Title: Outbreak of Fear
Chapter: 6
Author: squeezynz@free.net.nz
Rating: PG, Adventure
Archive: Just let me know where, Please
Feedback: polished, put on the shelf and admired
Spoilers: I don't think so
Disclaimer: All IA's and the wonderful actors, no money no fowl *cluck*

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Mark sat at the entrance to the cave, attempting to put the broken radio back together. Most of the major solder joints were broken, and without the necessary tools the task before him was well nigh impossible. Never one to give up on a hopeless cause Mark persisted. The day had dawned cloudy, humid and oppressive. Mark suspected they would be battling a storm before the day ended, even more impetus to fix the radio and contact their shipmates to get their bearings. Dan was able to give them a general description from his memories of his original trip with Jubel but he hadn't really been paying close attention, so his observations were vague at best. There had been no sign of Jubel at any time during the long night. Mark wasn't surprised by that, fear of being caught by his enemies was a strong enough incentive to keep him holed up in the barn for quite some time. They were on their own, a familiar situation for all of them.

A small hand on his shoulder alerted him to Valerie's presence. He turned and smiled up at her, seeing her blinking sleepily in the watery morning light.

" Good morning, sleep well ?"

" I've had softer beds, but my pillow was fine,"

" Glad to be of service," Mark pointed to the murky sky," looks like we may have a storm later today,"

" As if we didn't have enough to worry about," Valerie sighed, sitting down next to him and hugging her knees.

Valerie watched him for a little while as he tried to reconnect a wire, a hiss of frustration the only sound as he wrestled with the tiny connections.

" Give it up, Mark, its junk," said Valerie, trying to finger comb her tangled hair. Mark gave her a sideways look, holding up the black casing.

" Fixing this could mean the difference between finding the Windsifter today, or tramping around this forest for the next six months,"

" Oh, if you put it like that.....is there anything I can do to help ?"

" No, there isn't, not with this, but you could check our pack and see if there's anything in it for us to eat or drink, it's been a long time since our last meal."

" Sure, back in a tick," Valerie replied, getting to her feet and brushing off her dress. Mark went back to fiddling while she rummaged in the pack, behind him. Valerie returned in short order, carrying a bottle of water and a small packet of something wrapped in cloth.

" Breakfast," she announced, handing him the water bottle and starting to unwrap the parcel. She produced a piece of bread and a chunk of cheese. " Not exactly gourmet, but better than nothing, I saw the Doctor give Steve a similar parcel so I reckon we can share this one between us." She passed the bread to Mark, who broke it in two, giving her a piece. They chewed the simple fare while the sun clawed it's way into the sky, shining fitfully through the scudding clouds. The wind had started to rise with the sun, blowing the loose leaves and dust into small eddies. Mark and Valerie retreated to the cave's interior when the dust started to get blown too vigorously. They found Steve and Dan talking quietly, eating their rations with a marked lack of enthusiasm.

" What's the plan, Steve ?" asked Valerie, pushing her tousled hair back behind her ears.

" Have you had any luck repairing the radio ?" Steve asked, looking at Mark, who shook his head. Steve continued," Okay then, we try and find our way back to the Doctor's house, we can't have come very far when Jubel dropped the box," Steve snapped a stick in two and started to draw in the dirt floor. " I reckon we must be about half way to the road, but without an idea of which direction to take we could be wandering on the other side for days. I think our best bet is to return to the Doctor's house and get him to contact Jubel, or maybe he can take us to the farm himself," Steve stopped, looking round at the hopeful faces. " Any questions ?"

" When do we start ?" Dan asked. Steve smothered a smile at his co-pilots predictable reply. Dan could always be relied upon to support any venture, no matter how vague or unlikely, if Steve proposed it, Dan supported it.

" As soon as we like, what's the weather doing Mark ?"

" Blustery, but not raining, if we hurry we may get there before the storm breaks," Mark informed him, pulling his backpack on. They all rose and made their way to the entrance, Dan taking the second pack. Outside the wind was still gusting round the trees, making the leaves rattle and the trees groan as their branches were bent.

They battled the weather for most of the morning, getting blown about and battered by the flying leaves and branches. They had found a Giant trail, leading in what they thought was the right direction. It afforded them a measure of protection as the weeds grew thickly either side of the track and proved an effective windbreak for a time. Too soon they left the protection of the weeds as they arrived at the outskirts of a garden, the wooden fence looming over their heads with no breaks in sight.

" Now what ?" Dan shouted, over the howl of the wind whistling through the wooden slats.

" We find a gate, or a hole, whichever turns up first, let's go this way," Steve pointed to their right, following the line of squashed vegetation that seemed to point to recent traffic along the fence line.

They hadn't stopped for lunch as their rations were nearly exhausted and the weather seemed to be getting worse. Steve wanted to get them all into some sort of shelter before too long. Valerie had kept up for the most part, but Steve could see that without Mark's help she would have fallen more than once. Mark was fairing only slightly better, his laboured breathing testament to his recent illness. Steve waved Dan to go on, then waited for Mark and Valerie to catch up. Just as they got nearer Valerie stumbled and fell, Steve jumped forward to catch her as Mark lost his grip on her arm. They all ended up in a heap on the dusty ground, Valerie sobbing with pain from a scraped knee.

" I'm sorry, I can't go much further...." Valerie exclaimed, trying to keep her hair out of her eye's in the strengthening wind.

" We need to get to some shelter, Steve," Mark stated, getting to his feet and pulling Valerie up, with Steve's help. Valerie's knee was bleeding from the scrape, but otherwise she was unhurt. Mark was trying to hide his labored breathing but Steve saw him wince more than once from the pain in his chest.

" Just a bit further, if we can get on the other side of this fence we'll be out of the wind, Mark, let me help Valerie, you catch up to Dan," Steve hooked his arm around Valerie's waist as Mark nodded his agreement. They limped along, Steve holding a hand to his eyes to block out the flying dust, trying to see where Dan had gone.

None of them saw the large square of cloth that fell from the sky and enveloped them.

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Dan watched from behind the fence as the female Giant reached down and picked up, using both hands, the handkerchief containing Steve, Mark and Valerie. He could here their muffled shouts and cries, finding himself biting his lip to stop from shouting his outrage at their capture. The woman was wearing a blue cape and what looked like a white nurses uniform. Dan guessed the woman was Doctor Tiron's nurse Karla, in fact, Dan hoped it was Karla, because then she was likely to take her captives to the Doctors house and save them a gruelling trek. Dan almost wished he'd been captured too, but decided that freedom had it's advantages, especially if this was not Tirons' nurse and she ended up taking her captives some place else. The woman was inspecting her prize, keeping the cloth wrapped around the figures laying on her palms. Dan saw her gasp in surprise then re-wrap the material and push it into the pocket of her skirt. Dan hoped that his friends didn't suffer anymore injuries from this incident, they had already suffered enough. The woman turned and followed the fence-line, passing close to where Dan was hidden. Once she had passed he ducked back through the hole in the fence and followed as best he could, keeping her in sight when he couldn't keep up. He saw her go through a gate and close it behind her. Dan reached the gate and, ducking under, saw the woman go in through the screen door on the back porch. Dan recognised the place as Doctor Tirons', and breathed a sigh of relief. Unknowingly, Nurse Karla had done them all a huge favour. Dan slowly made his way through the garden, up the path to the back door, secure in the knowledge that despite what the nurse did, Doctor Tiron would keep them safe.

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Karla called out when she got inside the back hall, hoping to find the Doctor in. The house remained quiet, only the cat, Rastus, padding down the hall, meowing to greet her, disturbed the silence. Karla reached down and scratched the cat behind the ear, making it purr and rub round her legs in response.

" Silly old cat, where's Tiron gone today, huh ?"

Rastus only sat back on his haunches and looked up at her, his tail twitching in expectation of a feed. Karla clucked at him and passed by, making for the front room. She remembered an old bird cage, once the abode of a song bird favoured by the Doctor's late wife, it was stored in the hall cupboard, under the stairs. Rastus followed her, ever inquisitive, poking his head into the dark cupboard as Karla rummaged around. A triumphant cry startled Rastus and he jumped out of the way when Karla backed out, bearing the metal birdcage. Carrying it into the front room, she placed it on the side table. It was fairly clean, with no rust or cobwebs, the door catch stiff but operable. Reaching into her pocket, she drew out the bundle of cloth and pushed it into the cage, fastening the door securely. Then she watched as the cloth moved and the first of the tiny people crawled out. It was a man wearing a red suit, he was holding his arm, as if it was injured, and Karla felt a brief twinge of sympathy, quickly squashed. The man tried to pull the cloth with his good arm, freeing the other two trapped in its fold. The other man appeared, bent over, coughing, with one arm wrapped around his chest as if in pain. Finally the last little person emerged, a woman with red hair, and untangled herself, looking up at Karla fearfully, before going to the coughing man and putting an arm around his back in an attempt to help him. Karla looked on, amazed at the scale of the tiny creatures in front of her. She had read about these tiny invaders from another planet, but had never dreamed she'd ever get to see one, let alone hold one in her hand. Rastus continued to rub around her legs, but getting no reaction decided to jump up onto the table and see what was taking the nurses attention. Rastus quickly noticed the tiny prey in the cage. He remembered when the bird had been encased, out of his reach, it had afforded many hours of pleasure, being a nervous creature and always twittering. Rastus pawed at the cage, yowling in frustration at the too narrow bars, then he hissed and spat as the nurse picked him up and deposited him on the carpet.

" Can't have you scaring our pretty animals, now can we ?" Karla soothed, reaching down to stroke the cat. She had noticed the Little People's reaction to the cat, the two men had adopted defensive postures, despite their obvious injuries, and the women had let go a small squeak of fear, hiding behind the broad back of the coughing man.

Karla turned and shooed Rastus out of the room and shut the door. Coming back to the cage she pulled over a chair and sat down, bringing the cage to eye level. The three tiny people were as far from her as possible, backed up against the far wall.

" Now, where did you little aliens come from, I wonder, and are there any more of you ?" Karla mused, not really expecting an answer.

The three people exchanged a quick glance, the man in red coming forward, still cradling his arm across his body.

" What are you going to do with us ?" he asked.

Karla reared back in surprise, never expecting them to answer her original question.

" My goodness, you can talk,"

" Of course we can talk," the tiny women responded, indignantly.

" Well I didn't know, I thought you were animals, mute or something," Karla replied, feeling slightly foolish.

" We're not animals, we're the same as you, just alot smaller," the man in red explained, gesturing to the people beside him. The woman still looked fearfully at Karla, as if expecting her to grow horns.

" But I've read about you, you're enemy aliens come to invade our world," Karla continued.

" Do we look like a threat, we're the same as you," Steve repeated, trying to win the woman's sympathy and understanding. Karla appeared to think about what Steve had said.

" Well, whatever you are, I'll have to inform the Doctor, as soon as possible. When he returns I'll discuss what is to be done about you with him." With that Karla got up and left the room.

Steve sank to the floor of the cage, nursing his injured arm. He grimaced and hunched over, trying to find something else to focus on other than the pain. Mark's coughing was starting to calm down, and Valerie appeared scared but uninjured. They were all wondering how Dan was making out, they could hear the wind howling round the house and the banging of a loose shutter somewhere outside. The storm appeared to be reaching it's height, making the house shudder when a particularly strong gust hit. The nurse hadn't taken away Mark's backpack, so they shared out the last of the water, none of them wanting anything to eat despite having nothing since breakfast.

" Do you want to try and get out of here ?" Mark asked.

" No...she said she'd wait for the Doctor to return, and we've gotta be better off in here than out there," said Steve.

" Plus Dan could be here soon, if he managed to track the nurse," Valerie added, watching as Steve tried to flex his injured arm and had to bite off a shout.

" Damn, damn, damn....I think it's broken," Steve hissed.

" Oh no....."

" Are you sure...maybe it's just sprained," said Mark, getting up. Steve reared back, cradling his arm tight against his body.

" Sorry Mark, no offence, but I think I'll wait 'till the Doctor has a chance to check it out. I do need to get this jacket off before it swells anymore, I can't afford to lose another one," said Steve, raising a small grin.

Mark help Steve ease his good arm out of its sleeve, then they slowly pulled the sleeve down over the injury. Steve gritted his teeth but didn't cry out, just went very white around his lips.

" Oooh god, that hurts," Steve groaned. His teeth started to chatter, so Mark draped Steve's jacket over his good shoulder, then took the jacket held out by Valerie and draped that around him as well. Steve gave them both a quick nod of gratitude.

Valerie got up and went to the door-catch, trying to see if it was able to be opened. She tugged the hook but it held, more than adequate to resist her feeble efforts. There wasn't any other opening, just a small swing hanging from the conical roof and a round mirror hanging off one side, high up. The floor was covered with a layer of newsprint, brittle and faded, and the cloth that had covered them. Mark was wadding up the cloth to make a back rest for Steve, trying to make him as comfortable as possible. Valerie walked back to the men, taking a look outside the window behind them, and saw the bushes thrashing around in the late afternoon light.

" I hope Dan has got out of that wind, its pretty wild out there,"

" I'm sure he's already here, just waiting, like us, for Tiron to return," said Mark, sitting down next to Steve and leaning back, shutting his eyes. Valerie looked down on two of her favourite men, injured and hurting, and wondered if they would ever get back to the Windsifter in one piece.

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Dan was indeed already there, unfortunately "there" was the glass cabinet in the hallway. He had managed to avoid both the nurse and the cat, reaching the glass cabinet and sliding underneath gratefully. Once there he found himself trapped. Rastus had come out of the front room and decided to sit right next to the cabinet, effectively cutting off any chance Dan had of reaching the room's doorway, where he'd seen the nurse take the birdcage. The only advantage to his position was it afforded him a clear view of both the front and back door, so when Doctor Tiron returned, if he returned, Dan would be the first to know and act on it.

He had watched the nurse from the safety of the cat-door, seeing her unearth the cage and take both it and the cat to the front room. Dan had taken the opportunity and raced down the hallway and under the cabinet. Now he made himself comfortable, the cat didn't know he was there, which suited him just fine, and the Doctor had to come in one of the doors, so here he would stay. The hypnotic twitch of the cats tail quickly caused Dan's weary eye's to close, his chin falling to his chest as the excitement of the afternoon caught up with him. The cat, oblivious to its hidden observer, decided a wash was in order and proceeded to contort itself as it reached to clean its fur. Dan eventually lay down, his head on his arms for a pillow, dead to the world, the cat and the storm raging outside.

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Betty was back to pacing the cockpit of the Windsifter again. They had received no word from either their returning friends or the Giant, Jubel. Barry had offered to go and check on the Giant, see if he was back, but Betty didn't want him to go alone, and she wasn't keen to leave the radio, in case someone called. Fitzhugh volunteered to accompany Barry to the barn, surprising Betty, but he promised to take it easy and make sure they got back safely. Betty equipped them best as she could and waved them off. They had returned in the late afternoon, reporting no sign of Jubel either in or around the barn. It was proving to be quite a mystery. Betty was all ready to charge off to the rescue, but Fitzhugh quite rightly pointed out that they didn't have the first clue where to look, and without Jubel to tell them where the Doctors house was, they would just be putting themselves in unnecessary danger. Betty fumed but could see the sense in his caution, it just irked her that they could do no more than sit and twiddle their thumbs. Now it was their second night alone and the tension was almost palpable in the passenger cabin. Betty had noticed the Fitzhugh didn't pay his usual address to Marna, none of his fawning or lavish attention. In fact Betty thought Fitzhugh was maybe avoiding the latest addition to their group. She had no way of knowing why, and she wasn't going to question the older man's actions, but it was a puzzle. Marna had noticed as well, a frown of confusion marring her smooth brow, especially when Fitzhugh didn't offer to stay with her and let Betty go with Barry. Fitzhugh had firmly and politely pressed his point and ended up going, leaving the two women to amuse themselves. Neither woman had stayed in the other's company long, after Fitzhugh and Barry left. Marna went outside and spent her time wandering back and forth, while Betty kept close to the cockpit, an ear tuned to any sound from the radio. It had proved a boring and frustrating afternoon for them all. Now the night was drawing in and the storm had reached a crescendo, blowing the straw and other debris around as if in a washing machine. Fitzhugh had checked the tie ropes on the lean-to and secured anything loose around the camp. After his last check they had shut the hatch and decided to call it an early night, Fitzhugh bringing his bed roll into the cabin for a change. After a desultory meal, they had kept the mood light, largely for Barry's benefit, by playing card games, supervised by the master himself, but only after Fitzhugh promised not to use any of his card sharp tricks on them. It helped pass the time until Barry was ready for bed, then, when the boy was asleep, they separated to their own pursuits, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Betty sat in Steve's chair, slowly swinging back and forth, watching the straw being blown around outside the view ports. Every now and then a particularly strong gust rocked the ship slightly, but for the most part they were well protected from the elements. Betty's face was illuminated by the lights from the control panel. She'd switched off the main room light, preferring the half light to brood in. The door slid open behind her and she swung round, hoping it wasn't Marna to torment her again. It was Fitzhugh, carrying a cup of steaming coffee. Betty's face lit up, a rare smile lighting her drawn features. Worrying about Steve and the others was taking it's toll. Dark shadows were starting to ring her eyes and she hadn't bothered with a brush that day. Fitzhugh tut tutted at her wan expression and sat down in Dan's chair, taking a moment to look out at the darkening view.

" It does no good to brood...you would be better off going to bed,"

" I know, but I can't seem to settle, I wish.....well you know what I wish," Betty finished.

" Yes, I think I know, still it won't do for you to go into a decline,"

Betty smiled at Fitzhugh turn of phrase.

" A decline ?? I may be a bit tired, and worried," at her obvious understatement Fitzhugh raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

" Okay, I take your point, I am very worried, and very tired, happy now ?" Betty snapped, hiding a smile. She was finding it hard to keep her depressed mood around Fitzhugh. The man just wouldn't let her fret in peace, always showing little touches of kindness when she least expected it. The coffee warmed her chilled fingers, the steam curling around her nose as she took a sip.

" Thank you Fitz, this is heavenly,"

" No problem, now I suggest you let me take the first watch, I had a nap when we came back this afternoon, I'm quite refreshed," Fitzhugh hoped Betty had been too distracted to realise this was a blatant untruth. The poor girl looked worn out from the worry and needed a good nights sleep to perk her up. Betty gave him a grateful smile, and got up, taking her coffee with her.

" Thank you again, you will call me if anything happens, won't you ?"

Fitzhugh patted her hand and shooed her out.

" Of course, my dear, the very instant I know or hear anything, now go," Fitzhugh waved both hands at her in a flapping gesture.

Betty turned at the doorway and gave him another tired smile then left him, with only the lights on the board and the sound of the wind for company.

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