Surrender, Lilliput

Chapter 5: Return to Brobdingnag

Chapter 5:

Galatcha was awakened by the Lilliputians bringing her food for breakfast. General Pozole was with them, as well as Count Champurrado. When Galatcha had finished eating, the general addressed her.

"The shovel is ready for you, workers have been plotting out the course of the canal for the past several days. There are poles with flags on them to guide you, we need a canal as wide as the width of two of your shoes placed side to side."

"How long will it take me to dig the canal?" Galatcha asked.

"We don't know," the general replied, "but after day one our engineers can make a forecast to predict how long it might take."

"Why is this canal so important?" Galatcha asked.

"We have more people living in the capitol city than five years ago, so we need an adequate water supply. If the population keeps expanding, we would run short of water unless we accessed another source. There is a large river up in the mountains, and if you can channel it into a canal, it should bring us enough water to last us for generations!"

"Carry myself and Count Champurrado to the site where we forged the shovel, and the Count will show you what needs to be done."

Galatcha did as she was instructed, and carried the two of them down from the hills to the place where the shovel was, as well as her ceramic water jug. She set the two Lilliputians and the water jug down. The shovel was made of copper, but it had rope tied around the end where the handle was, so she could grasp it more easily.

Galatcha could see the poles, which were as high as an average Lilliputian. There was a colored flag on the tip of each one, and they were placed about a foot apart from one another, according to her standard of measurement. To the Lilliputians, the poles were 144 feet apart from one another.

Galatcha picked up the shovel, and was surprised how it felt in her hands; it was just like any other shovel in Brobdingnag, and the rope tied around the handle made it easier to grasp. She plunged the shovel into the dirt, and tossed the debris aside. She did this several times, until the canal was started. Workers pulled out the pole nearest to where she had started as she worked her way there.

She made progress rather quickly, and within twenty minutes, she had dug about twenty feet, by her standard of measurement. The Lilliputian workers continued to help her by removing the poles that marked off the path of the canal that the engineers had wanted, and she continued until lunch time.

The Lilliputians brought her food for lunch, and after about an hour, she got back to work. She put in a total of about six hours, and made a lot of progress. She had the canal dug into the outer reaches of the capitol city, and had started making her way toward the hills.

When she was done for the day, she took a bath in the Ocean with her dress on, and changed into her other dress that had dried in the sun, and laid her wet dress out to dry. When the Lilliputians brought her dinner, General Pozole informed her of the estimate made by the engineers.

"It should take you several weeks instead of several months! You are far more efficient than we anticipated."

After the general left, she ate her dinner in her cave and watched the sunset with Iota on her knee.

"I don't want to dig a canal for three more weeks, Iota!" said Galatcha.

"What did Sabio say about the Icosahedron?" Iota asked.

"He said it would take about a week for the orbits of the world of Brobdingnag and the world of Lilliput to harmonize!"

"Then leave after a week, and take me with you!" said Iota.

"I just might do that!" said Galatcha, then went to sleep.

When she awakened the next morning, her whole body was sore from all of the exercise. She wasn't accustomed to exerting herself like that. After breakfast, she took her ceramic water jug and met the workers at the site where she had left off the day before, and continued her work. Because of her immense size and strength, she was able to pierce rocks that would've been impenetrable to the Lilliputians. She made about the same amount of progress as the day before, working for about six hours, as she had done before.

For five days this went on, and a lot of progress was made, but still, Galatcha was nowhere near the completion of her task. The general proclaimed that she could have two days off from working. Extra food was brought to her that night, at the end of day five of the job.

Iota was on her stone table, eating with her. When they were done eating, Galatcha picked up Iota and carried him into the town. The Icosahedron she had brought with her from Brobdingnag was still in the town square, near the royal palace. Sabio was making adjustments to the devices when she arrived.

"Sabio, how much longer until the orbits of our two worlds are harmonized?"

"Less than a day!" said Sabio. "The orbits should be aligned tomorrow!"

"So I would be able to return to Brobdingnag?" Galatcha asked.

"Yes!" said Sabio. "Once the orbits of our two world are harmonized, you will be able to leave at any time!"

"What time tomorrow will I be able to leave?" Galatcha asked.

"Before daybreak, so any time after dawn, you will be able to leave!"

"Inform the king that I will be leaving tomorrow," said Galatcha.

"But you must finish the canal!" said Sabio. "You haven't even reached the halfway point yet!"

"I've done enough digging, I'm sure your workers can dig the rest. I must've saved the Lilliputians a lot of money and manpower by the progress I've made so far!"

One of the guards went and told the king that Galatcha was leaving. The king came out of the palace, and spoke to Galatcha.

"What is this about you leaving tomorrow?"

"I can't stay any longer!" said Galatcha. "I came here expecting to be treated like an empress, and instead, I've been put to work fighting your battles and digging your canal!"

"We can pay you more!" said the king. "Make us a request, and we'll meet it! You have been a great benefit to us, because of you, we avoided a dangerous war with the Blefuscans! If you could just wait until you finish the canal, we can offer you any price you name!"

"I don't want to dig for you for another two weeks, even if you could give me a lot of gold and silver," said Galatcha. "My whole body is sore!"

"Can't we make a compromise?" the king asked. "Can you dig for one more five day segment of time, instead of two?"

"I suppose I could do that," said Galatcha. "Just let me bring twenty prisoners with me back to Brobdingnag, and that could be my payment."

The king agreed to this, and Galatcha carried Iota back up into the mountains to her cave. When she had set Iota on the stone table, he asked her, "Why did you give in to the king so easily?"

"I couldn't make him look bad in front of his subjects," said Galatcha. "I was just trying to make him look like a good leader!"

Galatcha continued to dig the canal after her two days of rest were over. For five days, she toiled six hours a day. On day five of her second week of work, she had dug two thirds of the canal.

The next morning, She packed her supplies and made two trips to her wooden boat that she had ridden in from Brobdingnag. She went to the royal palace, where prisoners were waiting in metal cages. Galatcha informed the king that she would be getting ready to depart Lilliput.

There were twenty cages of prisoners, as well as a hundred baskets of food and a hundred barrels of food. Galatcha filled her ceramic water jugs, and took her prisoners to her boat. She made one last trip to the palace to grab the Icosahedrons, as well as Sabio the Blefuscan scientist.

When she made it back to her boat, she pushed off into the Ocean, then used the oars to paddle out into the open Ocean. Before long, the Icosahedron did its job, and she was propelled through a dimensional portal to the world of Brobdingnag. She saw the main port of Lorbrulgrud, as well as the light house where Mendigar and Mendocino worked.

She paddled up to the pier, and tied her small boat. She carried the cages containing the Lilliputian prisoners, as well as Sabio and Iota up to the light house. When she knocked on the door, Mendocino answered.

"I've returned from Lilliput, tell Mendigar that I have the Lilliputian Icosahedron!"

"Mendigar is in prison! Ever since you left, your parents have been searching for you, and Mendigar was blamed for your disappearance."

"We need to have him released!" said Galatcha.

"First, tell me what happened there, in Lilliput!" said Mendocino.

Galatcha told him of her experience, fighting the Blefuscans, living in the cave, and digging the canal.

"You should return home, and let your parents know that you're okay," said Mendocino.

"I'll leave the Lilliputians with you, but I'm taking my friend Iota with me," said Galatcha. She picked up Iota and carried him while she walked down the spiral staircase and exited the light house. She ran home, and returned to the cottage where her family was waiting for her.

"Mom! I'm back!"

Galatcha's mother dropped some dishes she was drying with a rag, and ran up and hugged her daughter.

"I was so worried about you! I thought you'd been kidnapped!"

"I was in Lilliput, a land of tiny people, mother!" said Galatcha.

The mother had a skeptical look on her face, so Galatcha showed Iota to her.

"Don't hurt him, just take him in your hand!" said Galatcha.

"Hi there!" said Iota, waving to Galatcha's mother.

"Then Mendigar was right!" said Galatcha's mother, as she handed Iota back to Galatcha.

"Right about what?" Galatcha asked.

"In court, Mendigar said that he sent you to a world of tiny people and that you would return some day."

"Mother, we have to set him free! They've imprisoned an innocent man!"

"We can go to the court house after you eat lunch, I'm sure the court will believe you when you show them that tiny boy."

Galatcha ate her lunch, getting filled up more than she ever had in Lilliput. "Mother, you wouldn't believe the food portions in Lilliput were so scant that I had been still slightly hungry whenever I finished my meals there, but I didn't want to insult the Lilliputians. This is more food than I've had at one time in three weeks!"

After Galatcha finished her lunch, she went to the court house with her mother. The magistrate was speaking to an attorney, then Galatcha's mother walked up and spoke to him. Galatcha stood aside, and couldn't hear them because they were whispering. A couple of words were spoken loudly by the magistrate that Galatcha could overhear.

"An innocent man?" the magistrate could be heard saying loudly.

Within an hour, a hearing was set up and Mendigar was brought from the prison in chains. Galatcha's mother showed Iota to the court, and that was all it took to convince them to release Mendigar. A jailer used a key on the manacles Mendigar was in, and he was released.

"Mendigar, I left the Icosahedrons at the light house with Mendocino. There are some Lilliputians there, too!"

Galatcha wanted to go with Mendigar, but her mother wouldn't let her go with him. When her father Vincentio returned from work that evening, he was informed of the whole adventure, and said that he forgave Mendigar. After dinner, there was a knock at the door.

When Vincentio answered the door, it was Mendigar.

"I need Galatcha to return to Lilliput!" said Mendigar. "There are forces beyond our control that we need to deal with!"

"Galatcha isn't going anywhere!" said Vincentio, about to close the door in his face.

"Father, can't we at least find out what the emergency is?" Galatcha asked, and her father acquiesced to her request, and allowed Mendigar to enter.

The scientist sat down at the dinner table, and Galatcha's father offered him a mug of tea.

"Now , what is this all about?" Vincentio asked.

"I've spoken to the scientist Sabio, he is my counterpart from Lilliput. After combining our knowledge, we found out that if the Lilliputian Icosahedron isn't returned to Lilliput, the orbits of our two worlds will destabilize, and Brobdingnag could be destroyed! Our world could become too cold if it is pushed away from the sun, or too hot if it moves too close!"

"Then why don't you return it?" Vincentio asked. "She explained all of the science to me, now that the orbits have been harmonized, you won't need both Icosahedrons to return to Brobdingnag once you return the smaller Icosahedron to Lilliput!"

"But I wouldn't be able to return!" said Mendigar. "With both Icosahedrons, I could reach Lilliput, but with only one I couldn't return. Your daughter has a small enough mass to pass through the dimensional portal, but I would be trapped there in Lilliput if I went there! I would need both Icosahedrons to return, but she would need only one!"

Galatcha looked at her father, and he looked back at her.

"Father, we have no choice!" said Galatcha. "You must let me return to Lilliput!"

To Be Continued!