Two Federation authorities, Avon and Orac acknowledge Feldon existed. Sleer admits that Feldon came from Belkov and Mecron II. The academic Gerren, who was attached to the Planetary Resources Commission, should know about Feldon. Orac and Avon both assume that there were Feldon crystals
Sleer: On your own original estimates, you have delivered half the expected yield from this mine.
Gerren: Unfortunately, they are not digging up anything much. There is virtually no Feldon left. Belkov has milked this planet for twelve good years.
Avon: But a huge negative force a long way off could be balanced by a positive force close to the crystals. ... Blast those feldon panels with everything we have got.
Orac: It would appear that positive and negative inputs were balanced by the Feldon crystals. ... They simply ceased to exist.
Neither the Federation nor the Mecronians realised the gem they had in their grasp. The Mecronians never made the connection between Feldon and destructive power; the Federation came to the conclusion only a few weeks or so before the episode opened.
Vila also did not know, hence his initial disinterest
Tarrant: I could do with some rest. Vila [irritated]: We all could. Is the lecture over? Orac: Feldon is the hardest known subject in the universe. Avon: And currently the most valuable. Vila: Go on. You are just getting interesting.
Even a top-notch thief says there is Feldon. By the time he came along to Mecron II, ship propulsion, for example, through Feldon was not yet a reality. For them (and the Federation too, for that matter) it was still theory
Tarrant: Could you run a ship on it? Avon: You could run anything on it in theory.
It was Belkov who discovered the true nature of Feldon, over ten years ago, and kept it to himself. For the bulk of Belkov's career on Mecron II, Feldon was regarded as a precious stone in the sense of a repository of wealth like gold, but not as an industrial agent. The crystals were a tradeable item but for jewellery, not energy. The crystal called Feldon existed and exists, but the essence, the power of Feldon did not exist in the minds of most people, until recently.
So Belkov has, in his first year, this amazing product that he can't sell for its true worth. He can't tell people the truth about them because it would start a FeldonRush, and Belkov would lose his privileged position. If he sells the crystals, he must sell at somewhere between cost (of mining) and their eventual full commercial value.
The price he gets for Feldon is not low, but it is lower than he wants, so he conceives a plan to get credits. He sells the rights to the Federation, overcharges them for Capital outlay whenever he commissions a new mine, uses free Mecronian labour, that sort of thing. Sleer is onto this when she asks just what sort of swindle he is working; Gerren too when he mentions the milking for twelve years; and Vila comes eventually to ask the same question
Vila: What about the crystals? Avon: There aren't any damned crystals. There never were any damned crystals.
Avon's statement seems to deny there ever was a thing called Feldon. It comes from one who escaped Belkov's threat
Belkov: Orbiter is powered through Feldon crystals. By using them and reflectors on the moon I could set up a series of force fields. You would find getting away from this planet a lot harder than getting to it. Avon: Multiple traction beams. Tarrant: Powerful enough to stop a ship leaving orbit? I don't believe it. Belkov: Your friend Avon does.
But Avon achieved orbit with consummate skill. The threat from Belkov was either not carried out or empty in the first place. Avon's negative statement above refers only to the Orbiter, for Avon mentions Feldon panels and crystals moments later (in his blasting order to Slave). These crystals were indeed on the Orbiter but they were not in a pile of loot ready for someone to steal or sell. They were powering Orbiter.
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