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.Escape from Land of the Giants Season 1	By : keithcompany Category: G through L > Land of the Giants Views: 2011 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Land of The Giants, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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(Late at night, Janet’s giant bedroom is dark. The camera pans from the closed door across to the dollhouse, circles around to the back, where her more appropriately scaled bedroom is exposed. Her sleeping bag is on a hammock stretched between the walls, Janet inside it. The camera travels to the next room on the second floor to show that Sonya is asleep on a folded up handkerchief. After watching her sleep a little less deeply than Janet (twitching now and then) it travels back to Janet.)
(Lights from human-sized flashlights start to wave around the doll room. One crosses her face, then focuses on it. She blinks, covers her eyes, then realizes where she’s at and that there is an intruder.)
Janet: (sitting upright) Who’s there? (a hand snakes under her pillow and stops there)
Tom: Don’t worry! We’re humans! (turns his flashlight up to illuminate his face) We’re here to rescue you! (pans back to show four other men, dressed in black, with flashlights. Two hold guns, two hold matchstick axes.)
Janet: I don’t want to be rescued!
Tom: Ma’am, you can’t stay here! You can’t trust the giants!
Janet: I don’t exactly trust the giants, but this is our best hope for getting everyone back to Earth.
Tom: Ma’am, you may think that, but they will never, ever actually let anyone go. You’re just rounding people up, doing their work for them.
Janet: Look, uh…
Tom: Tom Anderson, ma’am.
Janet: First off, Tom, stop calling me ‘ma’am.’ The name is Janet or Miss Crane.
Tom: Yes, ma’am. (one of the other men elbows him) I mean, um, Miss Janet.
Intruder2: Idiot.
Tom: (to intruder2) Am not! And… spread out! (The men step to the windows and the edge of the floor and look around)
Janet: And second, Tom, the Directorate has already turned over two hundred people in their custody.
Tom: It’s a trap! (Janet just looks at him for a second, then shakes her head and gets out of the bag. He explains as she throws fatigue top and bottom on) They want you to think they’re trustworthy. So they give you a bunch of humans that they’ve wrung all the information out of. Now you’re collecting all new ones for them.
Intruder3: Brainwashed?
Tom: Yeah! They can do that. They’ve probably slipped more than a few people among the refugees that are working for the giants! You can’t trust them.
(Vertag knocks at Janet’s door. The sound clearly terrifies the intruders. They freeze, then cast about wildly for someplace to hide. Janet points at the little bathroom (which has a chemical toilet sitting on top of the solid plastic one that came with the toy) They file in and she closes the door. By the time she’s done this, Vertag has entered the room, turned on the light and crouched down by the front of the house. He’s wearing pants and a t-shirt, no shoes)
Vertag: Janet?
Janet: (leaning out the front window) Hey! What’s up?
Vertag: I was just thinking. You know, the hardest part of collection has got to be getting the humans to trust us ‘giants.’
Janet: Probably some truth there.
Vertag: Well, what if we skip that step? Have the humans trust humans.
Janet: What do you mean?
Vertag: (Holds hand out under the window, she glances towards her bathroom and climbs out to sit in his palm.) Well, your Fleet will be sending down a shuttle to pick up the first load of the Exchange, maybe we could invite people?
Janet: I don’t know…
Vertag: No, we put the word out for my people, so they can see us cooperating with Earthlings. The Earthlings hear about it, they make their way close, they see the shuttle, at least until it lands behind the compound walls. Maybe they have radios and make contact with the shuttle directly. What do you think?
Janet: Um. I think of the security problems. You don’t announce your schedule to hostiles. If anyone was thinking that the shuttle was a lot of Earth technology in one spot, then they might try to grab for it.
Vertag: Ah. Yes, I should have thought of that. So we shouldn’t tell anyone who doesn’t need to know that THIS 8-Day, there will be a shuttle landing in the compound some time after sunset, probably around, what would the local time be, in Earthling?
Janet: Nine o’clock or so.
Vertag: (nods) Right. Nine. So. Sorry to wake you, then.
Janet: Oh, no, I don’t mind.
Vertag: (He stands up while still holding her) Is there…anything else?
Janet: No, I can’t think of anything.
Vertag: Okay. Do your friends need me to leave the light on?
Janet: (wide smile) No. No, they have flashlights.
Vertag: Alright. Then I’ll leave you to it. (lowers her to the window, she climbs in) Good night.
Janet: Good night! (he turns off the room light and closes the door behind him) NEXT!
(The bathroom door opens. Tom and his crew shuffle slowly into the bedroom)

Janet: Well? Did we miss anything? (Tom shakes his head) Then you’ll be here on 8-day? Verify for yourself? (Tom nods) Then I assume you can find your own way back out. (They all nod, shuffle out to the steps, mumbling apologies)
(Janet watches them go, shaking her head with a smile. As she starts to undress, she freezes, her head whipping around to the giant door. Her expression grows angry)
-----
Roll titles
-----Vertag’s car is parked at the edge of a grassy field. He’s a few steps into the field, kneeling down. We zoom in to see him lower Sonya and Janet to the ground.)
Sonya: Thanks. I, uh. I don’t know what to say.
Vertag: Say you’ll be back, with your friends, by the time the shuttle lands?
Janet: Don’t listen to him. Take your time.
Sonya: Thank you. (turns up to the giant) And thank you. For the rescue.
Vertag: (sketches a mock-salute) It’s my job, miss.
Sonya: But how did you know that we needed rescue? I don’t understand.
Vertag: Some time after she stopped transmitting, two dogs started to fight over the dead crab. Since no one shot the dogs, or called for me to drive them away, I began to suspect you weren’t there. After that, it was pretty straightforward.
Sonya: Ah. Okay then. Goodbye. I’m sure I’ll see you soon. (She turns and slips into the grass, disappearing. After a moment, Vertag picks Janet back up and stands. He returns to his car, places her on the seat beside him, starts the car and puts it in gear)
Vertag: Well, I hope she convinces the others to trust us.
Janet: Yes, that would be nice. Because we’re all trustworthy, aren’t we?
Vertag: (Puts the car in park, turns to face her as much as possible) And that means…?
Janet: How did you know there were humans in my room last night? There weren’t any barking dogs.
Vertag: Oh, that. Standard SID practice these days. All the ventilation shafts are wired for sound.
Janet: So you’re spying on me?
Vertag: No. I don’t get voice.
Janet: Then how…?
Vertag: I get little lights that show when there’s noise. Just enough to follow their progress.
Janet: When were you going to tell me?
Vertag: Hey, until the panel lit up, I’d forgotten about it completely. (she glares) Hey, it’s the truth.
Janet: So, you saw them coming and let them get to me?
Vertag: I didn’t know if they were coming to hurt you or to make some sort of deal with you. So after they had time to state their purpose, I came in to see if you needed any help.
Janet: You put me at risk?
Vertag: A little, I guess. But if they were friendly, and I’d caught them before they contacted you, they’d never trust you again. I thought it was worth the risk.
Janet: I’d rather have been involved in that decision.
Vertag: (puts car back in gear, starts driving) Well, there wasn’t time for a dress rehearsal.
Janet: Fine.
Vertag: Besides, I’m not sure you’re any more trustworthy.
Janet: (Starts climbing up the back of the seat) What? What have I ever done to you?
Vertag: I think I see someone. I’m going to try to talk to them. If you don’t hear from me for a while, don’t worry.
Janet: (reaches the top, sits on the top of the car seat) Oh. Look, Vertag…
Vertag: Don’t worry about it.
Janet: Uh…
Vertag: You were working at government orders. And our governments aren’t exactly allies.
Janet: True, but you and I should…
Vertag: Janet, your chain of command probably considers me an enemy, right? (She opens her mouth, but doesn’t say anything) Well, we do what we have to, what we can get away with, and what seems right at the time.
Janet: Um, okay.
Vertag: You just can’t bitch if you ever catch me in a lie. (flashes her a quick smile, she hesitates then smiles back)

Janet: Deal.
(Back in Vertag’s office. Janet sits on the handle of his telephone, feet playing in the dial holes)Vertag: You want to what?
Janet: My command wants me to do the interview.
Vertag: Whose interview?
Janet: Some reporter called, Lessala took the message.
Vertag: She did, did she? I wonder what her angle is?
Janet: She said I’d look ‘adorable’ in the paper.
Vertag: Oh, yeah, that’s true. I just wonder if it was Lessala or her boss’ idea.
Janet: You’re her boss.
Vertag: No, I’m only one of her employers. She’s a 2nd Nation spy. Most likely Defense Force, maybe Police Investigations.
Janet: What? A spy?
Vertag: Yes.
Janet: How do you know?
Vertag: She was the third best qualified applicant.
Janet: Huh?
Vertag: (Holds up a finger to indicate waiting. He opens a drawer and takes out a deck of cards. Shuffles, fans them, then sticks one card way out of the deck.) Pick a card, any card.
Janet: (smiles, tries to reach around the one sticking out to pick a different one. He keeps moving the deck to keep that one in front of her) Hey!
Vertag: Why aren’t you taking the card?
Janet: Because obviously, it’s the one you want me to take.
Vertag: Exactly. (puts the deck down) The best qualified applicant was a super-secretary. She could do everything. If there is a secretary magazine, she was the cover story and the centerfold portfolio.
Janet: Okay. Too good to be true. So you thought she was a spy?
Vertag: Maybe. She was more of a test. I’d have to be completely incompetent as a security officer to hire her.
Janet: So why didn’t you hire the second best?
Vertag: She was the spy that they wanted a part-way competent security officer to hire.
Janet: After getting around the card that was sticking out.
Vertag: Yes. So I went down the ladder one more level.
Janet: And got Lessala.
Vertag: Yes.
Janet: And you think she’s a spy.
Vertag: Oh, I know she’s a spy. She’s the choice offered for security officers that outsmart themselves getting past the first two.
Janet: Ah. And by knowing that, you can control the information she gets. Send misinformation.
Vertag: What?
Janet: Send lies to the opposition, because you know who would be reporting them.
Vertag: Gosh, no. If they found her collecting bad information, they’d take her away. I need her where she is.
Janet: Why?
Vertag: (stunned) What do you mean? She’s the only person, the only giant, in the city that I can trust.
Janet: Uh….
Vertag: Isn’t it obvious? None of our goals overlap. So I can trust her not to compromise my goals, same way I won’t compromise hers. If she was an SID plant, I could never be sure if she was loyal to the same factions as me.
Janet: You’re insane.
Vertag: Ask her. She’ll probably say the same thing about me.
Janet: Won’t she worry that I broke her cover?
Vertag: (Snorts) She’ll only worry if I’m the one that breaks her cover.
Janet: What?
Vertag: Well, then she’d have to report that I know she’s a spy, before I make my report. And I would have to report that I know to my bosses, in case they have a spy in her organization. And she’d be transferred. Nobody wants that.
Janet: (face in hands) Okay, let’s shut up about spies, okay? Can I do the interview?
Vertag: That’s up to you.
Janet: You’re not worried about the reporter’s agenda? Or Lessala’s?
Vertag: Curious. But not worried. She wouldn’t do anything to harm you. Not yet, anyway.
Janet: (mutters) Absolutely insane.
(fade)
(Fade into a TV studio. The set has two chairs. Vertag sits in one, an anchor-woman sits in the other. Between the two is a table with what looks like a human-scaled lifeguard tower on it. Janet sits on the top of the tower. Vertag is in his best suit, with tie; Janet is in a khaki uniform. A microphone is clipped to Vertag’s jacket; another sticks out on the arm of Janet’s chair like a large, ungainly kite.)
(A cameraman runs his unit up close to Janet. She recoils as it gets closer, closer, closer. Finally the unit stops. She relaxes. Then the lens starts to extend towards her.)

Vertag: That’s enough.
Sellets: Oh, they’re just getting some close-ups to use in the edit, afterwards. (she waves the cameraman off)
Janet: I thought this was an interview for the paper?
Sellets: Oh, when the publisher heard that you’d agreed, he upgraded the coverage. (she holds a stack of 3x5’s in her hands) Now, we’ll start off asking you about Earth.
Janet: No. My orders are clear. I do not talk about Earth.
Sellets: But our viewers really want-
Vertag: She said no. More importantly, her superiors said no, so there is no point to arguing with her.
Janet: What he said.
Sellets: (shakes her head, then sorts four or five cards out of the stack and drops them to the floor) Well, the Fleet is an interesting-
Janet: No.
Sellets: (drops seven more cards) The Exchange?
Janet: Yes, of course.
Sellets: Oh! Well, then. Exchange, and the rewards, and the Earthlings in government service-
Vertag: No.
Sellets: (Grimaces, five cards drop. She reads through the next section, doesn’t even bother to ask, drops seven cards.) No, no, no…
Janet: I think she’s catching on.
Vertag: Well, she is a professional.
Sellets: (Glares at the two of them) Alright, then. We’ll just try to make this work, without violating national security.
Vertag: International security.
Janet: Interstellar security.
Sellets: (Super sweet smile) You should take this act on the road.
Vertag: We-
(Lights in the room change, darken. A spotlight shines on the anchorwoman. She smiles at the camera)
Sellets: Hello, I’m Sellets, and welcome to this special edition of Coastal Matters. With me this afternoon are two visitors to our fair city. One is an SID agent,
Vertag: (waves to camera as a spotlight spears him) Hello.
Sellets: The other is extremely unique. An Earthling representative of the Fleet currently orbiting the planet over our defenseless heads (her smile never wavers), welcome Janetcrane from the United Nations.
Janet: (softer spotlight on her, she waves) Um, hi.
Sellets: So, Agent Vertag, any message for the folks at home? This show is picked up in 1st Nation.
Vertag: No.
Sellets: Um… Okay. Well, Janetcrane, I suppose the Fleet is picking up this broadcast-
Janet: I told you, we are not discussing the Fleet. At all.
Sellets: Oh, of course. Yes. Um. (glances at her cards) Well, dear, why don’t you tell us what you’re doing here?
Janet: Oh, gladly. Okay, for some time now, an unstable wormhole has been orbiting our planet and this one. Things have passed through the wormhole, including our people. We finally identified the cause and figured out where our missing people were going.
Sellets: Little people.
Janet: Yes. Earthlings, little people, humans. Anyway, the combined nations of Earth want their populace returned. The Earthlings want to go home, home wants them back. So, we are here to collect all the humans we can.
Sellets: For a price.
Janet: Yes, we’d prefer a cooperative effort. For every human being returned to Earth, we give the Directorate a certain amount of technological know-how.
Sellets: And how do you measure that technology?
Janet: Um, I’m not really part of that effort. I think they base it on applications? Like, if a certain bit of tech can be used in mining and medicine and security, that’s a certain number of points. I think.
Sellets: And Earthlings?
Janet: It’s a set rate of points. The first treaty was thinking that engineers would be worth more, babies less, and so on, but we kind of insisted that people are all the same to us.
Sellets: Noble, I’m sure.
Janet: Anyway, we want all humans. Those that the government has, and labs, and anyone held by a private citizen, and the ones living out in the wild.
Sellets: The ferals.
Janet: You…could call them that, I guess.
Sellets: We do. So, you’re taking all of them away to Earth?
Janet: Yes.
Sellets: And what do we get in return?
Janet: As I said, the technology…
Sellets: The Directorate will be handling that. What does the man in the street see?
Janet: Oh. SID is offering a reward for each human brought to our compound. It’s…(looks up at Vertag)
Vertag: One thousand credits.
Janet: Yes.
Sellets: One thousand credits. For each human being? That’s about the monthly salary of a middle-level medical professional, isn’t it?
Janet: I really wouldn’t know.
Vertag: About.
Sellets: So you’re going to hand over a fistful of credits for each creature.
Janet: I think we’re giving vouchers?
Vertag: Yes. No cash in the compound.
Sellets: So, a check on the government account.
Vertag: Yes.
Sellets: With the commensurate affect on the local tax base.
Vertag: Okay, we’re out of here.
Sellets: And where are these credits coming from? (she leans forward as Vertag holds a hand out to Janet. Janet gets tangled in the wire for the microphone) Our money is sucked out of the economy in 2nd Nation, so that 1st Nation can get fat on the tech from the Little Planet that Could!
Vertag: Come on.
Janet: I’m trying!
Sellets: (to the camera) You all know the score! We just cannot trust the Directorate to keep our needs in mind as they-
(Vertag reaches down and yanks the cord free. He plucks Janet up, microphone, cable and all. A floor technician steps forward. He may be after the equipment, but he’s just too close when the hostess goes bug nuts)
Sellets: (screeching) THIS IS WHAT COOPERATION LEADS TO! IT’S EXPLOITATION!! (Throws her stack of cards at Vertag. He spins to cover Janet, finds himself facing a tech that he didn’t know was there. Strikes out with a fist. As the tech goes down, Vertag stuffs Janet into his pocket. Sellets comes at him from behind, swinging a tripod. He reaches for the chair he was sitting in.)
(The scene changes to a drawing of an antenna being hit by lightning. “We’re experiencing technical difficulties” is the caption. The view draws back from the drawing to show that it’s on a television set. The set is on Lessala’s desk. She starts to bite her lip as elevator music starts to play. The front door opens and Vertag walks in. He is missing a sleeve, one cheek is bruised and he limps. Janet is sitting in his hand, also a bit knocked around. Vertag wordlessly places Janet on Lessala’s desk and walks into his office. The muzak stops and the sign goes away. In the empty studio, a stagehand steps into view. “Thank you for watching this final episode of…”)
Janet: (looks from the TV up to
Lessala’s face) Well, you were right. She didn’t just rubberstamp the party line.
Lessala: I am sooooooooo sorry, Janet!
Janet: No, it’s okay. (prods her skull gently) I wasn’t going to be using my brain this week.
Vertag: (coming back into reception) Lessala?
Lessala: (very quietly) Yes?
Vertag: The reward becomes effective tomorrow. Need you to be here early. May have to stay a little late. (looks at the wall clock) You can leave now, to make up for it. (she quickly grabs coat and purse, scampers. Pauses at door)
Lessala: If I’d had any idea that she was-
Vertag: It’s okay, Lessala. Not your fault. (he limps to the desk and sits down as Lessala leaves. Turns off the TV. Lowers his head to the desk.)
Janet: I’m really surprised they broadcast that.
Vertag: It’s because of you.
Janet: Me?
Vertag: The Fleet was watching. I’m sure the editor was terrified that if anything was edited out, they’d drop a missile down his bald little head.
Janet: Oh. (her phone rings. She answers. Vertag looks up.) This is Janet. No, sir, I’m alright. No, Agent Vertag kept me safe. (Vertag pulls out a handkerchief and offers her a corner. With his other hand he gestures towards a cheek. Janet wipes a streak of blood off on the cloth). Completely free from harm.
(roll credits)
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.Escape from Land of the Giants Season 1