Another punch sent her flying backward into a wall and she collapsed on the floor. As her back hit the hard metal wall she took a sharp intake of air. Yarkindo had started and Triaan was winning. Marlaya had not been trained in self-defence or fighting and was not one for causing pain upon others. Trip was just standing to one side of the room with two Gregtarnans holding him back from going over to help the poor Tarnisian female.

Blood now flowed from her nose. Triaan advanced again. He grabbed her, dragged her onto her feet then punched her round the face again. Her head sharply twisted with the force of the blow and she heavily fell onto the floor, her body all tense from the shock. She was in so much pain that she could hardly move. The cheering from the other crewmen standing round the edge of the room watching the fight rang in her ear, her head throbbing from the pain that she didn't see him advance again. She tried to roll out of the way, but she was too slow and he kicked her in the stomach. Trip shut is eyes tight as he couldn't stand to see her get hurt any longer. All the times he had seen the guards beating her up and now this, it was too much for him to take. Her eyes had begun to cloud over and her vision was blurring, tears had begun to form as the pain was just becoming too much for her to take, she was wishing it would end soon so that she wouldn't have to take anymore of this fight.

During the whole fight Triaan had a smile on his face, but as soon as he kicked her in the stomach the smile vanished from his evil face. There was no fun in fighting an opponent who wouldn't even fight back. He had had enough. He turned away and very quickly left the room. As he stepped through the door he waved his left hand and all the other people followed him out. They locked the door and they could hear the footsteps moving away, echoing down a corridor. Once they had gone Trip moved over to Marlaya and checked for a pulse. She began to cough, as blood was going into her lungs, a very small pool of blood had begun to form on the floor by the corners of her mouth where she lay. Trip helped her to sit up against the wall and did his best to nurse her wounds.

"Thought that was supposed to be a fight to the finish?"

"Triaan gets bored very easily." Her voice was hoarse from the pain. "He doesn't like an opponent that doesn't fight back."

"So you just take the brunt of all that torture?" She slowly nodded, her muscles all tense and in pain.

"I'm not one for fighting. Like I said earlier I wouldn't hurt a fly." Trip saw the blood begin to trickle down her chin and he wiped it away, but more kept trickling down from the corner of her lip. He then noticed the way she was holding her right arm. He took it gently in both his hands and Marlaya's face twisted as she winced in pain. Trip heard her take a sharp intake of air and knew that she was in a lot of pain.

"I'm gonna guess that arm is broken." He paused for a second, then he began to take his jacket off. Marlaya watched him.

"What are you doing?"

"What ever I can to help you." He said. Grabbing one of the arms of his jacket he began to pull, and very soon the arm was off. He then began to wrap it round her arm like a bandage. Suddenly she was in pain again. "Is that too tight?" Malaya shook her head, her face scrunched up.

"No. There's something in the pocket." He unwound the bandage a bit and opened up the pocket. He took out his communicator and put it into one of his trouser pockets. He then finished off the bandage and set to work ripping the other arm off his uniform. He checked the pocket to make sure nothing was in it and then tied it round Marlaya's arm and neck like a sling.

"There." He said sighing as he finished off his work. He leaned back a bit so he could have a better look at his work.

"How is that supposed to help?"

"Well hopefully you'll not put any weight onto the arm and make it any worse if it's like that." Marlaya smiled at him. "I'm afraid I can't do anything about the cracked rib though."

"How can you be so sure it's a cracked rib?"

"I know a cracked rib when I see one. Believe me I've been in situations a lot worse than this."

A couple of hours passed. Marlaya's head was resting against Trip's bare shoulder and she was sleeping. He had his arm round her shoulders to keep her warm and also as a sign of safety while she slept. From the other side of the door Trip heard footsteps. The door opened and light shone on the two figures propped up against the hard cold wall of their cell. Triaan and Jundar entered with several other men. Trip nudged Marlaya and she woke up, having to open and close her eyes several times to let them adjust to the sudden brightness.

"Stand up!" Triaan demanded. Trip began to move and helped his weak, injured friend up. Two men then moved forward and grabbed her dragging her to the side. Trip was about to stop them but thought better of it. "We shall see how well you fare in Yarkindo." Triaan said pointing at the human.