Luchanda sat down at the ship's control panel and hit the button to play the message that she had received. The screen activated and displayed an image of a monocled black male dressed in military garb that was ornately decorated with countless medals from the Empire's ceaseless wars, and whom she was able to recognize as General Swali; commander of the defense forces on Earth. But of course his Earth was not this Earth, his was an Earth where everyone and everything was much larger, and human history had unfolded very differently. Somehow he had managed to transmit a message to this universe. In the message he commanded her to contact him and gave her precise instructions for how to do that.

She sighed and had her computer follow the directions. This was disappointing because she had hoped she could have this planet and all the people on it all to herself, and that she'd never hear from the Human Empire again. It wasn't that disapproved of the constant warfare being waged across the galaxy, but she didn't like being ordered around. Becoming a bounty hunter had allowed her considerable freedom to live as she pleased, but she wouldn't mind a vacation. She hoped this planet could be her new home. Perhaps she would have became its Empress...

But alas, no. She knew that disobeying an Imperial order would merit a punishment that would make execution seem like a reward in comparison. Somehow her universe had found out how to communicate with this one, and that meant they could enter into it and seize her anytime. So dutifully, she opened a channel to her universe....

A moment later the general reappeared on the screen but this time the transmission was in real time and they could see each other. "Luchanda! You disappeared from our sensors not long after passing the orbit of Mercury. It took our scientists some time to figure out what had happened, but it appears you have opened a gateway to another universe. What have you... Good God! You look like you've taken a beating! What has happened to you?!" he said, finally taking a pause from his rambling to look through his monocle at who he was talking to.

"Oh, these injuries were sustained during my mission", Luchanda lied. There was no way she would ever admit that she had her ass kicked by a woman, much less a woman who was shorter than the width of one of her hairs.

"What is your location? Do you require assistance?" asked the General.

"I uh... I am on a planet that is inhabited by a primitive species that number several billion", she confessed. She didn't tell him that the planet was Earth, or that the several billion lifeforms were miniature humans. She knew the Empire would find out soon enough and would annex the planet, but she hoped withholding these details would buy her some time to enjoy her discovery more.

General Swali nearly dropped his monocle as he went into a hysterical fit, "Good God! An inhabited and uncharted planet?! You know imperial procedure requires immediate notification of the military when such a planet is discovered! Why didn't you inform us?"

"I have only just now discovered it was inhabited, sir", Luchanda explained.

"How can you only just now discover a planet is inhabited when you've been there for hours and it is populated by billions?!" bellowed the general.

"It is hard to explain... How about I show you a sample I have collected from the surface? Computer, show the general the inside of the collection tray." A few moments passed and Luchanda watched as the General's expression dramatically changed. He really lost his monocle this time, and would have shattered on the floor if it hadn't been attached to a thin chain.

The astonished general reponded, "My word! I have been to hundreds of worlds but never have I seen a species this small! This is something the Queen must be informed about. You are to send this collection tray to her at once so she may look upon her new subjects."

"It shall be done, sir. Is there anything further?", Luchanda asked, but secretly hoped there wasn't.

"No, I think there is nothing more at this time. We will carefully consider our options before we make any drastic moves. Meanwhile, I think it would probably be best for you to stay there, and if at all possible convince the natives to lay down their weapons and accept Imperial rule," General Swali said, before terminating the transmission.

Luchanda leaned back in her chair and sighed. She would have a little bit of time to enjoy her conquest at least, but now she had to send the sample back. She got up and made her way to the collection tray. It was more or less as she last remembered it, but now more of the tiny people had come out of hiding and were searching in vain for a way to escape. She paid them no heed as she lifted the tray up and set it into a hollow torpedo casing. Such casings were useful for transporting small things, including collection trays, through the vastness of space. They were incapable of above light speed, but the distance needed to travel was not that great. Like a well oiled machine, she locked the bolts into place and reattached the cover of the casing, sealing the miniature occupants in complete darkness for the duration of their journey.

Her powerful muscles bulged as she lifted the heavy torpedo and inserted it into the launch tube. She then closed the tube, and carefully entered the directions General Swali gave her into the control panel. "Buh bye little ones," she said as she punched the red launch button. The torpedo blasted off, carrying its thousands of occupants into another universe.

With that out of the way she began to consider what to do next. By this point it had been a long time since she had eaten anything and her stomach growled in disapproval. This world didn't have any food large enough to sate her hunger. She began to think she would go hungry until she remembered the billions of people on the planet. Individually, they were too small to fill her up, but what about collectively? If she ate a few million it might provide her enough protein to satisfy her hunger and keep her muscles in top shape. She'd do it. What other major source of protein would she find on this tiny planet? She stepped out of the ship...

-----

Only two hours or so had elapsed since the enormous black woman landed, but this was sufficient time for almost everyone who lived near to the ship to flee in the opposite direction. Only a few brave and ignorant souls choose to linger and ignore the threat that loomed on the horizon; for them, perhaps, this proved wise since they were ignored when the giant woman re-emerged. Of this small minority, a few would die here or there from her mile long feet, but their deaths were unintentional. Everyone else, though, was either long gone, or waiting in the slow congested roads all over Eastern Europe.

One such individual was a young man named Lukasz. He, like others, had been too shocked to react quickly enough, and so now he was paying the price by being unable to move more than a few feet at a time. Fortunately he had his girlfriend Cecylia beside him in the passenger seat. The two had no idea where they were going or where they would stay. The only knew the road they were on would take them to Krakow, which seemed to be a hub for refugees heading south. Cecylia was running her fingers through her long brown hair and gazing into the rearview mirror. Lukasz was busy watching the road and alternating between shouting profanities and blowing his horn. "Why does this god damn line move so slow? I know the road is packed, but if every car would keep moving it shouldn't matter!"

Lukasz looked over to see why his girlfriend wasn't talking and could see her eyes were open wide with fear. She was looking into the rear mirror which Lukasz also looked into and then started to scream. Simultaneously, thousands more on the road screamed in unison and more than a few got out of their vehicles and fled on foot. The giant woman had exited the ship, and she was heading right towards them!

-----

Luchanda didn't have to go far to find food. The small towns and cities around here ship were mostly deserted, but that was fine since they were each too small to satisfy her hunger even when they were full. Some distance to the south she could see a large blot on the ground that she took to be a large city that was swelling full of refugees. Even closer to her feet she could see long trails which slowly flowed to this blot. These trails were roads, and she decided they would make a good appetizer before her main course.

Getting on all fours, she lowered her face close to one of the roads and began to sweep her tongue along it. She didn't like the idea that most of what she was eating were motor vehicles, but wasn't really concerned because none was bigger than a grain of rice to her and should leave her body the next time she moved her bowels. It was a small price to pay in order to get to the rich nutrients that could be found in the tiny treats that fled before her. Like an enormous anteater, her tongue picked up hundreds of tiny specks which she then drew into her mouth to savor.

She was a little disappointed that they didn't have much flavor, but gulped them down anyway and poked her enormous tongue out to gather more...

----

"Cecylia!" Lukasz screamed, as he tried to get his girlfriend to snap out of her current state. Everyone handles fear differently; some scream hysterically, but others respond by becoming paralyzed and shutting down to events around them. Cecylia was among the latter, and though Lukasz loved her dearly he did not have the time to carry her. He got out of his truck and ran as fast as he could, just as an enormous shadow fell over him.

He looked up in horror to see an enormous black face descend to the road as an enormous tongue with taste buds larger than his entire body poked out. The large lips looked swollen and bruised, as did the rest of the face. What had happened? The giant didn't appear this way the last time he saw her. He had no time to think about it, though. He watched as the tongue touched down and began to lick up a huge swath of traffic that was quickly sucked into the giant lips. He watched as the giant woman appeared to savor the cars and people and then swallow a lump down her throat. The large tongue re-emerged, now clean of debris and looking sticky and ready for more. Now it appeared his truck would be next!

"Cecylia! Get out of there before it is too late!" Lukasz shouted, but Cecylia still sat in his truck staring vacantly. Ignoring all reason, Lukasz began to run past hundreds of fleeing people back to his truck, but he was nowhere near as fast as the tongue, which promptly swept up his truck along with numerous other vehicles. "Cecylia!" He screamed one last time as his girlfriend and his truck adhered to the sticky tongue.

The tongue was not finished, and continued to move towards him! He turned and began to run for all he was worth amidst the crowd of other refugees as an enormous purple wall chased them like a tidal wave. Lukasz was hit by the wall in the back, which knocked the wind out of him and seemingly also broke his spine. He couldn't feel anything below his waist, nor move his legs. Fortunately he would never need to again...

-----

Luchanda was more satisfied with this swipe of her tongue than the first one. It seemed to have a higher concentration of people and less of the nasty vehicles. She decided she would try something different with this catch and pressed her tongue up against the roof of her mouth. She could only barely feel the tiny bodies burst against her taste buds, and was not really impressed by this sensation, but there was something else at work here. Every tiny burst against her tongue filled drenched her taste buds in the body fluids of that individual. The taste was like that of a rare steak, and it made her mouth water with the savory goodness. "Mmmmmmm," she moaned in ecstasy with her mouth and eyes closed.

She decided more experimenting was in order, but this road was too much work for such little payoff. Her large eyes turned to the city of Krakow which was now inundated with refugees. It had been some time since she had a nice steak dinner, and her mouth began to flood with saliva at the thought. She swallowed the delicious morsels in her mouth as she headed over to the main course...