PROJECT TIC-TOC,
ARIZONA, U.S.A.
(JUNE, 1968)
* * * * *
"Well?" asked General Kirk, trying to control his nervous impatience.
"I've got one!" exclaimed Ann McGregor, triumphantly.
"Who?" demanded the general: "Which one is it?"
"It's Doug. And, his chronospatial co-ordinates put him in...the Persian city of Basra! 796 A.D."
Whereupon, the general ordered the immediate activation of the 3-D imaging screen. The laser-projected images that subsequently appeared there were initially flabbergasting, to put it mildly.
"Great Scott!" shouted Kirk: "Am I seeing what I think I'm seeing?"
"I'm afraid so, general. That's Doug, alright. Only, he's literally in the hands of...a giantess!!"
Ann, Kirk, and everyone else in the project's main control room could only look on, helplessly, at a woman dressed like an "Arabian Nights" princess (including golden bra and translucent black pantaloons). She dangled Doug Phillips from her left hand. Her thumb and forefinger grasping him by the nape of his Edwardian-era jacket's neckline.
"Cicero!" they heard her sing: "Time for dinner, kitty-kitty."
Ann's right hand flew to mouth in speechless horror, as she saw a giant black Persian cat beginning to stalk towards the diminutive Doug (who had now been placed on the floor). But, General Kirk snapped her out of it.
"Quickly, Ann! Get a lock on Doug. Prepare to get him out of there, on my command."
She did not need to be told twice. She waited in breathless anticipation to see what the cat would do. That seemed to be forever! Although, it was more likely only a minute, at most.
The cat finally leaped. Whereupon, the general barked:
"NOW!"
Both diminutive Doug and colossal cat disappeared from that Middle Eastern room, right before the stunned eyes of the so-called "princess."
The imaging screen changed scenes, showing the furry feline tumbling through the same wormhole that usually contained the two wayward scientists who had helped make the Time Tunnel a reality. The only problem was...it seemed to be alone!
"I don't understand," said Kirk: "Where's Doug?"
"I'm not sure, sir," replied Ann: "But, I still have a lock on him."
"Then, bring him back here, if you can. At once!"
Ann vigorously nodded, and ordered everyone to adjust their controls, accordingly.
The giant, rib-like arrangement of fluorescent light tubes that lined the Time Tunnel started blinking on and off in a steady rhythm. And, they kept doing so, until Ann's controls registered a re-materialization.
"Deactivate!" ordered the general: "Sgt. Major Jiggs!"
"Yes, sir!" exclaimed the project's chief of security, as he ran up to the general's right side and saluted.
"Follow me. According to these settings, Doug has returned. Yet, we still can't see him! And, I want to know why."
The two veteran soldiers went up to the mouth of the tunnel, and carefully examined the floor of it. It was Jiggs who spotted him first, though.
"General Kirk! Over here, sir."
The sergeant-major pointed at the ground, and the general was almost too stunned to bend down and pick up the shrunken scientist.
"Doug? Is that really you?"
The tiny time traveler smiled and saluted.
"Douglas Phillips...reporting...for resumption of duty. Sir!"
* * * * *
Meanwhile, far to the east (and two years earlier), in the depths of the McElroy Point cave system near Gotham City, Catwoman was startled from a sound sleep by a sudden increase of pressure on her stomach.
"What in the...?"
"Meowrrrrrrrrr!" replied the black Persian cat she found looking at her.
"Ohhhhhh!" she cooed: "Aren't you the cutest thing? What's your name?"
Catwoman's delighted smile vanished, when she saw the cat's eyes start to steadily glow a bright shade of gold. And, not a reflected glow, either!
The facial expression that replaced it, however, was not one of terror. Or, even startlement! A better adjective for it would be "vacuous." And, Cicero filled that vacuum with a hypno-telepathic command.
tbc
Giantess World
