Contact across the Solar System

Going Aboard

Some months later, Orthon decided that he was ready to try some more far-reaching contacts. He was confident that his command of English was good enough for that, so that he would not have to depend on gestures and telepathy. His friends and fellow pilots Kalna and Ilmuth volunteered to help out, and their English was also reasonably good. So Orthon gave George another telepathic hint, this time to go to a Los Angeles hotel.

At that hotel, after helping a young woman who was one of his students, George was met by two youngish-looking men, Ramu from Saturn, a tall Mediterranean-ish one with black hair and brown eyes who wore a dark brown business suit, and Firkon from Mars, a more average-height one with blond hair and grayish-blue eyes who wore a gray one. Strictly speaking, Ramu was from the Saturnian system, from one of Saturn's numerous moons, but calling him a Saturnian was a common shorthand. Firkon knew George's name and did a palm-to-palm greeting with him. George decided that they were some of the Venusian's friends, and he went with them.

All three got into the two men's car, and Firkon drove them out of LA, past lots of suburbs, and into the surrounding desert. Ramu described how they covertly live on the Earth, working to earn money, mingling with Earth people, learning about them and what they do, and being careful never to reveal where they are from. They were almost indistinguishable from Earth people, and they spoke almost perfect English by local standards.

They met Orthon and his scout in the desert, and Firkon and Ramu left their car behind there. All four went aboard the scout, and before long, they were flying off with Orthon piloting. George looked at some displays on the vehicle's central pillar, seeing constellations of stars above and constellations of city lights below. They soon saw the scout's mothership Aurora, high in the sky, a huge black shadow in the night.

The scout went inside, and all four men disembarked. The scout was in a hangar with several other scouts, and a technician was waiting to attach a charging cable and to operate some inspection machinery. They visited the ship's very high-tech control room, and then the ship's lounge. Kalna and Ilmuth were there, both in jeweled-belt long dresses. Kalna's was light blue with her wearing golden sandals, and Ilmuth's was light green with her wearing coppery sandals, and George would make the two well-known for wearing those outfits. George was surprised at the sight of female space travelers, and he found the two women's appearance totally spectacular.

After looking at some of the pictures on the lounge's walls, the six people found some seats, and they had some very nice, enlightening conversation. George failed to find any ashtrays, so he decided not to smoke. George's trip also included getting to see outer space and the Earth from there, and an audience with a spiritual adept.

George had several other such close encounters of the friendly kind, with his SSC friends taking him into outer space several times. One of them was on a ship from the Saturn system, where his main contact was a (male) Saturnian pilot named Zuhl, someone who looked rather Central to East Asian. Another one was on the Aurora again. On that one, he got a trip to the Moon and a going-away party for Firkon and Ramu. They were returning to their homeworlds after their covert residence on the Earth.