 
The Feelings Are the Same

Mary S. Sheppard

Copyright © 2014 Mary S. Sheppard

Smashwords Edition

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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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You can also visit my website for more information at http://www.maryssheppard.com

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 wasn'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 breathable 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.

He was tall, and appeared to be human, by the shape. He had two legs, two arms and a round head. Funny, his white spacesuit made him look like one of those inflated characters that float by in a parade, but the legs and arms were moving with purpose. She wasn't laughing, she knew there had to be an alien like the one she had seen on the spaceship inside that suit.

She figured it was a he when he spoke.

"Hello Suki. How are you?"

He spoke English in a singsong manner. "Fine," she answered. She waited, wary about the reason he had come.

"I must apologize," he said. "I should have been here yesterday to greet you, but there was mix up."

She stared at him.

"It looks like you are adapting well. I saw you found the instruction manual. Do you have questions?"

"Of course I have questions," she said blurted out. "I have a lot of questions. Like, how do you know my name? Where am I? What is going to happen to me? How long will I be here?"

He swayed. "I know your name because I will be overseeing your welfare."

"That doesn't answer my question as to how you know my name. And what about the other questions?"

"Do you have questions about the manual?"

"I don't have questions about the manual. My questions are about important things."

"The manual is very important. It will help you survive here."

"But why was I brought here?"

"There is plenty of food and you should not starve."

"Why can't you answer any of my questions?"

"And you are not answering mine. Obviously we are at an impasse."

Impasse was the right word to use and his command of the English language surprised her. "I guess so."

"If you need anything, related to the instruction manual, call me. And have a good day." He turned around and walked away.

That was that. They were just not going to tell her anything more. Maybe this was all part of a test. She wondered if she had passed or failed.

Several days went by and now she was studying the instruction manual seriously. She almost didn't have any more carrots, having splurged on those early on and she had no idea how to get seeds from the remaining few carrots. The book did not provide answers to this.

She studied the ferny tops of the carrots and could not see anything that looked like a seed. Maybe the aliens would bring more carrots once they were gone. She was going to have the same problem with the radishes, the lettuce and who knew what else?

Why would such an advanced group of aliens leave her to fend for herself in such an arcane fashion? Was it some sort of test of survival?

The whole conversation she had heard between the aliens was starting to feel like a dream. Maybe they had abandoned her, with her dwindling vegetables and the fish. Yes, she had seen fish in the lake, but they were nothing like fish on Earth. She didn't even know if they were edible.

She was talking out loud now. At first she tried singing. Somehow the songs made her feel better and then she started to talk. She talked to the vegetables, those crazy looking fish and to herself.

She had also started to keep track of the days by digging lines into one of the walls in the cabin with a knife. Her mother would be appalled if she saw her do something like that.

Her poor mother was probably worried, having no news from her. Suki usually called several times a week. Anyways, she had no idea how many days had actually gone by? A day on this planet might be quite different than that on Earth.

At night she had seen a large white moon crossed the sky and before it set, a small yellow moon followed. During the day she had studied the progress of the orange sun and there was only one of those. She usually ate breakfast when the sun was about 30 degrees above the horizon, lunch when it was directly above her and dinner at 15 degrees above the opposite horizon. Who knew how many Earth hours that was, but she was hungry at those times.

She still had a watch and it seemed to be running all right, but the times did not make any sense anymore and she took it off. The lines on the wall were a better measurement of time and by them she knew she had been gone four planet days. Of course that did not include the time spent traveling through space when she was unconscious. She could have left Earth months ago, as far as she knew, or worse, years.

Besides her mother, would anyone outside of work notice that she was gone? She thought of her life back on Earth. She had not had enough time in New York City to make any friends there.

Yeah, who was she kidding, she didn't even have many friends back home in Santa Clara, California, where she had lived most of her life. It wasn't that she loved being alone, although she didn't mind that, but that her interests had always been different. She was also very 'self-sufficient' her mother told her.

Meanwhile the self-sufficiency was working, she thought as she took out the roasted vegetables from the tiny oven. At least the aliens had supplied her a cabin with a kitchen, bedroom, a bathroom and all kinds of conveniences. Much of her bathroom supplies had made the trip.

There were solar panels on the roof and some sort of electrical storage that provide for her electricity needs at night. It was like renting a fully furnished apartment, but she was paying no rent, she smiled and then caught herself. She was going to go crazy.

The worse thing was that if she was gone for a long period of time, the few friends she had, would probably forget her. Her mother would be the only one who cared and hopefully she was still alive. She started to despair. She felt so alone.

# Chapter 5

The meeting had already started as Ickcy made his way to a seat. The Manager was listening to Szcky give his weekly progress. Szcky was always a bit long winded and finally he finished his report. The Manager thanked him and wished him well in his new job.

"As you know, Szcky will be leaving us today. He has been transferred to the energy sector." The Manager sounded envious. The energy sector was flush with cash. "Okay, who is next? Ickcy, I think you just returned from a visit to the Planet Humex. What is the status on your Subjects?"

Ickcy started his report. All his Subjects were doing well, as they had been for quite some time. He always took care of them.

"What about Subject #78?" asked The Manager. "I realize she was just assigned to you, but you visited her."

"Yes as you know she was assigned to me the day after she arrived and therefore no one greeted her the first day. She did not get the initial instructions." She was supposed to have been assigned to Szcky.

"I know. I know you were assigned to her late," said The Manager. "But how is she adapting?"

"She is angry as most Subjects are at first, but in this case I am not sure she will adapt."

"Why is that?"

"She is consuming the food supplied to her, but not making provisions for later."

"Well that is troubling. Where did we find this Subject?"

"New York City."

"Hmm, so her native environment was urban. Maybe she doesn't know how to grow food? We did have a problem once with another Subject that came from Los Angeles, another city."

"She knows how the vegetables grow and she is eating them rapidly, but she is not saving any for seeds and she is not fishing."

"Are you certain the instructions on how to fish are in her manual?"

"Yes."

"That is a puzzle," agreed The Manager.

"Well soon she will run out of vegetables and she will have to fish or starve," said Szcky.

Ickcy had to admit that his friend did not care as much for the Subjects as he did.

"Excuse me," said Mckcy, "but I have read that some people on Earth are vegetarians. That means they only eat vegetables."

"Is that a medical condition?" asked The Manager.

"No, I believe it is a choice," said Mckcy.

"Well, then she can easily choose to not be a vegetarian," said Szcky.

"That is true," said The Manager. The meeting concluded soon afterwards and he asked Ickcy and Mckcy to stay.

"Now that Szcky is leaving, I have to assign his Subjects to both of you. We cannot hire anyone else. Here is the data on each of the Subjects." The Manager gave each of them an organic hard drive.

Of course, thought Ickcy. Cut the budgets and make the remaining employees work harder. He inserted the chip into his hand and the screen in front of him displayed the profiles. He had received three more people. He glanced at Mckcy's display and saw that she had two human profiles.

"Icky two of your new Subjects are in the Tropics Village and one is part of the Alone Project. He will fit well with your other alone Subjects. Mckcy you will have two more in a village."

"But didn't Szcky have six Subjects?" asked Ickcy.

"Yes, but Subject #5 is dying. We were supposed to send her back to Earth, but we don't have the budget now and the money can be used better for the living. I will oversee her until she dies."

It was kind of sad, thought Ickcy. Dying so far from one's home. At least Subject #5 lived in the Forest Village and would have other humans for companionship.

"Ickcy, I realize that now you will have Subjects on the other side of the world," said The Manger, "but at least all three are generally in the same region. Any more information is in the drive I gave you."

"Both of my subjects are in the Forest Village," said Mckcy.

"Yes, but Subject #30 is a special Subject and he will require extra attention," said The Manager. "I think you will be able to help with that, Mckcy. He is a young male, and has been in the Forest Village for about six months, but he was frozen for ten years before that."

"Oh, I heard about this case," said Mckcy.

"Wasn't that because the Experimenter that requested him did not want him anymore?" asked Ickcy.

"Yes, the Experimenter decided he needed an older Subject and wanted one that was female. Subject #30 was frozen until he was needed in the forest village," said The Manager.

"Did he have any side effects from thawing out?" asked Mckcy.

"I am sure all that information is there," repeated The Manager. "Both of you are very capable and it should be easy peasy for you."

They were dismissed shortly afterwards.

As they went to their work area, Mckcy walked with him. "More Subjects to oversee," she sighed. "Too bad yours will be scattered around the planet. That will make your job more difficult."

"We are just Overseers and it will be fine, at least we have jobs, even though I will have nine Subjects to care for."

"Nine Subjects?"

"Yes, it was easier when they were all on one side of the planet. How many Subjects do you have?"

"I only have six." She looked apologetic.

"Yeah, but apparently you have the problem Subject #30."

# Chapter 6

On the seventh day, Suki shouted at the sky. "I have a question about the manual." Even if she was angry towards the aliens she needed them to survive.

She looked out at the forest and waited for a moment and then went back inside the cabin to find her watch. After fifteen minutes, she shouted again, just in case they had not heard her the first time.

She actually had started to worry about her food supply. Where was she supposed to get seeds for planting? She knew that vegetables would take some time to grow and she was going to run out.

The third time she shouted at the sky she started to wonder how closely they were monitoring her. Maybe there were other humans and they couldn't monitor them all at the same time. Maybe there were only a few of them doing the monitoring. That was an interesting idea. She kept track of the time and shouted again.

It was an hour and fifteen minutes before she saw the white suited alien heading her way. It had taken him a while to respond, she noted.

"You have a question about the manual?" It sounded like the alien that had come before.

"Yes, thank you for coming," she said automatically and realized she should not be thanking her captors, but she couldn't take it back.

"Oh, you are welcome," the alien sounded surprised at her thanks.

"Are you the same one who came before?"

"Yes. Don't I sound the same?"

"Yes, but maybe all of you sound the same or maybe you are one entity sharing one giant brain."

"Eeeee, Eeeee," he shouted.

She jumped back frightened at the sound.

"Don't be alarmed," said the alien quickly. "That was a laugh and it didn't translate well."

"Oh."

"Having one shared brain would make my work much easier," said the alien. "So you had a question?"

"I have run out of carrots. I don't know how to grow more."

"The instructions should be in the manual."

"I didn't find any information there and I read the entire book." She handed him the manual.

The alien looked at it and referred to a screen on his wrist. "I apologize. It looks like some pages are missing in your binder. I will bring you another binder."

"Oh. What should I do meanwhile?"

"I cannot tell you. We leave that up to you."

"What is your name anyways?"

"I'll bring back the binder soon."

"Thanks. I guess I will not eat carrots ever again," she sighed. She had feared this was going to happen and had been getting ready to a life without carrots. "Can I call you again if I have questions?"

"Of course," he said. "That is why I am here. It does take me..." He looked pointed at her watch, "About fifteen of your minutes to get here."

"That is not too bad," she smiled slightly.

Ickcy felt sorry for her as he started to take the suit off. He pulled the helmet off his elongated head. His four long limbs untangled themselves from the arms of the suit and his two stocky legs were finally free of the long extension of the suit. The whole contraption had been designed to look human-ish and make the humans feel comfortable around them.

Subject #78 was an agreeable Subject, and he didn't want her to die. She was much younger than Subject #5 so that shouldn't happen.

Of course, accidents did sometimes happen, he thought of Subject #23. It was surprising that with over 140 humans on the planet, that had been the only accidental fatality.

It happened before he started working, but the story had been retold as a warning to all the Overseers. The Overseer of #23 had been fired. The lesson learned was that one had to supervise these humans constantly. They could become erratic and harm themselves.

He didn't think Subject #78 would become like that. She seemed nice. He was going to ask The Manager if they could supply her with carrots. It had not been her fault that she didn't know about the seeds.

Ickcy went to Publishers Section to see what had happened to the pages. When he arrived there was a note indicating that they were on break. It was mid afternoon, what kind of break was this, he wondered?

He waited for a few minutes and then wrote out a terse note indicating the gravity of the situation. He needed a new binder, or at least, the pages that were missing right away. They should also look at their processes to find why the pages had not been included in the first place.

He reread the last part of his note and decided to rewrite the note, without the second part. There was no need to antagonize the Publishers.

As he returned to his station, he marveled how they were always on break. He was definitely working in the wrong group.

The pages were delivered to him late that day. He added them to the binder making sure the various chapters about the seeds were included. As he read the instructions, he was shocked. It would take more than a year to get the seeds for carrots.

He turned the pages. What about radishes? The process there was also very tedious requiring many months for the radishes to go to seed.

The last page in the section was unreadable, Ickcy sighed. Ickcy had learned to read the human text, like the Publishers did, and he knew the shapes of the letters on that last page were out of shape. That meant he had to send another message to the Publishers.

Well Subject #78 needed her binder now and he was going to take it down immediately. He would add the extra page later when it was fixed. He just hoped this young human female would have the patience to wait for the seeds to sprout. He might have to encourage her a bit, but it was going to be tricky. She was part of the Alone Project and minimal interaction was required.

Of course, the Experimenters had to see that having a Subject die would not help the experiment.

# Chapter 7

Days had gone by since Suki got the instructions about the seeds. She had put her newfound knowledge to work and was reserving some of the healthiest specimens of several of the vegetables for seeds.

It was a good feeling that she was able to be self-reliant in this respect. The only thing that she couldn't remember exactly was how she had left New York City and ended up on this planet.

That morning she had been working in the garden for several hours when she stood up to give her legs a break. She gazed out over the lake and he caught her eye. He happened to be looking in her direction at the same time. Her mouth fell open in amazement.

He was human. He was about her age, slightly taller with black hair. He did not look surprised at seeing her.

Suddenly she saw a couple of white suited aliens closing in on him. She hid behind the fence. She heard some shouting and then nothing. She peeked through the slats in the fence and saw they were dragging the man away.

There was someone else on the planet. She had suspected it and now she knew. But, why had she not seen anyone before? Maybe she wasn't supposed to see anyone and with that thought, she snuck out of the garden and walked in the opposite direction from the lake. Hopefully no one had noticed her.

She was gone for quite a while and then she returned to the cabin. She saw a white suit waiting for her.

"Hello," she said.

"Hello."

"Did you come to see my progress with the vegetables?"

The alien thought about it. "Yes. Are you understanding the instructions?"

"Yes. Come to the garden. I'll show you what I have done."

'There is no need for me to see that. I couldn't tell you if you were doing things right or wrong. Just follow the instructions."

"Oh."

"Where were you?"

"I went for a walk."

"Did you see anything unusual?"

"Yes."

"What did you see?" he asked carefully.

"There are no animals here. One would think that a forest has animals or insects at least, I haven't found any."

"Do you miss the insects?"

"I do miss the insects, a little. I miss a lot of things much more."

The alien looked uncomfortable and said he was leaving. "I brought you some carrots. I know it takes a long time for them to germinate."

"That is kind and thoughtful, thank you. They are my favorite, and I will try not to eat them at every meal," said Suki smiling. "That should make them last longer."

"Is the food sufficient for you?"

"It is sufficient and good, but I am missing some protein. I used to eat beans and since I am not a vegan I can also eat cheese and eggs, but I have not seen any chickens, cows or goats."

"There are some ..." said the alien and he stopped. "I'll see what I can do." He turned and quickly left.

"It was good we captured Subject #30 before he did any damage," said The Manager. "Do we know why he ran?"

"He is not happy in the forest village," said Mckcy. "He is looking for something."

"Why is that? Is the village not big enough?" asked The Manager looking at the records. "Where was he from?"

"He was taken from Philadelphia but I believe he was born in Italy. Just remember he was taken almost eleven years ago. Maybe being frozen for ten years has made him unsettled."

"Hmm, we wouldn't bring a Subject like him any more. He had a large family, was successful in his own business and his feelings seem to be more extreme than the others Subjects. With that type of personality he is not a good candidate."

"I am sorry he got that far," said Mckcy.

"No Mckcy, you were on it quite promptly. Did Subject #78 see anything, Ickcy?"

"She did not. I delivered the carrots, as we agreed, and took the opportunity to ask her about it. She was not in the area when we apprehended #30," said Ickcy.

"How is she progressing?" asked The Manager.

Ickcy wanted to ask for beans, or eggs, or cheese, all of which were available in other places, but he didn't want to press his luck so soon after the carrots. He couldn't show favoritism. "Subject #78 is doing better. She is now taking care of the garden well."

"Good. The Experimenter wants to see her."

"Already?" Ickcy knew that meant a nighttime visit.

"Yes, Subject #78 has been here almost two weeks. Is she still not eating the fish?" asked The Manager.

"Yes and that will be a problem," said Ickcy. The fish were fed a chemical that induced deeper sleep in the humans. "On the other hand she seems to be sleeping well."

"Maybe, but that sleep is not deep enough for the tests the Experimenter wants to run. You better add some of the chemicals into her drinking water."

"Into the lake?"

"Of course not, into her water pitcher."

"That means I will have to go down again."

"It should be easy peasy for you," The Manager looked at him as if he had stated the obvious.

It was obvious, but Ickcy didn't like it.

# Chapter 8

"So you came to visit so soon?" She smiled. She was starting to warm up to this alien. She got the feeling that he really seemed to care.

"Yes. I happened to find some beans for you. I think they are called pinto beans." The alien put the bag on the table.

She rushed to inspect them. "Wow, these are pinto beans. My diet will be much better. Now I just need the carbs."

"Carbs?"

"Carbohydrates; all part of a balanced diet," she explained what that meant. "You understand?"

The alien swayed.

She smiled realizing it was his way to agree. "You know, if I wasn't a prisoner in this weird planet and all alone, I would actually enjoy this place."

"Is there anything else you need?" The alien moved around the room.

Suki found that interesting. He had not shown interest in anything in the cabin before. Usually he was in a hurry to get away. What was he up to? Or maybe he was looking for something.

He stopped near kitchen table. "Do you have enough water?"

"Yes. Would you like some?" She took the pitcher from the table and served him a glass.

"I don't drink plain water."

"Oh, I'm sorry. Of course you don't. Do you drink anything?"

"Our nutrition is a drink. It is mostly ethylene glycol with a dash of water added. We don't need to ingest anything else. It is simple so we don't spend a lot of time in the production and consumption of out nutrition." The alien stopped as if realizing he was talking too much.

He looked towards the water. "My name is Ickcy."

"Ickee?"

"No it is a softer ending."

"I like it. Ickay. All right, Ickay. Are you looking for something?"

"I am going to put a chemical in the water that will help you sleep."

"Really? But I sleep pretty well already."

"We need to run some tests and those are done better while you are asleep."

"Tests? What kind of tests?" She was worried. She had seen many science fictions movies and knew about horrible tests.

"These tests won't hurt you and you won't have any effects from them."

"I can't be awake for them?"

"I don't think the Experimenter will like that."

"So you are not the Experimenter?"

"I am the Overseer. My job is to make sure you are all right."

She thought about it for a moment. They were going to do this to her anyways and it was better to not be forced. "Go ahead, put the chemical in my water. I trust you Ickcy. I will drink the water."

He left soon after she drank the water. She didn't feel any different and she thought again about the man she had seen across the lake. She went out to the porch and looked around. Of course there was no one there.

She decided she wanted to take a closer look so she went to the dock. She had seen a canoe tied there. From her previous test, she knew she had about an hour before Ickcy monitored her. She set the alarm on her watch.

The manual had instructions about paddling a canoe, but the process was very simple and she quickly understood what to do. She climbed into the canoe carefully and sat down. She stuck the paddle into the water and pulled. The canoe turned in that direction; heading back to land. She quickly took the paddle out and paddled on the other side.

Now she was facing the middle of the lake. It took several more tries before she started in the direction she wanted. A bit later she started to enjoy it. By the time she got across the lake she had minimized the splashing and the canoe was moving in the directions she wanted. She paddled across the lake to the place where she had seen the man.

The tall grass was pressed down in one area and that is probably where they struggled. That was good, she thought, that proved she had not imagined it. She looked around for anything else that would validate what she had seen, but there was nothing else and time was running out.

She got back on the canoe and paddled back. She didn't want the aliens to know what she had seen. As she got back to the cabin she was not discouraged. She had seen a man and now she knew she was not the only human on the planet.

Ickcy couldn't believe she had finished the water right in front of him. She had watched him put the chemical in the glass and she had finished it. It was truly amazing that someone would trust him to that extent. He didn't know if any of his fellow Neubulisskys would trust him that much. Of course, now he felt even more responsible for her.

He went to inform the Experimenter that Subject #78 would be available tonight. The Experimenter was one of those self-centered, female scientists.

"Fine," she said, barely acknowledging him.

He started to leave.

"Wait," said the Experimenter. "Is she in good health?"

Ickcy wondered why she was asking. Would the testing be more rigorous if she was? "She is better. She was not eating much for a while and I found out she is a vegetarian."

"What is that?"

Ickcy explained what that was.

"Hmm. That should not affect my studies, it is irrelevant."

Ickcy prepared to leave and then asked, "Can I watch you work tonight?"

The Experimenter looked at him as if he were insane. "What is your name?"

"Ickcy."

"Ickcy do you have a High degree in Humanity?"

"No, but I got a Middle degree in Human Psyc."

She chuckled in a condescending matter. "A Middle degree in Human Psyc. Well you are entertaining Ickcy. I tell you what; I will let you watch tonight. I understand how you Overseers are curious about the important work we do."

"Thank you Experimenter."

"You can call me Dr. Lctch."

"Thank you Dr. Lctch." He turned to leave.

"Ickcy?"

He stopped.

"You understand this is a one time deal, don't you?"

He swayed and left her lab.

# Chapter 9

Ickcy waited patiently for Dr. Lctch. She had told him to get there an hour ago, but obviously she was not ready. Even as they boarded the transport she had turned back noticing she had forgotten something.

"This is a very complicated process," she told him as an excuse. "There are many things I have to take to test the Subjects and of course I cannot leave anything down there. The Subject might find the items and play with them and get injured."

She obviously did not think much of the Subjects.

They arrived close to the cabin just as the larger moon was setting. He helped Dr. Lctch carry some of the equipment into the cabin.

She noticed his help, but didn't thank him.

When they entered the cabin, Suki was fast asleep looking very peaceful.

Dr. Lctch had him put one of the monitors close to Suki and started to attach wires to her. She stirred a little, but didn't wake.

Then Dr. Lctch recorded information. Next she took out a long needle and stuck it in Suki's arm. Suki moved around a bit and Ickcy was almost afraid to watch, but Dr. Lctch did not seem concerned. After a while she said, "Ickcy, make yourself useful. Bring that monitor close to me."

He recognized this as brain scanner. He did as requested and then she asked him to take the other the monitor back to the transport.

"Do you want me to do this right now?"

"Yes, of course."

He did so reluctantly wondering how Dr. Lctch had ever managed without him. These tests would take her a lot longer without his help, he thought. When he returned to the cabin, she was almost finished.

"Okay, let's go," said Dr. Lctch yanking off some of the leads.

"Hey," said Ickcy concerned about waking Suki up, but she was still in deep sleep. The place where the needle had gone in would leave a large purple mark. Maybe Dr. Lctch should have been a bit gentler, he thought as he followed her to the transport.

Dr. Lctch seemed very happy on the trip back to the station. "I did everything I needed in record time," she said.

Ickcy just looked at her and she must have finally noticed.

"You were quite helpful you know," she added. "You did not get in the way and you didn't bother me at all. You did a good job."

Ickcy knew he was expected to thank her for such a non-compliment and he did. Then he asked, "Will you be going again soon?"

"Why do you need to know?"

"Subject #78 does not ingest the sleeping chemicals in her normal diet. I have to add them to her drinking water. Maybe you want her awake next time?"

"No. That would be terrible."

"She knows about us, you know. I have to interact with her often."

"I guess that is true, but still, I rather keep my objective distance from the Subjects."

"I see. Are you worried you might develop some feelings towards them?"

She laughed. "I don't think that would ever happen. No. The humans are nowhere close to our intellectual level. Even if their feelings are similar to us, it would be as if a human befriended a fish or a lizard."

He swayed in agreement. He knew that having similar feelings was the reason to select the humans. In fact he had noticed that humans felt some things more strongly than they did. But he had also read that some humans did have fish and lizards as pets and considered them friends.

# Chapter 10

Suki's head was pounding the following morning when she awoke. She rolled over and noticed that her arm hurt as well. She found the bruise and it made her angry that they treated her like a test subject.

What were you thinking, her logical mind scolded her. Had she thought that she could befriend that Ickcy character and that things would be fine? That the aliens would let her go back home? Ha, ha, ha, her logical mind laughed.

She took a long shower hoping to wash away the bad feelings and when that didn't work, she took the canoe out to the lake and attacked the water with her paddle. A couple of the fish followed the canoe at a safe distance.

"I thought we were friends," she told the fish. "Isn't friendship supposed to mean something?" She didn't ask her logical mind because she knew that part of her brain was still laughing at her gullibility.

She got part of the way around the lake when she realized she was hungry and went back to get lunch. She also had to spend some time tending the garden so it was several hours before she went back to the canoe.

This time she had brought some lettuce, which she threw in the water for the fish. They ate the lettuce hungrily. "I guess you are my best friends now," she told them and they looked like they agreed.

When she arrived to the furthest point on the lake, with her two fish entourage, she noticed the sun was getting low. She turned the canoe around and that is when she saw the lights twinkled through the trees. They seemed to be coming from more than one location and they did not seem far. Could it be? Were there more people out there so close to her?

Should she investigate? Or would Ickcy show up and drag her back to the cabin? The manual had not said she couldn't go on the lake or if there were any areas forbidden to her, so she was not breaking any rules, but still, she wanted to play it safe. She paddled back to the cabin.

She was hungry and ate well, but she could not sleep that night. She was worried they would come back and prick her or probe her or whatever. She curled up on a chair, holding her pillow and dozed off for brief periods through the night. At one point she walked onto the deck to look over the lake and noticed that the white moon did cast a lot of light. She could canoe at night, she thought, if she needed to.

Ickcy was worried about Suki. He had been viewing her closely throughout the day. Normally he set his viewer to cycle through the Subjects on a set schedule, but today he spent more time on Suki.

At one point she was paddling the canoe with frenzy. She didn't seem to have any destination and then returned to the cabin. The next time he checked, she was feeding the fish in the lake. He paused for a moment to watch her. She seemed to be such a gentle creature.

The missing page of the binder was delivered to him finally and then and he realized that it was an important page. It warned the humans not to go further than two miles in any direction. They did not want the humans in the Alone Project to accidentally mingle with other humans and contaminate the experiments.

If the humans broke the rule, strong actions were promised. Hmm, thought Ickcy. He didn't think it applied to Suki. The entire lake fit within the two-mile boundary and she did not venture further than that. But, she needed to be aware of the rules. He would take the page down with him on his next trip.

In the evening, when he checked on her the last time before going to rest, she was holding her pillow, but she was not in her bed. She kept rubbing the dark bruise on her arm and seemed afraid of sleeping.

It made him angry. He knew this was going to happen after Dr. Lctch's experiments, but it didn't make it any better to know that. He left his station annoyed and rushed out into the hall. He almost ran into Mckcy.

"I'm sorry Mckcy."

"That's all right. Looks like you're in a hurry."

"A bit, but I'm more angry than in a hurry. Dr. Lctch's did some testing on my Subject #78 and now she is not sleeping. She is afraid to."

"That happens sometimes. Is it the first time it happens to one of your Subjects?"

"Actually I have not noticed this with my other Subjects. They seem to be all right. I think Subject #78 has a very delicate nature."

"She is the vegetarian, isn't she?"

"Yes. I saw her feeding the fish in the lake today. She called them her friends."

"Hmm, she is part of the Alone Project so maybe that is to be expected?"

Ickcy looked at her not understanding.

"Maybe she is transferring her feelings for friends to the fish. She has no other companions. Of course I don't have a High Degree in Humanity so I couldn't tell you exactly."

"What you say makes sense to me." he said as they started walking down the hallway.

"It is nice that you care about your Subjects so much."

"We are responsible for their well-being, it is our job."

"Yes, I agree. That is why I am worried about Subject #30. I don't know what I am going to do with him. He is very depressed."

"Why was he running away from the Forest Village? At least he has company there."

"I don't know. We teach them to be self-sufficient and anything they can't grow or catch, we give them. They live for free in comfort. It would be a great life for one of us if we had it."

"Really Mckcy? Would you change places with Suki?"

"Is that Subject 78's name?"

"Yes."

"Well no. I would not change places with her. She is alone and I don't think I would enjoy that. I might change with one of my Subjects in the village. That would not be bad."

"So you wouldn't mind being monitored throughout the day, having no privacy and having everyday very much the same as the previous day?"

"Hmm," said Mckcy.

"And you would have to stay within your designated area and not meet anyone else besides the people around you," continued Ickcy. "Think of that."

"Wow Ickcy, when you put it that way, it sounds terrible. And it also sounds a lot like our jobs."

# Chapter 11

Ickcy came to visit the following day. It was late in the afternoon and Suki was still angry. She didn't greet him.

"How are you Suki?" he asked.

"Fine. As well as can be expected for being a prisoner and a test subject. Have you come to make me drink more sleeping chemicals?"

"No, but I noticed you have not slept well."

"What do you expect? You said the tests would not hurt and I believed you. Now I am angry at myself for believing you."

"I am sorry you were hurt. In most cases, there are no complaints."

"Most cases, but not all? So some of your test subjects are being hurt. I should have known. I just thought that since your race was so advanced, and we are so primitive, you would do better."

"I'm sorry." The alien seemed to be upset. "I brought the last missing page for your binder."

"The binder is over there," she pointed "Go ahead and put it in yourself." She didn't feel like helping.

He inserted the page carefully and placed the binder just as he had found it. "It has important information you should read."

"And you give it to me now? Does it tell me how to get off this planet?"

Ickcy shook. His whole body shook.

"What is wrong?" she asked.

"Nothing is wrong. The page has no instruction on how to get off the planet."

So that was how way they expressed a negative, she thought. It made sense, the swaying meant the same as a nod, so the shaking must have been no. "Was there any other point to your visit?"

"No." He turned to leave and glanced back. "The name of this planet is Humex. I think you asked me that before."

She nodded. She knew he was trying to appease her by answering one of her questions.

As soon as he disappeared into the forest, she ran to the canoe and pushed off. She probably had a bit over an hour.

She arrived to the spot where she had seen the lights and landed the canoe. She made her way through the forest and that is when she came upon a house. She was so astounded to find it she stared for a moment.

"I can't believe my hair frizzes out so much here," said a female voice. "And my skin is so dry."

Suki had meant to greet who ever it was, but instead she hid behind a tree.

A young woman and the man she had seen before came out from behind the house. "The frizzy hair is the least of our problems," said the man.

"We don't really have other problems, Enrico. This is the most concerning problem I have," said the woman.

"I don't know about you, but I don't want to be here on this planet. I want to go back to Earth."

"Earth was not that great for me."

"How can you say that? What about your family?"

"I don't really have family."

"What about your friends?"

"They were losers. Don't look at me that way. Most of them were, what can I say? They were always in trouble either with the law or with their other criminal friends. The last guy I dated dragged me into a huge mess. I didn't do anything, but I was scheduled to be in court the day I was brought here."

"You have not been in the village long. Is this the first place you came to from Earth?"

"Yep, three days ago."

"You have only been here three days, so I'll wait to see how you feel after a few months."

A look of concern crossed her face but she continued sounding positive. "It shouldn't make a difference. Look at all the friends I have made so far, in just three days. I do make friends easily."

"I guess you do, Jenna."

"Come on Enrico, don't rock the boat. We have a good thing here," the woman took the man's waist and swung in front of him.

He smiled down at her.

Suki felt she was intruding and glanced at her watch. She only had ten minutes left to get back to the cabin. She crept quietly away.

Once she was back she analyzed what had happened. Her logical mind was good for this. She had noticed that since the alien experiment on her, the logical side of her mind had become more vocal.

She had found two humans, and she had done it without the aliens' knowledge, both good points. But why did she hide from them? Was it shyness or was it she didn't trust other humans in this planet? What if they told the aliens she was there and then the aliens made her life worse?

That was it. She agreed with the girl that things were not so bad on Planet Humex and she didn't want them to get bad. But, but unlike her, Suki did want to go back to Earth.

If Enrico had a way, she wanted to know what it was.

Before sleeping she decided to read the new page that had been added to the binder. She shouldn't have.

It warned her not to venture further than two miles from the cabin. There it was, in bold letters. Two miles? The village was further away than that.

Why hadn't they warned her before? This was an important bit of information to have it hidden on page 23. They wanted her alone, isolated. What kind of sick experiment was this?

Well, she had made it to the village and she had had no repercussions. She had to go back and talk to Enrico and it didn't hurt that he was handsome. Of course, said her logical mind, as far as she knew, he was the only human male on the planet. Even an ugly human male might look appealing.

# Chapter 12

Suki was finishing her shower when she saw the white suit through the glass door. He was waiting in her bedroom.

The cabin had only two main rooms and the tiny bathroom was right off the bedroom. She had no complaints about this. It was nice to have a bathroom nearby and the shower had an endless supply of water at the perfect temperature.

Of course if someone was in her bedroom, they could see inside the bathroom. She quickly grabbed a towel and covered herself. She stepped out of the shower. "Ickcy what are you doing here?"

"I brought you some carbs."

He obviously didn't realize what he had done, said her logical mind. "That is very nice, but you should not come into a human's bedroom when they are in the bathroom."

"Oh. I whistled at the door, but you didn't answer. Anyway, I think you know I have seen you naked before."

"Yeah," she sighed. "I just realized that, just as I said it." They monitored her continuously, but it seemed an invasion of privacy for him to be physically there, didn't it? Her logical mind started to laugh at her.

"Why do you wash yourself in water anyways?" asked Ickcy.

"Most humans enjoy the shower and our bodies need to be cleaned. Dead skin cells have to be removed."

He shook a bit. "I'll go wait in the other room." He sounded disgusted.

She dressed quickly and joined him. "Oh my goodness, it that fresh bread?"

"For you."

"Thank you Ickcy."

"There is a human who makes the bread and she wants you to give her something in exchange, a barter."

She was quite sure the young woman she had seen was not the baker. So in addition to the young girl and the man there was someone else, she thought. "Barter? What can I give her? Shall I talk to her to find out what she wants?"

"No. There will be no communication between you. She will take anything you can give. You seem to have plenty of vegetables."

She nodded. "Yes. I could make a soufflé with the vegetables, oh," she stopped. "I would need cheese and eggs for that. Let me think, there is something else I could make."

"I will leave you to decide. Tomorrow I will come to collect it."

He left her as she thought out her plan. It was the first time he had told her when he was coming ahead of time. It would give her another chance to return to the house she had found.

Next she came up with an idea for a nice tomato and eggplant terrine. She wanted the baker to enjoy it so that her bread supply would be ensured.

"Did she like it?" asked Mckcy when he returned to the ship.

"Yes. Thank you Mckcy. It was a good idea to give her the bread from the Forest Village baker."

"I noticed the humans in the village enjoy eating the bread and most give the baker other products in return. I hope it doesn't corrupt the Alone Project."

"It shouldn't. She is not meeting any humans and actually she needs to eat carbs."

"Carbs?"

"It's all part of a human's balanced diet," He explained the same things Suki had told him.

"Oh. So with a balanced diet the humans live longer?"

"Apparently yes."

"You are so smart Ickcy. Even without a High degree in Humanity, I think you know more about humans than most Experimenters.'

Ickcy smiled and thanked Mckcy for the complement. She was a very pretty Neubulissky, he thought as he went back to his station.

# Chapter 13

She was getting better with the canoe and since she knew exactly where to go, she got there quickly. As soon as Ickcy had left with the vegetable terrine she was out the door.

She almost ran through the forest, knowing the time was ticking away. She came up to the house and continued beyond. That is when she noticed the other houses. There was a whole group of them!

Why did they get to live together while she was alone? She felt cheated. Then she saw a middle aged woman and the girl from the other day walking towards her. She couldn't help it and hid again.

She was such a scared-y cat, she scolded herself, go out there and say hello, but she stayed hidden.

"I am sure you can help me," said the woman.

"But, do I have to?"

"Everyone in the village has to work on something."

"I could do makeup, or maybe hair styling? I like that."

The woman looked at her and didn't answer for a bit. "Jenna, I don't think that many women here would ask for those services. We are so busy just making enough food to keep us alive. Anyways where would you get the makeup and hair products?"

"I would ask the aliens for them. They want us to be happy right?"

"Right," the woman sighed. "Well I need some help, if you are interested."

They parted ways and luckily neither came her way.

"Why are you sneaking around?"

She turned and saw the guy from the other day standing in front of her. For all the talking she had been doing, words failed her now in front of another human.

"Can you speak?" he asked.

"Yes I can," she finally blurted out. The alarm on her watch went off at that moment. "I have to go."

She went past him, but he grabbed her wrist. "Wait. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see if there were other humans."

"Oh. I recognize you from the other day. You were across the lake."

"Yeah, I saw you too." He was much handsomer closer, she thought, gazing at him.

"You probably shouldn't be here," he said.

"You're right, I have to go. The Overseers will come looking for me." She pulled away from him and started through the forest.

He followed. "How do you know how much time you have?"

"I did an experiment. Call them and see how long they take to get here. You'll have to do it a few times to get their schedules, but once you do, they follow them pretty consistently."

"How much time did you have?"

"About an hour and fifteen minutes for my Overseer, but it could be different for yours. Hey, don't follow me anymore, I am not supposed to be with other humans."

He stopped. "What is your name?" He almost had to shout as she came to the canoe.

She didn't answer as she quickly pushed the canoe out into the lake. She paddled furiously to get out in the middle and looked at her watch again. She didn't think she had gotten away in time, luckily she was wrong.

Ickcy watched Suki as she paddled back to the cabin. She was on the lake a lot lately. Maybe it was her way to deal with what was happening to her.

"Ickcy?" Mckcy was standing behind him.

"Yes."

"Do you have the barter item? I'm going down to the Forest Village."

"Yes. I brought it with me. It is a 'tomato, eggplant terrine'." He presented it to her.

"I don't think I can pronounce all that, but it looks interesting."

"It's probably not necessary you say it, just give it to the baker. Suki says she hopes she likes it."

"Ickcy, I think it is best you refer to her as Subject #78."

"Does it matter?"

"It makes it sound like you are talking about a friend and not a test Subject."

"Oh. I wouldn't want anyone to think that. Subject #78 wants to please Subject #22 so she gets a steady supply of bread, for her carb requirement. Is that better?"

"Yes it is. I'll take the ... the thing to Subject #22 now."

# Chapter 14

She could hardly wait for Ickcy to visit again so that she could be assured of having an hour to go to the village. She was more positive about things and had started to sing again. She caught herself singing to the fish as she fed them bits of bread. She loved the bread, but so did the fish, so they shared.

As far as she knew, no more tests had been done on her. She should have known that was going to change.

Ickcy arrived and as she greeted him she noticed that he seemed to walk slower than usual.

"What is wrong Ickcy?"

"Why do you think something is wrong?"

"You seem sad or worried?"

"You are right. The Experimenter wants to see you again."

"Oh." It was Suki's turn to be worried.

"I made a complaint about what happened last time, but nothing came of it. The Experimenters are a level above me so there was no reprimand."

"You made a complaint?"

"Of course, I am the Overseer."

"Well I will not drink the chemical unless you are allowed to come with the Experimenter."

"I don't think they will allow me to come with her."

"Fine. I will not drink any water."

"But you will die if you don't have water."

"Yes I will."

He stood for a long time without saying anything.

"You are the Overseer and you care for my well being," she said. "The Experimenter does not. I don't trust her."

When he arrived to the ship he reported it exactly like Subject #78 had said. He thought The Manager would be angry, but he wasn't. He was intrigued.

"That is amazing," he said. "I have read about some captives relating to their captors, but we had never had any such cases. I thought it was because we are such different life forms. Subject #78 may be trying to become your friend."

"What should I tell the Experimenter?"

"Who is it?"

"Dr. Lctch."

"Oh," he winced. "That is too bad. She can be quite unreasonable."

Ickcy swayed in agreement.

"Well, I'll talk to her. She will just have to accept. This is an interesting scientific break through."

After Ickcy left, Suki debated whether she should take a chance and go to the village. Ickcy would report that she refused to drink the water and who knows if they would monitor her right away. Maybe she would not have the hour she normally had; it was risky. She decided to go for a paddle on the canoe.

The next thing she knew was that she was heading to the village. Maybe secretly she had a death wish, her logical mind told her.

Once there she hid again and this time she saw different people. There was an old man and woman walking hand in hand just as if they were teens. Then a couple of men in their forties passed by arguing about something. She couldn't believe there were so many humans, but there was no sign of the man she wanted to see.

"Your explanation was not too clear," a voice said near her.

"Hi," she smiled seeing it was the guy. "What explanation?"

"The explanation on how to measure how much time we have between the monitoring. I always seem to find you hiding behind trees. Why do you hide?"

"I am afraid one of you will tell the aliens I have been here and they will make my life harder."

"Okay. That is a valid reason."

"I have to go again."

"It seems we don't have much time to talk, but I get it," he turned towards the lake.

She started to walk in that direction and he went with her.

"Do you know a way off this planet?" she asked.

"No. Not yet."

"Too bad, they are going to run tests on me again."

"I'm pretty sure they do that all the time."

"They have only done it once with me."

"Really? That does not sound right."

"Really, only once. I drank the chemical in the water and I slept very deeply. They ran some tests then and it hurt when I awoke."

"They put a chemical in the water?"

"In my pitcher of water. I saw him do it."

"And you drank it? Why would you?"

"It is better than being forced. Of course I thought the Overseer would protect me."

"Why would they? They are all aliens."

"But they are not all the same." They had reached the spot where she had asked him to stay the last time. He stopped.

"I guess it's time to say good-bye?"

"Yeah. By the way, my name is Suki. Good-bye Enrico."

"You know my name?"

"I overheard it the first time I came."

"When will I see you again?"

"I don't know," she said as she continued walking towards her canoe.

"Hey," he shouted through the forest. "I live in the house facing the lake. The first one you come to."

She got back to the cabin and waited. There was bound to be some repercussion and she wondered what could they do to her. After an hour she started to relax. It didn't seem the repercussions would come today.

She relaxed and started to sing. Her mood was quite buoyant.

# Chapter 15

Suki was back on the lake again. Having met Enrico and seen other humans so close to her, it was impossible to keep away. And the best part was that no one had noticed her little trips.

She arrived to the other side of the lake and swiftly ran through the forest. She was now familiar with every bump and branch along the way. Once she reached Enrico's house she paused.

Was it too forward to knock on his door she wondered briefly; she quickly overcame her modesty. Planet Humex was not Earth and proprieties probably did not apply.

She knocked and waited a few seconds. No one replied and she couldn't wait any longer. She could almost hear the time ticking away.

She made her way to the main part of town and walked down the street. It wasn't really a street, more like a dirt pathway, but she felt very brave and proud she could do it, instead of hiding.

After a few moments she started to wonder where the people were. Then she heard voices and went towards them. The voices were coming from a structure that looked like a barn.

There was a large window and she peeked inside. Chairs had been arranged facing the front of the structure and a lot of people were sitting in them. It looked like some sort of meeting. It was obviously the wrong time to have come. Then she saw Enrico and he saw her. He started to wave.

Strange, she thought, he was almost waving like to make her go away. She turned around and ran into a white suit.

"Hello," said the white suit.

It was not Ickcy. "Hello," she smiled pretending to not be worried.

"Shall we go to the meeting?"

"I am not sure I will," said Suki.

"You must be the new human to the village. I don't think I have met you before," said the white suit.

If she were to guess, she would say this white suit was a female. "Yes, I am new here."

"The meeting started a while ago. I like to get here at the end," explained the white suit. "You should attend. It is not required, but this is how you will get the information you need to live in the village. I highly encourage you to attend."

She was trapped. She nodded and followed the white suit in.

Immediately the lively discussion inside the barn quieted down. Suki didn't know if it was due to her or to the alien.

"Please continue," said the alien.

Suki found a chair close to the door and sat down praying she would disappear. It was not working and several people in the meeting started to steal glances in her direction. Of course they would be curious.

She was not listening to the discussions going on as she tried to figure out a way to leave without the alien noticing. Finally, the alien stood up and gave a report on the weather Apparently there would be some rain. One man asked how much.

By the time the alien sat down again, Suki was gone.

Suki waited on the deck of the cabin as she watched the white suit making his way to her. This was it, she thought, this had to be trouble.

"Suki hello."

He didn't sound upset. "You sound happy Ickcy. Why is that?"

"I guess I shouldn't be happy because the Experimenter is still coming, but I am going to stay with her to ensure she does not hurt you. It has been arranged."

"Oh, okay." He didn't know about her outing. Maybe the female alien had not communicated with him yet.

"I brought the chemical for you to drink," he said.

"Go on, the pitcher is over there," she said. She was almost relieved he didn't know.

As he poured the chemical in a glass and filled it with water, she asked, "Why do you do these experiments anyways? If you were trying to determine how solitude affects humans, you need to talk to them, not take their blood. How does the blood show anything?"

"I don't know Suki. I do not have a High degree in Humanity."

"I think solitude affects us mostly psychologically and not as much physiologically."

He gave her the glass. He looked like he was trying to understand. "Psychologically?"

"Yes, look it up."

"Where do I look up?"

"No, not look up, search for the term in a computer. Understand?"

Ickcy swayed.

She drank the water.

Up on the ship Mckcy was waiting for him. "I saw your Subject #78 today."

"Really?"

Mckcy swayed. "In the village."

"Are you sure? Some humans look like others."

"There are 48 humans in the Forest Village, including two of the Originals and I counted 49 at the meeting." Mckcy sounded very certain.

"Could it have been another human living nearby that attended?"

Mckcy's torso shook. "Female, in her mid twenties?"

"Oh no," sighed Ickcy. "It does sound like Subject #78 and I am scheduled to go down with Dr. Lctch tonight for testing."

# Chapter 16

Ickcy was looking up the meaning of psychologically versus physiologically, when Mckcy walked behind him. She looked around and scooted close to him. There was no one sitting in the stations next to him.

"How did it go last night?" she asked quietly

"It went well. I think Subject #78 will have minimal effects from the tests."

"No, I meant, did you tell Dr. Lctch?"

"No. How could I? You know she will have me fired and worse, she may destroy Subject #78."

"Do you think she would do such a thing?"

"Well I am not so sure, but one never knows. She is quite ruthless."

"Okay, well I just saw her and she seems pretty happy right now."

"Really? That can't be good."

"Really." said Mckcy as she left.

He had a chance to determine Dr. Lctch's happiness himself since it was she who walked in next.

"Ickcy, I have some good news."

He glanced at her and what Mckcy had said was true. She looked content and it was strange to see her in a mood other than sullen.

"All my theories have been validated. Of course I knew they would be, but I am thrilled it is so soon."

"Congratulations, Dr. Lctch."

"Thank you Ickcy. I have to admit I was not pleased when you inserted yourself into my work, but all in all, it worked out well," she paused.

He figured he was expected to add some praise at this point, but he couldn't find the words.

"Well," she continued. "I hope you took notes so when people ask you how it was to work with someone like me, you can tell them."

He swayed.

"It is marvelous. I will be presenting my findings to all my peers in a couple of days. These findings could not have come at a better time. Humans can be alone and still be perfectly balanced and happy, and that means we also can do it alone. You know what that means. After so many years of working on it, the behavior manual will finally be finished and the applications of this knowledge are tremendous."

He tried not to appear distressed. All her findings were based on one Subject, and they were wrong. "Is Subject #78 the only one that has exhibited positive results?"

"Yes. I was worried that maybe it was because she has not been in isolation that long, but the other Subjects in the Alone Project were quite depressed by this time. Some actually improved a little as time went by and they learned to cope with their isolation. Humans are social animals you know."

He knew that and swayed.

"I think that we chose well with Subject #78. She was an independent, female, living alone and did not need many friends."

"Wasn't that the criteria for picking the others?"

"Yes it was, but I think some of the Pickers are not always careful in doing their jobs. I am sure they just want to get the task done and hurry back home. Some may say that you can't blame them since they are so far from home, but I say, why sign up for something if you aren't going to do right? Don't worry, I will make sure to mention their incompetence in my report."

Even with her triumph, she was going to complain about others. The worse part was that the Pickers would get in trouble for no reason. "Dr. Lctch, you really believe your other seven Subjects in the Alone Project were selected incorrectly?"

She stared at him for a moment.

She had to see that statistically speaking, if the Pickers applied some of her 'alone' requirements, they should have had at least a couple subjects similar to Subject #78. They were not that incompetent.

"They must have picked wrong," she said.

There was nothing else he could say except congratulate her again.

At the weekly meeting Dr. Lctch's success was mentioned, but it didn't have too much to do with the Overseers and they moved on.

Mckcy reported that her Subject #30 was happier.

"He has settled down?" asked The Manager.

"Yes, he seems to be integrating better with the community. I think that will make him less of a problem."

"So bringing that new female, Subject #56, was a good idea. Thank goodness that worked. The Pickers were not happy with making that trip. Subject #78 was supposed to be their last pickup."

Ickcy knew that they had placed the young human in the Forest Village in the hopes that Subject #30 would befriend her and settle down. Luckily the Pickers had already matched Subject #56 as a candidate previously and the pickup was done quickly.

"What are the Pickers going to do now if they are not working Earth?" asked one of his coworkers.

"Most are being retrained," said The Manager. "I heard that there some may be joining the exchange program we have with Planet Duelia."

That was a recently implemented program, thought Ickcy. Physically, the beings from Planet Duelia were similar to the Neubulisskys, but the humans had the feelings closest to them.

"How far is Planet Duelia?" asked a coworker.

"About two days," said The Manager. "Everything seems to be about two days from here, except for Earth."

"Well I heard that beings in Planet Duelia would not do well in Planet Humex. They prefer even colder environments."

"Low degrees of centigrade and breathing carbon monoxide?"

They all laughed.

(Reader: this it was an inside joke and it has to do with carbon monoxide versus carbon dioxide and maybe the low degrees. It does not translate well.)

# Chapter 17

She was on her front porch when she saw Ickcy making his way to her. She knew from the way he walked that he was aware about her visits to the village. It was funny that she could read his body language. Body, she said to herself, did the aliens even call it a body?

"Hello Suki," he sighed.

"Hello Ickcy. Did the Experimenter get what she wanted?"

"You have no idea."

"Well, thank you for being there. I was not hurt and I did not feel bad after I woke up."

He swayed and stopped. "You went to visit the village."

"Yes."

Ickcy looked surprised. "You are not going to lie?"

"No. I have been there several times. I did not know it was forbidden. You will remember that page 23 was not in the binder."

"Yes. I admit that was an error. The Publishers are not very well organized."

"I went to the town and met some people. It was wonderful. Then you come and insert a page in the binder and that changes everything? I think not. I had to go back."

"But you are part of the Alone Project."

"Oh? What does that mean?"

"You are supposed to be alone. The Experimenter sees how you are coping with this condition. You are coping extremely well."

"Does anyone cope well with being alone?"

"No one as well as you."

"Well tell me Ickcy, why would you put a page with such important information and make it page 23? It should have been page number 1."

"But it is an instruction manual. All the pages are equally important."

She shook her head. "Humans don't think that way."

They were both quiet for a moment. She sat down and pushed a chair towards him. He sat down as well.

"So you don't want me to visit the village anymore?" she asked the obvious.

"I am not sure."

"Really? Why would you say that?"

"You are happy visiting the village and now the Experimenter believes you are happy being alone. If you stop visiting, you will become sad and then the theory of the Experimenter will not be valid."

She laughed.

"I don't think this quandary is funny."

"I'm sorry. Do any of your fellow workers know?"

"Besides Mckcy who ran into you at the village, no, and she is my friend. I don't think she will tell anyone."

"It's good you have a friend Ickcy," she said sincerely.

"I agree."

They looked out over the lake.

"It is peaceful here," said Ickcy.

"Very. Is Planet Humex your home?"

"No, but it is not far. I live on Planet Neubulis. We wouldn't do well in this environment, it was made just for you, the humans."

"It sure seems like you have spent a lot of effort to make us comfortable."

He swayed.

"I tell you what I can do. I can continue to sneak out to visit the village. I will do it occasionally and be discreet about it and not interact with too many of the humans there. That way I will continue to be happy."

"I can give you my viewing schedule so you know when to go and not be seen."

"I think I have a good idea of what that is, but thanks."

"Yes. And how do you know my schedule?"

"I can't tell you everything Ickcy."

"I think you humans are a lot smarter than the Experimenters think you are."

# Chapter 18

Ickcy read about Dr. Lctch's results in the news. There it was, typed in bold letters. Now he was committed to the charade.

For a moment, after returning from Humex, he had pretended that it was not a lie, but it was. He was responsible for the integrity of the experiments and by leaving out such important information, it was like telling a lie.

Mckcy came to see him shortly afterwards and pointed the article to him.

"Have you read it?"

"Yes."

"You cannot continue with this lie. You have to stop it before it escalates more."

"It already has escalated, Mckcy. They are talking about the Science Prize for Dr. Lctch and some news reporter has asked to interview me. They want my perspective as the person who accompanied Dr. Lctch when she made the discovery."

"Oh my goodness, you are done for. What about Subject #78?"

"She is still going to the village."

Mckcy looked sternly at Ickcy. "Are you insane?"

"She will not disturb the Village Project, they can interact with other humans. She is only affecting the Alone Project and that one is already messed up."

"Ickcy, why are you allowing this?"

"She needs the companionship. She told me. She also told me that she would be discrete. You know, it is the Publishers' fault in any case."

"The Publishers?"

"They did not include page 23 in the binder. That is the page that tells the humans about limiting their movements."

"I know that page. It is one of the most important pages, in my opinion."

"So why is it page 23 and not page number 1?"

Mckcy looked at him "Because they wrote it later? It doesn't mean its importance is lesser."

"Apparently the humans think it is."

She thought about that for a moment. "Does that apply to other things besides pages?"

"Yes. She told me number 1 is usually the most important."

"It is interesting you spend so much time talking with Subject #78."

"Yes, I thought about that as well. In a way I already ruined the experiment by talking with Suki."

Mckcy looked at him with alarm, but didn't correct him about calling Subject #78 by name. He was losing it, he thought.

"Ickcy, I think you need a break. Why don't we go out after work?"

"That is not a bad idea. We could go to the Blue Plasma. I've heard it is a good place."

"I would like that. I have not been there before."

Suki meanwhile had arrived to Enrico's house. She knocked on the door and he let her in with a smile. "I am surprised, but pleased to see you here."

"It is amazing. When that white suit discovered me here, I thought I would be imprisoned or worse."

"Well I'm glad to see that didn't happen. Did they think you were a member of the village?"

"No, the alien noticed. It turns out she is a friend of my Overseer and she just reported it to him. No one else found out."

"Really, why would they help you like this?"

"It's complicated, but Ickcy said I could continue to come, just as long as I am discreet about it."

"You know the Overseer's name?"

"Yes, we talk often."

Suki could see the distrust forming in Enrico's eyes. "So now that everything is fine, do you have a time limit for your visit?"

"I still have time limits."

"It makes no sense Suki," he raised his voice. "If the Overseer agrees to your visits, why can't you stay longer?"

"I'm coming while he's not watching." It seemed reasonable to her.

"He is pretending your visits don't happen? Why is it that you get off so easily while others that have tried to get away have been punished harshly? Why?"

"I don't know about that."

"You want to know what I think?"

Suki didn't want to know. She wished her watch alarm would sound now so she would have an excuse to leave. She didn't want to hear anymore.

"I think you are in cahoots with these aliens," he said. "You are working with them and they send you to spy on us. Who knows what is going on their sick minds and you are part of it." He grabbed her arm. "Are you even human?"

"I am human and that hurts." She pulled away. "You don't understand anything." She threw open the door and ran out.

# Chapter 19

The Blue Plasma Bar turned out to be precisely what he needed. The strobe lights and fog machine made it seem like his favorite hang out at home.

As he put his index digits into the smooth milky drink, Ickcy could feel the tension leave. "Wow."

"That is the best drink in the house," said Mckcy pulling up a chair next to him. "I read it in the news."

"Well then we're lucky it is good," said Ickcy. "You can't believe what the news says these days."

They both laughed. She put her digits into the same drink and they both drank. It was very sexy.

(Reader: the aliens drink through their index fingers. Their mouths are used for breathing and talking.)

"I am feeling so much better," said Ickcy.

"Yes, we work long hours, and sometimes we need to find some relaxation time."

"We work the longest hours and are the most dedicated. If we were Experimenters we could come here often after work and if we were Publishers we would be here all the time."

"You and me as Publishers," laughed Mckcy. "That would be the ticket."

"Mckcy, why did you choose to be an Overseer?"

"I was always interested in space and in beings from other planets. I couldn't see myself just living on Neubulis."

"Maybe you should have been a Picker. They travel to new planets."

"Yes, but they abduct the beings from those planets and in any case they stay away for too long. I thought I could travel around the galaxy and learn the best from all those different beings and then apply those things to our society. I wanted to travel and visit, but not live there."

"That sounds very noble."

"It was very idealistic. I also wanted to get home on a regular basis."

"And that's why you picked this job?" he grinned.

"Yeah, you're right. I haven't had a vacation in almost a year. I miss home."

"I miss it too, and it won't get better now that we're overseeing Szcky's Subjects.

"Didn't you pay attention to The Manager? He said it would be easy peasy for us."

He swayed and chuckled.

"I hate when he says that. I have learned that it usually means it will not be easy," said Mckcy.

He agreed completely and swayed again.

It was a great evening and he looked forward to seeing Mckcy the next day. He would get a chance soon for The Manager had called a spur-of-the-moment meeting with all Overseers.

"I have some exciting news," he said as they settled down. "I have a promotion to report."

It was highly unusual. No one was scheduled to be promoted, thought Ickcy, looking around.

"First, let me tell you that this candidate has worked very long and hard."

"Don't we all?" asked someone from the back of the room.

The Manager continued, "I know, I know. Many of you do work hard, but he worked with Dr. Lctch." There were a few grunts of admiration.

"Dr. Lctch said he was not a drawback and that he could be considered a plus. Anyone who knows the doctor knows that that is high praise. Anyways, you are all aware the previous Forest Sector Leader retired a month ago. At first we were not to going to replace him, but after some consideration we have decided we need someone in that position. Ickcy, you will be the new Forest Sector Leader."

He couldn't believe it. He didn't want it. Mckcy was the obvious candidate for that position. She had the most Subjects in the Forest Sector and she was several months his senior. He looked at her and she was staring at the table.

He knew the promotion had come between them. Worse, it had come because of a lie.

# Chapter 20

Suki watched the white suit make his way to the cabin. She didn't move from her chair. He pulled up a chair next to her and sat down. Neither said anything for a moment as they watched the lake.

"Did you go back to the village?" he asked finally.

"Yes."

"But you don't seem as happy as before."

"No. I like this guy, but he thinks I am not human."

"What? What else could you be?"

"An alien like you."

"Oh," he said, but it was obvious he didn't understand.

"He cannot understand why I would be allowed the freedom to go anywhere while others are being punished for doing so. He thinks I must be working for you."

"Oh, like a traitor."

"Yes," she sighed. "How are things with you?"

"The lie we concocted got me a promotion."

"Ouch," she said. "I'm sorry. You must feel bad about that."

"Others would have congratulated me, but I see you really understand."

"Good things don't come from lies," she stated.

"The worse part is that I think it also cost me my friend."

"That is worse."

After another moment of lake contemplation she said, "You have to tell them the truth."

"It will mean my job."

"You seem to be smart. You can get another job."

"It's not only the job. They will punish you."

"Yeah, I guess I expect that. I don't care anymore. The experiment has failed, as it should. Humans are social creatures and they should not be forced to live alone."

"I will talk to Dr. Lctch when I get back to the ship. I owe it to her to tell her the truth first.

He arrived to Dr. Lctch's office and asked for a moment of her precious time.

She agreed to give him a few moments since he was her 'favorite' Overseer.

He knew that was going to change after he talked to her. "Dr. Lctch, there is something you need to know about Subject #78."

She didn't even turn towards him. She was busy looking at something on her desk.

"Aren't you interested in knowing the truth about that Subject?" he asked.

She glanced at him. "Truth is what you make of it."

"Truth is truth I don't think you can put a spin on it."

"And that is why you are just an Overseer."

She was making it quite difficult to be honest.

"Dr. Lctch, Subject #78 has not been alone."

"There are many levels of aloneness, Ickcy," she said still not looking at him. "Alone is defined as unaccompanied or being by yourself. Am I alone? Why yes in the pure sense of the definition. I work alone and even when there are others physically with me, I am alone in my intellectual level."

So she was alone now, thought Ickcy. He wondered where she was heading with this.

"Alone also means being lonely, feeling isolated or abandoned. Am I that definition of alone? Of course not and neither is Subject #78. In some little way, both of us are similar in that respect." She turned to look at him finally. "I am aware she is not alone. Oh, and I heard about your promotion, Ickcy, congratulations." She turned away.

He turned and left her lab. Apparently, she didn't want to know the truth.

# Chapter 21

"You asked to see me, sir?" asked Mckcy politely. She was standing stiffly in his office.

He hated that she called him sir and he hated this wall between them. She had barely acknowledged him even when they passed in the hallways.

"Yes, Mckcy I wanted to tell you that I tried to rectify things," said Ickcy. "I told Dr. Lctch about Subject #78 not being alone. She didn't listen."

"Hmm, that is what happens with lies. Rectifying them is much harder."

"Mckcy I hope you know that I didn't do it to get this promotion. I just didn't want Subject #78 getting into trouble."

She sat down. "And now? Why are you telling Dr. Lctch about it?"

"Both you and Subject #78 told me to and I realize it is the right thing to do. Subject #78 said she was prepared to take the consequences." He told her that #78 was depressed after visiting some male human in the village. "Apparently she had some feelings for him and they are not being returned."

"That is interesting," said Mckcy. "One of my Subjects in the village is also acting depressed. I am worried about him since I know he has done rash things before."

"Are you talking about Subject #30?"

"That's him."

"I thought he had formed a liaison with the new female we placed in the village, Subject #56?"

Mckcy swayed. "That is what I thought and that is what the Overseer of #56 thought as well. They spend a lot time together."

"It would not make sense for Subject #78 and #30 to have any feelings for each other. They have barely spent time together."

"Yes, maybe I am wrong."

"On the other hand I have found that you are rarely wrong," said Ickcy.

She smiled.

"I hope things have not changed too much between us," he said.

She looked down. "I am sorry, but they have. I would never go out with my boss."

Things were getting worse every moment, he thought.

"Anyway," said Mckcy. "I guess you will not be the Overseer of Subject #78 anymore."

"You're wrong. They gave me the promotion, but I will still have all the Subjects I had before."

"You are doing two jobs?" She looked like she was about to smile.

"Go ahead, laugh. I guess I deserve it. You should have gotten this job."

She smiled. "No thanks. Why would I want to work two jobs? Do you even get two pay checks?"

"No. I did get a 3% increase."

She laughed then and left his office still chuckling.

Suki waited standing outside the cabin. Ickcy was on his way and she would find out what her punishment was. As soon he was close enough she asked, "What is going to happen to me?"

"There will be no punishment."

"What? Are you sure?" she asked.

"You sound as if you wanted a punishment."

"Well no. I am not masochistic. I am just surprised. The guy in the village told me you punished the others when they did what I have done."

"That is true. Some of Subjects have been deprived of their favorite foods. The worse offenders were transferred to other locations where they had to start again. It all depends on the degree of their crime.

None of those punishments seemed that bad, thought Suki.

"There have also been some Subjects that have been put in isolation for a short period of time," he said.

Suki smiled. "But I'm already there."

"I guess that is true. The guy in the village you mentioned, is that Subject #30? He has broken rules before."

"I have no idea if that is his number. His name is Enrico."

Ickcy swayed.

"By the way, what is my number?"

"You are Subject #78."

"Why is my number so far from his number? Our ages are similar."

"That is an interesting idea. You think we give you a number based on your age?"

She shrugged, "It was a theory. I was wondering about your numbering system."

"It has to do with the experiments," he looked at her. "You have not known Enrico too long so you should get over any feelings you have, right?"

She nodded. "Ickcy do you have feelings?"

"Yes."

"So you know about trust and jealousy and greed?"

"Well, we know trust and a lot of other feelings, but jealousy is strongly suppressed and greed does not exist."

"Oh, so you are more advanced than us. I mean I knew your technology was, by the spaceships and all, but I didn't know if you, as individuals, were more advanced."

He didn't comment on that.

"How are things with your friend?" she asked.

"Not so good now that I am her boss."

"Yeah, even on Earth it is not a good idea to date your boss. Hey, if you are a boss now, why are you here?"

Ickcy explained the situation and she also laughed, just like Mckcy. "So you are doing two jobs now."

"Well, I am leaving now," said Ickcy. "If you want more bread, you will need to give me something to barter with. I'll pick it up tomorrow."

"Thank you Ickcy. By the way, do you think of me as #78 or as Suki?"

"As #78," he lied.

# Chapter 22

Suki noticed something wrong as she approached the cabin. The lights were on and she did not remember putting them on. The one time Ickcy came when she had been out, he had waited for her outside. Maybe it was a different Overseer. Maybe they had decided that since Ickcy was the boss, he couldn't oversee her. That would be bad, she thought as she walked into the cabin expecting the worst.

Enrico was sitting at her kitchen table. She froze.

"Hello Suki."

"Hello," she finally said. "What are you doing here?"

"I escaped. I had to see you since you don't come around any more."

"You made it clear you didn't want to see me."

"I did. I don't know what to think about you."

"What do you want to know?"

"Do you work with them?"

"No. I mean they help me with the food and I am getting bread from someone in exchange for vegetables, so they help me to keep me alive."

"They help all of us that way. Why weren't you punished for crossing the two mile limit?"

"Did you know that one of the punishments is isolation? I am already there."

"Isolation? I didn't know. What about the people that have disappeared?"

"They were relocated and had to start over in a new location."

"Are you sure? So they are still alive?"

"We are valuable to them and there are no more humans coming. Apparently you and I are in different experiments."

"You know an awful lot about them."

"I talk with my Overseer. You better get back to the village before they notice you are gone. Not all Overseers are as understanding as mine," she said.

He stood up and headed towards her and the door. "Can I come visit again?"

"I'll come to the village. It is safer. You have already have a reputation as a trouble maker with the aliens."

He stopped in front of her and gazed into her eyes. "I do make trouble." He kissed her good-bye.

It was not a casual kiss and she stayed transfixed long after he left.

Wow, she thought finally.

Ickcy was not going to do anything about it. At the usual time, the viewer had shifted to view Suki. He was surprised to see that she had a human visitor. It had to be Subject #30 by the way he talked. Who else would break the two-mile rule and go visit Suki?

He listened to them for a while and then he saw them kiss. It clearly affected Suki who stayed in place for a while. She obviously had feelings for the male.

He had been wrong. They had not known each other for a long time, but that had not seemed to matter. It seemed these two had developed feelings for each other quite quickly.

Well, he was not going to do anything about it. As far as he was concerned, all the Subjects could visit each other, corrupt the data, and he didn't care. He was too tired and was feeling overwhelmed by his work.

Worse, it was he that was feeling alone. Alone, alone, he thought, in the definition of loneliness, solitude and unaccompanied. He matched all the definitions.

He looked at the files accumulating on his desk. How had the previous Forest Sector Leader handled it? Well first off, he had only had that one job and second, his manager had not gone on vacation.

Earlier that day, The Manager had come by his office. He was almost jovial and that should have been a hint of what was to come. "My vacation has been approved," The Manager told him.

"That must be nice," said Ickcy.

"It is, for me. I think they saw that you are here now so the work will be done while I'm away."

"I'm sorry sir, I don't understand."

"The Forest Sector Leader can stand in for me, if I take a vacation."

Ickcy was stunned. "But sir, I am doing the Forest Sector job in addition to my old job."

"Yes, I did realize that could be a problem, so I have a solution. You have nine Subjects, right?"

"Yes."

"You should give two of them to Mckcy."

"Mckcy?"

"Yes, she is quite competent and should be able to handle eight Subjects. If you like I can tell her."

"No, that is quite all right." The bad news better come directly from him. "Isn't there someone else I can give Subjects to?"

"There is Drvky, but..." He thought for moment. "Yes, Drvky should be able to handle your easy ones. Give him the two Subjects in the Tropic Village. They live near to the others he oversees."

Ickcy swayed. That left him one Subject in the Tropics and he didn't dare give that one to Mckcy. It would increase her workload too much.

"See, your problems are solved," said The Manager. "You are down to six Subjects, including Subject #5. You will remember I am taking care of her since she is old and about to die. I am not sure how much longer she will last. Your task now should be easy peasy."

"Well, five Subjects in the Forest Sector does make it easier, but I still have one Subject in the Tropics, #71."

"Ah but Subject #71 is part of the Alone Project. You do so well with the alone Subjects I recommend you keep that one."

"Right."

"I'll start sending you some files that need to be reviewed in the next days and remember you are now in charge of the weekly meeting so you should come up with an agenda."

He barely swayed feeling stunned.

"Oh and here is The Manager Crown, it should fit you nicely. Try it on."

Ickcy put The Manager Crown on and it squeezed his head. It didn't fit well and he already hated it.

"It looks good on you," said The Manager. He seemed too happy to relinquish it.

# Chapter 23

"Ickcy?" Mckcy was at the door of his office. "I'm sorry, but you didn't answer when I whistled."

He had not heard her whistle at the door, he must have been dozing. "Oh, that's all right, what do you need?"

She looked concerned at him. "Are you all right?"

"Yes, of course. I was just reviewing..." He didn't remember what he had been reviewing. "Go ahead."

She came in and sat down. "I have heard some disturbing news." She stopped.

It must have been disturbing; she usually wasn't at a loss for words and she had forgotten to call him 'sir'. "Yes?"

"It is about your Subject #78."

Oh no, he thought. What else could she have done? She had not seemed to be a problem.

"The Experimenters want to dissect her brain."

Ickcy didn't understand the words for a moment and then it hit him. They wanted to kill her. He was speechless.

"I can see you are as shocked as I was when I heard," said Mckcy.

"Why?"

"She is so unique. They want to see if her brain is different from the others and if that explains why she is happy being alone."

"It is the lie again. But I told Dr. Lctch she was not alone."

"I don't think it is up to her anymore. The Board of Experimenters has decided. They reviewed the data and came to that conclusion this morning."

Ickcy couldn't think.

"I'm sorry Ickcy," said Mckcy getting ready to leave. "I thought you should know."

"When is it scheduled for?"

"I'm not sure, but it will take several days to set it up. They have to get many approvals before that."

It had not been done before. Killing a Subject had never been done. Well it was not going to happen on his watch, he said to himself. The Manager was going to be gone for a week so he had total control of the Forest Sector. There had to be something he could do.

The monitor in front of him switched Subjects on schedule and it showed Subject #78 on the planet. She was on the dock and she started sprinkling crumbs into the water. The fish must have known she was there and they started to snap at the bread. Sometimes a fish would jump up and catch a crumb before it even hit the water. It made her laugh.

Not on his watch, he thought.

"Hi," said Suki as she saw him.

"You seem happy again."

"Yes," she smiled. "My friend came to visit. He was born in Italy you know."

"I didn't know that, he was picked up in the United States. I did see him here.

"I knew you would, since you gave me your viewing schedule, but just in case, I thought I should tell you."

Ickcy swayed. "It was wrong of him to come."

"Yes, but it was nice." She smiled again. "He must like me enough to take a risk for me."

"Aren't you worried what might happen to him?"

"Of course. I didn't make him come, he did that on his own and I have told him not to do it again." She looked at him. "Wait, did anything happen to him?"

"No. No one else noticed he was gone."

"That is a relief. I guess in your new position of Forest Sector Leader you know everything that happens down here regardless of who the Overseer is."

"Yes, my Manager is also on vacation."

"And he left you in charge?"

"Yes."

"In addition to everything else? That is probably a lot of work."

Ickcy swayed. "It is. I shouldn't even be spending any time down here talking with you."

"I would miss that. I hope it doesn't happen," she said.

Ickcy looked toward the lake. "Do you have the vegetables for barter?"

"Oh, yes, let me get those for you."

Of course he couldn't tell her about her dismal future. What would be the point? He didn't want to make her anxious, and depressed.

# Chapter 24

Back on the ship Ickcy thought about it. He had decided to go along with things until he could come up with some plan. He called Mckcy into his office and put on The Manager Crown.

"Sir?" she asked as she appeared at his open door.

She was back to being the employee and that would make it easier for him to be the boss. "I have the vegetables from Subject #78 for the barter with Subject #22."

"Oh, you went down and saw her?"

"Yes. I believe you are scheduled to go to the Forest Village today?"

She swayed. "Yes."

"Mckcy, I have not been informed officially of any changes so we will proceed as usual."

She looked at him with dismay. "I just thought you might be looking into alternatives. Isn't there something that we can do to prevent it from happening?"

"This issue is being decided way above our pay grade. There is nothing we can do. Was there anything else?"

"No, I... No there is nothing else." She turned to leave.

"Mckcy, remember we are the Overseers. The humans depend on us doing our jobs."

"Yes," she said but her eyes were full of disappointment when she looked at him.

He went by Dr. Lctch's office and saw her sitting at her desk. Surprisingly, she was staring out into space and not at the screen on her desk.

He walked in. Being The Manager now meant he didn't have to whistle at any door and that gave him more confidence.

"There you are," she said. "My 'favorite' Overseer and I see you are the provisional Manager." She was not sullen, but she was not happy either.

"Good afternoon Dr. Lctch."

"I was just sitting here thinking about my work. My ground breaking work that will affect so many of our lives."

"You do not seem happy about it."

"Not as excited as I thought I would be. Did you hear about Subject #78?"

"No." He wanted to hear it from her.

"They are going to dissect her brain. The board has determined that will validate my results even more. They have to be sure, before they give me the award."

"So they will kill her," he said impassively.

"I guess that is the down side."

"Well, it should be interesting. She does possess a very unique mind. I have found that through my conversations with her."

That grabbed Dr. Lctch's attention. "So you have spent time talking with her often?'

He explained about the barter. "In a village the barter comes naturally, but for the Subjects in the Alone Project, we have to help. Most humans cannot provide everything for themselves."

She looked like she understood.

"There is also the transference factor," said Ickcy.

"What transference?"

"The reason Subject #78 demanded I be present when you did your experiments is because she trusts me. She has empathy with me and trust my decisions, almost like a friend."

"Really? That is fascinating. The human has bonded with you? Your Manager was not clear when he asked for you to be present the second time. This may be the first case of this psychological phenomenon."

"Hmm, of course I don't know how it will show up in the dissected brain. I don't have a High degree in Humanity after all.

# Chapter 25

As The Manager, Ickcy was invited to attend the meeting of the other groups. He had been informed a special meeting of the Board of Experimenters was going to take place and that Dr. Lctch had made a request to speak.

The meeting was about to start when he walked in and sat down. He noticed several of his fellow coworkers whispering to each other. Normally The Manager of the Overseers did not come to these meetings.

Of course the situation was not normal.

The board asked Dr. Lctch to stand. The board was seated on a platform; each member had their names etched on a plate in front. All he could see from his seat was a bunch of bold letters indicating their various High degrees. Their names were squeezed in a smaller font to fit in the remaining space.

"Dr. Lctch, we are surprised you have requested to address this board," said one of the board members.

"Yes," said another. "You know that the paperwork will take time. Asking about it will not make things go any faster."

"Sirs, that is not the reason for my request. I have come across some information which may be of interest regarding Subject #78."

"That interest is the reason for the dissection," the board member harumphed.

Ickcy was amazed that someone could be more dismissive than Dr. Lctch.

"I would like to delay the dissection," said Dr. Lctch.

"Why on Neubulis would you do that?" asked the first board member.

She glanced at Ickcy. "I have some new information which needs to be verified. If we dissect her brain, it will be lost."

"What is this new information?" asked the second board member.

"I rather not say, until I can verify it."

"Well I find this very irregular," said another.

"Dr. Lctch you understand we have requested a very unique procedure in your behalf. For you to get the highest distinction we award, we must have more data on your Subject. We feel that can only be garnered through a dissection."

Dr. Lctch swayed, and looked corrected. She looked like he had when he went to visit her those first times. "I understand that sirs, and I appreciate the extra scrutiny."

"So?" asked a board member.

"I still would like a little more time, if possible, of course."

One of the board members tsk tsk-ed in a disapproving manner.

"If my theories are correct, the findings will be worth any delays," said Dr. Lctch.

"I think we will have to consider this off-line," said the first board member. "We will let you know of our result in five days."

"Five days?" asked Dr. Lctch. "Can I start my investigation in the mean time?"

"No, absolutely not. Her brain is just like we want it, if you start whatever you are thinking of doing, there may be some contamination. We can't have your experiment affect the larger one. This Subject is no longer just yours, it is ours."

Ickcy allowed himself a small smile. It had gone better than he could have hoped. They were not going let Dr. Lctch experiment on Suki and they were going to delay the dissection. It gave him a little more time to think things through, once his plan was in action there would be no turning back.

# Chapter 26

Ickcy finally had time to visit Subject #5. He took the shuttle down close to the Forest Village. He knew which house she lived in. It was one of the oldest houses in the village, just like its occupant. He whistled at the door and waited.

He could have walked right in, humans were not supposed to have any privacy, but seeing that Subject #5 was dying, some decorum seemed right.

"Come in," said a feeble voice from inside.

Ickcy did.

"Oh, hello Manager," said Subject #5.

Of course, thought Ickcy, she probably thought it was The Manager coming to visit, and in this case she was right, although The Manager was different.

"Hello," he answered.

The old woman peered at him over his spectacles. "You are not the same as the last time."

"That is correct. My boss, The Manager, took a vacation and I am now the temporary Manager. I came to see how you are doing?"

"I'm still alive," she sighed.

"Do you need anything?"

"I need to go back to Earth," she smiled. "I dream of it almost every night. You know I have family there."

Probably not any more, thought Ickcy. Subject #5 had been with them almost fifty years and she had come to the planet in her late twenties.

"I know you are thinking I am old and there is no one left for me on Earth."

Ickcy didn't reply.

"Well, I had a child."

That was a surprise, the humans brought to Planet Humex were not supposed to have any children. "A child?"

"Yes, I told your boss and the one before him. I had a child and left him to be raised by my parents. I was young and irresponsible and they were able to give him things I couldn't. It was supposed to be a temporary situation until I matured a bit."

It was an unusual situation and Ickcy could see how they would have missed something like that. "What did The Manager say?"

"He said he was looking into it and would come up with a solution to my request soon," said the old woman. "And then he went on vacation."

And left him with another problem, thought Ickcy.

"There are two things I can discern from this, one, your boss was not serious about his offer or, two, and I think this is true, he figured you could provide the solution. Maybe that is why he sent you."

Ickcy smiled. This old woman was as smart as an Urtl. (Reader: an Urtl is one of the smartest animals in Neubulis. It looks a bit like a cross between ferret and fox.)

"What is your name?" he asked.

"I've been told my number is 5, but if you want to know my real name it is Matilda."

"Okay, Matilda, I am the temporary Manager, but for the next days I can do whatever The Manager can. I will look into your request."

She turned away and looked disillusioned. "Sure."

"I promise you Matilda I will tell you something soon."

She looked at him again. "Even if it is bad news?"

"Wouldn't you rather know?"

"Yes, absolutely yes," she said. "You finally get it. I am old and don't want to be led on. I can't keep hoping for this to happen if there is no possibility it will."

# Chapter 27

Suki saw him carrying two bottles. He walked slowly towards the cabin, as if he didn't really want to.

"Hi Ickcy," she greeted him.

"Hello Suki."

"This is a surprise, I did not think you were coming down so soon. Especially since you are so busy with your three jobs."

"This is important. Let's sit down."

They sat in their usual chairs facing the lake.

"Here," he gave her one of the bottles.

"What is this? Is it the chemical you put in my water?"

"No. The humans across the lake make it and call it moonshine. It's kind of a nice name."

"Liquor?" She was surprised. "Is it a gift?"

"I want you to drink it."

She smiled. "I don't usually drink anything stronger than wine or beer. The last time I did I ended up here."

"I don't have any of those. I could only get moonshine," he sounded serious.

"Are you drinking moonshine as well?"

"It's our version of moonshine and yes I plan to. I have some disturbing news for you."

She held onto the bottle realizing that maybe it would help.

He told her what was planned for her brain. "I'm sorry," he said at the end.

"Dissection. My brain, my life, oh," she sighed. "When is it supposed to happen?"

"In five days."

"And you told them I was not alone?"

"Yes. I tried all kinds of things, but no one is listening. We might not have many of your negative feelings, like jealousy or greed, but we do have professional pride and stubbornness, especially the Experimenters. They are convinced this is the only way to find out why you are so different."

She smiled wistfully and watched the lake quietly. Then she opened the bottle. "Vive la difference," she said sarcastically as she took a gulp. "Look where the difference has brought me."

It didn't matter whether she drank hard liquor or not, whether she destroyed brain cells or not. She told Ickcy about it.

"The liquor destroys human brain cells?" he asked thoughtfully.

"The alcohol does," she answered and then realized what he was thinking. "Do you think they will want my brain with cells destroyed?"

"How much liquor do you have to ingest to affect your brain?"

"More than this bottle and if I did destroy my brain, what kind of person would be left?"

"You are right it is not worth it. I have a better plan," said Ickcy, "and it does not involve, liquor."

"Really?"

"I was responsible in getting you in this mess and I feel I should help you get out." He took off his space suit glove. She saw two long fingers and he put one into the bottle.

She watched, temporarily distracted from her plight. "You drink through your finger?"

"Yes, we use our mouths only for speech."

"That seems strange."

"Well we never choke when we talk and eat."

That was better; she nodded. "So, you have plan?"

"There is a small transport that is used sometimes for inter-planet travel. As The Manager, I have access to it. It can only accommodate a few passengers, but its range should be enough to take us to Earth."

Suki's eyes opened wide. "Earth?" she whispered.

"I think I could take you there. You would be safe."

"That would be wonderful. I could hug you."

"Well, that may be a little ..." he stopped and it looked he had seen something behind her.

"So this is what I find," said a voice. She turned around and saw it was Enrico.

"Enrico? What are you doing here?"

"Obviously I was not expected. I missed you and I thought it would be romantic to come see you. Now I know the real reason why you didn't want me to come to the cabin. You have your alien lover here, all friendly and cozy."

"Enrico, you have it all wrong. This is Ickcy and he is my friend."

"A friend?" said Enrico implying something else.

"Well I see a problem with you being friends," said another voice coming from the other side of the porch. It was a white suit. "You are not supposed to be friends with the Subject, sir."

"Mckcy, why are you here?" asked Ickcy.

"I saw Subject #30 leave the village in a hurry. There was no need to follow him, because I knew exactly where he was going. I got here before he did and I heard everything."

"Everything?" asked Ickcy.

Mckcy swayed. "All of it."

"What do you think?" asked Ickcy.

"I think we need to discuss it on the way back to the ship, away from these two," said Mckcy. She turned to Enrico. "Get back to the village now and there will be no repercussions."

Enrico glared at her, but he nodded slightly. "I will go straight away. There is nothing for me here."

"Ickcy?" Suki still had so many questions about what was going to happen.

"Don't worry Suki, we'll figure it out," he said and he joined the other white suit walking towards the forest. She heard them talking in their own language.

She turned to find Enrico's hostile look. "Well I'm leaving as well Suki. I hope I never see you again."

"Enrico, please, you have to believe that he is really just a good friend."

"It's hard to believe you. There has to be more."

She thought about telling him about the dissection, but she didn't want his pity. She wanted him to trust her word. "You don't trust me, so I guess you are right. It is good-bye."

Enrico turned and headed towards the lake. She could see the canoe that had brought him bobbing near the end of the dock.

She watched him get in the canoe and paddled away. There goes a guy she might have cared for, she thought, as she took another swig of the moonshine. She sat down again and thought that was the least of her worries. Her life would be over unless Ickcy could figure out something and she couldn't do anything about it. She took another sip. At least Ickcy had been right about one thing, moonshine was a nice name.

Ickcy was concerned. He did not know how Mckcy was going to react. So far, as they walked back to the shuttle, she was talking about Subject #30.

"He does not mean to be a problem, but he is very driven. Just the other day," she said and he stopped listening.

Mckcy could report him and that would be the end of his plans to save Suki. There were not many days left to come up with anything else. Suddenly he became aware that Mckcy had stopped walking. They were out of the human's sight.

"I need to tell you something," she said.

He swayed slightly.

"I could hug you too," she said.

"What?'

"I think your offer to take Suki to Earth was one of the nicest things I've heard. I was trying to figure out how to save her, and I couldn't think of anything. Your idea is ... I think it could work."

"Really? It was the last possible thing I could think of."

"I also heard you got several more days before the dissection."

"Officially, Dr. Lctch got a few more days. Sadly, they are still going to go through with it." Ickcy told her how he tried to convince Dr. Lctch that questioning a living brain was so much more informative than doing a dissection and although she had agreed, the Board of Experimenters had not. They would not be persuaded.

"I have heard the board is like that. So do you know how to pilot a transport to Earth?"

"I've never done it before, but I have seen it done, on the trips back home."

"Hmm, those are shorter trips."

"Yes, but it should be the same principle."

"I want to go with you."

"Do you have piloting experience?"

"Actually yes," said Mckcy. "I took classes when I was hoping to travel through the galaxy. My family convinced me to change my degree and become an Overseer instead."

"Mckcy, why would you sacrifice your career and position to help a human?"

"Why do you do it?"

"I feel responsible for her. Part of what she did she did without knowledge. "

"Part, but not all. Even when you warned her about the two mile limit, she still went beyond."

"I know. It turns out humans do no like to be alone. It shows me that their drive to be with each other is greater than the possible consequences," he paused. "I also like her and don't want her dead."

Mckcy looked thoughtful.

"You still have not told me why you would go on such a mission," asked Ickcy.

"I agree that what they're doing to Subject #78 is not right. Also, I told you I always wanted to travel in space and see different planets. This is an opportunity to see if I will like it."

"I can use your help, Mckcy. Thank you."

She swayed. "How big is the transport?"

"It can carry seven and there will be seven of us."

"Seven? I count both of us, Suki and are you thinking of taking Subject #30?"

"No, Subject #5."

"Who is Subject #5?"

"That is Matilda, the older woman that is dying in the Forest Village. I was thinking since we have some room, we could try to get her and maybe a couple more of the Original Subjects to go. They really should be taken home."

"You are such a knight in shining armor. Trying to save everyone."

"I don't think I'm a knight, but at least I am dressed in white. Oh, and by the way, I am available for hugging anytime."

(Reader: having four appendages these aliens regard hugging as a bigger commitment than we humans do.)

# Chapter 28

Ickcy stepped into the home of Matilda. She had told him to come in, but the room was dark. His suit allowed him to see clearly in the dark, but he wondered why she wanted it this way.

"Matilda? Are you there?"

"Yes," she said sounding tired. "Still here. Which Manager are you?"

"The most recent one, and I have news for you."

"Oh, should I be happy?"

"Why don't we put a light on in here?"

"You are going give me bad news. That must be it. Why else are you concerned about how I look?"

"No, it's not that, I just thought you might want to see me."

"I know how you and all the other white suits look. It is the same."

Why did everyone make it so hard to be nice, he wondered. "I am going to take you to Earth."

She turned on the lamp next to her. "You? Can you really do this?"

"Yes. I am The Manager, of course I can."

"When? I don't have much time left you know."

"It will be soon, within the next couple of days."

"Wait, that is too soon. I need more time to say good-bye to my friends."

"I don't think that is the best idea," said Ickcy.

"Why? I will never see them again I have to say good-bye. It is a human thing to do."

"I understand, but your friends are not going to Earth and they might not feel happy about being left behind."

"Oh," she thought about it. "You're right. They could get jealous and want to go instead of me."

"Yes, I think that is very human too."

Later that day, up on the ship, Ickcy reviewed the files of the Originals. In the last five years, Subject #3 and #4 had died on Planet Humex, and #1, #2 and #6 had been taken back to Earth. They were taken back when the Pickers were still gathering Subjects and it had been easy to drop the old folks off.

Subject #7, #8, #9 and #10 were all possibilities for this trip to Earth. Their ages ranged from 70 to 77 with #10 being the youngest. He would have to choose three out of the four. Then he would have to inform them and hopefully they would keep quiet about it. It would not be easy peasy, thought Ickcy.

He looked at the locations for each of the Subjects. Subject #10 was living in the Forest Village, and Mckcy was going to check on her. She was not the overseer of #10, but since she was in the Forest Village often, it would be natural to check that Subject out. The other three were in the Tropics Village. He was not familiar with that village. He was going to have to call a meeting.

Someone whistled at his door and interrupted his thoughts. "Come in," he said.

It was Mckcy and she came in and closed the door behind her. "How are the plans going?'

"Very well, I informed Subject #5."

"She must have been quite happy."

"Funny, she was not as happy as I would have thought. She was upset we were not allowing her to tell her friends good-bye. The schedule wasn't quite right."

Mckcy looked at him amazed. "Really? Well she is old, maybe she is not thinking correctly."

"Maybe. Hopefully I convinced her not to say anything. Did you check on Subject #10?"

Mckcy swayed. "She is a very nice woman. She is active in the community and everyone calls her Auntie, which is a term of endearment the humans use. Her health is good and she should be able to make the trip fine."

"I was thinking of taking both Subject #5 and #10 and then two of the ones in the Tropics. We have to keep all of this very discreet."

"Yes, I could see problems if more humans found out. Of course, if the other Overseers find out what we are up to..."

She didn't have to finish saying it. It would be chaos.

# Chapter 29

He watched his fellow Overseers file into the conference room. They were not overly curious as to why the meeting had been called. In fact he had overheard one of them say it was the promotion that was getting to Ickcy's head and that he wanted to show all who was boss.

That was not the reason, but let them think that way.

"Okay, I think everyone is here, let's get started," said Ickcy. "Anything to report since the last meeting?" He looked around.

"Yes, I have something," said Anaky.

Anaky always had something, thought Ickcy as he told her to go ahead. Ickcy had to have patience. For the Overseers to buy into his idea, he had to have patience.

When Anaky was done another Overseer talked. "I have a problem with one of my Subjects," started Drvky,"As you know, I am in charge of Subjects #8 and #9. They are a couple."

"What?" said Ickcy. "The file does not mention they are a couple?" He had just finished reading it.

"I know. Thank you for noticing my Subjects," said Drvky impressed that he had. "They are Originals, and they are not part of the Couples Experiment, but they met and now they live together. It is not the problem and it makes it easier to oversee them. The problem is the that one is getting sick more often than normal."

"Have you sent the doctor?" One of his fellow beings had been trained with all the human ailments.

"He went and said it looks just like Subject #5, it is old age. There is nothing we can do."

"Hmm," said Ickcy. "Then we can't do anything."

"I was thinking since you are overseeing Subject #5, maybe you could oversee Subject #9? You are more familiar with the aging symptoms."

"You mean both #8 and #9? Because I don't see how you can oversee one without the other if they are living together."

"Yes, sir, you are right."

It was perfect. He would be in control of two of the Subjects he hoped to take to Earth. "Two more Subjects is lot to undertake," he said in his Manager voice. "Stay after the meeting and I'll see what I can do."

"In reference to the Originals," said Mckcy. "All of them are getting quite advanced in their ages. In the Forest Village, there are two that will need extra attention. One is of course, is Subject #5, but there is also Subject #10. Maybe all of the Originals should be under one Overseer. Their issues are unique to them."

"Are you volunteering for that task, Mckcy?"

"No, sir. I already have eight Subjects and none are the Originals."

Ickcy looked as if he was thinking.

"Is the budget still restricted?" asked another Overseer. "I have one of the Originals and I thought we were supposed to send them back to Earth when they got old."

"That would have solved some of our problems," said Ickcy, "But there is no budget for that." By taking four of the Originals with him, he was going to help fix some of the issues his fellow Overseers were having. He might even be considered a hero, he thought for a nanosecond. He didn't really believe that.

# Chapter 30

It is set for tomorrow," said Ickcy when he came to visit.

She smiled. "I can't believe I'm going back to Earth."

"Do you miss it?"

"I do. I wonder how long have I been gone?"

"You have only been away from Earth for three months."

"How is that?" She looked at her wall with the hash marks. It has been two months since I have been on Humex."

"Yes, but whole process of transporting and then doing checks on the ship, usually adds a another month."

"Well three months is not such a long time to be away. Things should be almost the same as I left them."

Ickcy swayed.

"What do you want me to do?"

"I want you to pick up two people from the Forest Village and bring them back here to the cabin just before we leave."

"Are you trying to save them as well?"

"Yes. They are older so you will have to build some extra time to get them into the canoe." He gave her the names and described the houses of both Subjects. "Can you do this?"

"Of course I can. Do they know I am coming to get them?"

"They will know and be ready. The other white suit that was here the other day will be piloting the transport."

"Mckcy?"

"That's right."

"I remember you said her name."

"We are fortunate she has decided to help, she is a good pilot."

"So it will be both of you, me and the two women from the Forest Village?"

"There will be two others, but you don't have to worry about them. I will bring them when I come."

She nodded. "I really appreciate this Ickcy. I hope you don't get into trouble because of it."

"Don't mention it. I am doing it so I can sleep at night. I couldn't if I didn't try to save you."

She walked to him and put her arms around him. She knew he couldn't feel it through the suit, but she wanted to.

"Okay Matilda, we really have to go," said Suki waiting by the door. Twenty-four hours had gone by since her conversation with Ickcy.

Subject #10, Inga, was also by the door. Suki had had no problem in picking her up. Matilda on the other hand was proving a pain. Suki could not understand what was the delay.

"Stop hurrying me. You get me frazzled and I can't think. I want to label these items correctly so that the right people get them." Matilda was placing labels on boxes.

"Did you do the same thing Inga?" asked Suki.

"No. I left a note saying anyone could take what they needed. I am sure they will work it out. Most people in the village are very reasonable"

Matilda threw a look of astonishment and shook her head as she continued with her task.

Of course, thought Suki, one woman was generous and expected others to be the same while the other woman was not as generous and expected the same. She looked at her watch. She had built extra time, but it was being sucked away by this silliness.

"I am leaving in two minutes with Inga," she said firmly.

"Go ahead. I know that The Manager wants me to go. I don't know if he told you, but I know I am a very important passenger on this trip."

Suki shook her head finding it hard to believe.

"Maybe I can help," said Inga.

She moved next to Matilda. "We don't want to miss the transport, do we?" she said softly and started to lead her away from her things.

"Wait, I have my suitcase."

"What?" asked Suki. She couldn't believe there was more.

"It is just a bag and the suitcase. The trip to Earth is several days and I have some things I need to take. Where is your suitcase Inga?"

"Matilda," said Suki hoping her patience would last. "This is not a vacation or sightseeing trip, we are trying to escape. We were told to take one small bag to not attract attention."

Matilda looked hurt. "These are my things. I have lived here a very long time and you, being young, would not understand what sentimental things mean."

"All right, I'll take the ... suitcase. Let's go," said Suki.

"Come on Matilda," said Inga helping her move along.

They started walking towards the lake. It could have been a couple of women having a nice little walk if it wasn't for the stupid suitcase, thought Suki.

They could see the lake now. Suki was carrying the suitcase and it was heavy. Inga carried her bag and was even helping Matilda with hers. They passed right next to Enrico's house and Suki didn't look.

She would miss him. It was too bad they couldn't take everyone, but she was the one in the most danger.

When they reached the dock she finally breathed easier. Inga stepped into the canoe and helped with Matilda and her bag.

Suki joined them and was soon paddling towards the cabin.

"So is that where you lived?" asked Matilda, as they got closer.

"Yes."

"A bit of a dump, isn't it?" said Matilda.

"No. I was going to say it is charming," said Inga.

She shouldn't care, thought Suki. It wasn't her cabin, but it wasn't a dump. She didn't answer as she paddled. The extra weight made her go slower.

"I hope you know what you are doing," said Matilda. "I would hate to miss the transport because you took us to the wrong place."

A thought crossed Suki's mind about the depth of the lake and how canoes had accidents all the time.

When they arrived to the cabin, the sun was setting, but they were on time.

"Where is The Manager?" asked Matilda.

"He'll be here soon," said Suki. "We can sit down and wait."

"Let's wait inside," said Matilda. "I don't like the breeze out here. It seems to be stronger than in the village."

Suki wasn't going to argue and told her she was welcome to go inside. Inga went with her.

She went to feed the fish. It would be the last time she did. She noticed her entourage of fish following her along the dock. There were four now and she would miss them the most, she realized.

Ickcy showed up soon afterwards and Suki met him outside.

"Are they here?"

"Yes. They're in the cabin. I decided to wait outside." She didn't want to say anything bad about Matilda, but if she heard any more complaining she might say something she regretted. "I'll get them."

"Thank goodness you showed up," said Matilda as they started walking to the transport. "I was wondering if you had forgotten us or that Suki had the wrong instructions."

"No, we are right on schedule," said Ickcy.

They entered the forest and soon Suki could see the transport. The ramp had been lowered to allow them to enter.

No one saw Enrico. He must have been hiding near by and suddenly he jumped out and grabbed Inga. He put a knife to her neck. "Take me to Earth or she dies."

Everyone froze.

He repeated his demand.

"There is no more room on the transport," said Ickcy.

"Enrico, Inga and Matilda are older. They are supposed to go back to Earth," said Suki.

"I don't care. They are old and can be buried here just as well as on Earth."

No one moved.

"Anyways," said Enrico, "you are not old Suki, why do you get to go? Is it because you are his lover?"

He wasn't going to let that one go, thought Suki.

"And what if she was my lover," said Ickcy and all turned to him, including Suki. "I want her to come with us."

Suki realized what he was doing and didn't contradict him.

"Okay, then we leave this one," said Enrico still holding Inga.

"Matilda, Suki, get in the ship," said Ickcy.

Matilda moved hurriedly past Suki and headed up the ramp. Mckcy had been watching from the top of the ramp and now she came down. Suki stayed where she was.

"What is the delay?" asked Mckcy.

"We have an impasse," said Ickcy. "Subject #30 wants to go to Earth."

"We can't take anymore passengers," said Mckcy.

"Damn right, impasse," said Enrico. He looked towards the sky. "The others will find out soon what you are doing. You better decide quick, save some or none."

"Isn't there a way we can take him?" asked Suki.

"I will go check the transport manual," said Mckcy.

"All right," said Ickcy. "While she checks, we might as well go inside the transport."

Suki followed Mckcy on board while Enrico dragged Inga followed by Ickcy. Once inside Ickcy closed the doors.

"Maybe we can do it," said Mckcy. "I can get can get rid of some extra equipment and maybe with some furniture. I think that will keep us within the weight limit."

"Let's do it," said Ickcy.

"There is the sofa in the lounge," said Mckcy.

It was easy to unattached from the floor and then Ickcy told Enrico to push it out the door. Enrico hesitated for a moment.

"Come on, we have to do this fast," said Ickcy looking for other things to throw out.

Suki started to push the sofa and finally Enrico helped.

"How about the beds?" asked Mckcy.

"Those are attached firmly to the wall," said Ickcy.

"What about these dining chairs?" asked Matilda. "They don't look that comfortable and they are not attached."

"Great," said Ickcy. "Out they go."

Enrico, Ickcy and another older man picked up the chairs and pushed them down the ramp.

"How are we doing?" asked Ickcy.

Mckcy checked the scales. "We are still about 10 kilos overweight."

Suki looked at Matilda's suitcase. It weighed close to that. "How about that," she pointed.

"No," said Matilda noticing her look. She grabbed the suitcase tightly.

"Matilda," said Suki. "It is this or a person's life."

"It's my things," she moaned.

"Never mind," said Mckcy appearing with a case of her own. "We can throw this out instead. It's a printer we use to make spare parts."

She gave it to Ickcy and he tossed it out.

"I think that did it," said Mckcy as she started up the engines. "Everyone, go to the seating cabin and strap yourselves in."

The group moved to the section of the transport that had seats equipped with seat belts. There were only five seats in that section so Enrico had to sit on an armchair in the lounge.

Suki took a glance at her fellow passengers, next to Matilda and Inga, was an older couple about the same age as they. The man was the one that had been helping get rid of the chairs. There was also Ickcy, Mckcy, Enrico and herself, eight of them on board.

The transport shuddered and everyone held tightly to their seats. Slowly it started to lift. Through the porthole windows she saw the forest drop down below.

# Chapter 31

Once they were in safely in space, Ickcy came to tell them they could move around. "You might want to go to the lounge area. It is more comfortable there. The transport has gravity and we have set the environment to be confortable for the you."

That meant that he and Mckcy had to wear their suits, thought Suki as she followed Ickcy back to the cockpit.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"I wanted to talk to both of you," said Suki.

He sat down on the copilot seat. "What about?"

"Did we really get away?"

"Yes," said Ickcy. "We are definitely on our way."

"Hmm," sighed Mckcy.

"What is wrong?" asked Suki.

"We won't be able to come back," said Mckcy.

"Why?"

"Central Command demanded we return and we had to ignored their requests," she said.

"She will lose her pilot's license," said Ickcy.

"Are they going to send someone after us?"

"I don't think so," said Ickcy.

Suki was again amazed that their punishments were relatively mild. On Earth they would have been thrown in jail, or worse, maybe blown out of the sky.

"Suki?" Ickcy turned away from the controls to look at her. "Have you ever seen someone act like Subject #30 before?"

"Like Enrico did to get on board? No. Not personally. Humans do have some violent tendencies. It happens everywhere we live, but I am lucky it has not happened to me."

"We don't have such violence," said Ickcy.

"It was very disturbing," said Mckcy. "I did not know what to do."

"So besides abducting humans, you do not have violence?" asked Suki.

"We don't violently abduct humans," said Ickcy. "They are selected gently. We don't mistreat you and we provide everything you need. In most cases you live better and longer than on Earth."

"But what about our freedom? What about our family and friends?"

"I know that most of the humans selected do not have many friends, or family. Was that not so with you?" asked Mckcy.

It was true with her, but "I have my mom."

"One family member," said Mckcy.

"Yes, but it is a very important member," said Suki. "I miss her. It's not the number of family members or friends, it is the bond you have with them that is important."

"Like you and Enrico?" asked Ickcy.

"There is no bond there. There might have been a little attraction that vanished when he didn't believe me. Even if there was anything, it would have gone when he threatened Inga."

Ickcy turned back to the controls. "I wonder if we should do something so Enrico does not threaten anyone again."

"I still can't believe we are doing this," said Mckcy. "I can't believe we actually going to Earth."

"This is the easy peasy part," said Ickcy.

Mckcy glared at him.

Suki went back to the lounge area where everyone had assembled. There was a big empty area where the sofa had been, but luckily enough other seats had been found so that everyone could sit.

The lounge had the best viewing besides the cockpit. The large windows covered most of one wall and the stars outside were mesmerizing. As she pulled her eyes away from them, she noticed that the opposite wall had a counter that looked like it could be some sort of kitchen. There were also several boards attached to the wall with some writing, but she couldn't read them. They were in some other language.

She saw that Enrico was sitting by himself in a corner of the lounge, looking out into space. She was not going to sit by him and decided to join the older couple. She introduced herself.

"My name is Nina and he is Charles," said the woman. "We are married."

"I know we don't have a document that shows we are married," said Charles. "But we did our own ceremony and made vows to each other."

"I believe that is what counts," said Inga.

"Although the paperwork is always good to have," added Matilda.

"How long were you in Humex?" asked Suki.

"How long has it been, dear?" said Nina as she looked at her husband. "Forty five years?"

"I have been in Humex much longer," said Matilda.

"Where are you from, on Earth?" asked Inga.

"I'm Canadian and she is from Bombay, India," said Charles.

"I think Bombay became officially known as Mumbai," said Suki.

"Really?" asked Nina. "It was called that in Marathi, but in Hindi we called it Bambai. I guess this is just one of many changes we will see."

Suki nodded. "And you Inga, where are you from?"

"From Stockholm."

"And I am from the greatest city on Earth," said Matilda.

What could that be, wondered Suki and noticed the others had the same wondering look on their faces.

"New York City," said Matilda, as if that was obvious.

No one disputed it, but no one agreed either.

# Chapter 32

Later that day Inga and Suki went through the transport's storage area to see what there was to eat. Ickcy had brought plenty of vegetables, eggs, cheese and some other items. It was hard not to notice that all the food was geared to what Suki ate.

"We could make a cheese omelet filled with vegetables," suggested Inga.

"That sounds fabulous. I can help," said Suki.

As they gathered ingredients and took them back to the kitchen area of the lounge, Nina and Charles offered to cook the meal the next time.

No one had talked to Enrico yet and Matilda didn't offer to help.

As Inga finished chopping the vegetables Suki went to check on the pilots. "Would you like us to make something for you?"

"We don't ingest your food," said Mckcy.

"I know. But Ickcy said you 'ingested' a blue liquid and I thought we could make that."

"It is too complicated to tell you," said Ickcy. "I will make something for us after you are done."

"All right," said Suki and returned to the lounge kitchen.

There were a few tables around the lounge and they gathered around them as Suki and Inga served.

"I checked the pantry and there isn't any meat," complained Matilda.

"Meat could be harder to get or maybe it is harder to preserve for the trip," said Inga.

"I'm a vegetarian," said Suki.

"Of course," said Enrico. They had made an omelet for him and he was eating it sitting where he had been most of the day.

The others turned to him for an explanation.

"That alien caters to her for obvious reasons," he said.

Suki didn't know how she could have liked him. He was clearly a jealous, irrational person.

"Well, the vegetables are very fresh," said Nina.

"They are and the omelet is delicious ladies," said Charles.

"Thank you," said Inga.

"Too bad there is no beef or fish or even chicken," said Matilda.

Ickcy came in the lounge as they were finishing and he started making his food. Suki went to watch.

He put in different powders into something that was similar to a blender. Then he poured a dash of water into a white milky powder and shook it. It became a goopy substance. He added that to the blender and mixed everything well. It didn't look hard to make. It was like a protein shake and it smelt like lilacs.

"I don't advise you drink this," he said as he saw her interest.

"Yeah, I don't think I will although it doesn't look bad and it smells very nice."

"That is the flavoring I used. The main ingredient, ethylene glycol does not have any smell. Was your meal all right? I didn't have too much time to gather the food."

"It was perfect, Ickcy. Thank you. We are going to take turns cooking for the others."

"Sounds like a good idea."

"How long will take to get to Earth?"

"About four days."

"Good." It wasn't that long, she thought.

"It kind of depends on the weather."

She grinned. "Space weather?"

"Yes, there are solar flares to watch out for and sometimes there is space debris one has to avoid."

"Oh." He had not been joking. "By the way, what do those boards say?" She pointed to the walls.

"Ah, yes, we Overseers have similar boards in our break rooms. One had to do with safety and the other covers the company policies. These are written for the Pickers since this is their transport." Ickcy read silently. "For example one of the safety rules says you should ensure all your digits are out of the blender before turning it on."

"Oooo," said Suki. "That one is kind of obvious."

"We have four arms and fourteen digits so it's not as obvious as it sounds."

"Tell me one of the company policy ones."

"The meaning of the second one is, you should not waste other people's time, but if the boss wants to chat, always be available."

She smiled. "That sounds human."

"We have that same policy in our break rooms." He glanced at the other rules. "Most seem to be the same as the Overseer policies." Ickcy finished pouring the shakes. "Well, I am done. See you later."

Suki studied the board a bit longer wonder which of the symbols was the word for blender.

Ickcy took their food to the cockpit and gave Mckcy one of the shakes.

"Thanks Ickcy," she took a sip. "It's very tasty. How are things back there with the humans?"

"They seem," he paused for a moment, "peaceful at the moment."

"Like before a storm?"

"I am not sure what that means."

"That is what the humans say," said Mckcy. "I know it means you are expecting something bad to happen when things are going well."

"I wouldn't go that far. Everyone seemed to enjoy their dinner and they were conversing with each other. I think they are getting to know one another."

"Was Subject #30 with them?"

"Yes. He was eating although he was still keeping to himself"

"At least we know where he is. What are we going to do with him?"

"I don't know. I asked Suki to keep an eye on him. She watched me make our shakes so I was able to talk to her in privately. She said next time, she would like to see how I make the blue plasma drink we had."

Mckcy looked at Ickcy, "You told her about our date at the Blue Plasma?"

"Well, no, of course not about our date. I told her what we ingested during our date."

"You speak too much to her."

"Well, she is easy to talk to and she is inquisitive," said Ickcy.

"Harumph," said Mckcy.

That sounded dismissive, thought Ickcy. If Mckcy were a human, he might have thought she was getting jealous of Suki, but since they were superior beings, that couldn't be. She must have something stuck in her throat.

# Chapter 33

Suki went to visit the cockpit shortly after breakfast. "Hi Ickcy, Mckcy, how is everything?"

"Fine," said Mckcy.

She sat down right behind Ickcy. "Did you get any rest?"

"We took turns," said Ickcy. "We don't need as many hours of sleep."

"How many do you need?"

"It varies a bit, but for me four is ideal."

Mckcy looked at him.

"What do you need?" asked Ickcy.

"Actually I need some time away from the humans. Some of them are driving me crazy."

"Why is that?"

"Most of them are nice, but they keep asking me questions I can't answer. They think that I have some sort of connection and know more than I really do. And then there is Matilda, who somehow can complain about everything. I needed a break."

"Oh," said Ickcy.

A few moments went by.

"What kind of questions are they asking?" asked Mckcy.

"Is it still two days until we get to Earth? Who is going to get dropped off first, or are we all going to be dropped off together?"

"To answer the first question, yes. The answer to the others, I don't know," said Ickcy.

"I think you should drop all of us together," said Suki. "You can't be seen on Earth and if you are flying from place to place there will be more chances of that."

"Does everyone come from places near each other?" asked Mckcy.

"No. Also remember that for most, they have been gone for many years. Places are going to look very different for them."

"That will cause some confusion," said Ickcy. "What central location do you suggest?"

"I was thinking New York City," said Suki. "Matilda is from there and it is a place where one can catch a plane to other destinations." Then it hit her. "Oh no."

"What is wrong?"

"They won't be able to travel anywhere because they don't have cash."

"Cash?" asked Ickcy.

"Money, you know. You use it to purchase things."

"I don't understand," said Mckcy.

"If you wanted new clothes," she said and then thought that was stupid, "or different food, or you went to the Blue Plasma and ordered a drink. How did you pay?"

"They know us and take it from our salary."

"So that sounds like credit, but what if you don't work?"

"If you're very young, you go to school and get a salary for that and the old get a salary for being older. Everyone else has a job," said Ickcy.

"Really? No unemployment?"

"No. Usually no," said Ickcy.

"Okay, what if you wanted to go to the Blue Plasma every night and drank many blue shakes every night. Would your salary cover that?"

Mckcy laughed. "Why would you do that?"

"It would be crazy," said Ickcy swaying. "I guess at some point your salary would not cover it."

"But what would happen then?" she asked.

"You would not get any more blue shakes."

"So you would only get as many shakes as you have money," repeated Suki. "Basically you have no credit." It was sounding like a debit card.

"Suki let me explain. Suppose I make 100 bits a week and I spend 80. The remaining 20 bits is halved and 10 goes into a savings plan and the other 10 goes to the government. They use it to pay projects and I am sure it helps pays the salary of the very young and very old. The 10 that is in savings can be used to buy bigger items, but it takes one week to get it out of the savings account. So it can't be used for stuff like blue shakes at the Blue Plasma.

"Oh. You never go over your 100 bits and most of the time you are under?"

"Yes."

"Speak for yourself Ickcy. I always come out even," said Mckcy. "I guess my expenses are higher."

"Okay, maybe they are, but you humans don't have something like us?"

"Well these humans have not worked on Earth in years, so no. They have no salary and they have no credit."

"Well all of them, except you and Enrico, are old. Don't they get salary for that?"

"In some countries it is called social security, but you have to work to put money into it the system and eventually you are allowed to use it. Not all countries have it."

"Ah yes, I forgot you have different countries with different languages and customs."

"Very much so."

They sat quietly for a moment thinking of that and watching the stars go by.

"Suki?" asked Ickcy.

"Yes?"

"Did you think that we're going to stay on Earth?"

"Well I thought you might visit for a while before going back to Neubulis."

"I don't think we can go back for a long time," said Ickcy.

"So you are thinking of staying on Earth a long time?"

"No. We would not do well in your environment. It contains too little CO2 for us."

"There are some cities that have more CO2 than others. We can check those out when we get to Earth. I think I better get back to the others and tell them the answers to their questions."

"Yeah you better," said Mckcy.

"I am sure I will be back with more questions soon."

Ickcy swayed slightly.

After Suki left, there was silence as Ickcy thought about the implications of what they had done. Mckcy was probably thinking the same thing.

"You told her the name of our planet," said Mckcy.

"Yes?" Ickcy was not sure why that was important.

"You told her the name of our planet and you told her about our date, and what else have you told her?" she seemed a bit annoyed.

"We talk about a lot of things, we are friends."

"Are you sure that is all you are? You might think that that is all there is, but I think she is thinking something else."

He laughed. "What could there be? I think you're wrong."

Mckcy threw him a glance and didn't say anything.

"Wait, you're actually serious?"

"Yes, she likes to be with you and she asks questions to know you better. Why is that?"

"It's because we are friends," he said but somehow the words didn't sound as convincing.

"You are such a typical male. A lot of males miss the signs," said Mckcy shaking.

"Come on Mckcy, it would be too strange. We are different life forms."

"I'm not saying it is physically possible. It may be just feelings, but we know the human feelings can be strong."

"I will talk to her and set her straight," he said.

"Make sure you do it soon. These feelings can grow."

# Chapter 34

They were racing towards Earth now. The ship was not going any faster, but as they passed Jupiter late that day, it seemed as if time had sped up.

The group watched the giant planet drift by the window. And there was a rare moment of calm.

"It is so beautiful," said Inga.

"Yeah, makes you think about space travel for a living," said Suki.

"I would never think that," said Matilda. "I just want to get to Earth as soon as possible."

"We should have a lottery," said Charles, "to determine who will be dropped of first. It is the only fair way to do it."

His wife agreed.

"Of course Nina would agree," said Matilda. "There are five of us and you two count for two fifths of the voting."

"Do you have any other suggestions?" asked Charles.

"It is not a bad plan. I want to be dropped off in New York and I know Suki was living there before, so we are two fifths as well," said Matilda. "And I am older than any of you so that should count more."

"Wait, Matilda, I do not want to go to New York," said Suki.

Matilda looked at her as if she had betrayed her.

"My home is in California. That is where my mother lives and I want to go there," said Suki.

"Well I could vote for New York with you Matilda," said Enrico.

"You don't get to vote," said Suki. "You're not even supposed to be here. Anyways, I don't think they can drop us off at different locations."

"Why not?" asked Matilda.

"For one thing, the more we fly around Earth, the greater the chances our fellow humans will see the spaceship and try to shoot it down."

"But they wouldn't shoot it, if they knew we were on board, would they? We could talk to them," said Matilda.

"Please think this through," said Suki. "Personally, I am not sure I want to be known as the woman that was abducted by aliens."

"Suki is right," said Inga. "What if they treat us like aliens? What kind of life would that be? It would be horrible."

"That could be bad," agreed Nina. "Humans can be mean and they might never trust us when they know where we have been."

The others nodded.

It looked as if that idea had died, and that was good, thought Suki. She and Inga left the group to look for the ingredients for their next meal. Nina and Charles had taken care of dinner of the night before.

"Do you mind a question," asked Inga when they got to the storage room.

"No, go ahead."

"Why did you come with us?"

Suki looked at her.

"I mean we are all old and they promised us we go home at some point, but you are not old and you didn't get on board by threaten anyone like Enrico did."

"I was part of the Alone Project, have you heard about it?"

Inga shook her head and Suki explained it.

"But I saw you at the village."

"Yeah, apparently I shouldn't have been going there. I didn't know I was breaking their rules. Anyways, I was not as depressed as the other Subjects in the Alone Project so that made my brain interesting to them. They wanted to dissect it."

Inga's eyes got big. "Oh my. That would be disastrous for you."

"Yeah. Luckily my Overseer thought so as well."

"Wow," said Inga. "The others were saying things about you and the Overseer. They said that is why you were included."

"You mean Enrico was saying things."

"It was mostly him, that is why I didn't really pay attention to it. He is, excuse my language, an ass."

Suki smiled. Inga was more like her than the others. They selected some nice zucchini and butternut squash and decided to make a casserole.

It turned out that Suki picked a bad time to leave the others. When she returned they heard the end of what Enrico was saying.

"...Majority rules, just like home. Vote for yes?"

Suki saw everyone's hand go up.

"What is this?" she asked as she placed the vegetables on the counter.

"As you can see, the results are in," said Enrico "We are voting whether to contact Earth and let them know we are traveling on this space ship. We are concerned that they may try to shoot us down. Knowing we're on board will prevent that."

"And that also means the aliens can take their time and drop us off where we want," said Matilda.

"You took a vote without us?"

"Don't worry, we knew how both of you were going to vote," said Enrico. "We put you down as two 'No' votes, or were we wrong?"

"Absolutely a 'No' vote," said Suki. "I thought you agreed that it was better to be arrive without attracting attention.

"They will run tests on us," fretted Inga, "and I don't want that. I just want to have a peaceful retirement."

"Of course they will run tests on us, Inga, but that will be just at the beginning, and then it will stop," said Charles.

"We think most people on Earth will be excited to meet us," said Matilda. "Enrico said it and it makes sense. We can go on talk shows and tell them about our experiences. We'll make a little money for our troubles. Goodness knows we are going to need the money."

"A description of Planet Humex alone should get us a free drink," smiled Enrico, "and we might get famous."

"This decision not only affect us humans," said Suki. "It affects the aliens as well. You know what our fellow humans will do to the aliens if they catch them?"

"In all those years we have been gone, I am sure humanity has improved. I don't think they will dissect them like in those old movies," chuckled Charles.

"Don't be too sure. I am the most recent from Earth and I can tell you humans have not improved that much. These two aliens brought us back to Earth and they didn't need to. It seems like a bad way to repay them."

"They took us from our homes, Suki," said Enrico. "They took us from our lives. We don't owe them a damn thing."

"It wasn't these two aliens that took us, Enrico, you know that."

"Well, I guess they pay for what their race did. I think it's fair," said Enrico. "In any case we voted for this, unless you want this to be a dictatorship."

It made her angry. "I think you are very wrong. You can fix your own meals, I'm not hungry," she said and stormed to the front of the ship.

Suki plopped down in the seat behind the pilots. Mckcy glanced at Ickcy. "Ickcy, I'm going to make a shake. You want one?"

"Sure," said Ickcy.

"Take over the controls and you can talk to Suki," suggested Mckcy.

What was wrong with them, wondered Suki as they exchanged meaningful glances.

"Do you have more questions?" asked Ickcy.

"No. They took a vote and they want to tell Earth they are on board."

"I could communicate with Earth, but whom would I talk to?"

"Good question. There are many countries with a space program. My fellow passengers think that talking with someone will prevent Earth from shooting at us."

"I was thinking about that and it sounds reasonable. Maybe we should communicate with the strongest country that might try to shoot us down?"

"Frankly I don't know if talking to them will prevent it or encourage it. I think it is a bad idea and we should try to land unnoticed." She explained why.

Ickcy started to shake.

It went on for a time and Suki had to ask if he was all right.

"Yes, but I find it ironic that in saving your brain from being dissected, we might get dissected ourselves."

"I might be expecting the worst, but we should not risk it. Maybe there is another way."

Ickcy swayed, as they both thought about it.

Mckcy walked into the silence and looked at Ickcy.

"Suki is concerned," said Ickcy.

She handed him a shake and sat down. "Concerned about?"

Ickcy told her everything they had talked about.

"Humans are so primitive," said Mckcy. "Maybe we should leave them somewhere else and avoid the whole mess. The moon is pretty close."

Suki's mouth dropped open.

"I'm sure you are jesting," said Ickcy.

Suki hoped she was. They would not survive on the moon and no one from Earth would be able to get them from there. "Wait, I have an idea. How fast is this ship in Earth's atmosphere?"

"Earth is 1G, so 50 rams," said Mckcy.

"50 rams," repeated Suki. She didn't know what that was and couldn't even begin to do the conversion to Earth units. The F-15, an aircraft the US Air Force might use to track them down, went about 2,600 km/h. "Do you think that this space ship is faster than any of Earth's airplanes?"

"Yes," said Mckcy.

"Okay then," said Suki noticing she sounded very positive. "My plan could work. We have people on board from four different countries, Charles is from Canada, Nina is from India, and so on. We inform the governments of those countries that we are coming, but not where we will land. Then we pretend to land in one place and quickly change the location."

"What?" Ickcy did not understand.

"It's deception," said Mckcy.

"Yes and hopefully it will keep them away from you."

"Let me think about this," said Ickcy. "We will be able to communicate with Earth later today."

"Yeah, maybe you will think of something better before then," said Suki. "I'll go back to the lounge and see what new problem they give me."

After she had gone, Mckcy asked, "Did you resolve the feelings issue with her?"

"No."

"I left to give you a chance to talk."

"I didn't have a chance. She told me what the humans were planning and we were just trying to fix that issue."

Mckcy looked at him. "I think you didn't even try."

"How was I supposed to ask something like that anyway?"

"It's easy, you ask, do you love me?"

"Just like that?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I couldn't just say that in the middle of a conversation that included our dissection."

Mckcy sighed and took over the controls. "I think you like the idea she is infatuated with you."

When Suki got back to lounge only Inga was there, even Enrico was gone.

"Hi Inga, did everyone eat?"

"Yeah, whatever they could and with enormous complaining. Then they went to sleep."

"You didn't?"

"No. I told Enrico to take my bunk. I wanted to talk to you and I decided to bake a zucchini bread."

"It does smell nice."

"So you went and told the aliens about the vote?"

"Yeah. They thought it was a good idea."

"You know, I'm thinking it might be."

"You changed your mind?"

"Yes, the idea of humans shooting us down made me rethink my vote."

"Yeah, I guess I see your point."

# Chapter 35

Ickcy came to talk to them. The lounge was divided by opinions and Inga and Suki sat at one table on one side while the others sat on the other.

"Suki told me about your vote," he said.

Several at the other table threw her a dirty glance.

"I agree with your vote," said Ickcy.

The ugly glances changed instantly.

"Since there are four countries represented here, this is what we will do." He explained how he would contact the government of Stockholm to coordinate with the other countries. Once they had representatives from each of the countries there, they would make the call.

"Ickcy, Stockholm is a city in Sweden, so you have to contact the country of Sweden," said Inga. She looked very pleased.

"Why Sweden?" asked Matilda. "Why not the United States? There are three of us from there."

"I am informing you what we are going to do," said Ickcy leaving no room for argument. "I will let you know when the representatives are assembled and ready to talk. Then each of you will have several minutes to talk to your representatives. We should be arriving to Earth later today."

At least Sweden did not have a space program, thought Suki.

"I bet you had something to do with Sweden being picked," said Enrico looking at her.

"No. I am still against this whole thing," said Suki. "I just want to be dropped off quietly and be done with it."

Ickcy called Sweden and then it took several hours to assemble representatives from Canada, India, and the United States. They selected the office of the Sweden's foreign minister. The Swedes had considered doing the meeting in the Prime Minister's office, but then that was thought too risky. One never knew what the aliens could be up to.

The representatives were introduced and that took several minutes.

Then it was their turn. Inga started. "Hello, my name is Inga and I was born in Stockholm in 1943. I was taken when I was twenty four."

The Swedish representative asked some questions to verify who she was. The questions seemed very reasonable.

"Okay," said Ickcy, "next is Nina from India."

She introduced herself and gave similar details as Inga. Charles followed and then it was Matilda's turn.

"I was born in New York in 1931," she said. "These aliens took me when I was twenty nine. You will not believe what I have seen and I have kept very good notes about it."

The American representative, Chad Grey, asked numerous questions going over the allotted time, but Ickcy allowed it. Matilda, on the other hand, started to get annoyed.

"I think it is enough questions. I am who I say I am," said Matilda. "Don't waste anymore time and just get me home."

Ickcy introduced Suki.

"Hi, my name is Suki and I was born in California in 1987. I was abducted from New York City where I had gone to work. That was in January of 2014." There was a buzz from the other side. She knew there would be interest since she had disappeared so recently.

"That was three months ago," said Chad Grey.

"I know."

"Are they still taking people?"

"No," she said.

"We don't know that for sure," said Enrico.

"Who is that?" asked Chad.

"My name is Enrico and I was born in 1973 in Rome, and I went to America as a child. I am thirty years old now because I was frozen for ten years."

That could explain much, thought Suki.

"Let me talk to Suki.

"Yes, Chad I am still here," said Suki.

"Where in California were you born?" asked Chad.

"I'm just saying you should be careful with what Suki says," interrupted Enrico. "She is with the aliens."

"Have they mistreated you?" asked Chad.

"No...," she said at the same time that Matilda said yes.

Suki glared at her.

"The showers on board do not work well," explained Matilda. "There is barely any water and I don't even want to talk about the meals. They are sufficient, but can you believe there is no beef on board?"

Suki bit her lip so she would not say anything she might regret. Sure the showers were mostly air, but this was not supposed to be a cruise and she had told Matilda so.

"I admit the vegetables have been good, but that is all," continued Matilda. "And then my suitcase..."

Ickcy interrupted. "I think that is enough conversation for now. We plan to drop off the humans in one place. We will let you know what place we pick. The reason we are allowing these conversations are to make sure you know we are coming in peace and you don't shoot us down."

"Well, we need to check their stories out first," said Chad.

"How much time to do you need for that?" asked Ickcy.

"How about one week?" said Chad.

"I don't think so. I believe your communications are better than that. We will give you two days."

"Two more days," said Charles when they returned to the lounge.

"That is too bad," said Nina. "I was hoping to be home tonight."

"We are so close to the Earth," said Inga looking out the window.

They glanced at Suki. If she were a certain type of person, she could have said, I told you so, but she wasn't. She looked out just as California spun under them. They were so close.

"I think you were right," she said. "We might have to wait two more days, but it will be safer."

"I knew we did the right thing," said Matilda.

# Chapter 36

As promised, Earth got back to them in two days. They offered a different plan. Someone, who was not any of the representatives that had talked to previously, made the offer. This person sounded much more in charge.

"Do you see the space station circling the Earth?" he asked.

"A space station?" asked Ickcy. "You mean that thing that appears like a storage container with solar panels?"

"Yes." The reply was terse.

Maybe he shouldn't have insulted their primitive attempt to be in space, thought Ickcy. Mckcy was shaking. On the other hand he was getting tired of circling Planet Earth, just for their convenience.

"We have astronauts on that space station and we want them to check your space ship. That way we can be sure that there are real people on board and not just recordings."

"Excuse me, they are not recordings, you asked them questions and they answered."

"Yes, but you are an advanced race that could have figured what questions we would ask ahead of time and recorded those answers. It would not be hard to do."

"Okay, so you want us to let these astrobots on board? How many are coming?"

"Astronauts and there will be two. You need to get closer to the space station so they can get to your ship. Do you have an air lock?"

"Yes, of course."

"Is the air in your space ship safe for humans?"

"Yes, the interior environment is configured for humans right now. I am wearing an space suit."

"All right then. Once the astronauts confirm there are real people on board we will let you land on Earth. We are preparing a site for you."

"Where would that be?"

"We will let you know afterwards," he said and signed off.

"What do you think, Ickcy?" asked Mckcy.

"I'm just glad to get this thing over. Let's slow the transport down next to their spaceship," he tried not to smile at the ridiculous name for the tin can container.

"You shouldn't make fun of them," said Mckcy noticing.

"I know, I guess I am tired. I have messed everything, especially for you."

"Your feelings were in the right place. You have saved these humans and made them happy."

"Really? Do you really think so? They don't seem happy."

"I guess, they are a bit worried. I would be too, going back to my home after so many years afterwards."

"I shouldn't have brought you along."

"I wanted to come," she said.

"And why is that, by the way?"

Mckcy was not able to answer as Suki made her usual entrance and sat down. "Hi, how are you guys?"

Ickcy told her about the latest conversation with Earth.

"Hmm," said Suki.

"What do you think?"

"I guess I can see their point of view. Having a couple of astronauts come and check things seems all right, but I don't like the idea of them telling you where to land. I am sure their 'preparations' of the landing site may mean something military."

"I agree with Suki," said Mckcy.

"Good," said Ickcy. "Because I was not going to land where they told me. I will pretend to, of course."

Suki smiled. "I am glad you learning to be sneaky."

"I am not sure that is a good trait," he said. "By the way, how is everyone doing back there?"

"They are the same. Complaining, complaining. They asked me to come find out the latest news, so I'll tell them. When are we expecting the astronauts?"

"Soon," said Mckcy. She pulled a lever and the transport stopped moving. The transport drifted down and the space station filled the view out the window.

"Nice job, Mckcy," said Ickcy. "I'll contact the astronauts to let them know we are ready."

"I'll go tell the others what is going on," said Suki.

When she reached the lounge, all of her fellow passengers were by the window.

"Did you see this?" asked Enrico. "What is that?"

"That is the International Space Station," said Suki. She told them what was going to happen.

"But why more delays?" asked Charles. "I thought we would be on Earth today?"

"Earth wants to make sure there are humans are on board."

"But they talked to us. What kind of stupid people are down there?" asked Matilda.

"Apparently they think the aliens could have tricked them," said Suki.

"People are so suspicious," said Inga.

Everyone looked out the window waiting to see the astronauts.

"Suki, can I talk to you?" asked Enrico.

"What?" she asked, but she allowed him to pull her away from the window.

"Why didn't you tell me they were going to dissect your brain?"

"Why should that make a difference?"

"I now understand why you were picked for this trip and why your Overseer was trying to rescue you. He is a good guy to do it."

"I know he is good guy. I think you should have trusted me when I told you there was nothing going on between us."

"It just seemed you were so friendly with him."

"I think you would be as well if you found out he was trying to save you from death."

"Sorry."

"It's all right. The way you got on board was pretty horrible."

"You know, I wasn't going to go through with it. I've told the others as well. I was just hoping to get on board, but I was not going to harm Inga."

Suki didn't totally believe him, but let it go.

"I have apologized to Inga as well," he said.

Well that was good, she thought.

"There they are," said Matilda. "This is quite exciting."

Suki and Enrico returned to the window and watched the two human forms make their way to them. They wore jet packs and when they used them, the astronauts moved in one direction or another. In some ways, it made them look like marionettes.

"I guess you can see that they are on the way," said Ickcy. He must have come into the lounge without them noticing.

"Are they going to go down to Earth with us?" asked Nina.

"I don't think so. They have their own shuttle," said Ickcy.

"Where is their shuttle?" asked Charles.

"It is that little thing attached to the right side of the space station," said Ickcy.

"Oh," said Matilda. "I think I prefer to land on Earth on this transport."

The rest of them didn't say it, but they agreed.

# Chapter 37

The first astronaut walked into the lounge from the airlock and he still had his full spacesuit on. It was clunkier than Ickcy's and he stepped in awkwardly. His visor looked around at them. The second astronaut stepped in right behind him.

The people in the lounge crowded around to greet the newcomers, but the first astronaut raised his hand. "Don't come any closer," he said.

He had a commanding voice and they stopped in their tracks.

"What are the readings Eric?" he turned to other astronaut.

"The air is breathable," said Eric.

"All right," said the first astronaut. "I will remove my helmet." He first removed the gloves and Suki saw he had inner gloves which he didn't removed. Then he worked on the helmet. It looked like he needed help.

"Can I help you?" asked Suki.

"No. Just stay right where you are," he said. He fiddled with something around his neck area.

It was hard to take the helmet off, noticed Suki since the oxygen supply was attached to it.

"Well I am going to sit down," said Matilda. "This is going to take a while."

She did and then told everyone that she could see everything fine from where she was.

After a few moments Nina and Charles joined her.

Finally the first astronaut disengaged the helmet from the torso. Suki could see that the suit was made of two pieces, a torso and lower piece, but it was going to be hard to get out of those.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Jett Keystone, which one of you is the leader?"

They all looked at each other. None had really thought of themselves as such.

"Maybe Ickcy?" asked Suki.

"No, I think he means human leader," said Charles.

"I could be the leader," said Enrico.

"No, no, no. You can't be the leader," said Inga. "Not after what you did."

"I told you I was sorry," said Enrico.

"Yes, but it shows a lack of character and we can't have that for a leader," said Inga.

"She has a point," said Charles. "How about you Suki? You could be the leader for now."

"Yes, I think she would be okay as a leader," said Nina. "If you want it, of course."

"Yeah, all right," said Suki. "I will be the leader." She turned to the astronaut. "Okay, I am the leader. What's up?"

"Well, after listening to your conversation just now, I am convinced that you are humans."

"Good, I'm glad you noticed," said Matilda.

"So now you return to your space ship and let Earth know?" asked Ickcy.

The astronaut looked surprised at Ickcy. He probably had not noticed him standing in the background in the space suit, thought Suki. "This is Ickcy," she said. "He is the alien that rescued us from the Planet Humex."

"Commander Ickcy," said Ickcy.

"You speak English." Jett sounded astonished.

"They speak their own language, but it is being translated," explained Suki.

"Okay Mr. Jett Keystone," said Matilda. "Can we get this show on the road? We have been on this transport for almost a week now and without a shower or proper food..."

"Matilda," interrupted Suki. "I don't think Mr. Keystone wants to know about the inconveniences of our trip." She turned to Jett, "So is this all you need? You know we are human and now we can get back to Earth?"

"Yes, That is all they asked me to check," he said. "I don't think I caught your name?"

"Suki," she said.

"Suki, easy to remember." He smiled at her.

She smiled back and he started to put the helmet back on. Eric waited patiently by the airlock.

After a couple of tries, Jett said, "There is something wrong with the helmet, the quick connect ring is not working."

Later, Ickcy told Mckcy what happened.

"Do you think he did it on purpose?" asked Mckcy.

"I don't think so. I know humans are sneaky, like Suki says, but they really tried to fix it. The other astronaut, the one named Eric, took his helmet off and together they worked on the problem for quite some time. That is what took so long."

"I was wondering what was going on," said Mckcy.

"Even Charles, Enrico and Suki tried to help. Jett cannot go out into space with a faulty space suit."

"Hmm, so that is why he will ride with us to Earth."

"Yes, you saw Eric go back to the space station. I am sure Earth will be calling him soon."

Earth did call soon afterwards and they requested to talk to Jett. Jett's communicator was not working, they said. Ickcy went to get him.

Jett had taken off his entire spacesuit. It had a lot of pieces to it and they were now stacked on one side of the lounge. He was wearing some sort of long sleeve, long pants that clung to his body. He also was sitting next to Suki and they seemed to be getting along.

"Mr. Keystone," said Ickcy, "Earth is calling."

"Thank you Commander," he said. "I'll see what they want." He followed Ickcy to the cockpit.

"Here," said Ickcy, "talk into this." He noticed that Jett's eyes swept over the panel as he took the communication device.

As he talked to Earth, Ickcy studied him. This human was in good shape. His muscles showed under the garment and the way he had looked at their controls, showed interest and maybe some knowledge.

Jett told Earth about the problems with the helmet. "Luckily they should be able to get me back to Earth," he said. "Commander Ickcy, the alien here, says the transport can handle an extra passenger on descent."

He pronounced his name wrong, thought Ickcy, but he wasn't going to correct him.

The communication finished soon afterwards. They were told where to land and that they were expected soon.

"Is your name Ickcy also?" asked Jett looking at Mckcy.

"Why would she have the same name as me?" asked Ickcy.

"I don't know. Maybe I thought it was a common name for aliens."

"No it is not. You probably could not pronounce the name for our life form," said Ickcy.

"My name is Mckcy," she said turning to look at him. She was keeping the transport steady in relation to the human space station and that required some adjustments. She had to make an adjustment at that moment.

Ickcy saw Jett studying her movements.

"Come on Mr. Keystone, it is better you wait with the others."

Jett followed him out and asked, "Are you and Mckcy a couple?"

"Huh? For being on board such a short time, you sure ask a lot of questions."

"Yeah, I guess I do," said Jett.

When they got back to the lounge he returned to sit next to Suki. Ickcy noticed her face light up with a smile.

"So now we go, right?" asked Enrico.

"Yes. We will start our descent shortly. You should all get in your seats and fasten your seat belts. Since Jett is here, we will be down two belted seats now."

"How about the seat behind you in the cockpit?" asked Suki. "I believe it has a seat belt."

"That is true, Suki, you can come sit there. One of them can have your seat in the cabin."

"It should be Enrico that gets it," said Jett. "I shouldn't even be here."

Suki look at him with admiration.

Enrico mumbled something that was a mix between a 'thanks' and 'I deserve it'.

"Are you sure this transport will do well during reentry?" asked Jett, before Ickcy could leave.

"Of course. You will remember that we have been to Earth before, many times," he added. "It should be easy peasy." He then left to help Mckcy with the landing preparations.

# Chapter 38

As Ickcy left, most everyone in the lounge headed to the seating cabin.

Matilda stopped on her way. "Jett, I will be going to my seat now, but I just wanted to say that this transport is much bigger than the little shuttle you use to get back to Earth. You shouldn't worry, I think you will enjoy it."

"I am sure I will ma'am," said Jett politely.

"Don't worry about her," said Inga as she followed. "I'm sure your little shuttle is just as good as this one."

Suki found it hard not to smile.

"So what is so funny?" asked Jett.

"Sometimes my fellow passengers can be," she said. She stood up to leave.

"Suki, wait. Do you trust the aliens?"

"Yes, with my life," she said. "Maybe some day I'll tell you why I think that way."

"I would like to hear that story sometime," he said.

She wouldn't mind that. "By the way, a seat belt is recommended, but I noticed that the transport was very smooth during the takeoff. You'll probably be fine without one."

"For my sake, I hope you are correct, but you better get going, I can feel we are descending."

As Suki got into her seat in the cockpit and strapped herself in, she could see that the Earth was getting larger quickly.

"So what do you think about our visitor?" asked Ickcy.

"I like him."

"Yes, I saw that."

"You noticed? He seems smart and strong and you saw how he gave Enrico the seat?"

"Well one would think that Enrico should have gotten the seat, being on board longer."

"Yeah, of course, but still, it was nice."

Mckcy threw a quick glance at Ickcy.

"By the way, I didn't know you were the Commander," said Suki.

"The Commander is in charge of the transport. It is just a label," said Ickcy.

Mckcy looked at him.

"I hope that was all right with you?" asked Ickcy.

"Sure," said Mckcy. "Like you said, it's just a label."

"So, where are we landing?" asked Suki.

"They want us to land at latitude 37.2N and longitude of 115.8W."

"Where is that?"

"I checked the map and it looks like it is in the state of Nevada, in the south part."

"No way," said Suki. "I think that may be where Area 51 is."

"What is that?" asked Ickcy.

"It is an place where some people think the government is hiding aliens."

"That is funny," said Ickcy. "I know of no aliens there."

"Maybe none of your race are there, but people think that there are aliens or their machines being hidden from the public. Maybe those aliens could be from other planets."

"Have you ever seen one?"

"No."

"Well that is not where we are going to land. I have found a better, more remote location. It is an island in the Pacific."

"Is it Hawaii?" asked Suki.

"How did you know?" Ickcy turned to look at her with concern. "There are many islands in the Pacific I could have chosen."

"It was just a lucky guess."

"I don't like it Ickcy," said Mckcy. "She guessed it too quickly."

Little did they know that hiding their landing plans, was not going to help. Jett Keystone was in contact with Earth. He was looking out the window and giving them updates as to where they were.

When they flew right over the Nevada desert, he probably advised them of that.

Suki had been right about one thing, he didn't need a seat belt and the transport landed gently on the sand. He probably did not know which Hawaiian island they were on and that gave them some time.

The passengers and the aliens stared outside. The small waves lapped the side of the transport and the white sand extended for miles in both directions. The tall green palms swayed to the light breeze.

"This is wonderful, I am so happy to be finally home," said Nina.

"This is beautiful," said Inga.

"This is not New York," said Matilda.

"But Matilda, you can get to New York from here," said Suki.

"I think they should take me there. I asked for New York."

"Come on everyone, we need to get going. The aliens have to leave as soon as possible," said Suki ignoring Matilda.

Jett was hanging back, she noticed.

As the ramp deployed, Enrico was the first one down. "Back on Earth, finally," he shouted. "I love you." He kissed the sand and then rolled in it.

Charles, Nina and Inga followed him down; they looked equally happy but more subdued. Matilda was still grousing. Suki realized she was going to take some prodding so she said good-bye to the aliens first.

"I wanted to thank you for everything," she said. "Both of you have risked so much to bring us home and I know I will never be able to repay you."

"We didn't do it only for you," said Mckcy. "We did it for our conscience as well."

Suki hugged Ickcy and then Mckcy. She was hugging their spacesuit, but she hoped the feeling conveyed.

She grabbed Matilda's bag and suitcase and started down the ramp. Matilda was still not following and Jett was watching from above. "Jett why don't you take these bags down while I get Matilda?"

Jett did not move.

That is when she heard the fighter jets. Her fellow passengers on the beach started to wave and laugh. They did not realize what was happening.

Suki ran back up the ramp. "Matilda, this is your last chance. Get out now or be prepared to live in space for the rest of your days."

Matilda looked at her alarmed, but then she started to move quickly.

"Ickcy, you need to leave now, those are fighter jets and they will try to stop you."

Ickcy swayed. "It was a risk. We knew there would be dangers, but bringing you back was more important. Go now, I will get the ship ready." He hurried away.

As soon as Ickcy left a noise started. It had a constant beat and seemed to be getting louder.

"Shit," said Jett. "Run Suki."

They started to run down the ramp. The ramp was retracting and it was already off the ground. They would have to jump. About then, the noise, which was very loud now, hit them. She would learn later that the noise was from the 20 mm rounds from a Gatling cannon on an F-15.

The spaceship sustained minor damage, but continued to ascend while the damaged ramp finished closing.

Once in space, Ickcy came to inspect the damage and found the two of them.

###

# About the Author

I was born in the Peruvian Andes, and came to study in the United States with the idea of becoming an astronaut. That plan did not come to fruition, but as an aerospace engineer, I did work for many years at NASA Ames. One of the highlights of my job was working on the landing and rollout simulations for the Space Shuttle. I live in the Bay Area with my husband, two sons and two (sometimes four) cats.

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http://www.maryssheppard.com

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Thanks for reading,

Mary S. Sheppard

# Other titles by Mary S. Sheppard

Blooming Time: A Where is Now Story (Volume 1)

Available in print and ebook from website

The Feelings Are the Same II will be out Spring 2014.

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