ARRIVAL TO DANGER

ACT TWO

Valerie and Betty filled the last jars with water. Val wiped her hands, "At least this water is clean."

Betty was about to answer but that huge eye rose up from the water---a giant trap door with teeth bounded in front of them. "A crocodile!" The jaw snapped just inches in front of them! Grabbing the six jugs, the two girls slowly crawled off the flat rock to the sand. They ran for quite a distance until the animal crawled up out of the water and began to crawl through the tall grass, downing stalks on its way.

Val looked back, "It's after us!"

Betty put the jugs down, "Leave them!"

Both began to try to find a clearing through the grass as the ever advancing giant crocodile piled after them. A huge leathery, plated thing with an evil face.

Fitzhugh was having similar problems. Chipper licked him awake with a wet tongue to face. "Oh, oh. Barry? Chip..." He saw the python towering just overhead, rising its slender coil up and down. He raised a clenched fist to his mouth to smother a scream.

Then he heard Barry, "Mr. Fitzhugh! Don't move!" To the cub, Barry yelled, "Go!" He hit the cub and then flung himself off of it into some plants. The cubs saw the snake and approached it, innocently. One began to paw at it until it reared at him, hissing. The other cub tried to push his brother away from the snake but it kept trying to paw it, never really touching it. The snake was now obviously busy with the cubs, allowing Fitzhugh, who was close enough to touch the thick slimy looking skin of the back of the python's body, to move away as slowly as he could. Soundlessly for a change, Chipper followed. The two cubs were finally frightened away by the motions of the snake---which couldn't chase them. Fitzhugh and Chipper ran up to Barry, who was involved in watching the one sided fight. The snake could have eaten them all---cubs included in two gulps.

Valerie and Betty ran out of the tall grass, which provided almost no cover from the crocodile. Tired, they looked around for some way out. The sound of the grass being trampled called their attention to the crocodile, lumbering just behind them. The giant swallow landed in front of them! Val turned to face the crawling lizard, "We're trapped between them!"

Betty gasped, "They'll devour us!"

"No," Val said, "Get back!" They inched back to a vine covered tree. The bird saw the crocodile coming at him. The croc stopped. "Now, Betty, run!" The two slipped past the bird as it eyed its enemy and then merely flew off. Betty and Valerie ran to a group of ferns. "When do we..." Val puffed, "...when do we get the water?"

"When leather face goes for a dive."

At Spindrift, Steve and Dan had brought out a storage table and spread out star charts across it. Steve marked down the appearances of the space warp. Mark had some designs of the power cells on the table. "I think I can do it if we had the right stuff."

Stirred from his space warp plotting, Steve fully looked up at Mark. "Like?" Steve asked.

"Co-axial cables, energy plates, rods and dampers. More lubricant."

"Nothing we'll find here except for the lubricant," Dan frowned.

"Well, as soon as the others get back here..." Steve tailed off, obviously concerned.

Mark shrugged, "Don't worry. They'll be back. They have a marvelous instinct for survival---all of them."

Dan brought them back to the situation at hand, "Did you see a pattern in the appearances?" He saw Steve preoccupied. "You really ARE worried."

"I shouldn't let them run around by themselves in this new place."

Mark tried to calm him, "Listen, there's no giants, so they'll be okay. They aren't running."

Fitzhugh was running after Barry who was running after the two playful cubs who were running just to run. Chipper was also running somewhere in between Fitzhugh and Barry. Now running clear of the foliage, the sun suddenly stopped shining for the pair. Something big, big and monstrous blocked out the sun. Barry looked up and fell onto his back. He and Fitzhugh was unable to grasp the size of anything that tall---and hairy---and black. The two cubs, already there, could. They began to taunt this quiet bear who was minding his own business as he drank from the stream. It had now reared up at the two cubs and its swipes made the cubs run for cover. The bear also roared at them.

Fitzhugh caught up with Barry and grabbed him by the vest, "Stop right there, young man! Back to the ship." He pulled Barry up, now aware that the bear was being herded toward them---by two larger tigers. "Bengal tigers!" Fitzhugh saw the two parents attack the bear, merely trying to drive it off, which they did. Not bearing in mind his own shock at the noise and the sheer hugeness of these leviathans, Fitzhugh herded Barry into some tall grass. Fortunately the tigers weren't interested in them. All of them began to move off in different directions.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Fitzhugh. I just wanted to see the cubs."

"You nearly got us both killed. What's come over you, boy?"

"Nothing," Barry frowned, "Let's go."

Fitzhugh looked up for any signs of the giant animals, "Usually I act like the child while you..." Chipper pranced at his feet, trying to signal him that Barry had already started out of the area. "Oh, I..." He realized what Chipper was doing and that Barry was no longer with them. To the dog he said, "Come on." Fitzhugh ran after Barry---again.

Betty and Valerie returned to the water bottles. Betty warned, "Let's go before it comes back."

Val picked up three jugs, "Oohh, these are heavier than they were before."

"Well, they have water in them now."

Val smiled, "Oh, that's why!"

"Steve'll be worried about us," Betty picked up her three jugs, unaware of a slithery red snake like object moving near her foot.

"Why? We haven't been gone that long."

"No, but you know Steve." That object inched closer to Betty's foot. "...while he's not out here with us..." She screamed. About to walk, she had stamped directly onto the red skin. It pulsed and wrapped around her leg. Betty was floored by it as it pulled her. "Val! Val! Help!"

Valerie, as Betty before her, dropped her water containers. She ran at Betty. "Betty! It's a...a..." Val could not believe that what constituted to nothing on Earth could cause so much trouble and horror on this world...even after two and a half years on this planet. Betty was dragged FAST past the leaves and now onto sand! By a tongue! The long, food seeking tongue of a giant frog! She clung to a small rock and the frog, bewildered, ceased pulling! Val knew she hadn't much time. As a child who was fond of frogs she knew they could whip that tongue in as fast as they liked! Betty held fast to the rock with both arms, trying to push the tongue down her leg to her boot and not having much luck. Val only saw parts of the lumpy body sitting on a toadstool in a puddle. Then it leaped closer--so much so both could touch it. Val screamed and reached into her pocket for Barry's knife. It wasn't there. Then she remembered--he had asked for it back. The frog's eyes examined two little bugs---them. What Val did find there was better because she couldn't hope to cut the tongue with a child's knife. She withdrew an old bottle of perfume, recently found by Betty in an old storage box. She opened it and after two years, it really smelled foul. She could imagine the taste.

Betty gasped, "Val, hurry! I can't hold on anymore!"

Valerie spread the perfume all over the tongue. It contracted and went off Betty's perfume covered leg! The frog made an amphibious groan! Val helped Betty up and split some more perfume around them. The beast decided against this particular morsel and hopped back to the water. The girls finally ran back to the water jugs, picked them up, and as quickly as possible headed back to the ship.

On the way back, Betty said, "Thanks, Val."

"Oh, no need."

Betty frowned, "I mean for giving me the worst case of foot odor in this world!"

Val laughed, needing the release, "You haven't been near Fitzhugh lately."

They arrived back to camp to find Dan, Mark, and Steve had a large solar conductor outside and were setting it into place. Mark said, "If we can examine this one maybe I'll get some ideas how to spread its power thin."

Steve took the larger water bottles from the girls, "What kept you two? I was worried."

Betty shot Valerie a learned look. "Oh we just ran into a crocodile and a frog."

Val shrugged, "The same old swan song," she said, making light of their ordeals, and then realized, "Oh, uh, and we ran into one of those too. A swan, you know?" Val looked at the spaceship, "Now I suppose you want us to clean that off."

"No, leave it for now. I want the ship covered."

"Why? For once we have no giant people around. I feel free," Val put smaller jugs down and waved her arms about.

"Good," said Steve, falsely, "Good. By the way did you meet up with Barry or Fitzhugh?"

"No, they never showed," Betty said.

Lions chase deer. It's a fact. This deer was too fast. It outran the giant lion who chased it---straight through the camp site! The deer pranced by without touching a thing. But a huge, golden, feline paw came crashing down without warning! Betty was thrown to one side by Steve, away from one front paw---and underneath the blurry image of the beast. Dan, Val, and Mark were brushed by large shards of kicked up sand! All three fell onto the table! The back paw kicked over the solar cell and the cell toppled and nearly hit Steve and Betty. The whole incident was over so quickly that they all recovered in time to see the departing lion's tail wave at them.

Steve helped Betty up, "You okay? Everyone?"

Dan got up from under the map which fell on him, "What hit us?"

Steve looked up in the direction it left, "A lion. Look, more." He had a strange calm now. But it didn't last. "Lookout! There's a great deal more of them!" A whole pride of giant lions, some very big and other smaller ones---formed a huge mass. The smaller ones were cubs but still BIG! Babies. "They're all around us. Betty, Val, inside now!"

These lions paced past, a few slower ones took their time, obviously aware the deer was long gone. One got curious just as the girls entered the ship and smelled it with his nose. Whew! He thought: bad smell. This one moved away---fast. Most of the others kept going. Many seemed oblivious to the little people.

Steve pointed, "Fitzhugh and Barry are back that way. We have to find them." Realizing this was no time for discussion, Mark and Dan followed him----running past the map on the ground. The trio ran under a natural bridge---a group of twined vines on top low, cracking rocks which were high enough for the three men to run under. If any of them bothered to look beyond the vines to their left, they would have seen it. The dulled imprint of a giant human's moccasin covered foot!

END OF ACT TWO