JUST ACTION 2
In the back of a giant pick up truck, Mark Wilson, in his brown leather jacket and Alexander Fitzhugh in his old Navy uniform button down shirt minus the tie, looked around. It was an old Dodge pickup truck, a 4 by 4. Littered around the open end back were hundreds of wires, coils, tubes, and things Fitzhugh never saw before. At least not this size. "It's a lot to lift but..."
"I know but was I right or was I right?" Fitzhugh asked, "Is this worth it or not?"
"It's a big find," Mark opened the radio to call Steve and Valerie below, "Steve, come on up. Fitzhugh's right, with all this stuff, I can probably get us to and through the space time warp."
Steve was below, in the street, in the back of the truck, in his red pilot outfit. He had his radio to his ear, "Okay Mark. That's IF we can find it and IF it materializes anywhere near this planet."
Valerie in her blue outfit over her yellow button down shirt stood back as Steve fired the rope laucher up. She looked around. It was a quiet suburban street. Daytime. Not a good time for a heist. "No giant activity anywhere, Steve."
"I heard her," Fitz called into Mark's radio, near Wilson's face, "I've been watching this house all morning since we landed the ship in the backyard. There doesn't appear to be anyone home at all. At least not that I can tell. No activity at all."
"I agree," Mark said, "This guy must have worked in some science center area. There's stuff here that no regular citizen, even on our planet would recognize."
"Allright, maybe he had another car, there's other tire marks here," Steve watched the hook, a giant safety pin, latch itself onto the backside of the blue pickup truck's rear end. He pulled, "Okay, now, then stay watch here and I'll..."
"Steve, I...I want to come up and help," Val said.
"Look, we need, okay come on," Steve said. He let Val climb up first and started to follow her.
In the backyard, Barry and Chipper were at a scenic garden. The house extended back far. It ended, in an old style wood, in the backyard with a rod iron fence and a large unattached garage to the left. The trees were many, two giant ones larger than the others, resulting in a huge hanging down structure made entirely of branches and leaves. This seemed like a giant dome, entirely natural and green. The grass was green as can be and there were two separate drinking fountains for birds. A clothes line hung from the back door all the way to the unattached garage past the fence. Past the far end back, the fence had another door that was hidden from view and overgrowing bushes to either side. Barry squinted and saw a path of black stones which ended only after three stones. Beyond were other homes, more white siding than brown as the house Barry and his dog were supposed to be guarding. Barry called on a walkie talkie, "Nothing, Captain. Mister Fitzhugh's right, I don't see any people, or rather giant people anywhere."
"Okay," Steve called from the rope, using one hand, "Just stay there, and warn us if you see anything or anyone and wait for Dan. He should be back with the ship any minute."
"Check," Barry said and held the radio down. He didn't notice that from behind the red wood of the garage door, came thick black legs of a giant beetle. Brushing aside some daises, the insect moved past the iron fence and through the holes in it, toward the boy and the dog from Earth. Chipper might have noticed but he was moving forward in the tall but freshly groomed grass, sensing something or someone.
"You sure you're allright?"
"I'm fine, Steve," Barry said, using the captain's name in this rare occurrence to emphasize that he was capable of handling something the adults would usually take on.
"Good lad," Steve called and then ended the tranmission.
Just as he said he was fine, Barry was toppled by the leg of the beetle as it lumbered at him. He was downed onto his stomach and he yelped.
At the same time Chipper yelped. The dog knew now not to make loud sounds when giants approached but at the same time he had to warn his master that a giant, and a big one at that, was walking their way! The man was dressed in a brown button down shirt, brown slacks and black shoes. He had black hair and wore glasses. The unexpected was that the path to the backyard lead to a gate which was hidden, a rod iron gate and the giant came through so quietly that neither Barry nor Chipper
knew about it until the giatn was upon them. Yet he was so calm and pleasant in his thoughts, that the giant stared ahead blankly, a big happy grin on his face. He had just returned from helping an elderly neighbor behind his house and he found that a rewarding gesture. His foot moved right past Chipper who turned tail and ran but skidded to a stop as he saw the giant beetle, one leg on Barry's leg. Barry turned onto his back and saw the monster upon him, all black and crawly. He screamed but the giant man didn't hear him for the giant was shutting his back door after entering it. He was moving through his house now.
Steve and Val ahead of him climbed past a strange device. It looked like a silver metallic propellor. Using all their energy to pass it on the rope, Steve and Val didn't have enough to discuss what its purpose was. Decorative? Energy saver? Pollution freer upper?
Valerie was up on the rope and looking up. Steve climbed below her. "Take a break?"
"No, I'm okay," Val said. There was a time when Steve would have thought Val was just putting on a brave front to impress him. But she had changed a lot since they crashed here. It was a humbling experience, this land of the giants. Being grabbed up by a movie gorilla in a giant studio, learning that your jewelry helped SID giants track you and your friends, getting netted for a taste of a giant cookie, and other downright humiliating circumstances, not in that order, made Val a different, nicer, more honest person. Steve trusted she could climb some more.
He heard a sound. A sound that sounded suspiciously like a door closing. It was. The front door of the man's home. In the truck, Fitzhugh asked Mark, "What was that?"
"I don't know but better take cover in case..." Mark said.
The giant man left his house and crossed another stone path past a thin ficus tree. With him was a sturdy, well built golden retreiver. Val looked down at Steve, "Giant," she whispered.
"Get to the fender," Steve gasped. Barry better have a good reason that he missed warning them about the giant being in the house somehow.
Barry did. He was covering his face from the wrath of a giant beetle coming straight at him, things on a beetle Barry never noticed before, for on Earth he never was small enough to notice all these moving parts and on this planet, he never got close enough to the many different types of beetles---of all the insects besides spiders, beetles somehow bothered him the most. Things moved just inches from his face. A mass of red soared from the sky at the beetle. Betty looked out the window of Spindrift, sitting in Dan's seat, "DAN!"
"I see it," Dan pushed on the levers of the controls and zoomed the Spindrift right at the giant black monstrosity.
Chipper moved to bite a leg but Barry yelled at him to back off. He needed no more urging as Spindrift literally came out of the blue at them all. Betty winced as she saw Barry and the beetle come up close to the window. Dan leaned the other way and turned Spindrift fully around. "Tricky part," he snapped to Betty. The rockets blasted against the beetle's top and this slowed it enough for Barry to get free, kick free. "Betty..."
"Yeah...?"
"Get the door, would you?"
Mark and Fitzhugh ran for the wall that was near the truck's front seat. Unfortunately it was also near a four set of windows, one of which was open. Fitz complained, "There's no cover here, how about the..." The giant was overhead and beyond but not focusing on the area they were at.
Val and Steve were on the fender, just, when the golden retriever came from below, sniffing. It put its front paws on the fender making Val scream and Steve kick at it with one leg. The giant, in his carefree, calm, happy state didn't hear her. The dog just licked the air sniffing, inches from both of them. The giant called, "Ruffian, come here, now. Leave the beetles alone..."
Barry would have liked nothing more than to do that. Instead, the beetle, drawn back by the ship, merely slowed. Barry saw the door of the ship just feet away from him. Betty, leaning on the wall, hit the door control for the ship and saw Barry half jumping, half running for it. By now, Dan had the ship so low, Barry was able to scramble at it, Chipper having been scooped up under one arm. When Dan had turned the ship, the door was on Barry's side. He and Chipper tumbled into the hatchhallway. Dan yelled, "Okay yet? That thing won't give ...up!"
Betty screamed as a giant beetle filled the doorway. It was trying to force its way inside. Legs came in. Betty was floored, onto her back. Barry felt a leg on his. Chipper was out of Barry's grip and running for the hall closet, which was open.
When the giant opened the car door, Ruffian, that giant likable golden retriever was called into the car first. It tumbled up the entrance to the truck and when it got inside, the very first thing it did was move to the open window and force its head out of it. Fitz and Mark looked up and saw the sun blotted out from their point of view by a giant golden object: Ruffian's head. The dog looked down, having already smelled them and tried to force his whole body out the window. The snout reached down and barely touched Mark. Mark and Fitz ran from the wall toward some of the giant boxes which were filled with mechanical wiring and other junk. Even though these were giant boxes, they were still not big enough to give much cover but they ran anyway. "Ruffian, stop, sit still, down." The giant said but he was half laughing.
Betty, on her back, kicked up at the giant beetle, drawing it out a bit. Then she really kicked harder now and the thing moved back. It began to realize it could not fit and tried to doubly force its way in by backing up. As it backed up, Barry jumped up to the door control and hit the switch. The door slammed shut and the leg the beetle thrust through the formerly open door, snapped off and fell to the hatch way hallway floor, harmlessly. Betty got up fast and ran to the control room, more to get away from the leg. Then she doubled back, grabbed Barry by the shoulders, "You allright?"
Barry nodded, "Uh-huh." Betty smiled, kissed the boy on the cheek and ran back to the console room to sit down again.
Dan called, "Barry, strap in back there, okay?"
"Okay, Dan," Barry's red face turning back to its natural dark color, "Chipper come on!" He snatched up the dog and ran to the passenger compartment.
By now the giant man was in the car seat and buckled up. The car started with a great roar. Val was aghast, "Steve, what're we gonna do?"
Steve was already at work wrapping part of the rope around Valerie but it was too late, "Grab on!" The car started and drove off, sending them both off the fender. Steve held onto the rope and Val held onto Steve. She screamed but no one heard so it was a futile gesture. "Oh no, not again!" Steve gasped and Val thought maybe he was referring to her screaming but he wasn't. He was referring to taking a wild ride on the back of a giant car! To make matters even worse, that metallic propellor beneath them, was just below, cutting the remainder end of the rope to bits. Val thought she could feel herself and Steve slide toward it. She wanted to scream again but the wind was being knocked out of her and screaming definitely wouldn't help. Mark bounced into Fitzhugh near the box as he was using both hands to try to see what wetness the nose of the giant dog got on the top of his head and he found almost nothing.
"The Captain and Miss Scott were...?"
"Steve and Valerie?" Mark looked at the rope, the pin dangling on the edge of the truck rear. He ran to it to try to hold it. Fitzhugh followed, looking back every so often. The giant dog, Ruffian, watched him, eagerly and wagged its tail. It was hard moving across the terrian of the light blue colored truck back, giant ridges, possibly for design threatened their feet and the vibrations were body shattering. Mark tried to look down over the edge, "Steve!" The wind was hitting his face so he just concentrated on holding the pin in place. Fitzhugh soon joined him and held as well.
Steve braced his feet backward as the rope was being shot out and when the wind died down again, the calm threatened to bang them both back into the truck rear. Steve used his feet to hit the wall above the fender like a mountain climber.
Spindrift shot after the car in rocket speed. Dan kept it going. Betty looked at him from her seat, "Dan?"
"We have to to catch up to them!" Dan snapped focusing on the outside as the truck loomed at them. The back filled the window.
Suddenly, the truck was at a green light which seemed to snap to red faster than it should have and the man driving the jeep had to stop short. Mark and Fitzhugh fell in the back seat, drawing the attention of the dog who had to call himself to balance at the truck stopped short. Steve, Valerie clinging to him for dear life and deciding not to scream this time, was suddenly drawn back to the rear bumper. He used his feet again but this time when finished, he was not sprung back out but whirled around. Steve screamed as did Valerie when they saw the Spindrift nose, like a giant knife point, coming right at them!
Betty, in the cockpit, in the co pilot's seat, screamed also. Dan turned the ship and fired the alternate rockets to slow speed. Steve and Valerie screamed as they wanted to let go and shield their faces, but they didn't. It would have been a futile gesture anyway as Spindrift hitting them would have flattened them no matter what they tried to shield. They didn't have to. Dan's turn slowed the red rocket to almost a stop as it careened sideways. Barry snapped his seat belt off again and ran to the doorway in the hall. He kicked aside part of the beetle arm and opened the door! Wind came in but as the wind blew, so did Steve and Valerie, who flew right inside, attached to the rope. The pin was bobbed as the red light changed again to a green one, the truck hit the gas. Barry reached out to grab for Steve and Valerie but they they were out of the door as fast as they were in it. He held onto the hand holds to support himself but called into the passenger room, "Chipper, you stay there! Stay put, boy, stay put!" Chipper was under one of the red cushion seats, cowering.
"Dan!" Betty called. They saw traffic passing on the other side. The truck was moving again. Dan fired the rockets and turned, saw Val and Steve clinging to the rope, or rather Val clinging to Steve, who was clinging to the rope. He turned the ship and fired more rockets. "What're you?...oh!"
Barry called, "Dan, I think we can get them in if..."
"Betty, go and help him!" Dan snapped, sweating.
Betty needed no urging. She was out of her seat belt and the room in a flash. The Spindrift flew sideways at the truck. The wind blew Val and Steve, in that order into the doorway, Steve yelling, "Let go, Val, now! Now!"
Val didn't need urging now and she let go and fell into Barry and Betty, who all fell in the hallway. Steve was thrust back to the bumper but Spindrift followed him sideways. He kicked the bumper but turned and saw the ship's door coming right at him, followed by its curved hull. "Now or never, Dan!" Steve jumped full force into the doorway. He was on his stomach when the girls and Barry all ran for the door controls. Betty reached it first and hit the door button, the door sliding shut. Steve stood up, turned to them all and said, "Allright?" He had Val by the shoulders first.
Val nodded, "Catching my wind..."
"We gotta get Mark and Fitzhugh..." Steve grabbed Betty by the shoulders as he let go of Val and ran for the cockpit, "Nice flying, Dan!"
Dan smiled but didn't turn to look at him, "Glad to see you. Mark and Fitz?"
"Yeah and hurry if you can," Steve said, as he ran back to the others and stood by the door, "Betty, by the door controls, Barry, Val, I might need you to help me..."
Mark recovered but didn't get off his back and told Fitzhugh to do the same. The truck stopped at a store area and turned. Mark felt the truck sway under him. It stopped and the engine was turned off. "Uh oh!" He looked at Fitzhugh who had his hands over his eyes. "Fitzhugh? On your feet!" Mark bent over him and ...
"Huh?" Fitzhugh took his hands off his eyes and Mark pulled him up, "Oh!"
The giant dog jumped through the window. The giant man got out of the car, they heard the door slam shut, almost deafening them. The vibration made them fall and they had to get up all over again. Mark looked at the giant pin, "It's now or never! You follow me or you're stuck here, understand, Fitzhugh?"
"I'm not gonig to..." Fitzhugh turned as the giant dog ran at him.
Mark jumped over the side and fell through the air. He landed on Steve as he flew through the open door of Spindrift. The giant man looked up at the rocket, amazement all over his huge face. He did'nt know what to do. He didn't hate little people. He heard stories, both good and bad about their nature and he always hoped to meet one face to face or face to body as it may be but he saw the rope from his truck to the air, the little man jumping to it.
Barry helped Steve and Mark up, "We have to go! Someone's sure to have seen that!"
Val helped Mark up from behind, "And us!"
"There's still Fitzhugh..." Mark puffed.
Barry nodded and frowned, "Oh yeah."
Mark, inwardly laughed. Barry hadn't yet forgiven Fitzhugh entirely for having used him to get that giant boy Timmy for the alien entity known only as the Piper. Barry was taken totally by Fitzhugh once again and he was not prepared for the con man's conning this late in their relationship. Still, it had happened and the others were sure Barry would forgive Fitzhugh eventually and soon but Mark smiled that the boy was sore about it. Even after some time.
The Spindrift flew near the giant dog. Fitzhugh called up to it, "Isn't anyone going to help me out of here?" The giant dog, friendly, was licking the air and finally, deciding it was okay to lick this smelly morsel, licked Fitzhugh and slobbered all over Fitz's face and shoulders. "Ohhhhh! What a predicament...! Mfpggghhh!" Another tongue bath, this time longer and over almost his whole outfit.
Giant began to gather around the truck as Spindrift flew low. The giant dog moved back a bit, afraid of the rockets and the sound. One giant called, "Do something! They're dangerous alien invaders!"
"How do you know that?" A black giant man asked.
"Yeah, they didn't do anything to me or my dog," the driver said. "Beside, I don't really want to tangle wtih that..." He pointed.
By now, Barry, Val, and Steve pulled Fitzhugh into the doorway assisted by Mark. Betty hit the door controls shut and everyone listened to Steven's order, "Get to your seats and strap in, quick! We have to move!" Everyone but Fitzhugh.
Fitzhugh stood up, "Isn't anyone going to help me up and out of these wet clothes?"
The dog jumped up and put his paws on the rim of the truck, hitting the giant safety pin harmlessly. He wagged his tail and barked in a friendly manner as the ship flew up.
"Oh, I am," Barry helped Fitzhugh up.
"Barry, you've forgiven me." Fitzhugh stated. "Have you?"
Barry said, "Sure, sure have."
Mark called, "Hey what're you two doing, get in here!"
"Coming," Barry called back. "Just need you to do one thing for me, Mr. Fitzhugh.."
"Oh," Fitzhugh turned from the control room door where he was looking in when Steve hit the control to shut the door, snapping it shut almost in Fitzhugh's f ace. Fitzhugh jumped around and saw Barry holding something. He wiped his eyes to get more of the saliva out.
"Hold this until you can rid of it out the door for me," Barry said and moved to the passenger room.
"Oh no problem," Fitzhugh held the object. He looked at it. It was the giant beetle leg.
From the passenger compartment, the girls and Mark wondered why Fitzhugh suddenly screamed loudly. Barry, however, sat down and buckled in with Chipper, and he had a smug, self satisfied look on his face.
"Oh dear!" Fitzhugh yelled.
Barry smiled. "Come and sit down, Mister Fitzhugh." But the elation was overpowering. He wasn't the little boy to be conned any longer.