Subject: A Meteor Hit Earth. Part 4. Mar. 8, 2008.
This tell how tall the trees are on the planet
that he visited.
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.....................................................
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 colors will
literally intoxicate you, just as if you had
drunk alcohol. The colors 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 s-curity 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 re****ters, cameras fla****ng ... 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
space****p, by an invisible force field. Then,
quite gently and with a barely perceptible hum,
the platform rose by several meters and moved
off rapidly towards the "eggs", about 800
meters away. The thin and slightly perfumed
air was la****ng 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 space****ps 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
colored 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 ****ning 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
recognized as the one featured on the screen
in the space****p. The faces too, were
familiar to me. I realizzed I was in the
intergalactic center.
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 friend****p 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 meters, 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 color, Michel. Look!"
Following her gaze, I spotted, very high
among the branches, three butterflies, vividly
colored and of enormous size.
These lepidoptera, which must have had one
meter 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 color tending
much more towards blue than to green.
Flowers of every shape and color, 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 colors, varied and rich, were a
veritable feast for my eyes in spite of the
subduing effect of my mask.
Part 4.
John Winston. johnfw@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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