Page 26 of My Tiny Giant
His chest rose with a deep breath. “I just need to get back to my own size somehow.”
“Someone must be able to figure this out.” I wanted to cheer him up but had no clue how to do it in this situation. “There has to be a way to find out what this thing is for.” I patted the pocket on the side of my thigh where the fabric clung to the rectangular shape of the device I had taken from the lab.
I was afraid it was just a remote control to operate the lab equipment. In which case, it might prove useless since the actual equipment remained in the lab. I didn’t tell Agan that, though, not wanting to further upset him with my unproven assumptions.
“Ravils are not that great with the latest technology,” Agan admitted.
They weren’t. The decades of war on their territory had hindered his nation’s economic and technological progress.
“But humans are,” I assured him. “Not me, unfortunately, or the guys in my unit. We know enough to operate the equipment and fix it if necessary, not to reverse-engineer a piece of alien technology. However, we can send this thing to Earth if needed. We have brilliant scientists back home. Of course, it would take a spaceship five months to reach my planet... Hold on.” I stared at him as an idea rushed me. “The male who operated this thing was a Voranian.”
“He was.”
“Do you know him?”
Agan shook his head.
“I didn’t get a good look at him. I was staring at the floor when I came back to. Then the ground started moving on me. The cracks between the floor tiles suddenly turned huge, like crevasses in the desert... I only saw his back as he ran away. Then, you were there—tall like a giant.”
A giant? The word made me smile.
“No one has ever called me ‘tall’ or ‘giant’ before.”
“Everything looks huge, now.” He rubbed his face. “It sucks.”
I had no idea how to make him feel better, other than to give him hope.
“Chances are, this is the Voranian technology,” I said. “Yirzi never create or invent anything, right? We will contact the Voranian government as soon as we make it to the base. They should be able to find someone who knows what to do. Voranians are our allies.”
“Then why did they do this to me in the first place? The scientist guy was a Voranian.”
“He was,” I exhaled, dropping my shoulders. That fact made very little sense.
“If they’re plotting something in secret, then contacting them would be a mistake.”
“You think Voranians are developing a new technology? Maybe it’s to help fight fescods ? To shrink them?” I suggested, grasping at straws in my search for an explanation.
“Why would they test it on a Ravil, then? When there are thousands of fescods in the area?”
He was right. Things didn’t add up.
“We’re not going to talk to Voran, Emma. When we make it to the base, I’ll request to speak to General Trulgadi, my Army Commander.”