Rico Dolliver sat at a table in a room on a top secret military base. A general was addressing him.

"We've spotted an unknown artificial satellite up in orbit, we need you to go up and retrieve it. No known government is responsible for deploying it."

"Why me, general?" Rico asked.

"Lieutenant Dolliver, you're the best pilot we have, and you've done dozens of test flights of our top secret space plane during simulations. We don't want the public to know our space plane is manned. We're going to be communicating on a scrambled frequency while you're up in orbit."

"When do I launch?" Rico asked.

"This hour," said the general. "You'll be flown to the launch site ASAP."

Less than an hour later, Rico Dolliver was strapped into the cockpit of the top secret space plane, ready for launch. After the countdown commenced, the rocket boosters fired and the space plane was lifted into orbit.

A voice came over the radio: "The satellite will be in view in less than ten minutes."

"Roger," Rico replied.

The space plane hurtled toward its target. Soon, the satellite was in view. Rico pushed the buttons that opened the bay doors of the space plane, and used a joystick to maneuver a robotic arm to grab the satellite. Just then, before the robotic arm could make contact, there was a flash of light, and a huge vortex opened up that sucked in the satellite and the space plane. Swirls of energy surrounded the space plane, and when the space craft emerged from the vortex, there was a planet below.

"Mission control!" Rico shouted into his headset, but there was no response. The space plane fell out of orbit on a steep trajectory that brought it into the upper atmosphere.

"I need to fly it manually!" Rico shouted, to himself. "I'm going to have to land somewhere!"

There was a large lake, and while flying over it, Rico ejected, and the space plane crashed into the water. The seat Rico was sitting in blew out of the cockpit, and a parachute deployed. He drifted to the ground, and as he slowly drifted down, he watched his space plane plummet into the large lake.

He landed on the shore of the lake, and unstrapped himself from the seat.

"Where the heck am I?" Rico asked.

Just then a small man approached him. He looked like a dwarf from Lord of the Rings; he was stout, muscular, and with a red beard. 

"Welcome to Throne Realm!" said the dwarf. "I'm KeeGor, I'm a dwarf lord. Can I interest you in some gold or silver from our mines?" KeeGor held out a towel with precious metals strewn on it.

"Where am I?" Rico asked.

"You're on the world of Throne Realm, not far from Jottenheim, the land of the giants."

"Giants?" Rico asked. "You mean, this isn't Earth?"

"I know of no Earth," said KeeGor. "If you are a stranger to this land, you should consult the Oracle. It is less than a day's journey from here."

Just then, off in the distance, there was movement. A figure was moving above the trees, coming off the mountains.

"It's a Viking giantess!" said the dwarf. "We must hide! She's looking for men to kidnap, her kind feast on us, get into hiding!"

While the dwarf ran for cover, Rico faced the approaching flaxen-haired giantess who stood over 400 feet tall. She was in her early 20’s, but towered over him like a goddess.

“Your pathetic weapons are useless against me!” said the giantess.

“Why do you prey upon men of my kind?” Rico asked.

“You were born for our bellies!” said the giantess. She reached down and grabbed Rico in her hand before he could react. The giantess carried him back to the land of the giants. It only took about twenty minutes for her to walk there, because of her immense stature and colossal stride.

Her home looked like a Danish dwelling, but on a colossal scale. She entered and set the man down on the floor of her home. There was a tankard of ale for the giantess to drink, so she took a huge swig and wiped her mouth.

“You’re going on a one way journey to my belly, tiny one!” said the giantess with glee. “Make it easier on yourself and just surrender to my hand!” 

Rico gave in and stepped onto her waiting palm. She stood upright and addressed him. “You’re nothing more than the food of the gods!”

She tossed him into her open maw, and closed her lips around him. Within seconds, he was sent plummeting down her esophagus to her ample belly. The giantess grabbed her tankard of ale and drank until the tankard was empty. She slammed it down on table and wiped her mouth.

She burped and vomited, then passed out on the floor of her home. Rico had only been within the depths of her belly for mere moments before being ejected when she vomited. 

He was able to escape from her home and return to the land of men, feeling fortunate to be alive. Rico walked through the forest of gigantic trees, until he returned to the area of the forest he had been when he first ejected from his space plane. 

The dwarf who had been hiding emerged from his hiding place.

“You survived?” KeeGor asked.

“She got drunk and passed out after she vomited me up.”

Just then, more stomps could be heard coming from the land of the giants. 

The dwarf ran until he was hidden in the dense forest. Rico, still unaware of his strange situation, stayed where he was. In a few moments, a young giantess came into view. She appeared to be about 11 years old, and was between 300 and 400 feet tall. She was wearing leather armor, and had a sword in a sheath attached to her belt. She spotted Rico and approached him. Soon, she was less than a few dozen yards away from him, towering over him.

"I've never met a human who was unafraid of our kind," said the young giantess. "I am Edith, my family are the last of our kind, as far as we know."

"I'm Rico Dolliver, a pilot for the United States military. I crash landed here, my space plane is under that lake somewhere."

Edith knelt down and set her hand down, palm side up. "Step onto my hand, tiny one!"

Rico obeyed the young giantess, and she stood back up with him standing on her palm. From her perspective, Rico stood about an inch tall.

The giantess knelt down and scooped Rico up in her hands. 

“I was almost eaten by another giantess,” said Rico, “she was older than you, about twenty or so years old.”

“That’s my older sister,” said Edith. “she enjoys man flesh, but I would prefer eating animal flesh. We once had animals on our scale, but they were hunted to extinction by people of your kind.”

“A friend told me of an Oracle,” said Rico. “Maybe you could go there with me to inquire about whether there are others of your kind on this strange world. Maybe there are farm animals on your scale, so your people won’t need to cannibalize our kind for meat.”

“I will go with you,” said the young giantess, “I am far too powerful for your people to harm me. 

Edith pulled a sword from a pocket in her leather blouse 

“This is a weapon I took from a victim. Use it to arm yourself. Let us journey to the Oracle. I give you my word that I will not harm you.”

“KeeGor!” Rico shouted. “I need you to come with us, to show us the way! 

The dwarf came out of hiding, and Edith was picked him up and carried him in her hands, along with Rico. And so the three of them set out in their journey, to find the Oracle. Edith needed to find more of her people, and Rico needed to find out if there was a way back to Earth.

To Be Continued!