{{Pause=2}} CHAPTER 1 {{PAUSE=1}}The Beginning {{Pause=2}} Lya, a woman of extraterrestrial origin, beautiful, intelligent and noble, arrived at a most unexpected moment in my life. Nevertheless this came to pass several years before I understood the magnitude of her presence on our planet Earth. I was able to count almost fifty years (of age) when I saw her for the first time. I was already at that time a confirmed skeptic of all that related to parapsychology, telekinesis, and incredible phenomena such as spontaneous combustion, but above all I believed it a waste of time to believe in the existence of extraterrestrial beings. I shared the opinion of many scientists concerning evolution. Also I had carried on long conversations with astronomer colleagues who had assured me of never having seen anything floating or flying in space that were not our satellites or spacecraft sent into space by man (of Earth). My mind was blank can this aspect. It began to fill as I matured and I knew that as a university professor I could not give credit to that which lately they have called pseudo science. I had not only commented on this with my students concerning themes of importance, but with my own colleagues as well. I felt completely accomplished, absolutely satisfied with life. However I knew that I was beginning to reach maturity because my thoughts returned frequently to the past, but my present was really fulfilled. I had the privilege of being counselor to the majority of my students. Into this circumstantial arena she came, Lya appeared in my life so suddenly that I had to let several years elapse to begin to describe the presence and teachings of her. I felt at the time that the point of departure was not so far away and that the end of my existence approached irresistibly like the goal of the runner or like the set of the sun in the west. I believed that my professional stage was finalizing without imagining in the least that Lya would bring to my existence something for which to fight. It came in the moment in which the love for things became indelible. It came at the time when circumstances move one emotionally, the age in which nothing is rejected and on the other hand, yes, all is possible. At this time I feel thankful with the world, with God, for all that which has been granted me without my having merited it. My parents had wrapped me in diapers soft as silk at birth and the first air that I breathed had a pleasing scent of roses from the enormous garden that surrounded the house. Now I have three beautiful children and wife. What could I possibly desire? Thinking on this I waited, with resignation, the winter of my life. The fruit of my existence had filled my life of satisfactions. Each day that passed teaching classes at the university gave me the satisfaction of having sown the seeds of knowledge, and that precisely this had been my great opportunity. My walk through the wide roads of this world had not been still. As tenured professor of the University, and as investigator of nuclear mathematical physics, I knew that I had arrived at the limits of my professional life. I perceived the respect of my superiors. Years before I had received a national prize in physics. Thus... in these circumstances was when Lya came to me, and I must admit that since then never left my mind nor my heart. I was not a youth easily influenced. I was well rooted in my habits and likewise as well in my opinions. But, how did this all begin? Was there anything magic in the encounter? Was it accidental or intentional? I never knew. 14 November 1977 Today, Tuesday, while I was at the University attending a conference on odontopediatrics, I saw her for the first time. I was standing at the back of the room. There was a beautiful young woman of slightly oriental characteristics, white skin and slender body. Her hair was long and dark, and fell languidly over her shoulders. She was dressed entirely in black, wearing tailored slacks and blouse of the same material, which to me seemed like laminated plastic. She had persistent light green eyes. It seemed like her eyes were pointed directly at me and I could feel her gaze even in the obscurity of the roar. There was an instant in which our looks coincided and I felt a strange chill run over my whole body. Despite my vain attempts to concentrate on the exposition of the class, I could not. In my mind the figure of that young woman, as enigmatic as fascinating, remained etched. But when I again looked toward the group I noticed that she was no longer there. I searched the room to see if I could find her seated in some other place, but no, she was not there. I looked toward the door and it occurred to me that this had been closed. At that time I did not deem it important. The first shadows of evening had already appeared when the exposition ended. I went to the parking lot and got into my car. I was experiencing a strange sensation of wellbeing and I unconsciously turned on the radio to listen for the news, but it did not work right. I could hear only heavy static. "Perhaps the antenna". I thought. But, upon checking this I found it all right. I tried to synchronize the apparatus without success. I could turn nothing on. I was about to turn the radio off when I heard a new noise... more new static and then silence. After that I began to clearly hear a hollow, metallic voice, that slowly began to articulate words in perfect Spanish. Finally the voice spoke without interference and said in perfect accent: You are connected to our frequency, earthman. You have entered the primary phase and it will be easy in what follows which I want to repeat... you are going to have news... " I was disconcerted, but at that moment I did not relate the one thing with the other. Later, some time after the voice had disappeared I continued thinking and trying to discover the significance of this. His radio remained dead for a little more then a half hour. After the same manner that the frequency had gone, I heard a melody. The route to my house seemed long, but later I noticed with surprise that I had been making big circles, as if, subconsciously, I did not want to get to my destination. I shook my head which had begun to feel heavy, trying to dismiss these ideas. At that time I did not [associate] the voice of the message with the woman I had seen at the University. A little while later I was comfortably seated in my favorite chair with a refreshment at hand, reading, when I fell into a profound sleep. 18 December 1972 More than a month passed. I had almost forgotten the encounter with the woman, as attractive as mysterious. Today I got up without ever imagining that I would have another encounter with her. This time it was in a place completely different. It happened in an open air restaurant... along the avenida Insurgentes. While I was breakfasting with Carlos, a friend and colleague for years, I looked toward the entrance door and I saw her... yes, I saw her. In the light of day her beauty stood out. In her were combined characteristics as exotic as natural, but her personality was such that characterized her, but upon seeing her I felt a mixture of tenderness, of knowledge, of peace and internal tranquility. She was accompanied by a man dressed in a uniform with an insignia on the left side of his breast. It was a gold triangle inside of which was a blue circle. The man was stylishly good looking also and a little taller than her. Lya must measure more than 1.90 meters. He almost touched the top of the door with his head. Instinctively I got to my feet. The look of Carlos and the ridiculousness of my reaction made me remember that I should not be so impulsive. "What happened?" asked Carlos. "Pardon me, I thought it was another person whom I have not seen in some time", I said lying. At five in the afternoon I had to teach a class, and I looked at my watch. It was scarcely ten in the morning. I needed to know who she was, but why such sudden interest renewed in a woman of much beauty but of whom I knew absolutely nothing. After we finished eating Carlos and I left for the University. I decided along the way that I would begin to investigate that beautiful woman. I reviewed my listings of students, but there was no new student such as her, nor did I have knowledge of the presence of any person as an auditor in my class. Further, I decided that here I would begin to take a certain care to only see her. Of one thing I was convinced... she was real; she was not a vision created by my mind. She really existed. It was not until the 12 of January when I had my third encounter. The classroom was darkened. This was because I was projecting slides to illustrate my lecture. While I was running the transparencies she entered. At the moment I was stunned. Here again was that woman, always dressed in black. She had entered at the moment I was discussing the most important point. Perhaps my students had not observed my disturbance in the obscurity of the room and also because the transparencies were occupying their attention. I felt her gaze, seeming that her eyes had their own light. She stared fixedly, without blinking. But far from feeling nervousness, her gaze infused an indescribable calm and inner peace. I was trying to calculate her age. I thought she might be thirty years old. That was a little old to be my student, but considering that there are people who study for two or more careers this detail could pass unnoticed. When the class ended, I turned on the lights only to observe that she had disappeared in the shadow of the doorway. I opened a path through my students but when I finally could get out she was no longer there. I asked a youth who had been near the door if he had seen a woman of her characteristics. He looked at me like one would observe a bacterium under a microscope and glancing with sneer answered negatively. During my 25 years as a professor never has anything like this happened to me before. I felt grieved. I blamed myself. I am fifty years old and I am acting like an adolescent in his first passes as a conquistador. I went back into the room, picked up my books and secured the projector and transparencies and left. I still had to walk a good distance before getting to my automobile. Meanwhile I walked reflectively. I got in my car and headed for my house. Ever since then and without my suspecting it, someone in some part of the Universe has been making plans to establish some kind of friendship with me... but, was my imagination more fantastic than I could have dreamed? And why a skeptic? Why me? Thus began to knit in turn, for me the maze (of knowledge) that filled my consciousness, of doubts, of illusion... but still it lacked the most important part. {{PAUSE=2}}