Jes quickly came to my side and suggested that we go to his and Maggie’s apartment.  “What the hell happened, Jes?  Are Mos and Gael OK?”  He didn’t say another word until we were inside their apartment.

“Sit down on the couch with me, and I’ll answer all of your questions.”  

             We both sat down.  “OK,” I said, “what happened?”

“There’s been an assassination, Rich.”

“Mos?”

            “No, not him and not Gael.” Confused, I looked at him since I had no idea who it could be if it was not one of them.  Then, he told me that it was Stella.

Confused, I screamed, “Stella?  It couldn’t have been Stella.  I was just talking with her.”  I couldn’t process fully what he was saying. I thought he wasn’t making sense.         

“That was Stella’s clone outside.  I know it’s hard to be calm right now, Rich, but you’ll soon understand if you just listen carefully.” Tears were forming in my eyes, and I shook my head in denial. ”Stella stopped by here after your interview, and the three of us went out for dinner; when we returned, she was walking in front of Maggie and me when she suddenly fell to the ground.  Her death was immediate, and I’m sure she felt little to no pain. We heard no gunshot because the assassin probably used a sound-mask, a kind of silencer. There was no blood since Creians do not normally bleed from their wounds due to very rapid regeneration of skin and internal tissues. 

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“No, Rich, it’s not dangerous at all when used this way.  It can be dangerous in some other circumstances.”  

“Like when, for instance?”

            “Like in space travel when using much more sophisticated vision-seekers. Semi-domes, pods and hyper-pods are our three main kinds of spacecraft; all are driven by solar energy and simultaneous crew imaging.  With semi-domes, all the crews’ images need to be in sync in order to operate successfully.  A master computer can take control of the imaging to avoid mistakes unless, of course, it malfunctions.  If the visions are not in sync, a crew could miss a destination by light-years.  With pods and hyper-pods, used for long distance trips, master computers take over the visions just before the crew is hibernating in space-sleep.”

            We took a break for the rest of the day from discussing what she learned in Village 7.  Instead, we went on a late afternoon picnic south-east of Englewood, Ohio.   After gathering our food and other items, we left the apartment, taking I-70 West to SR 48 and driving north to Englewood Dam.   It was a good opportunity to get to know her better and to create a mental balance that we both needed.

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Chapter Orange

            The months prior to the 1976 December holidays were quite busy.  Stella kept me hopping, practicing imaging with the vision-seeker disc, increasing our memory-dancing schedule to nightly experiences and, in November, initiating daytime visits to Village 7 by way of a B.O.D. (Bridge Our Distance) machine—a hologram transporter.  In solidified hologram form, I began reading articles and viewing videos of U.S. history from various alien points-of-view and was given access to articles and video histories of various planets within the Milky Way.  The more I learned, the more intrigued I became with the presence of the aliens.   They really were on Earth to study and understand us and watch us slowly mature.  Had they wished, they could have destroyed our branch of Homo sapiens easily within one day.

In addition to the activities with Stella, I began regularly scheduled preparations for my teaching, creating handouts and making decisions about how I wanted to approach various suggested topics and plans by the class members after beginning informal meetings with them individually and as a group.  Daed and Stefini, our latest volunteers, were included.  Like the others, they were very intelligent, friendly, enthusiastic and informal.

I also asked Gael and Mos for weekly private meetings to help me improve my self-discoveries and understandings. These were thematic; for example, one kind focused on my sleep behavior.   “Rich,” said Gael, “think of dreams that you remember well and focus on one that you really do not yet understand but that fascinated you since it happened.”  I was having a private consultation with her and Mos near Christmas.  It didn’t take me long to focus on a particular dream. 

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