BALENN

Chapter 7 : Balenn

Well, it is about time to depart, interrupted Beenan. Let's all resume our places. Everyone grabbed their marker and tried to sit in exactly the same place as before. Position yourselves like last time, with straight back and hands on the legs, said Beenan. It won't be any different than last time. You might want to watch for Cliff's fog. The Ehesti put their arms on the shoulders of the person next to them, as before. Marie was no longer-trembling and everyone was ready. As before, they faded out of sight in a few seconds and the house was empty again.

This time, they materialized where they were supposed to, in the life support sphere on Balenn. Cliff and Kirby had left their eyes open this time. They were watching the sphere take shape and come into focus. It was as if they had just woken up from a dream, to find themselves in a strange glass-like ball. Outside the sphere was pale blue, like the sky at mid-day, but without any sun. The room they were in was about twelve meters in diameter. The Ehesti removed their interlocking arms from the shoulders of their guests. Can we get up and move around, asked Sarah? By all means, said Beenan.

We are here safe and sound on Balenn. What do you think? Wow, exclaimed Kelly, here we are. Kelly knew that statement didn't sound too descriptive, but she was to overcome with surprise, to make conversation just yet. Even Beem and Bo looked like they hadn't seen any of this before. The sphere was not anything like when the trio was up there earlier. It was now all decked out in what looked like Christmas decorations, but with off Christmas colors, like blue and pink. There were all the familiar snack foods on trays, in almost every room. The first thing Sarah did was take off her shoes. The floor of the sphere was so soft, that her partial high heeled shoes wanted to bend when she walked on it. She had brought with her a pair of sneakers, which she put on. While she was lacing her shoes up, she was looking around at the sphere. She looked up at the roof. The roof of the sphere was transparent, as well as the walls. Only the floor could not be seen through. Look up there, suggested Allen.

They all turned to look up. No clouds, no stars, no sun. As the earth's atmosphere shows up blue over a distance, so does the atmosphere on Balenn, except a much lighter shade of powder blue, said Beenan. There was no ground to look at. Rays of red light were coming from their left and seemingly bending, as they passed through the area that should be the ground. As they bent, they fared out into the full color spectrum, so that above was reddish and below was multicolored. There seemed to be no motion in the light shafts, as if they were tight colored wires. The source and the termination of these light shafts, was not visible. These light rays passed below and behind the sphere. There seemed to be no purpose for them, other than to brighten up the sky. Directly ahead of them, where only the pale blue atmosphere like color predominated, green shafts were parallel as in the Aurora Borealis on earth. The green light shafts came closer and closer until they seemed to be right inside the sphere with them. Marie moved back to get out of the way, but the light shafts passed right through her, as well as everything else in the sphere. Cliff noted a tingly feeling when the light passed through him, but he wasn't sure if he was just imagining things. He closed his eyes, to see if he could feel them still. Kelly reached over and punched him lightly in the shoulder. This is no time to take a nap, she said. Cliff laughed, but shut up abruptly, to allow the show to continue.

As if sucked up by a vacuum cleaner, the light shafts gathered into a large green ball. Prom that ball, floating italic letters began to emerge. The letters began to form words. The letters were rounded and seemed to have a cloud-like look. They were moving constantly, in a rolling motion. The rolling motion caused the outside edges to show up darker, like a border. Each letter, as it came out of the green ball, formed itself completely, began to sparkle as if someone threw a handful of star-dust on it. Each letter moved further away from the ball, at a constant speed, leaving room for the rest of the letters to come out. The words read "Welcome to Balenn Earth people from North America." We, the Ehesti people of Balenn hope to present you with the greatest show you have ever seen. The green letters faded away and the smell of roses filled the air. The green ball than began to shrink to a small green dot. The dot exploded like fi reworks and each tiny particle spread outward, until they disappeared. The sky resumed its pale blue color, while the colored light shafts behind and below the sphere also faded away. A soothing music began to play, with unidentifiable instrument sounds. A voice blending perfectly with the music began to sing, but speak as well, through the music. I am your host. My name is "Bishop." Where audio is necessary to enhance an activity, I will explain. The music and the voice had no source. It seemed to come from everywhere, but not loud. Allen thought it was prerecorded. In fact, this entire program is probably pre-recorded, he thought. He decided to ask Beenan. Is that a recording, he asked? Why don't you ask it, replied Beenan? If it answers back, it couldn't be a recording. Are you for real asked Allen? The voice replied, "Most definitely." I am not visible to you, but I am here. Ask anything you like. Thank you, said Allen. I have no questions right now, but thank you for the beautiful welcome display. I am glad you like it, replied Bishop. Don't hold back if you feel skeptical about the validity of anything you see or hear today. We welcome all curiosity. I won't say too much on this right now, but your mind tells me telepathically of course, that you have somewhat of an elegant welcoming celebration planned for Beenan, Bo and Beem very soon also. Let us return your compliment and say thank you in advance for that.