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a strong feeling that this force could very effectively be used for self-protection, should such a need ever arise. Firkon answered this thought by saying, ?Yes, that is so. As yet, the need has not arisen. Moreover, if the issue Is merely our lives as against the lives of our brothers? even those belligerent ones of your Earth?we would allow ourselves to be destroyed rather than to slay a fellow being.? The implications of this simple statement affected me deeply. | could not help but reflect sorrowfully on the so different viewpoint of my fellow men on Earth; of the divided peoples, the nations even now engaged in a race to produce more dreadful weapons of destruction which would bring death, affliction and sickness to ever-increasing millions of their fellow beings throughout the world. | thought of the credo of hatred for ?the enemy instilled in the minds of young men as a necessary part of preparing them for killing. For it is not inherent in natural man who understands even a little of his place in Creation to want to kill. | thought of the indescribable blasphemy of prayers addressed to the loving Eternal Father of all, asking Him to bless them in thus betraying the very humanity of their heritage. Both Ilmuth and Firkon were silent while these thoughts went through my mind. Although | had many times before reflected on just these things, they had never penetrated my consciousness with such poignancy, and | knew that it would remain with me always. In a moment, Firkon called my attention to an instrument no larger than an ordinary cabinet radio, with a screen similar to a TV set. ?With this,? he explained, we can picture and register anything taking place on the Earth, or on any planet over which we either pass or hover. Not only do we hear the spoken words, but pictures are picked up and shown on the screen. An internal mechanism breaks these down into sound vibrations, which are simultaneously translated into words of our own language, all of which are recorded in a manner similar to your own tape-recordings.? To further clear this for me, he explained that all words are made up of vibrations or scales similar to a musical octave, just as all melodies are composed of certain notes. By knowing this law one can learn a heretofore unknown language in a short time. When strange vibrations become apparent, these are transposed Dede tad ee Lee Abe Ae dh bak db Ate ee eee 2 tt he nat into picture form, showing exactly what the strange words or their vibrations mean. Needless to say, the tape he showed me was different from any | had ever seen on Earth. It all sounded to me like a jigsaw puzzle, and my mystification no doubt showed plainly on my face. In any case, Ilmuth laughed merrily and asked, ?Would you be surprised to learn that races of people who lived on your Earth many centuries ago thoroughly understood and used the universal laws of sound and vibration?? | stated that | had long suspected the truth of this. ?Although this knowledge is utterly lost to your present-day civilizations,? IImuth continued, ?a few individuals here and there are awakening to a slight conception of its possibilities. On other planets, these laws are a fundamental teaching in the educational systems. With these as a basis, pupils are able to learn very rapidly in all fields of knowledge and expression.?