Page 20 of My Tiny Giant
Incredibly, the entire massive figure of Lieutenant Drankai was now no higher than the length of my hand.
“This is impossible...” Utterly bewildered, I couldn’t stop staring at him. Everything had shrunk—his body, his clothes, even his boots were now cute miniature versions of their former selves. “How did this happen?”
“Didn’t you see how ?” he snapped, obviously irritated.
Well, at least his personality hadn’t changed much. His smaller size only made him crankier.
“I saw, but... I have no idea how it’s even possible.” I leaned to the side to take a better look at his back. His tail lashed wildly, signaling his annoyance. Everything about his appearance remained very much the same, except that it all now was...tiny. “How are you feeling?”
“Splendid.” The significantly reduced volume of his voice didn’t decrease the thick sarcasm in his tone. “Now turn me back.”
“Me?”
“Who else?” he demanded. “Now, that you’ve scared away that asshole of a scientist.”
“Oh so, it’s all my fault, is it?”
“Eleven!” he shouted, then paused. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a moment, as if calling on his patience. “Emma ,” he said finally, in a much more even tone of voice. “Please, could you reverse whatever that prick did to me? Now?”
He was visibly trying to rein in his temper. I found this humble Agan more appealing. In fact, I would’ve loved to make him beg, knocking some more of his arrogance off. Unfortunately, we didn’t have much time. Who knew how far the Voranian had run and how many more yirzi there were in this building?
Besides, I kind of felt sorry for the big guy. He was clearly out of his element here. He’d actually remembered my name and even said, “please.”
“Fine,” I conceded. “How do you think I should do that?”
“Just, do whatever the Voranian did.” Agan waved at me, running back to the red circle mark on the floor. “But in reverse.”
“Um, I’ve no idea what he did, though.” I stared at the clear device in my hand.
“Just press something on that thing,” Agan urged. “Hurry, please.”
“Something? ” There were several protrusions on the surface of the rectangle that were meant to be pressed, I suspected. “Like what exactly?”
“Anything.”
He was clearly desperate.
“What if that’d make you even smaller?” I worried, turning the device in my fingers. “Agan, I have no idea what I’m doing with this thing here. What if you get so small, you’d fall through the cracks between the floor tiles? How would I scoop you out of there, then?”
He paused for a moment, considering.
The slam of the door opening snapped my attention to the room outside the glass. A group of yirzi rushed in, each wielding a laser gun. I quickly shoved the clear device into a pocket on my thigh.
“No more time to think, Lieutenant.” I scooped Agan off the floor, ducking behind a piece of lab equipment to dodge the laser blasts fired at us through the open glass door.
“Eleven!” Agan struggled against my hold. “Unhand me immediately!”
“No can do.” Trapped behind the glass, I frantically searched for a way out. “The risk of losing you and, you know...stepping on you, is too high.”
“Fuck!” he raged, his frustration obvious. “This is just—”
“Quiet.” Using the various pieces of furniture and equipment for cover, I made my way closer to the glass door.
Another larger group of yirzi showed up in the entrance to the room outside the glass. In a few moments, Agan and I would be hopelessly trapped here.
With the only exit being the door, I decided to shoot my way out of the glass section before it’d be completely blocked by the incoming yirzi .
“Hold on, Lieutenant!” Tightening my grip around Agan, I raised the laser gun in my other hand and shot at everyone who appeared in the door as I got closer.