Starseed (22 page)

Not now
. I don’t want to have a
vision. Not now.
She gripped the edge of the table. In her mind’s eye she saw a huge yellow bulldozer coming toward her. She struggled to get out of the way, but something pinned her down. It was going to run her down. The bulldozer dropped its sharp metal blade over her. She was going to die as she felt the crushing weight of the air from the enormous blade coming down on top of her. She gasped for breath and clutched her throat to get more air.
Danger. Personal danger.
Elle came to her senses and took a sip of water.

Dotty approached the booth with a look of concern shimmering in her eyes
.

Elle didn’t want to talk about it
. She had never had a vision of death about herself. A chill ran up her spine.
This freaks me out. My visions have always been about other people.

“
Honey, are you okay?”  Dotty refilled her water glass and reached over and touched her forehead. No fever, but you look pale. Can I get you anything?”

“
No, I’m just a little bit tired.”  In a daze, she listened to Dotty prattle on about the townspeople going crazy over a big rockslide out at the Array.

“
What did they say caused it?” Elle asked and tried to pull her thoughts together about the vision she had just experienced. She knew what had happened to the mountain, after all she and Kole were in the middle of it, but she couldn’t tell Dotty that.

Dotty poured her a cup of hot coffee
. “Well, some people say it was the aliens. And Bill said there was some kind of lightning strike that hit a huge boulder and somehow caused the whole thing to collapse. I guess half the mountain slid down. He was amazed that much of the mountain caved in. He said when it happened it sounded like a giant freight train coming through the Array.”

“
Did anybody get hurt?”  She hoped she and Kole hadn’t inadvertently caused harm to anyone.

Please don’t let anyone be injured because of what we did
. Elle sipped her coffee and listened to Dotty wondering if the crooks got caught in the rockslide.

“
No, luckily, nobody ever goes to that part of the Array. You know some of that government land is off limits to everybody.”  She popped her gum. “Bill is going to take me out there to show me where it happened. When that mountain came tumbling down it must’ve been something to see.”

“
Yeah, I can only imagine.”  Elle shivered, remembering being inside it as tons of rocks had fallen around her and Kole. They had been choking on the dust and debris. She remembered how Kole had rescued her. Once more, he had saved her life. She sighed deeply, so happy he had come for her. That he was the man of her dreams and an incredible lover was an added bonus. She couldn’t keep from smiling.

“
Dotty, can you bring me a refill?” a man shouted from across the room.

“
Hold your horses, Joe, it’s not as if you haven’t had any coffee today. I’ll be there in a minute.”  She turned back to Elle and laughed. “It’s his third cup. Some folks just can’t get enough of my coffee. But back to what we were talking about. You can mark my words. I think there’s something funny going on out at the Array.”  She turned and went to warm up Joe’s coffee.

Yeah, Dotty, you might say that
.
Elle sipped her coffee and waited for Kole and Sara. Everything that had happened to her seemed like a dream as she sat there with her thoughts focused on Kole. She had been on other planets, heard a voice from an Ancient One, made love with Kole and was truly Kole’s soul mate in every sense of the word. Life couldn’t be much better. So much had happened in such a short time. She sipped her coffee trying to digest everything.

Being that far away had made her appreciate her home and friends, but as Kole had said, nobody had enough time to miss her
. And that in itself was amazing. Even though it seemed that she had been gone for days she hadn’t been gone that long, only overnight. The big news at the diner was the rockslide at the Array last night. That’s what the customers were buzzing about today. At least they weren’t talking about her.

She, Kole and the crooks were the only ones who knew what really happened out there and she wasn’t about to tell anyone except her dad
. Once again, the crooks crossed her mind. Were they still alive? Yes, she felt it in her heart. They didn’t get hurt. Somehow they survived. She sighed. If only she could figure out who they were.

She and Kole would go to her dad’s office after lunch and tell him about the crooks
. She sighed again. How would her father take to this new information about the High Mountain Array? How on Earth would she tell him that Kole is an alien?

“
There you are. I was so glad you called this morning. I was worried about you.”  Sara slid into the booth across from her. “You sounded so strange on the phone last night, as if you were a million miles away.”  She sighed.

“
Can you tell me what happened to the mountain? I know there’s more to it than what you’re saying. I have this feeling something traumatic happened to you.”

It was so good to see Sara
.
Being on other worlds makes me appreciate what I have here on Earth.
“Well, it has been an adventure.”

“
Hi Sara, want some coffee while you decide what you girls want to eat?”  Dotty appeared out of nowhere carrying a steaming pot in one hand and an order pad in the other. She always kept a good eye on her favorite customers.

“
Sure, thanks, Dotty.”  Sara glanced back at Elle. “There’s something different about you. What have you done to yourself?”  Not content to just sit there, she gave Elle the onceover. “I can’t put my finger on it, but you’ve done something.”  She frowned trying to figure out what was different about Elle, while she listened to Dotty.

“
You girls need to be careful around town and out at the Array. There’s odd stuff going on.”  She refreshed their cup once more. “Some folks have said they saw strange lights in the sky last night. As far as I’m concerned, I think the aliens are back.”  She went off to wait on someone else.

Sara turned back to Elle
. “Dotty is right. Strange things are happening. What really caused that rockslide? Did you and Kole have something to do with it? When I didn’t hear from you, I was so scared that something terrible happened to you.”

“
Kole kept me safe the whole time. I don’t know what I would’ve done without him.”  She glanced around the diner making sure nobody could hear what she had to share with Sara. She barely whispered as she explained what happened.

“
You’ve got to be kidding.”  Sara’s eyes grew round in amazement and her brow wrinkled with confusion. “You mean there are men out there masquerading as aliens and stealing gold.”  She shook her head. “That explains a lot of things. And you were right. You always said they weren’t real aliens.”

“
Yes, they’re the ones who took us. I’m sure of it. They were wearing the same alien masks. Kole and I found this area made up to look like some kind of alien spacecraft and there were all kinds of stage makeup lying around.”  “They did it to make us believe what we were seeing was the real thing.” 

She glanced around to make sure nobody was listening
. “It was the same place where they strapped us to the metal tables. And there was this helicopter made to look like a triangular spaceship with flashing lights hooked to it.”  Ella sighed and decided then and there she would tell Sara everything as soon as she had a chance to discuss it with Kole. “It’s what they use to scare everybody with. All along, they were fake.”  She sipped her coffee.

“
I should’ve trusted my instincts. That’s what you said and I didn’t believe you.”  Sara shivered. “I’m so sorry. They looked real to me.”  She moved closer to Elle. “I’ll never forget them putting that mask over my face and waking up in the dirt in Red Rock Canyon. I guess they must’ve drugged us to make us sleep.”  She sighed. “When will I learn you’re always right?”  She shook her head and smiled at Elle.

Elle hesitated for a heartbeat
. “There are other things I need to tell you.”

“
Like how you got those beautiful golden highlights in your hair? That’s what’s different. I really like them. Who did your hair and when?”  Sara sipped her coffee. It looks great.

What golden highlights?
”  Elle glanced into the mirror on the wall by their booth. There wasn’t anything different when she did her hair this morning. Sure enough, strands of golden highlights framed her face and ran through her long blonde hair. She ran her hand through her hair. Actually, they looked nice. She couldn’t have done them as well herself.

“
Oh, these.”  She continued to run her fingers through her long hair. “I felt like I needed a change and did them myself.”

“
Great job. I’m impressed.”  She stared at Elle and squinted her eyes frowning.

“
Let me see, you chased fake aliens, survived a cave-in and had time to do your hair?”  She raised an eyebrow. “What are you not telling me?”  Her gaze nailed Elle to the booth.

How much should she reveal to Sara
? She wanted to tell Sara everything, but she needed to talk to Kole first. Before Elle could answer, Kole slid into the booth beside her.

“
Hello, ladies. You both look so serious. What’s up?”

“
Well, there you are, you handsome thing.”  Dotty hurried over to the booth, snapping her gum and grinned at Kole. “We missed you last night.” 

She glanced at the girls and laughed
. “He knows I do my baking right before closing and normally he’s here every night for my fresh baked apple pie.”  Dotty poured Kole a cup of coffee. “It just wasn’t the same without you here waiting for them to come out of the oven. I tried to keep the pies warm longer than usual, but at ten o’clock I gave up on you.”

He gave Dotty his killer smile
. “Yeah, I got tied up last night and couldn’t make it, but I thought about your great apple pies and I’m here now.”  He winked at Elle. “What’s good today? I’m starving.”

“
Well, honey, everything is good in my diner, but you might want to try today’s special. I highly recommend my famous pot roast.”  She grinned. “Why, folks come from all over the county when I make it. They just can’t get enough.”  She glanced at the girls then leaned over and whispered in his ear. “The secret is that I slow cook the meat all night and finish it off with the vegetables the next day. My pot roast melts in your mouth. You can’t go wrong with it.”

“
I’ll trust you to know best. It sounds like heaven to me. I would eat anything you put in front of me and if you say it’s good, I know it is.”  He grinned at Dotty. “I’ll have that and a slice of your apple pie. He turned toward Elle with a look of love crossing his face reminding her of what they’d shared.

She smiled at him and couldn’t help but remember how much they wished they had Dotty’s food when they were stranded on that awful planet with the Ant People
. She shivered at the thought of that creepy thing watching her in the cave. “I’ll have the same,” Elle said, “even the pie.”

“
Well, if that’s what everyone else is having, I guess I’ll go for it, too.”  Sara laughed and handed Dotty the menus. She glanced between Elle and Kole. “Gee, Elle, you even had time to highlight Kole’s hair as well.”  She smiled. “You two sure have been busy since the last time we all talked.”  She stirred her coffee and gave them a smile that dared them to lie to her.

“
What aren’t you telling me? Spit it out. You tell me everything. I want to know every little detail especially how you both have the greatest highlights I’ve ever seen on anyone.”  She sipped her coffee and sat the cup down. “And there’s no way you had time to go through the cave and do all this.”  She pointed to their hair and sat back and waited for Elle to answer her questions.

There were light golden strands running through the hair around Kole’s temples
. What was going on here? They both had gorgeous highlights and she didn’t do them.
Oh, my goodness,
what am I going to tell Sara?

“
I don’t kiss and tell,” Kole said and reached for Elle’
s
hand. “But Sara, you need to know that Elle and I are soul mates. That’s why our hair has these different colors in them.”  He hesitated for a heartbeat. “Where I come from, when two people with one soul find each other and come together as one, these things happen.”  He squeezed Elle’s hand.

Elle was shocked that Kole had spoken of their soul connection and of them coming together
. This was the biggest thing that had ever happened in her entire life, and she didn’t know if other people could understand it. He was her other half, part of her being.

“
You’re soul mates.”  Sara sipped her drink staring at both of them. “Apparently, it means something different where you come from,” she said with a grin on her face. “What does it mean? In all my years, I have never heard that being soul mates could change the color of your hair. Why Elle’s blonde hair is now more of a streaked blonde with those beautiful golden highlights. I need a change. I want to meet my soul mate, too.”