The subway was not exceptionally crowded for a Saturday afternoon in Manhattan. This suited Benjamin Nashir Khan just fine, as he was on his way to retrieve some work left on his desk at the United Nations. Mr Khan had worked as a translator/interpreter for five years at the U.N. , ever since graduating from Columbia University with a degree in linguistics. He had come here from Pakistan to finish his education; as a boy he had always dreamed of working at the United Nations. His father had converted from the religion of Islam to Christianity, and being raised as minority in an Islamic state, he had always longed to visit a "Christian" country. How shocked was he, upon his arrival in America, to find that this was a secular and not a Christian country. The rampant crime and cold crassness of New York showed little signs of the love and brotherhood which his father had taught Christianity espoused. This had a tremendous effect on Ben, but over the years he became hardened by the continuous exposure. This did not mean, however, that he liked what he saw.

      The train screeched to a halt at Ben's stop and he made his way to the office. As he entered the UN compound he noticed a great deal of commotion among the personnel. He noticed Al, the security guard, moving briskly toward the elevator and rushed to catch up with him. "Hey, Al, what's going on, why all the commotion?"

       "I'm not sure Mr. Khan, but whatever it is, it's big!" This increased Ben's desire to discover what was going on. He headed for the office of the U.N. Secretary-General, his boss, where he knew he could get to the bottom of all the excitement. Tai Damte began his career at the United Nations as the ambassador from Ethiopia. He became Secretary-General a few years ago and chose Ben as his closest aide. "Mr. Damte what in the world is going on?"

      Mr. Damte had a perplexed look on his face. "Ben, you're going to find this hard to believe, but we have visitors," "Visitors?" replied Ben, "visitors from where?" "From beyond Ben, from beyond our planet."

      Ben was confused. "Visitors from beyond our planet?" he thought, what could Mr. Damte have meant by such a statement. "What do you mean by "from beyond our planet?" he inquired. "There here, Ben, they say they come from another sun system, and they call themselves the Beni-el."

      Ben's confusion turned into shock. Could Mr. Damte be serious? Certainly the look on his face showed that he was in no jesting mood. "The Beni-el? Visitors fro outer space?" he thought. Could it possibly be so? He had always believed that extra-terrestrials existed. At home in Pakistan, it was a common Islamic belief that life existed beyond this planet, and he found nothing in Christianity that contradicted this view. In fact, his own readings in the Bible told of the "star that fell from the heavens" to deceive the earth, and had other passages he considered allusions to visitors from beyond. But could this be them, now?

      Mr. Damte," he asked with a quivering voice, "are you saying that the earth has been visited by extra-terrestrials?" "Yes, Ben I am; as i said they call themselves Beni-el, and they made contact with us just this morning. They landed at five capitals around the world simultaneously, including Washington, and they totally escaped detection from any of our warning systems."

      "But they have come in peace" Ben asked anxiously, "I mean they haven't destroyed anything?" "Yes Ben, they have come in peace. They have extended the hand of friendship, they've requested an opportunityto address us here at a full session." Excitement tingled down Ben's spine, "A session here, When?" he exclaimed. "Tomorrow night, that's why there is such a rush around here, I would have contacted you, but as you can see this place has been like a madhouse."

      Suddenly an enigma materialized in Ben's mind. As an expert in the translation and interpretaion of languages, he was naturlly curious on how the Beni-el were able to communicate here on earth. "Mr. Damte how are the Beni-el able to cummunicate with us?"

      "Apparently they've been studying us for some time; analyzing radio and television signals and the like clandestinely." answered Mr. Damte. "They were able to converse in the native language of each capital they visited."

      The whole scenario had placed Ben in a dream-like state. He listened to Mr. Damte's instructions regarding the full session and went to his office to begin preparations. His assignment was to assemble a team to translate the Beni-el language into the languages of the countries where they had landed. But Ben was barely able to keep his mind on his work; he felt as though a turning point in history was taking place, and he was directly involved in the action. Considering the situation Ben's feelings seem completely justified.

      Suddenly Mr. Damte burst into Ben's office, "Ben! Hurry up, our visitors are on the news!" The two of them rushed to a television monitor in the break room where a small crowd had gathered. On the screen a news reporter was interviewing a spokesman for the Beni-el. The spodesman was of human form but gigantic in size, he approached eight feet in height but his proportions were those of an ordinary man. In all his features he was of a highly superior and exceptionally beautiful nature. "My name is Dor, and I wish to extend a greetings to the people of the United States on behalf of the nation of the Beni-el." His voice possessed a mesmerizing quality, his speech was exceedingly dignified and his manner beyond reproach.

      The female reporter was completely awestruck by Dor's presence, her hand shook as she continued to question him, "Where do you come from, and what is the purpose of your visit here?"
      "Where we come from is not that important right now, why we are here is to warn the people of earth."

      "Warn? warn of us of what?" she queried.
      "A virus, a virus that is spreading through the universe. They are known as Teraphi."

      The reporter was confused, "You say "they", are you talking about a people or a virus?"

      "Both" answered Dor, The Teraphi have been spreading their doctrine from planet to planet, they deceive the peoples with various absurd notions. Our purpose is to halt the spread of their unsound ideas, and to protect unsuspecting peoples from their deception."

      "Could you elaborate on just what type doctrine the Teraphi are spreading?" she continued.

      "I believe that it is best to wait until the session before the United Nations before going into such details. Thank you."

      Ben was astonished at the sight of Dor. The image of the giant representative of the Beni-el stayed in his mind as he returned to his apartment, to rest up for the big day. Like everyone else he was impressed with the bearing and demeanor of Dor and wondered if all the Beni-el were like him. Ben was also impatient to learn more about the Teraphi. Who were these creatures, and why are the Beni-el so worried about them? Dor had spoke of them as a virus spreading some type of doctrine to different planets. What kind of doctrine could be so bad that the Beni-el felt it necessary to warn us? Was it some type of galactic communism? Ben wondered if the Beni-el and the Teraphi were at war, and whether they were attempting to woo the people of the earth to their respective sides.

      He realized the implications such a scenario might have. The Beni-el certainly possessed technology far ahead of anything on earth, and the technology of the Teraphi would logically be at a similar state of advancement. After all both peoples had sufficiently mastered the art of deep space that they were able to reach this planet. According to a bulletin circulated at the UN, the Beni-el all possessed the size and physique of Dor. They were described as an exceptionally handsome race of people. Ben wondered if evolution had brought them to this state of development, and if the people of earth might sone day resemble the Beni-el. He then remembered, however, that because of his religious beliefs he had never believed in evolution.

      Ben had noticed that the bulletin mentioned no females were included among the Beni-el visitors, they all were seemingly of male gender. Were the Beni-el a chauvinistic race of people, Ben wondered. And what about the Teraphi? Ben pondered on whether they resembled the Beni-el or if they were a completely different category of life. Dor had openly displayed his disgust when he mentioned the Teraphi on the news broadcast; Ben surmised there was quite a bit of bitterness toward the Teraphi on the part of the Beni-el.

      The next morning after a near sleepless night, Ben arrived at Mr. Damte's office to confer with him before the address by the Beni-el. After making some last minute preparations they both went to take their seats to await the arrival of the Beni-el. Both Mr. Damte and Ben were anxious to hear what the visitors from beyond had to say. They had been informed that the representatives of the Beni-el were to be escorted to the United Naions by the US Secret Service.

      Suddenly a stream of men came through the doors escorting the Beni-el contingent. They seated the five representatives at the seats reserved for them near the podium, and one of them rose up to speak.

      "Members of the United Nations, I would like to extend greetings to you from the nation of the Beni-el. My name is Shaddah; I am the leader of our mission; a mission of goodwill, in which we offer the hand of friendship, we are also offering an alliance. An alliance against a nefarious force which is spreading itself across the reaches of space. A deceitful and self-serving people known as the Teraphi have been carrying their message of lies throughout this galaxy, and now they have set their sights on the earth. We have come to warn of you of their plans and offer you protection. You see. the Teraphi are a very advanced people; without forewarning it would be very easy to be tricked into believing their fraudulent message. They have a leader to whom they make all forms of fantastic assertions. Their purpose is to recruit followers for this leader of theirs throughout the universe. According to them this leader is infallible; they give him mystical powers, and claim no power that can prevail against him. We can assure the people of earth that such claims simply have no basis in truth whatsoever. We attest to you that the real purpose of the Teraphi is to gain your allegiance that they might circumvent their treaty with us. You see, the Terahpi and ourselves had entered into an agreement many ages ago, what you on earth would call a ceasefire. The ceasefire has held, but the Teraphi have undertook a campaign to bypass the agreement by indoctrinating people to their false beliefs. And once they have fooled you into accepting their will, you will be trapped into a position of servitude from which it is extremely difficult to escape. Our advise to you is to make an alliance with us, and we will act to defend you from the oppressive clutches of the Teraphi. Please, members of the United Nations, consider seriously what I have told you, your very freedom may be at stake, and whatever decision you make may be irreversible. Now I would welcome any questions the members of the audience might have for me."

      Naturally the distinguished audience was bursting with questions. They bombarded the Beni-el envoy with queries, all of which he answered in a manner which left only more questions. However, Shaddah had a certain aura about him, that rare type of charisma that allows one to sway multitudes to a certain belief. He certainly had the majority of the current audience in a trance. Ben, however was one of the exceptions, something inside him distrusted the Beni-el. After all what reason did he have to believe the Beni-el were good and the Teraphi bad? After the address Ben and Mr. Damte had a chance to meet personally with the Beni-el representatives.

      Mr. Damte and Ben were introduced to each of the Beni-el and both were struck by their imposing presence up close. Mr. Damte questioned Shaddah as to what reason the people of earth should believe in the goodwill of the Beni-el.

      "In the coming days, you will see Mr. Damte. We are about to embark on program in which technology you have never dreamed of will be transferred to the people of this planet, for the good of all humanity."

      That announcement came as a joyful surprise to Mr. Damte, but Ben had come to expect such a statement. According to the answers given by Shaddah during the questioning period, the Teraphi were expected to reach Earth in approximately two weeks. In the following days, the Beni-el followed up Shaddah's promise and began a major infusion of technology which was well advanced of that on Earth. One of their devices, as large as a suitcase, supplied up to fifty megawatts of power without any need of fuel. According to the Beni-el, the device tapped a power source unknown to us, and that it would be a while before they could divulge the secret of this source.

      The knowledge which the Beni-el had brought caused an incredible change in the condition of the earth in less than a week. Unknown medicines and medical techniques were introduced; new ways of manufacturing and recycling; in a short time the Beni-el had given the people of the earth reason to hope. Yet something in Ben's heart could not allow him to accept what seemed, on the face, to be a good thing. He recalled his initial meeting with the Beni-el, and how they were accompanied by female friends they had made after only a day on the planet. In fact, rumors had it that the Beni-el went out their way to gain companionship among the women of the earth, and that within a day of their arrival the two had already entered into sexual relations. This did not surprise Ben, after all the major powers of the world were all fighting to win the favor of the Beni-el, for various reasons. And it was the Soviet Union above all others that was blessed with success.

      Ben had noticed that despite the Beni-el's warnings of Teraphi indoctrination, they had undertaken a propaganda campaign of their own. The Beni-el had confirmed to the world's scientists that evolution was indeed correct and offered startling evidence to back up their claims. They asserted that all life forms were responsible for sustaining themselves and promoting good in the universe. These claims gave Ben suspicious about the Beni-el, but it was a later statement that made him confident as to the real indentity of the Beni-el. On a television interview, a Beni-el spokesman spoke of the leader of the Teraphi who claims to hold the keys to universal peace in his very hands.

      "The ludicrous claims of the head of the Teraphi , purporting himself as a maker of peace are negated by the fact that for millennia they have sought the destruction of our people." stated the Beni-el representative.

      Ben rushed to confront Mr. Damte with his beliefs soon after hearing this statement. At first Mr. Damte was hesitant to accept Ben's assertions, but after Ben had thoroughly argued his case, Mr. Damte admitted that he too had entertained similar thoughts.

      "But you know Ben, not many people are bound to buy such a story."

      "I know Mr. Damte, but so far the nations have been divided as to whether to join the Beni-el camp or not. Many want to wait and see what the Teraphi have to offer. Maybe we can help sway opinion toward the Teraphi side."

      "I agree Ben, but will have to start planning now for as you know, the Teraphi are due to arrive tomorrow morning."

      The two of them stayed up all that night planning a strategy to convince the nations that it was the Beni-el and not the Teraphi who were to be feared. They knew this would be a difficult task since their entire argument was based on personal beliefs. Suddenly, a member of the staff rushed into Mr. Damte's office, "They're here! And their requesting a meeting with you sir." Mr. Damte and Ben rushed to a waiting staff car and both were wisked off to the New York countryside where the Teraphi had landed.

      When they arrived several government officials gave them a quick briefing and then led them to the Teraphi vessel. Mr. Damte and Ben were shocked at the appearance of the Teraphi, but it seemed to confirm their beliefs. They were very short, like dwarfs but of a slender build, their eyes were almond shaped and their expressions were very serene. The head of the delegation walked up to Mr. Damte and gave a greeting gesture which Mr. Damte returned. He did the same with Ben. And then he spoked the words that Ben and Mr. Damte had hoped to hear: "We extend greetings from the Most High God, Creator of all things, whose representatives we are!"

The author is Anonymous Manansala