Continuation of the ufo-contact story from the planet KOLDAS – from a “anti-universe” - which nature, and also their ways of travelling to Earth - will be described in later parts of this incredible story – which for the most was recorded through a special reconstructed radio (se part 1). |some words translated to norwegian in  (  )  |

 

CHAPTER  6

 Invasion

 The ominous build-up of the armada in the Koldasian asteroid belt must have appalled (forferdet) the population of that planet. For us wars and continuous fighting are part of our way of life. Indeed, Kenneth Clark suggests that the early stages of all civilizing epochs on Earth began with success in war and that fighting is apparently nec­essary to stabilize the resulting civilization.

At the other end of the scale, Koldas had enjoyed 20 centuries of history without fighting of any kind and consequently the only deterrent they could muster was their fleet of Astrael spacecraft. These craft are not intended for military service but are equipped with a "Sun-ray" disintegrating laser or charged particle ray-gun which is designed to annihilate meteorites in the magnetic  traffic  lanes.  Its  pencil-like  "laser" beam stabs at any object, destroying it in a brilliant flash without leaving a trace. Would it save their civiliz­ation? How would the population, unprepared for violence, face up to the coming onslaught?

 

Five days before Christmas the fateful news came by radio. A Byronnian cargo Astrael-craft relayed the mess­age from Melchor. "I am Kashendo, from Melchor control. I have very grave news for you, Edwin. Two weeks ago, the alien Galdonians attacked Koldas. Guided missiles in large numbers were launched, causing widespread damage including destruction of the main communications center. During this attack,  three thousand people lost their lives and many forests were set on fire. The defense was conducted by Wy-Ora, who led the first division of Ast­rael-craft.  Five  craft were  lost with all crews and fourteen were damaged."

Edwin was stunned by the news and could hardly bel­ieve his ears. Kashendo continued his report. "At this very moment,  Galdonia is preparing to launch another attack. The Superiors of Koldas have ordered the evac­uation of tall buildings in the main cities. The people have moved to the adjoining countryside or taken shelter in basements. In spite of the first losses suffered by the people, morale is high. We are confident that the invaders will be overcome and harmony restored to the planet of Peace...”

 

Kashendo then explained the difficulties the Kold-asian patrol craft had locating the alien guided missi­les in the asteroid belt. The region was a vast maze of debris from thousands of planetoids and bits of barren rock. It was equally perilous to the Galdonians and some of their missiles were seen to collide with rocks and explode.  The  Astrael-craft  slowed  down considerably, while looking for these 'needles in a haystack'. Once a missile was located, it was destroyed by a single burst from the 'Sun-ray

"Unfortunately," continued Kashendo, "we were not able to inform you earlier of the Galdonian attack on our planet. Our radio communication from Melchor needs an Astrael-craft between us and you on Earth to relay the signals as they cannot reach you directly. We there­fore thank the Byronnian Commander of a cargo carrier for making this transmission possible.

"You will  be kept  informed of developments from time to time,  either by Melchor of by the Sitonian, friend  Zybo."

 

Two weeks later,  on January 2,  1970,  his voice was  heard again from Melchor at 6:30 p.m. A Byronnian craft assisted in relaying the transmission. It was most disturbing news.

"Two Earth-days ago," the message ran, "Galdonian space assault-craft  invaded the Koldasian atmosphere. There were 37 craft in all. These were manned craft of immense proportions. Their objective  was to capture the strategic tracking station in the northern hemisphere. This installation was hidden in a remote forest and had a staff of over a thousand. A Corynthian Astrael divis­ion was launched immediately to intercept the invaders."

Kashendo explained that the Corynthian was a craft especially  designed  for  long-distance  interplanetary travel. It incorporates the most advanced designs with automatic instrumentation and is one of the most formid­able  craft in annihilating power as well as  instant translocating capacity.*( *Translocation is a form of instant displacement in space.)

 In the encounter, most of the alien  craft  were  destroyed  and  forced  to  land  on Koldas although some escaped. They failed in their miss­ion to destroy the tracking station. The prisoners were interrogated and after the initial language problem was overcome, the Galdonians admitted that they were assist­ed by at least two other planets in their system. Appar­ently, one of the reasons for attacking Koldas was to capture their minerals,  food and other resources which they needed.

The people of Koldas were appalled to hear that planets would go to war, destroy and kill many thousands for such a trivial reason. The Galdonian prisoners seem­ed to be fearless, indicating their belief that with the aid of the other two planets they would eventually over­run Koldas and bring her to her knees.

In the meantime, Koldas had no alternative but to brace herself  for  the  coming onslaught.  Efforts were made to extract information from the captives which may lead to the location of these three hostile planets.  As Kashendo phrased it, "We are civilized beings, although we are at war, we shall not put our prisoners to any 'discomfort' so as to compel them to reveal their secret to us." He added that all their hopes were pinned on the fabulous new Corinthian Astrael-craft and the hope that they would be able to find the planets concerned and put an end to their unwelcome designs in time.

But two days later at 9:45 a.m., a very concerned Kashendo spoke through the receiver, stressing the very urgency of the message for Edwin. "At this moment, while I am speaking to you, Galdonia is in the throes of laun­ching another attack on Koldas. An estimated 3,000 miss­iles  are heading  for our home planet. The Corynthian division has been alerted to intercept them before they reach the limits of our atmosphere. This is a crisis of first  order  for Koldas.  It is the largest force that Galdonia has so far launched against us... Must discon­tinue transmission for now, as all channels are required for emergency traffic. When possible will inform you on the outcome of this attack. Farewell..."

 Day by day,  more news of this latest attack was expectedby Edwin and his group, but nothing was received at all. Was there no craft in the vicinity of Earth to relay a message from Melchor? Or had this attack then overwhelmed  the  planet  so unprepared  for  such a war?

Would all the other planets of the Confederation fall like nine-pins in an all-out war among the stars? Would Earth be on the list of targets? Had our asteroid belt already been mined by alien missiles? Days passed into weeks and then on the third week at 06:45 pm., the long awaited message came.

"Unfortunately," said Kashendo,  "we have not been able to contact you earlier, due to the complete destr­uction of the main communications centre on Koldas. And since then, this artificial satellite has been overload­ed with message traffic and the handling of spacecraft of the Confederation. In my last transmission I informed you that a barrage of Galdonian missiles was on its way to Koldas. These missiles were all directed to converge on the main communications center. Unfortunately for us, they did penetrate our defenses and scored hits on this vital nerve center. Close to a thousand of our operating personnel lost their lives. Many more were injured and large areas of surrounding facility was leveled to the ground. But Galdonia did not get things all their way! Amongst  the  guided missiles were hundreds  of assault craft manned by Galdonian attack forces and their wea­pons. They were to land and occupy the communication- complex of buildings.  But  this  operation  failed then completely. A Corynthian squadron entirely destroyed 57 of  the attacking vessels and the remainder retreated. But the pilotless missiles caused tremendous damage by being concentrated on a relatively small area. For every two missiles destroyed, at least one penetrated our de­fense and brought complete havoc and terror to all those who lived around the area. The attack lasted for three and a half hours."

 

"The worst blow for Koldas," said Kashendo, "was the almost complete destruction of the Corynthian div­ision which was just ready for departure on the search for these hostile planets. More than three quarters of them were destroyed in violent explosions and it will take much valuable time to replace these craft on which the hopes of Koldas were focused."

From what Kashendo said in his latest transmission. it  was  obvious  that  Koldas was  staggering under  the blows of the aggressor, but at the same time, the planet was licking her wounds and making an all-out effort to rally her  resources.  He  said  that  another Corynthian Division was  already  on  the  assembly  line and that as soon as these craft were ready for operation, they would leave under the command of Valdar. A determined search would be made in the as yet unexplored suspect regions to find the aggressor planets. Devastating news. Meanwhile Kalaal would be entering this unexplored area with 34 Astrael patrol-craft until the new Corynthian fleet could take over. Here the Galdonians were expected to be in hiding, probably in large numbers. If only this threat could be removed, Koldas would be free from the missile attacks.

 

Wars have occurred on many civilizations in the universes and destructed human culture - but the experiences of these pains have led these planets to higher levels of sympathy for their cosmic brothers and sisters.

 

Twenty-four hours later Kashendo was back with an­other radio message. This was at 08:30 on January 24th, 1970.  "At last we have some encouraging news. Kalaal's patrol division has located a large pocket of Galdonian craft and missiles. These were being held in reserve be­hind the asteroid belt. This discovery was a stroke of luck because  this  is  a vast uncharted region. Kalaal attacked the missiles immediately with the Sun-ray and annihilated many. We feel that this is a break-through and clues found inside the alien craft may lead to other hidden depots at some strategic locations nearer Koldas. Kalaal ‘s initial success has prompted our Superiors to send yet another Astrael patrol division into this area and Valdar will be leaving almost immediately with 72 craft."

This was good news, a ray of hope for Edwin and his "Q" Group members and friends who took a keen interest in developments. They had been living under a cloud ever since the news of the attack on Koldas broke. They all hoped that time could be gained for the planet which had been singled out for the initial attack by the invaders.

 If only Koldas were able to mobilize her resources quickly then her obvious technical and spiritual super­iority must surely win. Then there was the potential of the combined strength of the other planets in the Con­federation. Surely they would not stand by and allow an enemy of their highly developed civilization go unchall­enged. Thus, even among great planets, fighting seems to be necessary to guard civilization. The invaders would have to be vanquished again. We do not know how many times  this  has  happened.  History  records  that  they have returned to the attack again and again, and even Earth has not escaped attention. The Confederation has never completely wiped out this opponent, leaving their destiny to be decided by the Divine One.*( *There may be a very important object lesson here. These are  not  the  first  extraterrestrials  to describe long time observation of Earth and a history of advanced civ­ilizations  on our planet  destroyed by attackers from space. The frequency may not be great but the threat is always there. Perhaps our only safety in the long-run is to join a confederation of planets affording a broader range of protection. Perhaps even associations of con­federations is necessary as has already been described by UFOnauts.)

 In the meantime, life for Earth's inhabitants moved on as usual; the vast majority oblivious of the drama unfolding on another planet who had been observing us. Edwin and Elizabeth's first child, Michelle, was born on the 7th of February, 1970, bringing new domestic respon­sibilities. Instead of messages from space, their minds where on nappies, bottles, baths and feeding times.

On the Koldasian satellite Melchor, there was much increase in activity. Craft after craft entered and left through the heavy' airlock gates. It is an oasis for the space traveller where crew and craft can find rest and repair.  Inside the giant sphere there are comfortable quarters  and even replica outdoor  scenes with lawns, shrubs,  fountains  and  recreation.  Towering  above the levels, with their maze of tunnels and lodging halls, is the huge transparent observation dome; the nerve center of the giant sphere with its eyes and ears. There are antenna bristling in all directions for the receiving and transmitting instruments. Illuminated dials and pan­els are manned continuously by men and women operators. At the highest level is the control bridge with a cub­icle where the captain of the "ship", at this time our friend Kashendo, is stationed.

 

NOTE- Though an artificial satellite "several miles" in diameter is a stupendous construction, it is not entire­ly an impossibility. NASA is studying such a project ev­en now. There are several unpublished UFO cases involv­ing such gigantic craft. A published one is described in detail  in "UFO Contact >From The Pleiades", and it was also a sphere. The hangar deck alone had many square kms of surface and accommodated many hundreds of craft.

 

Although Melchor 's transmitters  were  loaded with priority  traffic, Kashendo found time to send a radio message to Edwin when one of the Confederation's craft was in Earth s vicinity to relay his signals. This occurred about a week after Elizabeth had her baby.

After identifying himself, Kashendo spoke to them "I have a special message for you Edwin and Elizabeth Congratulations from us all on the arrival of your baby daughter! We send our best wishes for mother and child Wy-Ora, Valdar, and Mank-ton send their congratulation as well.  All of them ask me to convey their best wish on this occasion."

Kashendo continued by  saying that Valdar, Kalaa and Mank-Ton were keeping well. Although their duties took them far from the Koldasian solar system, they feel they were serving the cause best by patrolling distant fields until  the  invading planets were  found. Though thousands  of  Koldasians  had  lost  their  lives,  their morale was still high. Everyone believed in ultimate victory over the force which threatened their planet.

  

Kashendo continued. No further attacks have been made on Koldas recently. Valdar and Kalaal have discovered many hidden arsenals within the asteroid belt an beyond. Thousands of missiles have been destroyed. Stra­ngely enough, no other Galdonian craft have been sighted but our Superiors feel that this may be the lull before the storm. At present all is quiet. The face of Koldas has changed during this short period of war. Temporar housing has been provided for all who lost their homes and places of strategic importance have been reinforce( and armed with devices capable of destroying attacking craft.)

 "Yes," said Kashendo,  "Koldas has changed. We find it difficult adjusting to our new way of life. The spir­it of the people is not broken. In spite of the changes., they smile and carry on. We are confident that in the end we shall overcome these aggressors.  It is strange how a nation which has not experienced a war for thou­sands of years has been able to adapt itself so rapidly to these new conditions. Our Astrael divisions are being reinforced almost daily and those lost in battle repla­ced. Soon our new Corynthian Division will be ready and Koldas will then penetrate deeply beyond the asteroid belt to seek out these aggressors who have brought death and destruction to us.'

"As I gaze through these large windows of the obser­vation dome," said Kashendo, now in a more relaxed voice "I see thousands of stars stretching out in all direc­tions in a  never-ending carpet. I wonder about my pla­net, and I think about your Earth too. Then I think of the many thousands of planets in the thousands of syst­ems  in the  thousands  of galaxies.  Some have not even been discovered yet. I think too of the many languages in which these different races converse with each other. As I sit here and ponder these matters, I sense the gra­ndeur and splendor of  the Divine One's creation. How awesome are these universes in which we dwell, and the others beyond. Surely, with all this splendor about us, peace should reign. What motivates and drives civilized creatures  to cause pain and suffering to other living creatures? Are we not all one family?"

 Kashendo  continued  his  reverie,  "You know,  this station is often visited by wanderers of deep space. I often think of how it would be if your spacecraft would visit  this  station  on  their  journeys  into  deeper space. Your astronauts would see the inscription in our tongue above the airlock - MELCHOR, WELCOME TO ALL -. Yes,  this would be wonderful. But it may not occurr in my life-time, although it will happen one day!"

 

"As I am sitting here talking to you on Earth, it reminds me of the training period I spent on your planet. Yes, I was there for five years... in Australia. There I learned to speak your language and I met many people who helped me a great deal during my stay. Everyone I met was very kind and considerate, but most of them did not have the faintest idea that I was not an inhabitant of Earth. I must say that I really loved my stay with you and I have many pleasant memories.

"I will let you in on a little secret. During my stay there I met a wonderful girl and we fell in love. Her name is Linda. When I completed my training period, Linda insisted on accompanying me to Koldas. There we were married. We have both found great happiness... and we often think of the wonderful days we had on Earth.

It was  pleasant talking to you, but now I must close.  I will be contacting you again at the earliest opportunity. Many thanks to the Byronnian craft for ass­isting with the relay of this transmission. For the time being, farewell from Melchor..."

 

True to his word, the now familiar voice from Mel­chor brought a short message about four weeks later that no further attacks had been made on Koldas.

However, on March 24th, there was news of another attack. "Another blow has been struck at Koldas. Two of your weeks ago, Galdonian missiles completely destroyed a small town on the northern side. I knew this town well because I was born in Typhyliano and spent my youth gro­wing up there. Thousands of people lost their lives and many more were injured. I was deeply shocked when I was told  the  damage.  All  the  survivors  were  evacuated and the place is now a ghost town, smouldering ruins. Yes, Koldas has had a taste of the horror and futility of war."

Kashendo  also  mentioned  that  the newly replaced Corynthian Division had left three Earth-days ago to re­connoitre (norsk rekognosere/sondre) the unexplored regions for the hostile planet or planets. He said the division had been divided into three task forces which would also periodically report to Melchor.

 

NOTE- Kashendo 's voice was another to come through the radio regularly in addition to Valdar and Wy-Ora, Zybo, Mank-Ton, Kalaal, and others, all with different accents and characters, and all heard at one time or another by other witnesses.  If this were staged and the voices in fact local, it is strange that in the 23 years this has been going on none of those voices has come forward and identified themselves to expose the sham -- which they would also have had to keep up for the same 23 years. None of the group of personal friends around Edwin W., nor his wife,  ever  recognized any of these voices as alter personalities of Edwin or even characterizations within his capability. He affects no other characters besides his own natural personality. A sham on this kind of scale to fool so many for so long seems to be an im­possibility. Broadcasting equipment is expensive and no­body  involved had money of that kind, and they would only  be  fooling themselves,  as  nothing was done with this before.

 

"Never  before,"  said  Kashendo,  "have  I  felt so helpless!  I am anxious for the safety of my family and friends on Koldas. They are in the front line and I am relatively  safe  here  on Melchor.  Now  that  we  have tasted the bitterness of war, we shall appreciate peace even more than we did before. Let us hope that our Cor­ynthian Division will soon succeed.

"But now, let us return to more pleasant things. I am seated here in the observation dome and look in the direction of your sun, there is a wonderful sight. I see a lonely traveler of the heavens gowned in a gorgeous cloak of silver trailing 45 million miles behind it. A wanderer in space...  It is a comet which we can see from this way-station.  (Comet  Bennet)   It is quite a sight. It reminds me of your ancient Egypt. Way back in history, a comet appeared in their skies, but this comet was one of our Starships, one of the early ones to land on your Earth.  I must tell you more about those star-ships, for there are some fascinating records in our ar­chives, but for the moment, this relayed radio trans­mission must end. We wish you well from Melchor, until next time..."

Next  time came under most unusual circumstances; twenty minutes after splash-down of the ill fated Apollo 13! Man was making his first attempts to reach beyond his solar system.  Sputnik, the first satellite and the first spaceman, had already been sent aloft. Neil Arm­strong had made the first giant leap for mankind.

 The whole world had witnessed every step of man's voyage to the Moon. Project Apollo was already well into its stride. Then came the 13th mission of this kind. The launch at  13:13 hours went off without a hitch but 56 hours later there was an explosion in the service module making it totally ineffective. (The date was April 17th, 1970). The astronauts were completely dependent on the Lunar Module which was designed for an operational life of 48 hours. The shortest return trajectory would take 63 hours and the problem of getting home was serious. The explosions deprived the Command Module of electri­city, water and oxygen and their batteries were run down.

Twice during the epic home-run,  it almost became necessary to transfer the astronauts to an Astrael-craft which had come to the rescue! But  the combined efforts and  ingenuty of  the  astronauts  and  the hard-working ground control, won the day. At the splashdown, the ship had barely enough power to open the three main descent parachutes as one of its three batteries was dead. It was no wonder that President Nixon rearranged those famous  Churchillian  words: Never have so few owed so mucth to so many!

  Just twenty minutes after splashdown, Edwin was al­erted on his radio receiver by Zybo of the Sitonian Sixth Patrol.  "Greetings. No doubt you have heard the good news that the three astronauts have safely landed in the recovery area. The Confederation, my personnel and  myself  are  happy  to  hear  that  they  are  safe. For the past three Earth-days, we have been keeping a close watch over the stricken American spacecraft."

"Melchor  informed us of the plight of your three astronauts. My Superiors instructed me to respond immed­iately and give aid to them if necessary. When we reach­ed their position we contacted the commander of the Am­erican craft by radio. At first he would not acknowledge our  transmission,  so we positioned our Astrael craft alongside their craft. We could see the Americans obser­ving us  through  their observation window.  One of them had some kind of a photographic instrument and we pre­sumed they were making a record of our presence.

"But soon after they had recovered from their sur­prise, the astronauts made radio contact with our Astra­el craft. Their first words were, 'We come in peace...

Then they identified themselves and the command pilot of the American spacecraft said,  'Are you real live Martians? And are you as green as they say?¹ My friends we all laughed at his joke!

  "Before the Americans contacted us, they had advis­ed their main base on Earth of our presence. We have made a recording of this transmission and I would like you to listen to them describing our Astrael craft when they first observed us.

The recording which Zybo now played back to Edwin in his radio transmission to Pinetown, Natal, resembled earlier ones made by previous Apollo Astronauts.

 

NOTE- This is not the first case of UFO contact with our space vehicles recorded however.The W.German "UFO Nach­richten" for 15 July 1969 reported UFO contact with Apollo 8, the last one lasting " minutes during which time the capsule left its course. Pedro Romaniuk of Argentina wrote in his book "Desde el Cosmos nos Vigilan" that the Russian "Voskod" I, encountered a UFO in orbit.

The whole world had witnessed and listened to every step of man's voyage to the Moon but this message was obviously only meant for the ears of their control cen­tre at Houston. It is describing the strange object that has just come into view outside the capsule. The words of the three astronauts, each in turn in quick success­ion and sometimes overlapping, came across with excite­ment and an occasional touch of earthy jargon:

 

"BR5. High five..."

"Holy son of a gun! Straight down the middle of

the road!"

"I have it! Outlandish. Forty-two degrees...

"Big...

"Its size is like the biggest freighter helicopter'

"What is it?"

"I can't believe it!"

"Amazing

"Holy catfish..."

"Forty-two degrees...

"Big... it is from high ahead..."

"Its falling speed amounts to thirty-five hundred,

coming down at about 99 feet per second."

"You can't hold him. I hope you can hear  em...

"Right down the middle..."

 

"Yes," continued Zybo,  "as the command pilot and his crew said, they could not believe what their own eyes were seeing. We must have looked a strange sight hovering there next to their disabled craft.  I should imagine  an  Astrael-craft must  look  strange  to anyone who sees it for the first time.

"Later,  after  that  first  radio  contact with the American astronauts, we became acquainted with them and soon we were friends."

"Twice during their return journey, we thought that we would have to transfer them to our ship as further problems occurred. But they were able to rectify these and  for  the rest of the homeward journey we remained close to them.

"After they had safely entered Earth's atmosphere, we  followed  for a short way and wished our new-found friends farewell,  and while we are here, we took this opportunity to make this transmission as we had a message for you from the Commander of Melchor.

 "He asked me to inform you," continued Zybo, "that Melchor will contact you again as soon as it is possible to  get  through. At the moment they have a problem as they have to rely on a Byronnian Astrael-craft to relay their transmission but as soon as such a craft is within range, they will contact you. Unfortunately, I must now end this direct transmission to you, as we have to re­sume our patrol duties. Farewell...."

 It so happened that two days later, on April 19th, 1970, there was a radio transmission from Melchor. Kash­endo said he was glad to hear from Zybo that the astro­nauts  landed  safely. He also said that they had been monitoring all recent manned Apollo Moon missions at the request of one of Earth's governments.

"When your astronauts left for your Moon, we foll­owed  their progress  and on receipt of their distress signals, we contacted Koldas advising them of the plight of the occupants of the badly damaged craft. I was then informed by my Superiors to send a message to the near­est Astrael-craft and Commander Zybo of the Sitonian Division happened to be in close proximity at the time.

"He responded immediately and after he had located the damaged craft he accompanied them around your Moon and then back to Earth. He finally left them, after they had safely entered your atmosphere. At regular intervals during the return journey, we on Melchor were kept in­formed by Zybo regarding their progress. All of us in the center were relieved to hear they eventually made a safe landing on Earth."

Kashendo  then  surprised  the  listeners  by saying that Melchor had been honored by the visit of a special guest. He said that the guest was seated right before him while his Corynthian craft was being serviced below in the Astrael hangar area. It was the first time that a Corynthian craft had visited Melchor!

Kashendo said that their guest was none other than Commander Valdar of the Second Koldasian Astrael Patrol Division. Valdar was apparently on a special mision for he and  fifteen other  commanders were on their way to Byronne.  But before handing over to Valdar, he added that Edwin must have missed hearing from his old friend, 'George'. This was certainly true! Since the outbreak of hostilities on Koldas, Edwin had been anxiously awaiting news of his old friend.

 "Greetings my friends.. this is Valdar."

Edwin immediately recognized his voice which bro­ught back a flood of memories.

"It is wonderful to be able to speak to you once again by radio transmission. I often think of you, Ed, your wife Elizabeth, and those in your group whom I got to know so well. I therefore welcome this opportunity to re-establish the bond that there is between us. As you know,  there has been a great change in our lives since Koldas was attacked by Galdonia.

"If you visited my planet now, you would notice a tremendous change in the people. Their sense of freedom, their  zest  for  living,  seems  to  have  left  them. No-one on Koldas knows when the next missile attack will come. What a devastating effect these attacks are having on us! The people cringe each time they see a fleet of craft  leaving,  for  they  associate  this  with  more violence.

"I hope that our journey to Byronne will change the situation. We are on a special mission there to collect fifteen new Corynthian Astrael craft and are going so that  they  can  instruct  us  in  how  to  operate  them. Each  of  the  pilots  I  have on board will  bring one of these latest models back to Koldas. With this divis­ion  we hope to break through the Galdonian defenses and bring an early end to their aggression.

"While exploring deep regions of space, the Coryn-thian Division found the direction from which the Gal-donian craft were coming for they encountered concentra­tions of missiles there. This has halted their progress temporarily. We hope that with the combined strength of this new division, we will be able to breach their defenses. I personally think that this may be the turning point of the war."

 Valdar continued by giving more details of the new Corynthian craft, describing it as the ultimate in off­ensive weapons which they have devised. It is a craft of immense proportions with large numbers of Sun-ray disintegrators strategically placed,  giving it an awesome capacity  for annihilation.  A veritable battle-cruiser incorporating the last word in space translocation capa­bility.

"It  is  strange,"  continued  Valdar,  "to  find that the Galdonians are very different from us in app­earance.  Even more  puzzling is their mental make-up, for they appear to have an insatiable appetite for kill­ing and causing pain and anguish to others. They may have  found  our  peaceful  Koldas  an  easy  target  in the past, but I hope soon we shall change the ideas of the people we call the 'Outer Worlds'."

In closing, Valdar said that he was asked to pass on best wishes from Clyveen, Commander Wy-Ora, Commander Kalaal and also Commander Mank-Ton, all rising rapidly in their new military defense. They all promised to make radio contact again when it would be possible. Then, as if addressing Edwin personally, he said, "I often think of those carefree times  when we used to do our patrols over your planet Earth, and all those transmissions we used to make to you and the other Bases. It gave us much pleasure! And now, you and Elizabeth have a baby daugh­ter. Ah yes, my friend Edwin,  I can't get used to the idea that you are a father now. When I last saw you we were both single! Now we both have responsibilities. We are both older and I hope, wiser too! Do you remember the many hours we spent together? Keep up your spirits, Ed, for one day we shall surely meet again.

 "But now I must end, to all my friends on the plan­et Earth... May God Bless you.

"This  is  Valdar,  now  handing over  to Commander Kashendo." Kashendo said,  "That was Commander Valdar. I wish you could see him seated before me. He looks impre­ssive in his one-piece sky-blue Koldasian uniform with the gold epaulets of a Corynthian Commander. Yes, we are indeed honored to have him aboard this station with his crew and the Corynthian. We feel so much safer in his presence! I hope that they will pay this station a visit soon with the new fleet of Corynthians. We hope to make contact with you  again so that you may hear Valdar tell us more of the exploits of these new craft."

"We must now close as the Byronnian craft responsi­ble  for  the  relay  must  continue  on  its  journey. We can't delay them any longer. We thank them for relay­ing this transmission. Melchor to 'Q' Base, Farewell."

When Kashendo's voice faded away the receiver was silent for the next forty days.

 

 

 

CHAPTER  7

 

A Planet on Her Knees

 

Very few people on Earth knew about the Galdonian war. Those who did were members and friends of the Con­federation "Q" Groups in many countries, who were kept informed of these events by circulating copies of tape recordings of transcripts of the transmissions. Did Ed-win's group have the advantage of being located in the town chosen by Wy-Ora and his assistant Valdar during their training on Earth? Was it purely accidental that Edwin had more than a casual acquaintance with Valdar who was later to command a Koldasian fleet?  Although communication with Koldas during the war was very err­atic, they nevertheless went to extraordinary lengths to keep in touch with Edwin's "Q" Group! By Earth's stand­ards,  it is a complete mystery as to why they behaved like this. Today however, there is a strong hint that future  planetary  events will make  these  actions more readily understandable.

It was Valdar who came through one evening late in May (May 30th, 1970) with the latest news of the war and the casualty list. In a solemn tone he said that Galdon­ia had struck a double blow at Koldas. The one directed to the south was obviously a diversion which drew a sub­stantial part of  Koldas' main Astrael  fleet.  Galdonia then  launched their main attack in the north, using a new weapon which turned out to be far more deadly than the guided missiles.

 

They dropped thousands of containers filled with a potent virus! "Yes,"  said  Valdar  gravely,  "Koldas has indeed been brought to her knees. As soon as the plight of the northern towns was realized, thousands of craft were sent to evacuate the people from the stricken area. But  as  fast  as people were evacuated,  the faster the virus spread. Many died in agony before they could be rescued. Water and food became contaminated causing many more to lose their lives. Vast numbers of the dead had to be hurriedly buried in mass graves. Then, not only was the virus alone in killing our people but other dis­eases spread as epidemics."

Clearly Valdar was deeply moved by the horror of the  latest  attack on his  planet.  After Galdonia had dealt this terrifying blow, they transmitted a message to the people of Koldas. This was the first time that they had communicated at all since they attacked. The words were in the Koldasian language and warned that all Koldasian towns would be subjected to the same treatment if Koldas did not surrender immediately.

 

Valdar continued saying, "You will recall that the last time I spoke to you, I was on my way to Byronne. When I returned with the division of Corynthians we set out immediately to continue the search for Galdonia. Our craft eventually found the planet which has brought us so much grief. We attacked three large cities which were completely destroyed. I think that Galdonia launched the virus attack in retaliation. It is now blow for blow... and many innocent people lose their lives. But Galdonia should not overlook one vital point and that is, by att­acking one planet in the Confederation, they are in fact taking on all the other planets too. Byronne has already responded when they heard of our plight by dispatching fifteen Byronnian Corynthian Divisions to assist us."

"At present we are awaiting their arrival. There will be a total of 4,075 craft in all when the whole fleet has assembled and we shall then strike Galdonia again. We either win or lose... With the aid of the By­ronnian Divisions, I feel that Galdonia will have little chance of surviving such a massive onslaught. Commander Wy-Ora has been put in charge of the fleet and will lead the campaign. I will be his second in command."

 It is remarkable that Valdar had such confidence in Edwin's "Q" Group, that he could send such vital infor­mation on the eve of a major operation. Wasn't this a grave security risk? How about the possibility of Outer World agents among "Q" group members? Anyway, he ended the radio transmission by expressing the hope that he would soon announce the end of the war. He also conveyed Wy-Ora's good wishes to all "Q" base members.

  

NOTE- Actually  the  "Q" Base  reception was  quite well protected. The communications came in on a narrow beam of discrete frequency aimed directly at the radio from above.  The messages were closely guarded by the group and  sensitive  information was not  released outside a trusted few until later.

 Then, just as he was closing down, he was interrup­ted and said, "We have just received an urgent message from Melchor.  It  grieves me  to have  to  tell  you... it has now been confirmed that both Mank-Ton and Kalaal have lost their lives in battle over Koldas. During the last attack they and many other gallant commanders were killed and the toll of this last vicious attack is still rising." On that grim note Valdar ended his transmission and was gone.

Four days hence, D-day came for Galdonia, and Edwin and everyone were on tenterhooks. What was the outcome of the battle? What would be the consequences for Earth if the Confederation were defeated?

On June  14th,  1970, more reassuring news came in the  form of  a relayed radio broadcast  from Melchor. It was  an on-the-spot  communiqué  from the surface of Galdonia relayed by an advance Koldasian outpost. On top of that came  the news that Wy-Ora had been injured in the battle. An unfamiliar voice (not previously heard by Edwin's "Q" group) started the recording by saying, "The transmission you are about to hear is a strata-recording which has been made on the planet Galdonia. I have asked the Commander who is receiving this on Melchor to trans­mit this to you whenever it is possible to do so."

 Then another unfamiliar voice said, "Greetings from all Koldasian and Byronnian personnel here on the sur­face of Galdonia. We have good news for you! A large part of Galdonia is now in the hands of Koldasian and Byronnian forces. Although many centres are still occu­pied by Galdonians,  our forces have seized vital and strategic key-points and the main communication centres. At last the tide has turned in our favor and good prog­ress has been made in this futile and senseless war.

"Communications have been re-established with home and a flow of messages is now being exchanged. The Kol­dasian ground forces here on Galdonia are being reinfor­ced by more Astrael divisions and a battle is about to commence on and above the terrain. Three-quarters of the planet has already been taken but there is still a moun­tainous  region  which  stretches  across  the  equator. It is difficult for Corynthian craft to maneuver here and it is tough-going for the large ground forces using land vehicles."

 The speaker  continued  to give his  impressions of the surface  features of  the planet.  Most  of Galdonia consists of vast waste lands and burning sand where tem­peratures  soar  to unbelievable heights during midday. Never, he said, had he experienced such scorching con­ditions before as on this bleak planet. Although there were some wooded regions -- in part, very dense   the planet was largely desert. Their sun had plummeted below the horizon.

 "As I am making this recording," he continued, "it is dark. To my left I can see the glow of many fires in the distance.  Another  town has been attacked.  In the dark sky, I can see bluewhite lightning bolts striking unseen targets.  These  are Sunray weapons being fired from Corynthians. Each time I see a bolt flashing  and there are innumerable bursts  I shudder, wondering how many people are losing their lives. For there is a trem­endous disintegrating energy in one of those bursts. And Galdonia has very densely populated cities. It is a si­ght I had hoped I would never witness.

"Fortunately," he continued, "the majority of Gal­donian cities have surrendered and there are only a few left  still  offering  some  resistance.  Losses  on both sides have been heavy. Many of our Corynthian craft have been lost as well as other Koldasian craft which went down in deserts. But Byronne, the gallant planet which came to our aid, has suffered the heaviest losses on the Confederation side.  I feel deeply sorry for all those who will  never  leave here. How much grief and sorrow this accursed planet has brought to Koldas and the whole of the Confederation!"

For Edwin and the "Q" members, this eyewitness re­port  from the surface of the aggressor planet, was of immense  interest.  Particularly as there had been more than a hint that their greed and aggressiveness with its accompanying moral degradation had surreptitiously con­taminated many planets in the systems which had human life within them.

Meanwhile the communicator making the report paint­ed a bleak picture of conditions affecting the Confeder­ation forces. He was speaking from a position which was dugin in the white sands of the vast desert. From this position, many of the sorties of the Confederation land forces were made. At intervals, they would leave in the direction of  the  remaining pockets of resistance. The stifling heat, the dragging gravitational load, added to the  torment.  The rapid sunrises,  immediately bursting fourth radiation which reflected from the white sands at zenith turned the desert into an oven with a blinding glare.

 There was uncertainty about the two allies support­ing Galdonia. A few strangely shaped craft had been seen but so far no determined effort had been made to rein­force Galdonia in its struggle. The Confederation kept an adequate task force in reserve in case the Galdonian allies decided to attack. The speaker described the un­fortunate crash of WyOra's personal space-craft.

"Two days  ago during a raid,  Commander Wy-Ora's division encountered a larger than usual force of Gal­donian craft. Our Commander's craft was repeatedly st­ruck by rockets, which forced him to return to base with severe damage. We watched his craft approaching and it seemed  that he was having control problems. He passed the base and brought his craft down in the desert. But it came down with such force that there was an explosion throwing it over on its transparent dome. Smoke poured out of vents and hatches as they were thrown open. Dam­age control vehicles  rushed  forward  in an attempt to save  the personnel  and the craft. Three crew members were killed. Commander Wy-Ora was fortunate to escape from the wreckage of the observation dome which was de­molished in the violent overturn."

The communicator continued by expressing his deep concern for their popular leader who had to be evacuated to Koldas. He had escaped with only a leg injury which at first did not seem so serious but later was found to be much worse.

 In the meantime, Valdar had taken over from his old mentor and was in charge of operations on Galdonia. In closing  his  report,  the  speaker  added  a  few  more personal observations. "What a forbidding world this is. It is indeed the strangest planet I have ever set foot on,  and the Galdonian way of life is very odd by our standards. Their dwelling places are cramped, overcrow­ded and rectangular in shape. I have seen no double-sto­ried buildings at all and the building methods appear to be very crude to me. There is an oppressive atmosphere over  it  all." And with these last words the message relayed from Galdonia ended.

For the next fortnight there was no further news. Edwin and his group were hoping to hear more of Wy-Ora's progress although it seemed that his injuries were not too  serious.  Then one afternoon a brief message came through his receiver.

"I am from the moon that  orbits Byronne. I have been instructed to inform you that three days - three of your Earth days from now, you will receive a trans­mission from Melchor. Three hours after your sun has set you shall receive a transmission. I will close now, peo­ple of the planet Earth. I am a Byronnian pilot."

 On July 1st, the transmission came as promised. It was a personal message from WyOra himself. He seemed to be his old self. He started off with his usual greeting, full of charismatic charm. "I am Wy-Ora. Greetings, my friends. It is wonderful to contact you all again alth­ough this  time it is by means of a strata-recording. Here I am, sitting beneath a beautiful tree in the gar­den of my home on Koldas. We have a large garden and there are trees and flowering shrubs. The grass is green and the birds are singing. It is a lovely day here and as I look out I can see a lake with a picturesque island not far out. I am recuperating from injuries to my leg."

Judging  from  his  voice,  he  seemed  to  be  all right. It was certainly good to hear from him again and everybody gained a deep inner satisfaction as they lis­tened because he gave out a great spiritual strength and compassion when he spoke.

 He continued by saying that he had tried to send thoughts to each of the members of the "Q" group tele­pathically. Elizabeth, Edwin's wife, confirmed that she had received some very clear impressions. This is inter­esting, taking into account the difference in space/time involved.

"During the past few cycles I have had the chance to relax and I have been thinking of you all a great deal. I have been concentrating on 'thought-transmission' or telepathy with each member of 'Q' Base and I have re­ceived some acknowledgments in return. Especially you, Elizabeth. You have been uppermost in my thoughts with the birth of your daughter. I feel certain that we' have been in communication as I was aware of your thoughts reaching my mind. I deliberately sent a thought-pattern back to you describing the surroundings at the time.

 "Yes,  so much has happened since I last contacted you. The Confederation is no longer a Confederation of peace.  The  ugly  word war  is  on  everybody's  lips, particularly in Byronne, Siton and Salamia, those gallant planets which assisted us in our struggle."

Wy-Ora continued by outlining the war situation. He said that the greater part of Galdonia was now in Confed­eration hands although there were still some isolated places of resistance.  He mentioned  the  two allies of Galdonia; Sakirad and Banianlo. (It was the Sakiradians who had done all the fighting on Galdonia) Sakirad had already surrendered but  the problem was Banianlo. The Sakiradians are apparently a more evolved race much like the Koldasians although shorter in stature. They are un­like  the  Galdonians who  are copper-colored with long dark hair hanging to their shoulders. The Sakiradians are fair-skinned. They were the original civilizers of Galdonia but some time ago the Galdonians turned on them and forced their scientists to build missiles and other destructive  weapons  which  were  later  used  in  this attack on Koldas. They were also forced to make the germ weapons used against Koldas. It would take a long time to recover from the infections and destruction, and now there were alarming food shortages. The other planets in the Confederation were providing massive aid to help re­covery.  Wy-Ora felt  the  conflict was nearing its end and restoration could begin.

 There  were  no  further  attacks  on Koldas but the whole population was glad to have the renowned Commander Zybo with his Sitonian Sixth Division guarding them in case of enemy attack. The 'Sixth' is one of the mighti­est fleets ever to patrol those fields of space.

  Wy-Ora spoke of his successor in glowing terms. His admiration for Valdar was obvious, for despite the fact that  Clyveen,  his newly-wed wife,  had been listed as missing, he carried on as Fleet Commander in an exempl­ary manner. Wy-Ora said that Clyveen's home on the nor­thern side was struck many times by guided missiles. “But officials have already been able to trace many of the missing people. Valdar says he is sure Clyveen is alive and well. We hope that he is right. I must close this recording for soon I must go to the nearby city to have my leg treated. It seems almost impossible that we have fallen victim to this cruel war."

 Eighteen days later, at  10:00 p.m. on July 18th, Edwin received another relayed strata-recording from Wy­Ora. After his characteristic introduction, he said, "My friends,   it is three hours before sunrise here. I have not had much sleep because of pain in my leg. I am in my study and in front of me is a huge glass window looking out on the lake. It is cool and still here now. I find it difficult to describe this scene in your language. I wish you could witness this with me. All nature seems to be at rest. My wife and two daughters are asleep. On my left is my strata-recorder which is built into the wall and the only  illumination  inside this room is coming from the red, green and orange lights of the instrument. As  I make this recording I feel more relaxed and the pain is ebbing, making me quite comfortable for the time being. Seated here, I have been thinking of the past.... of many things. At least things are beginning to look up again for us. Just before I started to make this re­cording, I contacted the main communications centre here by means of video-transceiver, which is also built into the wall.  It has been my regular practice to keep in touch with the fleet on Galdonia."

"When I contacted the center, I was told that Cly­veen had been found!  I was overjoyed and immediately transmitted the news via the chain of satellites which were placed between us and Galdonia. I was able to con­tact Valdar personally and informed him of this wonder­ful news. He was so overcome he could not speak for some time. We are all thankful that she was spared."

"Valdar said that operations were still in progress but that engagements were becoming less frequent as time went by. He expected a surrender soon and that we would be able to return to a peaceful existence.

  Looking out this huge window, Wy-Ora went on, "I see identification lights on several craft in the dark starlit sky. By their color I can tell that these must be a patrol from the Sitonian Sixth Division. They are keeping a lonely vigil to safeguard us from any enemy attack. These Sitonians are wonderful people. Kind and understanding, always ready to render aid to anyone req­uiring their assistance."

"Since my return, I have had much time to rest and I have been paging through my diary. I have kept such a record for many years, and when we patrolled your planet

I used to maintain a daily record of events as they occ­urred there on Earth a few years ago."

Turning the pages of his diary, Wy-Ora mentioned the case of the mysterious disappearance of a Koldasian scoutcraft  over  the  Indian  Ocean  off  Durban.  An immediate search of the area proved to be of no avail. It was therefore decided that Wy-Ora and an assistant would make a personal visit to the Durban area to inves­tigate the craft's disappearance with all its personnel.

 Under cover of darkness, they were landed on a de­serted  beach  north  of  Durban.  Here  they  were  met by Earth-friends who put them up in a cottage they owned near there. Another search was organized. From a hired motorboat Wy-Ora used special instruments and for days they criss-crossed  the area but no trace of any kind could be found of the craft or its personnel. Finally Wy-Ora decided to extend the search to the coastal strip bordering the area where the scout was believed to have disappeared.

They spent many days visiting hotels and boarding­houses, where they sat in lounges mixing with visitors, hoping to pick up some scrap of information from the conversations. Someone might have seen the craft crash­ing into the sea. They had to beat a hasty retreat when a receptionist  of a hotel began to get suspicious of them. The investigation had to be abandoned and they re­turned to Koldas.

"With the record of this incident," said Wy-Ora, "I often think of the months that I and others like me have spent on that wonderful planet of yours. How different it might have been if we could come and go in peace. How wonderful it would be to come as Koldasians; not in dis­guise or to hide and be shielded by others."

"Yes, that would be wonderful!"

  

CHAPTER  8

Peace Returns To Koldas

 Wy-Ora's injuries from his crash on Galdonia deeply concerned all members of  the "Q" Group. Welcome news about him came in a transmission relayed from Melchor four weeks later on September 17th, 1970.

Kashendo,  speaking from this huge Koldasian arti­ficial satellite said,  "I bring you news about Wy-Ora who is now on Salamia. During the past weeks the physi­cians have examined his leg and decided that one of the bones, known to you as the 'tibia' (norsk : skinnebein) will have to be re­placed with  an artificial  one.  The surgeons are sure that the replacement will be a complete success. We do not know when  this  operation will  take  place, but as soon as we do we will tell you. Wy-Ora is now there with his family,  and except for the leg injury, is keeping well. He asked me to send his best wishes to his friends at all 'Q' bases."

 Kashendo then reported the latest news of the Gal­donian war. "It seems that the aggressors have an inexhaustible   supply of  reinforcements which  continually replace their losses. Our Superiors are wondering where they are coming from and how long this war will drag on. It seems that Galdonia planned to annihilate the Koldas­ian people entirely and then tackle each of the Confed­eration planets in turn."

Kashendo mentioned that some time ago an unidentif­ied craft was seen near Melchor and that an attack on the satellite was possible as a retaliatory measure.

 On September 27th, there was a direct broadcast to a dozen or so of the "Q" group assembled at Edwin's home in Pinetown.

It was Zybo of the Sixth Patrol who said, "It has been a long time since I had the privilege of talking to you.  On board we have a very special guest. Yes, it is our esteemed Commander Wy-Ora and he is very happy to talk to you again," and after that brief introduction the excited 'Q" members heard Wy-Ora speak.

“I am Wy-Ora.  Greetings to you all!  I am indeed happy to make this transmission from close range! This Sitonian craft has been hovering at an altitude of 535km for some time while we were waiting for you to assemble at  'Q' Base. We have ways of telling when you are all assembled in  the  lounge of Edwin's home  During this time I have been concentrating my thoughts and now I see all our members seated and relaxed."

 "My friends,  I am glad to say that the surgery I underwent on Salamia appears to be successful. I have been told  that in about three of your earth months I shall be able to use my damaged leg normally again. The bone  which  was  badly  crushed  has  been  replaced. Salamian surgeons are the most skilled in our Confeder­ation. Most physicians and surgeons go to the city of Scilyn for their training and it was there that the mir­acle was performed on my leg. After the operation, I spent some time in one of their hospitals before being transferred to a recuperation centre high in the moun­tains. This is a very beautiful part of the planet and resembles Switzerland on your planet, with snow and ice peaks. Access to the centre is only by air craft as no land vehicle could negotiate the rugged slopes."

  Wy-Ora explained that the recuperation center was on a large plateau called Barkala which is encircled by mountains. He said, "It was winter during my stay there and the clouded skies often blanketed the mountain peaks with  snow and  ice.  However,  there was also plenty of sunshine, fresh air, nutritious food and recreation too which speeded recovery. The time passed all too quickly. Now I am happy to return to Koldas, to be with all our friends and acquaintances.

"I would like to thank you all for your kind and prayerful  thoughts which  I felt so distinctly while I was in the hospital. They were of great comfort to me. When you think or concentrate on a particular person or group of persons, you tune your mind to the frequency of that  person's brain and communication is established. This takes a great deal of practice and I am very plea­sed with the progress you have made. Continue your eff­orts along these lines as one day it may be a very use­ful method of contacting us, particularly in case of a major emergency. We will tell you more about this later. Now my  friends,  I must not delay Commander Zybo any longer for he must return to Koldas on urgent matters. We leave you now. I have asked Melchor to keep you in-formed of the situation in the Confederation and the war which continues.  Farewell until we can meet again in transmission.  I am Wy-Ora."

But the war was soon to come to an end. On October 11th,  1970 a jubilant Melchor passed on the message for which all the "Q" groups had been waiting.

 "Peace, my friends,  peace!" It was Kashendo, the jovial commander of Melchor. "At last the Confederation is at peace! One of your Earth weeks ago, Galdonia sign­ed a peace-treaty with Koldas. Yes, Koldas is no longer at war for Galdonia has decided to surrender. This is indeed wonderful news, and I am happy to tell you that the war is over at last. Walkala, the leader of Galdonia agreed  to  surrender  provided  Koldas  was  prepared to withdraw all her divisions. This was agreed to and since then no more hostile moves have been made.

"However, we have left one division of Corynthian craft there to ensure the Galdonians remain at peace. In the meantime Byronne has withdrawn all her Astrael div­isions.  I feel sure that all will be well now. Koldas has agreed to assist Galdonia with food and medical eq­uipment for there is chaos at the present and assistance is urgently needed. 'How wonderful it is to know that our families and friends are safe again. We here on Melchor constantly feared for their lives while we were serving elsewhere in the Confederation. But now, it is time for rejoicing! I wish you could have shared the celebration here on Melchor when we first heard the news! There was much singing and dancing on board. We now know the mean­ing of peace.

Valdar, who had succeeded Wy-Ora, had already re­turned to Koldas with 375 divisions of Corynthian craft. He was reunited with his wife Clyveen, his family and friends after an absence of many months. Kashendo also gave the news that Wy-Ora was progressing well and would soon  resume his  post  as  Commander of  the  Corynthian Fleet.  Both Wy-Ora and Valdar would soon make personal contact with 'Q' Bases on Earth again.

  Then Kashendo mentioned another matter which con­cerned this planet. Recent Confederation patrols under the direction of Commander Taylanz of Byronne had made the disturbing discovery that some Earth-made satellites in orbit  around our planet  contained atomic devices. Kashendo said that these devices would cause serious destruction should they fall to Earth.

He continued,  "Why does man place such dangerous devices in orbit around the world on which they depend for their very existence? This is certainly causing us great concern. But, my friends, do not fear for we have full  confidence  that we can deal with the situation. If necessary, these satellites will be neutralized be­fore they endanger life on your planet. Our patrols will therefore continue in the interests of your whole popu­lation for we are concerned about the safety of all our friends who live on Earth and also for the millions who know nothing of the dangers lurking in your skies.”

 NOTE- It is  interesting to note here that a number of extraterrestrial visitors to Earth have mentioned armed satellites in orbit around our planet, placed there by factions  on  Earth  itself.  The diminuitive beings from Reticulum called this to the attention of Bill Herrmann in Charleston several times. The Pleiadians making con­tact in Switzerland also told their contactee the same thing, and also that the Apollo 13 was carrying an atom­ic device on the  aborted moon-landing mission. There is a reference to this here also, and we have found no evidence that either witness ever heard of the other. They both expressed grave concern about the excessive, and possibly irreversible pollution of our upper atmos­phere and its dangers. They all seem to deplore the ex­cessive proliferation of atomic sciences of all kinds saying that the dangers are irreversible.

 "What  I am about to tell you now, you will find very hard to believe! But a few of your Earth months ago a space vehicle was launched from Earth to your Moon. It carried an atomic warhead which was capable of destroy­ing many square miles of the Moon's surface. A Byronnian Astrael-craft tracked its flight-path from your planet and neutralised it while in orbit around the Moon before it could make its final approach and dive to the target surface.

"Why  do people of your planet  indulge  in these careless  experiments? Do they not realise that they are endangering their own safety? What about the repercuss­ions throughout your solar system? Men of Earth still have so much to learn about their own environment, the very  planet  upon which  they  dwell...  and when they travel  in space,  instead of carefully exploring what they find,  they have to test their destructive ability instead !"

Kashendo said that now the war was over, there was more time for the Confederation to concern itself with Earth. One matter that alarmed them was the increasing impurity of our atmosphere. He hinted that more craft would be seen in our skies as measurements were made at various levels around our planet.

"We are alarmed at the quantity of impurities which our patrol craft have found in the upper layers of your atmosphere. These particles are forming a blanket which will eventually engulf your entire planet. We have de­cided to test at lower altitudes within your atmosphere.

"My  friends,  you  may  be  asking  why  does  the Confederation concern itself with Earth who is not even a member of the group? There are many like you whom we are concerned about. We feel it is our sacred duty to safeguard you against dangers which you seem to know very little about.

"We hope that one day we will be allowed to fly our craft freely in your skies, over your breathtaking seas and across your mighty continents. Then we will be wel­comed on equal terms as friendly neighbors. But now, my friends, I must end this transmission. This is Kashendo of Melchor saying farewell for the present."

 

*****

 In the immediate post-war months there were regular radio transmissions to Edwin's "Q" Group, and a variety of  subjects were discussed,  including religion,  tele­pathy and reincarnation.  It was Taylanz who mentioned that they found the existence of the many religions on Earth very surprising and Kashendo spoke about the var­ious races here.

 (Remember that what is discussed here is only a few hours transcribed from hundreds of hours of direct radio transmissions to the "Q" Group at Pinetown. It is diffi­cult to select what may be of the greater interest to the most people. The selection has had to be ours.)

Taylanz  said,  "It  seems  strange  that you should have  so many religions. Although they are differently named they all praise the Almighty One and their main object seems to be the same. So it does not matter which religion you belong to -- as long as you believe in and acknowledge the Divine One -- you are doing the right thing.  In the Confederation we have only one religion. We all believe that there is an Almighty One although the planets differ in their methods of worship. On my planet  Byronne,  we  sing our praises out loud, yet on Koldas they meditate and worship in silence. Other plan­ets vary again in their attitude to prayer. On Grandor, they kneel and pray in their worship of the Divinity. Although outward forms of worship may differ, we all be­lieve in the same Divine One."

 

Kashendo spoke about the various races we have on Earth and said, "This is an intriguing subject bu