11/12/2001 Title: Surrender Chapter: 3 Author: Squeezynz@free.net.nz Universe: Land of the Giants Rating: PG, Adventure Archive: Sure, let me know where Spoilers: hardly Feedback: treasured Disclaimer: owe it all to IA and his talented actors. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Shuri Bey stood back from the table, checking out the unusually shaped 'toy' where it sat serenely, as if begging for his inspection. He hadn't meant to pick it up, but something about it had piqued the idea that it might appeal to his daughter's sense of the ridiculous. After all, who in their right mind would give a daughter a funny looking spaceship as a birthday present. Shuri walked around the table, looking at the craft from all angles and decided he had better clean it up a bit. Filling a bucket at the sink he grabbed a cloth and started to wipe the outer surface clean of the dirt still clinging stubbornly to the greyish skin. When he had pulled it out of the ground it had come out fairly free of clods of dirt, but it still had an overall sheen of clay that hid its true colour. He was careful not to slop too much water into the strange tubes at the back, in case they let water inside and started to rot whatever was held in the interior. He couldn't see quite how you got into the strange contraption, but was sure his daughter would gleefully show him how 'stupid daddy' was for not figuring it out. He could see that the windows in the front were covered by some sort of exterior shutter, but he couldn't see how you were supposed to open them. The side door was also shut, and with no obvious windows along the sides, the opaque dome on the top being the only apparent access, to his eyes anyway, he guessed it might just take his clever girl a little longer than usual to puzzle it out. He had been on this fishing trip for four days, with little success at fishing. His friend Grae had suggested a few days away, then at the last moment was called back to work, so Shuri had gone ahead. So far Grae hadn't shown, and the shack was losing its charm. Finding the 'toy' had just reminded him how he much missed his little girl, Kel, and his wife, Kara. Maybe they wouldn't be too disappointed if he came home early, especially if he had something exciting to show them. Kel would certainly want him home as soon as possible. Kara would just look at him indulgently and ask where all the fish were. Shuri chuckled to himself, " I'm certainly no fisherman, not a single nibble in four days...bet its a record." He wiped the last of the mud from the strange ship, finally pouring the dirty water down the sink. Then Shuri pulled up a chair and inspected the 'toy' more closely, especially the door in the side. He could also see what looked like a cargo door further along, but there were no buttons or panels near them. The one near the front hatch looked easy enough to open. " Why not" he thought to himself." I don't want Kel opening it up and finding a snake, or a huge hairy spider hiding inside, do we." so with that in mind he got out his pocket knife and pulled out one of the utility tools, a combination stone-picker and awl for use in leather work. Its small blunt end was perfect, and he gently poked the button beside the hatchway. Nothing happened for a second then the door slid silently open, revealing a dark interior to Shuri's surprised gaze. " Wow " he breathed to himself. " Kel is gonna go ape over this." He pushed the button again and the door swooshed shut for him. Now he had that figured out he pushed once more to open the hatch. The door happily obliged. Inside Shuri couldn't see much of anything. A few bits of tiny indistinguishable bits and pieces, nothing remotely recognisable, but at least no creepy crawlies or snakes. He could just barely see, by craning his neck, a door leading into the front of the ship, but it was too dark to see much. Shuri got up and rummaged in a drawer for his torch, then squatted back down to shine the light in the doorway. That made a big difference. He could now see that there appeared to be some tiny little lights in the front room and he wondered how you were supposed to operate the front shutters, when your fingers could barely fit inside the doorway. " Of course, its designed for child sized fingers, not my great sausages." he chuffed to himself as he swung the light over to the other side of the corridor. There he could see a closed door, with another little switch panel . He reached inside with the awl and gently poked at the button, it was an awkward angle but he must have hit it right because the door suddenly opened. This time he could see some light spilling through the opening, but just as suddenly the light was switched off by the door shutting by itself. " Odd," thought Shuri, " I didn't touch anything, why did it shut again ?". Then a thought came to him. What if the ship wasn't empty after all. Like the rest of his planet, he had read about the Little People in newspaper articles, and heard the radio talkback chatter, but he had taken it all with a large pinch of scepticism, why would Little People come to a planet where they would be no bigger than bugs. Made no sense to him so he tended to dismiss it as hysteria. Now all those articles and talk-backs came back to him and he looked at the ship with new eyes. What if this was an artefact, not a toy, and actually was inhabited by the Little People. " Now that would really be a find " he mused. Inside the Windsifter, the three men were having a confrontation over their next move. Mark was all for revealing themselves to the Giant, in the hope he could get help for Valerie. Steve was vehemently against this idea, stating that while they were hidden they had a chance to slip out when the Giant went to sleep. All these arguments went west when the Giant opened the cabin door, Dan didn't think, he just slapped his hand on the door lock and shut the door. Steve and Mark hadn't moved in the thirty seconds it took for the door to open and shut. Dan swung round with his back to the door and asked " What do we do now ?" looking to Steve for an answer. Steve only looked at Mark and the three men racked their brains for any options to get them out of this mess. Mark finally spoke. " I'm going to show myself, you two stay hidden, I'll be able to get Valerie more help out there, than stuck in here. He won't know there are more of us, that gives you the advantage." " No Mark, you can't do it...you don't know what your getting yourself and Valerie into. We don't know if this crate can even fly yet, and even if it does, we're not leaving without you both." said Steve. " I'm with Steve on this Mark " said Dan," you don't know what's going to happen when you and Valerie are caught...its not worth the risk." " Its not worth Valerie's life either, I don't have a choice, we can't care for her here, maybe I can do better out there." Mark's voice rose with his frustration. Steve gave him a long look then shrugged, wincing as his ribs protested. " All right.....I'm not happy with the plan, but it may be the best chance Valerie has....Dan and I will hide back here, you go out and get the Giants attention. If you run into serious problems, you have your radio...don't hesitate to use it." Steve held Marks gaze as the two men faced off. Mark dropped his eyes first and turned to open the cabin door. Dan and Steve moved well back, out of sight. Shuri was just about to try and open the interior door, when it opened on its own accord, and a man walked out into the corridor. Shuri gasped, here was his first encounter with, what had been reported as, an alien race. Funny, but it looked just like a man....only tiny. Shuri sat back a bit, in case the Little Man tried anything. Mark stepped further into the entranceway of the Windsifter, making his movements small so as not to startle the obviously surprised Giant. Mark and Shuri regarded each other for a heartbeat, then Shuri decided to start the ball rolling. " Hi Little Man, I won't hurt you....come on out...I didn't know you were in there, or I'd have been more careful with your ship. My name is Shuri Bey." Mark moved to stand in the hatchway, looking up into Shuri's face, he saw a man, about thirty-ish, pleasant featured, sandy haired with green eyes that held a gentle expression, which encouraged Mark to speak. " My name's Mark Wilson, I have a companion who was injured when you picked up the spaceship...I want to bring her out here." " Hey I'm sorry you got hurt....sure, bring your friend out here, I'll do what I can to help." Shuri was surprised to realise he felt guilty about hurting these fragile creatures, albeit unknowingly. Mark went back into the cabin, whispering to Steve and Dan, who had overheard the conversation with Shuri. " He seems to be a helpful, rather than harmful Giant, maybe he'll be able help us ." " Just be careful...we'll lay low until we hear from you." whispered Steve. Mark bent to gather Valerie into his arms, straightening up and passing through the doorway with her limp body cradled against his chest. Steve and Dan exchanged worried expressions as Mark, with Valerie, passed out of sight. Mark stepped up to the doorway, wondering how he was going to manage the distance from the lip of the hatch to the ground, but Shuri had already realised the problem and had placed a box of pasta by the doorway to act as a step, then a smaller box and so on, so Mark had a ramp of steps down to the table top. He slowly negotiated the stair until he stood, with Valerie still clasped in his arms, in clear view of Shuri. " Is she badly hurt ?" Shuri asked. " I don't know, she hit her head pretty hard, I've bathed the wound but she doesn't seem to want to wake up. Do you have anything I can lay her on ?" queried Mark. Shuri immediately went to a bureau on the far wall, and rummaged in one of the drawers, producing a soft brush cotton t-shirt, that he folded up into a thick mattress, and placed next to Mark on the table. " Will this do for now ?" asked Shuri. Mark carefully placed Valerie on the folded material, and her slight weight sank into the soft fabric. " That's great Shuri, thank you." " What else do you think you'll need to nurse her ?" Shuri thought quickly about what was available to use, in their size, around the cabin. " I have a medical kit, if that's any help." Mark couldn't believe how helpful Shuri was trying to be, obviously this particular Giant wasn't interested in them as either pest's to be eliminated, or alien invaders to be turned in for the bounty. Mark could only thank whatever Guardian Angels were watching over them tonight. " Do you have a small enough container for some cold water, and maybe, if you have it, some bread, I'll need a blanket for Valerie and myself....its getting cold out here, and a small piece of cloth to bathe her face." " I'll see what I can find...you stay here, I'll be right back." Shuri got up and disappeared into the back room. Mark could hear him rummaging around in a drawer. Shuri was soon back, carrying a smallish clear plastic lid, shaped like a bucket with no handle, filled with cool water and a small square of fine linen. He also brought a cut square piece of some woollen material that Mark used for a blanket over Valerie. Mark sponged her swollen face and felt her forehead with the back of his hand. It was starting to feel hot and dry. Valerie still hadn't opened her eyes, or made a sound since she hit her head and Mark was seriously worried. Shuri watched all this with concerned eyes, leaving Mark in peace to attend to Valerie. Finally Shuri decided to break the silence. " I have to go and get myself something to eat for supper, will you be okay here ? I'll just be in the back room." " Thank you Shuri, we'll be fine here ." replied Mark. Shuri smiled then rose and left the room, Mark could hear sounds of the Giant obviously fixing himself a meal, eventually the smells of cooking permeated the room. Shuri had also brought Mark, as well as the water and cloths, a plate with pieces of crackers and cheese, broken up very small. Once Mark had done all he could for Valerie he ate some of the food, picking up several pieces and handing them to Dan who briefly came to the hatchway to take them from him. They had a hurried conversation. " The Giant, Shuri is helping us...but I don't think we can push our luck too far. Ask Steve to start checking out the pre-flight systems. You can't risk testing the engines, but you can check the circuits are operational at least." Dan left to convey Marks message to Steve. Mark went back to sit on the folded t-shirt next to Valerie. He took hold of her hand and smoothed the skin with small circles, all the time watching for any sign that she was returning to consciousness. Steve and Dan, after eating the food, went into the engine room and went through a complete check of the systems, they did everything but fire up the rockets. Then, when that was completed, they did the same in the cockpit. As far as they were able to tell, the whole ship was ready to launch. They just needed a few hours in the sun to recharge the batteries, then some preflight tests and they would be able to really put the ship through its paces. Steve decided to risk a radio call to the Spindrift, bringing the others up to date with developments. They were all shocked at what had happened, and Barry was all for coming out there to help, but Steve talked him out of it, urging them all to get as much sleep as possible, in case they were called upon for help the next day. Betty offered some ideas for Steve to pass on to Mark about Valerie, but as the Little People's medical kit was at the camp, she was powerless to do more than offer advice. While Steve was finishing up on the radio, Dan had pulled out the log book and was now reading the last few entries to try and ascertain what had happened to the previous crew. " It says here, Steve, that Captain Bishop and his crew were planning to fly the ship to another part of the planet. They hadn't had a very warm welcome when they first arrived, although they didn't actually crash land, they did come down on an estate near the city, which the occupant of the house took to be a declaration of war. The Giant's there literally chased the crew back to their ship and they took off, finally ending up landing in the park near us, when their solar batteries ran low. Apparently their landing area turned out to be a bog and the ship sank up to her roof. They managed to get out by the top hatch...and were going to seek shelter in the nearest storm drain, until they could figure out how to get the ship free. The last entry details what they took and what they left behind. Then the entries stop...Captain Bishop left the log book in the ship and took a voice recorder with him, that was 6 months ago....he obviously intended to come back...I wonder what happened to them all?" said Dan. " Well whatever happened, we have the ship now, and unless we find some way of contacting Bishop I don't see we have a whole lot of options. I think we need to concentrate on our own troubles, before we take up someone else's right now." Steve crossed his arms over his chest, " I think we need to get ourselves settled, we don't know when we may have to move fast...so find a blanket and get some kip, Dan." " Okay Steve.." Dan yawned. " Wake me when it's my watch." Dan moved off into the main cabin and Steve heard him moving about, then silence. Steve had already decided to give him as long as possible to rest, he didn't like the look of the wound on Dan's head, and sleep was the only medicine they had at this time. Outside Mark kept vigil over Valerie, but felt his own eye's starting to close with fatigue. He may not have been seriously injured but the constant adrenalin high had sapped his energy and he needed to rest if he was going to be any use for a rescue attempt later on. Mark lay down next to Valerie, cradling her head on his shoulder as she slumbered on. He felt her forehead again, but she didn't seem to be any worse so he wrapped her in his arms and pulled the blanket over them both, finally he closed his eyes. When Shuri came out to see how they were, he found Mark sound asleep. Shuri turned the lamp wick down, dimming the room, then turned and went over to the sofa and sat watching the flames of the fire as the night sounds outside competed with the crackle of the flames and the pop of the dry wood. Steve ,in the cockpit, picked up the log book and, starting from the beginning, read the history of the ill-fated flight of the Windsifter. It made for interesting reading, and helped to pass the time while everyone slept. Eventually even the fire quieted down, and all that could be heard was the soft snoring of the Giant, Shuri, as he dreamed of his wife and her face when he showed her what he'd caught on his fishing trip. Steve put down the log book and pondered his next move.