by Jimmy Guieu
On President Koulski’s order the said box was brought and the two escaped prisoners from the planet Kodha quickly took out a strange device, looking like both a camera and a machine gun. Along the inner walls of the case were eight plastic holders with magnetic film.
Petruski opened a side section of the device and fit one of the eight rolls of film into the cavity, asking the President to turn off the lights. Then he shouldered the camera and aimed it at the wall. After focusing the picture, the images were projected on the improvised screen in relief but strangely striped with transparent yellow and black.
First there was a view of the whole camp with the Polarian capital blurry in the background. Then came a foreshortened view, quite unexpected since it looked shot from above, which seemed illogical because the camp should—normally—have been filmed from the ground.
President Koulski and Marshal Gorochenko, without being able to explain these two different angles on the same film, put it down to some unknown property of Polarian optics or geometry.
A column of Earthlings, Denebians and Procyonians guarded by Men from Outer Space stopped in the middle of the camp. The guards raised their disintegrator rifles to their hips and shot. The horrible pain that twisted the prisoners’ faces turned into agony. Then they were surrounded by a blinding flash and disappeared, disintegrated.
“These poor guys,” Petruski said, “tried to escape the night before. Now you’re going to see some ‘preventive treatment’ given by the torturers to their poor victims.”
Another roll of film showed a second column of captives being cruelly whipped by their Polarian “executioners” in order to remove every last desire to escape.
“It’s despicable,” President Koulski panted. “We have to alert our allies in the other countries immediately. It’s now or never to prove that the nations of Earth are united, not against the Denebians and Procyonians but against the Polarians, these pseudo-men working secretly to destroy us! Marshal Gorochenko, inform our ambassadors abroad, in code, so that all the heads of state can meet in absolute secrecy tonight in Washington. I’m leaving myself in ten minutes for the United States and bringing these two men and the damning proof that they managed to acquire. Ready my special plane!”
And under his breath he whispered, “If the Polarians suspect anything at all, the human race is finished.”
The French government had just appointed Kariven to the post of Director of the French Section of the Earth-Polarian Alliance. In his office in the Foreign Ministry—Extra-Terrestrial Division—he was talking with his Cabinet Chiefs, Dormoy and Angelvin. Cabinet Chiefs was the right title because the anthropologist, although he was called a Director, was in fact considered the Minister of Extra-Terrestrial Relations. His final position was nothing but a question of administration and therefore of time…
“Our friend Zimko will arrive in Paris any time now,” he told them. “His spaceship is crossing the orbits of Mars and Jupiter where he’s setting up space patrols that are on a mission to search for the secret Denebian base that they figure is on one of the countless drifting ‘rocks’ in the asteroid belt. It’s a long-term undertaking that might last months.”
The interphone on the right on his desk rang. Kariven pressed a button and the voice of a page announced, “Two gentlemen from DAT16 to see the Director. The gentlemen say they have a message of the highest importance. Plus, they’ve got a special pass from the War Minister himself.”
“Kindly show the gentlemen in,” Kariven said.
Impeccably dressed in plain clothes, the two tall agents from DAT entered the office. After a courteous salute they showed Kariven their pass and the letter signed by the War Minister as well as the Soviet ambassador in Paris.
“We have it from reliable sources, Director,” one of them began, “that the Polarians are fooling us horribly. They’re planning to invade Earth and enslave mankind.”
Kariven, Angelvin and Dormoy were speechless at this ridiculous accusation. They just stood there in shock. Kariven automatically lit a cigarette, forgetting to offer one to his guests. Then, pale and hardly containing his indignation, he attacked, “What stupid series of circumstances brought on this nonsense?”
Unflustered by his violent reaction the two agents told him briefly about the secret message from Moscow transmitted by the Soviet ambassador to the War Minister without even going through the Foreign Ministry.
Floored by the abominable mistake that they knew perfectly well lacked any foundation the three friends did their best to convince the agents—to no avail—that the accusations were false.
“We have to ask you to accompany us right away to Orly where a special plane will take you to Washington DC,” one of the men said. “The President of the Republic, the War Minister and President Koulski are already on their way. We have strict orders: if we see even a single doubt in you about the authenticity of the message, we’ll have to… force you to go with us.”
“Is that a threat?” Kariven slipped his hand discreetly under his desk.
With unexpected speed two automatic pistols were in the hands of the two agents. “Don’t move, Director. We’re following orders and we can’t turn back. Despite the respect we have for you, we are forced to bring you and your Cabinet Chiefs, Messieurs Dormoy and Angelvin. Understand, however, that this is in no way an arrest. The War Minister insisted on this. As soon as the secret meeting in Washington is over—and when the Polarians lies have been clearly proven—you will be free because aware of your patriotic duty as Earthlings.”
Kariven stood up, livid, clenching his jaws. “We’ll follow you but you’re going to realize the horrible mistake you’re making by being the accessories to this tragic delusion.”
Two and a half hours later Kariven, Dormoy and Angelvin entered the underground department of the Pentagon where all the heads of state of the terrestrial nations and the chiefs of the Earth-Polarian Alliance were gathered. Once again could be seen the perfect union of minds of these men who only a week ago were still squabbling over all kinds of contentious matters.
The three Frenchmen were eager to see their American friends, Professor Harrington, Commander Taylor, Lieutenant Rudy Clark and the physicist Kurt Streiler, as well as the Russian friends, Zavkom and Petkov, in the assembly. But it was with a look of alarm that they shook hands and sat down in the big, vaulted underground room where the high dignitaries of the planet were already sitting.
In the place of honor next to the President of the USA, President Koulski started speaking in a shaky voice but in very correct English.
“Gentlemen, Friends. It is with great sorrow that I learned from the mouth of these two men here (he pointed out the two Russians who escaped from the Polarian prison camp) about the unbelievable lies of our so-called allies from outer space. Of course, I know that this cruel revelation is not accepted by the veterans of the Earth-Polarian Alliance. I’m referring to Mrrs. Kariven, Dormoy and Angelvin for France, Professor Harrington, Dr. Kurt Streiler, Commander Taylor and Lieutenant Rudy Clark for the USA, Colonel Zavkom and the physicist Petkov for Russia and all those who like them have seen their trust betrayed by the tyrants from outer space. These clever, devious pseudo-men knew ever so well how to put their suspicions to sleep and make them involuntary accomplices.”
The men thus named fidgeted in their chairs and exchanged meaningful glances that hid nothing of their indignation at this monstrous misunderstanding.
“I don’t want to go on about their errors,” Koulski continued, “but on the contrary come even closer together to help them out. The ideal, obviously, would be to contact the Denebians and Procyonians to tell them how strongly we desire to purge the solar system of the Polarian invaders. But alas, the latter are watching us, from space, with their squadrons guarding against our selfless liberators. How easy it was to deceive us by showing the frightful figures of these creatures—ugly in human eyes—but whose hearts are pure. It is a well-established fact that we feel an instinctive disgust of
everything that breaks drastically with the aesthetic sense in our selfish eyes. So, it’s almost normal for us to consider these hideous creatures from Deneb and Procyon as bloodthirsty demons. What a mistake, my friends, what a regrettable mistake!
“We’ll have to defy the Polarians, these beings so like humans who, we have to admit, are tarnished with the same vices and the same thirst for domination that reign over us. For, here, tonight, we have to admit our mea culpa! And I myself as President of the Supreme Soviet admit… not without some shame, that for years the behavior of the USSR was not free of blame.
“But those times are over. Discovering the real threat from outer space, Earthlings have to unite more than ever to face the invaders who are already occupying the major cities of our planet without any opposition.
“Fortunately, there are not too many of these Polarians. We have to take advantage of this to… exterminate them without delay and wait for the help that will surely be coming from our friends the Denebians and Pro…”
“That’s murder!” Kariven shouted, boiling with rage, jumping out of his seat and imitated right away by the veterans of the Alliance.
The President of the USA furrowed his brow, shocked by the untimely and quite improper interruption. He banged his mallet on the desk to demand silence.
President Koulski raised his hand and his voice at the same time. “I understand Mr. Kariven’s reaction and his faithful friends. But I ask them for a few more minutes of their attention in order to see the incontrovertible proof that opened my own eyes.”
He made a sign to the two Russians and the lights went out. The film was projected on the panoramic screen at the back of the room, followed by comments that produced murmurs of rage and indignation at the hateful treatment inflicted on the Earthlings, Denebians and Procyonians by the Polarian “frauds”.
When the lights came back on President Koulski turned to Kariven and his companions and asked, “Well, gentlemen, are you convinced now?”
“Less than ever!” the anthropologist stood up again to take the floor. “I claim, on behalf of my comrades present here, the pioneers of the Earth-Polarian Alliance, that this film is fake and they were never taken prisoner by the Polarians. At most it’s a pretty clumsy fiction we owe to the Denebians. The proof? The first shot shows the camp normally. It’s taken from the ground and looks like any other landscape filmed in a straight line along the horizon. In this case the Polarian capital in the background should logically be along a horizontal line from the camp. But this is not the case. Although the camp was filmed horizontally, the city was filmed at an angle!
“And you should’ve understand why. It’s easy to see that the Denebians could not film the capital calmly from the ground. They had to do it with a powerful zoom lens from high up in the air on board their spaceships or maybe even from outer space thanks to a space viewer. That’s why the camp, which is actually their own, is seen horizontally and the city at an angle.”
“And how do you explain the treatment inflicted on the prisoners by the Polarian guards?” the President of the USA asked.
“That’s also staged, Mr. President,” Kariven shot back. “The Denebians made their Earthling and Polarian captives unconscious and submitted them to their mechano-psychic machine to make them follow their orders. A few Denebians and Procyonian allies played the role of prisoners, along with the real ones, suffering the punishments of the so-called Polarian guards. “
“That sounds like some crazy fantasy,” the President shrugged.
“Just like flying saucers until the day of contact,” Commander Taylor said quite rightly. “Can we deny today that eminent scientists thought the sightings of these machines was pure folly and didn’t hesitate to accuse the people who saw them on the ground or in the sky as lunatics?”
“Errare humanum est17,” President Koulski philosophized.
“Exactly!” Kariven cut in. “All of you, gentlemen, are making the same mistake right now by trusting the film and story of these men… under the psychic control of the Denebians, the green monsters whom my friends and I have fought and who are no doubt watching us right now thanks to their space viewers. Hiding in the cosmic void they are following our debate and happy to see that their ploy hasn’t been found out by you, the Rulers of this world.
“I guarantee that you can believe in the existence of these Denebian psychic machines. They paralyze the will of whoever is influenced and the Denebians have psychic control over them. They can make them say and do anything to deceive the brothers of their unconscious victims. My companions and I can guarantee this because our Polarian friends have the same machines.”
All the members of the Alliance confirmed the statement of their French chief.
“But,” Koulski spoke with a strange glint in his eye, “if you admit that the Polarians have a similar invention, then we’re right to wonder if you members of the Alliance aren’t right now under the psychic control of the Polarians!”
“Craft bringeth nothing home,” the President of the USA cited, shouting an order immediately afterward, “Arrest these men!” Turning to Kariven and the other members of the Alliance he said, “I’m sorry it came to this, gentlemen, but finding it impossible to prove either your involuntary guilt or your sincerity, we have to protect ourselves against any possible rebellion. You will be put in prison but not as criminals. You will be well treated and as soon as the situation clears up and the first contact with the Denebians and Procyonians is made, you’ll be released and given a psychic examination by the Denebian neurologists. They will know how to get out of your subconscious the psychic orders imprinted by your filthy masters, the Polarians whom we were too quick to trust.”
“This is the most pathetic mistake in human history!” Kariven shouted, struggling in the hands of the FBI agents taking him away.
The last words that he and his arrested friends heard before leaving the room struck them with horror:
“Now, gentlemen, we have to have a plan of action to take any means whatsoever to destroy the foothold that the Polarians have established on our planet.”
It had been two days since the crews of the Polarian spaceships in every capital of the world, after finishing their duties, were enjoying some well-earned free time. They were supposed to return to their ships the next morning at six and were using their time well.
Some, in response to invitations from Earthlings of all kinds and from all social classes, were spending the evening with a native family. Others, more eclectic, were visiting museums and research centers that were left open during the night for them. Others again, attracted by the beauty of Earth women, left behind the relics in the museum to devote their time to pretty girls. In couples, happy and carefree, they went to the movies, the theater, nightclubs and thus mingled intimately with the terrestrial way of life, experiencing some of their amusements with a courteous smile behind which lurked funny thoughts about the immature performances on screen and stage.
The Polarian co-pilots and radar technicians, ravishing in their shiny or phosphorescent bodysuits, appreciated the company of Earthlings who were, in their turn, won over by their charms and simplicity. Romances were born in all countries with these beings who were both sympathetic to the backwards terrestrial civilization and also ready to help their “descendants”. And this sometimes caused envy in the men or women who, given the small number of Polarians, could not get over their weaknesses. But everyone, for the most part, got along well and no obvious hostility was shown.
Things suddenly happened with unexpected quickness, without any sign to give the slightest hint of a suspected attack.
In every capital in the world where the Polarians had landed, the Assault Divisions with hand-to-hand combat specialists carried out swift attacks. The combined operations took place simultaneously, at the same time in every place.
Breaking into movie theaters, nightclubs, houses, anywhere Polarian men and women were found with their new Earthling friends, the Assault Divisions se
t upon the enemy. Tear gas was used in the theaters to overcome the Polarians who had suddenly understood the cause of the attack thanks to their paroptic vision.
Everyone who tried to flee, not daring to use their disintegrator weapons and thus sparing the lives of the Earthlings, was struck down shamefully. Nor did the Polarian women escape the revolting carnage. Earthling men belonging to the Alliance tried to interfere for their trustworthy friends from outer space but they suffered the same fate and were either arrested or killed.
Of the 7,000 Polarians staying on Earth, more than 4,000 were slaughtered and the others, when they surrendered or managed to be taken, were shot with knock-out gas from a safe distance. The masked men of the Assault Division brought them immediately to the closest prisons where medication kept them unconscious. All telepathic communication with their fellow Polarians flying in the atmosphere or in space was cut off.
Zimko, who had to delay his return to Earth for more than 15 hours because of a battle between his squadron and some enemy ships on the outskirts of Vesta, was now heading toward our planet.
All of a sudden he stiffened up at the commands of his Fimn’has. His face tensed, his eyes staring forward, he was getting a bunch of psychic messages, some clear, others weirdly blurry like fadings in radio signals. At his side Tlyka felt the same thing and had the same problem “reading” the confused messages from their brothers on Earth.
The Earthlings are attacking us! they heard, stunned.
Other snippets, more and more unclear, wormed their way in, like some inaudible chant, causing interference in their hearing.
We’re surrounded… impossible to use our disintegrators without causing terrible damage to the people around us… The Denebians convinced the Earthlings… Now we’re enemies of Earth… The Earthlings think we’re smearing Denebians by calling them enemies… They were able… that we’re the real conquerors of Earth.