Chapter V: The Big City (2)

"No. That is a wrong concept. Your book of guidance tells you that as death came by man, so must life come by man, which means, if man has the right concept of life and its purpose, death would not be known to him, nor age. For man is nothing but a thought in action and thoughts are never old. They are constantly being replaced by new ones. This is progress. There is nothing in this universe that dies or ever did die, as you people know death. All there is, is a constant change, which is constant newness, and that knows neither age nor death. Its law is countless action, everlasting progress. You were given dominion over all things upon Earth, including Earth itself. This did not mean the Earth alone, but it meant all earths, which are planets, which then means that humanity is universal and not planetary or earthly."

Here he quoted the statements made by Jesus, 'I am in the world but not of it' also 'in my Father's house are many mansions' adding "when the Earthly man learns this well, and lives it, he will be like the Triterians. He will not be looking forth to death, but rather have everlasting life, and youth rather than age. That is what the people on these other planets have learned. They are not altogether perfect, but they have learned that much, and that is why they are so much further ahead of Earth's people. When the Earth's people learn this, they will not be destroyed nor annihilated from the Earth. But if they continue in the channel in which they are now moving, they will experience the same fate that others have."

And this seems to be the philosophy of the people on the Moon and on Mars, as we figured it out.

Now the machine has been switched on and on the screen we are viewing the picture of the Triton race. They were very tall, handsome people. We would judge the average was six feet tall or a little better and well built in proportion to their height; almost like one. Most of them were brunette but here and there we could see one who was more of a blonde. By their expressions we could see they were very intelligent.

They did very little work, what we would call labor of any kind. They had machines to do everything for them. We might say that all the work they did each day, which the machines could not do, at best was two hours. The machines did the rest of the work.

Their buildings, homes, and cities in general seemed to possess something that a man can dream of but seldom at any time realize.

They really were masters over nature, as we could easily see. We could almost write a volume telling what we have seen on the screen.

As we watched this picture and its full import dawned upon us, we wanted to know how they can reproduce these happenings of millions of years in the past.

The reply was, "past is present, and present is also past. Nothing that ever was, is, or will be, can ever be erased from the archives of eternity. It is always present and whenever the proper conditions prevail, reproduction can take place. This machine is a proper condition that can reproduce things as you are seeing them, so that by studying the reproduction we can know what happened in the past and why it happened. This way mistakes can be detected. Since all forms and all things are nothing but various rates of actions, which are sometimes called vibrations, they remain in the vastness of space forever."

"For an example," and here he switched to another scene, the Earth, the recent war which we have gone through and the conditions we are going through now, "this is picked right out of space. Once it is picked, an indelible picture is made of it by this machine. This can be done not only of the Earth, but by this same method we scan all interstellar space, which includes all actions within it, involving trillions upon trillions of systems of planets as well, and the activities upon them."

Again he referred to our book of guidance in which is the promise that the Book of Remembrance shall be opened unto everyone.

"Someday," he said, "a race will rise upon the Earth that will live as people should live, and in time they probably will get such a machine as this one, which reveals all the past; or, should they be worthy of it, they will be given one by the Martonians who already have them."

Engrossed in the workings and revelations given by this apparatus, George wanted to know if the other planets have machines like this one.

"No," was the answer, "we are the only ones who have it, for we are not as developed as the people on the other planets. Those living on Venus, Jupiter, and all the other planets in our system are still better developed than we are. They use their consciousness instead of a machine to accomplish the same things, and even better."

After all this we are becoming anxious to return to our ship, for while we grasped a lot of what we have seen, there were some things that were puzzling us and which we wanted to think out. Since all this was being given us with the aid of an interpreter, we could not very well expect to get them clearer than they already had been given us. Finally we suggested that we had better return to the airfield and get started back to where we had come from.

On the way to the airport, our host asked us to stop into the observatory once more.

To oblige him, we did.

There he flashed on the screen of the big telescope for us and here we saw the Martonian ship which was by this time approaching Mars at a terrific speed that registered in the observatory a speed of one million, nine hundred thousand miles per hour.

The pilot knew when this happened and he spoke to us, saying, "haven't you yet started back? You must like our school system."

Of course this was in a sort of joking manner, but there was more truth in his words than you realize. We have been in this city two full days, where with the friendship and cooperation of all, we have learned more here than we ever thought we would. By ourselves we could not have learned as much in years as has been given us in these two days.

Finally we started for our ship. On arriving at the airport, we find that the maintenance men of the field have our ship ready for us. We looked it over, checking on everything and saw that it was all in first class shape. Then we took off.

We circled the city twice and started back towards our landing place on the plateau. Once in the air, we contacted the Earth through our radar system and told them that we would have quite a message to send after landing back at our original place. In the meantime we would keep in contact with them steadily, giving them a bird's-eye view of what we are seeing.

The answer from the Earth came with great delight and we were told that all radio stations would be broadcasting our message direct from us as we were giving it.

Always desiring to fly over new territory, George asked the colored chieftain if he knew of any other section of the Moon over which we could return instead of the way we had come.

He said there were a large village he had heard about, located about five hundred miles south of the line we went over and we could fly back that way if we wanted to.

We decided that would be interesting since we wanted to cover as much of the Moon as possible. Sure enough, there was a village and the people living there spotted us coming in. When we got within one thousand feet of the ground our temperature graph indicated a heat of one hundred forty degrees. We figured that on the ground it must have been one hundred sixty degrees or over. Johnny spotted what could have been a landing field, but there was nothing to indicate that it was. Bob asked the chieftain and he didn't know.

With our glasses we are able to clearly see the people on the streets. They are dark, much darker than our chieftain friend, and very tall.

We would judge the population of this village to be about two thousand, or less.

The territory looks quite barren and rough. The valley in which this village is located is very hilly, surrounded by mountains.

The white boys told us that at one time they had heard of this village and that everybody living in it has what we would call a cave. For forty hours every day, when the heat is at its peak, the temperature here reached around one hundred eighty degrees Fahrenheit, and that is when the villagers go into their caves. This village really is located within a big crater, not exactly like other craters, for it isn't round. Instead, it is a valley crater.

Dr. Johnston asked, "how do these people live? What do they live on?"

"According to the story told to us, the Martonian ships bring their necessities in during the cool of the night. That is why the landing field is there. In exchange they take a certain kind of crystal that is mined in this territory and is used for many things on planet Mars, like glass to look through," answered our native friend.

From this explanation, Dr. Johnston figured he must have meant fine glass like lenses on machines of Martonian make, including the big telescope.

Still curious, George questioned him further, trying to get a better understanding as to what kind of crystal it was.

Here the chieftain interrupted and succeeded in conveying to us that it was very large in size, varying from twenty-four inches to fifty inches in diameter, according to indication he made with his hands.

Then George wanted to know how thick it was.

Here too there was a variation for it was in different thicknesses. The larger ones would be about five feet thick. By signs, he indicated that it was so pure, so clear, that if you were going toward one, you wouldn't know it was there until you hit it.

There still remained five hundred miles from this point to our landing place over a southern route, and it was all hot and rough country, very much of a desert right on through.

Believe me, we certainly were grateful for having planted that flag of all nations as we had when we first arrived on the Moon, for we spotted it first. Then we knew we were close to our landing place. The nearer we came to our landing field, the cooler the temperature registered. We knew then that we would not be venturing out to the south exploring it, on foot especially, for that heat was more than we cared to take on a hike, even if we did have plenty of oxygen to use for breathing.

All this time we have been in constant contact with the Earth giving them a word picture of our experiences and views of the Moon as we saw it.

After landing and being greeted by our native friends who had remained behind while we were gone on our trip, we radared a two hour message to the Earth in reference to what we have seen on the Moon, the people we have met and their friendliness towards us, their beautiful cities, the big telescope, the Martonian ship and the type of people who live on Mars, according to the crew members of the big ship and the scientists we have met from there.

We received an answer from the Earth saying that the people there had heard our report with a tremendous surprise. Thousands and thousands of people were rejoicing over this great news, while other thousands were wondering how much truth there was in it. Every radio station was jammed with calls from people who wanted to know when they could make a trip to the Moon, when the next ship is going there, and all sorts of things. All were wishing us happy returning, that nothing would happen to us on the way back. Now their big question on Earth is: how soon are we coming back?

We can't answer that one for them because we don't know yet. There is still a lot more of the Moon we would like to explore before returning to Earth.

Sure enough, we no more than finished sending our message and had broken contact with the Earth when the white chieftain arrived on the scene with a group of his tribesmen and told us that if we were interested in exploring to the northeast, he would like to go with us on the trip.

Bob asked him why he would choose the northeast.

He replied that he knew there was something there, but he never had been able to get up there. Once in a great while someone wandered into his village saying that he had come from a long distance and from that direction.

So Bob told him we would fly over that way the next day and take him with us.

The villagers had prepared a large supply of food in native dishes which they had sent with their leader and his companions. So that evening we all feasted in picnic style on the ground alongside of our ship. Of course, among our supplies we still had much canned and dried food which we had brought with us from the Earth, but we have used comparatively very little of it since landing here on the Moon because all these natives have been so good to us. Also this native food is really good, and feasting with these people is a real delight for they are so enthusiastic and joyous in all that they do.

While eating and having such a wonderful time, we expressed the wish that we had some way by which we could send the voice of the chieftains, as well as pictures of them and their people to the Earth, for we would like to have all of our Earthly friends enjoy these experiences with us. But up till now all messages have been sent by code.

Johnny, a very brilliant young chap, suddenly got an idea and decided to see what he could do about it. Leaving us to continue our eating and merry-making, he went within the ship to work out his idea, which he said had come to him at the observatory. It was something in connection with the workings of the big telescope as he had seen it, but he didn't tell us more than that.

During the course of the evening, the white chieftain showed us some magic tricks, in the way of entertaining us. These were different from anything we had ever seen on Earth. We called them tricks, but he claimed they were genuine since he possessed powers which we Earth men did not understand. Afterward some of the natives danced a very cute little dance to the accompaniment of chanting.

Johnny missed all this entertainment because he was busy inside the ship. At this point he came out and informed us that he had hooked up the radio broadcasting set in a new way with the radar. He asked us to be quiet for a little while as he was going to try the test. First he sent a radar signal to the Earth indicating what he was about to do and asking them to give close attention for this experiment was something entirely different than anything he had ever heard of being tried before. Then he began to speak through the microphone.

Quickly the Earth radared back, saying they have heard his voice clearly and could understand his words.

That turned the trick.

At this, he told his listeners on Earth that he was going to put on the chieftain of the white tribe from the dark side of the Moon.

They radared back asking him to hold off the experiment for fifteen minutes. This would give them time to alert all radio stations of the world that they too might be on the beam and broadcast directly to the peoples of the world what we were sending from their Moon, which they had so long considered dead and uninhabitable.

When we realized what had just been done, what our brilliant companion and copilot had accomplished in this field, our rejoicing knew no bounds. But, being Earthmen, we wished for still more. Now that we were going to be able to send our Moon friends' voices through space and have them heard on Earth, we wanted to also send their pictures, but we doubted whether the small televising instruments we had with us would send pictures from here to the Earth.

After fifteen minutes were up, contact was again established with the Earth and the white chieftain was introduced. He spoke in his native tongue to the peoples of the world. When he got through talking, we asked him if his dancers would dance and chant as they had when entertaining us earlier in the evening.

This they did.

After they finished, the black chieftain who had accompanied us on our trip, was introduced and he, too, talked in his native tongue to the peoples of the Earth.

Then each one of us talked to our Earth friends in our language, which they understood. We told them of our plans for the next day when we were going to make a flight over the northeast territory, and we promised, since this was a success thus far, that we would try to broadcast on our flight and give a description of the territory.

The Earth station with which our contact was made wanted to know the exact time we were expecting to take off on this trip so they could have all connections completed and ready for a round-the-world broadcast of our trip direct from us.

They also told us that since the people on Earth have heard the natives on the Moon actually talking to them over their radios, they no longer doubt our findings. Further, they informed us that they tried the television screens in different ways while they were receiving our messages and they had succeeded partially in screening the white chieftain and the dancers, not enough to know what this chieftain looked like, but just a form which was descriptive, as we had given before of his gown which he was wearing, and what appeared to be the magic stone we had told them he had hanging on a gold chain from his neck. They said the picture wasn't anything to brag about but yet it was sufficient to prove our messages true. And they added that the people on Earth were really excited. They seemed to be living in another world right now.

After this was over and contact with the Earth had been broken, we continued visiting with our friends, telling them a little about living on the Earth and questioning them about many things concerning conditions upon the Moon. This lasted until most of the long Moon night was gone. Finally we went to sleep for the few remaining hours.

While the rest of us see to all the final preparations before leaving, Johnny contacts the Earth, alerting them to the fact that we will be taking off in about an hour. He tells them he will try to keep the same connection while flying that he had last night and will keep our televising set on also, in hopes they can see for themselves to at least a small degree what the Moon surface looks like.

All weather conditions are fine. In fact, the weather has been perfect for flying ever since we arrived here.