All That Is Human

By Stormwolf Dawn

Note: All That is Human is the last line of my favorite poem. The story, which will be posted in parts, and hopefully finished before the end of Nov. Has scenes of animal abuse. You have been warned.

The story is not based on the poem, though the idea for the story came when I was repeating the poem in my head attempting to stay awake. The last line is what gave me the idea. The peom is "Eyes" by Maxine Kumin.

Amanda's eyes are rage red
with toy worlds inside
head on, they rummage the dark of the
paddock like twin cigars
but flicker at the edges with the shyer tongues
of the spirit lamp.
There's little enough for her to see
my white shirt, the sleeves rolled high
two flaps of stale bread in my fish paws
I can't sleep. I have come back
from the feedbag checkered resturaunt,
from the pale loose tears of my dearest friend.
Her blue eyes sinking in the highball glass
her eyeballs clinking on ice, and her mouth
drawn down in the
grand comedy of anguish
today a sparrow has been
put into the hawks hands
a monarch crazes its wings on gauze
the doe run down by the dogs commonly dies of fright
before its jugular opens at the fang hole
In my friend's eyes the famine victim squats
holding an empty rice bowl
Oh Amanda burn out my dark
press the warm suede
of your horseflesh
against my cold palm
take away all that is human

Good poem, huh. It makes me sad. This story might end up being sad. I don't fancy myself a great writer, but my goal in this story will be to make tears form in your eyes. This is another warning. If I fail in that, I at least hope to entertain you.

Dedicated to Cocoa( a quarter-horse), Maximillian Ferdinand(a minature Schnauzer), Ceje McGee(a minature Schnauzer), and all those special animals who have shared their lives with us. Heaven does hold a place for them.

On with the story.....

All That Is Human

By Stormwolf Dawn

The mare was beautiful. At least to the eyes of seven year old boy who watched her as she grazed in the small field. Young eyes did not see the scarred hide, or the ribs that poked through her side. They did not see the cracked and chipped hooves, or the swollen knee on the left foreleg. Young eyes instead saw the warm brown eyes, and raven colored hide. They saw the powerful bunched muscles in the forequarters, and the long dark mane that fell over her arched neck. They say a creature of beauty, strength, and elegance, and was fascinated by them.

The boy, Blair, was living with his mother at a farm that had been turned into a commune. The owner, a once old and embittered man, had suddenly found the "light". His enlightenment had started the commune that Naomi's current boyfriend was a member of. The farm whose land paralleled the commune's was owned by a hard man, the owner of the black thoroughbred mare.

In the afternoons, whle the other members of the commune meditated, the children would play in the barn, and the orchard, but Blair, the youngest and smallest, the 'geek' would go to the south pasture and watch the mare.

He would take one of his books, and when he didn't read his imagination would soar. He saw himself as a cowboy, or perhaps an indian brave riding the black mare through the prairie. Or his favorite, riding the mare through the hot desert sands of Arabia in search for the Holy Grail, while dark eyed men on camels tried to stop him.

The mare did not ignore the boy's presence entirely. Years of abuse at the hands of man made her untrusting of humans. Yet, the boy just came to fields and never made a move to touch her. At first she ignored the boy, but after time passed, she welcomed his presence as an alternative to the loneliness.

When the boy spoke, usually reading aloud, her ears would swivel in his direction. It was the days he didn't come that her heart would grow even heavier with the weight she had held for what seemed an eternity.

When the farmer next door discovered that Blair was 'visitng' his mare, he became angry and told the the boy's mother. Naomi, not one to stifle her son, was also fearful of the farmer. She told Blair to not go to the pasture again.

It was raining the last time Blair went to the pasture, some three weeks after he had been told not to. Naomi was getting ancy again. Blair had recognized that state in his mother, and knew that it meant that she was getting ready to move again. Blair had wanted to say goodbye to the mare.

Ignoring the rain that fell in sheets, and the cold that seemed to seep into him, Blair made his way to the pasture.

The mare was not alone. The farmer had come to get her and sell her to a meat market. The mare was having none of the rope the man had brought. The man used a bullhide whip to beat the mare into submisiveness. Blair screamed when he saw the man beating the mare, and the man turned to him.

"What are you doing out here, little kike!" the man screamed and advanced on Blair. He made the mistake of forgetting the mare. She did not, however, forget him.

Lashing out with her teeth, the mare tore a huge hunk off of the man's arm. The man screamed, dropping the whip, and knocked Blair down into the mud with his good arm. He stumbled his way to his pickup truck, and returned with a shotgun.

Blair screamed when the blast of the shotgun was overrun by the booming of thunder. The mare fell into the mud on her side, and the man stumbled back to his truck.

Blair crawled to the mare's side in the mud, rain pelting him like slung stones. The mare still breathed, even as blood and bone dripped from her head. Blair stayed with her as she suffered a lingering death from the shotgun. He stroked her beautiful head and whispered to her in a soothing tone as she lay dying in the mud and the rain.

Naomi found Blair the next morning in the pasture curled up next to the dead horse and shaking from pnuemonia.

Seven year old Blair Sandburg spent several days in the hospital recovering from pnuemonia. The man who had killed the mare was dead. He bled to death in his home. The mare's body was eaten by scavengers until it was nothing more than a pile of bones in a lonely field.

************

Blair Sandburg cursed vehemently as his Volvo sputtered then died. *Just my luck. And of course it has to be raining.* Sighing, Blair took out his cell phone and dialed his partner.

"Ellison!" Jim barked.

"Hey Jim. You'll never guess..."

"The Volvo died." Jim answered.

"Uh..yeah."

"Where are you?"

"Uh, south county road, about two miles outside of Cascade."

"What the hell are you doing there?" Jim asked confused.

"Uh, I went to go see a friend of mine. She lives on a farm she just purchased."

"Fine. Just hang on and I'll be there. And Sandburg. Don't get out of the vehicle."

"Uh, yeah, sure, Jim." Blair hung up the phone.

He sat and waited as the rain pelted the car. Sometime later he heard the noise. It sounded like a whine. Blair listened, and heard it again. Knowing that JIm had told him to stay in the car, Blair hesitated for about five seconds before opening the door and heading out into the rain. as he was searching, trying to locate the whine a pair of headlights illuminated him.

Jim's Ford pulled to a stop, and Jim stepped out of the vehicle.

"Chief! I thoughT I told you to wait in the truck."

"I know. But there's something out there. I can hear it whining. Listen."

Jim sighed, then stretched out his hearing. He heard the whine, too, and zeroed in on the location. Piggybacking sight onto hearing he found the source of the whine.

"What the hell!" He said in shock as he walked through the grass Blair folowing at his heels.

Lying in the grass was a German Shepard. The dog was lying on its side, but that's not what had Jim feeling sick. the dog's head had been shaved, and there were placed were the animal's skull had been drilled into, then the hide sewn back over it. Other placed on the dog's hide had also been shaved, small patches around the chest area.

Jim heard an audibly gasp behind him, and knew that it was Blair.

Kneeling down, Jim reached out tentatively toward the dog. The animal gave a half-hearted growl, but ended up whining when Jim's hand touched the beast's neck.

Stripping off his jacket, Jim wrapped it around the German Shepard, and picked the dog up. Blair followed as Jim took the dog back to his truck.

He listened again and heard the whine

***********************

The veternarian looked over the German Shepard who lay quietly of the exam table. Jim and Blair waited in the room as the man finished his exam. "Doesn't look good." The vet said. "There's some infection on these wounds, and trauma to the brain."

"Would it be better to have him put down?" Jim asked.

"Frankly yes. The brain trauma is slowly killing him."

Jim nodded. He had suspected as much, but for the dog's sake he wanted to be sure. Blair had tears in his eyes.

The vet looked at the animal's ears. "Did you see the tatoo, detective?"

"The numbers and letters? Yes, I saw them. A lab animal?"

"I suspect so. I haven't recieved any reports on any missing lab animals, >however."

"Why would someone experiment on a do's brain?" Blair asked.

"From my examination, I can see that they were concentrating on the area of the brain that controls the dog's senses. I don't know why, though."

"Senses." Blair echoed.

Jim looked at Blair, then turned back to the vet. "Do what you need to do doctor, but do me favor, and don't try to find out where the dog come's from. My guess is since they didn't report it, then what they are doing isn't sanctioned. Labs have to report missing animals immediately."

"Of course, detective. You are right. I hope you find this lab, and stop these sadists. Experiments like these are inhumane. They didn't even bother to keep the animal clean and fed."

Jim thanked the vet and shook hands with him.

They left the dog in the vet's care. Jim knew that it was the humane thing to do to put the animal down. It >had suffered too much for too long.

Blair was quiet on the drive back to the loft. Jim said he would call a tow truck to get Blair's car, and the anthropologist only nodded. Jim did not even bother to try to start a conversation. He let Blair alone with his thoughts.

*************

The next day Jim used his computer at the station. Looking through reports of animal abuse from Animal Control and the Humane Society, Jim found five reports of animals found that were tattooed as lab animals in Cascade. All the animals, which included a Doberman, a Collie/Labrador cross, a barbary ape, a black and white cat, and a chimpanzee had had their brains experimented upon. The animals had been humanely put down, and the bodies disposed of. The numbers had been catalogued and according to the inquiries made, no legitimate lab in Cascade would claim the animals as theirs.

Blair wasn't with him at the station. He had had an exam to proctor that morning. Jim read over the reports, but could find nothing of use. The locations where the animals had been found where all remote locations in different areas of Cascade. No way to pinpoint one specific area.

Sighing, Jim clicked off the reports and went back to work on his real cases. However, the sight of the German Shepherd kept popping into his mind, and he barely glanced at the Zimmerman murder file.

The shout, "Ellison!" brought the sentinel's mind back to the present.

Looking up, Jim saw Simon standing at his office door. His pulse quickened as he saw the look that Simon had.

Leaping up, grabbing his leather jacket, Jim asked, "What's happened?"

"There was a break in at Rainier." Was all Simon said. It was all he needed to say. The two of them left the station.

They arrived at Rainier University, and walked directly to the office that was ransacked. It was Blair's.

The Anthropologist awaited them outside his office, fear radiating from him. Jim could hear his guide's heartbeat racing, and smell the fear radiating off of him in waves. When he reached Blair's side, the observer said only, "Its gone, Jim. Its all gone."

**************

Jim herded Blair into the men's bathroom.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Jim asked.

"My notes, my labtop, everything about the sentinel diss is gone! There's nothing left." Blair hissed frantically.

"The loft?" Jim asked quietly.

"I have some stuff there. You don't think..." Blair didn't finsih. Jim had run out of the bathroom, and Blair followed.

Jim found Simon.

"Simon, send a black and white to the loft. I think its probably been ransacked too."

"What's going on, Jim?" Simon asked after he hung up the cell phone from making the call.

"Blair's sentinel research has been taken." Jim answered.

"Damn. You don't think..."

"I'm not sure what to think. It could be anyone. From another rogue CIA agent to a professor who's pissed off at Blair and wants to steal his stuff so Blair can't get his doctorate. I just don't know, Simon."

Simon's cell phone rang. "Banks!"

Simon hung up the phone and looked at Jim and Blair, "You were right. The loft was broken into. Blair's room was the only one rifled through."

Blair turned white, "Oh God, oh God, oh God..."

Jim placed a hand on Blair's shoulder, "Calm down, Chief. We'll figure it out."

"Oh man, how, who would do this?" Blair asked not expecting an answer. The topic had already been covered.

"Well you had better figure it out, Jim. Because obviously there is someone out there looking for sentinels, and with Blair's research, he or she may have just found one." Simon said.

Jim nodded in agreement.

Two days later...

"We're still no closer to figuring out who took my notes." Blair said.

"I know, Chief. There were no fingerprints, no evidence left behind at all. Hell, even I didn't pick up anything." Jim shook his head.

They were walking away from the University after having checked Blair's office again. It was frustrating in that Jim's sentinel senses weren't any better at finding a shred of evidence at the office than Forensics.

Jim fished his keys out of his pocket as they neared the truck. The parking lot was crowded with students rushing to take advantage of the hour long lunch break. Suddenly Jim felt a gun muzzle in his back. a glance over at Blair revealed the Observer was having the same problem.

"Just come with us nice and easy. You wouldn't want a few of our friends to start shooting into this crowd of students, would ya." The man with his gun in Jim's back said. Jim nodded. He spotted three others among the crowd with guns. *Dammit! Why didn't I smell the gun oil.* Jim thought as the men led the sentinel and guide to a waiting black van. The side door of the van opened, and Jim and Blair stepped inside. The door slammed shut with an ominous THUD.

Inside the van, a man in a labcoat prepared an injection as the two prisoners were seated in the rear seat. The kidnappers used handcuffs to cuff Jim's right arm to the armrest, and Blair's left wrist to the other armrest. The man with the now filled syringe came over. One of the gunmen held Jim's head to one side as the labcoat man pressed the needle into Jim's neck. Blair winced at the sight as the labcoat man pressed down on the plunger injecting the contents into the sentinel's bloodstream.

"What is that?" Blair demanded knowing Jim's strange reaction to meds.

"I've read all your notes, Mr. Sandburg. Its just a strong sedative. I don't need my sentinel here to escape. I have some interesting tests that need to be conducted." the man said as he settled back in one of the captain's chairs.

Blair's heart nearly leaped into his throat at the words. *'My sentinel', *Blair thought, *Oh man, this is not good.* He looked over at Jim to see that the sedative was beginning to affect the sentinel. Jim head lolled, and his blue eyes became glassy. It wasn't long before Jim slumped down, unconscious.

END PART 6