‘The spaceships were to take off together - 2 hours before the supposed
collision time, their very late departure intended to allow them to remain in
space for the full 12 weeks if necessary, following the catastrophe. It had been
calculated that the asteroid would hit where South America is now.
‘So, all was ready and the signal for take-off to be given on D-day, at 12
noon, Central Australian Time. Whether there had been an error in the
calculations, although highly unlikely, or whether there was a sudden,
unpredicted acceleration of the asteroid, it appeared in the sky at 11 am,
shining like an orange sun. The order for take-off was given immediately and all
the spacecraft took to the sky.
‘In order to leave Earth’s atmosphere and gravitational force quickly, it
is necessary to make use of a ‘warp’ (1 - Warp here means ‘a gravitational
hole’ - a region of weak gravity. (Editor’s note based on the explanation of
the Author)- which at that time, was above present day Europe. In spite of the
speed these space vessels were capable of, they had not quite made it to the
warp, when the asteroid hit Earth. When it entered the Earth’s atmosphere it
had broken into three huge pieces. The smallest, which measured several
kilometres in diameter, hit where the Red Sea is now.
‘Another, much bigger, hit where the Timor Sea is now, and the largest of
the three landed in the region of the actual Galapagos Islands.
‘The simultaneous impacts were terrible. The sun became a dull red and slid
towards the horizon like a falling balloon. Soon, it stopped and climbed slowly,
but when only to half the distance, it ‘fell’. The Earth had suddenly
changed the inclination of its axis! Explosions of incredible force occurred,
for the two larger pieces of asteroid had pierced the Earth’s crust. Volcanoes
erupted in Australia, New Guinea, Japan, South America - indeed, just about
everywhere on the planet.
(giant-waves crushed the far past civilisations - same told in
some of the books of Rampa. This
book
and this book
from Rampa. - this picture is not from the
Thao-book)
Mountains formed instantly and tidal waves more than 300 metres in height
swept over four-fifths of Australia. Tasmania separated from the Australian
continent and a huge portion of Antarctica sank in the waters, creating two
immense underwater canyons between Antarctica and Australia. An enormous
continent rose from the waters in the centre of the South Pacific Ocean. A huge
piece of Burma subsided where the Bay of Bengal is now. Another basin of land
subsided and the Red Sea was formed.’
Was there time for the spaceships to get out?’
‘Not quite, Michel, for the experts had made one mistake. It could be said
in their defence that they could not really have anticipated what would happen.
They had predicted the tilting of the Earth on its axis but what they hadn’t
been able to predict was its oscillation. The spacecraft were literally caught
[3] and dragged in the ‘backwash’ caused by the re-entry of the asteroid
into the Earth’s atmosphere. Further, they were bombarded by millions of
particles coming from the asteroid and trailing in its wake.
‘Only seven vessels, three with black passengers and four with yellow,
struggling with all the power they could manage, succeeded in escaping the
horror occurring on Earth.’
‘It must have been a frightening sight for them to watch Earth change
before their eyes.
‘How long did it take for the continent you mentioned in the Pacific Ocean
to emerge?’
‘Merely a matter of hours. This continent was raised by gaseous belts
resulting from upheavals, occurring as deep as the centre of the planet.
‘The upheavals on the Earth’s surface continued for months. In the three
points of impact of the asteroids, thousands of volcanoes were created.
Poisonous gases spread over most of the Australian continent, causing painless
death within minutes, of millions of blacks. Our statistics indicate an almost
total annihilation of humankind and of animals in Australia. A count taken when
calm was restored indicated a mere 180 people had survived.
‘The poisonous gases were the cause of this frightful toll. In New Guinea,
where less gas had drifted, there were fewer deaths.’
‘I have been wanting to ask you a question, Thao.’
‘Please do.’
‘You said that it was the black people from Australia who spread to New
Guinea and Africa. How is it then, that now, the Aborigines are so different
from the blacks throughout the world?’
‘Excellent question, Michel. My account should have included more detail.
You see, as a result of the catastrophe, there had been such an upheaval, that
deposits of uranium scattered on the surface of the Earth emitted strong
radiation. This happened only in Australia, and those who escaped death were
badly affected, just as in an atomic explosion.
‘They were genetically affected, so that today, the genes of Africans are
different from those of Aborigines. Further, the environment totally changed and
their diet drastically altered too. With the progress of time, these descendants
of Bakaratinians were ‘transformed’ into the Aboriginal race of today.
‘As the upheavals continued, mountains were formed, some suddenly, others
within days. Crevasses opened swallowing entire towns, and then closing,
removing all traces of existing civilisation.
‘On top of all the horror, there was a deluge such as the planet had not
known for eons. In fact, the volcanoes spat so many ashes into the sky
simultaneously, and to such incredible altitudes, that the sky darkened. The
vapour from the oceans, which in places actually boiled over an area of
thousands of square kilometres, combined with the clouds of ashes. The thick
clouds thus created, burst with rain so torrential you’d find it hard to
imagine...’
‘And the vessels orbiting in space?’
under the told circumstances the earth must have been
covered with dust and clouds, and not the clear view as here on the illustration.
‘After 12 weeks, they were obliged to return to Earth. They chose to
descend over the area we now know as Europe, having absolutely no visibility
over the rest of the planet. Of the seven vessels, only one managed to land.
‘The others were hurled into the ground by gales, which occurred all over
the planet - cyclonic winds of 300-400 kilometres per hour. The main cause of
these winds was differences in temperature - these in turn, caused by the sudden
volcanic eruptions.
‘So, the sole remaining spaceship managed to land in what is now called
Greenland. There were 95 yellow passengers on board, many of whom were doctors
and experts of various kinds. Having landed in extremely adverse conditions,
damage was incurred which made it impossible for the vessel to take off again.
However, it remained useful for a shelter. They had provisions enough to last a
long time and so they organised themselves as best they could.
‘About one month later, they were all engulfed in an earthquake - the
spacecraft too, and it was with this last catastrophe that all trace of
civilisation on Earth was destroyed. The chain of catastrophes that followed the
collision with the asteroid had dispersed entire populations - in New Guinea,
Burma and China, and in Africa, although the region of the Sahara suffered to a
lesser extent than elsewhere. However, all the towns established in the Red Sea
area were engulfed by the newly-formed sea. In brief, no city remained on Earth
and millions of people and animals had been wiped out. It was, therefore, not
long before widespread famine occurred.
‘Needless to say, the wonderful cultures of Australia and China were no
more than memories that would become legends. And so it was, that the people
(suddenly disseminated and separated from each other by newly gouged chasms and
newly formed seas) experienced for the first time on the planet Earth,
cannibalism.’
chapter 4
The Golden Planet
As Thao was winding up her narrative, my attention was drawn to lights of
different colours, which had lit up near her seat. When she had finished
talking, she made a gesture. On one of the walls of the room, there appeared a
series of letters and numbers, which Thao examined attentively. Then the light
went out and the image disappeared.
‘Thao,’ I said, ‘you spoke just now of hallucination or collective
illusion. I have trouble understanding how you can delude thousands of people
-isn’t it charlatanism, just as when an illusionist on stage fools the crowd
with a dozen, more or less ‘chosen’ subjects?’
Thao smiled again. ‘You are right in a certain sense, for it is extremely
rare these days on your planet and especially on stage to find a true
illusionist. I must remind you that we are experts in all manner of psychic
phenomena Michel, and for us it is quite easy because...’
(so here she makes a demonstration on this:)
At that moment, a shock of extraordinary violence shook the spacecraft. Thao
looked at me with horrified eyes - her whole face had completely changed and one
could read in it sheer terror. With a dreadful cracking sound, the vessel split
into several pieces and I heard screams from astronauts, as we were all hurled
into space. Thao had grabbed hold of my arm and we were flung through the
sidereal emptiness at a giddying speed. I realised, only because of the speed we
were travelling, that we were about to cross paths with a comet - exactly like
the one we had passed by several hours earlier.
I felt Thao’s hand on my arm but didn’t even think to turn my head in her
direction - I was literally mesmerised by the comet. We were going to collide
with its tail - that was certain - and already I could feel the terrible heat.
The skin on my face was ready to burst - it was the end...
(from page 49)
‘Are you OK, Michel?’ asked Thao gently from her seat. I thought I was
going mad. I was sitting opposite her in the same seat where I had listened to
her account of the first man on Earth.
‘Are we dead or mad?’ I asked.
‘Neither, Michel. There is a saying on your planet that a picture is worth
a thousand words. You asked me how we were able to delude crowds of people. I
replied immediately by creating an illusion for you. I realise I should have
chosen a less frightening experience, but the subject is a very important one in
this case.’
‘It’s fantastic! I never would have believed that it could happen like
that - and so suddenly. It was so very real - the whole scenario. I don’t know
what to say... The only thing I ask of you is not to frighten me like that
again. Besides, I could die of fright...’
‘Not at all. Our physical bodies were in our seats and we simply separated
our ... let’s call them ‘astropsychic’ bodies from our physical ones and
from our other bodies...’
‘What other bodies?’
‘All the others: the physiological, the psychotypical, the astral, and so
on. Your astropsychic body was separated from the others by a telepathic system
originating in my brain which, acts in this case, like a transmitter. A direct
correlation is established between my astropsychic body and yours.
‘All that I imagined was projected in your astropsychic body exactly as if
it was happening. The only thing is, not having had time to prepare you for the
experience, I had to be very cautious.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Well, when you create an illusion, the subject, or subjects, should be
prepared to see what you want them to see. For example, if you want people to
see a spaceship in the sky, it is important that they are expecting to see one.
If they expect to see an elephant, they will never see the spaceship. Thus, with
the right words and cleverly controlled suggestions, the crowd will unite around
you in anticipation of seeing a spaceship, a white elephant, or the Virgin of
Fatima - a typical case of the phenomenon on Earth.’
‘It would have to be easier with a single subject than with 10 000.’
‘Not at all. On the contrary, with several people, a chain reaction is
produced. You release the astropsychic bodies of the individuals and when you
put the procedure in motion, they telepathise among themselves. It’s a bit
like the famous domino lines - when you make the first one fall, all the others
must fall right down to the last one.
‘So it was a very easy game with you. Since you left Earth, you have
remained more or less anxious. You don’t know what will logically happen next.
‘I took advantage of this typical case of conscious or unconscious fear
that is always present when one travels in a flying machine - the fear of
exploding or crashing. Then, as you had seen the comet on the screen, why not
use it too? Rather than cook your face as you approached the comet, I could have
made you cross the tail believing it to be frozen.’
‘In all, you could have driven me insane!’
‘Not in such a short time...’
‘But that had to have lasted more than five minutes..?’
‘No more than ten seconds - just as in a dream, or should I say a
nightmare, which occurs by the way, in approximately the same manner. For
example, you are sleeping and you begin to dream... You are in a field with a
wonderful white stallion. You approach to catch him, but each time you try, he
runs away. After five or six attempts, which take time of course, you leap on
the horse’s back and begin to gallop and gallop. Faster and faster you go and
you are happily intoxicated by the speed... The stallion gallops so fast that he
no longer touches the ground. He is airborne and the countryside passes beneath
you - river, plains and forests.
‘It is truly wonderful. Then a mountain appears on the horizon, looming
taller and taller as you approach. You have to rise higher with difficulty. The
horse flies up and up - it is almost over the highest peak when his shoe strikes
a rock, unbalancing you, so that you fall - down and down - you go into a chasm
that seems to have no end ... and you find you have fallen out of bed on to the
floor.’
‘No doubt you are going to tell me this dream lasts only a few minutes.’
‘It would have lasted four seconds. The dream started as though, from a
certain point you wound back a film on video and then watched it. I know it is
difficult to comprehend but in this particular dream, all would have begun at
the moment you lost your balance in bed.’
‘I confess that I don’t understand.’
‘I’m not at all surprised, Michel. To understand completely requires much
more study in the field and, on Earth at the present time, you don’t have
anyone capable of instructing you on the subject. Dreams don’t really matter
for the moment Michel, but without your realising it, during the few hours you
have spent with us, you have made great progress in certain areas and this is
what matters. Now it is time to explain to you our motives for bringing you to
Thiaoouba.
‘We are entrusting you with a mission. This mission is to report all that
you are going to see, live and hear during your time with us. Report everything
in one, or several books that you will write when you return to Earth. We have
been observing the behaviour of the people on your planet for thousands and
thousands of years, as you now realise.
A certain percentage of these people are arriving at a very critical point in
history and we feel that the time has come to try to assist them. If they will
listen, we can ensure that they take the right path. This is why you have been
chosen...’
‘But I am not a writer! Why haven’t you chosen a good writer - someone
well known, or a good journalist?’
Thao smiled at my vehement reaction. ‘The only writers who might have done
it, as it must be done, are dead - I mean Plato or Victor Hugo - and they still
would have reported the facts with too much stylistic embellishment. We require
the most precise account possible.’
‘Then you need a journalist reporter...’
‘Michel, you know yourself, that journalists on your planet are so inclined
towards sensationalism, that they often distort the truth.
‘How often for example, do you see news reports that differ from channel to
channel or paper to paper? Whom do you believe when one gives the death toll in
an earthquake as 75, another as 62 and another as 95? Do you really imagine we
would trust a journalist?’
‘You’re absolutely right!’ I exclaimed.
‘We have observed you and we know all about you as we know about some
others on Earth - and you were selected...’
‘But why exactly me? I am not the only one on Earth capable of objectivity.’
‘Why not you? In time, you will learn the principal reason behind our
choice.’
I didn’t know what to say. Moreover, my objections were ridiculous since I
had already embarked on this affair and there was no going back. Ultimately, I
had to admit I was enjoying this space voyage more and more. Certainly, millions
of human beings would have given all they owned to be in my place.
‘I will argue no further Thao. If this is your decision, I can only yield
to it. I hope I will be equal to the task. Have you considered that ninety nine
per cent of people will not believe a word of what I say? For most people it
will be too incredible.’
‘Michel, almost 2000 years ago, did they believe that Christ was sent by
God as he claimed? Certainly not, for they wouldn’t have crucified him had
they believed. Now however, there are millions who believe what he said...’
‘Who believes him? Do they really believe him Thao? And who was he anyway?
First of all, who is God? Does He exist?’
‘I have been expecting this question and it is important that you ask it.
On an ancient stone tablet, which I believe is Naacal, it is written: In the
beginning there was nothing - all was darkness and silence.
‘The Spirit - the Superior Intelligence decided to create the worlds and He
commanded to four superior forces...
‘It’s extremely difficult for the human mind, even when highly developed,
to comprehend such a thing. In fact, in a sense, it is impossible. On the other
hand, your Astral Spirit assimilates it when it is freed from your physical body. But I’m getting ahead of myself - let’s go back to the very beginning.
‘In the beginning there was nothing except darkness and a spirit - THE
Spirit.
‘The Spirit was, and is, infinitely powerful - powerful beyond the
comprehension of any human mind. The Spirit is so powerful that it was able, by
the action of its will alone, to trigger an atomic explosion with chain
reactions of unimaginable force. In fact, the Spirit imagined the worlds - He
imagined how to create them - from the most enormous to the most minuscule. He
imagined the atoms. When He imagined them He created, in His imagination, all
that moved and will move: all that lived and will live; all that is motionless,
or seems to be - every single thing.
‘But it existed only in his imagination. All was still in darkness. Once He
had an overall view of what He wanted to create, He was able, by his exceptional
spiritual force, to create, instantaneously, the four forces of the Universe.
‘With these, He directed the first and the most gigantic atomic explosion
of all time - what certain people on Earth call ‘The Big Bang’. The Spirit
was at its centre and induced it. Darkness was gone and the Universe was
creating itself according to the will of the Spirit.
‘The Spirit was thus, is still, and always will be, at the centre of the
Universe for He is the Master and Creator of it...’
‘Well then,’ I interrupted, ‘it’s the story of God as the Christian
religion teaches it - or just about - and I never believed in their nonsense...’
‘Michel, I speak of no religion such as exists on Earth and especially not
the Christian religion. Don’t confuse religions with the Creation and the
simplicity of all that ensued. Don’t confuse logic with the illogical
distortions of religions. We will have the opportunity to talk again later on
this subject, and you are certainly in for some surprises.
‘For the moment, I was trying to explain the Creation to you. During
billions of years (for the Creator of course, it is eternally the ‘present’,
but it is more at the level of our understanding to count by billions of years),
all the worlds, suns and atoms were formed, as you are taught in schools, the
planets revolving around their suns, and sometimes with their own satellites
etc. At certain times in certain solar systems, some planets cool down - soil is
formed, rocks solidify, oceans are formed and landmasses become continents.
‘Finally, these planets become habitable for certain forms of life. All
this was in the beginning, in the imagination of The Spirit. We can call his
first force the ‘Atomic force’.
‘At this stage, by his second force, He conceived the primary living
creatures and many of the primary plants, from which later derived the
sub-species. This second force we will call the ‘Ovocosmic Force’, as these
creatures and plants were created by simple cosmic rays, which ended up with
cosmic eggs.
‘At the very beginning, The Spirit imagined experiencing feelings through a
special creature. He had imagined Man by means of the third force that we will
call the ‘Ovoastromic Force’. Thus Man was created. Have you ever considered
Michel, what intelligence it took to create a human being or even an animal?
Blood that circulates thanks to the heart that beats millions of times
independently of the will ... lungs that purify the blood by means of a complex
system ... the nervous system ... the brain which gives the orders, aided by the
five senses ... the spinal cord which is ultra-sensitive and which will make you
[instantly] withdraw your hand from a hot stove so you won’t burn yourself -
it would have taken one tenth of a second for the brain to issue the order to
prevent your hand from being burnt. [4]
‘Have you ever wondered why, that of the billions of individuals on a
planet like yours, there are no two fingerprints the same: and why, what we call
the ‘crystalline’ of the blood, is just as unique among individuals as the
fingerprint?
‘Your experts and technicians on Earth, and on other planets, have tried
and still try to create a human body. Have they succeeded? In regards to the
robots they have made, not even the most highly perfected will ever be more than
a vulgar machine in comparison with the human mechanism.
‘To go back to the crystalline I mentioned just now, it is best described
as a certain vibration particular to the blood of each individual. It has
nothing to do with the blood group. Various religious sects on Earth believe
absolutely in the ‘rightness’ of refusing blood transfusions. Their reasons
relate to the teachings and books of their religious teachings and their own
interpretations of these, whereas they should look to the real reason, which is
the impact the different vibrations have on each other.
‘If it is a large transfusion, it can have an influence on the recipient to
a degree and, for a length of time, which varies according to the volume of the
transfusion. This influence, of course, is never dangerous.
‘After a time, which never exceeds one month, the vibrations of the
recipient’s blood takes over, leaving no trace of the vibrations of the donor’s
blood.
‘It shouldn’t be forgotten that these vibrations are much more [5] a
feature of the physiological and fluidic body than that of the physical body.
‘But I notice that I have deviated greatly from my subject, Michel. In any
case, it is time now to rejoin the others. We are not far from arriving at
Thiaoouba.’
I didn’t dare ask Thao then, about the nature of the fourth force, for
already she was heading for the exit. I left my seat and followed her back to
the command post. There, on the panel and in close-up view, a person was talking
slowly and almost continuously. Numbers and figures, with luminous dots of
different bright colours were continually crossing the screen, interspersed with
symbols.
Thao sat me down in the seat I had previously occupied and asked me not to
interfere with my security system. She then moved away, to confer with Biastra
who seemed to be supervising the astronauts, each of whom was busy at her
respective desk. Finally, she came back and sat down in the seat next to mine.
picture
from a swedish book on a contact to an seemingly
pleiadian/lyran civilisation in 1946 - on the same situation as in this
"thao-book". rø-comment
‘What is happening?’ I asked
‘We are reducing speed progressively as we approach our planet. We are now
848 million kilometres away and will arrive in about twenty five minutes.’
‘Can we see it now?’
‘Patience, Michel. Twenty-five minutes is not the end of the world!’ She
winked, evidently in good humour.
The close up view on the panel was replaced by a wide angle shot, allowing us
a general view of the command room of the intergalactic base, as we had seen
earlier. Now each operator was deep in concentration at her particular desk.
Many of the ‘desk-computers’ were operated orally, rather than manually,
responding to the operators’ voices. Figures, accompanied by luminous dots of
various colours, crossed the screen rapidly. No one in the spacecraft remained
standing.
Suddenly, there it was, right in the middle of the panel. The intergalactic
centre had been replaced by... Thiaoouba!
My guess had to be correct - I could feel it. Thao immediately telepathised
an affirmative, leaving me in no doubt.
As we approached and Thiaoouba grew on the panel, I couldn’t take my eyes
off the sight, for what I saw before me was indescribably beautiful. Initially,
the first word which sprang to mind was ‘luminous’ - this then was
juxtaposed with ‘golden’ - but the effect produced by this colour was beyond
any description. If I were to invent a word, perhaps one that might apply would
be ‘lumino-vapour-golden’. In fact, one had the impression of plunging into
a luminous and golden bath - almost as if there were very fine gold dust in the
atmosphere.
We were descending gently on to the planet and the panel no longer showed its
contours, but rather, the contours of a continent could be distinguished, ending
abruptly at an ocean, that was sprinkled with a multitude of islands of
different colours.
The closer we came, the greater was the detail discernible - the zoom lenses
were not used at the time of landing, for a reason which was explained to me
later. What captivated me most, was the colour before me - I was dazzled!
not from book - made of Daniel Holeman
All the colours were, in each tonal variation more vivid than ours. A bright
green, for example, almost shone - it radiated colour. A dark green had the
opposite effect - it ‘kept’ its colour. It is extremely difficult to
describe, for the colours on this planet could not be compared with any that
exist on Earth. A red could be recognised as red, but it wasn’t the red we
know. There is a word in Thao’s language which defines the types of colours on
Earth and on planets similar to ours - our colours are Kalbilaoka which I
translate as ‘dull’ - theirs, on the other hand, are Theosolakoviniki
(footnote 2 - Theosolakoviniki, - a similar effect can be observed with pure
monochromatic colours, when light vibrates in a narrow band of frequencies. The
author had confirmed this when he was shown such colours. Is it a coincidence
that ‘Theos’ in Greek means ‘God’? Are these colours ‘pure’ like
God? Explanation of the Editor) - which means they radiate their colours from
within.
My attention was soon drawn to what looked, on the screen, like eggs - yes,
eggs!( - I should say half an egg, as we shall see later on, the description
would be more appropriate. Note of the Author) I could see the ground dotted
with eggs, some half covered with vegetation, and others quite bare. Some seemed
bigger than others and some lay down. Others were upright with what looked like
the pointed end towards the sky.
not
from book
I was so astonished by this sight that I turned again towards Thao to ask her
about these ‘eggs’, when suddenly on the screen, there appeared a round form
surrounded by several spheres of different sizes, and, slightly further away,
yet more ‘eggs’. These ones were enormous.
I recognised the spheres to be space vessels just like ours.
‘Affirmative’, said Thao from her seat, ‘and the round form you see is
the cell in which our spacecraft will be accommodated in a few moments, for we
are in the process of docking.
‘And the gigantic eggs, what are they?’
Thao smiled. ‘Buildings, Michel, but just now, there is something more
important that I must explain to you. Our planet contains many surprises for
you, but there are two, which could have harmful effects on you. I must
therefore ensure that you take certain elementary precautions. Thiaoouba does
not have the same gravitational force as your planet. Your weight would be 70
kilograms on Earth - here it will be 47 kilograms. When you leave the
spacecraft, if you aren’t careful, you risk losing your sense of equilibrium
in your movements and your reflexes. You’ll be inclined to take too great a
stride, and perhaps fall and injure yourself...’
‘But I don’t understand. In your spacecraft, I feel fine.’
‘We have related the internal gravitational pull to correspond with that of
Earth - or almost.’
‘Then you must be extremely uncomfortable, for you must weigh about 60
kilograms more than your normal weight, given your size.’
‘It’s true that under this force, our bodies are heavier, but we have
counter-balanced this by a semi-levitation, thus we are not uncomfortable, and
at the same time, we have the satisfaction of seeing you move among us at ease.’
A slight jolt indicated we had docked. This extraordinary trip was over - I
was going to put my foot on another planet.
‘The second point,’ Thao resumed, ‘is that you will be obliged to wear
a mask, for a while at least, for the brightness and the colours will literally
intoxicate you, just as if you had drunk alcohol. The colours are vibrations
that act on certain points on your physiological body. On Earth, these points
are so slightly stimulated, so little exercised, that here, consequences could
be unfortunate.’
The security force field of my seat had just been ‘turned off’ liberating
me again, to move about as I pleased. The panel was blank but the astronauts
were still busy. Thao led me towards the door and back into the room I’d first
entered where I had lain for three hours. There, she took a helmet, very light,
which covered my face from my forehead to just below my nose.
‘Let’s go, Michel, and welcome to Thiaoouba.’
Outside the spacecraft, we walked along a very short walkway. Immediately, I
felt lighter. The sensation was very pleasant, although somewhat disconcerting,
since several times I lost balance and Thao had to steady me.
We saw no one, a fact that surprised me. Earthly perspective had led me to
expect to be welcomed by a crowd of reporters, cameras flashing ... or something
similar - perhaps a red carpet! Why not the head of state in person? For heaven’s
sake, these people wouldn’t be visited by an extra-planetarian every day! But
nothing...
After a short distance, we arrived at a round platform, to the side of the
walkway. Thao sat down on a circular seat inside the platform [6] and signalled
that I should sit down opposite her.
my idea from this planet on the highest pfyscal level
as she later told
She took out an object the size of a walkie-talkie and immediately I felt
myself pinned to the seat, just as I had been in the spaceship, by an invisible
force field. Then, quite gently and with a barely perceptible hum, the platform
rose by several metres and moved off rapidly towards the ‘eggs’, about 800
metres away. The thin and slightly perfumed air was lashing the exposed area of
my face below my nose, which was very nice, its temperature being around 26
degrees Celsius.
In just seconds, we arrived, and passed through the walls of one of the ‘eggs’,
as if we’d passed through a cloud. The platform stopped and came to rest
gently on the floor of the ‘building’. I looked around me in all directions.
It seemed absurd, but the ‘egg’ had disappeared. We had indeed, entered
the ‘egg’ and yet around us, as far as the eye could see, stretched the
countryside. We could see the landing ground and the docked spaceships just as
though we were outside...
‘I understand your reaction, Michel,’ said Thao who knew what I was
thinking, ‘I’ll explain the mystery to you later.’
Not far from us, were gathered twenty or thirty people, all busy to some
extent, in front of desks and screens which flashed with coloured lights -
similar to inside the spacecraft. A type of music played very softly, elevating
me to a state of euphoria.
Thao signalled me to follow her and we headed towards one of the smaller ‘eggs’
situated near the ‘supposed inside walls’ of this larger one. As we went, we
were greeted with happiness by all we passed.
I must mention here, that Thao and I made an odd couple as we moved across
the room. The great difference in our heights meant that, as we walked side by
side, she was obliged to move slowly so that I didn’t have to run to keep up -
my movements were more like ungainly jumps, for each time I tried to hurry, I
exacerbated the problem. I had the task of coordinating muscles that were
accustomed to moving a weight of 70 kilograms and now had only to move 47
kilograms - you can imagine the effect we created.
We headed for a light that was shining on the wall of the small ‘egg’. In
spite of my mask, I was very conscious of its brilliance. We passed beneath the
light and went through the wall into a room that I immediately recognised as the
one featured on the screen in the spaceship. The faces too, were familiar to me.
I realised I was in the intergalactic centre.
Thao took off my mask. ‘It’s all right for now, Michel, you won’t need
it here.’
She introduced me personally to each of the dozen people there. They all
exclaimed something and put a hand on my shoulder as a gesture of welcome.
Their faces wore expressions of sincere joy and goodness and I was deeply
touched by the warmth of their reception. It was as if they considered me one of
them.
Thao explained that their principal question was: why is he so sad - is he
ill?
‘I am not sad!’ I protested.
‘I know, but they are not accustomed to the facial expressions of the
people of Earth. Faces here, as you can see, reflect a perpetual happiness.’
It was true. They looked as though every second, they received excellent
news.
I had been aware that something was strange about these people and suddenly
it hit me: Everyone I had seen, seemed to be of the same age!
chapter 5
Learning to live
on another planet
It seemed that Thao was also very popular here and she found herself
answering numerous questions - always with her natural, broad smile. Before
long, however, several of our hosts were required to resume their duties and we
took this as our cue to leave. My mask was put on again and we left these
people, as well as those in the larger room, amidst many gestures of friendship
and goodwill.
We rejoined our vehicle and immediately accelerated away in the direction of
a forest, which could be seen in the distance. We flew at a height of
approximately five or six metres and at a speed I would have estimated to be 70
or 80 kilometres per hour. The air was warm and fragrant and I again felt
euphoric, in a way I had never experienced on Earth.
We arrived at the edge of the forest and I remember having been greatly
impressed by the size of the largest trees. They looked to rise about 200 metres
into the sky.
‘The tallest is 240 of your metres, Michel.’ Thao explained without me
having to ask, ‘and between 20 and 30 metres in diameter at the base.
‘Some of these are 8000 of our years old. Our year consists of 333 days of
26 karses. A karse is a period of 55 lorse, a lorse comprising 70 kasios, and a
kasio being almost equivalent to one of your seconds. (Now there’s a sum for
you...) Would you like to go to your ‘apartment’ or to have a look at the
forest first?’
‘Let’s visit the forest first, Thao.’
The vehicle greatly reduced its speed and we were able to glide between, or
indeed, stop and observe more closely, the trees at heights that ranged from
almost ground level to 10 metres above the ground.
(page 60 in the book)
Thao was able to guide our ‘flying platform’ with amazing precision and
expertise. Our vehicle, and Thao’s manner of driving it, put me in mind of a
flying carpet, which was taking me on a magical tour of this magnificent forest
floor.
Thao leaned towards me and removed my mask. The undergrowth was luminous and
softly golden but I found it quite tolerable.
‘It is a good time to begin accustoming yourself to the light and colour,
Michel. Look!’
Following her gaze, I spotted, very high among the branches, three
butterflies, vividly coloured and of enormous size.
These lepidoptera, which must have had one metre wingspans, fluttered high in
the foliage, but we were lucky to see them fly closer and closer to us, on wings
of blue, green and orange. It is as clear to me as if it were yesterday. They
brushed against us with their wings that were strangely fringed, to create the
most beautiful and breathtaking effect. One of them came to rest on a leaf just
a few metres from us and I was able to admire its body, ringed with silver and
gold, and its jade-green antennae. Its proboscis was golden and the tops of its
wings were green with streaks of bright blue alternated with dark orange diamond
shapes. The under-sides were dark blue, but luminous, as though they had been
illuminated from above by a projector.
For the duration of time this giant insect remained on the leaf, it seemed to
emit a soft whistling sound and I was quite surprised by this. I had certainly
not heard a lepidopteran on Earth make any sound at all. Of course, we were no
longer on Earth but on Thiaoouba, and this was only the beginning of a long
series of surprises for me.
On the forest floor, grew an incredible variety of plants, each one stranger
than the next. They covered the ground completely, but I noticed very few bushes
among them. I imagine the forest's giants prevented them from developing.
In size, these plants varied from a ground-covering moss-like plant, to one
the size of a large rose bush. One kind, with leaves as thick as a hand in
various shapes - sometimes heart-shaped or circular, sometimes very long and
thin - was of a colour tending much more towards blue than to green.
Flowers of every shape and colour, even of the purest black, entwined each
other. From our altitude of several metres, the effect was absolutely glorious.
We rose till we were up among the highest branches and I put my mask back on
according to Thao’s direction. We emerged from the canopy and moved slowly,
just above the foliage of those enormous trees.
Above the forest the light was, once again, incredibly intense and I had the
impression of travelling through a landscape of pure crystal.
Marvellous birds were perched on the tops of the taller trees, watching us
pass, without fear. Their colours, varied and rich, were a veritable feast for
my eyes in spite of the subduing effect of my mask. Here were varieties of
macaw, with blue, yellow, pink and red plumage; and, among them a type of bird
of paradise strutted amidst a cloud of what appeared to be hummingbirds.
These hummingbirds were of a brilliant red colour flecked with gold. The red,
pink and orange tail feathers of the birds of paradise, would have measured 250
centimetres in length and their wingspans almost two metres.
When these ‘jewels’ took flight, the underside of their wings revealed a
very soft, misty pink, with just a touch of bright blue on the tips - so
unexpected, especially as the tops of their wings were of an orange-yellow
colour. Their heads wore plumes of impressive size, each feather being a
different colour: yellow, green, orange, black, blue, red, white, cream....
I feel frustrated that my attempts to describe the colours I saw on Thiaoouba
are so inadequate - I feel I need a whole new lexicon, as my language fails me.
I had the constant impression that the colours came from within the objects I
looked at, and the colour was more than I had known it to be. On earth, we know
perhaps 15 shades of red; here there must have been over a hundred...
It wasn’t only the colours that claimed my attention. The sounds that I had
heard since we began to fly over the forest inspired me to seek an explanation
from Thao. It was almost a background music, very light and soft, similar to a
flute which continually played the same air but at a distance.
As we moved on, the music seemed to change, only to return to the original
tune.
‘Is that music I hear?’
‘It is vibrations emitted by the thousands of insects which, when combined
with the vibrations of the colours reflected by solar rays on to certain plants,
such as the Xinoxi, for example, produce the very musical results that you hear.
We, ourselves, only hear it if we particularly attune to it, for it comprises an
integral part of our life and our environment. It is restful, isn’t it?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘According to the experts, if these vibrations were to cease, we would
experience considerable eye trouble. This will perhaps seem odd at first, since
these vibrations appear to be perceptible to the ear rather than the eye.
However, experts are experts, Michel, and, in any case, it is of little concern
to us, for they also say that the chance of their ceasing is as remote as the
chance of our sun extinguishing itself tomorrow.’
he got a sort of visor for protection against the strong light
- here also Thao in a celebration-dress..... not from book
link to next part
