In the middle of the lake, as though floating on the water, we could make out an enormous doko, its point upwards. I later learned its diameter was about 560 metres.
Its exceptional size was not its only peculiarity however; its colour was another. All the dokos I had seen to date on Thiaoouba were of a whitish colour - even those at the city of the Nine dokos. This one, though, seemed to be made of pure gold. There it was, shining in the sun and, in spite of its very ordinary egg shape, its colour and size rendered it majestic. Something else surprised me greatly: there was no reflection of the doko in the waters of the lake.
My companions led me towards the dome of the gold doko. We flew slowly, at water level and, from this perspective, it was even more impressive. Unlike other dokos, this one had no point of reference to indicate an entrance. I followed Thao and Latoli who soon disappeared inside.
The other two were at my side, each having caught hold of me under an arm so that I wouldn’t fall into the water, for, in my surprise, I had let go of my Litiolac.
I could see about two hundred people floating in the air with no help from any apparatus. The bodies seemed to be asleep or in deep meditation. The one closest to us floated about six metres above the water, for inside the doko, there was no floor. The bottom section of the ‘egg’ was actually in the water.
As I have already explained, once inside a doko you can see outside, as though there were nothing between you and the world outside. So, in this case, I had a panoramic view of the lake, the hills and the forest in the background and, near me in the middle of this ‘landscape’, floated two hundred or so bodies. It was completely astonishing, as you would expect.
Looking more closely at the bodies, I began to notice they were generally smaller than my hosts and some had quite extraordinary - and sometimes monstrous - forms.
‘Some of them have been here for thousands of years and the most recent, I believe, has been here for sixty years. I think (that), in your current state of surprise, you are not going to be able to operate your Litiolac effectively. Latoli and I will guide you.’ Each of them took hold of me under an arm and we began to wander among the bodies. Without exception, they were entirely naked.
Among others, I saw a man sitting in the lotus position. His hair was long and of a red-blond colour. He would have been two metres tall when standing. He had golden skin and his features were remarkably fine for a man - and he was, indeed, a man rather than a hermaphrodite.
A little further away lay a woman, whose skin was coarse like that of a snake, or the bark of a tree. She appeared to be young, although her strange aspect made it difficult to judge her age. Her skin was orange coloured and her short, curly hair was green.
Most surprising though, were her breasts. They were quite large, but each one had two nipples, separated from each other by about ten centimetres. She would have been close to 180 centimetres in height. Her thighs were thin and muscular, and her calves quite short. On each foot were three enormous toes, but her hands were exactly like ours.
The eyes and mouths of all these people were closed, and they all occupied one of two positions - either sitting in the lotus position, or lying on their backs with their arms by their sides.
We spent some time before the body of a man, apparently in the prime of his ‘life’. He had bright chestnut hair that was long and curly. His hands and feet were like mine. His skin was of a familiar complexion - that of someone from Earth. In height, he would have been around 180 centimetres. His face was smooth, with noble features and there was a soft goatee on his chin.
Thao and Latoli brought me closer to the body and I could clearly see scars on his feet and his wrists1, as well as a gash, approximately 20 centimetres long, in his side.
( 1 Religious pictures and sculptures depict crucifixion by means of nailing through palms of hands to the cross. According to human anatomy, however, soft tissues between the bones in hands are not strong enough to support the weight of the body on a cross. Nails would simply slip between fingers. In contrast, nails through human wrists are wedged between bones and provide much stronger support. —Editor's note)
Fortunately, my hosts had anticipated my reactions and supported me under the arms, for I am convinced that I’d have been unable to manoeuvre my Litiolac. There I was - staring at the body of Christ, worshiped and spoken of by so many on Earth - the man who had been the subject of so much controversy and so much research during the past 2000 years.
‘Your name is not Thomas. Why must you touch him❓ Is there doubt in your mind❓’ said Thao. ‘You see, you confirm what I was saying this morning - you seek proof.’
‘I know, Michel that it was instinctive and I understand it. In any case, you can’t touch these bodies - no one can, apart from one of the seven Thaori. In fact, it is the Thaori who install these bodies in a state of preservation and levitation, as you see them, and they alone, are capable of doing so.’
‘Do you remember me telling you, when we took you from your planet, that there were questions you would ask to which we would give no answers❓ I explained then, that you would learn with us all you needed to know, but that certain things would remain a ‘mystery’ because you must not document certain points. The question you have just asked cannot be answered for this very reason. However, I am able to tell you that there are 147 bodies in this doko.’
‘We have only the body of Christ from your planet. They are levitated in order to be perfectly preserved, and the properties peculiar to the waters of this lake assist this preservation.’
One of the bodies I remember well. It was about fifty centimetres high and formed exactly like a being from Earth, except that it was dark yellow and had no eyes. Instead, it had a type of horn in the middle of its forehead. I asked how it was able to see and was told that there were two eyes at the end of the protuberance, multi-faceted like the eyes of a fly. I could see the closed eyelid with several splits.
‘As I said, each body you see here, comes from a different planet, and it is the conditions in which they must live which determines the details of the physical bodies of the inhabitants.’
Throughout this macabre visit, I saw bodies resembling North American Red Indians - but they weren’t. I saw others like black Africans, but they weren’t; nor was it the body of a Japanese that I saw floating in the air. As Thao had said, Christ’s was the only body here that came, if one can say so, from Earth.