(STBSS Honorable Mention) The Crenshaw Portfolio

"The night begins"

Sitting on the back porch of his cabin, Tom Crenshaw could only hang his head and sweat. With no electricity his A/C and fans were useless, he’d come home to find the power was out. The late July heat delivered body blows to the very bones of those that had to endure it, but the heat and electricity were the least of Tom’s problems.

He worked as a lumberjack, topping trees for the Main-Right lumber company in Georgia. It wasn’t a job that just any man could do. A jack not only had to be strong and fearsome, he also had to be limber and quick, to get the hell out of the way of any tree that fell wrong. It had been hot that day, too hot. He and a few of his fellow jacks had drunk some beer on the job. When the foreman found out he fired them.

Now Tom sat in the darkness of the world, finishing off the 12 pack he’d picked up on his way home and kept thinking, over and over, today would be a really good day to just whip some bodies ass.


"The abduction"


“I’ve detected a solitary human on the far ridge.” Leson told his fellow travelers. He didn’t speak the words, just sent them thru thought to those who needed to hear them. Narak and ghit closed in around his console and also studied the lone man, sitting in the dark behind his shelter.

“He will do.” Said Narak, who lead the species survival and research team. “We will move in across the top of his shelter, before he even knows were there we’ll have him in a beam lock. Everyone get ready.”

As he prepared, Narak thought of his mission and the reason he had taken it. The human race was at a crossroads between its technology and ability to control it. They could possibly leap into the stars and become another space faring species, or they could very easily destroy themselves. By collecting genetic material he made sure that even if they chose the latter option, they would never truly be lost.

“We’re ready.” Ghit thought to him. As the craft silently glided over the shelter of the human, he took aim with the beam lock, the moment the human was visible he turned it on and watched the large male freeze in position.

“Bring us around 30 degree’s and transport him directly to the infirmary.” Instructed Narak. Heading towards the medical facilities on the ship he wanted to make this as quick as possible. With just a few thousand more genetic samples he’d have a database large enough to restart the human race, if it came to that.

Walking into the examination room Narak knew right away something was wrong. Ghit lay in a heap against the far wall and the human was nowhere to be seen. He made his way as quickly as he could to his fallen comrade, all the while listening for his thoughts. Finally touching him on the shoulder Ghit stirred and then pulled away from him.

“He’s gone!” Ghit thought to Narak, “First he attacked me and then somehow he got away, and he’s GONE!”

“A human has never gotten away from us before, we’ll have to find out how this happened.” Narak thought back.

“BUT HE’S GONE!” Ghit thought as forcefully as he could.

“I know he’s gone.” Narak replied, “It’s just a human.”

“Not the human.” Ghit told him, his thoughts starting to rise again, “THE HUMAN HAS ABDUCTED LESON!”


"Hostage to the night"


Tom made it thru the backdoor of the cabin and headed straight for his gun cabinet. Finding it locked he tried to remember where he’d left the keys, then busted the glass with the head of the little gray alien he held tightly by the throat. Reaching inside he grabbed his 357 Magnum and placed it to the alien’s head.

“If you try ANYTHING!” He said, trying to sound as menacing as possible. He didn’t feel all that convincing, to be honest he was more then a little scared. He closed his eyes and quickly went over the last few minutes of his life, trying to somehow make sense of what had happened.

He’d been finishing off a beer when he noticed the craft come silently over his cabin. He tried to run but couldn’t. He couldn’t move at all. As it rotated ever so slightly a white light had shone forth and he felt himself being lifted off the ground. Gliding towards the craft he could see the entrance he was being pulled towards and knew instantly he was being kidnapped.

Anger, a fierce anger like he hadn’t felt in a very long time washed over him. The day had already been really bad and now he was helpless and being pulled towards he knew not what. As the rage filled his very soul he willed his fingers to move. They did. First one, then two, then he could clench his hand into a fist. Then he clenched the other hand as well. He did not know what held his body, he only knew that slowly but surely he was overcoming it.

Passing thru the portal he saw two small gray figures, one stood at a console that lined the wall to his left, the other was to his right and moving towards him. In the center of the room was a metal table that he was heading for. As the little gray alien came up to his right side, Tom reacted. With all the rage and anger that screamed from his depths he drove his arm out and grabbed the alien by the throat, slinging it up and over his body he got enough force into the throw to hit the far console, almost taking out the second little gray.

Instantly, whatever had held him was gone. He was on his feet and looking for the exit when the second alien pulled something from inside the console. It never got the chance to use whatever it had pulled. Tom grabbed it by the throat and slapped the device away. Then he made a run for the portal he’d came thru and dived out of the ship.

Thirty feet isn’t that far to fall, considering your jumping off an alien craft. That’s what he told himself as he hit the ground and rolled. Then he tried to get up and realized how wrong he was. Pain shot from every joint in his body and he briefly wondered how many bones he’d broken. Then he let the thought pass and ran for his back door.

He opened his eyes, hoping beyond hope he’d had a nightmare. A little gray alien stared down the barrel of his gun. In the absurdity of the moment Tom asked the only question he thought a good host should ask.

“So, you want a beer?


"Facing the end"


Leson wasn’t sure what to do. Over and over he tried to remember what he’d been taught about humans. He knew they were dangerous, they reacted fiercely when cornered or frightened and they had no problem killing whatever it was that threatened them. This was a beast, plain and simple, and it had taken him.

He had no way to let this creature know he did not mean him any harm. Thought transfer devices were used to probe the minds of humans and reassure them while they were being studied and genetic samples were taken, they were even used to erase the memories when the study was complete. But he had no thought transfer device with him.

Another thought slowly crept into the back of Lesons mind, it was hot, he could not survive long in this environment.


"Decisions, decisions, decisions"


“You have made a mockery of us!” Dant thought to his entire crew. “No one has ever lost a human, EVER!”

“We are still not sure what happened.” Narak thought in reply.

“There will be time for excuses and explanations later.” Dant replied. “Right now tell me of the condition of Leson.”

“He’s over heating, the nitrogen in their atmosphere is destroying his lungs and his vascular system is starting to fail.” Ghit replied.

“Without a line of site we can’t simply go in and take him.” Narak thought to the leader. “The humans weapon is against Lesons head.”

“I know the options we have.” Dant replied. “ I have to make contact with those that can help.”

Narak didn’t reply, but inside he knew this was going to look SO bad when it was reported to the grand council.


"When dawn comes"


Tom stared silently at the little gray, now securely duct taped to one of his kitchen chairs. The barrel of his gun was pressed tightly against its head and held securely there with tape as well. They had stared at each other all night and waited for what was to come.

Occasionally Tom would let go of the pistol and watch as the weight of it dragged the alien’s chin down into its chest. He’d then grab the grip and raise the head back up, just to continue staring into its eyes. He knew one thing for sure, if he was to die, this little bastard would be standing in line before the pearly gates right in front of him.

The jar of the phone ringing pulled him out of his thoughts, the sudden surprise had almost made him pull the trigger. The phone was on the other side of the room and he had to think for a moment about getting to it. Then he grabbed the front edge of the chair and pulled it along with him, never taking his finger off the trigger.

“Hello?” he said.

“Good morning Mister Crenshaw.” Came a cheery female voice on the other end.” It appears we have a situation on our hands.”

“Who are you and what the hell is that suppose to mean?” He shot back.

“I’m one of the people in your front yard.” She replied. “And we need you to let Leson, The little guy your holding, go.”

“You’re in the wrong part of the lot.” Tom replied, “You need to go out back, there’s a goddamn space ship hovering back there.”

“We know, we can see it from here.” She told him. “Listen Tom, can I call you Tom? My names Amanda, The space ship is the reason we’re here. We need you to let Leson go.”

“I need to know, that I’m going to be ok first.”

“You’re going to be ok Tom.” Amanda told him. “You’re going to come with us, to answer some questions, and Leson is going to go back to his ship, where he belongs. We don’t have much time Tom, Leson is dying.”

“What do you mean he’s dying, he looks just as gray now as he did when I grabbed him?” Tom told her.

“He can’t survive in our atmosphere.” Amanda told him. “Especially in the heat. If you don’t let him go he will not survive much longer.”

Tom thought on this for just a few minutes. He had never really been a hunter. He couldn’t remember anything he’d ever killed. He liked guns, but they were for his personal protection and for shooting at targets. He needed sleep to think about this, but he couldn’t, he just couldn’t

Grabbing the chair by the edge he dragged it across the room, thru his backdoor and onto the porch, then quickly stepped back inside.

The white light that had carried him aloft the night before instantly covered Leson and he began floating towards his ship. The weight of the gun kept the little alien from raising its head and Tom couldn’t help but think of how sad the whole scene truly was.

Stepping out onto the porch he yelled at the craft, “I WANT MY GUN AND MY CHAIR BACK!”


"The Crenshaw portfolio"


“I thought you people wore black.” Tom told Amanda.

“We used to.” She replied, “But the movies and world-wide web killed the mystique.”

She sat across from him in a summer dress and designer shades, looking very nice for an alien chaser.

“You still haven’t asked me any questions, or told me what you expect from me.” He told her. It had been two days since the abduction. He’d slept, wondered around the private base that he now called home and waited.

“Right now it’s enough just to study you.” She replied. “Were trying to figure out how you did it.”

“Did what?” He asked.

“How you got away from them. It’s never been done before.” She replied.

Tom didn’t say a word. He didn’t know what to say.

“We know they take our people, we know they are building a genetic database on mankind, but we don’t know why.” She continued. “Up until now we’ve had no option but to go along with them, we had no real way to fight back.”

“So what’s changed?” He asked.

“You Mr. Crenshaw.” She replied, “You have changed everything. Now we have a way to stop them.”


[edit on 8-7-2005 by mrwupy]

[edit on 8-7-2005 by mrwupy]

[edit on 8-3-2005 by worldwatcher]

Thats a good story you have so far, wumpy. I do hope your going to continue it.

I suppose there could be other chapters later on, the story does seem to set up the premise for them. Right now i'm just going to submit this and see how it does.

The most important thing is that the reader enjoys it. I appreciate your kind words my friend.

Wupy

I want more too. Of course you managed to include all the required elements but you did it in a very entertaining way. Mr. Crenshaw is very interesting character and you set up his frustration that justified his actions perfectly. Very well written.

The only thing that has me wondering about this is the edits at the end. According to them I edited the story twice on july 8, 2005. which was the day I wrote the story. This is true.

Then there is the edit from WW on march 8, 2005 which occurred four months before this story was ever written.

Perhaps WW should be promoted to SuperMod if she can do that

Here are the edits:

[edit on 8-7-2005 by mrwupy]

[edit on 8-7-2005 by mrwupy]

[edit on 8-3-2005 by worldwatcher]

This just struck me as odd.

Wupy