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| Escape |
Escape
" A feeble weapon, but better than nothing." Luke said, holding the metal
needle.
" My lightsaber would be better against the giant beasts."
Chewie nodded. Just the day before, he'd had to run for his life from the
hairy,black
monster who could easiy jump on the shelf where they spent most of their time.
Han struggled to extricate himself from the new outfit the Female Giant had
made
for him. It had crude chains, and large sequins that rubbed his sensitive
parts. Luke had thrown off his clothes
already. They never knew whet kind of humiliating garments they would wake up
wearing. When the Sun of this hellish
planet finally set, and they could move freely, the Giant found immense
pleasure in dressing them, chuckling
and drooling over the revealed pieces.
" Tonight we escape." Luke continued, casting a worried glance at Leia. She was wounded and couldn't walk. Chewie volunteered to carry her, but with two of them thus hindered it would be up to Luke and Han to fight their way out of the giant house. Yet, they couldn't wait for Leia to get better. The time was now. as the door of their prison remained open behind a careless giant child.
They had to descend from the shelf on a long rope that Luke had hidden away
days
before, then make their way through several gigantic rooms. Their previous
attempts had failed, but now, at least,
they knew the layout of the house and the location of the kitchen window that
was protected only by a torn screen.
The house was dark, but the street light was bright enough through the window
for them to
find their way across the first hall and into the giant's kitchen. There, on
the floor, was the huge tray where
they usually found food similar to the dry ship rations Han was used to. The
Corellian carried a bag, which he
filled up with the large, reddish pieces of the smelly nutrient. He was barely
finished when the giant beast appeared
in front of him. It had learned to fear the small creatures already, but it was
intent on protecting the food and faced
the Corellian with fearful growls and hisses.
Luke swirled and attacked the beast from behind, piering it's thick skin with
the needle.
The creature gave a horrible cry and, leaping over the Corellian, started to
run around in circles; upsetting several
containers and a huge broom, which almost fell on Chewie and Leia.
" Hide! Here, Chewie, move! I don't care what you smell!" Han yelled, and dove head first into an open cabinet where the giants kept their giant containers of odiferous poisons and some filthy rags. The others followed his example. The Wookiee carried Leia and hid her behind a large, circular object. The bag of food was forgotten.
Giant footsteps thundered into the kitchen, and light flooded everything.
" Just the cat." The earthquake-voice growled." Stupid animal. Sleeps all day
and
jumps around all night. I might as well get a snack..."
There was the sound of something opening, then other unidentifiable noises and
the
sound of a gigantic mouth chewing.
" It will feed for awhile." Luke whispered. " But we can climb higher up. This
structure is right under the window. That-" He pointed at a thick pipe." Is
their water supply." He climed up
on it agiley, leapt onto a sheld and peeked into the darkness. " There is a
crack in the wood here. It will
be a tight fit."
" I see it." Han was already straddling the pipe. " Those are cooling coils
behind it; probably
part of a large refrigerating system. No one can see us there, and it looks
like an easy climb. Come on."
Both of them helped Chewie and Leia struggle throught the broken wood panel
and climb
up the dusty coils. Leia found that she could climb better than walk, and
finally refused help.
The coils stretched almost to the ceiling. Luke went ahead, and reached the
large white
plateau. Colorful containers were stacked there, and he could hide behind them;
peeking down at the giant
who munched on something right below him.
A fiery machine with red-hot coils spewed out delicious smelling pieces of
huge bread.
" Stars, I'm hungry." Luke muttered.
The giant- it was one of the children- laid out the bread pieces, layering
them with huge
blobs of a purple mass. The smell was tantalizing. Chewie sniffed eagerly.
Han grumbled about " nothin' makin' any difference as long as it wasn't
Corellian stew", but he was just as hungry as the others and hoped that the
giant would leave something
on the plate.
At that moment, one of the largest giants walked into the kitchen. She was a
terrifying sight in a long white shirt, her hair obscuring half her face. Her
loud voice nearly deafened the hiding
foursome.
" SO, you're snacking in secret,missy!" She howled.
" The cat woke me up." The small giant answered sullenly.
" Oh, now we blame the cat! The cat made you eat toast with jelly in the
middle of the night!" The giant female raged on, grabbed the container of the
purple,viscuous material
with one hand and with the other she yanked the refrigerator door open.
The swing of the door upset the container Luke was hiding behind. He jumped
back,
and slipped on the ate-ol grease that covered the white plateau. With an
involuntary cry, he slid
and fell like a stone; narrowly avoiding the red-hot mouth of the machine and
landed on the jelly-
covered toast.
The large giant swirled and stared at Luke with her red-rimmed eyes, then
turned her anger on her spawn.
" YOU'RE PLAYING WITH MY DOLLS AGAIN!"
She extended a large, puffy hand towards the unfortunate Jedi. For her size
she
was surprisingly fast and Luke, dazed by his fall and sticky with jelly, barely
escaped her grabbing fingers.
He didn't care anymore if she saw him moving. He ran, with all the speed he
could manage, for the torn screen.
The howling of the giants gave him desperate strength. With a brave leap, he
made it through; not even thinking
what was behind it. He felt himself falling-but whatever he hit was blessedly
soft and furry.
His split-second of relief was gone as he realized that he'd landed on a beast.
Clinging to the thick fur, he slid to the ground; still clutching his sharp dagger. But the beast did not attack him. It sniffed, and proceeded to lick him clean. It's breath was foul, but Luke welcomed the help to get rid of the sticky,purple mess. He lay quietly until the beast was finished. It prodded him once with it's large,wet nose, then shook itself and lay down peacefully.
Luke got to his feet and listened to the noises inside. The giants sounded extremely excited; their slippers thundering as they ran. Luke saw the front door opening, lights turned on, and huge flashlights began to search the bushes. He remained motionless behind gigantic leaves, wondering how the others were doing. The giants clambered closer, and he edged away from them.
He saw Chewie's head in the kitchen window. The Wookiee tied the rope
to a flower pot on the ledge and lowered it. Luke tugged on the rop lightly. A
low whistle signaled back,
and Han quickly slid down; followed by Chewie with Leia clinging to his back.
" Together again,huh?" Han grinned,
" And finally out." Leia smiled back.
" It's not over yet." Luke whispered. " The giants are searching for us. If we
wait till the sun comes up,
we'll freeze again and they will surely find us. We must get as far as we can
before sunrise."
" A vehicle." Han sighed, looking at the giant's groundcar parked nearby. Even
if
he knew how to work these machines, their mere size rendered them inoperable.
Han felt intimidated in this
oversized world, where his considerable strength and speed could not provide
any advantage. Besides, he
desperately missed his beloved ship, his blaster, and his usual garments.
The giants opened the garage door ,and turned on the lights in there too.They
were
searching among the bushes, urging the sleepy beast to join them; but the
monster merely yawned
and curled up tighter.
But in the well-lit garage, Han saw something that made his eyes sparkle.
" Follow me." He winked at the others.
By this time the giants were at the side of the house,investigating the shed.
Luke whistled appreciatively. In the garage, a flat platform stood on sturdy
yellow wheels.
It was big enough for all of them; and although it lacked a steering mechanism,
Han and Chewie said they'd
manage somehow. Chewie picked up a long stick, Han grabbed another, and they
climbed on top of the
vehicle; which was promptly christened 'our wheelie',
" Hold on tight." Han grinned. " We'll pick up a fair speed, I expect."
They did. The road was sloped downwards, and the wheelie needed just a push to
start. It
soon began to roll, faster and faster, towards what looke like a promisingly
smooth and wide highway.
Leia closed her eyes, remembering the asteroid field. Han gave a loud war
whoop as they reached
the smooth expanse, and Chewie prodded the left wheel. It reacted easily, and
the wheelie started down, getting
further and further from the house where they had been imprisoned for so long.
" Looking good." Han commented.They were on a hill, and the road kept leading
down;
among similar looking giant dwellings, and plenty of wooded areas. " I'd say we
roll till we can't. Chewie, we
should try and righ a motor on this thing. The wheels are excellent."
Enormous light flooded the road. A giant groundcar approached from the opposite
direction, heading straight at them.
" Keep your heads down!" Han yelled.
Luke threw a protective hand over Leia. It was over in a second. The vehicle
thundered
over them. They felt the strong wind and foul smell of it; but their little
wheelie rolled safely on.
" Do you think they saw us?"
" Naah." Han said.
Now the downslope ended and the wheelie came to a slow halt. They climbed off,
except Leia.
The wheelie was easy to push on level ground.
" Where the hell are we?" Han asked.
" Looks like a landing field." Luke guessed.
" Judging by the markings, it is a parking area for those groundcars. The low
buildings
might be some kind of gathering place. A factory, maybe." Han surveyed the
fairly well-lit landscape. " We shouldn't
remain in the open like this. Someone might see us, for one thing; and we are
frozen stiff."
 . " Maybe we should have appreciated those clothes
more." Luke grinned at the Corellian.
" Well, running around naked is not my cup of tea." Han answered. " At least
Leia has something on."
" And Chewie is well dressed, as always." She remarked, drawing a growled
comment
from the Wookiee.
The wind was rattling something among the bushed. Luke went there to
investigate and came back with a smile.
" Just what we wanted." He said. " Come, bring the wheelie."
It was a very large sheet of plastic, with alien lettering on both sides. An
ideal
tent. Han and Luke draped it over the wheelie, safely hidden behind a thick
wall of bushes. They could all climb in
and sleep, warming each other, on the top of their vehicle.
" Aufgh." Chewie grumbled.
" Don't complain. We have wheel, we have a tent, we are free; and we
are safe." Han said, yawning. " Tomorrow night we will find some food."
" We are free." Luke whispered, the miracle of it just dawning on him;filling
his whole being with joy.
" Just don't go all mushy on me,kid." Han growled, his eye closing in the
warmth of the tent. Chewie slept between him and Leia, but he was too tired to
regret this.
" What the %!#?! are the two of you doing out there in the middle of the
night?" The third giant howled from the open door.
The two others, the large and the small one, looked at each other,
" What the &!$# are you looking for out there, your minds?"
" There was something moving in the grass." The large giant said, for the
lack of anything more realistic to say. After all, one could not tell one's
lifemate that one saw
Luke Skywalker, all of 12 inches tall and stark naked, leap off a slice of
toast covered with jelly and
dive outta da window.
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