.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. |
(On Vertag's parents' snapper ranch. Vertag and his parents sit at the kitchen table. There are three small empty plates, one before each giant. Each sips from coffee.)
Vertag: So, once the human Fleet verified that they'd recovered four hundred twenty three humans from the Metropolitan Sea Side area-
Janet (voice, slightly muffled): Four hundred twenty four counting Little Miss Veronica.
Vertag: Oh, yes. And they paid even more technology to apologize for destroying my car. Well, Dordell says the Directorate was so happy they gave me a week off, without any travel restrictions.
Dad: And since already near an hour away…
Vertag: Figured I'd come visit.
Mom: Well, glad have ya, son. Nice to see you again, Miss Major Perez.
(cut to the other end of the table. A fourth small plate is set with a slice of pie with a bluish-orange filling. Janet and Perez sit on either side of the plate. They have field mess kits but the gooey pie still manages to stain their hands and faces.
Perez: (slightly muffled) You too, ma'am. (she swallows) No one believed me about your cooking.
Janet: I did!
Dad: Then it pleasure meet you, Miss Liaison Crane.
Janet: I've wanted to see the place ever since I heard about it.
Mom: Oh. Were lost in pipes when he came last.
Janet: Sort of. So I want to see the pens. And maybe, Vertag was talking about going out to the Wild Place?
Mom: Oh, so dangerous!
Vertag: Won't go past the tower, Mom. Just see the land, maybe see a snapper in the wild.
Dad: Be fine.
Mom: (slowly) If say so.
Dad: Say so.
Vertag: Then maybe take 'em to a few spots around the Island.
Perez: Places he used to get into trouble?
Mom: Don't possible have that kind time. (all but Vertag laugh.)
Dad: So. Guys found the Order of the Lock, yet? (Stunned looks around the table)
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Roll Titles
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(Kitchen table, late at night. One light over the table, the rest of the kitchen in gloom. Dad and Vertag on opposite sides of the table, humans between them. Dad flips through a deck of cards, place some face-up. They look like Tarot cards. Janet and Perez walk among the cards, examining the figures)
Dad: Know much of terrat deck?
Vertag: Fortune teller's method of oracle. Show up TV shows, always when someone turns the Death card.
Janet: You, too? Back home, it's either Death orThe Devil.
Dad: Devil? Don't have that. Know story 'hind the symbols?
Vertag: Story?
Perez: The tradition is that Tarot cards are a method of instruction for initiates. Each of the Major Arcana stands for something. They move through from Fool, or someone starting their spiritual path to enlightenment, through domination of the masculine and feminine, control and chaos, until they become masters of all. (she looks up. The other three stare at her with unblinking eyes.) What? My, uh, sister's into this stuff. In a big way. She read my fortune twice a day until I joined up.
Dad: Um… Yeah.
Vertag: What does this have to do with the Order?
Dad: (taps the cards) The terrat was meant for initiates. Learn symbolling. See connection. Pattern. Start to think in likewise way.
Vertag: And then the book? Follow up and find the Order?
Dad: Was plan. Lost the key to all long time ago.
Vertag: And no one can read the clues any more.
Janet: We can!
Dad: (surprised) Can?
Vertag: They have experts, all kinda stuff. Translated most of book.
Perez: But there are still holes in some of the text. And we can't figure out how certain clues go together. So we have seventy or eighty 'solutions' to the book.
Vertag: But if the terrat deck is the first level of instruction…?
Janet: And it's different from our traditional Tarot deck….
Dad: Take deck. Give to analyzers. Find the Order.
Janet: Thank you, sir.
Perez: But why?
Dad: Family used to be Guards for Order. Think they can help get through coming changes.
Vertag: That's my hope. Smartest guys on both planets working in the light, not in the shadows. (he scoops up the spread cards)
Janet: Well. We'll let you know how it turns out.
Perez: Yes, sir.
Vertag: Of course.
Dad: Appreciate that.
Perez: Hey! Wait! (gestures at Vertag. He puts the deck down. She picks a spot halfway down the deck. Kneels and pushes to cut the deck.) Show me that card!
Janet: Death or Devil?
Perez: I guarantee it. (Vertag takes the top half, turns it over. The facing card is The Lovers) Eep!
Janet: Oh, yeah. That's the other one that turns up all the time.
Dad: That card mean but one thing.
Vertag: I know, Dad. I know. (Smiles at Perez, looks her up and down.
Perez: Oh, no. Don't look at me!
Vertag: Sorry, Damerae, it's fate. We're powerless against it. Come here, gimmee a kiss.
Perez: NO!
Janet: You'd rather the Death card?
Perez: Right now? Yes.
Dad: Killed three giants, afraid to kiss one?
Perez: No, I'm afraid to make Lessala jealous by kissing her boyfriend.
Janet: Good point.
Vertag: Yeah. Better leave it as unrequited fate.
Perez: Damn skippy.
Dad: Lessala?
Vertag: Oh. Yeah. Um. Dating my secretary.
(Vertag's brother Jegretz appears out of the gloom)
Jegretz: Never mentioned dating. So. Sleeping with?
Vertag: JEGRETZ!
Perez: Yes, they are.
Janet: And they make a lovely couple.
Jegretz: Really! (to humans) Tell all. (Vertag's eyes roll as the scene fades)
(Fade in on the Tank Room. It's daylight, some of the minions are installing a second Tank in the corner. The pile of crushed cages has been removed, one minion is sweeping up the last little bit of debris. The Tank is identical to the one already in place except for any sort of contact line. They position it very carefully against marks on the floor. An individual in a lab coat watches all this and checks a set of plans. To the side, Aksarra and Lessala watch from beside the other Tank.)
Aksarra: So something on this planet makes Earthling's healthy?
Lessala: Yeah. Something. They're going to be sending their unhealthy people here and hoping they get well. It worked once, anyway.
Aksarra: Does anyone know what it is?
Lessala: No. The Directorate's setting up some experimental courses. Stuff that Andy ate, stuff he might have been exposed to-
Aksarra: Andy?
Lessala: This adorable human kid. He visited because they granted his wish.
Aksarra: He wanted to get healthy here?
Lessala: He wanted to kiss me before he died.
Aksarra: That's… What?
Lessala: He saw me on one of their TV shows, fell madly in love, talked his way across the interplanetary gulf, and managed to seduce me.
Aksarra: Seduce…?
Lessala: Well, only as far as a kiss.
Aksarra: Ah. What did Vertag say about all this?
Lessala: We broke up.
Aksarra: Oh, I'm so sorry!
Lessala: No, no! We made up again. He just didn't want to get jealous of my little boyfriend. Afraid he'd get his ass kicked.
Aksarra: Of course he was. So. Are you part of this?
Lessala: Part of what?
Aksarra: The tests? For exposure? (Lessala looks back, clueless) You kissed him? He got well? Are you going to kiss every sick Earthling that they bring in?
Lessala: Oh, I hadn't thought of that. Hey, Doctor!
Labcoat: (not looking up from his clipboard) No, don't be silly. Kisses don't cure skirries.
Aksarra: Skirries? Earthlings have skirries?
Lessala: Not for long, we hope.
Aksarra: So, what can I do?
Lessala: Well, the incredibly humorless people from the Directorate (rolls her eyes towards Labcoat) are going to supervise the first run of patients, but then they're going to want someone local to take care of the day to day operations.
Aksarra: And…they want me?
Lessala: You're experienced with humans. You've got a security clearance for the site. You're medically trained. I suggested you and they grumbled and frowned and finally approved.
Aksarra: What do I do?
Lessala: They'll supply special meals and contact kits for each patient. You just make sure they're delivered on time and to the right people.
Aksarra: I…alright, I think I can do that.
Lessala: Great!
(fade out)
(Fade in. Vertag's family home, Vertag's old bedroom. A bed is crowded against one wall by a wardrobe, a desk, and stacks and stacks of boxes. Clearly, his room has become a storeroom since he left. He's asleep when the alarm goes off. He rises and looks around)
(He pulls out a drawer on the desk.)
Vertag: Guys?
(Cut to a view inside the drawer. Two pads have sleeping bags. Janet is in one, the other is empty. Janet sits up and stretches)
Janet: Good morning.
Vertag: Hey. Where's Perez?
Janet: I don't know. She wasn't in here when I turned in.
Vertag: I thought Jegretz was going to bring her back here. Well, let's get going. (Fade out as Janet reaches for her pants)
(Fade in to the family kitchen. Vertag enters, rough clothes, holds Janet in his hand. Mom is cooking something on the stove. As soon as he enters, she gestures for quiet)
Mom: Hush. They're in a bad way.
Vertag: Who? (She points. Over on the table, Jegretz sits with head down on folded arms, moaning. Vertag steps over) How late did you and Perez stay up? And how much did you drink?
Janet: And where is Perez?
Jegretz: Go away and let us die.
Janet: Us?
(His sleeve rustles and Perez rises out of his elbow, flopping across his forearm. She moans)
Vertag: Major? Did you try to drink a giant under the table? (sits across from his brother.)
Perez: I was matching him glass for glass until… The, um…
Jegretz: Thing.
Perez: Yeah. The thing.
Jegretz: Then she taught me to… What was that? Boog?
Janet: Boogie?
Jegretz: Boogie down. To tzelca music.
Vertag: Wonderful.
(Mom puts plates down in front of the giants. Perez and Jegretz flinch at the clink. Perez looks at the food on the plate, gets a sick expression and ducks down out of sight.)
(Vertag nods thanks to Mom, puts Janet down next to his plate. She unfolds her mess kit and scoops up a plateful)
Janet: I guess they're not coming out on the boat today?
Vertag: I guess. (they start to eat. Jegretz stands, revealing a miserable major sprawled on the table)
Vertag: (softly) Jegretz? Don't leave her on the table. Put her back in the drawer so the cat doesn't get her. (he nods and picks her up gently, shuffles out)
Vertag: What is boogie?
Janet: Something I never would have thought Damerae would do in public. What is tzelca?
Vertag: The shame of First Nation. Anti-authority, anti-security, anti-decency, anti-anything-you-have.
Janet: Sounds decadent.
Vertag: Oh, it is.
Mom: Well, they were playing your old tapes until the wee small hours.
Janet: (raises eyebrow at Vertag) Your?
Vertag: Shut up and eat your potatoes.
(Fade out with a closeup of Janet's smile)
(Fade in on the stone tower and pier from the snapper hunt. Vertag drives the boat near, throws a rope over a bollard and ties up. He cautiously climbs out and taps around for a while. Then he opens the tower and looks inside. He comes back out to grab Janet off the dashboard and a picnic basket from the deck. Fade out as he walks to the tower)
(Fade in inside a half-empty warehouse. Someone stands on a platform of pallets and addresses a large group of hard looking men.)
Speaker: Okay, we underestimated them at BombALot. They had good intel and committed more personnel than we expected. But that just means we'll be more prepared at the next site.
(he turns to point to a map of Coastal City and six flags on it)
Speaker: We've put some humans in six companies in the city (his voice fades as the camera turns away and goes to the far wall.) and we're starting to release rumors that they're in use there. A chemical plant, an (It climbs the wall to a high window.) air conditioner factory, and four companies that are building computers using Earthling technology. (the POV goes through the window and up to the sky. A dot appears, growing quickly into an unmanned surveillance plane turning circles in the sky. A camera in the belly points back at the window.)
(Cut to the security tent. Brown and Adams watch the screen as Speaker describes how they'll be ready when SID takes the bait)
Adams: Nice of them to do our detective work for us.
Brown: Yes, sir. We should be able to locate all six businesses rather quickly.
Adams: What I'd like to know, though… Where'd they get humans to use them as bait?
Brown: Maybe Tettskin can be persuaded to take someone alive so we can find out?
Adams: Stranger things have happened, I suppose. (fade out)
(Fade in on top of the tower. Vertag cleans up the remains of a picnic lunch while she scans the landscape below the tower with binoculars)
(Cut to the landscape. Sabre-toothed armadillos mosey across the clearing, a family of T-Rex wander past without interest. Butterflies the size of a human jet plane flutter overhead.)
Janet: And what's that? (points)
Vertag: That's a tree.
Janet: ON the tree? The vine thing.
Vertag: Fakesnake. It's a tree parasite that also eats the birds that land on it.
Janet: (looking back and forth) I don't see any birds.
Vertag: Not any more.
Janet: Oh! (lowering binoculars) Wow, Vertag, this is fantastic. I saw the films from capturing the T-Rex young, but that was all blood and thud and 'get him offa me!' and 'arrgh' and 'eek!' and -
Vertag: I know. I was there.
Janet: This is…special. (smiles up at him) Thanks for bringing me out here.
Vertag: My pleasure. Um, Janet?
Janet: What?
Vertag: This is about as alone as we can get on this planet.
Janet: Oh?
Vertag: No one to listen, no place for a spy to hide, no way to monitor.
Janet: Okay. What do you want?
Vertag: I want to tell you. About the ski- The cancer cure. Don't mess with it.
Janet: You told us. Your Director told us.
Vertag: I know. But I have to drive it in. I've…heard things. From friends at headquarters.
Janet: What are they saying?
Vertag: There are people who would like to teach your people a lesson.
Janet: For threatening you with nuclear weapons.
Vertag: Yes. And the arrogance. Pets shouldn't demand things.
Janet: We're not pets!
Vertag: (holds hands up in surrender) Not me saying this. Okay?
Janet: (grudgingly) Okay.
Vertag: THEY say that the cancer cures? Should be staggered. One in fifty or one in seventy should be… Well, lethal.
Janet: That's….monstrous!
Vertag: Here we call that 'leadership potential.'
Janet: How can they do that to people?
Vertag: You're not people to them. Luckily, they're not in power at the moment.
Janet: And those that are?
Vertag: The word I have is that Tolag is adamant. As long as you guys are seen to observe the rules of the treaties, he wants to play by the same rules. Show that you can trust us. At least, as long as you behave.
Janet: Behave.
Vertag: Right. So you need to stress to your people. No chemical tests, no smuggling, no spying, no analysis. You bring patients in, get cured, take them out and say please and thank you.
Janet: Or they'll poison us like vermin.
Vertag: (sour) Yeah.
Janet: Okay. And you're telling me this here, so no one will know you're the leak. (nods) Got it. Vertag?
Vertag: What?
Janet: WHY are you telling me this?
Vertag: To keep the Exchange going. You know that. Avoid miscommunication, avoid retribution and accusations and counteraccusations and the whole political mess. Just want to keep things smooth.
Janet: (looks at him critically) Okay, that's the story I'll tell my command. But why? I mean honestly, why?
Vertag: (stares at her, looks across the landscape) I, uh. I like Andy.
Janet: I do, too.
Vertag: The thought that he, or someone like him, would be killed, just to prove a point. That's, uh….
Janet: Evil.
Vertag: (waves away her comment) My bosses are capable of doing anything to stay in power. We've always known and accepted that.
Janet: Maybe you shouldn't.
Vertag: I didn't bring you out here to talk sedition.
Janet: Why the hell not!? You said it, no one can hear you being all traitorous or anything. Can you at least acknowledge that you work for evil men, in an evil system? And that makes you evil, at least when you're on the clock?
Vertag: No. (picks her up and holds her before his face) Because then I'd have to choose to either support an evil system, or leave it. And I wouldn't be in a position to warn people about possible toxic medicine.
Janet: (glares for a second, then laughs) Oh, Vertag.
Vertag: What?
Janet: You called me 'people.'
Vertag: What? That's nothing new. You've always been 'people' to me.
Janet: No. You've dealt with us as little versions of real people. But I always thought you were making yourself act that way to get our cooperation. (she strokes his hand under her) Now, I think you're finally starting to think of us as real people.
Vertag: Okay, time to go home. You're getting irrational.
Janet: Come on! What pushed you over the edge? Was it seeing Sandy again? Or was it little Baby Veronica being named after you that did it?
Vertag: (grabbing basket) Veronica isn't named after me. Is she?
Janet: Well, there's no human version of Vertag. (he starts down the steps) And no girl's name starts with Vert-. So they were left with Vera, Verity or Veronica.
Vertag: Verity sounds close. (he puts the basket down to shut and bar the tower door, then moves to the boat) What's wrong with Verity?
Janet: It means 'truth.' Not something that comes to mind for a government agent on this planet.
Vertag: Well, what does Veronica mean? (casts off the lines and jumps aboard. Places basket on deck and Janet by the steering wheel)
Janet: It means…(She pauses. With his finger over the engine starter, he pauses to listen) …one who sees the basic humanity that ties us all together. (she tries but cannot keep a straight face. He snorts and starts the engine. She gives a 'whoop' of surprise as the boat shoots forward and she loses her footing)
(Fade out on the wake of the departing vessel)
(Fade in at the family kitchen. Mom is carefully shaving tiny scraps of cheese off a block. She lays them atop thumb-sized portions of food on tiny plates and serves them to Janet and Perez. They dig in enthusiastically. Vertag walks in to find Mom and Jegretz watching the girls eat)
Vertag: You're feeding them AGAIN!
Mom: They still skin and bone.
Vertag: Mom, it's a tiny plane! There's a weight limit! They're going to weigh as much as a sandwich when you're done.
Janet: You're just jealous.
Perez: Because we ate your pie.
Vertag: What? (glares at Mom) You gave them MY pie?
Mom: Still packed one for flight.
Janet: She did. It smells heavenly.
Jegretz: Heavenly? Is that a good thing?
Perez: You smelled the pie, what do you think?
Vertag: Okay, okay, let's go while you still fit in my pocket. (reaches for humans who speed up their eating)
Janet: We should send a battalion of cooks here, Vertag! Mom could teach them to cook like this, it'd be worth the trip!
Vertag: Yeah, yeah. You guys know you're filling your stomachs before a boat ride across the strait?
Janet: Oh.
Perez: Not to worry. There's no way I'll get sick enough to disrespect this food that way.
(Fade out on Mom's happy smile)
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Roll Credits
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