Chapter 6

As Betty and Valerie stepped clear of Glivard's snare, they looked around for possible escape routes. Glivard knew immediately what they were looking for.

"Don't bother looking for ways out," he told them. "This whole basement was designed to keep my specimens inside in the event they got loose."

He explained as he waved his hands to the far wall. There they could see dozens of cages holding a whole menagerie of animals. Rodents, amphibians, reptiles, snakes and even a few cats and dogs.

"You see," he went on. "I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up. So I've been studying them for years now."

"I see," Betty interrupted. "And what do you do with them when you're finished studying them?"

Surprised to hear an adult, even a tiny adult, taking interest in his career plans, he told her. He never hurt any of his specimens, and that after a while he simply releases them back in the wild where he originally caught them.

"And what about us?" Valerie interrupted.

Glivard was at a loss for words on that one. He had no idea what he should do with his two Lilliputian captives. Should he let them go? Should he turn them over to the government? Or should he just exterminate them?

"I... I don't know," he finally admitted to them.

"Why not just let us go," Betty reiterated.

"No," he blurted. "Not just yet, anyway."

"And why not?" Valerie insisted.

"Wel... well, I'd like to learn more about your people," he finally admitted to his curiosity. "If you don't mind."

Betty and Valerie looked at each other and smiled at the innocent request of Glivard.

"Okay!" Betty told him. "What do you want to know?"

Glivard was pleased that he was about to get first hand information from the Little People themselves. Something very few of his own kind could boast about.

"Well to begin with," he started hesitantly. "Do you have names. My name is Glivard, Glivard Simms."

"My name is Betty," she told him, and pointing to her companion. "And this is Valerie."

He smiled at their cooperation. For a geeky fourteen-year-old, he had a nice smile.

"Why are you invading my planet," he asked without thinking.

"We're not invading your home Glivard," Valerie explained. "We got here because of an accident, that's all."

"Then why don't you go home?" He continued his questions.

"We wish we could sweetie," it was Betty's turn to answer. "But the truth of the matter is, that were marooned here. We have been for over eight years."

"Gee! I'm sorry to hear that," Glivard said sorrowfully.

Betty and Val could sense in his voice that he honestly meant that.

"Its okay Glivard," Valerie told him. "It's not like it was your fault."

He smiled at her reassurance. He didn't know why he felt guilty for the Little People being marooned here, but he did.

Betty wanted to evaporate the morose tone that the conversation had taken and asked Glivard to show them his animal lab. He cheered up immediately and proceeded to show them the creatures that he was studying lately.

One by one he would bring one of the small cages to the tabletop and show off his specimens. He would go on and on about how and where he caught each one. Then he would tell them what he had learned from each one of them.

This went on for nearly an hour. By this time it was nearing supper time and they could hear his mother yelling down at him to come wash up for dinner.

"Its okay Glivard," Betty told him. "We can talk some more later."

Glivard smiled broadly knowing that someone was finally taking an interest in his biology studies. He left them on the tabletop and left the basement laboratory, making sure to lock the door behind him. No use having somebody discover his new friends.

As soon as he left Betty and Valerie scurried to the edge of the high table and searched for an escape route. They slid down the lamp's electrical wire to the floor and began a thorough search of the lab. They looked at the door and saw that even the bottom crack was sealed tight to prevent escaping animals from leaving. Then they saw the air duct, but that too was covered with a grate too small to fit through.

After half an hour of fruitless exploration they had to concede that Glivard was right. All means of escape were foreseen by the boy. They reluctantly climbed back up to the tabletop and waited patiently for Glivard to come back from his supper.

It was an hour later before they heard the lock being opened. Glivard slipped in with a plate of food and milk. He brought it over to the two women who smiled at him gratefully. He went back to the door and again locked it from the inside.

"I thought that you might be hungry," he told them.

"That was very sweet of you Glivard," Betty smiled up at the towering teen.

He blushed profusely at her attention to his feelings. He pulled out two small cups from his baby sister's tea set and using and eye drop filled them with milk from his glass.

It had been a long time since any of the marooned group had come across a friendly face among the Giants. The plate was filled with meat and vegetables. Betty and Valerie had to eat with their bare hands, as there was nothing available to use as utensils.

Glivard sat quietly, watching as the two women ate their fill. They left a huge amount of food in the plate, which was really not all that surprising. They were finishing their cups of milk along with Glivard. After a brief respite, Glivard resumed his questioning.

It would cover everything from the Earth peoples races, science, and medicine. He was amazed to hear that space flight was not only theoretical, but an everyday occurrence back on Earth. On this planet, they had yet to send a satellite in space, much less a man.

"What about you Glivard," Valerie asked. "What do you like? Other than your animals."

"Nothing much really," he answered her.