Chapter #4An island beach by: Small1   The ship dives into the atmosphere. Alarm klaxons sound throughout the ship.
It's clear the ship is going to crash. Scanners detect a massive body of water. Is it going to crash into the sea?
At the last moment, navigation computers find a strip of land.
Miraculously, the entire crew survives the crash landing. As the captain, it's your job to take charge of the situation.
As instrument reports filter from various stations, the extent of the catastrophe is glaring. The ship's finished, the engines having been shorn off by the rough crash.
One of the technicians manages to activate an exterior camera, which at least gives you a view of the terrain. From the scene on display, it appears the ship has crashed into a sea of sand. Towering dunes reach for a vivid blue sky. Strange vegetation nods and sways in a breeze. The strange "forest" is comprised of "trees" with smooth golden trunks topped with strange drooping fronds.
According to the manual, now is the time to send a team to ascertain the exterior surroundings. Two of the red-shirted security detail are called to the operations center.
"Schaef, Bland," you address the security officers, "just take a quick look and see what's out there."
They took a portable cam to transmit back progress of their excursion onto the alien planet. Surrounded by the crew, you keep your attention focused on the screen. You watch as the two men broadcast a difficult ascent to the top of the first dune.
Doubts surface. "Maybe I should have sent a more experience team," you mutter, only to have your mental debate cut short when you hear Schaef's scream.
One of the technicians, eyes fixed on the screen, shouts. "What's that?"
An avalanche of sand dumps the security team to the foot of one of the dunes.
The technician remains rooted to the spot. "It looked huge!"
For yourself, you are not quite sure what you thought you saw.
Suddenly, another scream, and everything around your security team seems to go dark.
One of the men manages to get the camera turned in time to transmit footage as a giant foot crashes down.
Transmission of images cease as do the frantic screams of the security team sent to its doom.
The technician sounds on the verge of panic. "What was that?"
You have to snap out of it. "That's what we need to know. Analyze that footage. We will discuss the results in one hour."
You feel bad for the security team. They were not the best or brightest, but you have to feel that their loss was a waste. After all, you are now left with fewer expendable members of your crew in the red shirts.
An hour later, you and the rest of the crew face the impossible.
"Repeat that!"
The technician takes a deep breath. "In every respect, except scale, those creatures (footage reveals the group consisted of three male titans) are human or, at the very least, humanoid."
"How big are they?"
The technician swallowed nervously. "Well, to give an approximation of scale, we're no bigger than ants to them."
"So, we are marooned on a planet of giants?"
"There's another possibility," the technician admitted, and he launched into a theory about wormholes and the possibility the entire ship shrank in transit. The alien world is the same scale as the Earth they left behind.
The medical officer erupted. "What difference does it make? Either way, we're screwed. You saw what happened to Schaef and Bland."
The technician shivered. "Stomped like insignificant bugs."
"We were unprepared. Now that we know, we will prepare for a first contact."
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