Watch Me
Levi shoved Lane through the door into the cafeteria.
A Space Security ships cafeteria was always a sight. Many other worldly races crammed together in one room always seemed to make his optical senses spaz for a moment. The translator in his ear picking up all the conversations in the room. Normally, he’d turn it off because of all the separate conversations would jumble the feed, but this time every race was focused on one topic.
There was a cow in the middle of the room. The tables had been moved to the edge so that the cook could take a good look at the animal the others had brought him. Any new food source was a highly prized item.
“That’s my stuff!” Lane said pointing at two duffle bags that had been emptied of their contents onto one of the tables.
“not anymore,” Levi said putting a hand on the boys shoulder, “your stuff is the price of your rescue.”
The cow let out a low moan and cantered to the side. The kid scrutinized the animal and Levi noticed the small hairs on the back of the boys neck stand straight up.
“that’s my families heifer!” He snapped, “you can’t kill it!”
Levi tightened his grip as the boy moved forward to knock the cook back. A few nearby crewmates chuckled at the boys exclamations.
“Another fee,” Levi said with a chuckle of his own, “rather cheep considering what others have to pay to get into space. Privilege of being abducted.”
The boys eyes widened as he came to realize his situation in full. The reality was starting to sink in; slowly, but surly. His headache coming back in full force.
The aliens in front of him were poking and prodding his fathers cow. The tag in the heifers ear telling anyone who cared to look who she belonged to.
“These guys are your shipmates till we make connections with the research vessel,” Levi said, “so you’re going to have to learn to share.”
“I see,” Lane grinned. He lifted his fingers to his lips and let out a high pitched whistle.
In less than a second the haunches bunched; a slight ripple traveling under the fur. The poor alien that was sitting behind the cow had no time to react. The hoof came up and slammed into one of its three eyes. Levi watched as the crewmates face caved in with the elasticity of a punched water balloon. The alien was lifted off the bench he sat on and thrown firmly into the wall behind; its arms flailing and out cold before he hit the ground. There was one breath as everyone stared; the cow bellowed and broke the spell, bunching up another kick. The heifer, so docile a second before was now a mad and raving beast of fury. It bellowed and stampeded everything that didn’t move fast enough, and a lot of them weren’t.
“Stop it!” Levi finally got ahold of himself and shook the boy. Lane shrugged. Some were able to make it out of the cafeteria, but most sought safe haven under the tables.
“No.”
“You stop that thing now!”
Three more crew members fell to the crazy heifers hooves.
“That’s my stuff and that’s my cow. Give back all my things and I’ll stop her.”
“That’s not your call boy!”
“It is now,” Lane said folding his arms and leaning back. Levi couldn’t believe this. Here this boy had just been rescued from pirates after being abducted and THIS is the thanks they get?! And where did this brat get off acting like this?! Sure the kid was pushing six feet...or more, but he couldn't be more than...whatever they were in high school these days!!
The cow was now destroying the tables making those hiding under them squeal in fear. Any other circumstance, Levi would have laughed, but this was going to be a problem.
“Fine!” Levi snapped, “stop that thing and all your stuff will be returned to you!”
Lifting his fingers again Lane let out a series of short low whistles. The cow slowly calmed down and sauntered over to Lane. The boy patted the spot between its eyes as she nuzzled his shirt.
“Good girl,” he said checking the tag, “good girl, Gretchen. Did those meeny-heads bother you? You are a good girl.”
“What was that?”
Lanes grin widened, “that is what my Uncle Rob calls ‘security’. Ever see someone try and steal a half crazed heifer from a grazing field?”
The boy only received a glare as an answer.
“Its not pretty. This is pretty tame by comparison.”
Levi looked around at the mess. Someone had already called the medic department and he shook his head. He was going to have a hard time explaining this one to the Captain.
title: Watch Me (or Five More Minutes!)(...its a work in progress)
genre: Fantasy/sci-fi
age range: YA and up
word count: sadly, its not done...not even close to being revised the first time...
author name: L. B.
why your project is a good fit: Because Sci-fi and Fantasy a two VERY different genres
with two very different fan bases and yet you often see stores and everyone blend the two together. I wanted to hit/welcome the niche fans out there that KNOW (and are picky about) the difference between the two and will LOVE the fun and fantastic journey my characters will go on as they expand their horizons.
the hook: Fantasy loving, SCA going farm boy out in the middle of a scifi adventure!
synopsis: The world is on the verge of change. Nations are getting ready to divulge that they've been in contact with aliens for decades, but in the middle of all this, abductions are slipping past their defenses?! How does one farm boy from the Appalachian Mountains change things for the rouge alien races?
target audience: I want to target fandoms as a whole. I want to poke that bear with a hot sick.
your bio: I'm an American Plains Gal born and raised; tornados in the spring, firefly's in the summer, and tornados in the fall (and winter is a guessing game). I've always been good at piecing things together. Knowledge is how you feed your imagination and study is very important to me. Even after graduation I do my own research and make it a point to learn new things.
platform: If I could turn this into a series that would be awesome, I could go after EVERY fandom and not pull ANY punches and we could ALL LAUGH together! we could have so much fun! Because this is fandom based, of course it needs to be promoted on tumbler and the like. I can totally start up a blog on there and such. The "Humans Are Space Orcs" community will have a FIELD day with this as well, mark my words.
education: I have a BS from BYU-I.
experience: I've had a poem(The Sound(after Mary Olivers The Sun)) published in the journal Outlook done by BYU-I.
personality / writing style: I prefer an easy writing style. Those that like Percy Jackson, Will Save The Galaxy For Food, Space Team, False Prince, and The Thief will find my writing as enjoyable to take in.
likes/hobbies: Reading, Flower Arranging, Mowing the Lawn, Burring Wood, Collecting Books, Working, Hanging out with Family, doing nice things for people.
hometown: Milford, Kansas
age: 30s