Starseed (9 page)

“
I know, Jim. I know. Come on Kole, let's see what we're dealing with.” 

The dried-out fall weeds brushed against Kole's denim jeans as he walked behind the Sheriff
. A heavy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. “There aren't any footprints except Sandborns’ and ours,” he commented, all the time suspecting he already knew who killed the horses.

The Sheriff stopped and Kole started snapping digital pictures
. “It doesn't look like anyone or anything was near the animals,” the sheriff said and sighed in confusion, pushing his Stetson back on his head.

Kole pushed some more tall weeds out of the way to get a closer look at one of the horses
.
Damn, I was right. The Grays have been here.
“Here, this looks like some kind of entry wound.”  Knowing how the Grays worked, he pushed the horse’s mane out of the way. “It's some kind of small puncture wound.”  The Grays weren’t supposed to be in this area. He’d report them to the Intergalactic Council, but that wouldn’t help these poor critters.

Sheriff Thomas bent down to get a closer look
. “There's no

blood
on the wound or on the ground, looks too small and clean for a bullet. We'll see what the vet says. Let's check the others, see if that mark is on them, too.” 

Kole knew it would be a waste of time
. He knew he’d find the same tiny bloodless mark on each animal, but he had to play along. It wasn’t like he could tell Elle’s dad he was an alien and the Grays did it. He moved to the next animal. “Yes, it’s here, in the same area.”  The Grays had been reprimanded by the Intergalactic Council countless times, but there were always some rogue players who did what they wanted, when and where they wanted.

“
Yep, same over here. That makes all six with the same wound. I wonder why they left the burro alive?”  Sheriff Thomas frowned and looked up into the bright sunshine. “I hope Doc can give us some answers and shed some light on this situation. I sure don't want to tell Jim his animals have been shot.”

“
I guess it would be better than telling him the aliens did it.”  Kole was so deep under cover it was funny. “I don't understand why that's the conclusion everyone jumps to when something happens around here. Why are the citizens so afraid?”

“
Son, things aren't always as they seem. It's different out here on the high plains. And I'll be the first to tell you. During my years as sheriff, I've seen some pretty strange things.”

“
Like what?”  He had read the sparse records from the Council. From afar, they tried to keep track of the happenings around Sweetwater to protect the ancient disks in the caves so he knew most of the events, but a firsthand account would be invaluable.

“
There have been twenty-six unusual or unexplained livestock deaths since nineteen-eighty-nine. No arrests have been made. Mysterious livestock deaths have never stopped happening.”

“
Really. What kind of deaths? I don't understand.”

“
Animal mutilations. Mainly cattle.”

“
Mutilation.”  He knew how vicious the Grays could be. He hated what they did on their rampages throughout the galaxy. Such a waste. He breathed in slowly through his nose. He had to continue the game. “Maybe it’s some kind of occult or devil worship group.”

The Sheriff tipped the brim of his Stetson and grinned
. “Some folks do say that, but those are usually the ones who don't have the facts.”

“
Go on, enlighten me.”  Kole glanced across the field of dead animals and felt anger consuming him, another of those new emotions. It was like his body was burning from the inside out at the sheer cruelty of these monsters. If only he could tell the sheriff he was a Starfleet Commander from another world trying to contain the violence of the Grays, helping to track them down and at the least keeping them contained to certain uninhabited galaxies.

Yeah, like that would go over well
. Then it dawned on him why he was so upset about the Grays. He realized how much he had grown to like the Earthlings, male and female. They were all so very different with all those quirky emotions making each and every one of them completely unique.

“
Just last year, there was a two-thousand pound bull found dead and mutilated a few miles from here,” the sheriff said and frowned.

“
That's one big cow.”  Kole laughed, hoping to ease the tension, knowing all too well that the animal had died at the hands of the Grays. It was surreal, standing in the field of dead animals with the sun hung like a molten golden ball in the southwestern sky on this glorious day.

However, the scene was senselessly and sickeningly familiar
. He’d seen similar pictures from other worlds, but with him experiencing emotions his reaction was completely different. He was angry.

“
The thing is this bull was killed the same way as the others. Except the crazy part about this one was that somehow the animal had fallen through a tree.”

“
How's that?”  The Grays often played games trying to confuse the Earthlings and life forms on other planets.

“
Don't know how, just that it did. We could tell because of the way the branches were broken surrounding the animal. And when you looked up through the tree limbs it was obvious that it couldn't have happened any other way.”  He shrugged his shoulders. “The hide and tissue was removed from the head, sexual organs, and rectal area, same as the other cattle mutilations.” 

The sheriff shook his head and brushed his hands against his pants
. “There was no sign of struggle or tracks around the dead animal, not even its own tracks. Just the broken limbs and branches under and around where it fell.”  He glanced at Kole and raised his left eyebrow a fraction. “You tell me how someone or some thing lifted a two-thousand pound bull and let it fall through the trees without breaking any bones or leaving tracks.”

Kole glanced around the horses and let out a long, audible breath
. “I wouldn’t have a clue. And you're right. There aren't any animal tracks here, either. Only our footprints.” 
Play the game, Kole. Keep playing along with the sheriff's theory
.

“
Welcome to my world. This peculiar fact has provoked law enforcement to speculate the mutilators come in and out of pastures from the sky.”

Kole shook his head in what he hoped looked like wonder, playing his part to the hilt
. He liked the sheriff and not being able to tell him the truth didn’t sit well. “That would explain the absence of footprints.”

“
Yes. Many ranchers have also thought their mutilated animals had been cut with lasers because of the bloodless nature of the excisions.”

“
How can that be?”  Kole stared at the dead animals strewn around the field with new eyes. “Of course, I've heard these kinds of stories, but I never put much stock in them.”  Kole tried to keep a poker face so the sheriff wouldn’t suspect he wasn’t telling him what he knew. “You're saying you've seen this stuff before.”

“
Yep. Several times,” the sheriff said. “I'll show you some of my old files complete with pictures. But the horses,” a tinge of exasperation came into his voice, “they are a new wrinkle.”

“
Then, maybe this is something different. I'd like to see those files sometime,” Kole said. He knew the Grays had been there, but he also knew there might be some information to lead him to who was causing mischief around Sweetwater as well.

“
I'll get them together for you.”  A red double cab pick-up truck drove down the dusty dirt road toward them. He glanced toward the road. “That's Doc. Let's go talk with him before Jim gets there.”

“
Yeah. What are you going to say?”  Kole knew the vet wouldn’t be able to pinpoint the cause of the animals’ deaths. Except for the entry wound, all evidence had been removed from the crime scene.

“
We'll play it by ear for now.”  The sheriff’s voice dropped in volume as they approached the Doc. “Doc, thanks for getting out here so soon. Looks like we have another situation on our hands.”

“
That's what Jim told me on the phone.”  The doc nodded toward Jim and the sheriff. “Are you fellas ready for me to have a go at it?”

“
Not quite. I want to get a few more pictures. It won't take us long,” the sheriff said.

“
Okay. I know the routine. I'll stay over here out of the way with Jim.”  The doc glanced toward Kole with a questioning look. “Who's your new deputy?”

“
Oh, this is Kole Stith, my photographer,” he answered in a tense, clipped voice that forbade any questions. “And, for your information, he isn't my deputy. You can tell your son the job is still open. If he’s interested he should come down and fill out an application.”

“
I’ll do that,” Doc said and turned toward Kole. “Have you ever seen anything like this where you come from?”

“
No, can't say that I have.” 
Thank goodness, the
Grays are no longer allowed around Mars.
He’d seen tons of photos, but seeing it up close and personal was another thing altogether.

“
You be careful there, Kole,” the Sheriff shouted from the field. “Those two will fill your ears with all kinds of stories.” 

Kole continued snapping pictures of different angles of the field and animals and started toward the fence where Jim stood.

“Doc, come on down. We have all the pictures I need. I want to show you something,” the Sheriff said, and bent down beside one of the horses.

Jim moved closer to Kole
. “Did you fellas find anything?” he asked. An uncertainty had crept into the man’s expression.

Kole suspected he couldn’t handle the truth and shrugged
. “There are some tiny marks on the animals, kind of like a puncture wound. Not sure what it is. Maybe the Doc will know.”

“
Puncture wounds? I didn't see anything.”  Sandborn frowned, obviously bewildered.

“
They're quite small and barely visible,” Kole said. Attention to tiny detail, and having an idea it was the Grays, was the only reason he had found them.

“
Oh, I see.”  Jim nodded.

“
Do you think they were shot?”

“
Maybe, but I really don’t know. The vet should be able to tell you more.”  Kole sighed.
They were shot all right. Shot with a laser beam.

“
I've talked to several of my friends this morning and they think it's the aliens. We know each other out here. We wouldn't be poisoning or shooting our own animals.”  Sandborn bit his lip, his anguish almost overwhelming his control. “That's our livelihood.” 

Kole ran a hand through his hair and shook his head.
“It's a real mystery.”

“
Not so much to me.”  The rancher frowned at Kole. “They always come this time of year.”  Sandborn shivered and glanced at the empty sky. “Unusual animal deaths have long been associated with unidentified lights and beams in the sky and pastures and odd silent black helicopters are the norm around here this time of the year.”

“
Have you personally seen anything like that?”  Kole knew the black helicopters were sent from the Earth’s secret undercover government. They always arrived after a sighting or incident of this kind.

Sandborn nodded and then rubbed his eyes as if in pain, squeezing back unshed tears
. “I remember when I was a kid. I stayed on the porch with my daddy some nights. Sometimes in the fall he would get his shotgun and guard our cattle at night.” 

“
Did you see anything?” Kole asked.

He nodded
. “Yeah, we heard odd humming noises and saw strange lights moving across the southwestern sky. The next day we found two of our cows out on the back forty mutilated.”

“
I mean, lately.”  Was it only the Grays or were others involved in the happenings at the ranch? He searched the man’s thoughts. Sandborn spoke the truth as he knew it.

“
A few times. Why now that you mention it, just the other night when I was coming home after feeding the cattle, I saw some strange lights and those black shapes in the sky over that way.”  He pointed toward the High Mountain Array.

“
So these black helicopter sightings happen often around here?”  In the past, the Men in Black had become a pain in his backside at times, but the idea behind them was solid.

“
Yeah. There are two air force bases, Northcom and the Space Command Center not far from here. We jokingly say they moved Area 51 over to Peterson Air Force Base.”   He shivered, again. “Doesn't feel like a joke today.”

Sheriff Thomas walked up to them
. “Well, Jim, I've done what I can do here. Doc is going to be run some tests. He says they may have been shot or possibly poisoned, but won't know anything until he gets the results back.”

Jim kicked the dirt
. “Right. Guess that's all we can do.”  Defeat settled across the rancher’s shoulders like a heavy wet blanket weighing him down. “Thanks for coming out.”   He turned back to the fence, gazing out at what was left of his beloved animals.