12/1/2002 Title: Lifelines Chapter: 9 Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz Universe: Land of the Giants Archive: let me know where, please. Rating: PG Adventure Feedback: craved and cherished Disclaimer: All AI's, no money, no foul...promise. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tan had argued with Caron and Hoge, but it was finally decided to split the search party into three. Hoge had retraced their route on the map, and based on the direction the Little People had taken and the original location where the first pair were captured, Hoge had a fairly good idea where the fugitives were running to. They hadn't found a new trail of footprints but the ground was defeating their best efforts at visual tracking. It had therefore come down to a battle of wits, and Hoge was damned if he'd let a bunch of enemy aliens win this match. Tan started off heading North east, which would eventually bring him to the edge of the forest and the cliff. Caron was going to head in the current direction and meet up with Tan eventually. Hoge was going to head North Westerly, circling round past where the first Little People had been found and heading towards the edge of the forest. They would meet up at the end of the second day and compare notes. They had sufficient supplies for four days walking, so all three set off with high expectations of capturing the runaways, or spotting their camp and spaceship. By the end of their first day alone, Tan had reached near to the edge of the forest, camping inside the forest but with a clear view out to the cliff edge, through the tussock. Caron had fought her way through dense undergrowth to reach only two thirds of the way she had meant to reach. Discouraged she camped under a huge tree, even by Giant standards, and prepared to spend a lonely night. Hoge had made good progress and was close to the original site of the first capture. He had kept his eyes glued to the ground, trying to spot any evidence of the Little People. When he finally made camp that night he felt he was close, or atleast in the right area. Morning would bring success, he was sure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Windsifters' party of five rose early the next morning, finding the weather still holding fine for them. After taking a bearing Steve struck out due East, reckoning on reaching the edge of the forest, close to where they went in, by early afternoon. They had eaten breakfast on the hoof, and only stopped for brief comfort breaks. Everyone was exhausted but the need to reach their ship outweighed their physical duress. Valerie kept her spirits up by hatching dire plots of harm against the hapless Marna. She had been right all along, now she wanted nothing less than to beat the girls head against a convenient wall. It was a pleasant fantasy that kept a small feral smile on her lips for most of the morning. Mark saw that smile and hoped whatever she was hatching didn't include sharp objects. They made little or no conversation while tramping, saving their collective energy for anything that cropped up along the trail. As it turned out they were wise to do so. They had just eaten their meagre lunch when they heard crashing and snapping noises from due West of their trail. Steve waved everyone down, hoping it was a wild animal making its way through the forest. It wasn't. Hoge stepped into view, looming over their position. Everyone hunkered down lower, using whatever foliage they could find to hide under. Hoge was scanning the floor of the forest, trying to find evidence of the Little People, his gaze swept over where the runaways were hiding, but didn't spot them, his eye's sweeping over them and his feet taking him past their hiding place. Everyone let out a gasp of held breath. Beads of sweat had started on Steve's brow and he wiped a hand over his forehead before it could sting his eyes. He looked at his hand and realised it was shaking slightly. Many more close calls like that and he would be ready to have a nervous breakdown. Valerie had buried her face in Marks shirt, not wanting to see if the Giant was reaching for her again. Betty lay nearly face down on the dirt, making herself as small as possible. They all cautiously stood up and made their way to the closest solid cover, a cairn of rocks at the foot of a narrow tree. " That was too close " Dan breathed. " We were lucky, any closer and he'd have been scraping us off his shoe." said Steve. " How far are we from the ship, Steve ?" asked Betty. " About an hour, not far at all. See that line of trees, where the daylight is brighter, that's the edge of the forest. Once we reach there its only a matter of orientating ourselves and we should be back at the Windsifter within the hour." " What about that Giant...shouldn't we hide ?" Valerie asked. " What's the point, if we try and wait him out he could find the ship and we'll be worse off than we are now." Dan reasoned. " Dan's right, we need to push ahead, we're so close." said Steve. " Okay Steve....your the boss...but I intend to sleep a week after this escapade, and I want to soak my feet for a fortnight before I have to go trekking anywhere again." said Valerie. Steve chuckled. " You have my full permission to indulge any and all those wishes....if we get to the Windsifter, and take off without getting caught." " We'd better move out, everyone ready ?" Steve asked after a moment. Valerie groaned and Betty grimaced but they stood and straightened their shoulders, ready for the last big push. Mark, Dan and Steve adjusted their packs and turned to start the last part of their perilous journey. Steve was in the lead, followed by Dan, then Betty, Valerie and lastly Mark. They tried to keep the pace up for the first half hour and reached the edge of the forest without another sign of Hoge or the other Giants. Steve scouted ahead while the rest sat in the shade of the forest, looking out over the scrub and tussock that stretched before them, ending ultimately in the cliff edge. Steve came back at a run, signalling them to hide. He hustled them all under some overhanging roots and pulled some loose vegetation over them. Just in time as the ground started to vibrate with the passage of Giant boots as Tan and Hoge walked past them, scanning the edges of the forest where the soil was sandy and loose, looking for tiny footprints. Steve and Dan crawled out after they had passed and followed to see what they were doing. The others stayed hidden. " The ship is just over that rise, you can see the top of the rock pile from here." Steve pointed it out to Dan who shaded his eyes to see. " We could cut across country and get there faster." Dan suggested. Steve was watching the two Giants as they turned and went back into the forest. " We need to move fast, we won't have a lot of time for prepping the ship, lets hope Fitzhugh and Barry have the ship loaded and ready for takeoff." Steve turned and ran back to the others, quickly bringing them up to date with what needed to be done. Valerie gulped, thinking of her aching legs and feet, but she took deep breaths ready for the sprint ahead. Betty looked just as worn, but she set her chin and was ready for Steve to give the word. " Okay, follow as close as possible to Dan and myself, if anyone falls, don't yell out, Mark will pick you up." Steve instructed. He turned, made one last check for Giants and sprinted off, heading quickly into the tussocky undergrowth, Dan hot on his heels and Betty keeping up with him. Valerie set off, keeping a watch on Betty and the ground, trying to avoid anything that would trip her tired feet. Mark followed in the rear, pounding along. The five exhausted travellers dredged up their last reserves and ran for their lives. Steve held the compass in front of him, keeping their direction of flight as straight as possible. Apart from dodging around the occasional rock they were making good time and keeping the rock pile in sight as their beacon. He could here the sound of the others puffing and laboring behind him, his own breath roaring in his ears as the pack bounced and lurched on his shoulders. They rounded the rock pile still at a dead run, skidding in the dirt in front of the Windsifter and nearly falling over in their haste to reach safety. Steve used the last of his strength to bound into the ship, throwing himself into the cockpit and startling Barry who was half out of Dan's seat, having seen them fly into the remains of the camp. " Captain...." Barry started to say but Steve cut him off. " Get out..*puff*...need to take off...*gasp*...right now." Barry didn't argue with him, but got out of the chair as Dan pulled himself into the cockpit and fell into the co-pilots seat, flipping switches as he went. Barry made his way out into the corridor to see Valerie and Betty gasping on the cabin floor like fish out of water. Mark had dropped his pack, like Dan and Steve, and was checking that the camp was clear. Fitzhugh and Marna were both talking at once, trying to find out what was happening, but Mark ignored them both, carrying on as if they didn't exist. Fitzhugh threw his hands up and went to help the two girls get into their seats. The engines of the Windsifter were whining as they warmed up, Fitzhugh could only hope the sound didn't draw the Giants like bees to a honey pot. Mark took one last look around, finding for once that Fitzhugh had done a good job in packing up the gear. Only the buggy stood forlornly, with a few scattered bits of tables and chairs. Mark regretted not having the time to strip the car but their lives depended on Steve getting them airborne as soon as possible. He pulled up the steps and shut the hatchway, his sore feet taking him to the doorway of the cockpit, to see if they needed any help. " How long Steve ?" Mark asked, watching the two men turning dials and toggling switches with a speed borne of desperation. " About now....go strap yourself in, this won't be gentle." Steve fired up the engines, making them roar, not bothering to hide their position from the Giants now. He gunned the rockets, pulling the nose of the craft into the wind and starting to taxi across the bumpy ground. Mark entered the cabin and slumped into his chair, fixing the belt over his lap, then putting his head back and closing his eyes. It was all in Steve and Dan's hands now. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tan and Hoge were about 50 feet from the edge of the forest when they heard the whine of a motor starting up. Initially Tan thought it was a car or truck, but then common sense won out and he realised it was the Earthmen's spaceship. Tan grabbed Hoges' arm and spun him about, starting to race off back towards the sound. Hoge only hesitated a second before pounding after him. They burst out of the forest and paused to take a bearing. They could see Caron making her way down the edging strip beside the trees and they waved her on. They could see a pile of rock rising above the tussock and a cloud of dust kicking up behind it. " It's over there, quickly now, we mustn't lose them." Tan shouted. Caron heard and veered towards the rocks that Tan had pointed to. Hoge and Tan both broke into a jog, triumphant that they would have all the Little People in their grasp this time. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Steve pushed the throttle wide open and the ship responded by leaping forward, bumping wildly over the uneven ground. Steve pulled up on the control column and the nose started to lift. " Faster dammit...come on...faster" Dan was keeping an eye on the radar pattern. " They're nearly on top of us Steve. Three Giants, to the west and south of us." Dan told him. " Almost there....get your nose up baby...come on." Steve pulled the stick back fully, feeling the ship leave the ground and start to climb. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tan and Hoge saw the grey ship rise up out of the tussock. Tan gave a shout and lunged in a flying tackle, trying to stop the ship lifting off. He landed short and got a face full of dust for his pains. Hoge pumped his legs a bit faster and overtook the Professor, running alongside the ship as it gathered speed and started to climb. Hoge reached out an arm and tried to grab a fin, only to find the surface too smooth. His fingers wouldn't grip but he did cause the ship to dip and start a steep bank. Unfortunately for Hoge this brought the rockets to bear almost in his face which made him throw his arms up to protect his eyes and he tripped, falling flat on his face. Caron could only watch as the ship banked steeply and gained more altitude, veering back onto its original course and speeding out of sight, heading North up the coastline and away. " MARNA...." She screamed, as she watched their last best hope vanish into the haze. Tan lay in the dirt, winded from his tackle. Hoge was sitting up, touching his scorched face, cursing. Caron sat down on the grass and hugged her knees, as tears slowly slipped down her face. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~` Steve had nearly had a heart attack when the Giant had knocked the fin of the Windsifter, he had fought the controls and decided to follow the direction of the blow and bank steeply. He had a brief glimpse of Hoge's startled face before they were around and climbing again, the ship once more level. He brought them back to their original heading and opened the throttle, the roar of the engines a satisfying counterpoint to his hammering heart. " YES...WE DID IT" Dan whooped, grinning from ear to ear. His teeth the only clean things in his dusty brown face. " We sure did...notch up another escape to the enemy aliens." Steve quipped, laughing at Dan's sheer exuberance. Inside the passenger cabin Valerie and Betty hugged each other in delight, they had escaped another perilous encounter with Giants with nothing more than bruised feet and dirty clothes. Marna looked on with bewilderment, she would never understand why these people got so excited over simply leaving a camp. Barry was keen to hear what had happened to his friends but he wisely kept his counsel, knowing it would all come out soon enough. Fitzhugh decided, after taking one look at Marks exhausted countenance that questions could wait until later. They were all back safe and sound, and really, that was all that mattered. That was all that ever mattered. * The end of Lifelines* Look out for City Of Light.