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.Escape from Land of the Giants Season 3	By : keithcompany Category: G through L > Land of the Giants Views: 1784 -:- 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
- 19
- 20
(Open inside the cab of a pickup. We see from slightly above and behind the driver's shoulder. He's driving through a wooded area along a paved single-lane road. There's a roadblock up ahead. The sedan there is waved through and the cops turn to the pickup as he slows.)
The camera's view turns behind the driver's neck. We only see him as a dark outline, hiding his identity. He rolls down his window as the cop looks in)
Cop: Papers?
Driver: (a rough voice, perhaps as if someone's trying to hide their identity) Personal or travel?
Cop: Both. (waits as the driver fishes out his various forms of ID and his out-of-city authorization) Rough voice?
Driver: Just getting over a cold.
Cop: Heh. (takes the papers and looks through them) That part's almost as bad as the cold itself.
Driver: Yeah (coughs)
Cop: What you got in the back?
Driver: Camping supplies.
Cop: Where you headed?
Driver: Up into Dark Skyline range.
Cop: Beautiful area. I need to take a look at your...supplies.
Driver: Sure. The knots are-. (hand to the handle, starts to open the door. Cop holds up a hand)
Cop: Just stay in the cab where Officer Ghistelling can see you.
Driver: Sure. (One deputy stands with pistol drawn, watching the cab.)
( Camera turns to follow Cop as he moves back, watching him through the rear window. Cop and two more move to the back of the truck. They untie the tarp over the back, peel it away. They find stacks of boxes. They move the boxes around, expose the truck's bed. Open a few boxes to find food, a tent, lanterns, lantern oil, nothing surprising.)
Cop: A lot of food, sir.
Driver: I'm going to be up there a while. I'm between jobs, figured I'd just go natural for a while.
Cop: Natural? You gonna get naked? (while they talk, half-jokingly, the deputies open the hood to look at the engine, duck to look under the car, feel around under the bumper and wheel wells)
(Finally they all nod to the Cop. He nods to the driver.)
Cop: Well, everything's in order, sir. (hands back paperwork) You have a nice day, (cut POV to over the cop's shoulder. The driver is Naturalist Scholar Deckett from Episode 2-10) Mister Deckett.
Deckett: Thanks. You guys, too. (drives off.)
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Roll Titles
----
(Open in another small, dingy motel room. Jamie and Vertag are playing cards. A roll of paper towels rests on its side, her cards lean on that. It provides support so she can see them and a bit of privacy as she moves back and forth, arranging her hand. We can see the action, but not the hand. Vertag deals her three cards and waits patiently as she arranges them, rearranges, takes a step back, looks over the cards with her hands on her hips.)
Jamie: It's to me, right? (he nods) I bet...ten crumbs.
Vertag: You're feeling confident. (moves some cookie crumbs from her pile to the pot)
Jamie: Hey, you gave me the cards.
Vertag: Oh, it's my fault if you beat me?
Jamie: Well, it's certainly not mine.
Vertag: Okay. Okay, I call. (moves crumbs) What do you have?
{POV changes to looking over Jamie's shoulder at her cards. She has bupkes. Not even a pair of twos)
Jamie: A Chaos Straight. Two, Five, Seven, Jack, King. Pay up!
Vertag: You just made that up.
Jamie: No, no, they're all primes, see, and-
Vertag: Then shouldn't the three be between the two and the five?
Jamie: Hey, do you want to learn Physicist Poker or not?
Vertag: (stares for a moment) Would this game make more sense if we were drunk?
Jamie: (shakes her head) That's for tournament play. For neophytes, we should be high.
Vertag: I'm seventy two of your feet tall. How high do you want?
Jamie: (waves her hands) No, no, nothing to do with altitude. Unless you wake up on a fire escape.
Vertag: (reaches over the towel roll to sweep up her cards and examine them.) Okay, in giant poker, this hand would be called utter crap.
Jamie: Then it's a good thing we're not playing giant poker.
Vertag: They're giant cards.
Jamie: Because your great stubby fingers couldn't handle a real deck. (starts to giggle) That's it! That's why giants need human technology.
Vertag: (waits a moment, she starts to laugh harder) Why?
Jamie: Everything... Everything you have is... Is...
Vertag: Breathe, Jamie.
Jamie: Your fine print... Is a billboard. Your precision instruments... Plus or minus a yard. Within acceptable limits is...an elephant, more or less...(drops to her knees, holding her belly)
Vertag: Yeah. Insult the guy that can stuff you into a pocket until he's not mad anymore. (she laughs louder. He smiles.) Yeah, Janet never worried about my threats, either.
Jamie: (laughter stops like a switch was thrown) Janet...
Vertag: Oh, no. I'm sorry, Jamie. I shouldn't have brought her up.
Jamie: I miss her.
Vertag: And she misses you. She's probably going nuts, worried that I dropped you or you ran away or accidentally ate you.
Jamie: I... I know we can't call her. But is there some way to tell her I'm okay? Just so she'll know?
Vertag: I'm working on a signal.
Jamie: Oh. Yeah. (she sits up) Any idea when that'll be ready?
Vertag: Well, we have to go slow, so no one will see it until we're all ready.
(Cut to the Excelsior conference room. Brown is at the smartboard, Adams, the usual Marines, Janet, Commander and some other Fleet officers attend)
Brown: So, we've identified Vertag's signal. (taps smartboard screen. The map of 1^st Nation zooms in on a mountain range)
Adams: He's signaling?
Brown: Not yet. We were scanning for their possible superweapon sites and found this sensor grid. (taps screen. The grid graphic appears in an oval around a red spot in the mountains.) And we noticed just outside of the sensors, there's a valley. (taps, zooms in. We see a picture of a grassy meadow, man digging a ditch from nowhere to nowhere.)
Janet: Is that Vertag?
Brown: We haven't been able to identify him. But he's digging channels in the ground, laying something in them, and covering it all up again.
Commander: Fertilizer?
Roth: Some sort of animal trap?
Adams: Performance art? Do the giants have performance art?
Brown: We don't know what he's putting into the ground, but if we look at the infra-red... (Taps screen. View changes. The channel he's digging is part of an outline of the Marine emblem: Eagle clutching a globe with an anchor through it) (Fleet gasps) (Marines smile)
Janet: Vertag.
Peterson: That'll be his signal. Whoever's there with the shovel, he had to get the plan from Vertag.
Perez: And I'll bet it's someone with a perfectly valid reason to be hanging out in the mountains for an extended period.
Brown: There are a number of things that he could be burying, but I imagine it'll be visible from orbit, whatever happens.
Commander: And this is outside the sensor net? We can get craft down there, next to this superweapon? Without being detected?
Brown: We don't really know what the site is for, but they do have the extra protection on it. But we can get down to the meadow itself.
Perez: Is that significant?
Brown: Near as we can tell, the only road up to the meadow goes under the sensor net.
Perez: So if they don't make it all the way up, we may have to trip the sensor to get them.
Commander: Them? Get them?
Perez: TO them. To get TO them, rescue HER.
Janet: What? What are you saying? (Adams and Perez share an unhappy look) We're not rescuing everyone? (fade out on her confused expression)
(Fade in to an office space in some giant building. An SID office but not Headquarters. Dordell sits at a big desk by some windows, facing two rows of desks. Six agents sit at six of eight desks. Two empty ones show signs of occupation, the agents out somewhere)
Yeslley: So... Chief? Is there a new plan?
Dordell: What's wrong with the old plan?
Dender: It's been a month, sir. Since the sighting and the shooting.
Fivviest: And still no contact from Vertag about the secretary. Not her health, or demands for her release.
Dordell: I'm not really sure he saw her in the back seat. But at some point, he'll figure out why the car that was chasing him drove into a light pole so he could escape.
Schikkabom: So we just wait for him to tell us when we can spring our trap?
Dordell: Unless one of you guys finds a better way to trace the son of a gun.
(Fade out as all six shrug)
(Fade in on a giant street elsewhere. Vertag walks down the busy sidewalk. Stops in front of a storefront)
Vertag: Are you ready?
(Cut to inside his coat pocket. Jamie looks nervous.)
Jamie: I think so. Is this... This is it, right?
Vertag: (voice) Hopefully. Just don't give away any details we can't afford.
Jamie: You haven't told me any details!
Vertag: (voice) Then you can't possibly mess it up. Okay?
Jamie: (hesitant smile) Okay.
(Cut to storefront. Vertag enters the door. Camera pans to the big sign stating this is Radio For Truth Station RFT1. There's a dark spot on the sign. The camera closes in. The spot becomes letters that say: Directorate Approved.)
(Cut to interior, Vertag approaches receptionist)
Vertag: Hi. I have an appointment with the program director.
Receptionist: Mr. Egglizhiam?
Vertag: That's him.
Receptionist: Alright. Down the hall, third door on the right.
Vertag: Appreciate it. (goes into the hall, moves quickly past the first four doors, drawing a pistol. He opens another door under an "On Air!" sign that's blinking)
(Cut to a broadcast booth. A record plays. We hear sort of classical music. A middle aged man with headphones on dozes while the music plays.   Beyond a large window, the producer wears headphones and flips through a magazine.)
(A door behind the producer opens and Vertag steps in. He taps the producer on the shoulder and shows him the pistol. His lips move but we only hear the music. The producer protests. Vertag aims the gun at his nostril. The producer shuts up. He removes the headphones and lays down on the floor, out of our sight.)
(Vertag kneels down for a minute, then stands up and puts the pistol away. He locks the door and moves around, changing the settings on several panels. The music continues to play, the announcer continues to doze.
(Vertag pulls a microphone off of a shelf and puts it on the control panel, bent way over to reach a really, really low speaker. He moves Jamie down to the mike. She's out of sight below the window. Vertag throws one last switch and the music stops though the announcer doesn't appear to hear any change)
Jamie: (Voice) Hey, all our listeners in the high-orbit range. This is station Jay Emm Eee, broadcasting to all the people out in radioland, whether those PEOPLE are big or LITTLE fans!
(Vertag moves back and forth, checking readouts, making small adjustments, looking at the announcer)
Jamie: (Voice) My producer, Vertag, says it may take a while for people to notice us, but maybe they're recording. So listen now and hear me later, okay?
(Announcer rouses just enough to check his watch and lean over the record player to check how much record is left. Vertag freezes but the man never looks through the window)
Jamie: (Voice) I'm really looking forward to seeing some people from my old stomping grounds, the guys and gals at station Ex Ell See Ore. We've got some-
(Cut to the Excelsior control room.)
Commander: Is it really her?
Tech1: Computer says there's an 82 percent match to the recording of her Nobel Prize acceptance speech.
Commander: That's.... What does that mean?
Tech2: Well, she's older, she's been through a lot, and she's broadcasting on a radio.
Commander: Why would that matter?
Tech1: (as to an idiot) Radio, Commander.
Tech2: Real stone-knives-and-bear-skins stuff.
Commander: So if you had to bet?
Tech1: I'd be willing to promise Miss Crane that her sister is alive.
Commander: Okay. Ask her-
Tech2: (speaking into a microphone) Report to the Control Room.
Janet: (excited voice) What? What is it! Oh, forget that. I'll be right there! Damer- (click)
(cut to the announcer. He stands and swings his arms around. Vertag just stares, shaking his head, more amazed as the man continues to miss what's going on with the radio station)
Jamie: (Voice) -ven't got a lot of time. So we just need to make sure people out there are still looking. Are you there, Janet? Vertag says you have to keep faith. And remember that feral human with the broken leg. He had a tattoo. So you guys knew he was family even before he woke up.
(Vertag flinches, then picks up the handset of a telephone. He shakes his head, his mouth moves and he hangs up. A red light in the announcer's booth starts to flash. He notices that and turns in surprise to the producer. Vertag waves cheerfully)
Jamie: (Voice) So, the message, I guess, is the SIGNAL most important thing. Family. How to know when you've found it. Look for-
(Cut to the Control Room. Janet, Styles, Perez and crew listen to a speaker)
Jamie on speaker: -your family. Vertag will. And- Whoops. Gotta go!
Voice1 on speaker: What the hell are you people doing?
Jamie on speaker: Pay no attention to the man on the intercom!
Voice1 on speaker: What? Get out of there! Where's Tiskell?
Voice2 on speaker: I'm alright! Call the manager!
Jamie on speaker: Shut up, you!
Voice1 on speaker: You can't shut us up! We're authorized by the directorate-
(Sounds of a gunshot, smashing glass, odd echo effect in voices that follow)
Voice2 on speaker: Shutting up.
Jamie on speaker: Did you have to fire that cannon indoors?
Voice1 on speaker: I'm hit!
Vertag on speaker: Oh, you are not.
Jamie on speaker: Should we be leaving?
Vertag on speaker: Right after you tell our listeners where they can get their promotional-
(Loud click followed by static. After a moment, Commander makes a cutting motion)
Commander: Monitor the frequency for any change. And monitor the police bands for any pursuit. And make sure we follow his movements this time.
Tech1: Aye.
Tech2: Aye. (they play with panels, noise stops)
Commander: (turns to Janet and Marines) Any idea what that was about?
Perez: Corporal Stein. He got transferred to Earth custody because of life-threatening injuries.
Commander: How the hell did you get that?
Styles: Stein was unconscious but he had a Marine tattoo. So we knew he was a jarhead before he woke up.
Perez: And Vertag understood that it made him family. That in waking up in Marine hospital, he was waking up in his family.
Commander: So you know it was really Vertag, and he's not being forced or anything?
Janet: Or anyone that bugged the Exchange.
Perez: (shakes her head) No. No, that felt like Vertag. Just enough information to trust we'd figure it out.
Styles: Agreed.
Janet: So, what do we do?
Perez: He didn't wait for any sort of reply us. I don't know for sure that this was actually a message for us.
Janet: He did tell us that Jamie's alive. And that the signal's real.
Perez: But he didn't tell us what to do when we see it.
Commander: But if it's not for us, then who?
Styles: Maybe he's signaling someone else? Someone he can't contact directly?
Janet: Has anyone heard from Lessala recently? (short shakes of everyone's heads) Maybe he's telling her it's time to get ready to go? (Fade as everyone shrugs)
(Fade in on an establishing shot of SID Headquarters, the building Jamie was held in)
(Cut to an interior room with banks of TV monitors. One shows the face of a cop speaking into the camera. A hand at a control panel pushes a blinking button. Zoom in on the Cop's TV and we start to hear sound)
(Gunshots are fired in the background. Sirens Doppler past the window. The cop is seated in a police station, gun drawn)
Cop: Central! Central! There's been an unauthorized radio transmission from Timber City! Forces are in pursuit! (sirens and gunshots fade in the background)
Voice: Can you identify the speaker or the message?
Cop: The speaker was an Earthling! She was in the possession of someone matching the description of Former Agent Vertag!
Voice: Very well, we'll send backup immediately.
(The shadowy hand pushes the blinking button once more. It and the Cop's TV go out. The hand travels to a huge row of switches. There is a big switch on the top that is labeled: FORWARD TO ALL UNITS. Under that, the switches are all labeled with city names, in rows of 1^st Nation, 2^nd Nation, 3^rd Nation. The hand drifts past all those to a set of switches on the side. Instead of permanent placards, there are strips of tape with handwritten labels. They are giant names, one of which is Dordell. The finger flips that switch. A light above it starts to blink.)
(The camera drops down towards the floor where we see a dead body dressed as an SID security officer. It pulls back a bit to show the shadowy figure was Millious. She finishes adjusting the timer on a large bomb and sets it on the console. Then she steps over the body and walks out.)(Zoom in to the timer of the clock. Fade out as it ticks steadily)
(Fade in to Dordell's office. A light on his desk starts to blink. Dender jumps up to turn on the TV. A tape of the Cop reporting the radio station hijacking appears. All agents jump to their feet. Dordell turns to a giant map on the wall)
Fivviest: All agents to Timber City, Chief?
Dordell: Hang on. (puts a finger on the map. Looks around.) Wasn't there something about a secret installation in Timber City? Yeslley, where was that advisory about Earthling targets?
Yeslley: (opens desk, finds a clipboard. Flips through some pages) There's a research facility over the Dark Skyline from Timber.
Schikkabom: What do they research?
Yeslley: Doesn't say.
Piikscasell: Oh! That's the atom bomb site!
Dordell: Fivviest, call them and tell them to go on high alert.
Yeslley: What? Why?
Fivviest: On it! (picks up phone. Yeslley shows him the clipboard and he dials)
Dordell: It's the only thing close to Timber that'll be a distraction from Vertag's pursuit. He's going to do something there. Then the Earthlings can land and get Smith out.
Piikscasell: So...do we go help protect the facility?
Dordell: (still staring at the map) No. No, they're going to be as armored up as possible. What we want....(hand stops on a dirt road running through the mountains) Here. It's as high in the mountains as he can get in a hurry. That'll make the shuttle landing as remote as possible. Piikscasell! Kindska! Get the cars ready Schikkabom! (close up on Dordell's wicked smile) Get the trap. (fade out as his eyes gleam in anticipation)
(Fade in, Excelsior Control. Commander is standing by a navigational map of 1^st Nation around the meadow where Deckett is creating the signal. Adams and Perez stand beside her.)
Commander: It'll take us about forty five minutes to get down from orbit to the signal.
Adams: We calculated a half an hour.
Commander: That would be for the shuttle. The Admiral nixed the shuttle mission.
Perez: So...we're using assault craft?
Commander: Yeah.
Adams: So there's no chance we're evacuating the giants.
Perez: Unless we shrink them.
Commander: The Admiral has also ordered that no shrinking potions be taken aboard the craft during the rescue.
Adams: Orders from above or is he being a total-
Perez: Euphemism!
Adams: -all on his own?
Commander: I'm sure I don't know, Colonel.
Adams: Great.
Perez: What if they have the potions?
Commander: Then it'll be up to the AC's Pilot. If he fears for the safety of his craft in waiting for the potion to take effect, he can evacuate without them.
Adams: That's pretty...
Perez: Ugly.
Commander: No comment.
Perez: Is there anything we can do to shave time off the descent?
Commander: Only by starting earlier. (her hand drifts over the map in the direction away from the marked sensor grid.) There's a canyon here. We could hide two or three AC there until the signal goes off.
Adams: Four. We'll need four. For enough Marines to cover their evacuation.
Perez: Just in case.
Commander: There's no way of telling how long it'll take.
Adams: Okay. Three AC. I take half the battalion down there now. If we're still there in three days, the other half takes their place.
Perez: With the officers staying on station?
Adams: Of course.
Commander: They'd have to be volunteers.
Adams: The battalion has already volunteered.
Perez: They have. You should see his in-box. It looks like there's a rumor of buried treasure and everyone wants a chance to shovel in sand.
Commander: (smiles) Then I guess I need to go talk to the Admiral.
Adams: We need to go talk to the Admiral. (turns to Perez) Major? Get started with the packing.
Perez: Yes, sir! Permission to shout Ye-ha, sir?
Adams: Wait until this is approved. But you do have permission to get Crane fitted for combat armor.
Perez: Yes, SIR!
(Perez marches off. Commander and Adams step through passageways in a different direction.)
Adams: You know, Commander, the AC crews will need to be volunteers, too.
Commander: Yes, Colonel. (lowers her voice) I was going to volunteer to fly yours, if that's okay. (Fade out centered on Adams' big shiny smile).
(Fade in on a dirt road in the forest. It's nearly sundown. Vertag stretches some wires across a bridge over a ravine. He unwinds the leads until he gets to a standard dynamite plunger. Jamie watches from the pocket of his coat, hung on a tree)
Jamie: Thank God you're back. I think an owl's watching me.
Vertag: Then maybe you should be inside the pocket. (He concentrates on wiring the plunger)
Jamie: It's stuffy.
Vertag: Ever take apart an owl pellet, see what the thing's been eating?
Jamie: (shudders) Eugh. Meanie!
Vertag: Come on, you know I'm right.
Jamie: I guess. So, is there anyone after us?
Vertag: I doubt it. Local law enforcement is big on sirens, not stealth.
Jamie: But you're still going to blow the bridge.
Vertag: Yep.
Jamie: If I ask why, am I going to regret it?
Vertag: If you don't get into the pocket, you'll regret it.
Jamie: Okay, okay! (she ducks out of sight. Vertag zips the pocket shut, rolls up the coat with her pocket on the inside and folds his body over it to protect her. Then he pushes the plunger)
(Cut to the meadow. Deckett hears the explosion in the distance. Turns to his tent and finds a control device. He points it at the field and pushes some buttons)
(Cut to the Control Room.)
Tech1: Explosion!
Commander: Where?
Tech2: Four miles, um, giant miles down the road from the meadow.
Tech1: Looks like Vertag blew a bridge.
Commander: So they're cut off from pursuit?
Tech1: Only the road from town. The road from the mystery facility is still operational.
Commander: Still, it looks like something's happening. Tell the AC to get airborne, but not to leave the canyon until we see the signal)
(Cut to a different spot on the dirt road. Vertag pushes another plunger. The bases of two trees blow up and tip over, blocking the road. Two more trees burst into flame.)
(Cut to the meadow, close up on the grass. Stalks wither and brown as from great heat. The dirt revealed starts to glow a bright red. Lines of red appear, growing quickly brighter)
(Cut to the Control Room)
Commander: That's a go!
(Cut to the road. Vertag runs up to a prepared sniper position, takes the jacket off and folds it carefully behind some sandbags. Muffled complaints sound from the coat. He apologizes and turns it right side up, then lifts a sniper rifle and watches the space lit by the burning trees)
(Cut to the meadow. Deckett looks happily at the growing outline of the Marine emblem Then a low buzz grows into the hum of the Assault Craft. Two start to orbit the meadow, one hovers at the edge just a few (giant) yards from Deckett.)
Deckett: (staring at the AC with a stricken look on his face) Oh, NO! What... What are you doing HERE!?
(Cut to the dark road through the forest. Two vans drive up. Dordell is passenger in the front one, Yeslley driving. Schikkabom visible in the row of seats behind Dordell. Both vans slow to a stop as they see the burning trees)
Dordell: Looks like a trap.
Yeslley: So we go around?
Schikkabom: There is no way around.
Dordell: There's a game trail about a mile back. (turns to the back) Schikkabom, get in the other van. Go back, find the game trail, get up to the meadow.
Schikkabom: What about you, chief?
Dordell:   Yeslley and I will keep his attention here. Knowing Vertag, he's got a sniper rifle and is waiting for someone to step into the light.
Yeslley: And we're going to do that? We're going to cooperate with the traitorous bastard?
Dordell:   We'll talk. He'll want to talk. Go. (Schikkabom leaves. Headlights sweep by as the van turns around and departs)
Dordell:   G'head. Slowly. (Yeslley nods, swallows and drives forward.
(Cut to the meadow. One AC has landed, the ramp is open, Adams, Perez, Brown and Janet stand in the light of the interior.)
Deckett: What are you doing here?
Adams: You sent out the Marine Bat-signal! Where the hell should we be?
Deckett: Here, yeah, but Vertag said it would take you an hour to get here!
Adams: And?
Deckett: He's got unfinished business down the mountain.
Perez: We can send the AC down there to help him.
Commander: No, the sensor grid's active over our heads.
Adams: But we did bring a few toys. (turns to the Commander) We'll go with Plan C.
Commander: On it. (she turns to run inside)
Deckett: Are, uh, are you bringing the shuttle down?
Adams: Perez: No.
Janet: I know you! You're Gessy's friend! Decker?
Deckett: Deckett. How is she?
Janet: She misses you and she hates Vertag.
Deckett: Really? (kneels down) Vertag... he wouldn't make any promises, but he said if I helped you get your sister, you guys could...maybe take me back with you?
Adams: Um...
Perez: Are you specifically asking for asylum?
Deckett: I, uh... (Perez and Adams nod their heads, exaggerating to the point of pantomime) Yes?
Janet: Did Vertag bring any shrinking potion?
Deckett: Oh! (pats his pockets)
(The other AC land beside the first. Ramps drop and Hummers scream down them. Two pause at the foot of the first ramp. Perez and Adams run down, each getting in their own Hummer. Vehicles scream off down the mountain)
(Cut to a view of the burning trees from Vertag's position. A van is parked there, sideways to the barricade. People get out the far side and shuffle around the back to come into view. Dordell waves a white flag. Yeslley is behind a heavily, ridiculously bound and gagged Lessala)
Dordell: Vertag! We need to talk! You know what we want! I'm willing to trade your secretary for what you stole from Headquarters!
(A rifle fires, one of the tires in the van goes flat)
Dordell: I'll take that as a no! How about if I throw in a full pardon?
(Another shot, another tire burst)
Dordell: Okay, okay. I suppose you have an alternative?
(Gunshots and two windows burst)
Dordell: (mutters) Guy with a one-track mind. (louder) How about I do some shooting? Huh? I bet I can shoot her toes off. (unlimbers a pistol, steps close to Lessala)
(Lessala fights but Yeslley has a tight grip on her. Holsters his gun to keep her firmly between him and Vertag)
Dordell: In fact, I might even (lifts the pistol and shoots Yeslley in the head. He falls, taking Lessala down with him)
(Cut to the shooting position. Vertag puts the jacket on, opens the pocket, slings his rifle over his shoulder and starts jogging down the road towards the van)
Jamie (voice): What hell just happened?
(Cut to the other side of the barricade. Dordell unlocks Lessala's chains, helps her stand. He hands her the pistol he shot Yeslley with)
Dordell: Here. This is Yeslley's backup. You got out of the restraints and picked his pocket and shot him.
Lessala: (Takes the gun in a daze) Okay....
Dordell: Then you fought me off. Not to death, but it'll have to look convincing so don't hold-
Lessala: (Jumps up and snaps a kick at Dordell's head. His skull hits the back windshield hard enough to shatter the glass. She lands, recovers and, as he slithers down the side to the ground says) Okay.
Vertag: (slipping between the downed trees) Don't kill him.
Lessala: I'm thinking it over. (she turns to hug him. He raises one arm to keep her from crushing Jamie. They embrace.)
Lessala: Oh, I missed you!
Vertag: Missed you, too.
Lessala: Did you know Dordell was going to do that?
Vertag: Not specifically, but that was the general plan. Come on! (turns to run back up the road. Lessala checks the magazine of her new pistol and jogs after him)
Jamie: Are you going to leave him like that?
Vertag: If we made him comfortable, the Directorate would find the conditions suspicious. And shoot him.
Lessala: (catching up) Who's that?
Vertag: Janet's sister. Sister Jamie, this is Lessala, a friend of Janet's.
Jamie: Hi!
Vertag: And Lessala, this is Janet's twin sister, Jamie.
Lessala: Hello! Wow. You do look like Janet. (lifts head to face Vertag) Should I be jealous?
Vertag: No, you're a much better shot.
Lessala: Okay, then.
(Cut to the game trail. Agents Dender and Piikscasell jog along it.)
Dender: Did you hear gunshots?
Piikscasell: Maybe.
Dender: We should go see! It's over there!
Piikscasell: We're supposed to get to the meadow. Then block Vertag.
Dender: What if Dordell failed?
Piikscasell: More important, what if Dordell succeeds, but found out you took an action based on the idea he would fail?
Dender: Oh. Right. (They jog on)
(Cut to the mountain road. A Hummer idles at a bend in the road. Perez stands up in the cupola with night-goggles.)
(Cut to her POV. Two spots of heat jog towards her position, Vertag and Lessala. Three heat sources crouch in the road, readying weapons to attack the joggers.)
Perez (voice): Three against two. I almost don't want to interfere. They won't like us butting in.
Brown (voice): If Janet's sister wasn't involved, I'd agree.
Perez (voice): Ah. Well, you may be right. Okay. Light 'em up.
(Bright spotlights appear from half a dozen positions, blinding the giants and making them clearly visible)
(Cut to the road, Lessala and Vertag turn and run into the woods)
(Cut to the three giant agents. They cover their eyes and try to shoot out the lights. Drivers of the Hummers start to move around though the lights stay on them)
Perez: (Amplified voice) Lower your weapons and you will not-
Kindska: We don't take orders from (aims at a light. Rockets rise from six more Hummers that weren't spotlighting, two per giant. Their bodies slump to the ground. The lights go out)
Vertag: (voice in the dark) How many were there?
(Perez picks up a microphone. Her amplified voice replies)
Perez: Three.
(Vertag and Lessala step carefully onto the road)
Lessala: Then there are still two out there somewhere.
(Cut to the edge of the meadow. Dender and Piikscasell kneel behind a bush next to the clearing, watching Hummers scurry around)
Piikscasell: (whisper) How you wanna do this?
Dender: (whisper) Wait until Vertag shows up and shoot him, or wait until Dordell shows up and see what he wants)
Piikscasell: (whisper) Okay
(cut to the road. Perez' Hummer's headlights come on. The giants walk up to where it's parked. Other Hummers surround the two protectively. Giants kneel)
Perez: Hey, giant!
Vertag: Hey, Major. Good to see you. (opens pocket)
Jamie: (Popping into view) Major Perez? I've heard a lot of good things about you!
Perez: From him?!
(Vertag reaches into pocket to lift Jamie down to the ground)
Perez: Um...maybe you should keep her a bit...
Vertag: So no one takes off without me?
Perez: Um... I, uh, was thinking of how happy Janet will be to see all three of you. Together. That's all.
Vertag: Yeah. Well, you better take her. Either she gets off planet or all of this was for nothing. (lowers Jamie to the ground. A door in the back of the Hummer opens, she climbs in)
Jamie (voice): Oh GOD!
Vertag: What?
Lessala: What's wrong?
Jamie (voice): Human sized seating! Oh! OOOOH!
Vertag: Funny.
Lessala: She is Janet's sister.
Perez: Speaking of whom...
(Giants stand. Hummers drive up the road. When they're clear, Vertag and Lessala move to the woods)
(Cut to the meadow. Dender lifts his chin and grunts. Piikscassell turns to see a group of Hummers drive up. They break formation and start driving up, backing up, turning cookies, honking horns)
Piikscasell: (whisper) What are they doing?
(Cut to inside a Hummer. A Marine drives while Styles is in the passenger seat)
Styles: (into radio) What are they doing?
Adams: (voice) They're fascinated.
(Cut to the woods. Lessala and Vertag sneak up on Dender and Pikscasell. They stand a bit apart, raise their weapons, nod to each other)
Vertag: Hey!
(SID giants spin, weapons pointing towards the voice. Then both of them burst into blue flames and drop. The flames die out instantly and leave smoking ash)
(Lessala and Vertag stare for a moment, then take a step back)
Lessala: What kind of ammo are you USING?
Vertag: Wasn’t me.
(Cut to the edge of the meadow. The Hummers head for the AC except for one. It pulls up near the dead giants and Styles pops out of the top with a microphone, her amplified voice shouts to the giants)
Styles: Colonel Adams sends his respects and asks if you two slackers wanna get on the damned stick?
Lessala: Yes, ma'am.
Vertag: Coming.
(Giants jog behind Styles' Hummer. At the back of the middle AC there is a pile of clothing and a rather stunned looking Deckett wearing human coveralls. Roth is giving him a brief examination)
Lessala: Is there...any more of that?
Vertag: There had better be.
Deckett: Oh! My pocket! My shirt pocket!
Adams: (from the AC ramp) Board EVERYONE! (Hummers scatter. Vertag searches and finds two hypodermics. Gives one to Lessala)
(Cut to the ramp. Assorted Marines stare up into the air, then their eyes track down as the giants shrink. Peterson steps down the ramp with two sets of coveralls)
(Cut to a short distance from the ramp. A Hummer skids to a stop, Adams stepping out even before the full stop. There's a strange ray-gun looking thing in the cupola, smoking slightly.)
Adams: How much time do we have?
(Cut to Lessala zipping up her coverall. Vertag stands behind her just finishing dressing)
Lessala: We've accounted for all that came with me.
Vertag: Frankly, I'm surprised there's not more of a response yet.
(Cut to the control room Mallious left a bomb in. The bomb went off. Smoking ruined equipment sparks and crackles as the firemen remove the last hose. SID agents are everywhere in the wreckage. Tolag stands in the doorway.)
Tolag: Vertag. I don't know how, but somehow, Vertag!

(Cut to the AC. People scurry up the ramp. Janet runs out of the interior to hug Vertag. Almost a full tackle)
Janet: Oh, thank you, thank you! I take back everything I ever said about you in anger!
Lessala: No, you don't.
Vertag: Hssssp!
(Janet lets him go to squeeze Lessala. Vertag gasps once he can breathe again. Roth steadies him.)
Janet: Thank you! Thank you!
Lessala: Hey, I'm just following him. Is your sister okay?
Roth: I sent her to sickbay, just as a precaution. (ramp starts to roll up) So, how long does this shrinking potion last? (Fade out as the ramp seals and engines start to whine)
(Fade in on the Excelsior, in a passageway outside of the AC docking (Signs on the bulkhead: Assault Craft #8 Docking Station) Admiral waits with Captain and a few other officers)
(The hatch opens and Marines, (tiny) Giants and Fleet step out. Commander stops when she sees the Admiral. Behind her Adams and Perez stop. Behind them, Vertag and Lessala are arm-in-arm, Janet and Jamie hold hands, Deckett a little lost-looking, Brown, Styles, Peterson, Roth follow)
Admiral: Commander.
Commander: Admiral.
Admiral: Commander, I see you saw fit to bring three members of a foreign power aboard.
Commander: They did seek asylum, sir. And there was no threat.
Admiral: I take no pleasure in this, but the fact is, our nation considers all members of the giant nations to be threats. Except when vetted by Fleet Security.
Janet: (steps forwards) Sir, I can vouch-
(Perez and Adams gently grab her arms, one each, and shush her. Lessala and Vertag nod Deckett forward. He steps up, looking confused. Vertag and Lessala offer their hands wrists crossed.)
Vertag: It's a formality, Deckett.
Lessala: Don't worry. Just steps to go through.
Deckett: Oh... Okay. (crosses his wrists and offers his hands.)
Admiral: (looks at the three giants. Shakes his head) For the safety of the ship, I need to confine you to cargo bay six alpha. In case your...potion wears off. But I won't require any restraints. Just a guard.
Janet: There's no need for-
Perez, Adams, Lessala, Vertag: Shut up, Janet.
Vertag: We would like to fully and eagerly comply with anything that will help you feel safe from the threat we may offer, sir.
Lessala: We're good at cooperating.
(All the Marines snort. The Commander smiles at their snorting. The Admiral looks stony at the levity.)
Deckett: I don't even mind prison, if Gessy can visit.
Admiral: (softens slightly) I'm sure it won't come to that. I have to obey orders. But people outside my chain of command may call some influential people on your behalf. (everyone turns to Janet)
Janet: Oh! Yeah. I can call, um. Um.
Brown: Sandy O'Neill.
Peterson: Valerie Scott.
Roth: Gessy.
Deckett: Gessy's influential?
Roth: She will be, once the press interviews her about you.
Admiral: IF you're through?
Vertag: I am. (overacts a yawn) It's been a very stressful day. I could lay down.
Lessala: Oooh. Yeah.
Admiral: Styles?
Styles: Yes, Dad? I mean, sir?
(Everyone looks at Styles, then at the Admiral. He rolls his eyes)
Admiral: Lieutenant Styles, please escort our guests to the designated hold and see to their detainment.
Styles: Yes, sir! (she steps towards the giants. First, the Admiral steps to them, hand out. He shakes their hands.)
Admiral: All official policy aside, I am very glad to make your acquaintance. Pet's told me a lot about you.
Vertag: Pet?
Styles: Oh, God. (she leads the giants out of the entryway)
(Fade out as people keep offering suggestions for Janet to call: Andy. Andy's parents. Charity. Senator Foster. The President's granddaughters...)
(Fade in to a Congressional hearing. People with hand cameras line the gallery. Senators face a table with Vertag and a few people in suits. Behind him sit Janet, Jamie, Drury, Sandy O'Neill, Andy and Andy's family. Lessala sits next to Andy.)
Vertag: ...and they had no intention of honoring that commitment.
Senator1: I see. And you know this from...?
Vertag: I maintained informal communications with several people at Headquarters.
Senator2: And why would they share information with you?
Vertag: (small laugh) Senator, if I had eight contacts, I could probably identify sixteen motives without working up a sweat.
Senator3: Mister Vertag, this is very interesting, but I have to notice that you are known, that it has been established, as a historical fact, that you are a liar. You have lied to the liaison, to the garrison, to your bosses, to your subordinates. How do we know you're not lying to us now?
Vertag: Oh, I probably am. I've never lied pathologically, though. If I hide the truth or misrepresent it or tell out and out lies, it's been to help reach a goal.
Senator3: And can we know what your goals are?
Vertag: Sure. (he stands and turns) I lied to you guys for Andy's sake. (Andy waves to the panel). I lied to everyone for O'Neill's sake. (Sandy nods happily) (turns back to the panel) I lied to everyone but the scholars when we went to rescue Doctor Hasan. I lied to my bosses in order to rescue Foster.
(Cut to one end of the panel of Senators. Foster sits there as one of the Senators)
Foster: And everyone on that flight appreciates your efforts. And miss Lessala's. Ladies and gentlemen, I have never fully trusted Vertag, or any giant, but I will admit, his actions speak louder than words. The man has achieved results. Results we can live with.
Senator3: But in the future-
Foster: You have to know that these giants will be under close scrutiny for the rest of their lives.
Vertag: Just like home.
Senator2: We are nothing like-
Vertag: I was not criticizing, ma'am. You guys will do what you have to do to survive. As we all have. But I've burned my bridges. I'm here to stay, on your sufferance. I hope you guys give Deckett a little more trust. He's really lousy at politics.
Foster: We'll take that under advisement. (looks at his watch) Um...how much longer do you have on your size schedule?
Vertag: We're good for another hour.
Foster: Well, I'd like to suggest that we retire and consider the testimony in private?
(Cut to the Mall. A huge tent has been erected on the grass next to the Washington Monument. Marines man a perimeter fence around the tent. Vertag and Lessala stand before the tent, talking to Janet and Jamie)
Janet: I hear they found Deckett a job as a forest ranger. They can't wait to see him fight forest fires.
Lessala: Cool. Is Gessy happy to see him?
Jamie: Gessy hasn't left Deckett's shoulder for three days. She's terrified they'll take him away from her.
Janet: Not a problem. As Vertag pointed out, he's so apolitical even Congress is taking pity on him.
Jamie: Really? (Janet nods)
Vertag: Someone has some intel sources of her own. (Janet smiles)
Lessala: I'm not sure I want to fight forest fires.
Janet: Oh, Lessala. I don't think that's going to be a problem.
Lessala: What?
Vertag: What have you heard?
Janet: Well, you've seen the map of your home planet? There are three nations your government doesn't know even exist.
Lessala: And.....?
Janet: Well, I hear that General Perez wants some giant support when she goes exploring those giant nations.
Jamie: Oooh! You guys are getting the band back together!
Vertag: Cool. A job we're actually qualified for.
Lessala: Aw! I wanted to explore Earth!
Janet: There's time before you can go. And you get leave.
Vertag: Leave?
Janet: Leave. Liberty. Vacation. Trips home.
Jamie: (wraps Vertag in a hug) Visits. Holidays.
Vertag: Um...(uncomfortable in the hug)
Lessala: We can visit YOU!
Janet: (hugs Lessala) Any time you want.
-------
Roll Credits
- 19
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.Escape from Land of the Giants Season 3