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the fear which has been fostered by man himself on your planet throughout the centuries.? ?The same is true of your fliers everywhere on Earth,? Kalna said quietly, ?many have seen our ships again and again. But they have been muzzled and warned, and few dare speak out.? ?\It is the same with your scientists,? Firkon added. Again | marveled at their knowledge of our world and its peoples. ?Then it would seem,? | said, ?that the answer lies largely with the ordinary man in the street, multiplied by his millions the world over.? ?They would be your strength,? Firkon quickly agreed, ?and if they would speak against war in sufficient numbers everywhere, some leaders in different parts of your world would listen gladly.? | felt that this conversation had contributed much to my understanding and | was filled with hope. Almost without realizing that | was going to do so, | changed the subject by saying, ?| wonder if you would explain a little further to me about the mechanism | saw in the pilot?s room?the one that registers sounds that are translated into pictures on the screen. 2Of course,? Orthon said. ?One of its most important uses is to enable us to learn readily any language. Naturally, those of us who actually live and work on your Earth for a while speak with better accents. Although, with us, as with you, some have a greater aptitude for languages than others and learn to speak flawlessly without any direct contact with the people.? Here he smiled and reminded me of the pantomimic conversation carried on at the time of our first meeting, adding, ?It was of the utmost importance that | test your ability to send out and to receive telepathic messages. As an outcome of that, you are here now! 2We know well the skepticism of the Earth people in all directions outside of the narrow ruts of personal experience. It was for this reason that the messages | gave you were of a universal character. We knew that, although the understanding of such writings was buried with civilizations that were lost long ago, there are a few people scattered about your present world who would be able to translate them. With such translations, only the determinedly incredulous can still refuse to believe.? ?It is fortunate,? Kalna said, with her merry smile, ?that at least mental telepathy has been accepted as an established fact by the scientists of your world!? 2You know,? Orthon said, ?we had you under observation for some years before | finally contacted you, and we felt sure that your knowledge of telepathy would be adequate. This was proven in the final test at our first meeting.? ?Did you test me in other ways as well?? | asked. ?Indeed we did! You see, inasmuch as you had been photographing our craft for several years, your thoughts were inevitably coming our way. We felt the sincerity of your interest. It remained to be seen if and how you would translate this interest into action, how well you could stand up under the ridicule and skepticism bound to come your way, and whether you would be tempted to use your contacts with us for self-aggrandizement or commercialism.?