touch an Earthman, except after long exposure, and they won't
disable a Damakoi very long."
"This is worse than that," Ned said. "His leg is pretty badly
blistered, and he's unconscious. The doctor says they're definitely
guard beam burns, all right, so we don't have to worry about hard
radiation." He spread his hands. "The thing is, the doctor says we
can't move him."
I think I must have stood there for a full thirty seconds, saying
nothing. The last little piece of the puzzle had fallen into place.