feet. When it did, there fell out of it the notes that the scientist had kept. Jack picked up the notes and put them into his pocket just as the Giant retrieved the small box and placed the crystals back into it. The Giant took the box and placed it on the top of the pile of treasure then turned to Jack.
“You!” He pointed a big finger at Jack. “You are prisoner of Gargantuan!” The self titled Gargantuan said and quickly picked up Jack and took him outside and then into a makeshift barn where he placed him into a giant birdcage and locked the cage door.
The birdcage was suspended from a rafter with a large chain. Jack watched in awe as the Gargantuan walked away wondering how he was to get those gems back and return to his mother. He patted the laser on his side. At least the Gargantuan didn't take that. He thought.
Suddenly he heard a voice from behind him. Jack spun around and drew his laser pistol, but he saw no one. Then he heard it again. It was a female voice and she said. “Who are you?”
“I'm Jack. Who are you?” Jack asked while waving his pistol around.
“I'm Princess Cirrus.” She replied.
“Where are you?” Jack asked.
As soon as jack asked the question a pretty little girl appeared right in front of him. She was wearing a shimmering silver cloak with a hood. It was under this, that she had been hiding.
Jack quickly put away his pistol and asked. “Can you become invisible?”
“Not really. It's this cloak. If you were to stand just right, the light passes around you and you seem to disappear. She placed the hood over her head and turned slightly. As suddenly as she appeared, she vanished.
“That's great!” Jack said and then asked. “What are you doing here?”
“That Gargantuan stole me from the castle.” Princess Cirrus replied. “Ever since he grew so big, he's terrorized the world!”
“Grew?” Jack asked.
“Yes. Don't you recognize it?” Princess Cirrus asked. “It's nothing more than a Scanty that grew to be giant.”
“I don't know what those are.” Jack admitted. “I'm not from your universe. I came over here looking for treasure.”
“From where?” Princess Cirrus asked.
“Earth.” Jack said.
“Oh. I've never heard of that.” Princess Cirrus said. “But it doesn't matter. We're stuck in here.” She sat down and looked very sad.
“No we're not.” Jack said and he drew out his laser pistol and promptly melted the lock on the cage door. “There.” He said pushing open the door. “We just have to climb out... Somehow?”
“No need for that!” Princess Cirrus said with a very pretty smile. She threw off the cloak uncovering her large lacy wings. “Hang on!” She said throwing the cloak to Jack who grabbed a hold of one end while the Princess held the other. She flew out of the cage and then out of the barn and made straight for the castle where she and Jack were welcomed by the King and Queen.
“How can we ever repay you for saving our daughter?” The King asked.
“No need for that sir.” Jack said. “She saved me as much as I saved her.”
“You are a good and brave lad.” The Queen said. “If only that Gargantuan hadn't stolen all of our treasure. We could have given you a proper reward.”
“How did that Scanty get so big?” Jack asked. “And what is a Scanty?”
“They are usually quite small.” The Queen explained. “No bigger than a cat - you see. When they are normal sized the fact that they take shiny things is kind of cute. However, this giant one is stealing everything in the kingdom!”
“I'm not sure how it got so big,” The King began. “but we found something that might hold a clue.” He said and then he leaned over to one of his soldiers and whispered something to him. The soldier quickly left the court and equally as quickly, returned carrying something. The soldier handed the item to the King who explained that this item was found close to the place where the Gargantuan now lives. He then handed the item to Jack who immediately recognized it as a standard Matter Expander and Shrinker Setup or MESS for short. It was used to shrink cargo down to a size that could fit into a space freighter and then to expand it again for delivery.
“This is called a MESS.” Jack said. “And it looks like it caused a big one this time. But how did it get here in Nimbus?” Just then Jack remembered the notes from the box. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the papers. Quickly he scanned them and discovered that the scientist had encountered a Scanty upon his visit. He became afraid of it when it snatched off the scientist's shiny glasses. When the Scanty came running back at the scientist and tried to steal other shiny items that the scientist had on his belt. The scientist mistakenly shot the Scanty with a MESS pistol that was set for expand, instead of a laser pistol
When the Scanty was struck by the MESS beam, it had instantly and frighteningly grown into the Gargantuan. The scientist had quickly opened a port hole back to his own universe and escaped leaving the MESS behind in his rush. Jack explained this to the King and then apologized for the scientist's mistake.
As they all sat wondering what to do when Jack suddenly had an idea. He took another look at the MESS. It seemed to be in working order except for the battery... it was drained. Then he remembered that his laser pistol had a battery that would fit the MESS. He quickly exchanged the dead battery with the one from his laser pistol. He then pointed the MESS at a nearby chair and pressed the button. The chair shrank.
“Let's go put things right!” Jack said to Princess Cirrus who smiled approvingly.
Before the King and Queen could protest Princess Cirrus was again flying through the foggy air with Jack clinging to the silvery cloak. They neared the big house and landed outside of the front door just as the Gargantuan opened it.
“There you are my shiny little girl!” The Gargantuan stooped to grab the Princess but Jack pressed the button and immediately the Gargantuan turned back into a small Scanty.
The Scanty looked at himself and saw that he was again very small. Then he looked up at Jack and Princess Cirrus who both had stern looks on their faces and said, “Uh – Oh!” Then he ran away as fast as he could into the fog.
Jack quickly went inside the house and climbed the treasure pile. He found the little black box that contained the crystals. Next he placed the good battery back into his laser pistol and joined the Princess back outside just as the King and his army rode up.
The Princess flew over to the King and told him all that had happened. The King rode up to Jack and dismounted. “Jack. We owe you a debt of gratitude. Come and live at the castle. You will be my royal assistant!”
“Thank you King but my mother...” Jack said.
“Bring her with you!” The King said happily.
So Jack did. He returned to the Beanstalk and told his mother all that had happened. She was so happy and proud of Jack that she didn't feel sick anymore. They sold the Beanstalk and returned to Nimbus where they lived quite comfortably. Eventually, when he grew up that is, Jack married the very pretty Princess and lived happily ever after.
The End
The Last Flight of the Space Freighter Beanstalk Page 2