After several minutes of walking Dawn reached what she considered to be the safe place. Tucker had expected to see some sort of hi-tech building that would shield them from unwanted attention. Instead they were at a large cave with an entrance that came up to Dawn’s chest. It was a very large cave but she still needed to bend down considerably just to be able to fit, thankfully for her there the ceiling was very flat and she didn’t have to worry about any jagged pieces of rock dangling from the ceiling.
Throughout the walk into the cave Dawn kept a hold of Tucker and Lucky and after a minute or two they would have been in complete darkness but the device on her left forearm lit the way for them. The tunnel was much longer than Tucker had expected and it went deep into the mountains, he wasn’t surprised that Dawn would think that this was a safe place. To be detected here a scanner would have to go through miles of solid rock just to be able to pick them out.
As they went deeper into the tunnel the ceiling began to rise higher and higher and eventually Dawn was able to stand up straight without fear of her head hitting the ceiling. It took another few moments before they got to what seemed to be the end of the tunnel and Dawn carefully placed her two passengers on the ground. Lucky seemed to be happy on the ground as he once again began to run around and jump every now and again. But he did not wonder too far away from her, although his large eyes allowed him to see in the dark he always wanted to be with her. Lucky had known Dawn ever since he was a chick and he saw her more as a mother than a friend, she had raised him ever since he hatched out of his egg and she was the first thing he ever lay eyes upon. Whenever they were separated Lucky would be like a lost sheep and Dawn would always feel that there was something missing. When they reunited Lucky would not be able to contain his excitement and on a few rare occasions he would wet himself but Dawn would never be angry at him for it. She would always just clean it up and give him hug and a kiss. Sometimes she couldn’t imagine her life without her little lizard and to Lucky, Dawn was his entire world.
After the walk Dawn took another sit down so that she could rest. The walk had once again taken some of her energy but she was not as tired as she was before. She thought that here she would be able to have some alone time with Tucker without fear of being discovered by the military. If she had stayed out in the open like she had been a couple of minutes ago it wouldn’t take the military long to track her location. In here she thought that they would be shielded from any scan.
“Ok we should be safe in here,” said Dawn as she looked down at Tucker. She made sure that the light from the device on her forearm was sufficiently placed so that it could like the area. It was more powerful than any torch and it had enough charge to last for several hours, perhaps even days. “In here I can help prepare you for the Tengi invasion without them finding us.”
“Sorry can we just slow down for one sec,” replied Tucker waving his arms indicating that he wanted to slow down. “Things have been happening too fast, one minute I’m eating a picnic with a giant woman, then she disappears into thin air and another giant woman shows up. I get told something that completely fucks my mind so you can forgive me for being a little confused with everything that’s happening. I’ve seen things that I know are scientifically impossible and now I’m in some cave with a girl who who’s taller than Big fucking Ben.” He looked over to Lucky who was still jumping up and down for Dawn’s amusement. “And I have a stupid dinosaur who doesn’t know how to stay still!”
Dawn sat there for a moment and looked at Tucker. He was expecting her to be somewhat annoyed by his sudden outburst but she seemed to just sit there and take it in. She had more than enough strength to put him in his place but she chose not to do it. The last thing she wanted in the world was to harm Tucker. She had accidents in the past with her size but he was the last person she ever wanted to harm. She just looked down at him and she gave him the moment to calm himself down.
“His name is Lucky,” said Dawn not taking her eyes off Tucker. “And he can stay still and he’s not stupid.” She looked at Lucky was still jumping up and down. “Lucky stay still.” The little lizard heard her command and quickly stopped jumping and stood on the spot. He chirped a few times in compliance and she gently stroked his head with her index finger. “Good boy Lucky, now show Tucker how smart you are.” She lowered both of her hands directly in front of Lucky, Tucker watched wondering what was about to happen. “Ok Lucky which is Mommy’s left hand?” After hearing the question the little lizard walked towards Dawn’s left hand and rubbed himself on it indicating his choice. This convinced Tucker that Lucky did have some intelligence but he thought that a dog would have been able to do that with enough training.
As soon as Dawn was finished with her little game she went into another one of her pouches and took out a small device. Instantly she increased its size until it was up to her own proportions. There was a limit to just how large she could make an item but for now it would do. She held it over Tucker and he was engulfed by a bright purple light that last for a few moments before subsiding. He had not expected that and he thought that she might have done something to him that he wouldn’t have liked.
“What the hell was that?” he asked. He was beginning to feel a little scared in her presence and he couldn’t stop thinking about Jessica. More than anything right now he wanted her protection but even if she were here he thought that she wouldn’t stand a chance against this giantess. Dawn was much larger than Jessica and if the two ever fought he couldn’t see Jessica emerging triumphant.
“Don’t worry little man,” replied Dawn with a smile. “I’m not re-writing your DNA or anything like that. It’s just a basic scan just to see if your body is ready for what lies ahead.” A small hologram projected from the device and it showed Tucker as he was right now. There was no additional information from the hologram and he thought that it wouldn’t be much help. Dawn however looked at the hologram and she seemed to be happy with herself. “From what I can see you’re perfectly healthy and ready for the Tengi.”
“Wait I thought you said I still needed some preparation.” He was becoming more confused with every passing moment. “Don’t you have some kind of weapon with you that I can use or something like that?”
“Sorry I think I left those with my other belt.” She tried an apologetic smile, she could have not thought about brining any weapons and she hoped that he wouldn’t mind all that much. “And you do need some preparation; I just wanted to make sure that your body could take it before we started. The last thing I want is you to collapse from exhaustion or have a heart attack on me. As soon as the time is right we will both confront the Tengi and defeat them before they can properly get a foothold on Home. We will save trillions of lives, not just on Home but on all the other planets that the Tengi have conquered over the millennia. Everyone will know Tucker Martel as the hero you truly deserve to be.”
This little statement had made Tucker feel more at ease. He still liked the idea of being a hero on Home. It would make him feel like Flash Gordon which he used to watch with his grandfather many years ago. He wondered if he did become a hero if he would also get his own theme song like in the Flash Gordon film but he thought that it would be silly. He just hoped that he would be able to help Dawn with defeating the Tengi and to help save Jessica. When he was told that she was killed in Dawn’s future the thought of her dying greatly saddened him. She was by far one of the nicest people that he had ever met in his life and just thinking about her dying had deeply saddened him. To most people he would have been just a burden on them after everything that had happened but Jessica had never let him feel like that. He was definitely the happiest he had been for some years when he was with her. With everything that had happened in the last week or so he felt like he was in an episode of Doctor Who with the space travelling and now a time traveller.
What Tucker didn’t realise that what Dawn had used to scan him was not a scanner to check his health. The scanner had not picked up any vital information for that, instead it had purely scanned his image and uploaded it onto the device. The device itself was more like a hi-tech communicator rather than a scanner. It wasn’t just used to communicate with others; it had many other uses that were very similar to a phone from Earth. The scan had basically taken a three dimensional photograph of Tucker and it had uploaded itself to the device. Dawn couldn’t be happier with gaining this hologram, she looked at it for a few more moments and it almost seemed like a tear was rolling down her cheek but Tucker could not see this due to the low light.
For the next hour Dawn began to run things through with Tucker that she thought would be vital for the incoming invasion. Tucker had been more reassured after being told just how heroic he was going to be. He even asked her more about her own time and she told him that the cities were in ruins and that people struggled to survive. Only one percent of the population was still alive and that would be soon extinguished if they failed here today. He tried to ask too much about his own future, he was cautious that way and he didn’t want to spoil the surprise. Dawn also seemed to be enjoying every second that she was with Tucker; she was finding it difficult to contain herself in his presence. She wanted nothing more than to just pick him up, hug him and kiss him repeatedly but she didn’t want to ruin the moment they were having. She was so infatuated with Tucker that she failed to notice that Lucky had wondered off.
Lucky had decided to go exploring in the cave since he saw that he was not getting any attention from Dawn. He wanted to find something that would impress her and make her see that he was all that she needed. Thanks to his large eyes he was able to see in the pitch blackness of the cave, he also made sure that he didn’t wonder all that far from Dawn. He didn’t want to get lost and he thought that she would not go looking for him now that she had Tucker all to herself.
After some minutes of searching Lucky couldn’t find anything that he thought Dawn would like. All he found were rock, rocks and even more rocks but he would not end his search. He kept going in hopes of finding anything of interest but he began to hear something in the cave and it was not Dawn’s voice. As he continued to hear the noise he looked around to see if he could see anything in the immediate area. With his enhanced sight he could see as if it were the middle of the day. Much to his horror he could see what seemed to be a small group of soldiers all dressed in black from head to toe approaching him. Each were wearing special goggles that allowed them to see in the dark and they carried a hi-tech rifle amongst other gadgets. They also seemed to be wearing backpacks although they were not that simple. There were only about half a dozen soldiers but there were heavy vehicles on their way. These men seemed to be a scouting party and they had not anticipated finding Lucky wondering around in the tunnels. If anything they didn’t even know that Dawn had him with her, they had been concentrating on finding Tucker since they thought that he was being held hostage by the giantess.
As soon as Lucky saw the soldiers he turned around and began to run towards Dawn. He was screaming all the way down but unfortunately for him he had wondered a little too far away from her and it would be some minutes before he would actually reach her. His escape had not exactly been subtle either and with their goggles the soldiers could see him running away and one of the soldiers calmly fired a single shot at the small lizard. The soldier’s accuracy was pinpoint as the shot struck Lucky and he fell to the ground with but a mummer. Thankfully for him the weapon had only been set to stun so Lucky was not dead but merely sleeping but there was more bad news to come for the soldiers.
Lucky’s attempted escape had been heard by Dawn and she also heard his whimper when he was struck by the bullet and she quickly turned around towards the entrance of the cave. From where she could see she couldn’t see any of the soldiers. Her worry for Lucky grew quickly as she stood up to her full height. The ceiling of this cavern was still high enough for her to stand up straight but before she moved anywhere she turned towards Tucker and told him to stay where he was. She also placed another small device by him that also acted like a light so that he would not be left in darkness. After Tucker gave her a nod of acknowledgement she walked forward hoping to find her friend.
“Lucky!” shouted Dawn so loud that her voice echoed throughout the entire cave. She whistled several times since he would always respond to her whistles. As the seconds went by with no response she was beginning to panic. She knew that Lucky was a very curious lizard but she knew that he would always respond to her. She was also looking down towards the ground so that she didn’t accidentally step on him. Unlike Jessica, Dawn’s breasts were much smaller so she didn’t have the same blind spot that Jessica had. “Lucky if you think this is a joke Mommy’s not laughing.” Lucky would always pull a trick on her every now and again but never on anything like this. This was a further sign of just how intelligent he was.
Dawn was waving her arm slowly so that the light could cover more of the cave. Unlike Lucky she didn’t have his night vision so she relied on the light to see where she was going. The cave itself was relatively wide but as she wondered closer and closer to the entrance the ceiling was beginning to get lower and lower and eventually she had to bend down and walk just so she didn’t hit her head on the ceiling. She hated being reminded that she was so much taller than everyone else and she was getting taller all the time.
After a few minutes Dawn was close to where Lucky had fallen and the soldiers could see her coming. Instead of taking her on openly the small group split up so that it would be harder for them to be detected. Half of them actually began to move towards her but this was not so that they could attack her, they wanted to get around her so that they could get down to Tucker. Their goggles also gave them a zoom in option and they had seen that Tucker was not on Dawn’s person. The goggles also had X-Ray vision so they could clearly see that Dawn did not have Tucker with her. They could only think that she had left him at the bottom of the cave. If they could get around her and retrieve him their mission would be a success and they wouldn’t have to engage with the powerful giantess.
As the small group approached Dawn they saw her coming but for now she had not seen them. They could feel the tremors in the ground with every step she took. They stayed close to the cave wall as she approached them. So far they had not been engulfed with her searchlight so she had not seen them. They worked in silence and they only communicated with themselves through sign commands. Their black uniforms allowed them some camouflage in the dark but if they were spotted they didn’t know how Dawn would react. They didn’t know if she was a gentle giantess like Jessica or one who wouldn’t hesitate in killing them, especially after what they had done to her beloved little lizard Lucky.
As Dawn’s light crept closer to the group each man kept themselves flat along the wall and almost instantly they uniforms changed so that they were the same colour as the wall itself, by the time the light shone on them they were completely camouflaged but if they moved it would be every likely that Dawn would see them. As the men remained still Dawn’s enormous foot landed no less than a couple of metres away from one of the soldiers. If he had picked a closer spot most likely he would have been crushed by the unsuspecting giantess and there would probably be nothing left to bury. He made sure that he was absolutely still and quiet as Dawn’s foot rose up into the air and came down again nearly a hundred feet away from him. He gave out a sigh of relief when she had walked straight past them and they continued their trek towards Tucker. All the way during their trek they could hear Dawn calling out for Lucky and for now at least they were still hidden from her.
After another minute Dawn came across the unconscious body of Lucky. No sooner had she seen him she dropped down to her knees and quickly picked him up and rested him in the palm of her hand. He wasn’t moving but she could see that he was breathing and she became very worried about his health. She tried to rub him to try and wake him up but Lucky was unresponsive. Tears were beginning to stream down as she feared the worse for him, he was her dearest friend and the thought of losing him was almost too much to bear. It would look funny from some people’s point of view that a big girl like that cared so much about a creature that was so small compared to her that she could crush it in the palm of her hand with ease.
“Lucky, Lucky speak to me!” said Dawn as she tried to awaken her little lizard but her efforts seemed to be in vein. No matter how hard she tried she couldn’t awaken him and she didn’t want to do anything that could cause him an injury. She had always been told that she was incredibly strong and that she could hurt a lot of people if she was not careful. She had lived with her size for her entire life so she had learned just how much strength was needed for a task. “Mommy’s here Lucky, please say something to me.” But there was still no response from the little lizard. She could still feel him breathing so she knew that he was still alive but she was almost overwhelmed by grief and guilt. She was the one who had brought him here, if she had only checked her pouches before she left she would have known that he was there. If she had known that he was in her pouch she would never have allowed him to come with her. Once again it looked like someone she cared about had gotten themselves injured because of her and she knew that it would most likely not be the last. It was only then did she realise that Tucker was still at the back of the cave. She had thought that he would be safe there but after what had happened with Lucky she knew that something was very wrong here. She gently placed Lucky in one of her empty pouches on her belt and she quickly began to move back to where she had left Tucker. Everything she had planned for was beginning to crumble around her.
By the time Dawn had realised that something was wrong the small group of soldiers had reached Tucker’s position. He had a small light with him that kept the darkness at bay and he didn’t realise that the soldiers were even approaching him before it was too late. One came up from behind him and placed his hand over his mouth so that he couldn’t make a sound. Tucker thought that these soldiers were the invading Tengi and he wanted to shout so that he could alert Dawn. Unfortunately for him his shouts were being muffled by the soldier’s hand and he could not shout loud enough for Dawn to hear him.
“Don’t make a sound,” whispered the soldier so quietly that he had to put his mouth right next to Tucker’s ear so that he could be heard. “We’re here to rescue you Mr. Martel, do exactly what we say and we’ll be able to get out of here before alerting the giant girl. There is a transport waiting outside to take you to safety along with a little surprise for our little friend.”
Before they started to move another soldier turned off the light that Dawn had given Tucker so that they were once again in darkness. Tucker could not see a thing but the soldiers still had their goggles so they could see clearly in the dark. No sooner was everything around them dark the soldiers began to move Tucker towards the cave entrance and to safety. His heart rate was increased as he thought that he was being kidnapped by the Tengi and a few times he tried to resist and scream for Dawn. The soldiers had kept him well restrained and his shouts were still being muffled so that she couldn’t hear him. They were not harming him but instead preventing him from signalling Dawn. They couldn’t think of why he would actually resist their rescue, although they didn’t really have a term for it on Home, on Earth they would have said that he was suffering from Stockholm syndrome. They could not allow him to make any kind of signal to Dawn, the last thing they wanted was to be found and possibly killed by a giantess.
All the way towards the exit the soldiers could feel Dawn walk closer and closer towards them. With each step that was taken the tremors were getting more and more violent but they were still not powerful enough to cause any real damage to the cave. If there was a cave in no would survive, even Dawn might not survive being crushed by millions if not billions of tons of rock. It would be like the entire mountain coming down on top of them. The soldiers could also see Dawn’s search light but this time her search was more in haste and they thought that they could take advantage of her panic. They could use it to slip by her again and make their way to the exit without being seen. Although the weaponry they possessed was very hi-tech they lacked the firepower to take down someone of Dawn’s size. If it had been Jessica they would have had a better chance but with Dawn it was almost completely different. She was getting close to being double Jessica’s height and it was only natural to think that Dawn was also stronger. In reality the truth couldn’t be more different, due to her body growing so fast and general life style Dawn was not as strong as she should be. If there was a test of strength Jessica would be able to win quite easily, for Dawn it was much a strain for her just lifting something that was nowhere near being her own body weight. If she was normal height she would be considered to be very weak.
Within a couple of minutes both Dawn and the soldiers were once again very close to each other. The soldiers quickly hid again much like they had done a couple of minutes ago but this time they were sure to keep Tucker hidden as well. They surrounded him by one of the walls and their uniforms changed colour to match the wall itself. Once again it seemed that it had worked since they saw Dawn walk past them going deeper into the cave. Almost instantly when she was close enough to the end of the cave she saw that Tucker’s light was off, she could see it from where she was standing even though she was still several hundred feet away from the end of the cave. There was more than enough battery left in the light to last for several days, it was the first time that she truly knew that they hadn’t been alone in the cave.
As the soldiers continued to move towards the exit they were still in complete silence. Almost any sound would alert Dawn to their presence and that could disastrous for everyone involved. Although she was weaker than she should have been she still had more than enough power to kill a man. Unfortunately things were about to turn nasty for the soldiers, one of them had not been looking where he was going and tripped over a small rock sending him down to the ground. The fall accidentally activated his backpack that turned out to be a jetpack. He rocketed forward towards the exit and the sound was easily loud enough for the young giantess to hear it. Instantly she turned around and shone her light directly down at the soldiers and she could that they had Tucker in their possession. She also figured that they were the ones responsible for harming Lucky and she was doing everything she could to bottle her rage.
“You’re not taking him away from me,” said Dawn in an almost calm voice that masked the rage she was feeling inside. Although the soldiers were a relatively long distance away from her with her long legs she could make up that distance in seconds. For the soldiers themselves it was time for plan B.
Now that they didn’t have to worry about being stealthy the other soldiers activated their own jetpacks and they lifted into the air. As soon as they were at a safe altitude they began to fly towards the exit at extreme speeds. Tucker was being held onto by one of the soldiers and he began to shout in panic. If he was dropped from this height he didn’t think that he would survive, he held onto the soldier’s arms for dear life as they darted forward towards the exit. No sooner had she seen them Dawn had begun to chase the soldiers but for once her size wasn’t entirely helping her. As she got closer to the exit the ceiling was getting lower so she was having to bend down more and more and it slowed her down. Even though she couldn’t run at her full speed she was still more than fast enough to keep up with the soldiers. Every few seconds she would try to grab a hold of one of the soldiers but they were always just beyond her reach, which was almost unheard of for her.
It only took less than a minute for both the soldiers and Dawn to reach the exit and almost instantly Dawn was blinded by the sunlight. She had to stop her chase as her eyes had to adjust to the light, she had also fully exited from the cave so she was able to stand up to her full height but when she regained her vision she was horrified with what she could see.
In front of her Dawn could see several squadrons of hi-tech fighters, tanks, infantry and other armoured vehicles, they all had their weapons targeted directly at her. She knew that they could easily kill her where she stood before she had any chance of escaping. She could see that the soldiers had taken Tucker behind all the vehicles and he was being attended to by other personnel. She began to weigh her options and it was a choice of either surrendering or facing certain death. It did not take a genius to see which was the right course of action as she raised her hands into the air above her head. Even on Home it was the indication that she was willingly surrendering herself.