Foreign Affairs

By J Batten

A new technology surfaces into a changing society.  Excited about the possibilities, there are various key players wishing to use it to its full potential.  But it comes with pitfalls, affecting everyone in society.  Their beliefs are questioned and they must face their fate.  The future to become a new batch of cyborgs or to fight and remain free from mental slavery.  How many will slip through the cracks to freedom?

Sheri is a key contributor who wishes to bring down the corporation that is in the forefront with this technology.  She gains assistance from an unusual ally, but finds that not everyone is who they appear to be.  Upon realizing that it’s every man for themselves, she takes the road that best benefits her.  Her future, like many others, is set with fate.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J Batten
• Release date: Oct 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386266495

Book preview

Prologue

Her screams grew louder and louder.  They didn’t bother to lock the door  behind them, as they pushed the bed down the corridor.  Her straps burned into her skin as she tried to get loose, while moving from side to side with her upper torso.  She took short deep breaths before bellowing out again, hoping that someone would come to their senses.    Her tears glazed her eyes preventing her from seeing their faces in the dim light.  There actions, clearly made her aware that they weren’t coming to their senses; there was no care, just conviction to continue pushing her down the hall to her fate. Yet, she wasn’t going to give up.  There had to be someone, somewhere behind these walls that knew they were doing wrong.  Someone to save her.

I’m not Sheri!  I’m Sara!  My name is Sara!  You have the wrong person!You’re wrong!

Sara’s heart was beating so hard that she heard it pounding nearly as loud as her screams.  Desperately she grabbed the railings of her bed, where she was strapped.  Then with all her strength, she plunged her chest upward several times.  The straps tightened, but her attempts made them weary.  The man in front held up his fists high over her head and slammed it down with such force she felt the air move slapping her face.  Sara shivered with fright and soaked her pants, leaving a sickly stench.  He was going to bust her head open.  She knew then her life was over and there was no hope.  Now that she had reached the room, she regretted not paying attention to how she got there.

Help me!  Please someone!

They moved around in the dark, as if they could see clear as day.  But she couldn’t see a thing.  To her their shuffling footsteps, their whispers, were all like a scene out of a horror movie.  Her eyes weren’t adjusting to the dark at all.  They were still just shadows.

One of them walked over and gave her three drops in the left eye and four drops in the right.  Sara’s eyes became instantly itchy.  She tried desperately to rub them, but couldn’t.  It dawned on her that she couldn’t remember how they looked when they abducted her, and now she couldn’t see anything.  A few seconds later her eyes went numb.

Hello?  The room fell silent.  Sara felt paralyzed.  She couldn’t turn her head.

My name is Sara, not Sheri.  You have the wrong person.

Shhh.  The silence broke.  They wanted her not to speak, but it was all she could do.

Sheri, do not be afraid.  We are going to make you better.

Better?  But there’s nothing wrong with me.  I need to go home.  You have no right to keep me here.

Your name is now Sheri.  That is your name.  You will have friends.  You will be happy and you will be able to have more of your kind.  The voice was soft, attempting to give her comfort.  It was the word kind that left an eerie feeling in the pit of her stomach.  What kind were they?  She thought.

You need to make this version different from the rest, so that she can feel special and better than them.  After all, we are giving her something more.  They spoke, not caring whether she was studying their words; trying to understand where she was and why they had her.

What do you think I’m doing?  I’m giving her capable eyes.  The other argued, moving swiftly with his task.

Sarah had lost her breath.  Her heartbeat had fainted and sleep was trying to take over.  She remembered some guy on the street calling out, Sheri.  It was the only thing she could do now; to try and remember who was responsible for this.  The guy called repeatedly, but she didn’t respond.  Her name was Sara.  Then he started chasing her like a lunatic.  There was nothing else to do, but to run.  She ran two blocks before pushing her way into a shop; she thought would have enough customers to help.  But there wasn’t any customers there.  Not at that time of the night.  The guy followed her in.

Mr.  This guy is following me.  Please call the police.  My cell phone is dead.  I need your help.  Her voice was a soft whisper, hoping that she had lost her assailant.

Upon seeing her desperation, he began to call.  But the lunatic grabbed her and dragged her out of the shop.  All the attendant did was put down the phone, as he watched her get shoved into the car.

Her memories didn’t help her.  She couldn’t remember his face, no matter what.

She had to keep focus on what was going on now.  There was something about them that was different.  The way they moved about.  The way they interacted with one another.  It was as if they understood one another, without speaking.  Her frozen body was fully aware that they were working on her eyes.  Adding, moving it around and then testing it.

It’s working.  We can see now.

It was those whispers that took her last energy to stay awake.  She had lost hope.  They could see through her eyes.

CHAPTER 1

The street was mobbed with window shoppers itching for something to buy, as they danced around one another down the sidewalk.  Yet, their eagerness to shop was prevented by the shadow that the clouds casted, creating a gloomy day.  The only thing that was lit up were the outspoken cries of the street mongers.  They made several attempts to grasp any passerby’s attention, waving their hands in the air as they displayed their outspoken behavior.  They were highlighted like a lit candle in a dark place, daring anyone to blow the flames out.  But no one cared to pay attention on these daunting streets.

It wasn’t the outspoken that caught the attention of the people.  It was the desperate and suffering silent ones.  A man sat against the street post, strumming away at his guitar and eyeing his low donations.  His face fixed with a forced smile that didn’t fool anyone as he beckoned for more money.  The cold breeze dried his desperate watery eyes.  He had not eaten a bite all day and didn’t want to quit early.  As Sheri walked by, with her friend Patricia, he made an extra effort to be cheerful.  They were a beautiful sight to see.

Sheri was in no hurry.  It was her lunch time and she had welcomed the gloomy day.  Her good friend, Patricia, walked with intent beside her, trying to drown out the guitarist with her humming.  She threw a dollar his way, smiling.  The guitarist changed his strokes to a more upbeat melody as to say thank you beautiful.  Sheri gave Patricia that look; the you’re the pretty one that guys like look.  She smirked and rolled her eyes at Sheri as they continued down the street.  They always changed their beat for her, Sheri thought.

I think he likes you.  Sheri said with such glee.  She wanted to strike up the conversation of Patricia not having a man again.  It was secretly satisfying knowing that someone as beautiful as Patricia could be lonely.  Plus, she was still upset that Patricia broke up with a good one.

Patricia knew where Sheri was leading the conversation; and hated to get in a dispute with her over not keeping her boyfriend.  After all, Sheri herself wasn’t an example to follow.  Anyway, she didn’t need a man.  They were a dime a dozen.

Are we doing hot dogs today?  Patricia decided to redirect her elsewhere.

I don’t know.  I don’t know what I feel like.  Sheri said.

Noticing a filthy looking man stumbling in their direction, Sheri pulled Patricia away, towards the newsstand.  The man appeared bewildered and drunk, starving for more than liquor.  His lips were blistered and his eyes blood shot.  It was his smell that puzzled Sheri.  Although he wore dirty stale clothes, he smelled like light musk and not as pungent as she would think.  His eyes met theirs, which forced him to stop walking and to bellow out his thoughts.

Aye!  I!  I have seen so much!

Sheri laughed, knowing where this was leading.  He had seen a beauty and it was Patricia once again.  Patricia was a magnet for men’s flirtatious moves.

Me!  I saw it!  He stumbled with his words, unclear with his thoughts and looking for answers.  He walked up to Sheri and Patricia as if he had something important to say.  As Sheri was about to pull Patricia away he yelled.

Stop!  You must understand.  There is great danger here!  The aliens they are here!  He raised his hands to the sky, looking up.  Sheri’s eyes were fixed on the chain that was dangling out of his shirt.  It had a pentagram symbol on it.  There it is, another fanatic looking to the sky, hopefully waiting for God’s deliverance to save his crazy ass, she thought.

Patricia gave Sheri a huge grin, as to say that she was wrong.  It wasn’t about flirting.  It was just  insane banter spewing from a crazy man.  His hands still waved in the air acting out his abduction, screaming to everyone help me!  His frantic bellows allowed him to sporadically move about in the crowd.  To most, it was just a typical day in the city, as they quickened their pace to pass him by.

I am not crazy!  You must believe me.  They took me, open me up, and they forced me!  They forced me!  He gripped his hands at his chest, holding onto his heart in desperate attempts to confirm that it was still beating.

They needed my sperm!  They raped me!  I am telling the truth!  Believe me.  It will happen to you one day.  The man continued his ranting, desperately trying to convince all around him of his truths.

Sheri couldn’t help but to burst out laughing.  He was caught by her laughter and determined to convince her; he began to walk towards them.  Sheri pulled Patricia and made a u-turn as they walked away in the opposite direction.

Believe me, beauty!  I am a witness.  I am a victim.  I am living proof.  I am…  He continued talking to himself, now unsure of the words he spoke.

Needed his sperm?  Really?  Sheri always enjoyed the crazy city.  It was full of life and mysteries.

Don’t judge the man.  He may have something.  Patricia didn’t feel like making fun of the mentally unstable.  Although it was funny, she didn’t feel like laughing.

Oh, come on, lighten up will you?  What’s eating you today?

Nothing.  Just seen my share of crazies today at the hospital.  Sometimes it gets too much.  Patricia was wearing her nurse’s uniform under her jacket. She had one of her hands in her pocket, holding on to a note the old man in room 202 gave her, to give to his dead wife.  He needed a nursing home, but couldn’t afford it and they were trying to fudge the paperwork to have him sent to a hospice instead.  But they were still waiting for a bed.  The lunch break was just what she needed.  Some air.

It was rare that they both got to take lunch together.  Sheri worked in the administration department as a clerk and hated her job just as much as Patricia did hers.  It was Patricia that worried Sheri, though.  Since she had first-hand experience with the patients, sometimes it affected her mentally and emotionally.  Most of the time Sheri had to bring her out of it.

You need to develop a thicker skin.  It’s the nature of the hospital.  Sometimes I wish you would just apply for an office job like me.

Sheri picked up a magazine and paid for it.  Patricia rolled her eyes noticing that Sheri wasn’t going to leave the subject alone.  She didn’t want to talk about it, but sometimes Sheri gets stuck on one subject and won’t leave it alone.

Look.  She opened the magazine that read Alien Abduction in Minnesota.  Okay, maybe the guy is telling the truth.

Sheri didn’t bother to wait for a response and dismissed Patricia’s disinterest.  She needed Patricia to laugh.  Rarely did they have lunch together and she wasn’t going to make this one gloomy.

It says… Sheri skimmed through the article looking for something extremely ridiculous that would force Patricia to at least smile.

Mrs. Laurie Anderson had been abducted several times and has a son by an alien.  ‘The alien son has deformed tentacles behind his ears where she believes he uses to communicate with his alien father’.  Now how ridiculous is that?

Patricia refused to respond, Let’s get something to eat at that restaurant, before our lunch time is up.  She wasn’t about to belittle the poor insane man with that crazy article.  She felt that it was time for Sheri to take mental illness seriously and not as a joke.

Pouting, Sheri walked back in the direction of the abducted man and towards the restaurant.  He was now fighting the air, in the middle of the crowd, he was screaming obscenities.  It was the invisible alien that was taunting him.  It brought him to the ground, rolling and had him punching into the air; while onlookers walked around him.  This time Sheri had no laughter to conger, besides she didn’t want to upset Patricia.

Get out!  Get out of my mind!

They pretended not to hear.  He began scratching his head, pulling on strands that came out.  They had reached the restaurant, but still heard his cries.

You have no right to my mind!  Leave me be!  Stop haunting me!

His words fell faint after the restaurant door closed.  The burgers were the best heart killers in town.  Patricia laughed at Sheri when the grease from the burger nearly dripped on her shirt, but instead landed on the magazine.  Sheri wiped the grease off the magazine and read another paragraph to herself.  She had to admit it, they were interesting stories, even if it was all fake.

Would you stop reading that stuff?  Patricia said.

I can’t help it.  It’s saying that the aliens look like us and they are here living among us.  It even says that they use mind control to get what they want.

Yeah right, I guess that’s why that guy was picking out his hair.  Patricia smiled a little.  It was Sheri’s expression that made her see that she was just too serious.  They didn’t hang out too much; and why not have some fun.

Don’t you want to hear this?  I swear it’s really crazy.  Sheri chuckled a little, glad to see that Patricia was feeling better.

Okay, why not.  Maybe I’ll find a nice alien to marry in the wanted ads of that magazine.

Sheri gulped down her drink before reading, There are concrete evidence that these aliens had set up camp in the remote parts of town…  Mrs. Crammier was walking her dog when she noticed the unusual behavior of her dog.  He was barking furiously at the house where the aliens lived and had gotten loose.  With her cell-phone, she took pictures of the aliens that had shape shifted.  Mrs. Crammier said that she almost lost her life when she got caught.  She had wandered on the alien’s property.  It was her dog that saved her.  She managed to run away from them.

Sheri flipped the pages of the magazine showing Patricia blurry pictures that Mrs. Crammier took of the aliens.  It looked like normal people with spooky dark eyes and extremely dry scaly skin.  They both shook their head in disbelief.  Then Sheri noticed that one of the aliens wore a pentagram around his neck.  It looked like the pentagram that the crazy man wore.  Sheri continued to read to herself about Mrs. Crammier, who believed that the aliens were having secret meetings of sacrifices.  There were, also, dead animal body parts that were found in their trash.

Stop reading that stuff, Sheri.  Patricia said realizing that Sheri was now hooked on the conspiracy theory.

Sheri looked up,