Title: Outbreak of Fear
Chapter: 5
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Universe: Land of the Giants
Rating: PG, Adventure
Archive: Sure, just let me know where, please
Feedback: craved and cherished
Disclaimer: Never mine, all IA's, all hail the actors...*sigh*

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Steve and Dan looked on with affection as Valerie and Mark held a silent conversation, holding hands inside the jolting and swaying box carrying them all back to the Windsifter. Valerie had her head on Mark's shoulder, while he had an arm around her waist, holding her securely as the box moved with Jobels' steady gait, the light from the torch lending a romantic gleam to the scene. It was as if they existed in a world all their own, and Steve and Dan could only look on with a sort of wistful envy. They had all lost so much, not least of which their loved ones back on Earth. Neither Dan nor Steve were married, but they had friends, girlfriends, workmates and family, all of them probably in mourning, wondering what happened to the people on Flight 703. Fitzhugh might had eschewed all family and acquaintances because of his nefarious connections, and Barry had already been orphaned, but Betty, Dan and Steve had left active social and families lives behind. Valerie and Mark had largely isolated themselves, even within their hectic social and business worlds circles, so their connection now was even more surprising given they would probably never have met on their own planet, let alone fallen in love. Steve wished them luck, nothing was certain on this planet, and if they could find an oasis of intimacy who was he to spoil it.

The box suddenly jolted to a stop, throwing Dan and Steve to the opposite wall of their shoebox, Mark and Valerie, being locked together were better braced, Mark using an arm to stop them from being thrown about.

" What happened, why has Jubel stopped ?" Valerie asked, pushing herself upright.

" It's too soon to have reached the farm already," Dan stated, looking up to the roof of their container.

Jubel was standing completely still, in the hopes of not being seen. He had reached the outskirts of the small wood that bordered the Doctors property. Across the clearing in front of him was a small picnic area that allowed travellers to rest. In the clearing was a car, the same one he had successfully avoided the night he'd taken Dan to the Doctor, now it was parked in the rest-area, lights blazing and the occupants, sitting on the picnic table, drinks in hand, laughing raucously. Jubel started to edge backwards, hoping his dark clothing would provide enough camouflage until he reached the denser bush behind him. The slight movement was enough to draw the attention of one of the people on the picnic table. About to raise the bottle to his lips he suddenly shouted and pointed at Jubel.

Inside the shoebox, the Little People felt the sudden change of direction as Jubel turned and fled back into the wood, pushing aside branches, his feet pounding as he ran away from his tormenters. The occupants of the box under his arm were thrown around as if in a tumbler drier, the harsh sound of Jubels' breathing a counterpoint to the cries of alarm and pain filling the small cardboard container.

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Jubel was in a panic, it was bad enough that he'd stumbled onto the gang of people now chasing him through the wood, he also had to find a way of hiding the Little People in his care. He realised they must be having a rough ride, but the prospect of them in the hands of the men behind him filled him with a nameless fear for all their lives and spurred his tiring legs to greater effort. Dodging around a large tree, he tripped and fell hard on the leaf-litter. The shoe-box flew out of his hands and landed in the branches of a shrub, it hung there for a second then tilted as the branch flexed and it fell to the ground, the lid flying off on impact. Jubel could only watch in dismay as the box landed upside down.

" Over here, I've found him" said one of the gang, rounding the tree and seeing Jubel sprawled in front of him. He made the mistake of stopping and looking over his shoulder to see how far back the others were, it was all Jubel needed to get to his feet and take off running. The man gave chase, brushing against the shrub and kicking the box lid as he passed.

The rest of the men chasing Jubel followed in quick succession. The last man to round the tree tripped on the same root that caught Jubel, slamming into the ground and getting the wind knocked out of him. He raised himself up on his elbows, breathing heavily and saw the box lying under the bush. Out of curiosity he lifted the box and turned it over.

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Steve lay stunned and winded on the soft leaves, the darkness full of the sound of pounding feet. Nearby Dan lay on his face, not moving, with Mark and Valerie sprawled like dolls not far away. The box had turned over and now trapped them on the ground. Steve shook his head to clear the fuzziness, drawing as deep a breath as he could into his abused lungs.

" Dan...Dan, we have to get up," Steve wheezed, fighting for breath.

Dan groaned and pushed himself up, the light from the dropped torch making crazy shadows on the wall of the upturned shoe box. Mark was also coming round, crawling over to where Valerie lay.

" Come on Val, no time for a nap," Mark tapped her cheek, " come on, we have to get up, Val,"

Valerie opened her eyes, grasping Marks hand as he helped her to sit up.

" What happened ?" asked Valerie, rubbing her elbow where it had connected with the box wall in their tumble out of the bush.

" We need to get out of here, Jubel must have dropped the box when they started to chase him, they'll be here soon, lets lift this side," Steve ordered. Mark, Steve and Dan stood up, grabbing the edge of the box and lifting it up enough for Valerie to crawl under. Mark followed her, taking the edge again, once he was on the other side, allowing Dan to get out, then together they held up the box while Steve grabbed what was left of their backpacks and crawled out.

" Here, take these," he handed one each to Mark and Dan," We'll make for the other side of the shrub, hurry, we don't have alot of time."

They ran, twisting and turning through the sucker branches pushing up from the ground at the base of the bush. They reached the opposite side of the shrub as the second to last man rounded the tree and pounded after the fleeing Jubel. They heard the last man fall over the root, his grunt as the wind was knocked out of him. They saw him turn the box over and then pick it up, grateful that they were no longer in it.

The man dropped the box on the ground and pulled himself up, then limped off after his fast disappearing friends, the sound of them crashing through the bush in pursuit of Jubel a clear trail to follow.

" That was too close," Steve panted, getting to his feet.

" What's going to happen to Jubel?" asked Valerie, brushing the leaves off her skirt and legs.

" Let's hope he can run fast, there's not much we can do from here," said Dan. He checked the torch, finding it still working, much to his obvious surprise.

" We have a few problems of our own, like, where are we ?" Mark pointed out, picking up his pack and brushing off his jacket. They all looked at each other then looked around, seeing nothing but huge trees, dark and shadowed, their meagre torch the only light.

" We can't stay here, if they come back this way we'll be right in their path, lets see what we can find over this way," Steve pointed to the left, where the ground sloped gently away, relatively free of cover.

" Talk about out of the frying pan.." Dan muttered darkly.

They walked over the dry ground, making good progress despite the lack of light, Steve taking the lead with the torch, Mark and Valerie in the middle and Dan checking their retreat. They ducked behind an outcrop of boulders when they heard the gang of men return. They heard a lot of loud complaints and deduced that they hadn't caught Jubel. The noise of the men tramping through the bush quickly faded, leaving an eerie silence, broken occasionally by the hoot of an owl, high up in a tree.

" We need to find shelter, and fast, we're too exposed here," Dan pointed out, Valerie was rubbing her arms as the evening chill ate through her thin outer layer of clothing. The men had their jackets at least, but her blouse was poor protection from the night chill. Mark saw her shiver and took off his windbreaker, draping it over her shoulders.

" Thanks, it was getting kinda chilly,"

Steve had walked on a bit further, using the failing torch to check around the rocks. A sudden shout brought the others to his side, he pointed and they saw a dark maw to the left of the biggest boulder.

" We'll try that, it should do until morning, I don't want to be too far from where Jubel dropped us, in case he's able to get back this way and maybe find us," said Steve.

" We have Dan's radio, don't we, can't we just radio and ship and get our bearings from them ?" Mark asked. Dan pulled his radio out of his jacket and it became clear why he hadn't mentioned it before. The casing was cracked and broken, the radio's innards poking out on all sides. Dan had landed heavily on it when the box fell, the bruising on his rib's testimony of how hard he'd landed.

" Sorry, I hadn't mentioned it because I knew it was history," Dan explained, handing the smashed radio to Mark who turned it over, trying to see if it was repairable in the dark.

" Lets leave that 'til morning, right now we need to get out of sight and try to keep warm, come on," Steve waved them over to the hole, shining the torch inside to show a sandy floor, unmarked by recent occupation. He went in first, brushing hanging cobwebs out of the way. They found it widened into a roughly circular, sandy floored room, dry and secure, the tunnel at the back blocked by a recent fall of earth.

" Not exactly the Carlton, but whose complaining," Valerie remarked, pulling Marks jacket closer around her shoulders. Mark put an arm around her and gave her an encouraging hug.

"Hey we've come this far, we're not beaten yet," said Mark.

" Not beaten, just a bit shaken, that was some ride," Valerie replied, looking round she found a sandy spot to sit down on. The men arranged themselves around the edge of the room, Mark settling himself next to her.

" We should try and get some sleep, I'll take first watch, not that I think the owner of this tunnel will be returning, it seems deserted," Steve observed, shining the torch around their small hideyhole.

Mark used his pack as a pillow and lay down, Valerie snuggling into his side, wrapping her arms around his chest and draping the jacket over them both. Despite their recent harrowing experience they were quickly asleep, both of them still recovering from their recent illness and the unexpected trauma of the nights' events. Dan settled down on the other side, facing Steve, and curled up, using his pack as a pillow, as well. Steve crawled back to the entrance of the hole, his eye's now adjusted to the weak starlight filtering down through the branches of the trees. The ground was thickly carpeted with deep shadows, making visibility almost nil. He sat with his back against the dirt wall and wrapped his arms about his chest to keep warm. It was going to be a long night.

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" Something must have happened to them, they should have been back by now," Betty exclaimed, pacing the small cockpit in frustration.

" They may have been delayed, maybe Jubel took them to his room in the barn," suggested Barry, sitting in the co-pilot's chair. He had been keeping Betty company as she monitored the radio, waiting either for a call from the returning party, to say why they were delayed, or atleast something to tell them what was going on. Betty chewed her thumb nail as the minutes stretched into hours and still no word from Steve or the others.

" He wouldn't have done that, Barry, Steve would have been too keen to get back here to have loitered with Jubel, I'm sure of that," said Betty, she stopped pacing and grabbed the radio mike, flipping the switches to activate it.

" Windsifter to Steve, come in Steve....Mark, Dan anybody, can you hear me ?"

The radio stayed stubbornly mute. Betty tossed the mike back onto the console, her frustration evident.

" We could go and look for them," Barry offered, at the same time trying to hide a yawn behind a casually raised hand. Betty saw the move and was instantly contrite.

" Oh come on, this is silly, they'll be back when they walk through the hatch, why are we worrying. Let's get you to bed, and then I'll rouse Fitzhugh to take first watch. Why, by the time we wake up tomorrow they'll be back and we'll laugh about it....come on," Betty held out her hand and Barry took it gratefully, glad she seemed to be over her concern. Barry couldn't see the deep worry shading Betty's eyes or the grim line of her mouth that spoke of her distress. He let her lead him back into the passenger cabin and over to his pallet, letting her fuss over him and get him settled. Finally she kissed him lightly on the cheek and got up to leave.

" They'll be back in the morning, I'm sure of it," he said, watching Betty return his hope-filled statement with a tight smile. Then she was gone and Barry turned over and closed his eyes.

Betty shut the cabin door and went out of the front hatch, walking over to the table where Marna sat, gazing out at the blackness surrounding the ship.

" I just put Barry to bed, he should be asleep soon," said Betty, prattling away to try and conceal her nervous state. Marna just smiled wanly and turned back to her perusal of the dark.

" I suppose you'll get around to mentioning it to him one day," Marna said. Betty looked at her blankly, wondering what she was talking about. Marna swung round and returned her look, raising an eyebrow archly.

" The good Captain, I suppose you'll tell him one day about your feelings," Marna persisted. Betty's mouth fell open in shock, of all the things she expected to discuss with the girl, this was the very last.

" I...I...I..." Betty spluttered, finding her mind an embarrassing blank.

" Oh, its all right, I won't spoil things for you, but I would suggest you say something soon. After all, if Mark does get us back to Earth, Steve will be inundated with women wanting to get to know him, the gallant Captain that saved you all," Marna mused." Who could resist his obvious charms," a soft sigh followed the last statement, making Betty look sharply at her companion, while she tried to gather her tattered wits about her.

" Marna, I don't know where you got that idea," Betty started.

" From you, of course, your always mooning over him, its quite funny really, he doesn't notice it, which I suppose works in your favour." Marna continued," it gives you the opportunity to surprise him, I'm sure he'll be swept off his feet, flattered beyond words."

Betty flushed at the insinuations hurled with deadly accuracy by Marna. She opened her mouth to make a cutting remark but shut it just as swiftly, it would only add fuel to the fire, and maybe if she played it cool Marna would leave the whole embarrassing situation alone.

" I think you must have eaten some unripe berries and be hallucinating, Steve and I are just friends, nothing more or less,"

" Oh fine, if that's the way you want to play it. Does that mean he's fair game ?" Marna asked, turning to give Betty a long, considering stare. Betty met those unblinking blue eyes and wondered if this was how a mouse felt when pinned by a snake. She swallowed hard and lifted her chin a fraction.

" You welcome to try Marna, but I think you'll find Steve a tougher nut than Mark to crack. It'll take more than big eyes and big hair to get his attention." With that parting shot Betty got to her feet and hurried back to the Windsifter, not daring to look back and see the results of her barbs.

Marna continued to sit at the table, her eyes narrowed, watching Betty nearly run back to the ship. Betty's remarks had struck a nerve. Marna didn't like to admit she'd lost the game with Mark, and to that redhead as well, it was too galling. But Betty would never get up the nerve to approach the handsome Captain, so Marna figured she had a fair chance of winning his affection, if not love. Anyway, it would prove interesting to try. With a flick of a practised wrist, Marna pushed her blond hair over her shoulder and rose gracefully, patting her dress down over her trim hips. Taking one last glance around the campsite, Marna walked slowly back to the hatchway of the Windsifter. Tomorrow could prove to be an interesting day.

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Fitzhugh had been a silent witness to the display of claws at the table. Hidden in the shadows of the lean-to, he'd listened with dismay and the two women haggled over Steve. His pipe dreams of riding off into the sunset with Marna as his princess withered to dust at his feet. He watched as Betty gave her parting shot and silently applauded her. As a betting man, Alexander Fitzhugh always bet on a sure thing. In his book Marna was a poor second, Betty was the leading contender and Fitzhugh would do all he could to make it happen.

He turned and melted back into the shadows, the wet gleam of his eye's the only indication of his deeply wounded old heart.

" You are a fool, Alexander," Fitzhugh remonstrated with himself," why would a beautiful girl like that want an old reprobate like you. It's preposterous, and you should have realised that a long time ago." He slapped one fist into the other, punctuating his internal tirade against himself. " Get a grip, Old Man, you were only dreaming, wake up and see it for what it was....an unobtainable dream.."

Fitzhugh swung around, catching sight of Marna getting up from the table, the sight of her now serene expression and carefully coiffed exterior stirring his senses again, but now it was a hollow sensation, his emotions were no longer engaged. He watched her approach the ship and go inside, her absence no more than a dull ache in the region of his heart. Sitting down abruptly on one of the beds he put his head in his hands and decided to indulge a fit of wallowing in self pity. By tomorrow he would be heart-whole again and ready to face another day on this accursed planet. Fitzhugh would survive this, the same as he'd survived everything else......." Silly old fool," he chastised himself, for the last time.

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