The woman in white had stood there listening, saying nothing, but now her thoughts floated into the minds of those standing in the field. We have come here to prevent you from destroying your planet. We are all part of one universe. Look up.

Their heads turned toward the sky. There was an enormous white cloud overhead, and as they stared up at it, it seemed to change before their eyes. They were looking at a vision of a polar ice cap, and as they watched, it began to melt, and the water came pouring through the rivers and oceans of the world, flooding London and Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo, and coastal cities around the world in a dizzying montage. The vision changed to an enormous vista of desolate farmlands, with crops burnt to cinders under a broiling, merciless sun, and the corpses of dead animals strewn across the landscape. The scene before their eyes changed again, and they saw riots in China, and famines in India, and a devastating nuclear war, and finally, people living in caves. The vision slowly disappeared.

There was a moment of awed silence. That is your future if you go on as you are.

Admiral Whittaker was the first to recover. “Mass hypnosis,” he snapped. “I’m sure you can show us other interesting tricks.” He moved toward the alien. “I’m taking you back to Washington with me. We have a lot of information to get from you.” The Admiral looked at Robert. “You’re finished.” He turned to Frank Johnson. “Take care of him.”

Colonel Johnson removed his pistol from his holster.

Susan broke away from Monte, and ran to Robert’s side. “No!” she screamed.

“Kill him!” Admiral Whittaker said.

Colonel Johnson was pointing a gun at the Admiral. “Admiral –you’re under arrest.”

Admiral Whittaker was staring at him. “What … What are you saying? I told you to kill him. You’re one of us.”

“You’re wrong. I never have been. I infiltrated your organization a long time ago. I was looking for Commander Bellamy not to kill him, but to save him.” He turned to Robert. “I’m sorry I couldn’t get to you sooner.”

Admiral Whittaker’s face had turned ashen. “Then you’ll be destroyed too. Nobody can stand in our way. Our organization …”

“You no longer have an organization. At this moment, all the members are being rounded up. It’s finished, Admiral.”

Overhead, the sky seemed to be vibrating with light and sound. The huge mothership was floating down directly above them, bright green lights flashing from its interior. They stared in awe as they watched it land. A smaller spaceship appeared, and then another, and then two more and another two, until the sky seemed to be filled with them, and there was a great roar in the air that became a glorious music that echoed throughout the mountains. The door of the mothership opened and an alien appeared.

The woman in white turned to Robert. I am leaving now. She moved toward Admiral Whittaker, General Hilliard, and Monte Banks. You shall come with me.

Admiral Whittaker drew back. “No! I won’t go!”

Yes. We will not hurt you. She held out her hand, and for an instant nothing happened. Then, as the others watched, the three men began slowly moving toward the spaceship in a hypnotic daze.

Admiral Whittaker screamed, “No!”

He was still screaming when the three men disappeared inside the spaceship.

The woman in white turned to the others. They will not be harmed. They have much to learn. When they have learned, they will be brought back here.

Susan was holding Robert tightly.

Tell people they must stop killing this planet, Robert. Make them understand.

“I’m only one man.”

There are thousands of you. Every day your numbers grow. One day there will be millions, and you must all speak with one strong voice. Will you do it?

“I’ll try. I’ll try.”

We are leaving now. But we will be watching you. And we will be back.

The woman in white turned and entered the mothership. The lights inside began to glow brighter and brighter, until they seemed to light up the entire sky. Suddenly, without warning, the mother-ship took off, followed by the smaller ships, until finally they all vanished from sight.

Tell the people they must stop killing the planet. Right, Robert thought. I know now what I’m going to do with the rest of my life.

He looked at Susan and smiled.

THE BEGINNING

Author’s Note

In researching this novel, I have read numerous books, and magazine and newspaper articles citing astronauts who had reportedly had extraterrestrial experiences: Colonel Frank Borman on Gemini 7 supposedly took pictures of a UFO that followed his capsule. Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11 saw two unidentified spacecraft when he landed on the moon. Buzz Aldrin photographed unidentified spacecraft on the moon. Colonel L. Gordon Cooper, on a Project Mercury flight, encountered a large UFO over Perth, Australia, and recorded voices speaking languages later found to belong to no known earth language.

I talked to these men, as well as to other astronauts, and each one assured me that the stories were apocryphal, rather than apocalyptic, that they had had no experiences of any kind with UFOs. A few days after my telephone conversation with Colonel Gordon Cooper, he called me back. I returned his call, but he had suddenly become unavailable. One year later, I managed to acquire a letter written by him, dated November 9th, 1978, discussing UFOs.

I telephoned Colonel Cooper again to ask him if the letter was authentic. This time, he was more forthcoming. He informed me that it was, and that on his journeys into space he had personally witnessed several flights of UFOs. He also mentioned that other astronauts had had similar experiences that they were warned not to discuss.

I have read a dozen books that prove conclusively that flying saucers exist. I have read a dozen books that prove conclusively that flying saucers do not exist. I have run video tapes purporting to be photographs of flying saucers, and have met with therapists in the United States and abroad who specialize in hypnotizing people who claim to have been taken up into UFOs. The therapists say that they have handled hundreds of cases in which the details of the victims’ experiences are startlingly similar, including identical, unexplainable marks on their bodies.

An Air Force general in charge of the Blue Book project – a US government group formed to investigate flying saucers –assured me that there has never been any hard evidence of flying saucers, or of aliens.

Yet, in the foreword to Above Top Secret, a remarkable book by Timothy Good, Lord Hill-Norton, Admiral of the Fleet and British Chief of Defence Staff from 1971 to 1973, writes:

The evidence that there are objects which have been seen in our atmosphere, and even on terra firma, that cannot be accounted for either as man-made objects or as any physical force or effect known to our scientists seems to me to be overwhelming … A very large number of sightings have been vouched for by persons whose credentials seem to me unimpeachable. It is striking that so many have been trained observers, such as police officers and airline or military pilots …

In 1933, the 4th Swedish Flying Corps began an investigation of mysterious unmarked aircraft appearing over Scandinavia, and on April 30th, 1934, Major-General Erik Reuterswaerd issued the following statement to the press:

Comparisons of these reports show that there can be no doubt about illegal air traffic over our secret military areas. There are many reports from reliable people which describe close observation of the enigmatic flier. And in every case, the same remark can be noted; no insignias or identifying marks are visible on the machines … the question is: Who or what are they, and why have they been invading our air territory?