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Bob Butler and Stan pondering this disembodied spiritual entity named John, who would be playing himself in the film—should we decide to use Kevin as the actual trance medium. They needed to be professional in their attitude, but I could feel their personal curiosity as well. I decided to break the silence and get on with it. I asked John if he would be able to rehearse and stick to the script we’d write for him.
    He answered succinctly. “If I can speak lines that match the philosophic framework of myself and that will also be reminiscent of the original lines spoken in our first meetings, that is agreeable, yes.”
    Stan and Bob looked over at me. Mort coughed politely—but really wanted to say something witty like “But do you do windows?” Sometimes Mort would joke and wisecrack to relieve his own tensions and break up stress in others. Still, I decided to continue with practical questions.
    “No, John,” I said. “I mean, if I ask you to do a scene over again and make it faster, will you be able to do it?”
    “Correct,” he answered.
    “Okay. Now tell me: Will there be a problem with the camera equipment in relation to your electromagnetic frequencies?”
    “That could present a difficulty,” said John. “However, I will endeavor to lower my frequencies through the instruments, thereby avoiding problems with your sensitive camera equipment.”
    Stan’s eyes lit up with a fascinated grin. Bob Butler just squinted. Mort looked as though he were in a trancehimself. “Lower frequencies” to match camera equipment? He was having enough trouble adjusting to the fact that someone was going to play him in the movie. (He was holding out for Paul Newman.)
    I moved right ahead with my questions.
    “John?” I continued. “Will there be some problems with crew members who have never been exposed to this stuff before?”
    John cocked his head. “No. We sense there will be a mutually respectful working relationship with everyone involved. There will be conscious and unconscious cooperation. Each will make his own personal adjustment.”
    Stan smiled and leaned forward. “I would like to say that in film-making we often need to repeat a scene time after time. Will you be able to say your words accurately, or will you improvise when you do it again?”
    John seemed to smile to himself. “I have been repeating the same teachings for thousands of years. The duration of a film scene should not make that much difference.”
    Everyone laughed.
    “There may be mild differences in languaging, but in the main it will be an exact parallel.”
    “Differences in languaging?” I turned the phrase over in my mind, reflecting on how prejudicial words could be in describing metaphysical phenomena and spiritual dimensions. I was having a kind of déjà vu flash on the time when I first encountered words with “kook” connotations. But Stan was quite unfazed, pursuing practicalities. He leaned farther forward.
    “John, as you know, we will be shooting in Peru, where a lot of the story took place. The altitude will be difficult on everyone, and as Shirley has suggested, there will be many crew members who will be exposed to these issues for the first time, including extraterrestrial life. Are we to expect an extraordinarily difficult time, or will it go smoothly?”
    John turned his head and Kevin shuddered slightly.
    “Pause,” said John. “Entity desiring to speak.”
    A tiny susurration of surprise rippled through the room. One could feel new energy surge through Kevin’s body. Then everyone realized what had happened. Kevin’s facial expression altered completely.
    “Hello, out there,” said a new personality. “McPherson here. Tom McPherson. How are the lot of you doing?”
    “We’re doing fine, Tom,” I greeted him.
    “Now then, I believe there was a spot of an inquiry about difficulties you might encounter creatively and in high altitude. Is that correct?”
    “That’s correct,” said Stan.
    “First