BALENN

Chapter 8: Vilos

The next item of entertainment is presented to you by, our sister planet, called Vilos, said Bishop. The people of Vilos, like ourselves on Balenn, are advanced travelers. They have chosen for their life style on Vilos, one that is similar to your time of King Arthur, with many people living in castles. I'm sure you will fi nd this interesting. The sphere began to move. It began slowly enough that the take off was smooth and unnoticeable. Once in motion, the sphere accelerated upward from Balenn, until it was hurtling through space at about warp two.

There wasn't much to see, until a thread like object appeared ahead and above them. As they approached, the thread got larger. It now looked like a thick rope. A closer look, revealed an even stranger effect. The thread was a winding road. It was more of a trough, for the sphere to slide in, than a road. The sphere slowed as it approached the trough. It settled itself into the trough with a jerk. The sphere began to move, as if sliding down hill. There was no rolling motion of the sphere. It was as if water was fl owing in the trough, carrying the sphere along with it. They accelerated to just under warp one and stayed at that speed for a few moments. They began to slow again. Sarah and Kelly had their cameras touching the sphere's wall, in an attempt to get a closer look. The end of the road was visible, way off in the distance.

There seemed to be a planet at the end of the road and as they got closer, they could see it was indeed a greenish planet. A few more moments passed, as they sped down the trough. Space particles sped by them, as though they were in the Earth's solar system. This planet obviously had gravity, because objects were orbiting around it, thought Allen. This must be some kind of space highway between planets? Mountains could be seen to protrude from the planet. It looks like this road ends on the top of that mountain, said Cliff to Beem. It does indeed, said Beem and guess what is on top of that mountain? A castle I'll bet, said Kelly. Quite right, said Beem.

They were coming within human eye range now and everyone could see it was definitely a castle. It is complete with dungeons and drawbridges, said Bo. I don't know if I am going to like this, said Marie. They never had much respect for human life in those days. You will not be in any danger Marie, said Bo. We are always in control. The sphere came to a halt, just outside the castle. It was a barren spot, except for a trough, similar to the one they just traveled in, winding its way down the mountain. The valleys were green and fully treed, just like on earth. Except for the trough, instead of a road, it looked like earth. There was even snow in places. The sun didn't seem quite the right color though, but close enough. So far, there was no sign of life. The sphere moved slowly around the castle, so everyone could get a good look at it. It did not have a moat. It looked similar to the castle the evil witch of the East lived in, in the Wizard of Oz. An odd looking object protruded from the top of the main tower. It looked like a giant mushroom. Allen noted that it seemed to be an energy gathering device. It probably worked on wind power, he thought.

The sphere centered itself just outside the front main door. Now what, asked Cliff? Now we transpose inside the castle sphere and all, said Bo. He had no sooner spoken, when that buzzing noise came up again and presto they were right inside the castle, hovering about twenty feet off the floor, in a room that was fifty feet high and thirty feet in diameter. The sphere hung there almost centered perfectly. There was still no sign of life. The castle was well illuminated inside. Pictures of human like faces, hung from the walls. There were doorways everywhere in the room; some at ground level, some half way up and some right on top of the wall. The doors were odd to look at, because of the access to them. They had small troughs instead of stairways, going to various rooms. The troughs looked like they were made of glass, but everyone assumed they were made of the same material, that their sphere was. Bishop's voice came up again. In order to enjoy life in a castle, the people of Vilos live and move around in life support spheres, similar to what we are in. They gave up long ago trying to heat the building. Instead of wasting energy, they chose to travel around in their own individual life support spheres. These spheres actually give them more freedom, even though they may seem restrictive. They protect the inhabitants from projectiles, from the weather and they are much faster than walking. The troughs enable them to travel downhill, without using hardly any energy. Of course, to climb the stairs, energy must be used for levitation. The castle seemed to be made of bricks and mortar. It looked cold also, as most castles are. One would almost expect to see Errol Flynn come dashing out, in a sword fight scene. From one of the rooms, small spheres began to emerge. They popped out of the door, like bubbles from a bubble blowing machine. Their motion was extremely slow. They were coming from the upper door, on the right had side of the front wall. When they were all finally visible, there were nine of them. They lined up inside the trough, leading to that door. They sat there motionless, while something seemed to be forming inside of them. I'll bet they are eggs, thought Allen. This is probably the hatching process. The hatching process stopped and you could see clearly inside of each one. They seemed empty, except for a blue control chair. The spheres never slid down the trough as expected, but rose instead, into the air, up towards their main sphere. I think those chairs are for us, said Cliff. Right again, said Bo. They will enter our sphere shortly, for us to use as shuttle crafts. The  rst small sphere pushed up along side the main sphere. It rested there for a few seconds, and then began to pass through the wall of the main sphere, similar to the way small bubbles can pass through larger bubbles on earth. Once inside, it positioned itself over next to Kelly, as if to say "I am your sphere". Kelly examined it carefully, even the underneath. The chair was a comfortable looking, captain's chair. It had compartments built into the front of the arms. Each compartment had a small silver latch that held it closed. Small speakers were visible in the outside edges of the chair's headrest. There were no bolts visible anywhere that would anchor the chair to the sphere. She gave the tiny sphere a good punch. It reacted the same way as the main sphere. The wall flexed inward and popped right back out. It looks at least as sturdy as our sphere, said Kelly smiling. What do I do now, she asked Beenan? Just step inside, as though the wall of the sphere wasn't there. Kelly pushed against the sphere and her hand went right through it. She tried the other hand and it went through also; so she just stepped in and sat down on the plush captain's chair. These shuttles are controlled by your voice, said Beenan. Just tell it what or where you want to do or go and it will obey. She touched the sphere again, to see if it was still permeable. It had returned to the same feeling as their main sphere. It was resistant to her push. She took a couple of deep breaths, wondering where the air was coming from, if she was sealed in. She tried moving it. Turn sphere, she said hesitantly. The sphere turned ninety degrees to the left. Rise sphere, she said and the sphere rose up about two meters. Back to where you were sphere, she said. The sphere settled back in its original spot. Kelly was smiling now. She liked her sphere and she was gaining confidence in it.