plotters, office rental and now I he was ready to collaborate with Alexander (and with me). Alexander convinced the professor that he could attract the investors and sell at a profit his projects on oil and gas. No doubt that if one of the professor’s assumptions was confirmed and at least one new previously unknown deposit was discovered we would get many investors line up for collaboration with us. Our joint business would become kind of “engine” for all of us and we agreed that by investing relatively small amounts of money into the drilling of wells in the given areas our investors would be convinced that our new company had true information about water and oil reserves all around the world. On the other hand, it could prove to Alexander and me that the professor was really capable of “seeing through the earth”.
With every passing second my desire to touch the magic power of the pendulum was growing. I asked the professor:
– May I learn to work like you: to ask questions, get the answers, or are only the chosen ones capable of handling it? Whom are You talking to?
To my surprise I did not get a precise answer from the professor who, I believed, had kind of a master key to all the questions. The professor believed that he had an access to the Earth’s information field where you could find all the needed answers. However, he did agree to teach me his job. The professor showed me how I should hold my hand and asked me to try to talk to the pendulum and see whether it would get in touch with me or not. He said to me: draw a vertical line on the paper and put under it “yes” and a horizontal line with “no” and then ask a simple question to the pendulum: “Pendulum, may I receive information from you, am I allowed or not?”. Of course I never lost my common sense, yet I was interested to see what the result could be: either I would fail and nothing would come and I would admit that the professor was a unique person, or, though I did not believe it, I would somehow feel a reply from the pendulum… hit or miss.
I took a rope with a pointed piece of metal suspending from it, stretched it out, closed my eyes and asked mentally: “Pendulum, may I work with you?” – in a while I felt my insides undergoing some changes. It felt as though short scarcely perceptible electrical impulses rushed from the head through the shoulder and arm to the hand with the rope and the pendulum started to steadily sway along the vertical line which indicated “yes”.
Both Alexander and Butanovich were glad to see this, and even started congratulating me on the success but I, however, could not believe my eyes, and decided to repeat the experiment. I stopped the pendulum, outstretched my hand again, closed the eyes and repeated my question. This time the impulses were much stronger and the rope once again drew in the air a vertical line. My inner feelings at that moment were so unusual to me that I did not know whether I should rejoice or if it was just hypnosis. How was I supposed to react to what was happening to me and around me?..Inspired by new emotions I continued asking questions and with each passing hour I was getting more and more questions inside me. What is that force that makes my hand swerve the pendulum? Does that force exit after all? Is it allowed to ask serious questions and should I have trust in the answer of… the pendulum?
All the things seemed to be on the right path. Alexander and I were approaching the turning point when we could step out of the shadow and with our results assert themselves and prove to those who did not believe in us that working on another level was possible. Very recently one more talented scientist named Vetrov from Tomsk joined our team of like-minded people. Being acquainted with Vetrov and his ideas Alexander, as ever, confided the task of studying his designs for their future use to me. One of the remarkable inventions of the scientist was machines of new generation which separated the services by fractions by means of high speed eddy: thus, the machine could dry and clean the air, for example, at industrial plants and also clean the gases and separate liquid and liquid-gas mixtures. He developed machines which allowed to heat houses without tubular heating elements by separating water into cold and hot water and letting it pass through the intricate constructions – as a result, the water acquired a velocity of hundred meters per second and changed its features. It was a new approach, environmentally benign and very simple indeed… The scientist showed me the drawings of the future apparatus designed to separate associated petroleum gas into pure gas and hydrocarbon fractions, to purify wastewater, to air condition… I was just enjoying all these novelties and those opportunities that were awaiting me ahead…
On a sudden, however, I encountered the first disappointment in our job… A catch that I did not expect. Once we had a dinner with the scientist from Tomsk and there was a lot of liquor on the table. We were drinking toast after toast and very soon I saw my “partner” Alexander in such an awful state in which I would never expect him to see. I did not expect a person to drink so much and to transform from a “generator of ideas” into a beast… I did my best to help Alexander finish the dinner and the evening without any incidents. Since I myself did not drink alcohol to see Alexander’s metamorphosis was not that easy… It is a moment that I am not able to forget. I have never seen a man changing so dramatically, 180 degrees, and transforming into his complete opposite. In front of me I was seeing a ferocious aggressive man swearing like a trooper and threatening to kill everybody around him including me unless I fulfilled his wish and provided some more booze for him…
In that state I had to deliver Alexander from Tomsk to his home and in parallel hear him swearing at me and all the people around him… He was trying to pry the steering wheel out of the driver’s hands and was threating to throw all of us out of the car… I was almost going to lose my temper and was ready to get out of the car right in the middle of the way just not to see and hear him. At the same time, I understood that I could not leave Alexander even in that state. I totally depended upon him and could not break off relations with Alexander right now, quitting our business halfway. Upon courageously delivering him to his home already at night I heard Alexander telling me to shove off since I did not want to listen to him…
The middle of the night. I am approaching my house. On the one hand, I was almost indifferent and calm. On the other hand, I could not resist to the feeling of incomprehension inside me. How come? You do a man so much good, engross yourself in the work and the thoughts about the work, do your best and is that all to finish in a jiffy? Because of what? Because of alcohol?! And Alexander? Who did he allow himself to turn into?…I felt like yelling and crying… How many inconsistencies I had in my head!…It seemed strange indeed, Alexander had always told me that he was pious and went to church and all that was supposed to help us. Though, I must admit, I was skeptical about religious traditions and rites but since it helped Alexander, very often I would also attend worships with him and even fast to be on the same page with him… And now all of a sudden you were falling from that page and hitting the ground, it hurts… Is this fair?
Today is warm and sunny. I am standing on the bank of the river and looking into the distance. Several days have passed since we returned from Tomsk. I did not call Alexander on principle because actually I had no reason to explain myself to him. I waited till a genuine and kind man with whom we had been striving for our success for half a year already would be reborn in Alexander. The telephone rang – I could not hear Alexander’s voice at first. He apologized to me, saying that he himself did not know how that could have happened to him. He said that he had gone to church, had a talk with the priest and that the priest had forgiven him for that bad behavior (!) and added that we should proceed with our affairs…
It seemed that the call was kind of salvation. I agreed. Though thoughts like flies continued whirling in my head. “Ha-ha, – I thought – is it possible indeed that an ordinary priest in a church can forgive a man for bad behavior? Even not knowing what that man had actually done? If so, then such kind of behavior is acceptable, isn’t it? Not clear”
Gradually I was forgetting that incident and we continued working with renewed vigour. I wanted very much to get my labour and time spent bring results. For all that time I could not forget professor Butanovich, the way he worked with the pendulum. From time to time