The following communication was conducted via computer on the afternoon of April 18, 2011. ArKay took the questions.

BR: Good afternoon, my brother. Since we haven't engaged in a Q&A session since 2009, it seemed like an appropriate time for an update. Thank you for agreeing to this.

The first question, as might be expected, is this: what is the present status of the ongoing conflict with the Omegan forces?

AK: We are not as far along in our efforts to drive out the Omegan infiltrators as we had hoped to be. As noted in other communications, they had a "head start" on us, so thusfar we are playing "catch up". We have made great headway, and at the moment the Omegans are in defensive mode, spending more time, effort and resources on combatting the Alliance than on their intended program of grooming Earth to be a warrior force. This is to our and your advantage. They had established deadlines for several phases of their operations, and our deep operatives have reported that the deadlines of all but two of the phases have been either pushed back, or suspended. The two phases are their most crucial operations. They have diverted time, personnel and materiel from other phases to keep the two on time and on target.

The Alliance has in turn shifted its primary focus to those two activities. We might not stop them, but we will, as your British idiom says, throw a spanner in the works. Subterfuge and sabotage are effective weapons.

BR: Thank you, good sir. Next question: how many planetary systems within a 5000-light-year radius could the Kepler Mission satellite detect if it had a full-sky view?

AK: Based on the technology of occultation of a star as a planet transits its stellar disk, about 0.0087% of all planetary systems within the 5000-light-year radius are aligned such that their orbital planes are "on edge" with respect to Earth. The rest cannot be detected by the Kepler technology.

To make the point clear, were the Kepler satellite in orbit arounds Korendor, your solar system could not be detected by it, since Korena is well away from the extension of the orbital plane of your system. Kepler's technology is highly advanced, but by its nature, it is limited to a very small percentage of planetary systems.

There are other technologies for detecting "extrasolar" planets that are in use, but they are as yet not sophisticated enough to find more than a few of the many planetary systems, and are incapable of detecting Earth-sized planets, the quest of the Kepler Mission.

BR: Thank you. How are you good people doing on the installation of the implant network? Any setbacks or problems?

AK: Due to a major technology upgrade, a large part of the installed network was rendered obsolete. The new implant version is, as your techies say, backward-compatible with the existing transponders, but they are rapidly being replaced. The worldwide network is now about 7% complete, with the focus being on urban areas and world "hot spots" where Omegan activity is intense. Most of the "rural" areas are still without service, and there is as yet no logical basis for extending the network to "third world" nations and undeveloped areas.

As might be expected, the installation of the system is hampered by being forced to install it without the awareness of the populations and governments of the areas where it is needed. Were Earth an Alliance protectorate, the network would have been complete several years ago. The disasters that befell Japan severely set back the installation of the network in that country. We are now waiting to determine what course Japan will take. We will resume the installation once we have definite information.

BR: Have any of your transponders been discovered by Omegans or Earthians?

AK: They are undetectable by any existing non-Alliance technology, including that of the Omegans, but several have been found purely by chance, such as during demolition work that had not been anticipated when they were put in place. Because they self-destruct when tampered with, the authorities had nothing but mysterious lumps of trash to study. No doubt they have been packed into cardboard boxes and stored on a shelf in some out-of-the-way warehouse.

BR: Thank you, my brother. Va i luce.

AK: Va i amas eso luce.