-2- Laying in the Dark

Teela walked up beside her father who was standing outside the room the healers were working. They had done the best they could and had gotten the injured man into a moderately stable condition. Man-at-Arms had since taken up a vigil; standing outside the woman's room with his arms crossed over his chest as they worked to repair her wounds. She had suffered a great deal of internal injuries as well, fortunately not to the extent of her partner. The hour was late when they had been able to start on the woman and now it was very early in the morning. Teela noted her father had lines of worry at the corners of his mouth and across his forehead. He looked very worn to her at that moment. The fact he hadn't even taken time to change from his armor, scorched and dented from the debris when the ship exploded, didn't go unnoticed either. He startled the tiniest bit when she laid her hand on his shoulder, no one else but Teela would have noticed the slight movement.

"Father, it's late. You should get some rest. The healers can notify you if anything happens."

He placed a hand on his daughter's. "I am fine, Teela….." He didn't finish the thought as one of the chief healers came out of the door. Man-at-Arms fixed a questioning look on the healer.

The grey haired woman motioned for them to step across out of the doorway to the far side of the hall. "She is a fighter. I have seen injuries like that kill others. She has a moderate concussion, some nasty burns on her side, her liver was bruised and one of her lungs looked like it might collapse for a while but she is still in far better condition than her shipmate. She's sleeping now. I don't expect her to wake up for a day or two while her body repairs itself."

Man-at-Arms nodded and watched as the healer retreated to finish getting her charge settled. Teela quietly watched her father for a moment. There was something different in the way he was paying attention to these two people. She shook her head and decided that he would tell her when he was ready. The patients being both as well as could be expected, Man-at-Arms turned to his daughter and gave her a tired smile. Putting his arm around her shoulder and pulling her close he began walking towards the direction of their rooms.

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Man-at-Arms stood at his window looking out over the Fertile Plains. He had been standing at the window looking out at the moonlight bathed landscape for sometime now. He knew by this time Teela was surely sound asleep but he couldn't relax enough for sleep. He looked down at the scrap of material in his hand. The woman from the wreck had been holding it clutched in her hand and he had found it as they were driving back to the palace. He held the rough patch in the palm of his hand. He had seen the same thing years ago. He sighed and looked down and studied the red and white stripes.

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Evil-lyn stalked her way down the streets of Eternos now disguised as an old beggar woman. She quietly slipped her way into the back door of the stable of an inn. It certainly wasn't the comforts she was used to but sleeping in a warm hayloft was preferable to sleeping on the streets. As she climbed the ladder into the hay loft she made her plans for the next day. In the morning she would wander the streets listening for gossip on the newcomers to the palace. Once she had a bite of information she would follow the trail to one of the taverns frequented by the off duty guards. Once the drinking ensues she knew she'd be able to glean just about any information she wanted about the palace. She smiled as she lay back in the hay. Yes, tomorrow would be a productive day.

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The first rays of light crept across the ceiling above Man-at-Arms' bed. He had lain down at some point but didn't sleep. He simply stared into the dark at his ceiling and he grazed his thumb over the rough cloth patch in his hand, getting lost in the repetitive movement. Now that morning had broken he rose from the bed and got ready for the day. The first thing he wanted to do was go see how the injured pair from the crash had made it through the night.

He wasn't the only one who had this thought. He had stopped by the man's room first, finding him still unconscious and clinging precariously to life. He nodded to the healer tending him and moved along to check on the woman. He had been standing in the doorway waiting for the healers to finish for only a moment when King Randor's voice came from behind him. "How are our guests, Duncan?"

Man-at-Arms turned to see both the king and queen standing behind him with expectant faces. He glanced back over his shoulder as one of the healers left the room. "The man He-man got out of the ship is still in very bad condition. I haven't checked on the woman yet." The King motioned towards the door for Man-at-Arms to lead the way. Entering the room, they all got their first good look at the young lady. She had a brown hair that seemed to show reddish in spots. Her skin was pale, made more so by her injuries to the point of her looking nearly white. Bruises were starting to form, making ugly reddish, black marks on her arms, shoulders and face. Man-at-Arms could well imagine how colored the rest of her extremities must be. Her face wasn't fine but it was pretty with a clean cut look to her. Even as she slept they could see a strong set to her face.

The queen was the first to speak, her voice soft enough to not spoil the stillness in the room. "Where do you think they are from, Duncan?"

Randor added another question before Man-at-Arms could answer the queen. "And do you think they could be working for Skeletor?"

Duncan glanced briefly over at the woman as she rested before answering his longtime friend. "I doubt they are working with Skeletor."

Randor looked slightly puzzled at the tone of Duncan's voice. "How can you bee so sure?"

Duncan reached out to hand the patch to the Queen. "Because of this."

Marlena took the patch and inhaled sharply as she recognized the symbols on it. Randor looked over her shoulder still perplexed. He looked at the circular patch she held. There was a bird with its wings spread. It was holding a piece of a plant in one of its feet and a bundle of arrows in the other. In front of it was a shield striped red and white and topped with a patch of blue with stars in it. He couldn't read the words written in the border of the patch since his wife's thumb partially covered them. His wife looked up him as she spoke. "They're from Earth. This is from the Air Force for the United States." She looked at the unconscious woman completely awestruck. "What were you doing that you ended up here?" If the woman could hear the queen's question there was no response.

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"So they're really from Earth?" Prince Adam asked, ignoring his late breakfast. He and Teela had been working on his sword work and had decided to eat later rater than stop in the middle of their workout.

"It would seem so. The woman was holding the patch in her hand when they were rescued." Teela said as she reached for the bowl of fruit in the center of the table. "Father has been checking in on them nearly every hour in between his usual duties."

Adam chuckled as he went back to his sandwich. "Is he making sure they aren't a threat?"

Teela joined in laughing, knowing how overcautious her father could be.

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In fact at that very moment Man-at-Arms was helping the healers move the woman into a more comfortable room. They had decided she was stable enough to be taken out of the hospital wing. After they had her resting comfortably in her new rooms the healers departed leaving Man-at-Arms to study his self-appointed charge. She was a mystery to him. They had sent word of what had happened to Queen Marlena back to Earth with the pair of What had they called themselves?...oh yes...Astronauts. He couldn't understand why they would send any other ships into danger knowing the wormhole was there. A low, pained sigh pulled him out of his thoughts. Looking at the woman he could see her brow was furrowed in pain as she was starting to wake. He reached out and gently stroked her hair as he had whenever Teela had been sick as a child. "Easy. Try to be still. You're still in very rough condition."

Her eyes blinked open and he recalled the distant and dazed look in them from the crash. She looked a bit disorientated but was fast taking in her surroundings. Man-at-Arms thought to himself the woman must have the constitution of an ox to be waking up already.

She blinked a few times to clear her vision as she looked at him. Her grey eyes finally managed to focus on him. Their color reminded him of old castle ruins, pale weathered grey- blue stone with hints of green moss. She tried to speak but the words came as barely a breathy whisper. Man-at-Arms shook his head and leaned closer to hear her. She cleared her throat and tried again, this time her voice being slightly stronger. "What…happened?"

"We're not sure yet. All we know is your ship crashed. We rescued you and your partner before the ship exploded."

She closed her eyes and swallowed. Her voice was coming back to her a little bit more with each try. "Where am I?"

Man-at-Arms grinned inwardly. You wouldn't believe me if I told you. "You're safe, among friends. You were injured and our healers have been treating your wounds."

"Is Rio… Captain Travers alright?"

Man-at-Arms didn't want to lie to her but he also didn't want to cause her undue stress. She may be better than this Captain Travers but she still needed to rest and heal. "He's fighting his injuries and healing just as you are. The healers are doing their best for the both of you."

Contented with that answer she relaxed into the pillows, her eyes beginning to fall closed.

"What is your name?" Man-at-Arms asked before she completely drifted back to sleep.

She inhaled deeply as if to form the answer required more energy than she had. "Leah…my name is Leah. Lieutenant Commander Leah Stratheron." She didn't say another word as unconsciousness claimed her once again.

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Man-at-Arms stayed a few more minutes after she fell back asleep before going to find one of the healers to apprise them of the situation. The healer was as surprised as he had been. From there he continued on to the throne room to find King Randor and Queen Marlena. They had left instructions to be notified of any changes in the condition of the pair. The trip to bring the royals up to speed took only a few minutes and from there he continued to his work shop. He had several vehicles that needed repairs. Working on the machines, he was concentrating and didn't notice how late it had gotten until Orko drifted into the room.

"Weren't you hungry tonight, Man-at-Arms?"

Duncan pulled himself from underneath one of the wind raiders. "What are you talking about Okro?"

"Well you missed supper."

Man-at-Arms pulled himself up off the floor. "Is it that late already?"

A new voice joined the discussion. "Yes it is, father." Teela walked into the room carrying a plate of food. "I saved you something."

He grinned at his daughter and sat down on the edge of his work bench to eat. Orko drifted out to leave the two of them alone to talk. Man-at-Arms was midway through the plate before Teela spoke. "The King and Queen said the woman woke up earlier."

Her father nodded but said nothing.

She looked puzzled by his lack of comment. "You don' trust them even though they are from Earth?"

He set down the nearly finished plate before he answered. "I just don't understand why their superiors would send another crew into danger knowing full well about the wormhole to Eternia. It doesn't make sense."

Teela mulled this over and nodded. "Well there is little we can do about it until they are better. At least right now they are no threat. If you think it is a good idea, I can have guards posted outside the rooms once they are more recovered."

"No, we will trust them as Queen Marlena's countrymen. We will wait to see."