The following communication was conducted via computer on March 5, 2009. ArKay, the semi-official spokesman for Korendor and the Alliance, took the questions.

BR: Good morning, my brother. In transcribing the events of my personal visit to Korendor two years ago today, three questions arose that perhaps you can address for me.

AK: And good morning to you, brother Bob. That was quite a visit. Have you recovered yet?

BR: No, and hopefully I never will.

AK: How can I help?

BR: The first one that comes to mind refers to the wood used as siding of Karlon-Remik's home. In your communication of October 16, 1988, you sent this information:

Getting away from the developed areas of my planet, we find huge spans of forest, several of over a million square miles each, and many in the tens of thousands. These are essentially untouched, although this was not always so. We had an extended period of random deforestation, because we found in wood an excellent material for construction on Korendor and elsewhere.

For a time, we were a primary supplier of wood products to many of the worlds in Korendor's region of space. Then, about a thousand of your years ago, we began to realize that in our heedless harvesting of our forests, we were setting ourselves up for an ecological cataclysm. Despite the enormous profit we were reaping, we reversed course, about twenty of our years short of irreversible disaster.

The signs were all there for many years before we took action. Slowly increasing air pollution from our use of combustion for energy, increased levels of carbon dioxide in the air, all the symptoms of a world gasping on the very edge of environmental death.

When the change came, it was swift and certain. We banned exportation of any wood products, eliminated them for our own construction, and undertook a vast, world-wide program of planting new trees. We vowed then that never again would we interfere with nature's handling of its forests.

It was an action that caused great economic upheaval, but we created a new material out of vegetable fibers that, although it had none of the beauty of wood, was much stronger. In the end, this new material proved a far greater profit-maker. The Infinite One does have mercy for blind fools.

Karlon said that the wood predated the ban, so I assume that there are warehouses that contain supplies of wood that were not shipped because of the policy change. Am I correct in that?

AK: Yes. The prohibition left a large amount of processed wood in storage. In terms familiar to you, there was an estimated 850 million board feet of lumber ready for shipment that remain unshipped. It has been used for small projects since then, such as the wooden siding of Karlon's home.

I must modify my statements in that communication. Although we ceased the massive harvesting of trees, proper forest management practices call for the removal of dead and old-growth trees, and limited harvesting in areas where they have become too dense for proper growth. These provide the raw materials for a profitable lumber industry for use on Korendor.

In rare cases, clear-cutting of small areas is approved for specific purposes. Typically they are replaced by new trees planted in other areas.

BR: Thank you. I thought as much, but it's good to get it from those in the know. Next question: Astra and I spent some time on Amar in an observation deck that looked out on Korendor. I am assuming that in order for the facility to have any practical value for visitors, Amar's rotation is synchronous, with the same side always facing Korendor, as our moon is with Earth.

AK: Amar and Kalda both have synchronous rotation. This is actually common amongst large satellites of planets because of tidal locking. Renir is not locked but is slowing down, and presently completes about 2.53 rotations per orbit. Kimar, the retrograde oddball, rotates so slowly that it requires almost 853 orbits for one rotation.

Unlike your moon's orbit, Amar's is far less elliptical, with an eccentricity of 0.0027108. As a result, the libration effect is far less pronounced. Thus the position of Korendor in the windows is essentially fixed ... not that you and your lady were likely to be contemplating such matters.

BR: We didn't, my brother. One last question: what would be the average weight of adult Korendians on Earth?

AK: Our average height in your measures is about 4 feet tall for the men, and about two inches shorter for women. Thus our body mass is substantially less than yours. However, due to our stronger bone structure and muscle mass, we would average about 40 to 50% of your adult weight on Earth. We would enjoy being on Earth, aside from the atmospheric difference and the fact that your civilization is built around your adult stature.

On the other hand, an Earth person on Korendor would be hard-pressed to deal with our gravity, which is 3.2 times yours. A 200-pound man would weigh 640 pounds on Korendor, and he would be in a world where everything is constructed for the equivalent of eight-year-old boys.

I have a question for you, brother Bob. Given the nature of your three-day visit to my world, do you intend to post your record of it on your website?

BR: That's very difficult to answer. It was intensely personal and emotional, and I'll have to think long and hard about making it public. If I decide to do so, you good people will be the first to know. And if I do so, it will be the final installment on personal experiences. The events that followed it will remain private.

AK: Understood, my brother. Go in peace and light.