ALIENS OUT WEST Part 1Levi Perkins was puzzled as he counted the number of cattle again, then asked his partner Stan Collins to check for him. “You,re right Pard! There are six more cows missing!” Stan confirmed. “That makes sixteen this past week missing. No sign of tracks of rustlers taking them or cougars. It,s as though they flew away!” Perkins sighed. “The boss Ain,t gonna be very happy.” Stan groaned. “Nothing for it. My job to tell him again!” “I,ll back you up Pardner.” “I been around sixty four years on this God given earth an, never seen the likes!” Jim Tracey sighed. “I,d report itbto the Sheriff if I thought it,s do good.” “You Know it Ain,t just your spread losing cows! Jack Springer lost twenty head and Turk Benson almost thirty.” Perkins added as the three surveyed the grass land where a herd of cows grazed peacefully. “Reckon there,s onlynone Thing to do fellas, camp,out here and try to catch ether Who or What,s stealing our cows!?” Tracey suggested. “Okay Boss!” The puzzled hands agreed. They road over to the neighbouring spread to confer with Jack Springer, then Turk Benson, then with supplies to last a night in the open set off to see if they could catch the culprit(s) in the act. They camped near a large herd of white faced cows and began the wait. Sleeping in the open was no stranger to men used to transporting illegal bahis large herds of cattle and horses over long distrances and when Night fell they were eating meagre rations of bully bacon, beans and bread washed down with bitter coffee. After eating they sat in their bed rolls while Turk Benson played a sad tune on his harmonica and Stan Collins sang in a pleasant tenor a sad Irish melody dedicated to lost love. They then tried to outdo each other with scared what they claimed to be true ghost stories so by the time they got under the covers, two men assigned to stay awake and keep watch while the others slept their imaginations were open to anything. Stan and Turk were on first watch and by 2am all had remained quiet so they woke up Levi and Zack for the next period, a fresh cup,of strong coffee ready for them. All remained quiet till about 3:30 when a strange bright light appeared directly overhead and began to descend toward the cows. Alerted the guards woke the others and then fascinated they observed as the light drew nearer and a shape began to emerge till a long metallic object hovered about fifty feet over them. They could make out a number of small windows shaped a bit like port holes on a ship and a very bright light that seemed to pulse along the length of the object. “Never seen the likes o, illegal bahis siteleri that thing!” Levi gasped in surprise. “Must be something the Devil spawned.” Stan groaned. They watched as the “ship” drew closer then a long even brighter light began to rise from somewhere inside the craft and moved down toward the cattle below. Fascinated they watched as the intense beam selected a large heifer, then lifted the struggling a****l into the air and back toward the craft. In a matter of minutes the cow had disappeared apparently into the hovering craft. “Don,t know who or what that is, but it,s stealing my cows” Jim Tracey picked up his Winchester 30/06 rifle, jacked a cartridge into the breech and took aim at the metallic craft picking out one of the windows. He fired, the sound of his weapon piercing the night calm, but nothing happened. The others now opened fire with rifles and hand guns, but the bullets seemed to do no damage. The bright light now lowered itself again toward the men. Stan continued to fire his rifle at the strange craft till he felt himself lifted into the air. He felt his body being carried toward the machine, then blacked out. “Stop shooting. You,ll hit Stan!” Levi shouted and their shooting ceased immediately. The bright light had now disappeared, the craft suddenly lifted silently and canlı bahis siteleri rose into the sky till it disappeared from sight completely. “What in God,s name was that?” Turk asked. “ I don,t know, but that,s what,s been taking our cows and now it,s got poor Stan. “ Jim sighed. “We have to tell Sheriff Spencer now!” Jack reasoned. “Yeah and we better do it now though don,t know how he,s gonna chase down little men from Space!” “Not sure What was in that mochine, but think poor Stan is dead by now. Stan Wasn,t dead. Stan was lying on a metal table of some kind as he gazed at a long line of windows opposite. He was bound by what appeared to be straps of strong material similar to leather at his ankles and wrists so he couldn,t move except to move his head from side to side. His gun belt and 45 had been removed but his clothing was still in place. He had not seen any creature of any sort since he,d regained some sort of consciousness and wondered if he was asleep by the camp fire and was simply having a night mare. When a face suddenly appeared over him he knew he was dreaming as the eyes seemed too large, no mouth or nose to speak of and the face seemed opaque. Then reason took over and he surmised whatevervwas observing him must be wearing some sort of mask. A second face appeared only a few feet away, then a strange voice suddenly spoke in a language Stan could not make sense of. The first masked creature responded in the same type of language and they moved away to where Stan could see them communicating with each other occasionally glancing in his direction. TBC