* * * * *
At the end of the cab ride, my hostess paid her fare and evidently entered the building where she worked. Because, suddenly there were lots of loud voices entering the purse. Muffled by Archavian standards, maybe. But, audible to me, just the same. About five or six minutes later, I heard the tell-tale sound of a metallic drawer being slid open. Following which, the purse I was in was obviously deposited at the bottom of it. Because, once again, the contents and I bounced around upon impact!
Good thing my dad had taught me all those judo falls.
Anyway, the drawer slid shut again, and the voices from outside the purse became even more muffled. And, that's when I saw my chance!
Using everything I had learned at Nusi Academy, I enlarged myself at a much slower rate than usual. Consequently, I think I was about eight human feet all when my gradual increase in height and mass caused the hinges of the purse to pop open. Whereupon, I finally rolled free of its interior!
Getting out of the drawer, however, would be a bit trickier. First of all, I was in a public work place. And, secondly, I was technically an illegal immigrant.
[You might even say an "illegal alien," if you want to stoop to making corny puns about it.]
Then, I had an idea. Like the stunt I had used to get off Titan Station, it would be risky. But, the way I figured it; if this planet was Earth-like enough to have news media, then they might also have forms of entertainment similar to ours. So, I sat down and assumed a yoga lotus position. Once more gradually enlarging myself...until I had become big enough to push open this drawer from the inside.
"What the...?" my hostess began to say.
Followed immediately by: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
In that moment, I quickly vaulted out of the drawer. Accelerating my resumption of giant size, in the process! And, when I was once again 101 feet tall? I used my power of telepathic suggestion to make me look like a stereotypical Earth magician.
Top hat, tuxedo, and all!
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen! I am the Great Ravenini. Illusionist extraordinaire. Soon to be appearing at a theater near you."
I then flourished my imaginary cape, and ran for the nearest stairwell exit, before somebody could contact the in-house security. By the time I reached the bottom of the stairs, at the ground floor, I had long since shut off my telepathy so that everybody else would see just another averagely dressed civilian heading out the main entrance.
That was when I got my first real look at Beautiful Downtown Archavia City (or whatever its local name was).
Trying not to look like a typical first-time tourist, I gazed as intermittenly as possible at my surroundings. And, it would be safe for me to say that these people were definitely more advanced than Earth in that they had flying cars. Of all shapes and sizes. But, neither had they yet reached the point where they could pass for Coruscant's identical twin! For one thing, the area I was walking through looked more like Mid-town Manhattan.
Complete with open-air phone kiosks. Something I regarded as a good thing. You see, maybe I had watched one too many spy movies, when I was a kid. But, the first and only time I had ever used a full-scale glass phone booth? I kept looking over my shoulder, to see if any black Cadillac sedans were coming to run me down!
In any event, I picked up the cordless receiver and looked over all the push buttons on the rectangular carriage. Subsequently pressing the one that looked like it might connect me with a switchboard operator.
And, luckily for me, I was right.
"T T & T!* How might I help you?"
"Yes, ma'am. I'm looking for the number of a certain public library. But, I misplaced the paper on which I had written it down. Could you give me the street address of the library nearest to this kiosk?"
"Certainly, sir!"
After a brief pause, she came back on the line.
"I'm sorry, sir. But, the nearest library to your current location is not a public one. That would be the campus library of Tannhauser Gate University. Could I assist in you some other way?"
"No thank you. You've already been a bigger help to me than you'll ever know."
"Why, thank you, sir! And, do have a good day!"
"Tannhauser Gate University, huh?" I thought to myself: "Great! What better place to learn about this new planet I'm on than a school?"
And, with that, I began trying to hail one of those flying cabs.
tbc
Giantess World
Chapter End Notes:
*T T & T: Titanic Telephone & Telecommunications.