Catch and Release Ch. 01

Flying saucers, and alien abduction meant nothing more to Timothy Logan than a tired plot for a B movie, until the summer of '06.

The summer of '06 also turned out to be one of the hottest on record. An El Nino wreaked havoc with the Jet Stream. Strange weather patterns kept the meteorologists up late, pouring over maps of cold fronts and warm fronts, high-pressure and low-pressure systems.

Perhaps low barometric pressure caused Timothy to break up with Gloria -- his girlfriend of three months -- as well. Although, Gloria insisted that it was his philandering. Tim had to look the word up. How could he be guilty of something he didn't even know the meaning of? Timothy found out: ignorance of the dating law is no excuse.

Their relationship had already run its intercourse. They were fundamentally incompatible, other than sexually. She wanted a metropolitan existence and he wanted a life distant from concrete canyons. His new job as the manager of "Life on the Edge Outfitters" would take him to Minnesota in September, and Tim wanted to spend his last months back east high in the mountains, unattached.

That was his plan. But plans, like promises, are made to be broken.

By the time he arrived at his father's hunting camp, the black flies were gone, and it was possible to go outside without being eaten alive. Still early in the season, most of the other camps were unoccupied, so he had the lake pretty much to himself.

Because of the unseasonably hot weather, the shallow lake was already warm enough to swim in without the fear of instant hypothermia. To wash off the day's sweat and grime, Tim began taking a swim every night before bed and, since no one was around, he swam nude. Tim had never skinny-dipped, until that summer. It turned out to be the wrong time and place, because when the aliens abducted him, he was literally caught with his pants down.

Standing at the end of the dock, already dried off and about to get dressed, a spotlight from above suddenly illuminated Tim. At first, he thought it was a helicopter, and then realized there was no sound. Unbelievably, his feet lifted off the dock and he had the sensation of being transported through a tunnel of light. Shortly thereafter, he blacked out.

Tim awoke in a room so bright and so white, there were no shadows to indicate the corners, or to distinguish the walls from the ceiling. He was strapped down in what resembled a dentist's chair. Everything was silent.

This had to be a bad dream -- food poisoning. 'I'll never eat leftover chicken salad again.'

From behind the chair stepped a small, gray man, about four feet tall, just like the ones he'd seen on the grocery store tabloid covers. The little guy had a balloon shaped head with bug eyes. His arms were thin and didn't appear to have joints. They squirmed like tentacles. His hands consisted of tiny, round palms with four long fingers.

As much as Tim wanted to tell him how cute his fat head would look over the mantle in the cabin, all his muscles felt immobilized -- drugged like a frog for dissection. The dwarf alien walked around and checked the bonds. His inadvertent touch felt hot.

After he disappeared behind the chair, his big brother stepped out. His features looked about the same, except this one stood over six feet tall. 'Big brother' was a generic term. Tim saw no indication of gender on either alien's body. For that matter, he couldn't tell if they even wore clothes. Their surface appeared uniform and seamless.

Big brother reached up, pulled down a helmet with blinking lights, and placed it over Tim's head. It reminded him of a motorcycle helmet with a full-face shield. He couldn't see anything, until he heard a click and a movie began to play on a video screen. Visually, it was like a miniature Imax theater.

The first scene showed a jumbo jet in flight over a large expanse of water. Soon, one of the port engines began to smoke and then explode -- blowing off the wing. The fuselage broke apart in midair. Beams of light shot out from the direction of the camera and caught passengers as they fell.

The screen went dark and then one word appeared: SPECIMENS

Terrified, Tim couldn't do anything but sit tight.

His visor lit up once again, and he watched a group of about twenty adults being sorted by gender. When they were gone, the only person that remained in the room was an infant.

The screen went dark, until another single word appeared: PET

Tim's skin became clammy.

A new scene showed the infant in the arms of a child-sized alien, with the parent aliens standing behind them. It appeared to be an important family event, like the responsibility of raising your first puppy.

The screen went black. Then: TWENTY-FOUR YEARS LATER

The helmet lifted from Tim's head. It took a few seconds for his eyes to adjust, before they focused enough to see a door had opened. Nothing happened for a minute, and then a face peeked around the doorframe, a female face, with blue eyes and long blond hair.

Looking like Lady Godiva reincarnated, she edged warily into the room. The long hair covered most of her chest, but she was plainly nude. After two steps forward, she stopped.

One of the tall aliens walked up beside her, and they seemed to converse in sign language. The alien left the girl and moved next to Tim. It put one hot hand on Tim's leg and beckoned to the young woman with the other, as if saying, "See. There's nothing to be afraid of."

Tim assumed the alien must be the owner and this was the pet girl he'd seen in the video. What he didn't understand was what they wanted with him.

The blonde approached cautiously. When she stood beside the alien, it rubbed her back soothingly. They stood and inspected Tim for a few minutes, until everyone relaxed... except Tim.

Then the alien made some signs to the blonde.

The girl didn't respond, but she blushed.

When the alien poked Tim's penis with a hot finger, he guessed the topic of conversation.

After some more signs were exchanged, the girl reached out and ran a finger over it.

His body betrayed him, and responded with a lusty will of its own. He tried to fight the physical reaction, but did not have the self-control to overcome the pleasure of her touch.

She became emboldened by his body's strange response. With further encouragement from the alien, the blonde gripped his shaft and inspected it, apparently curious about this new human's physical peculiarities.

Tim guessed the alien was teaching her about the birds and the bees, and he was the lab rat-bee. Was this some weird sex education class, or worse yet, the first step in their breeding process?

The blonde moved her hand to his scrotum and squeezed his testicles roughly.

The excruciating pain deflated the erection almost immediately. Tim would've screamed if it were possible.

After a quick command from the alien, the blonde removed her hand and made an apologetic face and sign toward Tim, then turned away with what looked like embarrassment.

The alien grabbed her arm. They seemed to argue, until finally the alien left the room and closed the door.

The woman stood by the wall and watched Tim.

The straps around his arms and legs released. He felt mobility gradually return to his limbs. A short while later, he was able to stand.

Bent over with his hands on his knees, he asked, "Can you speak?"

The woman's eyes grew large.

"I guess that's a no." He rubbed his balls, and said, "Lesson 1: Be gentle, they're sensitive."

She seemed to understand his gestures and gave him the same 'I'm sorry' sign.

"I get the impression you're unfamiliar with the male anatomy." Tim walked gingerly around the room, as he talked. "Is that why I'm here? Are we supposed to breed a new litter for their amusement?"

She stared at him with wide-eyed amazement. The fact that he spoke aloud seemed to fascinate her.

"Say something. Did they remove your larynx?"

Out of curiosity, he walked over and lifted her unresisting arm. No armpit hair. There was no hair on her arms, legs or groin. "Looks like they groom you pretty well."

She smiled when he put her arm down gently. Apparently, modesty was unknown to her.

Tim stood close to her. She didn't smell bad. In fact, he couldn't smell her at all. "What have they done to you?" Uncharacteristically, he felt compassion, and cupped her cheek with his palm.

She closed her eyes and leaned into his caress.

"Oh no you don't." He stepped an arms length away.

The young woman frowned.

"You certainly know how to express your feelings like a chick." He pointed at himself, and said, "Tim." Then pointed at her. "What's your name?" After several repetitions, he pointed at her, and said "Eve. You can say that, can't you? Eve."

When he said, "Eve." She pointed at herself.

Surprised by her comprehension, he said, "Tim," and she pointed at him.

"Well, you're smart enough, anyway."

When Tim smiled, she returned it. Eve definitely had feminine charm.

Tim turned and spoke to the ceiling. "What did you assholes think was going to happen? Did you think you could put any guy in here and he'd bang her, just because she's beautiful and easy?"

He spun and faced her. Smiling, he said, "Eve, are you easy? Do you want it? Do you want to get fucked?"

Eve's smile broadened as he approached.

"You know, you are a hottie."

When he was inches away, he looked down into her upturned face, and whispered, "You are in the United States now. You have inalienable rights, like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

Shyly, she looked away from his steady gaze.

"You're not some animal they can pamper and breed on impulse." Brushing her cheek with the back of his hand, he added, "You are a human being. You have emotions and imagination, hopes and dreams. You are not a pet."

Eve closed her eyes, and turned her head into his touch.

"If you knew what a philanderer I was, you wouldn't be so interested." Tim steeled himself against his desire, and took her hand. He led her over to the chair and pointed. "Chair."

She smiled.

He pointed at himself. "Tim." At her, "Eve." At the chair, "Chair."

Tim said, "Chair," and waited.

Eve seemed to immediately understand the game, and pointed correctly.

He laughed, and said, "Oh, you are smart."

The sound of his laugh intrigued her and she touched his lips.

He made a fake laugh into her open palm, and said, "Laugh." Then he pointed at the chair, and said, "Laugh."

A furrowed brow revealed Eve's confusion.

Still pointing at the chair, Tim said, "Laugh?" with the raised sound of a question, and then shook his head side to side, and said, "No". Then he said, "Chair," nodded and said, "Yes."

Understanding didn't register on her face at first, and then she smiled, as if the light went on.

Pleased with his student's acuity, Tim put her to the test. Pointing at her, he asked, "Tim?"

She grinned, and shook her head 'no'. When he pointed at himself, she nodded yes.

Suddenly, Eve pointed at the chair and made a sign.

"Oh man! You're turning the tables on me." He copied her hand motion.

In pure joy, she spun around in some kind of impromptu happy dance.

Tim laughed with a real joy of his own, appreciating how thrilled she must feel to be able to communicate with another human for the first time in her life. Then, the sudden realization sobered him. What if this was the last chance she'd ever have?

She sensed his mood shift and stopped spinning to stare at him with concern.

"Eve, this isn't right." Tim yelled at the ceiling, "You can't do this to us! Don't you have PETA where you're from?" He went on a rampage for several minutes, tearing at the chair, banging on the wall where the door should've been, shouting, "Let us go!" along with a stream of obscenities.

His companion watched with amazed curiosity, following him at a distance from place to place.

When emotions ran dry, he sat on the floor and put his head on his knees.

Eve sat beside him and put her head on his shoulder.

Tim stayed quiet and thought things over. If the aliens had kept Eve for over twenty years, they obviously had some kind of attachment to her and were not going to let her go. Then he wondered out loud, "What are they going to do with me?"

He looked at Eve, and she smiled.

"Are they going to kill me?"

She just gazed into his eyes and rubbed her smooth cheek against his shoulder.

"What if I give them what they want? Would they let me go, then?"

Eve continued to smile at his calm demeanor.

"You are very beautiful. I could easily do what they want." Tim pressed his lips to her forehead, and said, "Kiss." He kissed the tip of her nose. Then he gently kissed her lips, and sat back to observe the reaction.

Her eyes were closed, and she looked lost in a world of new and inviting sensations.

When those ocean-blue eyes peeked to see where the lips had gone, he asked, "Kiss?"

She grinned and nodded, yes.

Cupping her face in his hands, Tim gave her his best effort. It started soft and grew to passionate. He opened his mouth and tickled her lips with his tongue. On cue, the good pupil followed his example and applied what she'd learned. The kiss became more. His hands slipped down her back and pulled her tight against his chest.

The new rush of skin contact momentarily took Eve's breath away, and then her hands were rubbing his back, wantonly in response.

Tim moved down to nuzzle her neck and shoulders, while laying her back. With practiced self-assurance, his hands crept up Eve's sides and fondled her breasts.

Her chest heaved with gulps of air, but no other sound emanated from her lips. When he suckled for the first time, she arched and trembled. Her fingers raked his scalp.

He pressed her down with his weight and his erection touched her thigh.

Eve reached under and grabbed hold of it.

A vision of Eve, giving birth to their child among a crowd of aliens, made him suddenly break away and shout, "NO!"

Distressed, Eve sat up and reached out for him. She made air kisses, and nodded yes.

He backed all the way to the wall, and cried out, "I can't!"

****

When Tim entered the cabin, the mantle clock struck 2:00 am.

"What's wrong with that? I just wound it this morning."

After turning out the lights, he went into the bedroom, tired from his swim and ready for a good nights sleep. But the alarm clock next to the bed also read 2:00 am.

"How can that be? I didn't swim for four hours?"

The mystery of the missing time kept him awake for another hour.