The Feelings Are the Same IV

By Mary S. Sheppard

Suki is back on Earth, but things are not going well. As she's being transported to some sort of government detention camp she hopes that her alien friends have been able to escape. She is confident someone will come to rescue her and is not too worried, but maybe she should be. Dr. Orky has been working on something that involves humans for an unknown purpose and soon everyone will learn that there are other aliens that are not as friendly or feeling as the Neubulisskys.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary S. Sheppard
• Release date: Aug 20, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463521113

Mary S. Sheppard

In my new series Samantha Keene, energy analyst extraordinaire, lead a pretty much run of the mill existence. There is always work, family and more work, but when she takes a vacation to the U.K. she is suddenly plunged into a different world, one filled with spies, intrigue, and romance and so the limited series starts.

Book preview

Aliens, Humans and Processes

The characters:

The Neubulisskys have four long limbs with five digits on each of the two uppermost limbs and two digits on the lower limbs, which are used to ingest and expel food. They walk on two short stubby legs and they prefer to breathe a mixture composed of mostly carbon dioxide.

When they talk to us, they use a translation device that has been inserted in their voice box. The translators have been adjusted for English. In most cases, the aliens have the translators implanted permanently and they speak to each other in English, a language they understand perfectly. They will sway when they agree and shake to signify no.

As the story progresses, new characters join the story and a list of names may be helpful.

Neubulisskys:

Ickcy – Commander of the TreVitale.

Mckcy – Commander of the Andino.

Dr. Orky – leading scientist for the Neubulisskys

Victor – close friend of Mckcy

Humans:

Suki – young woman taken by the Neubulisskys

Jett – previously an astronaut is now a pilot

Luis – born on planet Andino, is now a pilot.

Lydia – Suki’s mom

Robert – Lydia’s fiancé, a policeman with the city of Santa Clara.

Patricia – Jett’s sister

Agent Cluster – director of the Out of the Ordinary Division at National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC).

The following people were taken years ago and they live on planet Humex:

Jenna - young woman from LA

Pyotr - young man from Russia

Chris & Bill – middle aged couple from Texas

Both transports, the TreVitale and the Andino, are class TR-1 Version L and can carry a crew of seven. The transports can land easily on Earth having a stealth technology that masks it to any radar system.

The Background:

The Neubulisskys first came into contact with the humans in 1954. One hundred forty three humans or Subjects, as they are known to the Neubulisskys, were taken from Earth for the three experiments: the Alone Project, the Couples Project and the Villages.

The people were placed on Humex, a planet that had been terraformed to suit the human’s needs. As the people in the experiment got older, they were supposed to be returned to Earth, or so was the plan before the budget cuts.

In the first book, Ickcy takes it upon himself to return a group of elderly humans back to Earth. He also takes Suki, who was part of the Alone Project, but failed by not staying alone. As they land on Earth, they are attacked by the US Air Force. Jett Keystone and Suki are injured and remain onboard as the ship narrowly escapes destruction.

The ship is forced to land on a planet to make repairs and that’s when they discover that there are two humans living there. Dr. Orky brought these people to this planet and soon, in other books, they find more humans living on other planets with the largest group located on Andino.

While the Neubulisskys start a serious search for Dr. Orky they ask Ickcy to take anyone back to Earth who wants to go. The relocation progresses as planned, but on one of these trips Luis, with a few of his alien friends, decide to have fun and head to a night club. They get into trouble and as the identities of the aliens are about to be discovered they call Suki for help. She manages to get them out, but in the process, she is captured by agents of the National Counterterrorism Center.

Chapter 1

Suki was hoping this was a bad dream; not like the one when she was abducted by aliens, as that turned out to be real, but like a nightmare from which one wakes up and everything is perfectly fine. She pinched herself again, but nothing changed. This could be worse than the aliens, it involved the government.

The car finally showed signs of slowing down. It must be close to midnight she thought. The ride had taken a long time and she wondered if these people didn’t have a facility closer to the City of Santa Clara where she had been picked up.

On the other hand, the long ride had given her a chance to sleep. She had read somewhere that you should try to rest whenever you had an opportunity to do so. It might have been in her Girl Scout guide, or maybe in one of those fictional spy books, but she had tried to follow that advice.

They came to a guard house and the driver showed his badge before continuing through a gate. A steel barbed wire fence seemed to circle the entire compound and she could see the outline of several multi-story buildings up ahead. As they drove past the first buildings she could see lights peeking out from some of the rooms. It seemed everyone kept late hours.

During the ride, she had learned that the loud man’s name was Agent Cluster. The woman agent was nicer, and she had seen that the name on her badge was Carla something or other.

The SUV pulled up to one of the buildings and stopped.

We’re getting out here Ms. Smith, said Carla.

The sign on the building wall had large letters announcing it was the NCTC and in smaller letters, Suki read National Counterterrorism Center.

Suki had heard of the NCTC and it made sense that the discovery of aliens, coming from another planet, would not be left solely to one agency. The FBI, the NSA and Homeland Security would all be interested in such an event and the NCTC worked in partnership with all of them. She had definitely read that in one of those spy thrillers.

The driver, whose name she did not catch, led the way. He punched a code into a keypad near the entrance and the door unlocked. They all crowded into the small foyer where he showed his badge to the camera. The next-door swung open and they went into a long hallway. The three agents moved quickly, and Suki had to hustle to keep up.

After two more keypads and many more codes they finally opened the door to a conference room. Carla walked inside with her while the other two agents disappeared. A large window on one side of the room showed nothing, but Suki suspected someone was on the other side watching.

Would you like something to drink? asked Carla.

They were being nice, thought Suki and she accepted. She asked for water and Carla left to get it.

A few minutes later the door swung open and it was Agent Cluster. He had a large binder that he set on the table. He opened it and started to review the pages, ignoring her.

Suki looked around the room, but there was nothing to hold her attention. She looked at the dark window and suppressed an urge to make a face. She should take her situation more seriously. Maybe it had not sunk in yet. Could it be worse than being abducted by aliens?

Are we ready to start? asked Agent Cluster.

Sure, she said.

He gave her a date. That is the day you were seen onboard some sort of aircraft off the island of Hawaii, correct?

I think so. I am not too sure of the exact date, but it sounds right. The aircraft was an alien transport.

Alien? What exactly do you mean by alien?

It was a valid question. Alien meaning from another planet, not another country.

Hmm, he scribbled something on his notes. And you have been with these ‘aliens’ since then?

Longer. As you probably know, I was abducted several months before that date.

And you said you were in an experiment.

It was a psychological experiment. I can tell you more about it if you’re interested.

Go ahead, he leaned back in his chair. She got the impression he might have heard what she was going to say, but he wanted her to go through the exercise.

She told him about planet Humex and the experiments being run on the planet. The planet was terraformed so humans could live there without masks or spacesuits.

So of the three experiments you described, which one were you involved in?

The Alone experiment.

Did you find out what their reason was for conducting the experiments?

I did, just recently. They are learning more about themselves to create a behavior manual that can be used for various situations, like deep space travel. They use us, humans, since we are the species whose feelings are the most similar to them.

Agent Cluster’s looked surprised. Really? How do you know this?

I have become friends with several of them and they told me.

You are friends with them even after they abducted you?

Yeah, I guess that’s a bit strange, but the alien that brought me back was not the one that took me. Also they don’t see anything wrong with what they’ve done. They think we should be grateful to be taken. They treat us well and we do live better than we did on Earth. Average life expectancy is much higher than here.

So you think it was good you were abducted?

No, not at all. I missed my mom and I missed Earth.

Where are the aliens now?

Most of the aliens live on their planet, I believe it’s called Neubulis.

What about the aliens that came with you?

They are probably on their transport.

And where is the transport?

I don’t know.

You don’t know or you don’t want to tell me?

It is somewhere out in space, I don’t know. She really hoped they weren't still parked in Fresno.

Why do you call it a transport? Isn’t it a spaceship?

I guess it is smaller than a spaceship. It is what they call it.

He smirked. So you found that out in another of your conversations with these aliens?

Yes. That is how I find out all my information.

So, you are not communicating with them in some other fashion?

What was he suggesting? She looked at him like he was crazy.

You could be clairvoyant, or maybe you hear voices in your head? he suggested.

No.

I’m just asking, he said. He looked down at the binder. So, you left earlier this year, came back about three months ago and now you are back again. Do I have that right?

She didn’t want to tell him about the other times in between. She had visited her family in those times, but she didn’t want them being scrutinized. Yeah, that’s about right. My throat is getting dry, can I get some water?

He waved his hand at the window. Carla, come in and bring the water.

Suki wondered how much longer the questioning would continue. Didn’t these people ever rest?

He introduced Carla formally and she nodded and smiled as she set a glass of water in front of her. She then sat next to Agent Cluster.

Let’s go through some of your answers, said Agent Cluster. How were you taken?

She took a sip of water and continued answering. She told him about being abducted from New York City and how she was brought back to Earth three months ago. Just as I was getting ready to walk out of the transport, it was attacked. You probably know all about that. She looked at Agent Cluster for a moment. Anyway, I was injured and the transport took off again, leaving me on board.

Why were you selected by the aliens? asked Agent Cluster.

They have a certain profile they look for. It may have been, she paused, because I was lonely. She was not going to tell him about also being gullible.

And how did they know you were lonely? asked Agent Cluster.

I don't know. She didn’t want to tell him about the on-line dating site since it would open a whole new avenue of questioning and she was getting tired.

(Reader: Suki had found out that the aliens use an on-line dating site to find the people with the right personalities to be abducted.)

Agent Cluster studied her. You have no idea why? I'm lonely, why didn't they take me?

I didn’t scream out into the night that I was lonely, if you’re thinking that. I had a job and I had some friends, I don't know why they took me. I haven’t seen their complete criteria.

When the transport left, were you the only human on board? asked Carla.

Suki knew they were wondering about Jett. The next questions were critical, should she tell them he was alive? It wouldn’t hurt, would it? The pros and cons raced through her head and she decided on the truth. No, I was not the only one. There were two of us that did not make it off the transport.

Was the other person Jett Keystone? asked Carla.

Yes. He was badly injured. Much worse than me; his liver was seriously damaged.

So he died? asked Agent Cluster.

No. The doctor on the transport was able to heal him.

Where is Jett now?

I don’t know, said Suki truthfully. He could be driving on the highway or he could be on the transport.

What I don’t get is, why a famous, outstanding citizen like Mr. Keystone would continue to associate himself with a scam like this, said Agent Cluster. You have been misled and believe all this, but in his case I wonder what the motivation is?

I was not misled, I was abducted, said Suki.

He could be getting paid for his part in this, continued Agent Cluster disregarding her answer. The truth will be known soon. Eventually it will all be uncovered.

Suki looked at him in amazement. Neither Jett nor I are getting paid anything.

You have to admit this is an incredible story. We really want to understand, please help us by answering our questions.

I am answering all your questions. Suddenly she had a suspicion. If I answer all your questions will you let me go?

We will see.

At least they weren’t lying about that, thought Suki.

She was taken to a room soon after that. It must have been past two in the morning. She didn’t know for sure as they took her watch and cell phone. She considered scratching lines on the wall as she had done on planet Humex to keep track of the days, but she really hoped that it would not come to that.

This place was much worse than planet Humex. Back there she had had fresh food and a nice cabin to live in. Here she was in a barren cold room with a strong antiseptic smell. There was a window, but it faced the hallway and had bars across it. In any case, she felt she was somewhere in the middle of the building. At least behind a small partition she found a toilet and sink. It could have been worse.

Chapter 2

The next morning, Carla came to get her. Suki had barely slept.

You work long hours, said Suki as they walked back to the conference room.

Yeah, when something exciting like this happens, we don’t sleep much.

Not to bother, but I was just wondering, will I get breakfast or is starvation your method for getting answers from me.

No. We don’t starve anyone. I’ll bring you something, said Carla, although what I bring may be worse than torture.

Suki smiled. So your chef is out today?

Carla smiled back as she opened the door to conference room and let her in. Agent Cluster was already sitting there drinking his coffee. He started right away wanting to know more about planet Humex. Suki explained how the experiments had been going on for sixty years, but now they were shutting it down.

So, no more humans will be abducted?

No, said Suki.

What were the results of their experiments?

I don’t know, she sighed. Agent Cluster, I think you have heard all this. The others you have imprisoned here have probably told you the same. It may be a different perspective, but the story is the same, isn’t it?

Carla agreed.

The nod had been slight, but Suki had seen it. It confirmed what she suspected. The others, who had returned from planet Humex, were being held probably by the NCTC and they might even be in the same building.

Carla, why don’t you get some coffee for Ms. Smith, suggested Agent Cluster.

After Carla left, Suki said, You can call me Suki and I could call you…

Agent Cluster.

It served her right for trying to be friendly with him.

There is something bothering me, Suki, continued Agent Cluster. The aliens tried to bring you to Earth and when they couldn’t drop you off, it took them over two months to bring you back. Why did it take so long?

Maybe they were afraid of being shot at again. Our violent tendencies are very shocking to them.

And now, what changed? Why did they bring you back now?

It’s a good question, said Suki. Something happened that changed everything. We ran into other humans.

What? What do you mean?

You see the Neubulisskys discovered that human experiments were being conducted on other planets besides Humex. Their government was not aware of this until we accidentally ran into them.

We?

After we left Earth, we landed on another planet to fix the transport and that is when we found other humans.

What happened to those humans?

The aliens offered to bring them back. They couldn’t leave them without support out there.

Agent Cluster was staring at her.

It was a big risk, but the aliens are not evil. They didn’t want those humans to die, she said. In reality it wasn’t that big of a risk. The transport had stealth technology that made it impossible to detect, but she wasn’t going to tell him about that. Why worry him more?

Does that mean there are humans living all over the galaxy? asked Agent Cluster.

Not all over the galaxy. I don’t know how many planets have human colonies, even the Neubulisskys don’t know how many.

And the people you brought back, where are they?

She shook her head. She wasn’t going to tell him.

His eyes grew wide. So some of them just came back to Earth with you?

She hesitated for a second.