"You mean the method devised by Chladni? Where sand is put on a thin metal plate and a violin bow is scraped across its side?" "Exactly. The sand is tossed away from the vibrating sections of the plate. It collects in areas of calm, undisturbed by the vibrations." "You mean to tell me that's what this entire planet is--a vibrating plate?" wondered Grim. "A hundred years or more after Chladni, Dr. Fredericka Blankner advanced the theory that all life, all matter in the universe, followed a pattern somewhat similar to the dancing sands on a Chladni plate. Even human bodies vibrate at a certain impulse. "I studied for years on that theory. Then when I found this planet, I fitted it out during my vacations. When I retired and brought the spaceshock cases here--I was ready to follow and prove those theories." A deep, sullen roar grew into a thundering volcano of sound, beyond the Temple gateway. Grim cried, "Althaya and her people. They've come to learn your secret, Jones. Quick, man--some weapons! We can hold them off easily enough if--" Jasper Jones smiled and shook his head. "Outside of the vibration machine, I have no weapon. And that is not a weapon. I have used it--sending the Changes and the Storms across the planet--to check on reactions and nodal results." Grim laughed harshly. "Man, you've unleashed something with that machine. The redhead is desperate. Black Randolph gave her ideas. She won't know where to stop if _she_ gets hold of the machine. We have to stop her." "With what? The people have learned that the calm areas on the planet exist inside red markers. We can't catch them napping." * * * * * Grim grabbed the old man and shook him. He rasped, "Maybe you don't mind getting a couple of barbed knives stuck in your hide, but _I do_. Where are your plans for this--this machine?" Jones led him to a _selassi_-metal desk, pressed a stud; a thin, flat drawer slid into view. Grim drove his hands into the mass of blueprints and specifications. He dragged them out and spread them on the floor in front of him. He ran his grey eyes over print after print. He grinned, "Maybe we can stop them at that, Jasper." "Sound is no weapon. Oh, it's been used against frogs and the lower vertebrate forms, but--" A shower of arrows made a clanking noise against the face of the machine. Grim could hear Althaya screaming, "It is only a _man_ inside it. I heard his voice. He knew the golden-hair. Break the god, my people." Something thumped into the machine; shook it wildly. Jasper Jones screamed. "They will smash the bulbs if they keep that up!" Grim grabbed him, shook him. "Listen to me! I don't want to hurt your people ... but we have to stop them. We must rewire the machine--reduce the frequency of the vibrations into audible pitch--step up the decibels to two hundred or more." "But that would be intense sound--painful!"