The two pushed past huge ferns and weeds with a familiar ease on a day that was unusually mild and sunny. To the boy, Barry Lockridge, it felt like a warm Sunday on Earth-- calm, quiet, and peaceful. Alexander Fitzhugh, his older companion, admired the rays of the sunshine that split through the forest. The pair stopped at the one park edge which their group rarely ventured to. Beyond was a large expanse of a six-lane highway, flanked by a rocky mountain range. The range was relatively small to the giants who inhabited this far-off planet but was Rocky Mountain size to the crew and passengers of the spaceship-shuttle Spindrift.
"Nothing," Barry shrugged with an ultimate look of disappointment.
Fitzhugh, wearing the remainders of a blue Navy uniform they took from a toy store over two years ago, joined the boy at the highway. "Well, we'd better get back, then."
"I know. Dan will chew me out good if I miss that test he was going to give me."
"It's important you know how to pilot the ship. I guess Betty and Mark will learn next."
"I know it's important, Mr. Fitzhugh. It's just that, well, I had hoped to see a few today."
"If you ask me it was a foolhardy venture to wander so far from camp just to see some silly drag strip racers."
"Then why did you come with me?"
"To keep you out of trouble. You're fifteen today--I couldn't stop you coming and I knew you'd wanted to see them."
"If you had ordered me not to," Barry said as he looked at his feet, "I would have stayed near camp." He stared across the highway blankly, "...as always."
"Well for your information, it's not Dan I'm so worried about. The captain will be damned angry I accompanied you this far out." Fitzhugh felt sorry for the teenager. He did look pathetic in his old clothes-a bright yellow sweater over a light brown buttoned down shirt and khaki colored pants. At fifteen, Barry thought he knew less about cars than anyone his age on Earth. All he wanted to do was see a few of them. The worst part was that the boy realised his deprivation. He truly knew more about survival than about cars and girls his own age. As he drew older it seemed to effect Barry more and more--this lack of so many normal things. "Let's go. It's empty. Anyway, you can use your time to study before the test. Better than watching hot shot, hot rodders race up and down this track of highway."
"Or a bunch of horse on the racetrack," Barry quipped, more out of disappointment. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..."
"None taken," Fitzhugh smiled and put a hand on the teen's shoulder, "Come on lad, time to..."
A jarring, rumbling sound and sensation tore through the area. Fitzhugh's now grey hair seemed to go grayer still. The cacophony of two grumbling engines emanated from the east side of the highway--to the pair's right. The cars were on the three lanes closest to the two little people. "Barry!" Barry ran closer to the edge. He could see two impossibly huge monoliths moving at unheard of speeds. One was a yellow car which was higher up on its tires than normal cars. The car farthest out in the far lane was a gleaming green roadster, smaller than the yellow car. The closer bore no hood, it was an open topped car, bearing many giants--all indistinguishable in the blur of speed. Shouts and laughter were heard over the working engines. They had to be even louder than the deafening din which indicated pressed down gas pedals. Since Barry was closer, he couldn't predict what was going to happen next. Fitzhugh could. The red car zipped into the middle lane--straight into the yellow car's side. The two cars tapped as the yellow one moved to avoid it. It tried to continue to avoid it as the red car once again changed lanes. The yellow roadster could only swerve toward the forest to not be hit again.
Much to everyone's amazement, Fitzhugh, in recent days, had lost a lot of weight. The land of the giants had a marvellous effect on all the bodies of the Earthers--toning them up from strenuous day-to-day living. Perhaps it was all the vegetables and fruit which went into their diets. The fact was everyone was of the Earth people were in better shape than if they had remained on Earth and followed their old routines and eating habits there. Fitzhugh had enough strength to reach Barry, who was about three feet onto the highway. He shoved the teenager and tried to run back.
A massive, black blur came between them ! The roadster meshed onto weeds and plants and skidded to a halt, partially in the forest, partially on the highway lane !
THE LONG WAY HOME
by charles mento
Act One
Barry saw what happened but too late. A shove from Mr. Fitzhugh made him realise it. As occurred often on the land of the giants, realisation wasn't enough. The tire had headed straight for him and he had been on his back. Barry did what he could, by rolling backwards away from the tire. With no time to think, he couldn't imagine what the crushed animals looked like after they were mowed over by car tires. The only problem after the car stopped was that he was further from the park and exposed to giant eyes on the highway. The door to the driver's side of the car was uncomfortably close to him. About to make a run for it, Barry heard that door open and saw a thick object hover just overhead. A foot followed by a massive leg. Another leg appeared and then a trunk of a body--a giant teenager emerged.
Maybe if I remain still, he wouldn't spot me crouched in the road, Barry thought. Under the car, Fitzhugh felt like a crushed animal that was hit by a car. He looked up at impossibly titanic car parts. The engine, the radiator, the anti-freeze valve. All spotlessly clean. Chipper ran on top of his chest, for he was on his back. Fitzhugh regained composure, another common experience one needed to survive on this land where one was always facing breath taking events. He scooped the dog into his arms and scurried out from the front of the car toward refuge in thick bushes. It was then, Fitzhugh spotted Barry.
The boy giant, dressed in a grey-blue polo sweater, looked only at the engine of his car after raising the hood. His voice boomed out, "It looks okay."
Barry was about to make a dash for the forest when another giant boy, dressed in red leaned out of the car with a third. "Gary, get back in here. Another car could come speeding behind us and smack right into..." he turned his head toward the road behind them and obviously spotted Barry. At the same moment, a loud crash startled Barry. It was the hood of the car smashing down. "Gary..." the other boy began.
"Yeah, I see him," Gary moved, grabbed up Barry, then stood straight up again and jumped behind the wheel of the car. To get his hands on the wheel, he put Barry on the seat of the car next to him. Before Barry could fully stand up, one of the two female teenage giants in the back seat with the other two males, leaned forward. She took Barry. Gary whipped the car backward, completely onto the road.
From the bushes, with Chipper whimpering in his arms, Fitzhugh watched helplessly. "Barry," he said defeated. "Barry." He saw the car screech its tires and once again careen down the highway, heading west as before. Fitzhugh moved out to watch it diminish from sight--down the road, so far from him even it looked small--a trick of the horizon. "Barry," was all Fitzhugh could repeat. He opened his walkie-talkie radio.
In the palms of the pretty blonde giantess, Barry pondered how a car so loaded own with seven massive aliens could possibly move. But it did--and fast. He couldn't see past the heights of the car doors even though the girl, Judara, was half-standing and not holding him very carefully. The second male teen grabbed Barry from her. Judara laughed, "Stop that! Gee, he's cute, ain't he ?"
This second boy, Nordo, had Barry in his left hand and began to try to balance him on his knee. Barry tried to stand up but the cup of Nordo's hand kept bouncing into him. Grateful it kept him from falling, Barry was humiliated by this boy--who as Gary himself seemed seventeen or eighteen, a few years older than himself. "Cute?" Nordo laughed.
"He is," a long haired brunette girl said from the back, "Don't handle him like that, you'll hurt him!" She sounded genuine. The only one who did.
"Cute," Gary snatched Barry, roughly, from Nordo's knee and made a fist around him, "I'd outta toss him out to the road." The brunette, Helga, gasped, "No, Gary!"
"Then we'd see how cute he'd look all splattered and gushy in the road like one of em' squirrels you see," he held Barry out over the edge of the car door, just past the side mirror. He held Barry in his right hand, across his own body, while steering with his left. Amazingly calm, Barry thought how carelessly these youths spent their lives. Gary could have easily switched him to the left hand, yet chose to drive in this awkward position. As the car picked up speed, terrific winds blew Barry's breath away. Behind him his feet dangled in the side mirror. Fleetingly, he glimpsed a blur of road far below. The feeling was that of a roller coaster ride only this ride made him wait to be smacked into either the rear of the car or the hard cement below if the giant let go of him. Neither fate rushed into him. Helga had reached out across a back seat teen and grabbed the Earth boy from the laughing Gary.
Gary continued, "Aw, come on! I could get him squashed real squishy."
"Poor little boy," Nordo mocked, "So deprived."
Barry felt the comfort of normal breathing and a safety in Helga's firm but comfortable grasp. He puffed and sat in her opening hand, "Thanks." As he caught his breath, Barry studied her face. Warm, open, yet somewhat sad, much friendlier than the mocking faces. A voice jarred him from the pretty visage.
Gary smirked, "They'll be a price for his life."
Barry was sure this teenager did not refer to the usual reward the Giants who captured them were always after. None of these looked poor. More like upper middle class. And if Gary's clothes could be an indicator a few of the boys were actually rich. None needed or cared about a reward for turning Barry in.
Something in the girl's eyes looked frightened. Another face moved behind Helga's. The other girl, sneering, sarcastically peered over Helga's shoulder, munching on crackling gum. "What'll we do with him, Helga ? I got some ideas."
Nordo laughed, "The first ones she's ever had."
Helga reminded Barry of a girl the Spindrifters met a long time ago during their first year here. That girl had risked her life to save them and he didn't even know her name. At least he knew this girl's name--Helga. A strange name but then again, some of the giant had odd names quite unlike any Earth names he'd known; while others had names very akin to names on Earth.
"Nothing," Helga said, "Why can't we just leave him alone ?" She looked down at Barry, "Are you hungry?" No one could hear her because Gary had pulled alongside another sports car, challenged it in the non-spoken gestures of racers and revved up his engine in anticipation of beating his opponent. Barry, as well as the other passengers of the car, was deafened. He wondered just how far west on this highway he had travelled.
Again, Barry was jarred from his thoughts. Pressure from the speed built up. One didn't get long periods of thought while trying to survive impossible predicaments--and it was those times when thought was provoked the most. Barry fell forward onto the girl's wrists where he noticed slash scars of a suicide attempt. He looked up, fully, at Helga.
One of the boys in the back cheered, "You blew him away, Gar."
"What else?" Gary was smug.
"Gary, I...I don't feel well," Helga coughed. "Stop the car."
Gary nodded it off, "Oh stop."
"No, no. I mean it. Stop the car. I don't feel well, I think I'm going to..."
Judara didn't like the sound of that, "Gary, she's right. She don't look too well. Pull it over."
"First you give me..."
"Hurry, Gary or it'll be too late!" After she slipped Barry into her deep dress pocket, Helga held her stomach with one hand and her mouth with the other as if to prevent it.
Gary lurched the car toward the left side where there was no curb, only dirt and matted grass. Other cars had stopped there before--it was one of many sections without a concrete divider--only shrubs, trees, and very large bushes. Gary's desire to protect his car made him fling open the door as Helga climbed out quickly. The car was not fully out of the left lane of the highway, causing fast riding cars in that lane to have to avoid it. Motorists, none too happy, had to swerve to go around Gary's yellow monster.
Helga reached a spot near trees where she pretended to be sick. She leaned over and feigned a hand to her stomach. Instead, she reached lower--into her pocket and removed a swaying Barry from the enormous folds. She put him down on the dirt. He stared at her, unmoving. She gave him a few gentle pats away from her, intending for him to make a run for it. As she did, she said, "Go on, get out of here." She faked a gag.
Gary called, "Hurry up! I'm wasting gas!"
Judara put a hand on his shoulder, "As if you needed to worry about money." She smiled.
Helga grew mad now. "Go on! Run, you're free."
"But what will happen to you ? If he..."
Helga shoved him, brushed him aside. He fell to his hands and knees. She yelled-whispered, "Move it!"
Gary squirmed free of Judara's hands and hopped from the car, "What's taking so long ?!"
Barry looked at Helga angrily. Angry that she had floored him--the very thing he wished he could do to that Gary and Nordo if he could. His eyes caught compassion from Helga's. Then he felt sorry for her, understanding her sacrifice. He screwed up the left side of his mouth and stood up. He ran, without looking back...and ran and ran.
He was far from them---from Gary. Helga was not. What would happen to her ? What terrible price would she have to pay for saving him and letting him free ? He heard loud shouts from Gary, then Judara, possibly defending her girlfriend or perhaps Gary. He also heard the car screech off and away. At a safe, far distance, Barry turned around, with small ferns as cover. It couldn't be ?
In his fit, Gary had endangered all the lives of his passengers as well as his own and other drives on the road. He endeavoured to drive his car the wrong way--east on the west bound lanes ! He swerved the car across three lanes to make his turn, then headed east. Barry almost laughed. It was a futile attempt to find him. Gary would have had better luck ordering his minions to search for him on foot but not much. This stretch of forestry was thick and wide with many boulders and mounds of dirt to hide behind. Helga's delay had allowed him to come a far way forward and inward. Yet, he then inched out to see the highway for signs of what happened to Helga.
A total disregard for lives on Gary's part met him there. No one in the car looked for Barry including a red, hot faced Gary, who was on the farther side from the human. Nordo made a grab for the wheel and spun it. Gary, plucked from his frenzy by a near collision with a large van, made a new U turn. The van had also been travelling too fast for the law here. Gary's new turn endangered traffic once more but many motorists had stopped to save themselves from his previous move. They shook their heads but continued on after Gary righted his car.
Barry felt the tension in his stomach and arms flee. He relaxed with the knowledge that physically, Helga was safe. She was in the car, alive, not beaten or abandoned by the giants. At least for now she was safe. He leaned on two twigs sprouting up from the same trunk. Helga still had a price to pay, an even greater one now. It wouldn't be pretty.
Rather coldly he thought, Barry forced himself to focus on his own problem. He knew what lay ahead: a long trek home--to his home--the Spindrift where his friends were. They were his friends. Barry knew this but felt they didn't fully understand him. Who ever would ? For that matter did anyone ever fully understand anyone else ? Barry looked southward--nothing but trees and dirt mounds. Still, if he avoided the mounds it could be crossed. He didn't want to waste time crossing it only to find there were six more lanes of yet another highway. To the north were the three lanes, a divider, and three more lanes going east--the way he wanted to go.
Crossing the westbound lanes to reach it was out of the question. Once there, he would be in danger from both sides--even if the divider eventually vanished further east. He decided on a southeast course through the terrain.
It would be safer to head Spindrift-ways through the southeast forest. Unfortunately after an hour and a half of walking quickly, Barry heard sounds of new traffic even before he reached a metal guard rail that was dangling above his head. It had been speared off by a recent accident. He stood before another highway.
Act Two
Barry returned to the stretch of highway going east. It was a few miles past where Gary made his near fatal U-turn. This would be the safest way east. If he had to follow a highway he felt comfortable knowing it was one which would take him straight back to where the hot rodders had caught him. Thus, he had to travel back in a southeasterly trek. The land would soon be dark and the reddish, yellowish splash of colours told him the dusk was fast arriving. The only light he'd see would be the two moons not including the useless glares of approaching monolith cars.
The street lights--when they were working--would provide ample light. To Barry, though, they were too far apart to be relied upon. Only when he was near them would they provide a near-daylight effect. And there were miles and miles along the highway which lacked street lights altogether.
Funny he thought, how no one really appreciated the beauty of their own homeland. It took the experience of being misplaced on a land of giants to allow the boy and his friends to view the beauty of their planet Earth which was so akin to the giant planet. With time on their hands they had appreciated the breathtaking vistas of the landscapes as they matted with the colourful sky. Ironically, had they had the time when on Earth, or the cause, they could have seen the almost exact same scenes there. Somehow being on a small would lessen the impact, Barry thought.
Viewing these gorgeous panoramas from a miniature point of view, frame of reference augmented the beauty just as everything else was augmented. Truly this was a land of untold, great beauty but also of unmentionable, gory horror. And the horror had been both physical and psychological. Subtle and undeniably tangible as well. Barry thought about all these things while he hurried back to the highway beneath a pink, blue, and yellow sky. The sun was gone with a few greying clouds moving in on its former place.
When he reached the highway again, Barry was greeted by the beautiful sight of the dusk with only a few cars travelling along. He was tired, having hurried more than he should have. He still had thousands upon thousands of miles left to travel and already his body felt like it needed rest, food, and sleep. He was also lonely but not enough to miss taking in the chill-bringing beauty. Barry hesitated to sit down. He was afraid of falling asleep or becoming catatonic with his eyes open. He had to rest so he plopped down and sat on a boulder, realising that for once, he was totally on his own.
There had been times he was separated from the others like the time a school boy had captured him and taken him into the school. But they had come to his rescue. This time they wouldn't have the means to come to help him. There would be no Steve to help tell him what to do. No Mr. Fitzhugh, who despite being wrong a great deal of the time, gave forth a calming in any dangerous situation. No Dan either--he who exerted strength and optimism. No Mark who could call forth a solution to almost any mechanical problem. Could Mark find a way to overcome great distance ?
Barry was in danger of being lost in his continued thoughts. He shook himself, almost physically. He nodded his head and stood from the boulder. He would think on the move. He forced himself onward. The land was dark and for awhile the moons were the only light he saw.
While the day had been spring-like, the early evening felt slightly cooler. It reminded Barry of the night before the first day of every new school year, in September back on Earth. Not that he had many of those. Glum. Brooding. Cool yet not cold. Wondering about the hopes ahead yet fearful of the new experiences. The very first time he had left his mother to attend kindergarten class was a vivid memory. No, no, I won't be afraid, he admonished himself. I will not be afraid!
He realised how well conditioned his body was for when he turned back to see just how much progress he had made. To his surprise, he couldn't recognise the landscape behind him--proving he had come very far. He told himself he wouldn't defeat himself by turning around too often. That could discourage a walker. It was full night and Barry looked up only once after so many miles.
The grey clouds seemed to take off across the sky leaving a starry blue-black sky of space which presently grew blacker. Far ahead were more grey clouds which worried the boy. He knew the dangers of severe rainstorms ever since they nearly lost the Spindrift to one. A lake had formed around it.
He walked on and on and tapered his pace. He noted his tendency to go too fast. He didn't care for the sights that at first seemed casually interesting to him. Rocks, pebbles, boulders, safety guard rails, sign posts, trees, holes, etc. All seemed to be an endless procession--all resembling each other as he thrust on by them.
Damn, I am still walking too fast, he thought. He was. One tended to move from place to place in the land of the giants by running or at the least, in some quickened pace. For long distances, this type of movement could wear the body down quicker. An added problem was his want to get home sooner--and this made him walk faster.
Had he thought about it, he would have felt numb and tense in his shoulders and legs and feet...and he soon would think about it. The going was easy at this time; few hazards. Lucky considering there could have been stranded motorists, resting drivers, accidents, spiders, rodents, etc. The few insects he did see were not the attacking types; the only insects he worried over were the preying mantis and centipede. Spiders really weren't insects. He'd rather meet both a mantis and a centipede than any one spider.
The locale to the left side changed. Barry noticed gigantic structures big enough to hold the race of giants. Here the land became more city like. Huge multi colored structures, mainly square and rectangular, jutted up ominously. They were far across the six lane highways but to Barry they were huge and amazing. He strained his neck as he followed their heights with his eyes and neck.
To his right there was nothing of the kind but there were huge, flat structures held up by posts. The only thing he could see from his side was cold, grey steel, with holes in the grey posting. Barry realised as he strode past and saw its painted side, that this was one of the signs that gave travellers the number and name of the exits they needed.
Catching up to the sign and going under it, Barry looked upward but had to walk a distance before he could read the names of the towns on it: Tower Heights, Hawkhurst, Grafton. These he recognised from Mark, Betty, and Dan's related adventure after they returned from one of the cities on the sign. Barry couldn't remember which city it was and found his concentration wavering between a wane and a focus. The focus was too long and dulled his senses as his mind searched for answers that weren't there--or were they? He remembered the three had rode back to the forest area on a train--the outside of a train--during a rainstorm.
The boy took comfort that he wouldn't have to experience that type of journey home. This was trying enough a feat. He had been back at Spindrift and there had been so many problems there that the four had little time to mount a mission to find or help the other three. Barry, dulled, began to wonder what was happening there now. Perhaps they were having similar problems and had to abandon any hopes for rescue mission to find him. Again, he felt alone and on is own.
Despite his earlier resistance to it, a wave of cloudy depression washed over Barry, slowing his progress. He was past the sign and approaching an area of construction. Large dirt mounds showed signs of workers who had endeavoured to expand the highway lanes. Two story high red cones were lined up, a few fallen over due to wind or careless drivers. A truck was to his right, silent. To his left, an occasional car chugged past but the traffic became less and less.
Barry closed his eyes and walked well beyond his desire to continue. Smack in the center of the construction site he blundered to a dark, rusted, steel reinforcement bar. He sat on it, drooping his shoulders, plopping his arms to his upper legs, not caring where his hands fell.
Here he was--a small boy, even for his age, on a churning technological planet filled with thousands of giant people who were soon to start their day--running businesses, working for a living, tending to family and home, and generally going about their lives.
Most of them hardly knew he existed. An entire world was operating and people were being fulfilled--and he wasn't included, nor could he ever really know the normal existence the people were enjoying. They were being born, growing, marrying, having children, dying, perhaps moving onto an afterlife. Even if they did know who he was--who he really was--they wouldn't stop those lives to care. Some former inkling deep in his heart told Barry these thoughts were wrong--even dangerous, they flooded his very being.
He forced himself not to cry, not to shed a tear but then realised he was beyond crying. No, I won't cry. His body felt very heavy--as heavy as a giant's, yet he couldn't sleep. Occasionally he closed his eyes. Nothing Mattered. No one on this large planet cared about him or worried about him. No one fretted over him. He would just sit here--forever.
Act Three
Six adults and an old, tiny dog cared, worried, and fretted about Barry Lockridge--surrogate son to just about all of them. In their five and a half years here, they had managed to maintain the spaceship, despite long stretches of disregard. They had even flown her a number of times but could not manage to find the space-time warp or exit it in the correct space and time. Before they had accomplished several tries into the warp, they had the problem of overcoming the immense gravitational pull of this world.
Presently, Spindrift was in need of further repair and could not be lifted from the spot in this wilderness which reminded Dan Erickson of upstate New York on Earth, larger here of course. Usually much quieter than other landing spots they've had in the past.
Fitzhugh had told them what happened after which Steve ordered him back to camp. There was nothing they could do from the highway area. After Fitzhugh returned and was soothed by her, Betty walked past Chipper, who lay beneath one of the passenger compartment seats, whimpering over the loss of his master. She took off her blue stewardess top coat and threw it over the red chair. It was years ago she had taken it from a toy department in a drugstore, within which five of them stole away with many valuables.
Valuables to them: gears, tools, metal, and clothes from dolls. She went through the left door, past the wide open galley to a hall which lead to a series of smaller rooms toward the rear of the ship. These were just before the jet housing and motor area but just after Spindrift's elongated reactor rooms. She stopped at the radio room and went in.
Dan and Valerie Scott had a map spread out on the table which held one of Spindrift's many master radio set-ups, "I've calmed him down some. He'll be all right as soon as we find...any luck?"
Dan looked up from the map, "We've plotted a course---if the car continues." Dan was not one to pull punches, he preferred telling everyone exactly the situations they were up against, no matter how difficult and hopeless it all seemed.
Val, in a red sport suit, frowned, dropping a pencil, "And if the driver stays on the highway."
Dan also frowned, "We were near there once before, Betty. When we had to take the train..."
"Oh no, Dan. There are so many exits and towns in that area," Betty joined them in frowning. At twenty seven, none of her beauty was spoiled by the frown.
Dan smiled, "Betty, we'll find him. We know what the car looks like."
"Then it all depends on Mark and his skill," Betty exited before either Dan or Valerie could try their own calming techniques on her. She turned a short hall and entered the Utility Room, a room almost a duplicate of the one she just left. "How's it coming?"
Mark put a hold on his repair work on the ship to finish a device he had begun two years ago. Betty marvelled at the man's skill. In their third year here, he managed to keep the ship ready to fly from one danger spot to the next and still found time to create devices to aid in their present survival. The electric gun drill--the thermal tool they called it--had been first; then the telescope, which Mark later made attachments for.
These attachments could be used to deflate a tire on a giant car even when the tube was far overhead. Next he made a rope launcher--a stand which could shoot a rope, the end of which had a sucker tip or a pointed dart on the end, depending on which was chosen. It could be set at four heights. Radio recharge, transmission location, and more powerful communication ranges would have come in handy in their first two years if it had been more portable.
Mark put a master radio, a radio recharge battery, and its holder into an empty suitcase, creating a portable master radio complete with antenna. All these things were stored here. Betty saw all these things before thinking of Mark and Steve, who were sweating. Steve was crouched down looking for some canisters.
"Good," was all Steve could say and the way he said it was in a low, tired voice.
Mark soldered a pipe into place and stopped, "Almost done." He eyed Betty, who was eyeing his new miracle device. He was tired also and knew what lay ahead. Mark was not as obstinate as he had once been, so perhaps his tiredness could be why he spoke his mind in such a harsh way now. "Look, it was your job to get Fitzhugh out of our way. So please don't take his place."
Betty's worry was enough to anger her but she kept to her role as peacemaker, "I'm very worried this time, Mark. Our luck is running out--isn't that what you're always telling us what would happen."
Mark huffed, taking off the solder glasses, "Yes," he spat out, more disgusted with himself, "I'm sorry. I just didn't think it would happen to Barry."
"Look," Steve rose with a canister and moved between them, putting a hand on Betty's shoulder, "I'll get some rest while you finish that. I'm going to need it for the trip."
"Wait a minute, I told you I'm the one who is going."
"What's the matter, Mark, don't you trust your workmanship?"
"No, it's not that," he looked down, "Just if it fails, I don't want my conscience to bother me."
"I go."
"It's either me or I stop working on the device right now," Mark spouted. Betty stared at Steve, worried that Steve would make Mark stop. "I want Barry back badly, Steve. But he's alive--I'm not willing to risk your life to get him back--on some rinky dink thing I've whipped up."
"If you go, you will be."
"Nevertheless, I want your word," Mark put the solder gun down and prepared to look Steve eye to eye to emphasise the point, "Only your word."
Steve hesitated, "Blackmail. I thought that was Fitzhugh's bag."
"Steve, please," Betty drew close to his chest, touching him.
"All right, Mark, all right," Steve turned on his heels, "But you go rest first." He motioned to the door.
"As soon as I'm done. I need you to get the fuel," Mark put the glasses back on and continued working.
Betty followed Steve into the hall past a listening Valerie and Dan. Betty said, "He enjoys giving orders, doesn't he?"
Val looked at her, both recalling the first time one of them said that and the trouble it caused. It made Steve stop and wonder if he should just order Mark to...the girls laughed. They laughed hard and loud. Mark heard but wasn't going to be distracted.
Dan and Steve, puzzled, merely watched. Their nervousness took over and the girls continued to laugh it off. The men, nervous also, did what they could to stop their nervousness: Steve pulled Dan toward the rear halls which gave access to the Fuel Room intake and out take. The women laughed themselves into exhaustion, then slid down the wall to sit on the floor of the hall.
Mark, oblivious to all, continued.
Steve held the fuel canister for Dan, who turned the valve to stop the flow, "I don't know," was all Steve could say.
"It's only a little fuel, we'll hardly miss it."
"Not that. It's Mark." Steve, crouched down, shut the computer top door.
Dan closed the special square door to the fuel controls, setting them to normal first, standing up to his full height again. "Just let him do it if he wants to. I say it's a good sign."
"I guess," Steve stood up, "But do you think he told us the truth about his having tested one for his company?"
"I don't know," Dan admitted, "Did we have as much flight time with the Intra-Space prototype as we told Mark?"
"Touche." Steve handed the canister to Dan, "Get this to him. Then he can finish and get some rest."
The world was bright reddish orange. To the sides and above all was red and orange. Barry awoke to this startling sensation and his head swam, adrift in the oneness of his world. He felt better and stood. He realised what had happened. He had become so tired the night before, he had squeezed beneath one of the red-safety cones where there was enough room between the ground and the cone platform. Rocks and small dirt piles made the ground uneven, and that gave him the space to do so. He couldn't recall actually doing this. Above him the cone came to a point.
The teen crawled out again. It was still dark, somehow even darker. How long had he been asleep under the cone? A few hours? An entire day? Surely if it had been a whole day, construction workers would have found him. A day here is somewhat less than 24 hours. Maybe it was some kind of holiday or weekend for the giants. Barry didn't spend much time on pondering how long he was out.
He was free and his strength renewed. His frame of mind was better. Off on the horizon he saw a bridge and knew he had to set it as his next goal, en-route to Spindrift. Barry moved toward it, not walking too fast since he wanted to conserve his energy. The two moons were up and the sky much clearer than before. He had walked about one Earth mile when he realised that what he first figured was a mound of dried mud--wasn't.
Upon closer inspection, Barry saw hair, large red spots with muddy wounds, gaping with blood. He circled it to find some clue as to what type of animal this once was. He found one eye and a mouth full of sharp gnawing teeth. The other side of the face was gone. It was a rat, twisted and mangled. Alive, it would have been a deadly foe. Dead, it evoked sympathy from him. A car had evidently hit it as it crossed. It could have been Barry himself, he felt a kinship to the giant rat, whose claws were drooped down in a mock prayer. He stood, staring at it for what seemed a long time. Avoiding that same oppressive feeling, he pushed himself onward, past the crushed creature. Who would notice it sitting limply on the side of the road? He himself had thought it only a dirty mud mound.
He kept walking but found himself still watching it, his head turned. I will notice, he thought. You were once a living thing, so I will not forget even if no one else on this planet will take notice of you.
The car began to increase in number as they churned down the highway. When he first awoke there seemed to be only one or two autos. Hardly noticing them, Barry contemplated on how carelessly one of them snuffed out life and continued on its way unaware of the murder it committed. He looked up, now staring ahead. That concrete overpass was looming before him--a sure sign he was getting closer. Once beneath it, he would rest beneath the bridge which held a small sidewalk--ample room for him to stop for awhile. He neared it, spotting huge, dark masses on top the bridge.
From past experience, Barry recognised these as giants--three or four leviathans moving on an impossibly strong structure above the highway. Above, they made indeterminable sounds of a loud nature. Approaching, Barry deciphered these as mirth--possibly it was a holiday or a weekend. For these boys were out late, rough housing on the overpass, perhaps drunk. The giants were too far to see Barry but the boy could tell were drunk or worse. One bent down. He wanted to hide but his senses urged him to what was the best spot--directly beneath them, under the bridge.
It was still far off. Something whizzed overhead. Barry kept his pace but afforded an upward glance. A huge blur blotted out the stars and sailed off to his left. Squinting gave him a better picture of what these unidentified blurs were. The clowns were tossing huge chunks of cement and rock from the overpass--onto the highway below.
The projectiles were not aiming for him, backing up Barry's belief that the boys hadn't spotted him. The rocks were flying toward the opposite lanes, colliding with cars which were heading the same way as Barry. He felt some comfort that the cars were three lanes away but horrified that innocent drivers could be hurt or...
A driver caught unaware by a heavy rock smashing into his windshield, swerved his car--into another. Both collided with a third vehicle--a truck. The middle car became a churned mess--caught between the two. The first car had a blow out and kept skidding. The truck driver turned the wrong way--in toward the middle car. The middle car flipped up over the truck and hit a mound of dirt above the safety rail.
Barry stiffened after hearing the terrible screech, then the deafening sound of smashing metal. He turned back slightly--toward the sound of the crashes. Horns honked. They rang through his head so he almost missed the explosion. Movement caught his eye. A crumbled, rolling, spiralling massive ball of metal, glass, and machinery rose up above a hill. As if it were alive, it flung toward Barry and headed...he knew not where. Barry ran as fast as he could. He had never tried to run this fast before. Stars vanished as the huge monstrosity cascaded through the air.
Barry ran its length but it kept coming. Pieces broke off and showered all around him: glass, piping, screws, bolts, capstans, plugs. The swooshing sound almost made him look up but there was no time.
His direction: the safety of the bridge. As he ran for his life, Barry shuddered, what he glimpsed of the flying menace looked like a car. He hoped any giant within was already out of the auto. Nothing could be alive in the crushed ball of refuse. Grass slowed the teen, grass which sprouted from the dirt before the concrete. He made the safety of the concrete bridge. The boy stumbled behind a rock--an ironic shelter. The massive, rounded remains swung into the bridge--hitting the three stunned, drunken boys--who were shocked into non-action.
Barry, daring to peek up, looked toward the rounded semi-circle opening under the bridge. The car-ball, hit the top of the bridge, shattered all across it. This caused an effect, similar to a waterfall, to rain over the opening. The air outside shimmered as car parts rained down. As another explosive crash rocked the area, Barry hugged the rock. The lanes on the other side of the hill, where traffic usually headed east, were alight with fire. The truck had careened into the second car which sent it flying, then it smacked into the first car. Both turned over on their sides. The truck skidded with more momentum than a regular car.
It smashed into the concrete side of the overpass and blew up! A raging inferno engulfed it and the metal that was being torn apart. The whole area lit up! The driver in the first car, managed to climb up and out--he was the only survivor. Shock waves of pounding noise overtook Barry but eventually subsided. With his ears ringing, it took him a long time to appreciate the final stillness in the air.
Act Four
Continuing on the westbound lanes, Barry headed east against traffic which slowed as ambulances and fire engines arrived, noisily sounding their life saving abilities. Traffic was completely stopped on the east bounds which were on the opposite side of Barry. His body recovered from the succession of blasts. Soon traffic slowed to a halt on his side but there were few cars to speak of. The Earth teen wasn't concerned he would be seen because on the opposite side of the bridge, the landscape altered. Long blades of grass, neglected for some time, provided perfect cover.
He moved through it and except for a few close together stalks, they hardly hampered his trek. The darkness grew thicker around him and he felt his steps weigh heavily on the rest of his body. He felt weak again and didn't think he could recover this time.
That same feeling of depression pushed its way toward his consciousness. It was his greatest enemy. A non-physical, yet mental foe. Barry plodded on, his body almost a puppet on strings guided by another, more spiritual mental force--one which was aiding him. He had hope. He also had hunger. But what was there to eat here? He cut some blades of grass and ate a few, sickened. To the south, as he propelled himself onward once more, the boy noted yet another highway. He found the island of grass he was on, becoming slimmer and slimmer--more narrow. It didn't matter to him. Soon it would veer again and widen into the forests while that new highway he saw would turn or drop to some other part of this land.
Darkness--caution left Barry who deemed himself lucky not to have run into any live animals or insects. Back by the overpass, there were some spiders under the bridge, close to the outside, but the crash took care of them. Barry merely moved on. Nothing would stand in his way. He would rejoin his friends back home--home was Spindrift.
Then he spotted movement. It, whatever it was, stomped across many blades of grass. A great grey darkness swarming over the grass, matting them down. Was this a swarm of bees? Ants? The screen before him blotted out the land ahead. It became clear to the human boy, who squinted. He saw a giant drapery not unlike a curtain which used to cover the stage of a play or the screen of an old fashioned movie theatre. This curtain moved, seemingly floating as the wind rippled across it. Barry looked at it, for it was very close to him now, and he understood what it was, finally.
A grey dress belonging to something even larger than the curtain. Above it was a bust with arms, a neck, and a face. Oh, that face!
Barry met its gaze fully. The wrinkled inlets of the eyes frightened him the most as he saw they were looking him over. Hideously disgusting the mouth seemed contorted, the cheeks sunken, and also bumpy. Potholes lined the face. The giant held a bag--a shopping bag which seemed to lower itself into the grass. Here it comes, Barry braced himself--she--it was a giantess of the species--she will put me in that bag and cash me in for money. Stringy, grey hair hung from under a hooded shawl. This was a bag lady. Her very nature, totally unknown, made Barry fear her. Yet, she, as the rat before her, was somehow a kindred spirit--a being trying to survive in a world where the odds were stacked against her--just like himself and the others from his group.
Angry at first, it subsided as he waited for the inevitable imprisonment. The woman reached into her bag, probably to make room for her new item--him. In the darkness and with her height, it was hard for him to see precisely what she was doing. A hand loomed down at him, growing in size optically from his point of view.
The bag lady placed a gigantic apple down next to him.
It, surprisingly enough, looked fresh and good to eat. Barry had his knife and used it to cut sections. The woman smiled, a face of horror broken by this simple movement. Barry ate, waving at her in a token of appreciation. There was one giant tonight who empathised with his plight. She continued on, her dress sweeping past him, afloat. He waved to her, she let him eat, happy to have fed someone. She wished others would take time to be as kind to her. Barry felt renewed by this one act of kindness--a gesture of humanity.
On it went. His walk. His return. A zombie by now, Barry seemed to cease feeling. Not that this was a negative thing. He would have felt sore all over his body especially his feet and legs. His stomach cramped up and ached. He would have felt as if someone were stabbing him. He also would have felt a throbbing in his head as if his brain were beating against both sides of his skull as it filled with blood. This he would have felt as he forced himself onward, never stopping. His back would ache and his shoulders become as brittle as his neck was stiff. He felt none of it. Pain is an alert to help people safeguard their bodies--a safety valve to shut off the cause of pain. Without it we would keep on doing to our body the very thing that is damaging it.
`Barry kept on walking toward home. He saw Fitzhugh's face, kind and yet worried. Compassionate. He saw Betty, protectively opening her arms to him. Valerie smiled at him, sending warmth throughout his body. He thought he saw his dog licking his face. Then Dan racing to him to help him up. Of course Captain Burton was there, too. Steve had his back to Barry, one arm jutting out to protectively block the fifteen year old from some danger--and to stop him from going on. Steve was looking away from Barry, up at some menace. The indication was he should stop.
Then the boy saw Mark swooping down out of the sky. Was Mark in the spaceship Spindrift? Too quick, Barry stretched his neck to look further upward. The giant land spiralled, turned, made a full one sixty degree pin-wheel. Barry felt as though he were up side down. The night hazed out into a sizzling whiteness. Barry, after hours and hours of walking, tumbled to the ground and passed out.
Act Five
It was nearly time to fly back. Mark needed to refuel anyhow. He had spent the better part of a day resting and rechecking this new device, then scouting about for Barry, now missing a second day. He had to stop a few times to rest. He had flown over the red cone area, flying west, just as Barry was pulling himself out of the cone. He flew almost to the skyscraper filled city no this, his second night of searching. He had just missed Barry.
Mark was flying on a makeshift jump belt, also known as parajets. He had pieced it together from Spindrift spare parts. Flying was easy enough but unlike Earth he had to be careful to avoid extra tall structures: trees, telephone poles, bridges, trains, trucks, etc. There were also giant birds but not many came out at night. Bats were easy enough to avoid but he did spy a few. Mark also searched for part of the day but it was very dangerous. He could be spotted easily. It was easier for him to see though. He used infra-red binoculars and very occasionally a spotlight. It could give him away to giants.
Flying back toward the Spindrift area along the highway, Mark saw an accident clean up crew and hoped Barry was not nearby. He couldn't find any remains of a yellow roadster. He swooped under the bridge just to make sure Barry was not there. He flew out from under, feeling as if he were looking for a needle in a haystack--but that would be easier. Mark wore a helmet Steve and Dan had aboard for outdated service checks. The entire search was futile. He surmised they would just have to face the fact that Barry was gone and they'd never see him again. Mark swallowed hard. Wherever Barry was, he hoped the lad would survive, was surviving even at the moment of his thought. He didn't like himself for thinking these things but it beat total despair. Not paying attention, Mark flew too low. He barely avoided a giant. He rose higher up into the sky. Then he eyed the giant. The bag lady was pointing behind her, acknowledging Mark's presence. She was leading him to something. A trap? Or maybe she had seen Barry. Mark gave it full throttle, snapping on his helmet's searchlight beam. He searched the grasses all the way to the next overpass. It was almost morning again. The highways veered off and here, the forest where Spindrift was encamped, began. Mark flew under the next overpass. He descended toward the crumpled body of Barry Lockridge.
Epilogue
To Mark Wilson, it would have made a pathetic scene: he, carrying a frail boy who was passed out in his arms, flying across the blue morning sky as people left for work in cars below. He managed to sling Barry over his arm and shoulder without obstructing the workings of his device. The boy was no more a light eleven year old, for he was no boy. Still, Mark managed. He prayed that no giant below would happen to look up and see them. Most were drivers and passengers in cars. Groggy, Mark finally decided to fly over the jungles. He chastised himself for not doing so earlier. No one saw his move. Above the trees, the forest looked like less of a jungle and more beautiful than Mark ever dreamt it could. He knew Barry was alive but he was awfully still. Had his condition worsened since they took off? Mark pressed toward his goal--Spindrift--much as Barry had before him.
Grogginess pulled away as did the curtains of fog from Barry's vision. His friends saw his eyes open, then blink several times. Over him stood a concerned group. The ceiling above them told him he was in the sling bed in the passenger compartment. Mr. Fitzhugh was there, fingering his own hands worriedly. Betty was opposite Fitzhugh, gently calling Barry's name until he came around. At the left of Barry stood Betty and next to her, Dan, a pair of pilot wings between his fingers. Dan saw Barry smile. The teen heard him say, "He saw them."
"I haven't earned them yet," Barry said.
"No, but you will soon, after..." Dan's words stuck in his throat.
Next to Fitzhugh stood Valerie, her hand on his shoulder and another on Barry's. Barry focused but did not have to, he knew she would be smiling at his return. "You're very brave."
Mark was very close to Val, holding a helmet. At the foot of his bed stood Steve, more toward Dan and Betty's side than the others. He had his hand on Barry's knee. "Don't move. Don't move. How do you feel?"
"I...I'm all right," Barry made a quick assessment. At least he felt something. "I'm just very tired."
"What doesn't kill us, only makes us stronger," Val encouraged.
"Nothing's broken, you're not bleeding," Fitzhugh began.
"Fitzhugh," Dan spurted for him to stop the report. He pointed a finger at Barry's face, "Now listen to me, Barry. You missed our lesson. As soon as you're rested, I expect two in a row from you."
Barry smiled through paleness, "Right." His dream returned to him--was it an illusion? "Who...who came and..."
Steve moved to Mark and slapped his hand on Mark's shoulder, "Mark did, Barry."
"Thanks," Barry said gratefully, "Thanks a lot." Every word had carried a truthfulness and deep feel to them.
"My pleasure," Mark smiled, "Only try not to eat too much or next time you can fly me back."
Barry laughed. The others did too. Steve grabbed Mark and Val by the arm, nodding to Dan and Betty, "Let's give him some time to sleep. Fitzhugh."
"One moment," Betty said and ran to the back rooms. She came out soon with seven gifts for Barry, laying them on one of the red lined chairs. "Happy birthday from all of us." Hastily, she opened one gift box (an old hat box of Val's) and pulled out a pilot uniform. It was blue and not unlike Steve and Dan's older outfits. "This...you have earned."
"She made it herself," Valerie submitted.
"It's great," Barry said, touching it as Betty held it over him.
"Chipper can have my old clothes to chew on."
Everyone laughed again.
"Welcome home," Steve moved closer to Barry's head. After a moment they all moved away, Fitzhugh remaining for a few minutes after. Then he too, left Barry to sleep. Only Barry didn't sleep. He cried tears of happiness.
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End of
LAND OF THE GIANTS
The Long Way Home
by Charles Mento