Title: Lifelines
Chapter: 8
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: PG Adventure
Archive: Let me know where, please
Spoilers: teeny weeny ones for Golden Cage
Feedback: always welcome and appreciated
Disclaimer: All IA's, no money passed my lips, promise to play nice.

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Tan was panicking. He had noticed the Earth people were missing not long after they had, unknown to him, left the tent. He wasted valuable time searching the box and its surrounds. Finding the whole in the back he ran outside, shouting for Caron and Hoge. He even found the tiny footprints leading away from the tent. Hoge and Caron came over, horrified to see Tan on his hands and knees, scuffling along the ground, following the tiny trail.

" They've gone....they've escaped....HELP ME" Tan shouted.

Caron dropped down next to him, not realising what her husband was doing.

" Tan, for gods sake, get up...are you mad ?"

" We have to get them back, they can't have been gone long...hurry, help me follow their tracks." Tan pulled himself from Caron's grasp and carried on shuffling along, his eye's glued to the dirt. Caron threw her hands up in despair, looking back at Hoge who stood shaking his head.

" We won't catch them that way....we need to make a search pattern, based on where we originally caught them and their current direction." Hoge reasoned. Caron nodded, understanding the sense in his words.

" Tan, please listen to him, we need to get organised."

Tan pounded his fist into the dust. " I need those Little People, our success depends on it."

" We'll get them, Professor." Hoge smiled grimly.

Caron persuaded Tan to get up. After they took a bearing and marked where the trail started, they all returned to the truck, getting out their maps of the area and checking their various references, in relation to the information they had.

Hoge gathered together the necessary equipment and chivvied Caron and Tan to get their boots and coats on. They were losing the light and needed to get going quickly. Tan carried a large spotlight torch that illuminated the tiny bootprints clearly in the soft earth.

With Tan leading, they set off in pursuit of the fugitives. They had to double back and pick up the trail when they lost it, and by the time it got dark they realised the Little People were leading them in a big arc around the camp. The trail disappeared as the night set in. Tan ground his teeth in frustration but could see the sense in waiting 'til morning before trying to find it again. They didn't realise that they were practically ontop of where their quarry slept, snug in their gopher hole.

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Dan was the first to wake the following morning, weak sunlight filtering through the opening, showing Dan the mounds of people sleeping around the remains of the fire. He crept over and around the bodies, careful not to wake anyone. Nature was calling so Dan eased himself out of the hole and looked out into the forest. He walked over to a nearby bush and relieved himself. He was just turning to go back when a Giant foot landed almost on top of him, knocking him over with the force of the boot hitting the earth. Luckily he landed under a shrub that concealed him entirely. The foot lifted and passed away behind the tree. Dan parted the branches of his haven and saw the Professor's assistant, Hoge walking back to where the Professor and his wife crouched around a small fire, drinking from mugs.

Dan crawled back to the gopher hole, keeping his movements slow and steady. Once inside he lay there, catching his breath, his heart pounding from the close call.

When his heart no longer felt like it was about to exit his chest, he stood up and made his way back to the others.

Steve was awake, having been showered with dirt when Hoge had passed so near. He came over and stood close to Dan, trying to avoid waking the others too soon.

" Dan what happened, if I didn't know any better I'd say a Giant just passed by." Steve eyed his friends sweaty face with concern.

" Oh yeah.....he passed real close. I nearly got stepped on." Dan explained, wiping a shaky hand over his top lip.

" Are you okay ?" Steve asked.

" Yeah....just dandy, it was Hoge. The others are here too, just outside. We're trapped Steve."

" Come with me, we'll check out those side tunnels, maybe they aren't as blocked as I thought." Steve grabbed a torch and took off down the tunnel, Dan close behind.

Mark had overhead Steve and Dan talking, but didn't want to wake Valerie. He eased himself from under her and laid her down on the backpack pillow. Mark followed Steve and Dan, finding them down one of the branch tunnels, climbing over a small pile of rubble.

" Need a hand ?" he asked. Dan jumped, Steve looked over his shoulder at Mark.

" We need to find an alternative exit. The front door is too dangerous. The Giants are hot on our trail."

" We'd better wake the girls, don't want them wandering outside if its dangerous." said Mark.

" Okay, you get them up, I'll keep looking for another way out. Dan help Mark gather our gear, best we get away from the here in case the Giants decided to investigate."

Mark and Dan returned to the main cave. Dan went over to Betty and shook her awake, Betty raised her tousled head.

" Do we have too ?"

" Yeah, we have too, time to get up sleepyhead." Dan answered.

Mark reached Valerie and crouched down, shaking her shoulder to wake her.

" Come on Val, rise and shine."

Valerie snuggled further into her blanket, only the top of her flame coloured head showing.

" Go away, its not morning yet." She groused.

" Yes it is, we need to move...its not safe here anymore." said Mark.

Valerie's head popped out of the covers, hair falling over her face.

" What's happened ?" she asked, nervously.

" We need to find an alternative way out..the entrance is blocked."

" Giants ?" Valerie whispered, looking anxiously around the cave.

" We're safe for the time being but we need to move...quickly." Mark replied, giving Valerie his hand to help her stand up.

Clutching her blanket she followed Dan, Betty and Mark down the tunnel to where Steve waited with his torch, showing the way. Dan piled the packs into a heap, grabbing one and putting it on.

" This tunnel seems to be clear, we'll follow it and hope it opens on the other side of the tree. " Steve turned to show the way.

" Urh...Steve, we need to use the bathroom." said Betty.

" Oh....sure, take a torch, use the next tunnel on the left." Steve crouched down. " We'll wait for you here."

Betty and Val disappeared round the corner, leaving the three men looking after them.

They returned quickly and followed Steve and Dan as they led the way down the pitch black hallway. After half an hour they found the tunnel sloping downwards at a steep angle. Steve decided to go on alone to see what was up ahead. Dan and Mark waited with the girls while Steve eased himself down the tunnel. Steve quickly disappeared round a corner, plunging the tunnel into a deeper gloom. Mark made it worse by switching off his torch to conserve the batteries. They sat there, crouched in the dark until they heard Steve's voice echoing back up to them.

" It's all clear, come on down..." his voiced echoed in the inky blackness.

They edged their way cautiously down the slope, reaching the bend and seeing Steve's light once they negotiated the turn. Val slipped and fell over in the near dark, rolling down the slope until Dan grabbed her and halted her progress.

" Thanks....saved my dignity again." She breathed, Dan helping her to her feet.

They reached the bottom of the slope without further mishap. Steve met them at the bottom, his torch showing them a junction of three more tunnels.

" Which way, Sherlock ?" Mark inquired.

Steve grinned and pointed to a tunnel, no different than the other two. "That way Watson, the air if fresh, hopefully it will lead to the surface."

They trudged into the black mouth of the tunnel, feeling the breath of a breeze blowing in their faces.

" Is it getting lighter in here ?" Betty asked. Valerie seemed to be able to see the walls of the tunnel more clearly.

" I think your right Betty, it is getting lighter." said Valerie.

They picked up their pace and hurried toward the light appearing round a corner. Steve signalled them to wait while he went on ahead.

He came back quickly, skidding round the corner in his haste.

" We've need to wait a bit." Steve panted.

" What is it....where does the tunnel end ?" asked Dan.

" We're on the other side of the tree, no problem there." Steve told them. " But the tunnel ends a bit higher than it started."

" Stop with the cryptic answers, what's the problem ?" Mark barked, his patience stretched to its limit.

" The exit is in the side of a bank, there's a sheer drop down to a rocky gully. We're going to have to climb down. On the plus side, there's no sign of the Giants." Steve explained.

" Oh that's just great...." said Dan.

" Do we have enough rope to do that ?" asked Valerie.

" How big is the drop off, Steve ?" Mark cut in.

" It's big enough, it'll take all the rope we have to get to the bottom." Steve answered.

They stood there, in the damp tunnel considering their run of bad luck.

" I suggest we stay here for the time being and have something to eat and drink, then we can check our rope and see how much we have." Steve suggested.

Betty handed to bag with the food to Dan, who apportioned it out to everyone. He gave the water bottle to Steve.

" I'm going to call the Windsifter, see if Fitzhugh and Barry can get started on the packing. We're still a couple of days away from our camp, might as well give them something to do. We may need to leave in a hurry when we get back." said Steve. Mark rummaged in his pack and passed the radio to him. Steve turned and made his way back to the opening, crouching down and extending the aerial to its fullest.

" Steve to Windsifter, come in Windsifter."

The radio remained silent. " Where are you all." Steve wondered.

" Steve to Windsifter, come in Barry, where are you."

"Windsifter here, sorry Steve...I was outside with Barry." Fitzhugh voiced sounded out of breath.

" I told you to man the radio at all times." said Steve tersely.

" We have been, but its been hours since your last contact, there's only three of us." Fitzhugh complained.

" Whatever....we're still atleast two days out from the camp."

" We're getting low on water, can't you get back here any sooner ?"

" No we can't, not if we don't want the Giants to find the ship. I need you and the others to start packing up the camp. We may not have alot of time when we finally get back, the Giants won't be far behind us."

" Can't you lose them ?" Fitzhugh voice took on a note of panic.

" We're trying that right now, but we still need you to pack up the camp, we may need to take off immediately."

" What about the buggy ?"

" We need the rechargeable batteries out of that, and I would have liked to strip it down, but that's not possible, so get what you can and leave the rest."

" We'll get onto it right away, Steve. How is everyone else, were Mark and Valerie okay ?"

" We're all fine Fitz....we'll keep you posted with our ETA. Steve out."

Steve took one more look at the view, then turned and worked his way back to where the others waited.

Everyone looked up as he came round the corner.

" How are things at the ship ?" Betty asked.

" Fitzhughs going to start on the packing today, if we need to leave in a hurry, we should be able to." Steve told them.

" Lets get a look at that drop, the sooner we leave the sooner we get back to the Windsifter, and away from those Giants." Said Dan, standing up and pulling the first length of rope out of his pack.

The three men left Betty and Valerie to unpack the rest of the rope and untie the bundles using their spare ropes. They gathered it all together and went to join the men standing at the opening. Steve was squatted down, checking out the cliff face, either side of the hole.

" How the hell did whatever made these holes get down ?" he asked.

" Maybe the hole wasn't that far off the ground to start with, that rain we had could have dug the gully deeper than it was originally." suggested Mark.

" Whatever happened, we have to find a secure anchor and see how far our ropes will go." said Steve. Valerie and Betty appeared and dropped the bundles of rope on the ground.

" That's the lot." said Valerie, brushing her hands off.

" After this runs out we start shredding the blankets." Betty said, half-jokingly.

" That's a definite possibility." Steve shot back.

Dan was splicing and knotting the ropes together, coiling them into one big coil.

Mark was testing the floor surface, digging the end of the giant safety pin in as far as it would go. He knotted the end of the rope to the pin and pulled on it to test its hold.

" I think this will hold us." He said. Steve came over and tried it as well.

" Seems fine, lets give it a try. Dan, throw the coil over and lets see how far it reaches." Steve stood clear as Dan threw several loops over the edge, the coil unwinding as the rope fell to the bottom.

Steve leaned over the edge, watching the rope.

" It's going to be long enough, good work Dan."

" I'm going first." Dan stated, daring Steve to argue.

" Fine, take it easy, we'll pull up the rope and lower the packs after you get down there. Then we'll follow, one at a time." said Steve. Dan nodded and turned to take a grip on the rope, lowering himself over the edge and disappearing from view.

Dan reached the bottom and jerked the rope. Steve peered over the edge and waved, then the rope started to go back up the cliff. Dan looked around, seeing a winding creek bed, lined with all sizes of rocks and boulders. Twigs and leaves choked the gaps in between. Above him, the bank loomed threateningly. The hole came about half-way down the face of the bank, partially screened by a bush leaning out at right angles directly above it. Behind the bank a Giant tree spread it's thick canopy overhead. Dan hadn't heard or seen anything to indicate the Giants were anywhere near. The air was full of the sound of birds and insects, the drowsy hum loud enough to be intrusive. Dan tried to pinpoint where the buzzing was coming from but the arrival of the first bundle distracted him. After untying the bundle he again tugged it, the rope pulling up right away. The process was repeated until all the packs were safely stacked behind one of the larger boulders. Finally his companions started their descent. Dan held the rope taught while Mark came down first. Then Valerie, followed by Betty and finally Steve made their way down the knotted ropes. Steve stopped his climb two thirds of the way down, cutting the rope and dropping the rest of the way. They used that length to re-tie the blankets together. The rest would have to stay attached to the gopher hole.

After loading the packs on their backs they started to pick their way through the rocks and large boulders, careful not to twist an ankle in the treacherous footing.

They reached the end of the creek and pushed their way through the low growth edging the ditch. They still hadn't heard or seen anything of the Giants chasing them, so they set off on a direct heading for the ship, keeping the pace fast once they hit a clear rabbit path heading the right way. They travelled as fast as possible for the rest of the day, taking only a brief break for a meal at midday. By the end of the second day they were two thirds of the way back to the Windsifter. They had called a halt before it was full dark, wanting to find another secure bolt-hole before losing the light. They were following a narrow trail around the base of a huge tree when Dan, who was in the lead, some way ahead of the others, suddenly disappeared from sight. Valerie who was behind him cried out when Dan vanished in front of her.

The others crowded around Valerie trying to see where Dan might have gone.

" He was there....right in front of me....he just...he just disappeared." Valerie explained, pointing to where Dan had been minutes before.

Steve and Mark cautiously approached the spot, not seeing anything unusual, but wary of any holes in the ground or trip-wires. They looked but found nothing, retracing their steps in growing frustration.

" Dan couldn't have just disappeared." said Steve, turning full circle where Valerie had indicated Dan had stood.

" Well, where the hell is he then." Mark asked. His expression as baffled as Steve's.

They looked back down the trail, seeing Valerie and Betty standing close together, looking around, trying not to look scared.

" It's no good, the lights going too fast, we need to find shelter, now." said Steve.

" There's a cave over there, not far from the trail, that might do, it at least will keep us close to where Dan was last seen. We can search again in the morning." Mark pointed out a dark opening, nestled under the roots of a tree.

" Good idea.....VAL...BETTY...OVER HERE." Steve called to the girls.

Together they made their way up the slope to the cave, Steve flashing his torch inside to check for insects and animals. They decided against a fire, feeling too exposed at the wide mouth of the shallow cave.

" I hope Dan is okay...where could he be." Betty's plaintive question hung in the air between them.

" We all do, lets get some sleep...we'll search again at first light." Steve said, his voice laced with his own fears for Dan's safety.

The weary fugitives huddles together for warmth, the blankets spread over the four of them. Sleep was a long time coming for any of the friends, their fear and bewilderment at Dan suddenly vanishing like that had completely undermined their confidence.

Nightfall had never seemed so dangerous or so daunting.

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Dan blinked......and his view changed completely. One minute he'd been in the lead, about to point out a cave up ahead, the next his vision blurred and he was looking at the brightly lit back wall of a smallish cave.

He quickly spun around, hardly believing the evidence in front of him. The cave was about nine foot around and had an opening off to the right. Dan looked down and saw what looked like fine wire's embedded in the hard floor. He was reminded of the grid that Mark and Steve had been transported on when they had helped the people of the City of Limbo. But this grid was more refined, the wires more like threads of silk.

He stepped out of the circle marked on the floor and looked around again. The walls were rough hewn stone but finished with whitewash. The cave was lit by a small bulb in the apex, the wire leading out through the tunnel. Dan stood, undecided for a moment. Should he stay there in the hopes it would activate again or should he explore some more. Exploring won out and he headed for the tunnel. It wound for a short distance then ended in a much wider opening. Dan stood at the lip and surveyed the room beyond.

He was again reminded of Mark's description of Limbo but this wasn't as grandiose or imposing. He saw what looked like control panels and banks of lights. His eye's travelled around the room, taking in the air of neglect evidences by the hanging cobwebs and layer of dust on everything. It was almost like a Giant sized version of the room he and Steve had found in the drains, but that was too outrageous.

Dan took stock of the opening, seeing evidence it had once been used by an animal, maybe the owner of the room had a pet rat or rodent that needed to go out and used this tunnel like a cat-flap in a door. Dan shrugged and dismissed any speculation, it was pointless. His main concern was how to get back to the others. He saw a ledge that ran from under the tunnel opening to a bench top. He lowered himself down and edged his way over to the bench. Everything was coated in a thick layer of dust. Why the light was still working was a mystery. Dan was only glad it was, he would have been hard pressed to negotiate this room with only his failing torch. He wondered what the others were doing above him, assuming they were above him, he had no way of knowing where he was in relation to the path he had been following.

He found a wire tacked to the wall that wasn't far from the bench top, he used it to get to the floor. Once there he looked about for another opening. His view from the tunnel hadn't shown any doors or passageways, but it made sense that there must be one. He worked his way around the walls of the room, reaching a point directly opposite to the tunnel before finding anything. He could see a crack in the wall, reaching from ground level up towards the ceiling. There was a small gap at the bottom, through which Dan could feel fresh air blowing. He looked up, trying to see what mechanism was used to open the door, but seeing nothing that looked like a control button or pad. He scanned the floor and saw what looked like a pressure pad. Dan groaned, his chances of getting out rapidly fading. How could he activate a pressure pad geared for a Giant. He walked over to the pad set in the floor, it was flush with the flooring, looking like a dust mat. He walked onto it, not expecting anything to happen, so he was astounded when the door behind him slid noiselessly open. Open mouthed Dan stepped off the mat and the door started to slid shut. He quickly stepped back on and the door once more opened. He peered into the space behind the door and saw another tunnel, Giant sized, stretching into the distance. There was another pressure mat on the other side set into the rock floor. The pads sensitivity must have been geared to the pet's weight for ease of passage through the cave system. Dan could only thank whoever had the heart to be so thoughtful of his pets well-being. Dan was now reaping the benefits. He once more stepped off the mat, calculating how long he had to get through the gap, if he waited till the door was fully open, he had about thirty seconds to cover the distance before the door fully closed. By standing on the edge closest to the door he reckoned he could do it easily.

After negotiating the door, and checking the pressure pad worked from the other side as well, Dan started down the tunnel. The lighting here was more intermittent, with some of the bulbs having blown, which left large patches impenetrably dark. Hugging the wall Dan started down the corridor, keeping all his senses alert to any sounds. He reached the end of the corridor. It was a T-junction with passages stretching as far as his eye could see in both directions. Both still had lights working but Dan was stumped as to which way to go. He had one water bottle with him but no food. He could last awhile without food but the water was another matter.

He decided to go down the right tunnel as the air seemed to be coming from that direction. He marked the tunnel floor in case he circled back somehow, plus it would show the other's which way he had come if they got sent down the same way.

An hour or so later he found himself looking up at the stars. He was standing outside the entrance to the tunnel. Bushes and rank growth had hidden the entrance but Dan just crawled under the vegetation and found himself outside at last. He still had a problem of where he was but he decided to risk a radio call now he was outside and see if the other's could track him from his signal. He thumbed the send button after extending the aerial to it fullest.

" Dan to Steve...can you hear me Steve...come in please."

He waited for anxious seconds before Steve's voice came through.

" Steve here....Dan what the hell happened. Where did you go ?"

" I don't know Steve....I only paused for a moment to look around, the next thing I know I'm inside an underground complex. Now I'm outside some sort of cave system, I've just spent the last couple of hours finding my way out."

" Are you okay, what happened ?"

" I'm fine, just confused as to where I am. Can you get Mark to hook up the direction finder and try and locate me."

" Your signal is good and strong, Mark is just getting the portable finder set up now, hang on there Dan, we'll find out where you are in a minute."

Dan waited with the radio on, as Steve and Mark tried to pinpoint him.

" Dan, you appear to be about five miles due north of our position."

" Wow....I did travel then." Dan was staggered, he wished he knew how the technology worked. It would sure make travelling easy.

" Dan, how hard was it for you to get out of wherever you were ?" Steve was asking. Dan pulled himself together.

" Not difficult, the complex is deserted and neglected but everything is still working okay, I could walk you all through it." he suggested.

" That could be a quick way of cutting our travelling time. Your nearly a third of the way closer than where you left us." Said Steve.

" Steve, check the path where I was last, you should find a fine gauge wire circular grid in the ground. It seems to work on the same principle as the one you encountered with the underground city of Limbo."

" We'll look for that right now Dan....stay where you are and I'll radio you when we're all down. Steve out."

Dan switched off and sat there, chuckling to himself. Talk about serendipity.

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Steve and Mark got the girls up and together they made their way back to where Dan had disappeared. This time Mark and Steve cleared the ground around the area, finding the fine wire cris-crossing the path. Mark and Valerie went first, standing on the grid and vanishing from Steve and Betty's sight. They materialised inside the cave and quickly stepped off the grid, staring around the cave in amazement. Steve and Betty quickly followed them, crowding the small room. They moved down the tunnel and found themselves looking out over the large room, festooned with cobwebs and dust. After conferring with Dan they negotiated the ledge and table, using the same power cord to reach the floor. The door was next, safely passed and then it was the long trek down the corridor to where Dan waited for them. Their reunion was punctuated with much back slapping and hugging. They were all completely worn out now, from stetched nerves and lack of sleep so they camped just inside the tunnel, behind the thicket and tried to make the most of the remaining hours before the dawn.

They all agreed to save their questions and speculations for breakfast.

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