Golfar Speaks

An enlightening romp through the known universe.
Copyright 2002

By Vicki Anne Bennett

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Illustrations by Colleen Dougherty

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My name is Elicia and I was born in Australia in the Earth year 3112, one thousand years after the destruction of the entire northern hemisphere of the planet. I am a one of a handful of scientists left on the planet.

The end came suddenly one May evening with the impact of a huge asteroid into the United States. For 17 days after, the sky rained fiery destruction.

There were thirteen impacts in all, each one destroying entire parts of Asia, Europe, the Middle East, America and North Africa until there was nothing left of what were once the great power centers of this planet.

The asteroid impacts caused giant earthquakes that shook the planet for months and the tsunamis wiped out every living thing that was within ten miles of any continental coastline. A giant cloud of ash circled the planet and left the Northern Hemisphere in total darkness for close to nine months.

So why am I telling you all this? Well, during our recent scientific expedition to North America, we found no survivors, not even animals. Nothing remained, not even one building was left standing. It was like that everywhere we went.

The only survivors we encountered were the Indians of the South American rainforests and a few other indigenous peoples scattered on a couple of Pacific Islands.

As we ventured south into what was once Central America, we found a strange artifact in a cave. It was a small silver box, just sitting on the ground, untarnished as though it had been dropped there yesterday.

After the team had photographed and documented the find, I began examining the artifact. As I ran my hands over the odd symbols engraved in its surface, a voice that had to have been recorded hundreds of years earlier began speaking. After the initial shock wore off, I realized that this was the story of how life began on this planet.

What follows is the message in its entirety:

the box

7 really nice guys

This journal will be my legacy to you Earth beings. My name is Golfar and I work for an ancient race of beings that designed the universe. Sort of what you might call architects, only on a really grand scale. Some of you might be tempted to call them "God," but actually they're seven really nice guys. They spend all their time designing planets and watching the beings that evolve on them.

In fact, that's how I happened to end up here. I was on a yearly reconnaissance mission when some trigger-happy Colombian drug dealer (who just happened to also deal in large weapons) mistook me for a DEA plane and I took a direct hit from a Stinger missile. (Personally, I told them centuries ago that this planet was going to be a bad candidate for allowing exotic and hallucinogenic plant life to flourish.)

So here I am, stuck on your planet (a revolting thought) until another ship comes to pick me up. As I sit here with nothing important to do except wait, I guess I could let you in on what the Ancient Ones had in mind when they created this small blue planet.

Actually it wasn't much. They just wanted to see what life forms would evolve if they created a planet with an overabundance of sea and vegetation...and well, you did end up being a sort of prototype planet for producing quite lovely hominids.

What I really wanted to say from the beginning is how sorry we all are that we made one rather large mistake while carrying out several experiments in the evolution of different species. As I told you, the planet was doing a lovely job of producing upright-walking hominids. You have so many earth terms for the species that evolved into man, I don't know quite where to start...but you are correct, there were two distinct species evolving. Your scientists found their remains and named them "gracile" and "robustus". And then they made the fatal error of assuming that these two hominids disappeared from the planet with a wave of some magic wand or some such nonsense and, "Yoila," a new species developed.

You have finally managed to work out that the continents were all connected at one time, but failed to deduce what it really meant.

Africa is where it all started, and the two species of up-right walkers evolved just as you suspected, but the robustus stayed on the savanna in Africa and the gracile moved to the east in China and the west in the Americas. By now the stark realization is probably beginning to set in that the majority of the people on this planet who run things did not evolve here.

I guess by now you're asking, "But where did the Europeans come from if they didn't evolve here too?"

The answer to that is, "Thula 3." And I must add here that we're all very sorry for all the atrocities that this small planet and its indigenous peoples have suffered at their hands.

Now, where was I? Oh right, the European whites.... boy are they going to be royally (no pun intended) pissed when they hear this. But I figure that by the time this journal is found there won't be many whites still alive to hear my words. Did I mention that your planet is scheduled for destruction in about six months? No big deal actually, just that the Ancient Ones hate it when an experiment goes as badly as this one did. And the only way out is to start over again from scratch.

Oh well..now let's see..oh yes, your lovely young planet was flourishing and the two races of hominids were doing splendidly. They had both developed speech and tribal government and had spread throughout the larger continents. They lived in peace with earth and all its creatures and in several places we did some genetic engineering and created humans who evolved into very highly realized spiritual beings.

The Egyptians and the Mayans are prime examples of this extremely beautiful evolutionary path. We interacted with them on our yearly visits and that is why you see drawings of space ships and space travelers on their temples and pyramids.

mayan pyramids

The Ancient Ones saw that all was in accordance with the original plans for this planet and were very pleased. What they were not so pleased with, however, was another small planet in the same galaxy called Thula.

It sat on another of the outer spiral arms of the Milky Way. It was a lush green planet with very small oceans, so that viewed from a distance it appeared to be a soft green velvet ball. It was there that three attempts had been made to breed a large-brained, fair-skinned race of beings that we had hoped would rival the greatness of the Egyptians and Mayans of Earth.

The first two attempts had been more than disastrous and the entire planet had had to be destroyed. The large-brains did not seem to like anyone, not even themselves. They developed great skills in building and inventing machines, the only problem being that each invention they created was a newer and better design to kill their enemies than its predecessor. They had only one motivating force in their lives and that was an insatiable sense of greed. The Ancient Ones sent them prophets (who I might add, they promptly killed) to try and "enlighten" them toward a higher path, but no amount of coaxing or waxing philosophical would change them into a peaceful race of beings.

It really was fascinating to watch these beings, who evolved so much more rapidly than any other species in the galaxy, instantly developing "ownership" of the planet and a monetary system based on a yellow metal that they called "gold" and a fuel they called "oil".

One of the things that puzzled the Ancient Ones from the start is how these large-brained beings always failed to realize that the resources of the planet they were living on were not inexhaustible.

So great was their greed that they destroyed the primal forests that had been created simply to provide oxygen for their survival. After the first race of Thulians had decimated all the forests on their planet, they had to develop an elaborate type of breathing apparatus that had to be worn at all times and they left the rest of the creatures on the planet to die. Once all the beautiful creatures perished, they found that they had nothing to eat and they turned into cannibals. That was when the Ancient Ones destroyed Thula 1.

Unfortunately, Thula 2 went pretty much the same way. The Ancient Ones tried natural disasters to destroy them a couple of times, but they were so hell-bent on their own self-destructive course that nothing much phased them. That is except losing their money. This was such an oddity; we never knew quite what to make of it. No other culture existing had based its existence on a monetary system. Other cultures always developed a strong religious belief system upon which all else was based. Needless to say, these creatures both fascinated and horrified us.

Thula 2's destruction was quite a story in itself. The inhabitants of the second experiment were so advanced in weaponry that they kept making bigger and bigger bombs until they had one so massive that they were quite sure that it could destroy a whole planet.

The Ancient Ones considered wiping them out before they could wreck havoc on any other evolving species, but as luck would have it, the Thulians decided to test their weapon on a planet in their own solar system. The planet that they chose was the one closest to them nearer to their Sun. It would be the equivalent of you earth beings blowing up Venus.
explosion

explosion

I must say that the second race of Thulians was so much worse than the first in their insatiable desire for conquest that we all smiled when their missile made a direct hit, exploding the third planet in their solar system and causing Thula 2 to spin out of orbit into the Sun. There was a short burst of applause, but no one ever admitted to who did it. At least not in front of the Ancient Ones.

What no one could understand was why this one race of beings always evolved into a money-worshiping, greed-oriented society or why they could not develop a religious belief system that would prevent them from killing each other and the rest of the creatures on the planet.

Well, that's not entirely true; at one point on Thula 3, a sort of religion did take shape, but like everything else there, the "Church" was a select group of men who made a lot of rules for others to live by, none of which applied to them (of course). The leaders of this religion considered themselves infallible and anyone who questioned this was promptly put to death. As the Church grew in power, it soon demanded all the land and money from its believers and then sent its army to execute them so the leaders could live in luxury, which was what they had planned all along.

What the Ancient architects were trying for was a race that would develop as the indigenous races on earth did, only more advanced technologically. We found that the original races on Earth would continue on for millennia without any significant changes.

And, while this did insure the earth a long and prosperous life, it kept them in what you now would call the "Stone Age" for a very long time. (I had the task of keeping records of all the primitive tribes in the rainforests of the Earth and was truly amazed at how little they had changed over the ages.)

What we were trying to "breed" (for lack of a better word) was a species that kept its spiritual belief systems intact and still evolved technologically.

By now you've probably guessed what we did. But let me tell it to you from the point of view of the Ancient Ones. Thula 3 was created exactly as 1 and 2 had been. The planet that Thula 2 had destroyed, Virilua, was replaced also. Again we started up the evolutionary processes that led to advanced life forms coming into being. Then we sat and waited for several hundred-thousand earth years.

Actually, time is relative, you got that right too, and so for us it was just the blink of an eye between the beginnings of life and the large-brained, upright-walking species making its appearance.

On the third and final try, the Ancient Ones decided to color some of them darker-skinned in order to give them some diversity. This, the general thinking went, would help them develop into a wise and loving people.

Unfortunately, this did not work either and they still waged non-stop wars on each other, only now they made the color of skin, as well as what the other owned a point of battle.

Well, I can assure you that the Ancient Ones had taken all they were going to. They sent several of us to secretly reprogram all the Thulian's massive defense system computers to wage war on each other; in less than two weeks we had managed to wipe out all but 13,786 Thulians. Then the Ancient Ones did something unprecedented in universal history: they visited the surface of Thula 3. This should have terrified the remaining inhabitants, but it didn't. They were much too busy searching for gold and other valuables among the dead and staking their claims to various portions of the land.

One of them made the fatal mistake of firing a weapon at one of the Ancient Ones and was vaporized instantly. Obviously, having weaponry more advanced than theirs was the only way to get their attention.

When all the remaining Thulians were rounded up, Seraleous gave them an ultimatum: either learn to live together in peace and harmony with the planet or die.

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seraleous and child

Now, pay close attention to this because this is what changed the face of your planet forever. One of the Thulian children looked up at Seraleous (the leader of the Ancient Ones) and asked, "What is peace? I have never heard of this word and so I cannot make a decision as to whether or not I would rather die."

We were all aghast. Did the adults have any concept of the word, "peace?" So Seraleous asked if one of the adults would explain to the child what peace and harmony meant.

The adults looked at one another and back at Seraleous and back at each other shaking their heads. They answered that they had no concept of "peace and harmony" but if it was something that could be bought for gold or oil, they would be glad to pay us for it so that we would not kill them.

Seraleous' face grew dark and I have to admit that I have never had so strong an urge to run as I did at that exact moment. Seraleous spoke softly and with great control, "Peace and harmony mean that you no longer kill one another, that you no longer destroy the planet on which you live, that you love one another and all the living creatures that share this planet with you."

The Thulians faces registered amazement. Never before had anyone ever suggested that such a thing was possible, much less that they would be asked to do it.

"But what about the gold and oil, who will own them?" called a voice from the crowd. "Yeah! Who gets the oil and gold?" came the cry from hundreds all yelling at once.

"NO ONE!" was Seraleous' booming reply.

"That is preposterous! Someone has to own the gold and oil! Otherwise no one will work for him! I know that I won't work unless I get gold or oil!"

"Me too!" came the chorus of replies.

Seraleous faced the crowd and said, "Then I guess that it is settled, you have all chosen to die." He then turned his back and started to walk away shaking his head. The Ancient Ones didn't need weapons to take a life, they merely willed someone or something out of existence and it vanished in an instant.

Suddenly a young child spoke up, "Sir, please wait! I would like to try this peace and harmony that you speak of, but I would need someone to teach me about it."

Seraleous turned slowly to face the young man. "Are there others of you who feel this way? If there are, step forward now."

I watched as a little less than one-eighth of the remaining Thulians stepped out in front of the group.

"Good, I know just the place to teach you." Seraleous turned his gaze to the 11,900 or so left and willed them out of existence.

the disaster

As you have probably guessed by now, Earth was chosen as the place where the Thulians would learn peace and harmony. We split them into small bands of nomadic tribes; we put the darker skinned ones in the Middle East where the desert heat would not be as severe for them as it would have been for the fairer skinned ones. The rest were scattered throughout Western Europe.

We explained to them that where they were going had no monetary system and that they would have to barter for goods and services. We also told them that this planet had no gold or oil, so that they would not spend their time looking for it and would instead become one with nature. This was truly our intent. And it worked for awhile. We were really impressed with the Celtics for their development of an alphabet and their astronomical skills.

Then the Romans came and tried to conquer all of Europe so we set off earthquakes and volcanoes and tried to bury them or at least lessen their numbers. The Middle East seemed to be developing a beautiful religion and so we sent them the prophet that they had been waiting for and they had the Romans kill him. Then Rome ended up being the home of the religion that worshiped him. (Do any of you appreciate the true irony of this situation?)

The Romans now worship the Jewish prophet and the Jews refuse to acknowledge his existence.....I might add here that the religion based on this prophet is a lot like the one on Thula 3, where the men who ran the church murdered those who questioned their omnipotence and stole land and money from the people who came to worship their prophet.

You must understand that we actually believed that the Thulians would intermarry with the indigenous peoples and learn about peace and harmony. Unfortunately, they reverted back to their old ways, managing to decimate whole populations of indigenous peoples and ensnare the remaining tribes into either slavery or their belief systems of money and power. Actually, their belief systems have taken over the planet to such an extent that they've made it almost impossible to survive without money.

What we found out (hindsight and all that) was that the greed-based Thulians had to destroy the enlightenment-based indigenous peoples because the natives didn't see any need for something called "money." Also, if the Thulians allowed the indigenous peoples to exist, then their power base of greed and material wealth would cease to exist. How, after all, could you rule over people who had an opposing belief system? How could you make them want to work for you if they weren't concerned with material wealth?

On the other hand, the indigenous peoples were at a real disadvantage because the Thulians did not share their belief system of peaceful co-existence. And so while we were waiting for the Thulians to come into contact with the earth natives to learn about peace and harmony, the Thulians came, saw, and conquered.. .(uh... well, actually it was more like murdered, decimated and annihilated).

We also discovered that the Thulians felt no remorse about lying to the earth natives. While the native indigenous cultures all shared the sacredness of the spoken promise, the Thulians had evolved without a clue as to a man's word being his bond. They lied, cheated and stole from each other and assumed that everyone else was doing the same.

So where does this leave us? Optimally, we'd like to annihilate the troublemakers and leave the planet in peace...but too many of the original inhabitants now have been infested with the same hunger for greed and power as the Thulians.

greed rules

We had really been hoping that you would find some sort of a peaceful solution to your problems, but you don't seem to be trying too hard to work for peace. The Ancient Ones have really given you a lot more latitude than I thought they would. It might come from some small sense of guilt over dropping the Thulians here in the first place, but then I'm not quite sure that the Ancient Ones are capable of guilt....

I am sure that you remember that comet that broke up and crashed into Jupiter, well that was originally meant for you, but at the last minute Seraleous decided give you one more chance to learn to live in peace.

But things seemed to get worse rather than better and so there are now thirteen asteroids on a collision course with your planet…and I know for a fact that these will not be diverted. I am afraid that The Ancient Ones have decided to put an end to your lust for oil and gold once and for all.

Anyway, now you know all that I know and I am hoping that a few of the original inhabitants make it through the destruction so that they can be the ones to rebuild the planet. If not, the Ancient Ones will just keep starting this planet over and over again until it comes out right....well, you know what I mean.

Speaking as a fellow astral traveler, I offer you my deepest apologies for what is about to happen….

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