The Feelings Are the Same
Mary S. Sheppard
Copyright ? 2014 Mary S. Sheppard
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This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either a product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.
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Cover art by David Campbell
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Dedication
I could not write in a vacuum and have been fortunate to have supporters in my world that allow me the time to write. I dedicate this book to them and especially to my husband, Greg. Thanks also to my sisters and friends who didn't mind being the guinea pigs and read the first versions offering helpful commentary, especially Najoo Wadia, Dave Sheppard and Norm Anderson. And finally to my parents, who are big 'trekkie' fans, and who always encouraged me to reach for the stars.
Table of Contents
Aliens, Humans and Processes
The Beginning
About the Author
Other titles by Mary S. Sheppard
Aliens, Humans and Processes
Starting in 1954, and over a period of sixty years, 143 humans were taken from many locations on the earth. Humans of different ages, and with diverse skills, were needed to ensure the experiments would have valid results. The beings from Neubulis searched far and wide to select the appropriate Subjects.
The first ten Subjects were called the Originals and by the start of this book some have been returned to earth and some have passed away. The remaining six are getting old. They are no longer included in the experiments and they are allowed to choose where to live. The Neubulisskys planned to send them back to earth, very soon.
Three major experiments were devised and an ideal number of slots were assigned to each experiment. Then the humans or Subjects were assigned to each slot. Unluckily for the Neubulisskys, not all slots were filled.
Slots #11 to #70 were reserved for the Forest Village. Sixty slots were available, but currently there were only 56 Subjects living in that community.
Slots #71 to #80 were assigned to the Alone Project. Although 10 slots were available, only eight Subjects were being studied. These Subjects had no interaction with other humans.
Slots #81 to #100 were assigned to the Couples Project. There were 8 couples and they lived with each other, but had no interaction with anyone else.
Slots #101 to #170 were assigned to the Tropics Village. Like the Forest Village, this village allowed the study of group interaction. There were 63 Subjects.
Planet Humex is slightly larger than earth's moon and has been terraformed to create an ideal environment for humans. The air is breathable and the water, after some processing, is drinkable for humans. The gravity was increased to match that of Earth's. The temperatures are mostly set between 10 and 24 degrees Celsius for the cooler regions and 18 to 30 degrees in the tropics. A light breeze blows every afternoon from the West and the nights are always clear.
The humans were provided housing and encouraged to grow or raise their own food. The products they could not make were usually supplied to them.
There was no disease and there were no children on the planet. None of the Subjects had brought any children and there would be no pregnancies.
Since the life forms from Neubulis, the Neubulisskys, have a name that is too hard for humans to pronounce we refer to them as aliens. When they talk to us, they use a translation device inserted in their voice box. This translates their language into mainly English. In most cases, the aliens keep the translators on and speak to each other in English. In the cases when they speak in their own language, I have translated their conversations so we humans can know what is happening.
The aliens' time is based on their own planet's revolution around their own sun and it differs from our time, but in this book, I have converted everything to Earth hours, days and months.
Following is a list of some of the Subjects relevant to this first story and their Earthly names.
Subject #78 - Suki
Subject #22 - Mrs. K, the baker in Forest Village
Subject #30 - Enrico
Subject #56 - Jenna
Subject #5 - Matilda
Subject #10 - Inga
I have not included the surnames of the people abducted to protect their anonymity.
I have to thank Ickcy and Suki for their notes and their memory from which I based the story.
Chapter 1
"I'm not sure how much longer I should stay working here," said one of the voices.
"You better make a decision soon. Everyone knows that this program is being shut down," said the other voice.
The second voice was a deeper, more masculine voice. She couldn't really tell, but both sounded like males. She also couldn't tell where she was. She must have been asleep for a while.
It was dark all around her and the ground beneath her body was smooth and cool. It wasn't soft, but it wasn't hard either, maybe like an over-inflated raft of some sort. She tried to turn, but couldn't. A weight was pushing her entire body down, evenly.
The first voice was talking again. "Do you really think it will happen that soon? What will happen to all of the Subjects?"
"Ickcy, that is not our problem. You need to focus on what will happen to you."
"Yeah," said the softer voice. "I'm not too worried, I know that there is always work for us. No one our age is ever unemployed."
"That's true, but some jobs are better than other and I plan to get one of the good ones. I heard the energy sector is the new, up and coming area and more resources will be directed there."
"I heard that as well, Szcky, but then why are we even transporting this Subject if we're shutting everything down?"
"This one was already in the system when they changed the directive. She will be the last."
"Seems like a waste; all that work we've done in setting up the experiments and for all those years. I worry what will happen to these Subjects if we are not there."
"I think they are happy down there. We give them everything they need and remember, they were not so happy on Earth in the first place."
"I guess you may be? Hey, is she awake?"
They had discovered she was indeed awake and she caught a glance of them. They were greyish creatures, roundish, and not too tall. Two big round eyes looked at her as they waved their four arms in different directions. They were not human.
She might have screamed if she could, but she was quickly back asleep.
Chapter 2
A few days before
Suki looked at herself in the mirror. Her short, light brown hair curved along her face falling below her chin. The eye shadow she had just applied brought out the green of her eyes. She looked fine. Fine enough for this first date with the tall guy with the deep, dark eyes and silly smile. It was the smile that had clinched it.
She had vowed never to use a dating service, but things change. Just a couple months before, the company she worked for had moved her to New York City. She didn't mind going to a place she had never been before, but she felt lonely. Most of the people in the office had their own family and friends and she w
asn't one to make friends quickly.
Now she was using a dating service, she shook her head. Her mother had signed her up and she had curiously scanned through the possibilities. This guy, Tom something, had seemed the least dangerous and the most friendly. Anyways she was just having a drink at a bar with him. If things went well, a real date would follow, or if there was nothing, nothing more would happen. She didn't have much to lose.
As she left for the evening, she took one last look at the place that was starting to be home. The chairs and kitchen table were hers and they were modern and casual, the type of furniture she liked best. The living room furniture was rented and soon it would be gone. This weekend, she would find something she liked better.
Her eyes fell on the picture frame on the side table. She really needed to change the picture that had come with the frame. She had a picture of her mom, but she just had not had time to put it in. Instead, a grandmotherly woman looked out at her. At least the grandma looked happy for her.
The bar was full, as any good bar would be Friday night. She squeezed through the crowd and headed to the bar.
Her date would be wearing a Giants baseball cap. He didn't usually wear a baseball cap he had assured her, but he would do it just for her, and it would be of the baseball team she followed. She liked that.
She glanced around and didn't see anyone fitting the description. She ordered a California pinot noir and sat down to wait. After fifteen minutes, she checked her phone. Maybe she had the wrong place. She checked the emails they had exchanged.
"There isn't another Aline's Pub around here, is there?" she asked the bartender.
"Are you kidding?"
"Hmmm." She wondered how long she should wait.
"Hey, are you waiting for Tom?"
"Yeah." She wasn't sure it was a good sign that the bartender knew him.
"I keep bottles for some of my customers behind the bar. I'm sure he won't mind I give you a drink of that while you wait. I actually mix it into a special cocktail. It is very tasty."
She usually drank wine, but the bartender seemed very proud of his concoction. She wavered.
"Just have a sip and tell me it's not the best thing you have had," he said as he mixed it.
She took a sip. "Wow, this is very nice. It's kind of tropical, but not overly sweet."
"Yep. Apparently it is the essence of various tropical fruits," said the bartender. "By the way, I would give him another fifteen minutes, the traffic at this time is horrendous."
She did and he finally arrived. His smile was just like his picture on the dating site and she was happy that it had not been altered digitally. He apologized for the traffic.
"Yeah," she said, "the bartender told me that may be the case."
"That bartender is a very wise man," said Tom. "Have you tried the special drink he makes?"
"Yes, it was very good."
"Well, I see you're almost done with that one. I'll just order another."
They started to talk, but she noticed that it was almost like an interview. Maybe these first dates were like that and she went along.
He asked about her family, her job, her friends, what she did for fun and so on. He seemed to listen carefully to each of her answers.
"Some of what I'm telling you is on my profile," she reminded him.
"Yes, but I have to verify it."
"Verify? Are you assuming I would lie on my profile?"
"No, no. It's not that at all. I just read so many profiles of beautiful women that I get them mixed up."
That was not a good answer, thought Suki.
"I mean, I can learn things better when you tell them to me, as opposed to reading them." He gave her his best smile.
Suki sighed. "On your profile you said you liked to travel, where do you go?"
"I really have not traveled much. I would like to go more."
She was pretty sure she had read he traveled. "What do you do?"
"I work here, in the city."
"Yeah, I figured that, but what exactly do you do?"
"Oh. You want the details. They are very boring. I enter data into a computer."
"You enter numbers into a computer?"
"No, I enter profiles of people."
"What? You work for the dating service?" It seemed a breach of ethics.
"No. Not directly for the dating service. I enter the information and there is a selection process. I get a regular pay check."
She listened in amazement as he continued to explain how he determined who would be included. "Only the best candidates would be selected."
It was creepy. She gave him another fifteen minutes and then walked home alone.
As she got into bed, her head was throbbing. These dating sites were too hyped up, she thought to herself. Well, at least she had learned a couple of things, meeting a nice man would not be as easy as advertised and, she really shouldn't have had so many frothy drinks.
Chapter 3
She woke up and stared at the wooden ceiling for a second before it registered. Wood. Where was she? She opened her eyes wide and sat up. This was not her apartment.
Wait, she told herself, maybe she was dreaming. She hit the bed with her palm and it seemed solid enough. She stood up and stomped on the floor. That was solid as well. She went to the window. She could see a field and trees, but the colors were not right. That would fit the dream theory, she thought.
Besides the bedroom, there was another room and it had a small sofa, a table with chairs and a small kitchen area. It was cute, but it wasn't real, was it?
It felt very real and she sat down on the sofa to think. She remembered getting ready for bed and falling asleep in her apartment in New York City. She still had the same shorts and t-shirt she slept in and it looked like some of her things were here. In fact the picture frame with the happy grandma was next to the sofa, but that sofa was not the one from her apartment. She closed her eyes; she was going to wake up any moment now.
As she kept her eyes shut, she remembered the conversation she had overheard. It was something about insurance coverage. They had mentioned some organization and their budget being cut. And it wasn't humans talking. It had been some sort of grey, roundish life forms talking. Aliens, who else would look like that? And it must have been a dream, otherwise how could she have understood what the aliens were saying?
She opened her eyes and nothing had changed. This dream was lasting too long. She looked back at the bedroom and noticed there was a binder at the foot of the bed. She had not noticed it before.
She flipped it open and found it was some sort of instruction manual. It had stick figures and clear instructions. It showed her how to how to fish, how to gather crops, how to purify water and how to do many other things.
It hit her then. This was not a dream; she wouldn't be able to read instructions in a dream. It was not a dream. She looked around wildly. Someone had kidnapped her and left her in this remote cabin.
Don't panic, she told her herself, control the breathing. She tried to slow down her breaths, which had become erratic. She could figure this out; she should be able to get back home and she didn't appear to be injured. Maybe she would be able to tell where she was by the angle of the sun, or the mountains or the moss on the side of the trees.
She put the binder down and stared at the front door. The door could be locked, but she could get out a window if needed. The door was not locked, but as it swung opened she froze. This was not Earth. The sun was orange, the sky was lavender and those were just the first incongruities she noticed.
The lake in front of the cabin was a vibrant green and the forest across the lake had a tinge of blue. The shapes of the trees were all right, though.
From what she could see, the forest extended almost the whole way around the lake. Near to where she was, there was a break in the trees and that is where the meadow that encircled cabin started. There were no other structures around. Her cabin sat alone.
At least the air was br
eathable and she was doing a lot of that. She sat down, to think about it. There was a chair on the porch and it was comfortable. She was in a cabin in the middle of? her head started hurting again.
What she needed was water, but she couldn't drink that lake water, could she? Then she remembered the binder. She opened it and followed the instructions. She took a container to the lake, filled it with water and followed the procedure to purify it. The little stick figure vomiting was enough incentive to do that.
While the water was filtering through, she took a look around the cabin. There was a garden right next to the cabin. A rustic looking wooden fence encircled the garden, keeping it separate from the meadow. There were plenty of vegetables growing and that was good because she was a vegetarian back on Earth. Earth, she looked up at the sky. She wondered where Earth could be?
"How long are you going to keep me here?" she shouted to the sky. The aliens could be watching.
The lavender sky looked down at her silently.
The color of that sky made the vegetables look slightly unusual, but she went ahead and gathered some vegetables that looked like carrots, radishes and lettuce and went back inside the cabin. The water had almost filtered through. What did the stupid book say about the vegetables, she wondered as she flipped the pages.
One stick figure became fat from eating large amounts of food and then there was no food and he shriveled up and died. Hmm, the message was clear. She would have to learn how to grow vegetables if she wanted to continue to eat them. The book probably had a section addressing this, but she closed it; she wasn't going to do that today.
She was sure she had never grown anything before and she didn't want to learn that now. She was worried as to why aliens would have brought her here. She had read the stories.
"Please. I want to go home," she said to no one in particular.
Chapter 4
The following day, he arrived. She happened to be sitting outside and watched him come out from the forest beyond the lake. He walked slowly as he made his way to her.