Invisible Aliens and the Midnight Watch

CR 164

Billy:

You really have it lately with the Fridays.

Quetzal:

1. It just turns out like this because the present work only allows that in each case, I can put aside more time on Fridays in order to carry on a conversation with you, while the rest of the days of the week only offer short rests, which I normally found in the Centre, but which, unfortunately, has been becoming more and more difficult for a long time.

Billy:

You should just take more time for that.

Quetzal:

2. It is not because of that, for in the Centre itself, there are reasons for the fact that my rest becomes more and more difficult there and has already become almost an impossibility.

Billy:

You mean that the night watch participants have gotten better in their attention?

Quetzal:

3. No, the reason is not to be found there, for the attentiveness of various ones and the devotion to duty, as always, leaves much to be desired.

4. Moreover, I have equipped my screening device with a new invention of mine, which I can program in each case for those on watch duty, according to which I, by the apparatus, automatically become invisible to the watch participants, together with my device, if they look in my direction.

Billy:

Now something dawns on me: some time ago, Engelbert told me that as he was coming from the garage, he saw a large figure in front of the barn, which suddenly disappeared.

Quetzal:

5. That may be possible because I tested the device first, and it happened that at first, the sensors adapted themselves a bit sluggishly to the viewing swinging waves, whereby they performed the necessary manipulation just 1½ seconds too late.

Even Sensors can still sleep by Engelbert Wächter, Switzerland A very rare and therefore rather precious experience in no less than three episodes in connection with our Plejaren friends I hereby put on paper. The record should make visible that also human beings who travel in space do not simply have everything fall into their legendary lap without a lot of sweat and effort. As we all know in Billy’s group, it was and is of vital importance for his Plejaren friends to ‘arm’ themselves with a device that could be roughly described as a sight and swinging wave protection device when making personal inspection trips to planets. This is a device that was developed a very long time ago especially as a sight and swinging wave protection, on the one hand for personal protection for space travellers who are foreign to the planet, and on the other hand as protection against sight in the case of unexpected personal contacts with planetarians, i.e. with human beings of a foreign planet, who have not yet evolved to a great extent. At the beginning, his friends always carried this rather heavy and bulky thing around with them, like an overfilled shopping bag, but not for Billy’s presence. Now we knew from cosy conversations with Billy that Quetzal was tired of lugging around this monstrosity of a protective device during contacts and that he had decided some time ago to develop a new, much smaller and, above all, lighter device with even better properties. According to Billy, the new device would in future be no bigger than a packet of cigarettes and could then also be worn by female space travellers on a belt around the waist. Unfortunately, the exact date has slipped my mind, but it occurred to me that I still had some personal work to do in our garage – a kind of hobby room for me. So I marched cheerfully through the front door and the porch, which Billy let his group make for safety reasons in the early days of the centre’s life, and stepped outside. Looking in the direction of the garage, I immediately saw a large man who was obviously in a hurry to disappear behind the garage. But what was that? He had not yet reached the building protecting him from view and was still at least a metre short of the wall – then suddenly he was simply gone, just as Billy had disappeared from the roof of the coach house or from his workroom back then. He was gone, just like that, and without having really reached the protective wall of the garage. This occurrence began to arouse curiosity in me and to crank up my train of thought about who this man might have been. But soon I turned to my actual work, which also wanted to be done. A short time later, after about two weeks, I was walking in the direction of my car in the Remise car park, and for about two seconds I spotted a man again between the cars parked in rows, who had just disappeared behind a car in a stooped position. My immediate check behind the car brought no result. But now it began to dawn on me – didn’t Quetzal want to develop a new, much smaller and above all lighter sight and swinging wave protection device and put it to use as quickly as possible? And again a few days passed and – were they coincidences? – on my way to my car, I did not notice a man for a fraction of a second, but only an almost invisible shadow of a human figure. It has to be said at this point, without wanting to step on the toes of somewhat sensitive human beings, that such sighting situations, especially by human beings without a trained eye, are either not noticed or hardly registered. Where else, we ask ourselves in retrospect, would the test series of a newly developed super-sight and swinging wave protection device have been better carried out than in our centre, where the tester could be more certain than anywhere else that human beings who suddenly come face to face with a human being appearing as if from nowhere, would not run around screaming or otherwise go crazy. For Quetzal, his enormous effort has now paid off, because in a relatively short time he has managed to wake up the still sleeping sensors of the brand new device and bring them up to speed. Congratulations!

6. Hence, it might be possible that Engelbert could observe me for a very short time.

7. But in truth, the reason why rest becomes more and more impossible for me in the Centre does not lie with the watch participants.

8. I am very sorry about this because the Centre has become a real home to me, and I truly feel very comfortable there.

Billy:

That pleases me tremendously, my friend, but now, I no longer understand why a stay in the Centre should become impossible for you.

Quetzal:

9. The reason does not lie with a group member.

Billy:

Then probably foreign elements, which are not seen by the night watchers, must roam around.

Quetzal:

10. That is, indeed, the case every now and then, especially on the promontory and on the new road on the slope, for various watch participants do not fulfil their duty there, as well as not on the promontory, where, incidentally, the defective fence becomes penetrated.

11. Nevertheless, these strangers, who are sometimes well-known to me, do not disturb me because I am also protected against them.

12. They also cannot see me.

Billy:

Then I understand nothing more at all. Tell me at last, where are the difficulties to be found?

Quetzal:

13. The difficulties are to be found in the swinging waves.

14. My device only works properly, in reference to the shielding of swinging waves and their neutralisation, if the group members of the watch, etc., are not approaching me in a range closer than 70 centimetres.

15. But with a few group members, this distance is even further – so around 6 metres, namely with Dorit, Thomas, and Margaret, while with Elsa, even a distance of more than 7 metres is given, which is not surprising, however, because her sense [mindset] towards me is no less filled with strange hostility than it is towards you.

16. A fact that she, nevertheless, will not admit, even though she does everything to let it be made known by scurrilous words against you and me, for she simply cannot take the truth, even though she could if she would finally be honest to herself.

17. All that, however, causes no difficulties for me, for I have constructed my device in such a manner that upon approaches of individual group members and according to their swinging wave ranges that are dangerous for me, I am automatically removed from the danger zone by the device as soon as the persons concerned come closer to me than the safety threshold of 38 centimetres beyond the distance of the swinging wave measurement that is dangerous for me.

18. The mechanical possibilities for such manipulations, however, lie in an area with a maximum of 9 metres, so I can, therefore, protect myself in this manner up to this distance.

19. If I would now find myself somewhere, where I have no exact overview – thus, I cannot see a threat early on when someone approaches me, having swinging waves that are dangerous for me and that are beyond the 9-metre distance, then it could be fatal for me.

20. If I stand or sit somewhere and someone approaches me, whose danger limit for me is beyond the 9 metres mentioned, then everything would lead to a bad end.

Billy:

But you still have the alarm device that warns you about it, when someone is within 500 metres.

Quetzal:

21. The stronger energies of my device make the function of this warning device impossible.

Billy:

But then, why does your bucket function with strangers when they are standing on the promontory or on the new path, etc.?

Quetzal:

22. From a 14-metre radius from my person, an apparatus in my flying apparatus takes over the monitoring.

23. If a corresponding warning arises, then this is transmitted to my carrying device, through which this enters into function without any time delay.

24. But now, if someone moves in the circle between 9 and 14 metres around me and is dangerous for me in their swinging waves, in this 9 to 14-metre circle, then there is no protection but only mortal danger.

Billy:

But why do you leave this 4 or 5-metre circle open? You could, nevertheless, also protect yourself for this distance, right?

Quetzal:

25. Unfortunately no.

26. For the time being, the possibility with a carrying device is still fully exhausted at 9 metres, in reference to its function.

27. But after this distance, there must be a neutral ring of at least 4 metres, so that the energies and surveillance equipment of my aircraft can operate and work.

28. If this safety belt did not exist, then the energies of my carrying device and those of the ship would collide with each other or overflow into one another, through which a destruction of the equipment would come about.

Billy:

So no advantage without disadvantage.

Quetzal:

29. That is of correctness.

30. We also have these problems.

Billy:

But I do not yet understand, who among us is a danger for you? You said yourself that the extreme danger of a little over 7 metres lies with our people.

Quetzal:

31. I told you, however, that someone else is present, who is to be reckoned as outside of the group members.

Billy:

I do not understand that.

Quetzal:

32. W.

Billy:

W.?

Quetzal:

33. That is of correctness, and he is a constant and ever increasing danger for me.

34. In the extreme case, he may only come 13 metres and 71 centimetres close to me.

35. Closer than this mark, I run a great risk.

Billy:

That is puzzling to me.

Quetzal:

36. His sense toward us is not good; it is even strangely hostile and interspersed with thoughts that exhibit doubts regarding our actual existence.

37. This also often comes to expression more in gatherings with his acquaintances and so-called friends, but who are truly no friends to him.

38. In addition to these facts is also the fact that he does rather strange things that are not right and that would have to be punished according to our terms and, by the way, also on the Earth, as corresponding regulations are given for this.

39. But about this, I will still have to tell you some things later in secrecy, which will not exactly be pleasing to you.

40. However, these are not matters that fall within our direct realm.

41. What is objectionable to us is this:

42. We have also contributed our good part for your Centre, and we also cherished the joy that we could feel at home there.

43. This has actually so happened over time – not only with me, as also Pleija, Ptaah, and Semjase as well as various others found the Centre as their home over time, according to which we stayed in there very often, though unobserved, especially at nighttime, when the swinging waves of the group members are better.

44. But for a long time, this has been prevented to us more and more by W. and his acquaintances.

45. For safety reasons for you and the Centre, as well as for the rest of the group members present there, the ordinal rule was issued that as of midnight, a watch is to be carried out until dawn, during which time no other persons should wander around anymore in the open, except in special cases, as it was established in writing.

46. But W. adheres to this in no wise, for at all hours of the night he is to be found everywhere in the open, often truthfully searching for you and us, which you call by the expression spying….