Contact across the Solar System

Los Angeles, City of Angels I

During this time, Kalna and Ilmuth became well-known for their expertise on Earther spaceflight. Though several other SSC people have also worked on that issue over the years, those two became the biggest celebrities for doing so, likely from their association with George.

Back to the early years of Earther spaceflight, the two would sometimes get frustrated with how some Earth residents did not seem to know their way around Earther spaceflight. Some residents, in turn, felt that they wanted someone with suitable expertise to help them out. So in the mid 1960's, the two got ready to reside on the Earth and help other residents learn what to look for -- and even do some research themselves. They would live in the biggest Earther spacefarer nation, the United States, an almost absurdly open nation. One could easily walk into a major university library and get a huge bulk of information, and one could even visit its main spaceport to watch its rocket launches. The other major Earther spacefarer nation, the Soviet Union, was much less open and much more secretive, though it was gradually becoming more open. Several other nations were interested in getting into outer space, but they were barely starting to do so, if they got into space at all.

They went to a training center in Venus's capital city and biggest city, Saanalokam, and they practiced interacting in Earther fashion, learning various skills that many industrialized-country Earthers take for granted. Skills like how to use a rotary-dial telephone ("It doesn't have a memory. You'll have to write down the numbers that you'll need.") and how to use a typewriter ("No memory in it either.") and how to drive an Earther car. They also learned unarmed self-defense techniques, like martial arts and telepathic thought-projection attacks. "You will always have a weapon: yourself," said one instructor.

They also practiced surviving Earth weather in environment chambers, weather like heat and cold and humidity and wind and rain and snow. Many people used these chambers for sports and entertainment, but for Earth-resident trainees, it was important practice. Even so, the two had some fun there, like snowball fights. They also saw some video of things more difficult to simulate, like lightning and thunder -- a giant electric discharge with a loud explosion sound. Also lots of cloud patterns and atmospheric optical effects like rainbows. They even saw some video of a tornado up close from a scout. The vehicle's pilot said about it "This is as close as I dared."

They also chose Earther names for themselves. Kalna chose Susan Lindquist and Ilmuth Karen Calabrese, names which suggested origin from similar-looking Earthers. The two then practiced using these names with each other, because they'd have to address each other with those names when around Earthers.

By early 1968, they were ready. They were to try to learn about NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the main control center for the Americans' interplanetary spacecraft. The Russians were too secretive and paranoid to learn much about, and no other nations were doing interplanetary spaceflights back then.

They packed their bags with a lot of Earther clothes to wear and a lot of synthetic gemstones to sell to earn some money. They then rode the Aurora to the Earth, this time as passengers, and this time wearing Earther clothes: summer dresses. They also had light jackets with them, since other residents warned them that nights can get rather cold. The Aurora parked in the stratosphere above the Pacific Ocean several hundred kilometers southwest of Santa Barbara on the southern California coast. It was midday and the Aurora's pilots had to use their ship's active camouflage to hide their ship from the Earthers.

That night, they sent their ship to a few hundred kilometers away from Santa Barbara, and some scouts departed from it to pick up some residents who wanted to rest among their fellow SSC people. The scouts returned, and the pilots introduced the returning residents to Kalna and Ilmuth. After a few days, the residents headed back to the Earth's surface, with the two women going with two of them. They did so in a late evening, with only a thin band of light on the western horizon. As the scout went over Santa Barbara, one of the residents commented that the town's namesake is the Catholic Church's patron saint of explosives, and that some people who work with explosives use statues of her as protection against accidental explosions.