by Jimmy Guieu
All of a sudden a deep voice, as if coming out of nowhere, echoed gloomily through the huge, underground room: Don’t do that, General Morgan!
The general and the special agents jumped out of their seats. Stunned, all of them looked at one another. Were they suffering a collective hallucination?
The “Voice” set them straight: Don’t try to shoot down the flying saucers. It’s a friend of the Earth talking to you. Agent Ted Sullivan is right. The Denebians are not the only ones operating on your planet. In your present state of technological knowledge you couldn’t do a thing against the flying discs. You’d have to reach… The “Others” are keeping watch and will reveal themselves to you at the right time.
When these mystifying words had faded away the silence was crushing. General Morgan fiddled with his thin moustache, completely flabbergasted, eyes bulging out. Ted Sullivan had turned white.
“Gentlemen,” the General whispered after sitting back down, knowing perfectly well the underground set-up of the Pentagon and its sound system, “I can assure you that this voice did not come from any of our broadcasting systems. Plus, the Electronic Eye on the speaker never turned on. Our transmission, therefore, is out of the question. Besides, you must have noticed that the voice seemed to be coming out of thin air, in the middle of the room. It’s extraordinary but we’ve just received a message from an extra-terrestrial being!”
“He… or rather his voice said Denebian when speaking of the green monsters,” one of the agents said, looking around as if searching for the mysterious He.
“I presume that He meant coming from Deneb or more precisely from a planet orbiting this star… It’s absolutely extraordinary! In fact, everything about this adventure is extraordinary! Deneb… This sun is 400 light years away from Earth. It’s unimaginable that spaceships could travel such a distance. And yet, I believe it.”
“But what’s awaiting us? And where did that voice come from?”
CHAPTER NINE
In the flying saucer piloted by Yuln whipping through space at 22 miles altitude, Zimko turned off the tele-projection sound. All his friends looked at him in surprise. For what reason and to whom was he giving advice?
“When flying over Washington on his way to Alaska,” he explained, “Nylak pointed his tele-projector at the Pentagon, thereby catching a meeting presided over by General Morgan with the best special agents of Project Saucer. Nylak immediately reported their discussion to me and I figured it best to send them a message.”
The Polarian told them briefly about the meeting and concluded, “Since they’re not ready, the Earthlings should in no way fight the saucers… whose friendly or hostile origins they can’t judge. Their entrance on the scene of the secret war we are waging against the Denebians would be premature and hobble our actions. For, despite their good intentions, the Earthlings could shoot down our ships and our enemies’ indistinctly. Therefore, I hope that General Morgan takes my advice in consideration and that he’ll wait…”
“Wait for what exactly?” Kariven asked.
“The decision of the Brahytma, the King of the World,” the Man from Outer Space answered slowly. “We Polarians reign over an infinite number of planets spread throughout the Galaxy. But each of these planets has a King, unknown to its inhabitants, a King whom only the very rare initiates know and contact. Thus, on Earth, we have a secret permanent base that was built millions of years ago. Civilizations come and go, reach the apex of knowledge or fall into the abyss of bestiality just as the progressive planetary cycles require. But during all these manifestations of intelligent life, during these hundreds of thousands of centuries, there are astounding beings who reign in secret over the Earth, coming and going as well, one after another on the throne of the King of the World.”
“So, when there were the now lost continents of Lemuria, Gondwana, Mu and Atlantis, a King of the World was living on Earth? A King they sometimes called the Grand Instructor?” Kariven asked, remembering the adventures during his time travel49.
“Yes, Kariven, just like today there reigns another King of the World, Brahytma, who Himself, on His death, will be replaced by another Genie and so on until the end of ages. But the leaders or governments of nations have never known about His presence. The King of the World doesn’t literally reign but just watches over and watches out for the world. He watches over the slow evolution of man and regularly communicates to us the results of his observations. When an entire civilization is in danger—I’m not talking about the kind of wars that have happened so far—the King of the World alerts us to act, because His role is not to act. He is, if you want, the Guardian Angel of humanity… of its Destiny.
“In your year 1945, Brahytma alerted us: the Earthlings had unleashed a pretty rudimentary form of the forces of nature, nuclear energy. The first experimental bomb had been tested in Alamogordo in the New Mexico desert. Two other bombs, no longer experimental, soon hit Japan. This atomic power is a danger to humanity in its present state, which is borderline barbarian. After the A bomb you developed the H-bomb, which will inevitably be followed by another weapon capable of annihilating all life on the planet!
“Therefore, in 1945 the Space Legion contacted by the King of the World left Kodha, the capital planet of the Pole Star, and came to reoccupy their original bases in your solar system on Mars and Venus and now on the Moon.50 I was named Chief of Operations of Sector Earth. Since that date the flying saucers have been patrolling the skies to the utter amazement of those who see them. Naturally we’ve watched the Earth all the time on board our disc-shaped spacecraft, but it’s only since that time that our visits became more frequent51.”
“That’s incredible,” Doniatchka gasped. “I think I’m dreaming. But where is your permanent base and how could it escape the curiosity of Earthlings?”
“Our base, which is called Agharti52 and is where Brahytma the King of the World has his palace, has always escaped explorers and other travelers because it was built inside a mountain. Agharti is an underground base buried deep in the unexplored mountains of Eastern Tibet, somewhere between Djogar-Tong and Barka-Tala. Let’s just say that it’s in the province of Khan in the Eastern Trans-Himalaya. That’s as precise as I can get.”
“Tibet…” Kariven looked thoughtfully at his two partners in adventure. “Does that remind you of anything?”
“And how!” Angelvin uttered. “That reminds me of Bakrahna, the Buddhist citadel where we almost lost our lives53.”
“The King of the World knows all about your exploits,” the Polarian said. “Glad to know that you’re by my side he authorized me just this very instant to bring you to Agharti.”
Indeed, while the Man from Outer Space was talking he had communicated psychically with Brahytma. Dumbstruck to say the least, Kariven, Dormoy and Angelvin all had a look on their face that betrayed their surprise.
“So, we’re going to… Agharti?”
“We are there,” Zimko pronounced slowly, amused by their quizzical expressions.
“We… We’re under the Earth? I mean in the underground Polarian base?” Jenny stammered skeptically.
“We haven’t landed yet, though,” Dormoy observed, sticking his nose against the window of the cockpit.
Through the translucent material he saw them diving down a kind of gray wall glinting with metal.
“We’re in a giant pit 150 feet in diameter,” Yuln informed them as she watched the dials on her instrument panel. “We haven’t landed yet because we’re going down over 3,000 feet in the heart of the mountain. Only the Polarians who belong to the Space Legions know the location of this access pit to the Forbidden Realm. The rocky mass that covers it on top swings open at the psychic command of the pilots wanting to get into the underground base. Your radars and other locating devise will never be able to detect our mental waves operating the mechanism to open it. And since there are always thick clouds blanketing the mobile rock that serves as a lid, we have no fear of being seen by a plane or a wandering Sherpa.”
“We can get out. The disc has landed.”
No noise or bump, however, had signaled their landing.
When they left the flying saucer, an unexpected and paradoxical sight filled them with wonder. The material on the ground could have passed for concrete, but strangely elastic concrete. The Earthlings and their Polarian friends were under a huge, vaulted ceiling of blue metal, at least 5,000 feet in diameter, irradiating a light as bright as the day. In the middle of the gigantic “bell” stood Agharti, the secret Polarian base on Earth. The extraordinary Forbidden Realm—a harmonious assembly of cubes and rhomboids in polished metal—reflected the dazzling light of the dome and shimmered in a weird blue with yellow sparkles. An incalculable number of big windows pierced the terraced facades. The buildings, connected by interlacing, aerial paths, rose up from their wide base to over 1,500 feet tall. On the whole, Agharti looked like a gigantic cone formed of different sized buildings, arranged in tiers and pointing toward the summit. At the top of the terraced base was an imposing palace, as clear as glass and glimmering with multicolored fires. Its domes and turrets, also transparent, made it the jewel of an architectural style unknown on Earth.
1,300 feet above the base, in the blue vault, a giant chimney led up to the surface. Overwhelmed by the majesty and impressive silence of the place, Kariven and his companions did not dare say a word. Fascinated, they contemplated this Polarian masterpiece that had defied centuries and millennia in the heart of our planet, all the while watching over the maintenance of our civilization.
Zimko slipped his arm around Tlyka waist and turning his eyes to the wonderful city he spoke to the Earthlings, “You’re the first humans to enter Agharti. The transparent palace on top of the base belongs to Brahytma, the King of the World. We’re expected…”
Walking behind the Polarian, they headed toward a raised path with a very shiny metal surface, a kind of wide, purple ribbon. With a wave of his hand Zimko invited them to get on the ribbon, which seemed to be vibrating gently. Kariven took Yuln’s arm and both of them climbed onto the path that went up to the city. They felt themselves becoming light and instantly lost all awareness of their weight. Just like their friends they were floating, gradually rising off the ground.
Zimko reassured them psychically, We’ve entered the gravito-magnetic field of the lifting path. It makes you feel like you’re losing your weight. In fact, the field inverses the polarity of our atomic structure and transforms us into a “pole” of the same polarity as the Earth. By varying the intensity of our “energy charge”, the field lifts us up through progressive impulses.
In spite of the total absence of danger Doniatchka clung fearfully to Dormoy. Angelvin, holding Jenny’s hand, tried to “stay in place” by wiggling back and forth against the invisible, propulsive coils of the gravito-magnetic field.
The lifting path wound around the Polarian city over broad streets. Seen from on high, the few oval vehicles floating around could have passed for cars. Scantily dressed Polarian men and women were walking around, mostly in couples, and all of them gave a friendly salute to Zimko and his group.
At the intersection of two aerial paths the Polarian stopped abruptly. He’d just seen one of his old friends and called out to him in English, “Kn’toog! It’s been ten years since we’ve seen each other… but Vrin’ha!” he added on recognizing the pretty girl on the bronze man’s arm.
The two of them were wearing a kind of mauve sweater and spotless white bodysuit. On their chests was embroidered a big badge in the form of a spindle-shaped rocket ship intersected by a zigzagging lightning bolt.
“We were working in the Cygnus sector,” Kn’toog also spoke in English. “After a long mission Vrin’ha and I got a break from our respective units and decided to meet on this planet.” He gave him a tender look and added, “When there’s two, the Agharti base always has lots of nice things to do.”
“Is it calm in your sector?” Yuln asked after introducing her Earthling friends.
“Nah,” Kn’toog frowned in disappointment, “we had some run-ins with those damned Denebians on and around planet 17 of the star Cygnus 61. Routine missions, really, but generally the situation is calm, too calm in my opinion. These green demons must be cooking something up in another corner of the galactic zone.”
“You know it,” Zimko agreed. “They’re focusing on this solar system. It wouldn’t surprise me if open war broke out on Earth… before too long. But let’s forget about our duties for the time being. Where are you staying?”
“In the Iltug block. Come and spend the night in our Dream Synthesizer.”
The two young Polarians bid them farewell and continued on their romantic way in the heart of the mysterious, underground city. Kariven was puzzled and wondered what Kn’toog meant by “spend the night in our Dream Synthesizer.
The Dream Synthesizer is a wonderful thing, my dear, Yuln whispered in his mind. You’d never want to “leave”. You’ll experience it for yourself… if you want.
They arrived in front of the gigantic, transparent palace. But the façade, richly decorated with multicolored, geometric designs, had no door! A stairway with huge steps brought them up to a clear wall whose decorations seemed to sink into the mass, disappearing in endless relief and a profusion of bright colors.
“Go on in,” Zimko invited.
Doniatchka tilted her head to one side, baffled. “Go in? But where?”
“Follow me,” is all he said.
He walked calmly toward the wall and… melted into it, vanished. Yuln dragged Kariven after her and they vanished only to come out in a grand hall with emerald green walls that looked like they were gently rippling.
“You know,” Zimko explained, “that between the atoms in matter—whether it’s the human body or anything else—there’s an empty space, a comparatively endless void at the atomic level. Thanks to variations in the gravito-magnetic field that pervades the palace, the energy charges of our atoms are modified and, in a way, tuned to a compatible polarity with respect to the atomic structure of the walls. We can, therefore, pass through walls, our atoms ‘passing’ between its atoms, a little like a bunch of ball bearings passing through a big sieve. Only here there’s no friction. It’s very simple.”
“Quite,” Doniatchka poked fun and grinned clownishly.
In the same way they entered a purplish-blue wall that appeared to be the end of the hall and come out in a semi-circular room about 100 feet in diameter and 65 feet high.
Jenny and the young Russian stared at the center of the room, unblinking. Under a huge, transparent globe a bronzed man was sitting on a kind of blue, opalescent throne, watching them approach. He was dressed in a leotard with flashes of gold and looked around 30 years old. On his head was a big, red helmet with a dozen electrodes sticking out, connected to multicolored cables that ran into a control panel within arm’s reach of the weird creature.
Brahytma, the King of the World, was over six and a half feet tall. His impassive face, titanic shoulders, black leotard and strange helmet added to the inexplicable feeling of awkwardness that oppressed his visitors.
Zimko, Yuln and Tlyka bowed their heads respectfully and raised their right hand. Gravely impressed the Earthlings did the same. An indefinable smile crossed the hermetic face of Brahytma and his telepathic, neutral voice vibrated in their minds:
Welcome to Agharti, Earth-Polarian Brothers. My different appearance and my strange get-up under this psycho-planetary receptor are shocking to you Earthlings, I see in your minds. You weren’t expecting to find the King of the World as an ANDROID… since I am an android, a biological robot, half-human and half-artificial. The enormous psychic work of the King of the World—capturing the thoughts of hundreds of thousands of Earthlings at the same time—is beyond the abilities, however unimaginable, of the Polarians who designed me. Only an Android endowed with an electronic super-brain can survey the leading human brains: scientists, politicians, religious leaders and other personalities of earth�
�s civilization.
During the ten centuries of my reign, three of which are still to come, I have watched over the security of the world, meaning external security because the “little” wars of men up until the Atomic Age were not serious enough to warrant my intervention. But in freeing nuclear energy Man, who is not yet evolved on the path of Wisdom, has forced me to sound the alarm. In his foolhardy tests on forces that he knows little about, Man risks exterminating the human race. Furthermore, his atomic explosions have drawn the Denebians, hungry for conquest, into the solar system. Obviously the scientists could never accept that their atomic explosions were detected INSTANTLY by the Denebians. They would deny the fact, arguing that the light from the bombs takes 400 years to reach the Deneb system at 186,000 miles per second. They don’t know that the Denebians—and Polarians as well, fortunately!—have spaceships and interstellar viewers that work at absolute speed. Such means render it possible to communicate and travel from one end of the Galaxy to the other… at the speed of thought!
These same scientists refuse to accept that extra-terrestrial beings might be living comfortably on this planet. They imagine that other planets must be surrounded by a toxic, unbreathable atmosphere. This is true for some but one must not make generalizations. The Polarians, for example, live on several planets with an atmosphere absolutely identical to Earth’s. It’s not the same for the original world of the Denebians, but these cursed creatures don’t care because they’re sympodic and can adapt automatically to almost any place. They are as comfortable in ammoniac-cyanogens as they are in Earth’s oxygen.