Chapter 1: The Adventure Begins

       During the past couple of years, I have had a great number of occasions to talk to and be with our good brothers from Korendor. Each time, I have had the privilege of being offered small bits of the vast store of knowledge which they possess, and I have passed them on to you, the reader, whenever possible.

       What follows is an experience that occurred on the 28th of December of 1963. It can only be classified as unique in all the reams of contact literature. I ask only that you look upon it with the same open-mindedness and consideration as you have given to all of my previous stories.

       My first inkling of things to come came in the radio communication of 1 August 1962. Nothing further was announced until December 7, 1963, when they set the stage for the following story.

       On this cold Saturday morning, I arose at 4 AM, after a telepathic impression that interrupted me in the middle of a rather boring dream. As soon as the fog lifted in my mind, I walked over to the radio equipment, and switched it on. A moment later, after it had reached operating temperature [Note: 1963 = tubes], I spoke into the mike in my typically eloquent way, "Bob here. Go ahead, friends."
       "Orii-Val here, Bob. We will be out in front of your home at 0500. Be prepared to meet us at this time."
       "Orii-Val," I asked, "May I bring along my camera and recorder?" He replied in the negative. "I am now in a craft descending to the place where we landed last August. Darrin-Sen is waiting for us there in his auto. You know therefore what car to watch for." The image of the white Plymouth flashed into my mind. "We will cease transmission now to allow you time to prepare. Orii-Val l off."

       As soon as I had shut down the rig, I realized with some consternation that I had incautiously left my speaker system running instead of using the earphones. I hoped that it didn't wake up the family. That was all I'd need. Having determined that they still were still soundly sleeping, I put on some warm clothing, and spent the rest of the time in a makeshift organizing of the room for my replacement's sake.

       At 0459 I slipped quietly outdoors, mumbled some unprintable oaths about the bitter cold and made my way to the end of the drive to await the brothers. It was only a matter of seconds till the headlights from an unseen vehicle illuminated the trees, and quickly came into view from around the curve to the north. It stopped directly in front of me. The door swung open and "I" stepped out of the car. Here was the man who would be my substitute for this and future contacts.

       To say that be was my "spitting image" would be the understatement of the century. We shook hands in the standard form of greeting, and he said to me in what I assumed was my voice (few people recognize their own voice from an external source), "Have no fear, brother. Nobody will be the wiser. I have studied you long enough to automatically react exactly as you would in any given situation. If I get away with this, it will be a great topic for conversation when next we meet."

       "How will you be able to reach us if anything should go wrong?" I asked. He smiled and showed me a case about the size of a pack of cigarettes. "This is a Transceiver. With this I can be in immediate contact with the base." My apprehensions allayed, I boarded the car and wished him good luck as we drove off. He'd need it!

       After the now-familiar trip, we left the car and headed off into the woods again. Darrin-Sen did not come, but instead drove off. I was about to ask why when Orii-Val, my lone companion, answered my mental query. "If we were to leave the vehicle there, it would pose the risk that someone would find it and become overly inquisitive. He would follow our tracks and find they vanished out in the middle of the field. You can readily supply the subsequent events." Dummy! The cold must be affecting my brain.

       We emerged into the clearing, and there was Orii-Val's private craft, hovering two feet off the ground. In it sat Gery-Sol and a stranger. We entered, and as we rose to traveling height, I was introduced to Arel Lon, a Terratologist with the crew of RK-11, with whom I had spoken a few weeks earlier. He had come along for the ride.

       A brief trip to the south put us over a small clearing in the trees. Orii-Val picked up a mike and spoke into it. "Base Control, Craft XPR-1143 requests entrance into landing area 4. Over." The receiver replied," XFR-1143 from Base control, confirm clearance code, please." Orii-Val spoke what sounded like a nonsense word [Note: I later learned that it was in the Korendian language] and waited.

       "Acknowledged, 1143. One moment." He motioned to me to watch. A few seconds later an H-shaped crack formed in the snow. I watched in astonishment as two huge doors swung up from the apparently solid ground. When opened, they formed a box-shaped structure, which he said prevented any curious animal from falling in accidentally.

       We quickly descended through the entry, and when we were below it some thirty feet, it swung closed above us with the muffled whirring sound of electric motors. Orii-Val then pressed a button on his control panel. A pair of doors similar to elevator doors opened in front of us and we glided through. We were now in a long tunnel illuminated by the bluish glow of a strip of lighting on its ceiling, which ran the entire length. Orii-Val said that the tunnel was a little over a mile long.

       Orii-Val then landed the craft on a conveyor belt on the "floor" of the tunnel. It began to move as soon as we touched down. [Note: we had actually landed on a platform that I had not seen when we entered. What appeared to be a belt was a cover over a linear induction assembly.] We went swiftly down its length. As we came to its end, we stopped below a sign that advised, "Security Cards must be presented". We moved forward slowly, and from one of those ever-present invisible doors there emerged a small card reader. It stopped at the side of the craft. Orii opened the canopy and took a card from his wallet, in which were what appeared to be a set of holes. He put it into a slot in the reader. A pilot light pulsed momentarily and the door ahead of us opened with a soft whirr. The reader disappeared back into its hole in the wall, the door closed and again became invisible. We entered through the open door into a vast room.

       We were now riding on another very smooth conveyor [Note: this was an actual conveyor] down its center aisle. To the right and left were stalls wherein were parked several of this type of craft. Each one bore the name of its owner on a plaque that hung from the ceiling by chrome-colored chains. This ceiling was about fifteen feet from the true floor. It glowed in the manner of the spacecraft ceiling that I saw on the TV back in January of 1962.

       We stopped before a stall over which hung Orii's name. The ship did a right face and we slid into the stall on a short conveyor. All was now quiet except for the hum of the motors lifting the craft's canopy. We climbed out and I looked momentarily toward the central conveyor. Directly before each stall, there is a round turntable arrangement with a ten-foot-or-so long belt. When we stopped on it, it had turned and moved onto the stall's belt. It was entirely automatic, as Orii told me that his security card programmed the computer controlling this example of total automation.

       Orii went to the rear of the ship and drew a hose from a small door. He connected it to a fitting under a panel on the ship and slipped his card into a slot above the hose door. The sound of a pump could be heard faintly. This was obviously the refueling operation.

       "When the attendant makes his hourly rounds, he will remove the hose and log the amount of fuel that was dispensed. My Universal Economics card number has been taken by the machine, and it will charge the fuel cost to it." Orii-Val led us onto yet another smaller personnel conveyor. It went on to the far end of the room, which was about 500 feet in length and about fifty feet wide on each side of the central conveyor. We stepped onto it and rode it to its end.

       A minute or so passed, and we stepped off the belt and proceeded on a few yards more, on a carpeted aisle. We went through the beams of two waist-level photosensors on the way. Orii explained that they told the Base Control that we were entering and how many there were in the party, in the event that the receptionist was not monitoring the hallway at the time. They also activated the door opener, which slid the translucent panel aside just as we reached it.

       We entered a small room. It was about twenty by twenty, and the ceiling was twelve feet high. It glowed a soft cream-white. The floor was carpeted wall-to-wall with a thick mint-green covering. To our left was a young and very lovely girl seated at a modern-style desk, apparently of mahogany wood, and highly polished.

       She greeted us with a smile and said, "Good Morning, Brothers. I have the security pass here for our Terran guest." She then motioned me over to the desk, and asked me to sign my name on a line on a form. The pen I used was of a special type that deposits a magnetic ink. When this had been done, she inserted the card into a device on the desk. An indicator light pulsed red and then glowed green. "The processing will take but a minute, Bob. Look around if you wish." I wished.

       In the center of the wall behind her was a picture that arrested my attention. I assumed, and it was confirmed, that it was the picture of Ageless Life that George Adamski said that he saw in the space crafts. It had a deep, serene, captivating beauty.

       The walls were colored a very light green, almost white. Here and there were paintings, documents, and photos hanging by some unseen means.

       In the wall opposite the desk was a fairly large visiscreen, with a small control panel on her desk to operate it. It was showing in full color and depth a view of the hangar area. As I watched, she apparently touched a control. The view panned to the right and stopped on a small sign on the far end of the room, barely visible. As I watched in fascination, the image zoomed so quickly as to be a blur.

       When it stopped, the sign was centered in it, and seemed to be about three feet wide. Every little detail in it could be made out distinctly. As she returned the view to normal on the screen, Orii-Val said, "That camera and several others like it allow her to view everything in the entire hangar from that desk. There are also two in the corridor, one at each end, to allow her to see who is coming."

       As he spoke, a tone sounded to signify the completion of the processing. She took the form from the device, and handed me a card with my photo, access code and a few numbers. It appeared to have a set of holes punched into it, but I later examined the card under a magnifier and saw that they were semi-transparent areas in the material that were of different colors and densities, forming a complex pattern that would be very hard to duplicate. [Note: while reviewing this report with the Kors, I was told that the holes contained holographic film dots. Lasers read them.]

       On the back was a thin brownish strip along its length that looked very much like a slice of recording tape embedded in the material [Note: ala credit cards]. Orii said, "Yes, it's on that same principle, except that it contains computer data rather than voice or music. In combination with the optical sensor apertures, it is virtually impossible to counterfeit." As I put it into my wallet, He said, "Show that card to no one. It is your pass to allow your admittance to any of our facilities other than restricted or classified areas. It is a very important document, to be sure, my friend." The girl nodded slightly, then resumed her duties.

Chapter 2: Keeping In Touch

       We left through a door in the far wall, and were in a long corridor. It was illuminated by a narrow strip overhead. To the right was a small car of sorts, which we boarded. Gery-Sol assumed the role of driver.

       After maybe two minutes of travel along this long hallway, and passing a few cars on the way, we arrived at what was apparently our destination. We parked in the area adjacent to it and went in. The door bore the inscription, "Communications Room: Admittance to Authorized Personnel only". Apparently I was one of them.

       The room was about fifty feet to a side and fifteen feet high. It was full of electronic equipment, a lot of it unknown to me. We went over to a panel "manned" by a lovely brunette. Orii-Val spoke to her in Korendian—it had a beautiful musical quality—and she rose from her seat for a second to close a switch above her. Seconds later I saw on a screen my double, sitting on the couch in my room.

       I thought to myself, "So the Transceiver is TV too." I might as well have spoken, as the young lady said, "Yes, and in full color and depth as well." Orii asked, "Would you like to speak to him?" I said yes and he handed me a mike. Apparently he was watching us also, because he spoke first. "Your mother is a delightful woman, Bob, and your father is a good man. I have been psych probing and I have learned much. Your two animal friends are here with me now and we are getting along famously. I expect that we will have no difficulty here."

       I asked, "Did you have any trouble finding everything, brother? I have a large variety of literature available in the cabinet over there in the enclosed area."

       "Ah yes, so I discovered. I am torn at the moment between your stacks of Scientific Americans and your Playboys. Both appeal greatly to me, for different reasons, to be sure." He winked and smiled devilishly. "I see that Elen finds my remarks a bit embarrassing. But after all, once you can tear yourself away from the centerfold, there is much of great interest to be read."

       Elen, the girl at the controls, was blushing a bit. She said, "Arta, you have a lecherous mind." They both laughed, and the signal from the Transceiver switched off.

       Orii-Val said, "This panel keeps in touch with all the remote units such as the one Arta is carrying. It can handle up to 400 communications simultaneously." As we left, a picture came up on the screen, and the buildings were obviously in London. THAT, I decided, is some range for a unit the size of a cigarette pack. [Note: I later learned that they used what we call "repeaters" to link the communicators to the base.]

       We next went to a large board with eight screens in two rows of four. Gery said, "This panel controls communications for the entire base, as well as linking it with other bases. This one is automatic." This was evidently true, since there was no place for anyone to sit to operate it.

       We moved on to yet another console. "This," said Gery, "is the main panel for this base. It connects directly to the Base Control room. Every other panel in this room can be connected to BC right here at this unit. It, too, is automatic at this end. BC controls it from their own panel." There were only a few switches and no indicators of any type.

       Crossing the room, we stopped at a long unit manned by six people, three men and three women. On it were twenty screens, every one of them displaying an image. The attendants wore earphones to prevent confusion.

       "This is the Main Console", and is this entire planet's direct link with Korendor, Arcturia, and the other Alliance worlds. All the recent communications with masters on other worlds that you have experienced were established right here. This unit links planets to bases, to ships, and to other consoles for reaching individuals. When Master Kalen-Li called you from Korendor, his voice went through a similar unit on Korendor, was received here, retransmitted to RK-11 and then down to you. Your voice went the opposite way."

       It's really very simple when you think about it. Sure it is.

       As our last stop here, we went over to a bank of small recorders and receivers on the wall near the door. All were running. Orii told me, "Here is where your major radio and television stations are monitored. This one, for example, records your local stations on two of its eight separate recording tracks. This one is monitoring New York, and this one handles eight stations in and around Los Angeles. These others are for various selected stations in and out of the United States, such as Canada, England and Russia. There are 120 separate systems here, allowing almost a thousand broadcasts to be monitored constantly. The recorders use a high-density tape that can hold up to 50 hours of audio signal on a plug-in cartridge the size of a kitchen match box.

       "All saucer reports on the stations are investigated by our local agents, to determine whether they involve activity beyond accepted protocols. That is one of the main purposes for this array." Having a few moments free while my companions talked with a couple of technicians, I looked over the room. The walls were all the same light green as the reception room. It's a very relaxing color and no doubt contributes to greater work efficiency. The floor was of a material that gave slightly under the foot, and might have been a form of rubber. It was silver-flecked grey. The ceiling was not glowing. Instead each panel was illuminated by its own recessed floodlight in the ceiling above it.

       There were no windows and no visible vents, yet a cool current of air was moving slowly through the room, carrying with it a trace of some delightful fragrance. I learned that it was the smell of the forests on Korendor, and helped to lessen the feeling of isolation of the Korendians who worked here on Earth.

       On the walls were color scenes from their home world. It was a wise man who designed this base. Every effort was made to have it psychologically uplifting, with the interests of the workers above any other consideration. This room, with its homey air, was just such an example. Here every effort was made to maintain an atmosphere reminiscent of Korendor, and all were happy and content as a result. To them, home was just a step away. As I contemplated on this, we left the room and once again took off in the cart.

Chapter 3: They Have The Power

       We went to a door marked "Transport Elevator" and entered car and all, stopping on a turntable in the floor.

       Once inside, we began a slow descent. On the way down, I noted that this lift was colored with the same greenish tint as the other rooms. Its ceiling glowed white. On the walls were paintings and a certificate specifying the lift's use and its load capacity. It could carry a load of 100 tons. It was about 12 feet wide by 10 feet high, which caused me to wonder what would fit in there that would weigh a hundred tons. All four sides had doors. This was apparently one of the main shafts.

       About 40 seconds later we stopped, and the door to our left opened. The floor rotated to face the door, and we drove out and down a short corridor to a wide sliding panel that read "Power Station". Orii said, " I thougt this might interest you as an electrician."

       The massive panel slid aside and revealed a huge room that seemed to go on forever. Ahead, to the right, to the left, all around were rows upon rows of generators, motors, control boards, transformers—if it had to do with electrical generation and distribution, it was there.

       The usual conception of a powerhouse is of a smelly place, with a constant fog of smoke and steam, dirty, and abominably noisy. This room was the antithesis of this stereotype. The ceiling glowed a soft blue-white. The walls were light blue. The floor was a grayish hue, of the same resilient material as the radio room. Illumination was almost as bright as daylight, with no dark shadows or unlit areas. There wasn't a speck of dirt to be seen.

       The machinery seemed to be either chrome-plated or newly painted and was almost sterile in its cleanliness. The control equipment was painted in a hammertone finish of green. Transformers were dark blue, motors and generators, if not chromed, were cherry red. The air smelled slightly of mint, and was at about 60 degrees Fahrenheit. It was in constant circulation by huge air-conditioning units in a far corner.

       The noise level was very low. Only a whisper of sound came from these machines. The only noticeable noise was the occasional click of a relay, or the muffled thud of a circuit breaker opening or closing.

       As we walked through, I noticed that the ends of these machines were enclosed in transparent material, and the operation could be observed at all times. Some of then were shutting down, some were stopped; many were running at blurring speeds. Orii-Val told me they had a full speed of around 10,000 RPM, although they usually ran much slower.

       I asked Orii-Val to answer just one more question. What source of power runs these machines? He answered, "Most of the motor-generator sets are powered by electricity in the conventional manner, but the critical-load generators are driven by gravity. Half of the rotor is shielded from gravity, the other half is exposed. The difference in flux causes a torque that quickly causes rotation. The speed is varied by computers that constantly control the percentage of shielding. The rotors themselves weigh several tons."

Chapter 4: The Controlling Authority

       We then left and returned to the elevator, and headed upward. We stopped one level below the top. There are six levels in all. When the door opened, we drove out into another long passage, and stopped at a door marked "Base Control ". Here was the brain of the entire base. Orii-Val suggested that I try out my card on this door. It slid it into the slot and a second later the door vanished. It did not open. It disappeared.

       My reaction must have been very evident, as Gary said, "This is an application of a principle of dematerialization with which we are experimenting. It has no immediate commercial value, but it is marvelous if only for the 'gee whiz' factor. It is very impressive, is it not?" My response was, "Gee whiz!"

       When the effect of that demonstration faded, we entered into what was the largest room I had seen so far.

       The walls to the right and left were one continuous array, the base's Central Computer. It was made up of units each ten feet wide and four feet high, with sloping panels on the front on which were arrayed every conceivable type of instrument, screen, recorder, and indicator. On the far wall, floor to ceiling, which was twelve feet high, was a tremendous bank of flashing lights. There must have been literally thousands of them, blinking like a firefly invasion, each one meaning something to the men watching it.

       [Note: since the base was a training facility for field operatives in addition to its other functions, the computer technology in use at the time was based on what was to be found "in the field". As well, the Alliance had not yet given the Terra Project the priority funding that came later, and the computers were therefore assembled in large part from components obtained from our commercial sources.]

       The ceiling was divided into luminous strips over the machines and the aisles, rather than being solidly illuminated. Over the machines, the glow was reddish, and over the aisles and desks it was blue-white. The desks were in a section in the near end of the room. There were 100 of them, arranged in five rows of twenty. The area was separated from the other by a low wall, and glass from its top to the ceiling to completely seal off the clerical area. It also contained the much cooler air of the machine room.

       Each desk had its own little compartment, containing a telescreen unit, a computer feed console similar in appearance to a small teletype machine, a data output device, and various miscellaneous office appurtenances. Each was occupied by a man or woman busily at work in what I supposed was the running of the base.

       We passed through an air-screen door into the computer section. It was noticeably cooler and drier than the offices, around 55 to 60 degrees, at very low humidity, maybe 15%. The sounds of a busy computer pervaded the air, here a beeping, there a clicking printer, and beyond that the hum of a thinking brain [Note: cooling fans].

       The center of the floor contained about 50 consoles of every variety, mostly input and readout, but including monitors, relay units from the offices, and such. All were operated by girls of the same lovely quality as I noted in Lin-Erri so often.

       They looked up and smiled prettily as we walked by. They all had an insignias on their right shoulders of their blouses, which must have represented their functions or ranks in the base operations. These were not explained to me, and I didn't bother to ask.

       At the far end of the computer room, we went through a door on the left wall, and were in the Head Office. In here were five smaller offices; at the end was the door leading to the office of the Base Commander himself. In this outer office were the Coordinators, the Managers, the Advisors, and the Chief Engineers.

       We stopped to chat informally with each of them, and none were too busy to relinquish a few moments of their time to speak to me personally in the typically warm and friendly way that seemed to be an inbred characteristic of all the space people. Needless to say, I was most impressed by this personal interest they took in our world and its people.

       Orii spoke. "At this time, we have two more places to show you. Later, you will be given entrance to such places as our medical areas, and our labs for electronics, chemistry, biology and other sciences. You will see our educational facilities, our language labs, our scoutcraft hangars, our repair and maintenance shops. In short, you will eventually see this entire base, probably before the end of 1964.

       "Next week you will see some of our California base, which was built for a different reason than this one. But now we go to the next place of interest."

Chapter 5: Getting Used To Earth

       We climbed into the electric car and rode off to the elevator again through the long hall we had come through a short while back. Once in, we went one floor down, to the third level. Here, the door we had just entered reopened and we went down a short hall. At its end, an airlock of a sort with the bold letters which read, "Acclimation Chambers. Entrance to Class A clearance only." My card said this was my classification, so at Gery's offer, I was permitted to operate the door, or rather, doors.

       Inside the first was a second, which opened when the outside one closed and sealed. When we entered, we were greeted by a long, wide corridor, with a series of entrances along its entire length. They were all identified by overhanging signs saying such things as "Air Pressure", "Gravity" and "Solar Intensity". In addition there were subdivisions of these, labeled Stage 1, Stage 2, etc., up to Stage 10 in each case.

       Gery said, "Each of these chambers represents a type of conditional change or transition from our Korendian environment to that of Earth. The change is gradual, to avoid any type of serious metabolic or psychological disturbance. The factors are treated one by one, atmosphere first, that being the most difficult to control, in all these separate chambers. Next is gravitation. The list goes on until they are completely conditioned to your planet and are ready to go out and assume their secretive roles in your society."

       We now entered a chamber marked "Arrival Stage". It was a large room in which were smaller compartments, about twenty in number. In the rear of each was a door which was labeled "Exit to Teleportation Area A".

       Then Orii asked a rather interesting question. "Bob, how would you like to experience an exact duplicate of Korendian environment?"
       "Most definitely I would. I was about to ask you for that privilege myself."

       Without a further word, I was led to the nearest chamber, open at the time. I was seated on a couch, and they closed the door. Orii picked up a mike and spoke into it. His voice came through a speaker on the wall before me. "Are you ready, Bob?"
       "Yes. Go ahead." Gery added, "If you feel any type of distress, just say 'Enough!' and we'll bring back Terran conditions instantly."

       I studied the gauges on the wall in fascination. They seemed to have illuminated numbers rather than the usual pointers. [Note: today we call them digital readouts. In 1963...] First, a meter labeled "Percentage Oxygen" began to change reading. At the same time, I felt a sort of lightheadedness overcoming me.

       Next, a meter which measured pressure began to count upward. An oppressive force pushed me from every side, although I was free to move. It's a weird sensation.

       Finally, a gauge marked "G Force" began to climb. I felt myself sinking into the seat of the couch. Movement became more difficult, and it was a considerable effort to raise my arms and legs. I tried to stand, but found that I was not prepared for that type of gravity. As a result I redeposited myself into the cushion. The force with which I hit it jolted me.

       Yipe! So this is what it is like on Korendor. A Terran would be lost if he were stranded there. Breathing is difficult due to higher air pressure, Korendor's gravity is twice ours [Note: actually, 3.19 times Earth's—more IC], and the light from Korena is substantially brighter than ours. All in all, it's not a pleasant spot for vacationing Earthers.

       I sat there contemplating that for a moment, then squeaked out, "Enough!" The gauges fell to their original readings almost instantly. Blessed relief. I decided that I would just as well remain here on Earth for a while .

       "You now have some idea," said Gery, "of the conditions on Korendor. In some ways your planet is actually a delightful haven for relaxation. The muscular effort is much less. The only problem is in breathing. We have to become accustomed to your lower oxygen level and air pressure, and that takes quite a while. And, one drawback is that if we return to Korendor, the process begins anew. This has happened to me twice, and Orii four times.

       "Our oxygen intake is supplemented by tablets of an oxide that slowly releases oxygen into the bloodstream to add to the oxygen in your air. Two of these every morning will last us through the day. If we forget to take these capsules, we will tend to lose our efficiency and mental acuteness. No other effects will be noted.

       "As time goes on, we gradually drop off to one tablet and finally we can do without them altogether. Orii and I are now in this last stage of conditioning—for now. Soon we will be off the oxygen capsules. For now, it is one each day. " With this, Gery turned to leave the room and we followed.

Chapter 6: The Master Speaks

       We walked out through the airlock, and took off in the car. We once again boarded the elevator, and went back up to the first level. This time we drove out in the direction opposite that to our entrance when we first boarded this lift.

       This side was entirely different. We parked the car and walked along a spacious carpeted hallway. Here there was the atmosphere of a five-star hotel. Pictures were along the wall at intervals, scenes of other worlds, pastoral and urban alike. Doors were labeled with the names of their occupants. This seemed to be the sleeping section.

       Every fifty feet, branch aisles split off from this main passage and went on about 200 feet or so. We walked for five minutes through this area, then went through a door into another yet larger hallway. At its end was a translucent paneled door. It opened as we approached. Inside, I was greeted by the most awesomely beautiful lounge I had ever seen.

       On the floor was wall to wall carpeting of a light blue color. The pile was so thick that it seemed to be a solid mass. Underfoot, it was just resilient enough to be a pleasure to walk on. The walls were painted a cream white, which contrasted tastefully with the rug. On the far wall, a large painting of Ageless Life hung by itself, in all its commanding beauty. Here and there, lovely flowering plants scented the air with a delicate perfume. They looked like roses, but were of a deeper crimson and textured like the finest satin.

       On the other walls were large photos of various scenes of their home world, in full radiant color and that same depth that so often intrigued me in all their photos.

       The furnishings were of a blue similar in color to but slightly darker than the overhead sky at noon, and all seemed to be covered with velvet. There were five very comfortable chairs and two long, plush sofas that curved around the corners of the room. In the center of the room, just hanging there with no visible support whatever, a globe of light pulsated with delicate shades of color in rhythm with a soft music that one had to pay attention to really hear. It lent a relaxing note to this fabulous room.

       The ceiling was not glowing. No light sources could be seen anywhere. Yet, the room was well illuminated. This I cannot explain. I'll leave it to the imaginations of my readers to conceive of such a system.

       We set down on one of the sofas. Orii said to me, "Our guests will be here in a few moments. Would you like to look over our magazines while we wait?" I naturally said yes, and he handed me a scientific publication similar to our Scientific American. It was printed in Galingua, which is beyond my understanding, but the photos were fascinating enough to engage my full attention, so much so that I didn't see our guests arrive. When I saw who it was, I practically sprang to my feet. Standing be the door were Master Kalen-Li, two of my radio contacts, and three lovely young women. Kalen (he asked me to call him by that name) said, "There is one more who will be with us momentarily."

       Even as he spoke, the door opened. In all her rapturous loveliness, Lin-Erri.

       It is very difficult at this point to describe my emotions. She came directly to me, took my hand in here, and spoke in her soft, melodic voice, "Alen, Bren. We of Korendor bid you welcome to our humble abode." If she had recited the first ten pages of the phone book, I could not have been less thrilled. Just to be in the same room with this Athena was more than I deserved.

       She backed away, and Kalen took my hand in their form of handshake. When we contacted, I felt a tingling sensation running throughout my body, like tiny pulses of electricity. It was most pleasant, and seemed to give me a new vitality and interest in everything.

       We then took seats, Lin-Erri beside me to my right, and Orii to my left. The great Master sat opposite us in a chair under the picture of Ageless Life. There was, I noted, a striking similarity in their facial features.

       Let me say here that to merely talk with this great man on the radio is a tremendous privilege. To see him on TV was wonderful beyond words. Now, as I sat here in his presence, the feeling of awe and insignificance overcame me. I, a weak and backward inhabitant of the least developed planet in this solar system, was in the same room as this highly advanced being from one of the greatest planets in the galaxy. I knew how the Apostles must have felt in the presence of the Master Christ.

       All turned toward him as he began to speak.

       "My Brother, you have been shown a small part of our facilities in this base. As time progresses, you will see more of its many and variegated operations. Those we have shown to you at this time are those which we felt you would be most interested in.

       "I myself never cease to be awed by its complexity and magnitude. This is because your world is the first on which such extensive operations have been needed. We cannot afford to build on the surface, as your militaries would surely attack us, if your own people did not do so first.

       "This is, as you might surmise, a tremendously expensive undertaking. We have no qualms here, as it has two benefits, the first being that it provides employment and work for literally millions of people on the involved worlds, and second and more important, it is designed to enable us to help you, our brothers.

       "It is a common belief amongst us that cost is secondary to the value of even one life. How much less significant, then, is the expense when three billion human lives face extermination?

       "We are pleased at the thaw which had been noted in the international cold war, and the gradual lessening of tensions, as the two great powers on your world converge slowly toward the eventual unison into a worldwide government, believing in one way of life, and with all sharing in the wealth and peace which will come as a result of this unity.

       "There remains, however, the fanatical element in all nations that feels that the only way to solve problems it by violence and bloodshed, hatred and sorrow. This group is very definitely diminishing in number, but it still presents a very grave danger to world peace. It seems that they are doing all the talking, and the elements working for peace seem to be reluctant to step up and answer them word for word.

       "We were most happy when Dr. Linus Pauling received the Nobel Peace award. This is the man whom you should take as an example. He did not worry that he might face ridicule and derision for his beliefs in true peace through world law. His motivations are humanitarianism and love of his fellows. These are irresistible driving forces that can overcome any obstacles.

       "You, as our messenger to your Brothers on Earth, must be filled with this same consuming passion for peace and this same boundless love of all mankind. One cannot do good if one does not live as he preaches. As the Master Christ said, 'By their fruits ye shall know them.' By good example, you will be known.

       "What you say makes less of an impression on your fellows' minds than what you do. You can expound peace until you turn blue, but all you have to do is indulge in violence just once and your antagonists will grasp the opportunity to destroy all you have done.

       "Therefore, ACT as you would have others act. When the radicals would wage WAR, you should counter by waging PEACE.

       "Let me now show you something. A few days ago, while preparing for this trip to talk with you, a young lady of about five years of age, the daughter of one of my neighbors, came to my door. When I bade her to come in, she said, 'Master Kalen-Li, I was told you are going to Earth tomorrow. Is that true?' I answered, "Yes, I am," and she handed me a letter, telling me to give it to you when I next saw you. I should like to have you read this. Our linguists have made as accurate a translation as possible."

       I took the message in my hand, opened it, and began to read it.

       "Brother Earthman: my name is Kila-Rae and I should like to tell you something, which is my own personal belief. I think most of the other children feel this way too, but I didn't ask them about it anyway.

       "I often ask my anli and patri (mother and father) about Earth. I think they don't like to talk about it because they say I am too young to know about Earth.

       "I know all about Korendor and Aclandi and Arcturia, but nobody will tell me about Earth so I am going to ask Master Kalen-Li to give this to you. I want to know and love Earth like all the others worlds. My anli and patri don't know I'm doing this or they might stop me, so please don't let them know about this letter if you see them.

       "Is something wrong on Earth, Brother Earthman? Do you live as we do or are all the stories I hear from grown-ups about how you don't love each other really true? I don't want to think that you do not love and live as we do on Korendor. That would make me very sad.

       "Please write to me, Brother Earthman, and tell me things about your world that will make me happy for you.

       "Lovingly Yours, Kila-Rae"

       When I finished it, I was speechless. What can one say to that? The Infinite knows that it would be a crime to disillusion this child by telling her the truth about us. How do I go about answering this little one so that she will not lose faith in her fellow man? I decided that I would have to work on a suitable reply for this, and I told Kalen that. He agreed to await my reply to her.

       He cited this letter, saying, "This is how we teach our young ones—that they will love all life, and that they will never hurt or kill deliberately. It is almost impossible for them to believe that there are still whole planets where people don't live in harmony and peace. They have been raised in a world of love and happiness, and it is difficult for them to understand how anyone could want it otherwise.

       "It is not only the children who feel this way. Even as old as I am, I can never reconcile myself to the fact that you do not choose to enjoy the blessings that are yours if you will but pay heed to the universal laws and the cries for peace that you hear so often.

       "It is unnatural to be constantly at each other's throats, hating and injuring those who should be your friends. It has never ceased to astound me that you could suffer through so many wars and still come back for more. Is there no limit to the ignorance that your brothers possess? How can you believe in God, or even in Mankind and yet destroy this work which is called life? You cannot be so cold and callous that you can ignore the fact that every time you so much as speak in anger at another, you are spurning the Laws of the Maker of Laws.

       "You are now turning on your brothers the forces of nature that would be your servants if you would use them as they were intended, for your benefit instead of your destruction. By misusing the universal forces, you become their slaves and forfeit your mastery of them. Once this occurs, you are in trouble deep. Only a radical change of philosophy can reinstate the right and good and make you the sculptors of your destinies.

       "You may think, for example, that you have mastered atomic power. My friends, you HAVE NOT. IT is ruling YOU, and you tremble under its shadow, afraid to move for fear that it will annihilate you,

       "When you have turned your science to peaceful uses and forgotten about making the ultimate weapon, you will find that much will be opened to you that you never suspected even existed. You will find now forms of energy, new uses for them and new plenty through them.

       "As I have said, however, you cannot do this while you are in your present state. It is not allowable for this to occur and it will not. Work with nature and not against it. Watch what will come to pass when you do so.

       "Now, time is growing short, and we must be about our respective affairs. We will meet again shortly. Till then, va i luce."

       The great wise man stood, as we all now did, and bowing his head slightly, he turned and left the room in a state of silent meditation. For fully a minute, no one spoke a word.

       All of the Korendians still in the room seemed to be under the spell of the Master's words, but soon it was replaced by their usual bright and lively spirit. Lin-Erri took me off into a corner of the room and we chatted for fully a half hour on nothing in particular. All this time I was drinking in the sparkling wine of her beauty.

       The perfect features of her face—shining blue eyes, a delicate upturned nose, naturally colored lips that were forever smiling. Her long blonde hair had just the suggestion of a curl at its end on her shoulders. In it were two ribbons, a decidedly Earthian touch. Both were the same blue as her eyes.

       She was dressed in a long, flowing garment that might be described as a robe. It was almost floor length, cinched at her waist by a band of some substance that resembled spun gold. On her shoulder, an insignia represented her function as a psychologist major.

       And then, all too soon, it was time to leave these dear people. Orii and Gery took me to a small parking area outside the room, and we boarded a car therein. As we were leaving, Lin-Erri called and told us she wanted to go along. I was elated, and they seemed honored by her presence. Who wouldn't be?

       Soon we had arrived back at the small ship, it had seemed like only moments since we left it. We climbed aboard, I with much reluctance. Leaving this wonderful place was difficult at best. We rode out to the opening under the area 4 doors, and up we went. Scant seconds later we had landed directly on the road in front of Darrin-Sen's car.

       We all climbed out except Orii-Val, who waited in the clearing for their return. On the way beck, Lin-Erri sat beside me and spoke of things pertinent to future contacts. All too soon I was home. My folks had left for a while, so we drove right up.

       With a feeling of sadness welling up inside, I said farewell for a while to these wonderful people from beyond. As they drove out of sight, part of me went with them.