Title: Outbreak of Fear
Chapter: 10
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: R (for some conversations of an adult nature), Adventure
Archive: sure, just let me know where, please
Spoilers: nope, don't think so
Feedback: cherished and adored
Disclaimer: All IA's, no money has changed hands, but the night is young (joke)....inspiration from the
actors, admiration from a fan.

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Betty and Valerie found themselves back at the water trough the next morning, a bundle of clothes in a makeshift basket, carried between them. They found the deepest puddle and dumped the clothes into it, soaking them through. Betty undid the piece of paper holding their "washing powder" and dumped that on top of the heap. Then she and Valerie took off their shoes and stepped into the hole, pushing the clothes around and stomping them up and down, acting as the agitators, the water foaming around their legs. This was the easy part of the wash, the hard part would be lugging the dripping clothes to the next puddle for rinsing and wringing out. But for now, the two girls stomped with gay abandon, laughing when bubbles flicked up and stuck to their hair and faces.

" We really should get Mark to design a washing machine for us, this is hell on the clothes," Betty puffed, stomping on a shirt that was full of air and refused to sink. Valerie laughed and started to move as if she was doing the twist, her arms flying back and forth as she twirled the water about.

" He has the plans for one, but we need to be settled a bit longer for him to make a start," Valerie huffed, her skirt hitched up out of the reach of the flying bubbles. Betty pulled some of the clothes out to check on their progress, then dumped them back under, flicking a lump of foam at Valerie and making her squeal.

" So Val, things really settled between you and Mark, huh ?"

" Oh yeah....settled in platinum," Valerie agreed, fingering the chain around her neck holding Marks ring.

" Sooooo...." Betty hesitated, " you've discussed children ?" Betty blurted out, blushing. Valerie stopped and regarded her friend.

" Yes, but it's not a problem, at least not for the immediate future,"

Betty looked up sharply, seeing the sly look on Valerie's face, her tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as she concentrated on the washing under her feet.

" And just what does that mean ? come on Val, spill,"

" Well, I got a chance, when Mark was laid up, to ask Doctor Tiron about birth control, contraception," now it was Valerie's turn to blush. Betty formed an O with her mouth, her expression admiring.

" Good for you, what did he say ?"

" Apparently they are nearly as advanced as we are in that area, in fact they have much more stringent rules about large families, so birth control is quite ahead, despite them being behind us in other areas,"

" And ?" Betty pressed.

" Well they don't have a pill, they have a drug you inject and it keeps your cycle regular but acts the same as the pill. You just need to take it every two months or so, works like a charm according to Doctor Tiron."

Betty stopped stomping and put her hands on her hips, regarding her friend with a sharp expression.

" You didn't happen to get the good Doctor to give you a supply of this wonder drug ?"

" Well, now you mention it," Valerie gave Betty a wide grin, her eye's brimming over with laughter. Betty whooped and hugged Valerie, the two girls jumping around in the soapy water.

" Oh my god, that makes everything okay....not that I don't want children but I was so worried about the risk," Betty suddenly paused, a worried frown marring her forehead. " How will we know if it works for us, we may have a different physiology to Giant women."

" Well we should know in about a weeks time, my period is due next week, and I had a dose of the drug this morning, if it works, I'll perform on cue...otherwise, we have to make some plans,"

Betty regarded her friend with open admiration, Valerie returned her regard with a smug expression, like a cat with a canary.

" So Betty, how are things with you and our gallant Captain ?"

" As if you need to ask, things are going just fine, we had a long talk last night and covered a ton of stuff,"

" How romantic," Valerie drawled. Betty gave her a wide grin.

" It wasn't all talk, we did some other stuff as well,"

" Well that's a relief, it would be a shame to waste all that time on just talk,"

" You a fine one, where did you and Mark get to after dinner last night ?"

" We needed an early night, tired out, you know it's been a busy week," Valerie replied airily, trying to look nonchalant.

Betty burst out laughing and Valerie joined her, their peels of laughter ringing around the deserted farmyard.

They carried on with the laundry, the air often alive with their laughter, the washing seemingly doing itself so that the couple of hours flew by. They were returning to the camp, their arms full of damp clothing when they heard the sound of a car making its way up the track towards the farm. After stopping to listen for a second, they took off at full speed, racing towards the haystack and the campsite. Dodging out of sight as the vehicle ground to a halt beside the old pump. The two women skidded into the camp, throwing the damp washing into the hatchway then stood gasping by the steps as the others gathered around in concern.

" A car....by the trough," Valerie gasped, her hand clutching her side as her lungs heaved.

Mark and Steve came out of the ship, casting an anxious look at the two panting women.

" We need to check it out, Fitzhugh stay by the radio, we'll be back as quick as we can," Steve signalled to Mark and Dan to follow him and they left at a run. Fitzhugh went into the cockpit, with Barry, Marna and the two women following more slowly, gathering up the damp laundry and taking it into the passenger cabin.

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" Why would anyone come to a dilapidated farm," Mark queried.

The three men were crouched among the strands of straw, peering out between the stalks at the car parked next to the pump in the middle of the farmyard. They didn't see any Giants around, but guessed they'd gone into the barn.

" Who knows why, but I hope they don't inspect the trough too closely," Steve said grimly, pointing to the puddle of soapy water left by the girls after they'd completed their laundry. The bubbles winked in the sunlight, some of them blowing over the ground and catching in the weeds.

" Never any epsom salts when you need 'em," Dan joked, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.

" Actually we do have some, back at the ship, part of the medical chest," Mark informed them, getting a surprised glance from Steve before he returned his gaze to the car.

" Since when do you know the contents of the medical chest, I thought you left all that to Betty to take care of ?" said Steve, a faint note of sarcasm colouring his question. Mark looked at him wryly.

" Okay, you're right, I don't usually bother with that stuff, but I saw Valerie inject herself with something from it, so I decided to investigate," Mark explained, getting another startled glance, this time from both Dan and Steve.

" Did you ask her ? what was it ?" Steve asked, a trace of concern creeping in this time. Mark smiled to himself .

" It was a contraceptive drug, given to Val by Doctor Tiron. Apparently the doll-house wasn't quite as spontaneous as I had been lead to believe,"

" You don't think..." Steve started, staring at Mark.

" Oh yeah, he did, the good Doctor is a romantic soul it would appear,"

" OH.....oh..." Steve turned back to regard the car and its lack of any Giant occupants, pondering on what Mark had said.

" Don't worry, I don't think Valerie was in on it, she was just jumping the gun... covering all the possibilities, so to speak," Mark gave a short laugh, making Dan look at him in concern.

" You think you've got it all figured out and they still manage to cut the ground from under you....I tell you, it came as a hell of a shock."

" But....well you had spoken to Valerie about children...and...and stuff," Steve stuttered, not quite believing he was having this conversation, or more to the point, having it in this situation.

" We did speak about it, broadly, but now we have the means to control that situation, at least until we get back to Earth. Then I want to fill our house with children, Valerie feels the same way."

Dan and Steve stared at Mark, absorbing everything and silently thanking Doctor Tiron again, for solving what would have been a potentially fraught situation, given their circumstances.

Their attention was diverted from domestic matters when a Giant came out of the barn and approached the horsetrough, bending down to look at the pump and try the handle once or twice. The man was in his forties, with brown hair and a stony expression. The pump started to gush water, making the Giant jump back to avoid being splashed. The Little People, watching from the haystack, thanking the fates for smiling on them when the overflowing trough washed away the evidence of the soap bubbles.

The Giant brushed his hands off, looking around the deserted farmyard once more before opening his car door and climbing in. The motor roared into life and the car started to back round. Steve gave a shout of warning as the car continued to back round, heading for their hiding place in the haystack. The wheels stopped only a few feet from where they'd been hiding, and kicked up a host of small stones when the driver gunned the motor and shot off, exhaust spewing from the tail pipe. It quickly disappeared back down the rutted driveway. Mark and Dan looked up from where they lay on the ground after leaping out of the way, they saw Steve coughing a short way away and quickly joined him, helping him stand up.

" That was a close call, I think we need to blow this place, that Giant may be back, and maybe he'll bring friends next time," Steve coughed, the lingering smell of the fumes swirling around them.

" I agree, I think it's time to move on," Mark agreed, looking over to Dan for confirmation.

" I do too, the weather looks set for a few days, lets get going while we can," said Dan, brushing the dust off his pants leg.

" Okay then, we'll plan on lifting off this evening, lets get back and get everyone organised with the packing up," Steve turned to leave, his face drawn with pain after landing on his sore arm. Mark and Dan exchanged a look but followed behind Steve, keeping their comments to themselves.

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"We must be getting good, this has to be the fastest packup of the camp ever," Dan announced, passing the last piece of the lean-to, the canopy, to the waiting arms of Fitzhugh.

"I'd be glad if we could stay long enough in one place to allow the creases to drop out of this wretched material, the fold lines are so sharp they look like we've been ironing them," Fitzhugh retorted.

" Well maybe Steve will find somewhere less "crowded" for you, next time," Dan replied, glaring at Fitzhugh, whose only response was to raise his eyebrows in an injured expression.

" Boys, boys enough. Let's get this stowed and get onboard, Steve wants to leave as soon as possible. You wouldn't like to be the ones to hold us up, would you ?" Valerie's voice made the two men jump. They looked up to see her standing in the hatchway with her arms folded.

" Blame Dan, I'm doing my best, I'm not so young any more," Fitzhugh huffed, making Valerie hide a smile behind her hand. Dan only stood there with his mouth open, indignant. Fitzhugh took a firmer grasp of the folded canvas and swept pass them both with an injured air.

" That old.....windbag," Dan exploded, when Fitzhugh disappeared from sight.

" Well he has a point, he's not exactly the young anymore,"

" That's beside the point, I don't see age stopping him from eating and sleeping his fill," Dan grumbled. Valerie gave his arm a squeeze and left him to stew, walking over to where Mark stood, hands on hips, surveying the camp site.

" Everything okay ?" she asked, coming round to stand in front of him.

" Yeah....fine....Val, don't you sometimes wish you could leave them all behind and just fly away,"

" Often, but that's not really a choice is it ?" Valerie replied, chuckling.

" I sometimes think we're stuck in some sort of weird time warp that just repeats the same events, over and over again, only the scenery changing once in a while," mused Mark, his gaze not on the woman in front of him, but far away, unfocused.

" Hey.....you can't say what's happening with us is the same as before," Valerie remarked," mind you, I wouldn't mind you repeating what you did last night," she added.

Mark started, his eyes darting to hers, a flush staining his face.

" Woman, you're insatiable....I'm too old for this," Mark complained, a smile curling his lips.

" Oh not you too, I'm surrounded by old men," said Valerie, exasperation evident in her voice.

" I was joking," Mark whispered, leaning forward to kiss her on the cheek as she glared up at him, her arms folded across her chest. Valerie's face softened at once, her eyes turning a deeper blue as they regarded Mark.

" Good, then I'll look forward to testing the limits of your "age" tonight," she said, smugly.

Steve found them still laughing when they reached the hatchway.

" Everything packed ?" Steve asked.

" Dan and Fitzhugh got the last bit stowed, we're ready to leave anytime," Mark informed him, his eye's following Valerie as she left them to go into the passenger cabin. Steve shook his head in amusement at Mark's preoccupation.

" I'll leave you to check that everyone is strapped in, Dan's started the pre-flight checks and we'll take off in about fifteen minutes,"

Mark nodded and turned to enter the passenger cabin, closing the door behind him. Steve went into the cock-pit and eased himself into the pilots chair. His arm was still in a sling, so Dan was going to do all the work for this takeoff. Steve was there just to oversee the procedure, having complete confidence in Dan's skill as a pilot.

Dan gave him a grin, and shut the folder containing the flight checklist.

" All set, Skipper ?"

" Ready when you are Dan,"

In the cabin, everyone was strapped in and waiting, the vibration of the engines a welcome distraction to the rather tense atmosphere.

Betty, at the back was chewing a nail, her usually calm face marred by a frown. She stared angrily at the back of the chair containing Marna, wishing there was a way to wipe the smug expression of the blonde girls face.

Earlier that afternoon, Betty had been happily packing the clothes that Steve had brought back from the dolls house, especially for her. She had been smoothing the pristine material prior to packing it when Marna had approached, carrying bedding to pack away.

" Is that what Steve got for you ?" Marna asked, catching sight of the dress in Betty's hands.

Betty gave her a wary look, still smarting from the comments made the previous time the two women had spoken. Marna continued, ignoring Betty's hostile silence.

" I suppose he thought the colour would suit you, but then men have no idea of what suits a sallow complexion,"

Betty gasped at the girls outright insult. Marna may have the edge in the beauty department, but Betty didn't consider herself a laggard in looks, in fact Steve had only commented the previous evening how soft and pretty her eyes were. She could only conclude, from her catty remarks, that Marna was suffering from a severe case of sour grapes.

" Why Marna, I'm sure you'd know all about that problem, so there's no point offering the garment to you....is there," Betty replied, an innocent expression on her face.

Marna's eyes snapped and she turned, stalking out of the cabin after dumping the bedding at Betty's feet. Betty decided the extra work was worth the expression on Marna's face.

Later on, as the men completed the breaking down of the lean-to, Betty came out of the ship to see Marna leaning into Steve's personal space, her finger tracing something on the plaster cast. Steve was laughing at something the girl was saying and Betty felt an unpleasant jolt in her mid-section. Marna had eventually straightened up and caught sight of Betty watching them. The girl then deliberately reached up and gave Steve a peck on the cheek, making him flush slightly under his tan. Betty had felt her own temper rise and had to bite hard on the inside of her cheek to stop something very rude from passing her lips. Since then Marna had worn a look so smug, that Betty had felt a strong urge to do something violent.

Next to Betty, also at the back, sat Fitzhugh. He had also witnessed the little drama played out, between Betty and Marna. He had found it all very entertaining until he'd seen the strain on Betty's face. There and then he decided that it was time he did something to get Marna off the girls back. As much as it galled him to play up to the child, he'd go back to playing the gallant for Marna. Maybe if he took her attention, Betty and Steve would have a fair chance of building on their tenuous beginning. It wasn't exactly a chore to flatter the blonde beauty, she was very easy on the eye, and when engaged, she was witty and a delight. It was a shame that it was all so shallow, but Fitzhugh, being the man he was, took it upon himself to steer the girl away from tormenting Betty. Who better equipped, he told himself, than a Master conman.

Barry, sitting in front of Fitzhugh, and next to Marna, remained oblivious to the currents of tension radiating around him. Chipper had been subdued when Barry had taken him for a final walk around the camp, before boarding the Windsifter. He hoped the dog wasn't getting sick, as the chances of finding another vet were slim at best. He reached down to the basket secured to his seat and pushed his fingers through the wicker bars, feeling the warm tongue of the little dog bathe his fingers.

Mark and Valerie sat side by side at the front, they had agreed not to make cow eye's at each other to spare the rest of the group, but Valerie was finding it hard not to let her eyes wander over to the man sitting across the aisle from her. Mark was trying to concentrate on the figures scrawled across the pad in front of him, but his concentration was not on the job and he found himself making surreptitious glances at the woman across from him. More than once they caught each other sneaking looks, their eyes meeting in shared amusement. Finally Valerie decided to end the game and closed her eyes, as if to sleep, only to open them a minute or two later and sneak another look across the aisle.

" At this rate I'll never get these figures done," Mark thought, ruefully, after sneaking yet another glance and finding Val doing the same. He forced his attention back to the note pad, attempting, vainly, to decipher the squiggles in front of his eyes.

Behind them, the engines of the Windsifter roared and carried the ship up into the late afternoon sky, the sunset gleaming redly off the hull and colouring the clouds above them in shades of purple and pink. Dan banked over the farm, the buildings falling behind them as they gained elevation.

" Where to this time, Steve, North again ?" Dan queried.

" No Dan, I thing we need to get more inland, let's see what we can find in the West," Steve replied, the sunshine through the viewport making his skin glow gold.

" Whatever you say, Captain....West it is,"

The Windsifter leveled off, throttle wide open, and skimmed over the tops of the trees as it headed into the west and the painted sky.

End of Outbreak

Look out for The Divide