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physically, anyway. Being on Earth had affected him in strange ways. His mind was a jumble of information, his senses bursting with images, sensations and need. He had to be careful.
    It was the emotions he was ill-prepared to deal with . The fact he was thinking about her this way didn’t bode well. Unused to the almost overwhelming feelings for Elle swamping through him, he sat back and rubbed his head to relieve the pressure building there. Starseeds were forbidden. His values, strength of will and sense of purpose would keep him on track. He wouldn’t jeopardize this mission. He took several deep breaths and gazed out across the valley, not yet totally accustomed to the endless supply of fresh air and the never-ending horizon surrounding him. Everything was so different. So much better.
    For a moment, he rested his hands loosely on his knees, inhaling deeply . There was a depth of utter peace and calm about him when he thought of being with Elle. It seemed a weary person like himself could rest there in the pool of quiet and let go of the tangles of tension in his soul.
    A small voice in his head murmured, “Kol-Sun, be cautious. Remember the words of the Ancient One.”
    For a single moment, Kole looked down at the wolf and their eyes met, a single moment that felt to Kole as if the rest of everything hung in the balance . He sighed. “Of course, Ari. You’re right.”   
    * * *
    Elle and Sara parked in Herman's long graveled driveway. “Doesn't look like anybody's around.”  His white clapboard house sat in the middle of the grassy yard, protected by the rolling hills surrounding it. All kinds of colorful birdhouses that Herman had made hung in the nearby trees. Birds chirped and flew around the houses, searching for seed, providing a peaceful, almost Disney-like atmosphere.
    “ I see his work truck,” Sara pointed toward an older beat-up blue Ford. The truck sat parked next to the barn. “Let's go see if he’s inside working with the horses.”
    They headed toward the faded red barn as Herman ran from behind the house .
    “ You made it.”  Breathless, he rushed to meet them with a happy gleam in his eyes. “I was putting birdfeed in my houses out back. I. . . I wasn't sure if you'd come, but I’m so glad you did.”
    “ We said we would. What do you have to show us?”  Elle smiled to put him at ease. “Where is it?”
    “ Come in the house. I have pictures of my abduction.”
    “ Pictures?”  Elle shot Sara a look of amazement. “You have pictures?”   
    “ Yes. Follow me.”  He walked them into his living room. It didn’t have much furniture, only a brown Lazy Boy recliner, small sofa and lots of magazines on the floor stacked neatly against the coffee table.
    He led them into a back room . The walls were covered with newspaper clippings about aliens, flying saucers and every other space creature Elle could imagine. He had bought out the tabloids at the grocery store and covered the walls with them. Numerous canvas paintings were stacked throughout the place, picture side facing the walls.
    “ I painted them,” Herman said, reaching for one of the pictures. “Here’s the space ship I saw last year.”  He turned the painting toward them. It was a huge black mass with pulsating lights. “I was able to get away that time, but two days later they came back and got me.”  
    Elle and Sara glanced at each other . Sara must have recognized the familiar sight, too, but neither reacted. The paintings wouldn’t be proof to anybody else, but they were proof to her and Sara.
    “ And this one is on the ship.”  He flipped another picture around for them to see. “Them doing tests on me.”  He shivered and turned another painting toward them. In this one he was strapped to a metal table with two gray aliens with large heads and blank black eyes standing over him, just like Elle had seen in her mind.
    “ Ya know those aliens didn’t show up until after they built them dish-shaped