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.EFLOTG Rescue	By : keithcompany Category: G through L > Land of the Giants Views: 1295 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the Land of the Giants show, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Amnesia is SUCH a cheap plot device...
- 2-Take Me To The Rescue
- 1
- 2
Roth wanted to talk about Vertag's future treatment, not the past. Vertag really wanted to talk about any side effects, especially ones he didn't remember.
They were getting a little hot when Janet put a hand to her ear and shouted "Shut up!"
They froze and looked at her. "Styles says there are giants on the scanner. Headed this way."
Vertag smoothly moved her to his pocket and stood, carefully avoiding stepping on Roth. He drew his sword and started to turn around, listening carefully.
"North by northwest," Janet says. Vertag glanced up at the sun, then turned and gazed through the woods.
"How many?" he asked. He took one step forward, paused as a Hummer drove past, and stepped into the trees.
"The satellite says one followed by a group of about twenty."
"Satellite?"
"Um...bird's eye view," Janet tried to explain. "From waaaaaaaaaaaay up in the sky."
"Sentries in the sky," he said. "I have to look up more often."
"You'll never..." she started to say, then stopped.
---------
Perez was directing Styles to launch the assault craft to keep it from giant discovery. "Recall all Marines and get off the island," she said.
Styles sat in the command chair and picked up a microphone. "Roger wilco that there request, General," she replied. "You want me to hang around and wait for Janet to cooperate?"
"Where is she?" Perez asked over the radio line.
"Vertag's tunic pocket." After a moment Styles keyed the mike once more. "Are you beating your head on your console or just doing the face-in-hands thing?"
"Launch," Perez said in a subdued voice.
"Aye-aye. I'm leaving four probes in the area for future contact."
"Whatever."
"Commander!" Styles barked. "Take us up, up and away. Keep the trees between us and the idiots."
"The giants?" Lieutenant Commander Fitzwilliam asked.
"Them, too."
-------------
Vertag moved slowly through the woods towards the approaching people. He stuck to tree cover and listened a lot.
There was a rustle and he found himself facing a young girl. Janet looked through the tunic's weave. She could see the giant, a teenager. Her clothes were torn, more than just from running through the forest.
There were bruises on her face and neck, tears on her cheeks. She moaned, knowing Vertag would try to help her. It was probably the right thing to do, but a sidekick was going to complicate rescuing him.
"Help!" she cried.
"What's the problem?" he asked, lowering his sword.
"They're going to kill me!"
"Do you deserve it?" he asked. Janet rolled her eyes but remained silent.   Only Vertag cross examined a victim.
"What...? No! They think I'm a witch!"
"And you're not?"
"NO!"
"Alright then," he said. "I'll help you."
Janet really felt like arguing the fact, but maybe they could just get her away from the crowd of vigila-
Her thoughts were interrupted when the girl threw herself at Vertag, wrapping her arms around him and thanking him profusely.
Vertag forgot to protect his pocket passenger and she was squeezed in the hugging. Caught by surprise, she cried out.
The girl froze when her savior's pocket swore. She looked down. The tunic pocket wasn't as tightly tailored as his suits had been. A disheveled Little Person was clearly visible at the bottom of the gaping pocket.
"Hi," Janet said carefully.
"WITCH!" the girl screamed, then turned to run back the way she'd come.
"Great," Vertag said. He took a step forward.
"Great," Styles said. She made a throat-cutting gesture.
The technician she was signaling looked confused. "Ma'am?"
"Great," Perez said. She turned to the ship's captain. "Let's initiate the poopy-pants... Sorry, initiate the Popanov Protocols."
Someone stepped out from behind a tree and grabbed the running girl. She pointed at Vertag and made some incoherent accusations, though 'witch' came through loud and clear....and often.
Vertag stepped into a clear spot and prepared to face what looked like a mob of visitors. He hadn't understood the sound behind him as the assault craft leaving. He was prepared to defend the Little People.
Janet thought he was just picking a fight.
A few of the front row of people finally started to understand the girl's terrified claims. Four big bruisers stepped out of line and started towards Vertag's position.
Janet heard the wood of his sword handle creak under his grip. She pulled a handheld device out of her pocket and punched some icons.
"You'll have to come with us," a man shouted.
"Like Hell," Vertag said. There was some mumbling in the crowd as they tried to figure out who Hell was.
"There's been an accusation of witchcraft," a rather pompous individual intoned. He glanced at the girl held tightly by two men. "Another accusation."
"I would suggest that you all just move along quietly," Vertag shouted back. "I'd hate to have to take you all into custody." That got a laugh.
The four men approaching remained silent and earnest, though.
"Point your finger at one!" Janet hissed. He obeyed instantly, aiming his non-weapon hand at the largest of the approaching men.
A probe shot down the length of his arm. As it passed his hand, it started shooting flares out from its sides. Faster than the giants could blink, it tore across the space to the big guy and hit him square in the chest.
A super-conductor capacity the size of a car engine discharged through spikes that pierced the giant's skin.
At the same time, a large smoke bomb fired. All the witnesses saw was a cloud of angry red smoke causing their friend to fly through the air, bounce off a tree and fall like a side of beef.
"I can do that?" Vertag said softly. He cleared his throat and shouted, "Did the young girl ever do that?"
No one moved. The three attackers skidded to a stop in the undergrowth.
"Did she ever do that?" he repeated, spacing the words out.
"N- n- n- No," the girl herself finally replied.
"Then she's not a witch." He pointed his deadly finger across the visible portions of the crowd. "Anyone disagree with the logic?"
Everyone shook their head.
"Anyone wanna go back to town and apologize for baseless accusations?"
Everyone nodded. "Then grab your fallen friend and GET OUT OF HERE!"
They turned and ran as a mass, each assuming someone else would get the downed vigilante.
"Is he alive?" Vertag asked his pocket.
"He should be. You lived through a similar... event."
He nodded. "Then let's get you and your friends out of here before he wakes up or someone gets brave."
"Oh, Styles bugged out already."
"When?"
"Right after she saw me," Janet said. "About the time she shouted 'witch.'"
Vertag walked through the clearing, noticing the total lack of Little People or their artifacts. "Could you TELL me next time?"
"What?" she asked.
"I thought I was covering their escape!" He swore and started jogging through the forest, away from the witch hunters.
-------------
Perez strode into the briefing room. Senior Fleet and Marine personnel stopped their conversations as the general took a position in front of the rows of seats.
She cleared her throat and, as always, dove straight in. "We have severed all communications with Vertag and Janet Crane, because she was viewed by an uncleared native of the Isle." No one in the room actually said 'WTF?' But there was a sudden chill in the mood of the room. She continued.
"There will be no informing either of them about pursuit, dangers, advantages, weather or other travel advisories." She turned and started to pace the front of the room.
"This action is required by the protocols set forth by the Giant Activities Oversight Committee, and cheerfully enforced by Senator Popanov and his minions.
"As they are our civilian leaders, we will obey the law and their decisions.   The protocol is clear.
"To ensure the safety of all humans on the planet, no Earthling is to be seen by any giant that isn't already aware of humanity on the planet.
"We're also directed to attempt to 'neutralize' any witness to prevent the spread of their knowledge."
She paused and looked over the gathered faces. "Obviously, I'm not going to order the assassination of a frightened teenager just to cover our collective ass." She waited for comment. There were murmurs but everything she heard was in agreement with her decision.
"So. If we cannot neutralize the witness, we're not allowed 'risk contact' with the observed Earthlings until we have the direct approval of the GAOC." She stared at the bulkhead and tapped her foot.
"I'm not giving anything away by saying Senator Poopie-Pants is not being overly cooperative.
"The good news is that Senators McNeil and Foster are trying to find a way over, around or maybe through Popanov. So.
"We will maintain surveillance of their position and location. The evacuating support team accidentally left some probes in the area that will continue to act in a supporting role."
"Accidentally," Styles insisted. "Very much accidental, General."
"Right," Perez said after the laughter had died down. "So Vertag can still use that 'thunder finger' trick that... someone... programmed into the probes..."
In the back row of seats, Lieutenant Colonel Fred Brown sank deeper into his seat.
"All personnel will maintain a strict blackout with respect to communications with Vertag or Crane," Perez said, her voice low and even. "Any goddamned questions?"
There were none.
"Now, in the event that we get clearance, I want an assault craft on standby. Two, if I can get enough volunteers."
Hands started to climb into the air. "Keep in mind, if the rescue goes all pear-shaped, you could be stuck on the planet, in the same blackout conditions."
The hands paused, then rose again. Perez quickly scanned the audience. "Alright, people," Perez said proudly. "Alright." She turned to march out the door.
"Mr. Brown will be in charge of organizing the volunteer crews and their standbys," she said over her shoulder.
-------------
Rain poured down on their third lean-to of the night. The first had collapsed due to Vertag's inexperience in lashing branches together with vines.
The second had collapsed due to his inexperience with campsite selection. The flash flood had caught both of them by surprise. The orbiting watchers had stood by, silent and impotent, as the waters rose behind the debris.
Now they shivered together in what was hopefully the last shelter he'd have to fashion.
Vertag huddled close to a small fire. The wet wood had resisted all attempts to light it until he told the probe to attack it. No one was more surprised at his success than he was.
He left branches beside the flames to dry out before adding them. It still burned slow and sullen.
Janet's teeth chattered loud enough to make his own jaws ache. She stood at the very lip of the fire. Steam rose from her wet clothes but she wasn’t getting warm enough fast enough.
"Skin to skin contact," he said through clenched teeth.
"Wh-wh-wh-what-t-t-t?"
"Heat transfer. I'm...bigger. Get out...wet clothes."
"I'll.. be... o-o-o-kay-ay-ay."
"Nope." He held his palms out to the fire for a moment, then wrapped them around the human. She sighed blissfully as he did.
He held her for a bit, then his hands started to shake. "N-not-t-t bett-tt-tt-tterrrrr than shhhhhhivering-ng-ng," she protested.
"Jus' sec," he said. Then he peeled her clothes off. She fought, but mostly by curling up into a ball and whining. He stripped off the cold, wet jumpsuit and laid it on a rock of the makeshift hearth.
Panties and bra slid free and joined the jumpsuit. Then he slipped her inside his tunic to hold her against his chest.
She felt his heart pounding, shaking her entire body. Her teeth rattled, her very lungs vibrated from the contact. But the heat.... Hand and chest radiated through her, warmth flooding like fluid over and across her.
Janet melted, spreading herself wide across the warm, welcoming skin. "Oooh, baby, love you long time," she whispered.
The fingers holding her moved back and forth a bit, trying to cover her entire body as she stretched out.
His pinkie stroked her legs, antoher stroked her arms. His ring finger cupped her butt, holding her in place.
For a second, she thought he squeezed it. But he went on stroking her. Stroking her body. Her naked body.
"Janet?" he asked. The bones of her body trembled from the power of his voice through his own body.
"What?" she asked softly. Then realized he hadn't heard. She called again, louder.
He definitely squeezed her butt between joints of his finger. "Are you sure we never dated?"
-------------
The shelter lasted for two days. Vertag was starting to think he'd gotten the hang of vines. But then he tried to shelter the fire from the rain and set the thing ablaze.
They'd gotten fairly dried out by then, so they just watched it burn. Vertag moved up the stream to a likely fishing spot and made a new shelter.
Janet stood under it as he finished, marking out the rooms. "That'll be the kitchen, we'll have the ballroom here, bedrooms along the back..."
She noticed he wasn't laughing, but examining his hands. "What is it?"
"I fee like I've been burned, but I haven't even got the fire going yet."
"Let me see." He lay prone on the ground and held his hands out to her. She shrieked.
"What?"
"You're stabbed! There are little spines sticking in you everywhere! Hold still!"
He peered close but couldn't really see anything. Except a red rash and some swelling.   Janet donned a pair of gloves and unfolded pliers from a multi-tool. She started at his thumb and teased something out of his skin. He still couldn’t see it when she held it up for inspection.
"I'll take your word for it..." he said.
"It's a little hollow needle," she said. "Like a stinger. You must have been handling a plant with a defense against predators."
He watched as she went on pulling the needles out. As she went, she aimed a small, odd-colored flashlight at the skin. The rash subsided.
"You came prepared for this?" he asked.
She didn't look up as she crawled across his palm. "Styles made sure my pockets were full of survival gear. Ever since we got washed down the sewers, she's permanently prepared to be shipwrecked.
"And she prepares me, as much as she can."
"Shipwrecked?" he asked.
"We, uh, we spent some time walking across a giant city, trying to get home." She told him the story as she cleaned him up and healed what she could.
He asked a few questions but mostly just listened, laughing at the spider part of the story. And Styles' post-privation fascination with food caused his own stomach to growl in sympathy.
"And you were really supportive of her need to kill spiders with a flamethrower," she said. She looked up and smiled at him. "It's very much against the rules, but you thought a happy Styles was more important than a sub-sub-paragraph of the treaty."
"Really?" he asked. "That doesn't sound like me. People over the rules?"
"It's perfectly like you, you big lug!" She rolled off his hand and pat his wrist. "Not at first, maybe. But as you got to know us, some of us became more important than some of the rules."
"Really?" he asked, hesitant to accept the idea.
"It's your most redeeming feature!" she said cheerfully. "And one of the things I love about you."
She stopped talking suddenly. "You...?" he stared to ask. "Uh, well, um, you, ah, you... think I have redeeming features?"
"Yes!" she said quickly. "Otherwise you'd just be an enemy giant. You, uh, you became a friend. To many of us. To all of us!"
"Friends," he said. "I have many friends."
"Lots," she said, "I swear."
"Huh." He lifted the cleared hand to cup his chin as she moved to the other one. "Lots of friends."
His voice turned sour. "But none of them every have us over for dinner." She spun to protest, but noticed the gleam in his eye.
"Shut up," Janet ordered. She smiled as she bent over his pinkie. "Miserable bastard."
"I love you, too, Janet," he said cheerfully. She blushed and concentrated on his wounds.
------
They came across a path the next day. Vertag followed it from the water towards a low hill. It ended in a cave.
"Ooh," Janet enthused. "Something rain doesn't drip through! Can we stay in there? Can we?"
"If the bear doesn't mind," he said.
"Bear? You're kidding, right?"
"I don't know," he said. He pushed some fallen leaves with his foot to reveal some trash. "Do bears roll their own?"
"God, that sounds like a cliché. 'Does the Pope go in the forest, does a bear roll his own smokes?"
After a moment, she asked if he was going to inspect the cave. "Once you finish talking, I guess."
She bit back a retort and sank down in his pocket.
There were several signs of giant habitation. Vertag said he wasn't sure if it was safe or not.
"Pretend it's a crime scene," Janet suggested. "You've been tracking some... Oh, thieves, I guess. Is this their hideout?"
The pocket shook. Janet realized Vertag was standing straighter. He spun slowly in one place, pointing at evidence.
"No one's been here for over six months. The fire isn't just cold, the ashes are weathered...."
It struck Janet as the end of a Shakespeare story. He wove a tale of a gang of thieves and their hideout, a wound that was too much for their first aid skills, and the flight to find medical assistance.
They'd never returned.
Each point was linked to supporting evidence, clues here and there, that all fit the final story.
"So, this is a hideout?" she asked.
"Yes. Which means that there's some village nearby that they preyed upon. That could be dangerous for us."
"But if they never were found, it's even safer for us, right?"
He nodded after a bit. Then he started gathering wood.
--------
There was pretty good fishing nearby. Vertag cooked a pair of trout, then watched Janet eat her sliver.
"What?" she asked.
"Just... I just realize how much I enjoy your company."
"Well, who better?" she asked. "Modesty was never one of my problems," she added with a smile.
He smiled and reached over. One fingertip gently stroked her hair. She leaned into it.
Ever since her return to the Coastal City Exchange, Vertag's presence had made her feel safe. His touch made her feel... wanted?
She was surprised to realize that the giant was the man closest to her these days. These days and for many previous ones.
Vertag's strokes became firmer, circling over her shoulders. She rolled off the little stick she was sitting on, to lay down on the ground. Vertag picked her up and spread her over his thigh. The massage pushed her gently into his leg muscles.
Her efforts to get Jamie back from giant captivity had kind of consumed her life. Some had called it a crusade.
Every moment had been bent to that goal. No time for dating or even just hanging out with friends.
Once on this planet, she'd forced herself to cultivate friends among her coworkers, but that was also for her mission. She needed friends to let her skirt the edges of rules from time to time.
She'd even made a cold-blooded decision to try to forge a bond with her giant partner, so he might cut some corners for her in the future.
Then, surprise, he'd turned out to be a true friend. Her first once since... Since... Well. To be frank, she told herself, there weren't all that many friendships she'd had to drop in order to pursue Jamie's disappearance. She'd never been one to bond, not easily.
So when she made friends with Vertag and Lessala... She gasped. Lessala!
"EEP!" she cried out. Vertag snatched his hand away, afraid that he'd broken something.
"You, uh, you and I, we, we, we can't... I dunno, really. But we can't. It's not right. Not us. Remember when Lessala thought I was jealous of you two? Now she's going to be jealous. Oh, well, yeah, you don't remember, obviously, but we can't... Nope. We can't." She stared up into his eyes, waiting for a response.
"Did I break your sanity bone?" he asked. "What the HELL are you talking about?"
"You. Me. Getting up close and personal."
"It was just a backrub, Janet."
"I know. But it felt really, really good." She scooted across his hand. He lowered her to the ground.
"So good, I might take advantage of the fact you don't remember your girlfriend."
He stared at her as she climbed into the little nest he'd fashioned for her and pulled the rag curtain shut.
-------
The two were as intimate as they'd ever been. Maybe more so. They spent day and night together, with no shootouts, troubled negotiations, kidnapping or paperwork.
Janet was torn. She knew Vertag was at reduced capacity, and alone, and probably frightened about his memory loss. He'd never admit it, of course.
So she couldn't cut him off. But he was also pushing the boundary of familiarity. He didn't remember Lessala and wasn't concerned about her feelings.
And he didn't remember the baggage he and Janet's relationship carried. She tried to recreate that. She told him, and herself, that she was trying to spark a memory to defeat the amnesia.
She just wanted the world back the way she recognized it.
"....And then, we let you shoot the robot, while she was down in the sewer pipe." She cringed, knowing how angry he was going to get.
He just smiled. "Boy! You sure outsmarted me, then, didn't you!"
"Uh...yeah?"
"So, I left the warehouse thinking I'd done my duty. You left knowing you'd prevented me from killing her. Huh."
He moved her gently from his hand to his knee and clapped. "That's gotta be the best sort of victory. One your enemy doesn't know you won."
"You're.... You're not mad?" she asked.
"Why would I be?" he asked. "We're on the same side, right?"
"Now we are..."
"Then your victories are mine. My losses in the before time are theirs." He shrugged. "I may have switched sides just to join the winners."
"No," she said emphatically. "You could never be so outnumbered that you'd even think of-"
"Hush," he said softly. His eyes darted towards the front of the cave. She saw his hand come up to grab her and relaxed into it.
She felt him stand as he slipped her into his pocket. The tunic wasn't quite as secure as his shirts had always been, so she crouched low and grabbed handfuls of material.
Janet watched through the weave as he crept to the mouth of the cave and looked around. She didn't ask what had gotten his attention. He might not even know.
She heard voices from the forest. "I can't make out the words," he said softly. "But there are people out there."
"Hang on," she said.
She keyed her surveillance pad. One of the probes left the tree where it was recharging the solar cells and started a search pattern.
It found speaking and closed in. A giant child's voice began sounding in her earpiece, "...saw fire in the cave. The bandits are back! They are!"
"The bandits were done for," a man's voice said, trying to calm the child. "Probably just some traveler."
"Some traveler staying in the forest?" a third voice commented. "Ain't too many legal reasons not to wanna be in a cozy town."
"They're looking for you," she called up to Vertag. "And they're suspicious."
"Okay," he said. "Where?"
She keyed the pad once more. A short burst of beeps indicated a compass direction. She wasted a second trying to figure out the direct, then just trusted that he knew where "Straight East!" was.
He nodded and slipped out of the cave. She saw trees go by, heard the faintest of rustling in the undergrowth.
There was a dizzying change of directions, then she was looking at leaves. He was crouched behind a bush.
They weren't close enough to hear the discovery of the cave or the short search. But the party went past their position as they returned to wherever they came from.
"I'm not saying you didn't see it," the first adult voice said. "There's been a fire in there no more than a day or two ago."
"So, what, some traveler?" the skeptic asked. "Still had a reason not to go into town. Rather sleep out here with the bears."
"Bears?" Janet said in a soft but urgent voice. Vertag didn't say anything, but did lift his hand to cup her reassuringly. She relaxed.

Vertag walked through the woods, putting distance between them and the cage.
For a while, Janet thought he was going slowly. "You're being cautious! You're worried about bears, aren't you?"
"No, Janet, I'm not worried about bears. I'm walking at my normal speed through unfamiliar woods. There are no bears around here. It's something to keep the kids from wandering in the woods."
"Oh. Okay," she said, trusting him. An emotion that wore off before the hour. "Are you running? Should you be running in unfamiliar woods?"
"I’m not running, Janet...."
-------
He shrugged out of the tunic when he selected the campsite. Janet looked over at him as he hung the garment on a tree.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm going to make another shelter," he said. "If you're quiet, I'll take you down once it's built."
"Oh, come on," she protested. He held up a hand, palm out.
"If you don't stop talking, or asking if I'm building too fast or winding vines too slow, you're stuck there until I have dinner."
She almost voiced her immediate reaction of 'You wouldn't dare.' But she knew he would. So she watched quietly.
All in all, she'd had worse afternoons. He worked with a certain precision, selecting materials and clearing his space.
And the big, big giant limbs moved and swung silently. The muscles flowed under the slightly shiny skin.
She was silent enough that Vertag let her down once he had the frame constructed. She watched him thatch the roof from beneath.
He carried her along to check the snare and found he'd caught a rabbit.
"Yay!" she cheered. "No fish!"
"You don't like my fish?" he asked, sounding aggrieved.
"I've lost count of how many fish dinners," she said. "However fantastically well they were cooked."
"He nodded and started a fire.
When dinner was done, they sat and watched the fire for a while. "I think... I remember a farm," he said.
"You grew up on a snapper ranch," she said.
"Snappers," he echoed. "Little ugly scavengers that'll eat anything. Including the snapper rancher."
"Yes!" she cheered. "Your memory's coming back!" Then she frowned. He looked down as she slumped in his hand.
"Janet?"
"That's great," she said. There was a little bit of a sob at the end, though. He lifted her up to his face. "No, really. You're getting your memory back. You're going to be back to normal."
"And...that's a problem?" he asked. He squinted, peering at her in the firelight. One great finger gently touched her face, her cheek...a tear track on it.
"Yes. No! No, of course not." She turned away, hugging herself with both arms. "You'll be back to running around in danger. I'll be back waiting for a diplomatic mission.
"You'll be with Lessala and I'll be having lunch with General Perez every other day."
"Lessala," he repeated. "You said she was my girlfriend."
"She is. And she's wonderful. And you're perfect together." Janet squirmed a bit in his hand. "You're together and I'm apart and that's normal. We're going back to normal."
He stared at her for a moment or two. Then he rolled onto his back and held her over his face. "Janet, what's wrong with you?"
She stared for a second, then really started to cry. He watched and waited patiently.
After a moment he folded her into his hand and cupped it against his chest. It made her wail louder.
"Okay, I give up," he said. "What am I doing wrong?"
"Nothing," she forced out.
"Tears indicate happiness in Little People, then?"
"No... No, you're going to go back to normal and everything will be the way it was. Like a sitcom. At the end of the episode, nothing changes."
His eyes flicked back and forth desperately. But nothing appeared in the camp to magically explain the drama.
"Am I not supposed to go back to normal, Janet?" he asked.
"But if you do, you'll leave me."
"Not a chance," he said firmly. "From what you've told me, I've become a steady friend. Right? Right?" He bounced her in his palm a couple of times, trying to jolly a response out of her.
Then she made a noise like she was about to throw up. He stopped the bounce and started to hold her at arm's length. Then he shook his head and held her close again.
She cried herself out and finally lifted her hand. She placed the palm against his shirt, against his chest. "I'm going to miss this."
"You can ask for a hug any time," he promised.
Janet shook her head. "I can't. Not... Our relationship's different."
"Okay. Then what about the General?"
"Perez?" she snorted. "Sometimes there are moments... I mean, she's a good friend, but I can't cry on her shoulder in front of her command. She's really touchy about the command. Doesn't want the men to start rumors...."
His thumb rose to stroke her back. She snuggled into his hand. "It's okay. It's my problem, not yours. I just..."
"You need a boyfriend?" he asked.
"You'd be perfect," she said. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't say that, you're taken. But... But you'd be perfect."
"Janet..." he said hesitantly. "Um... Okay, well, what do I have that other boyfriend candidates lack?"
"When you hold me, I know nothing in the world, both words, will ever get me."
"Soooooo, you want a relationship based on danger?" he guessed.
"NO! We've FACED danger. That's how I know I can trust you!" She rolled to a sitting position and stared up at him. "It's not adrenaline or survivor instinct or wanting to be a kept woman.
"I've gotten to know a big, wonderful idiot and I've gotten to like... To love him."
"Uh huh," he said. They stared at each other for a moment. "Then, would this be our last chance or a big mistake?"
She gasped, a rising intake of air he started to fear wouldn't stop.
"I mean," he said quickly, "we're alone, and you love me, and I don't remember any reasons that I shouldn't love you, so I guess for the rest of my amnesia, I could be your boyfriend, unless you don't want to risk-"
"Shut up and kiss me, Vertag," she ordered. He obeyed. She pushed her face into his lips and nibbled.
He gently stroked her hips, her legs. She unzipped her jump suit. He smiled down at her, firelight flickering over his features.
She saw the moment of comprehension in his eyes. Her heart fluttered.
"Lessala!" he said.
"Crap," she muttered.
"I remember Lessala!" he said cheerfully.
"Uh huh." She closed the zipper and tried to wriggle out of his grip. His fingers were tight.
"I remember! I remember that we broke up!"
"Yes," she said. "For Andy's sake you and-"
"No, no, no!" He laughed. "The Poopie Pants committee! They kept us apart. They keep at least one of us out of danger at all times! We discovered that our relationship... Janet, Lessala and I are the ones that need adrenaline for our relationship.
"I mean, we're still good friends. Or we were. When I boarded the shuttle. We're still good spy partners. But we're not boyfriend/girlfriend." He laughed some more.
Then he looked down. Her mouth gaped as she stared up at him. His smile softened. "Shut up and kiss me, Janet," he said.
She obeyed.
--------
Janet woke up slowly. She ached all over, from the stretching and climbing, but her heart was sated as never before. She was rolled up in a length of cloth torn off his ragged tunic sleeve.
That roll was inside his fist, held to his cheek. If she stretched the littlest bit... Yes, she could kiss his earlobe.
Just as she did, her earpiece crackled. "Crane," Perez' voice called. For a brief second, Janet thought she heard Damerae's voice from Vertag's ear.
Then she realized the comms blackout was lifted. She touched her own ear. "General?"
"Janet, the committee finally approved a resupply for you and the giant. Styles is bringing an assault craft down on your position. We'll evaluate the idiot's wounds again and either bring him back or leave him in place for a bit."
"Oh, that's great!" Janet said happily. Vertag's fingers curled a bit tighter around her. "The AC's showers are functional, right?"
"That's a roger ten four affirmative," Perez replied with a laugh. "Be on your location in about twenty."
"Twenty, gotcha." She ended the conversation and pat the cheek under her elbows. Vertag lifted her clear and rolled onto his back.
"What was that?"
"Dam's sending down a medical unit and some supplies. They'll either shrink you for a return to Earth or give you a weapon."
"Ah. Visitors." She watched as he scratched his chin. She mostly remembered slithering over that the night before. "Twenty minutes?" She nodded. "Think you want to be dressed when they get here?"
"Eeek!"
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The AC landed while the sun was just creeping over the horizon. Perez was forbidden by Fleet to set foot on the giant planet so Janet was expecting Styles again.
When the hatch lowered down into the ramp, Perez stood there, wearing a uniform with Brown's rank and nametag.
"Why... Hello, Brown," Janet said quickly. "Nice to see you again." They hugged, brief but intense. Then Janet skipped around her, headed for the pilot's head. A clean jumpsuit was waiting by the shower stall. A jumpsuit that clanked.
"Thanks, Petunia," Janet said softly. The pockets were even more full than the last time Styles had packed for her.
When she finished showering and changing, she went to the back ramp. Vertag lay on the ground. Roth was directing more sensors as they ranged around his brain.
Others asked him personal questions to test his memory. He was answering Lessala over a comm. link as Janet approached.
"Yes, I had a secret name for you, but it was in fingerspeak code."
"What was the code?" she asked insistently. He held a hand in front of the camera and moved his fingers. "Yeah, I'm satisfied."
Peterson was running the camera unit. He stepped back and tore his headphones off. "Thank GOD! One more question about intimacies under surveillance and I was gonna... Oh, hi, Janet!"
Until the supply officer blushed, Janet hadn't considered the orbital overwatch. That had been following Vertag for days. And probably watched them last night. She blushed, but refused to react otherwise.
Dam gave her a nod of respect as she walked calmly down the ramp.
Sandy used the comm. to ask about her second leg breaking while in Vertag's custody.
"You didn't break it a second time. I found out I had to turn you in when you were healthy, we concocted the second escape attempt, and you just ran off when you were well."
She asked a few more questions about the mass escape they organized, then sent him a kiss from Little Veronica and said he was healed.
"Okay, I have one," Janet said. Roth made an 'after you' gesture towards Vertag's ear. Janet walked around his shoulder and leaned on it.
"Vertag?"
"Yes, Janet?"
"Would you have shot me?"
"Oh, great," he muttered. The breath came out of his body in a long, slow sigh that seemed to deflate him to half his size. She watched as he closed his eyes, bit his lip and finally turned his head. "Alright, listen, I wo-"
Janet turned to offer a thumbs-up to Roth. "I'm satisfied."
The physical exam showed no anomalies and Roth pronounced him well. Vertag stripped and gave himself the shot.
They were airborne in ten minutes.
He did have a small memory lapse a few minutes after that. He came out of the head and admitted to a difficulty remembering how to operate the shower.
"Oh, that's understandable," Roth said. "There will be little cracks and fissures in-"
Perez put a gentle hand on Roth's shoulder and he stopped talking. "Less lecture," she said. "More hot water."
"Oh! Yes, of course. I'll just-"
"I'll take care of it, Doc," Janet said. She took Vertag's arm and led him forward. "Poor thing. You probably forgot how to soap yourself, too."
"I might," he said sadly. "I very well might have."
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