Green Flyers

"The Malaiara are very good to us. We revere the Malaiara and wish to remain with them."
-- A captive human woman under Malaiara influence, Booklet 029

"We are castaways no longer. In two hundred years this planet has become our home, and we do not wish to perish without our succession being secured. Death after such a long life is only bearable if we know that there are those who will carry on our work. The Malaiara shall not be extinguished and forgotten!"
-- The Three Varnha, Booklet 029

The Green Flyers (German: Grune Flieger), known in their own language as the Malaiara, are a sentient, winged alien species inhabiting the planet Rorqual in Space II. They are one of only two known intelligent non-human races on Rorqual (the other being hinted at by the explorer Glencannon in Booklet 052) and play a pivotal role across nearly a dozen booklets of the Die Terranauten saga. Initially encountered as fearsome predators who abduct human women for genetic experimentation, the Malaiara are gradually revealed to be a tragic, dying civilisation -- stranded castaways from another world whose desperate attempts to perpetuate their species have led them into moral horror and ultimately into catastrophic vulnerability to the Banshees of Space II.

The Green Flyers' arc is one of the saga's most complex alien narratives, moving from outright antagonism through harrowing crisis to hard-won alliance with the Terranauts.

Physical Description

The Malaiara are a large, powerfully built winged species with distinctly reptilian and avian characteristics. Based on multiple encounters described across the saga, their physical traits include:

• Wings: Enormous leathery wings capable of sustained flight, including carrying a full-grown human. The wings can be folded against the body or spread wide. Their wingbeats are described as "churning through the air" with tremendous force, powerful enough to tear the breath from a passenger's mouth (Booklet 031). The Green Flyers can also glide silently.
• Skin: Covered in green-scaled, stiff reptilian skin (described as "scaly skin" and "green-scaled hand"). Through this skin, one can feel the "tremendous muscular tension" of the creature in flight (Booklet 031).
• Face: Described as "alien bird-faces" with a "beak-like mouth" containing "rows of sharp yellow teeth" (Booklet 029). Their expressions are read as "half curious, half hostile."
• Hands: Possessing "long claw-like fingers" capable of both delicate manipulation (carrying trays, operating laboratory equipment) and formidable combat. Their grip is described as "a hand like steel" (Booklet 029).
• Build: Gaunt but immensely strong. Despite appearing lean, a single Green Flyer can overpower a strong human in close combat. Claude Farrell attempts to slam one against a wall and finds that "in that gaunt body with its stiff reptilian skin there was tremendous strength" (Booklet 029).
• Durability: Remarkably tough. Even after being stunned and badly injured, Green Flyers attempt to regain their feet. Farrell observes in astonishment: "Those beasts must be incredibly tough. They're trying to get back on their feet, and they're already half dead!" (Booklet 029).
• Colouration: Their green skin gives them their common human name. When agitated or in pain, a wounded Green Flyer is described as "leaping about in a circle like a madman," slashing the air with clawed fingers while bellowing (Booklet 029).

Attire

The Malaiara possess a material culture beyond mere animalism. In their fortress, some wear "loosely falling yellow robes" that conceal their wings, suggesting a distinction between warrior/patrol castes (who fly armed with lances and "strange, pointed headgear") and the scientific or ruling caste who work in laboratories (Booklet 029).

Society and Government

The Varnha (Thought-Masters)

Malaiara society is governed by the Varnha (also called the Drei Varnha or "Three Varnha"), a psionic ruling caste. Each Malaiara fortress is led by a council of three Varnha who can unite their consciousness into a single, immensely powerful thought-being. The Varnha serve as both rulers and the species' telepathic interface with outsiders.

When David terGorden encounters the Varnha in Booklet 029, they introduce themselves:

"We are the Three of this fortress of the Malaiara. We are called the Varnha, the Thought-Masters. We determine the fates of that part of our people who live with us in this castle."

The Varnha possess formidable psychic abilities -- they can forcibly scan a human's consciousness, overpower the mental defences of non-Driver humans, and communicate telepathically across significant distances. However, even they recognise David terGorden's exceptional PSI strength, withdrawing from their initial attempt at forcible interrogation and instead requesting dialogue: "A battle between us would be pointless and would only exhaust us completely" (Booklet 029).

Despite their power, the Varnha are tragically vulnerable to the Banshees. Unlike humans -- particularly Drivers -- the Malaiara, including the Varnha, can be "taken over completely and utterly" by Banshees, with no effective mental defence (Booklet 030).

Fortress Civilisation

The Malaiara live in fortress-castles built by integrating the remains of their crashed spacecraft with the surrounding rock formations. David admires the engineering: "It must have been an enormous amount of work to join the intact portion of the spacecraft with the rock into a single unit" (Booklet 029). These fortresses contain:

• Laboratories -- Equipped with worktables, padded examination tables with transparent restraining hoods, injection devices, and complex control panels. This is where the Malaiara conduct their genetic experiments on captive human women.
• Living quarters -- The valley basins surrounding the fortresses contain cave dwellings connected by narrow stone ramps, where the captive women are housed.
• Historical archives -- The Malaiara have burned their history into rock walls as engraved images, recording their star charts, their spacecraft, and their arrival in Space II (Booklet 029).
• Armories -- The species maintains military patrols equipped with short throwing lances, combat gas weapons, and "highly sophisticated, unfamiliar" energy weapons wielded by the Varnha themselves.

Multiple fortresses exist on Rorqual. The main fortress encountered by David and his companions is called the Castle of the Green Flyers (German: Burg der Grunen Flieger). A second fortress, referred to as Fortress II, houses uninfected Malaiara who ally with the Terranauts during the Banshee crisis (Booklet 030).

Language

The Malaiara have their own spoken language, unintelligible to humans (Farrell notes he "could not understand a word"). They also use the following known terms:

Origins and History

Arrival on Rorqual

The Malaiara are not native to Rorqual. Their rock-carved historical records reveal that they arrived from another star system, travelling in a spherical spacecraft that became trapped in Space II -- the counter-universe through which faster-than-light travel is conducted. The images show:

1. A star chart indicating the position of their home planet (which David cannot interpret)
2. A group of Green Flyers standing before a spherical structure -- their spacecraft
3. The same scene, but with the Flyers "missing their heads" -- symbolising their entry into Space II, where they "literally lost their heads" (Booklet 029)

Upon arrival on Rorqual approximately two hundred years before the Terranauts' time (as stated by the Varnha), they integrated the remains of their spacecraft into the rock to form their fortress complexes. Cut off from their home planet and facing extinction as a castaway population, they developed an increasingly desperate strategy for species survival.

The Genetic Experiments

The Malaiara's central tragedy is their inability to reproduce naturally on Rorqual. Driven by the imperative to prevent their species' extinction, they turned to abducting human women from Rorqual's scattered settlements and subjecting them to genetic experiments in their fortress laboratories. The goal was to find a way to produce offspring -- to "leave descendants behind" so that "the Malaiara shall not be extinguished and forgotten" (Booklet 029).

The captive women were kept in a drugged, trance-like state using chemical compounds administered via injection. Under this influence, the women were docile and even protective of their captors, monotonously repeating: "The Malaiara are very good to us. We revere the Malaiara and wish to remain with them" (Booklet 029). The experiments involved blood-drawing and other procedures -- David's party discovers bloodstained equipment in the laboratory.

The experiments appear to have been unsuccessful. David presses the Varnha: "How long have you been conducting your cruel experiments? Have they succeeded? No! Why do you not come to terms with the fact that it is not possible for you to leave descendants behind?" (Booklet 029).

The Banshee Invasion

The catastrophic turning point for the Malaiara comes when Banshees -- the disembodied souls of beings who died in Space II -- discover that the Green Flyers are uniquely and completely vulnerable to possession. Unlike humans, who can resist Banshee intrusion through PSI abilities, the Malaiara have no effective mental defence. As Llewellyn 709 observes: "Unlike humans, the Flyers could be taken over completely and utterly by the Banshees. They had no chance against this invasion of damned souls" (Booklet 030).

Three particularly powerful and intelligent Banshees seize control of Varnha bodies within the Castle of the Green Flyers:

Operating from within the most powerful bodies in Malaiara society, these Banshee-possessed Varnha summon more Banshees to the fortress, promising them living Green Flyer bodies. The invasion spreads rapidly. Maldran, a Malaiara warrior, leads a hundred fighters against the fortress but is overwhelmed -- his men are possessed one by one, turning against their own comrades (Booklet 030).

The Malaiara experience this as the ultimate horror -- what their own language calls the Varnitlana (Soul Eaters). The Banshees do not merely ride within the Green Flyer body; they consume the original consciousness entirely. The result is a population of Green Flyers whose bodies still function but whose minds have been replaced by maddened, centuries-old human and alien ghosts.

Liberation and Alliance

The crisis is resolved through an alliance between the Terranauts and the surviving uninfected Malaiara. The key events unfold across Booklets 029-031:

1. Contact (Booklet 029): David terGorden enters the fortress with Claude Farrell, Guy La Ramee, and Thorna. They fight their way through Green Flyer warriors to reach the Varnha, who communicate telepathically with David and reveal their tragic history. The Banshees then attack the Varnha, and David is contacted by the spirit of Merlin II.

1. Alliance (Booklet 030): The Terranauts forge an alliance with uninfected Malaiara from a second fortress. Claude Farrell negotiates with the Malaiara leaders, who offer their people as allies in exchange for protection against the Banshees. Llewellyn 709 organises the evacuation of uninfected Malaiara aboard the Terranaut ships GARIBALDI and LASSALLE, whose metal hulls the Banshees cannot penetrate. Twelve Malaiara carry Farrell, Ramee, and Reta to safety from the besieged fortress.

1. Resolution (Booklet 031): David devises the solution. Since Banshees are creatures of Space II and cannot survive in normal space, the Terranauts transport the possessed Malaiara through a Transition out of Space II into the normal universe. The passage destroys the Banshees: "The normal universe put an end to the shadow-life of the Banshees." The Malaiara are freed and the alliance is cemented.

Cooperation with the Terranauts

Following the Banshee crisis, the Malaiara become allies of the Terranauts on Rorqual. By the time of Booklet 034 (The Renegade), David and Asen-Ger have negotiated active cooperation:

"I believe we have found good and reliable friends in the Malaiara."
-- David terGorden, Booklet 034

A joint human-Malaiara team is formed to investigate the psionic phenomena prevailing on Rorqual. David announces at a situation briefing that "the Green Ones were prepared to cooperate in the investigation of Rorqual's PSI field" (Booklet 034).

By Booklet 051 (World in Turmoil), the Malaiara are integrated into the life of the Terranaut fortress on Pitcairn. They are described as "engaged in animated conversation" with humans in the castle courtyard, and they serve as the Terranauts' primary intelligence network regarding events across Rorqual's surface:

"The Green Flyers were the only ones who were precisely informed about the current situation on Rorqual, and if one could believe their reports, it appeared as though the entire planet found itself in a state of chaotic upheaval."
-- Booklet 051

The Malaiara also brew wine -- described as "tart and spicy" with an alcohol content "barely more than that of old earthly beer" -- which becomes a regular drink in the Terranaut settlement (Booklet 051).

Notable Individuals

Abilities and Characteristics

Flight

The Malaiara are powerful and agile fliers. Their wings allow them to:

• Carry a full-grown human while maintaining altitude and speed
• Form military patrol formations ("arrow-shaped formations")
• Execute steep dives and rapid altitude changes
• Fly in coordinated groups, with unburdened fliers forming a protective shield above those carrying passengers (Booklet 031)

Combat

The Green Flyers are formidable warriors:

• Throwing lances -- Short lances with metal tips, used both in aerial combat and ground engagements
• Combat gas -- A chemical weapon deployed during defensive operations around their fortress
• Pointed headgear -- Worn by patrol units, possibly serving as both protection and weapon
• Energy weapons -- "Highly sophisticated, unfamiliar" weapons wielded by the Varnha
• Physical strength -- Even unarmed, a single Malaiara poses a serious threat to trained human fighters
• Flamethrowers -- At least some Malaiara warriors carry flamethrower weapons

Psionic Abilities

The Varnha caste possesses genuine telepathic abilities:

• Telepathic communication -- The Varnha can project thoughts into human minds and receive thoughts in return
• Mental merging -- The Three Varnha can unite into a single thought-being of greatly enhanced power
• Consciousness scanning -- They can forcibly read the minds of non-PSI-gifted beings
• Injection-assisted control -- Using a reddish injection compound, they can induce a drugged state that makes subjects susceptible to mental manipulation

However, these abilities are insufficient to defend against Banshee possession, which operates on a different mechanism that bypasses the Malaiara's defences entirely.

PSI Vulnerability

The Malaiara's greatest weakness is their total susceptibility to Banshee possession. This vulnerability appears to be species-wide -- even the powerful Varnha fall victim. The mechanism is not fully explained, but it may be related to the nature of their psionic abilities: the same telepathic openness that allows the Varnha to communicate so effectively may leave the entire species exposed to Banshee intrusion in ways that the more individually-shielded human mind is not.

Relationship with Humans

The Green Flyers' relationship with Rorqual's human population undergoes a dramatic transformation across the saga:

Phase 1: Fear and Predation (Booklets 016-018)

The Malaiara are feared throughout Rorqual as predators who abduct human women. Thorna, who escaped a captive colony as a child, provides the first detailed account. Guy La Ramee's wife Reta is abducted, and the Dunkle Dame is attacked by a Green Flyer raiding party that kills Rianna Ross. During this phase, the Green Flyers are seen as monsters: "Winged alien creatures who attack" ships and settlements.

Phase 2: Understanding and Crisis (Booklets 029-030)

David's telepathic contact with the Varnha reveals the Malaiara's tragic history and their desperate motivations. The Banshee invasion then forces both species into reluctant cooperation. The Terranauts rescue uninfected Malaiara, and the Malaiara in turn carry David's companions to safety during the fortress evacuation.

Phase 3: Alliance (Booklets 031-051+)

Following the liberation from the Banshees, the Malaiara become trusted allies of the Terranauts. They share intelligence, participate in joint investigations, brew communal wine, and live alongside humans in the Pitcairn fortress settlement. David calls them "good and reliable friends."

Cultural Significance

In Rorqual's Human Society

Among Rorqual's pre-industrial human population, the Green Flyers are objects of terror. Their periodic raids on coastal settlements to abduct women have made them the most feared non-human presence on the planet. Knowledge of them is widespread: the explorer Glencannon references "the ever-present Green Flyers" as something any visitor to Rorqual must have encountered (Booklet 052). The mention of Green Flyers causes visible fear even in hardened individuals -- when Thorna spots them from a glider, she screams and ducks behind the pilot's seat (Booklet 029).

Thematic Role

The Malaiara embody several of the saga's central themes:

• The tragedy of extinction: Their desperate genetic experiments represent the moral corruption that the fear of species death can engender. They are not evil by nature but have been driven to cruelty by existential despair.
• The possibility of reconciliation: The transformation from feared predators to trusted allies demonstrates the saga's recurring faith that understanding can bridge even the deepest divides between species.
• Vulnerability of the powerful: Despite their physical might and psionic abilities, the Malaiara are devastatingly vulnerable to the Banshees -- a reminder that strength in one dimension does not guarantee safety in another.
• The costs of isolation: Like the Banshees themselves, the Malaiara are castaways trapped in Space II. Their story parallels the broader theme of beings caught between universes, struggling to survive in a dimension that was never meant to be their home.

Key Events Timeline

Related Concepts

• Rorqual -- The planet in Space II where the Malaiara are stranded
• Varnha -- The Thought-Masters who govern Malaiara society
• Drei Varnha -- The ruling triad of each Malaiara fortress
• Banshee -- The disembodied souls that devastatingly possess the Malaiara
• Varnitlana -- The Malaiara name for Banshees ("Soul Eaters")
• Castle of the Green Flyers -- The main Malaiara fortress on Rorqual
• Space II -- The counter-universe in which Rorqual exists
• Thorna -- Former captive of the Green Flyers and key source of knowledge about them
• Vasik -- An outcast Green Flyer with clipped wings
• David terGorden -- The Terranaut leader who makes first telepathic contact with the Varnha
• Terranauts -- The human rebel movement that ultimately allies with the Malaiara
• PSI Powers -- Psychic abilities; the Varnha possess telepathy but remain vulnerable to Banshees
• Guy La Ramee -- Merchant whose wife is abducted by the Green Flyers
• Rianna Ross -- Terranaut killed by a Green Flyer attack

Appearances

The Green Flyers / Malaiara appear or are significantly referenced in the following booklets: