Adventures in the Far Future & Tales of Outer Space — page 302: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

sourly up from the manifests of the newly arrived space vessel. He was a thin, dark gentleman, very tall and very military. There was a look of hawk cruelty about him, a look SO common to E-I.C.C. commanders and intensified in General Drummond. He looked for a full minute at Gedso and then said, “So you are a technician, are you?” With intentional rudeness he looked back at the manifest and left Gedso standing there. After a while he snapped, “Sit down.” Gedso squirmed in discomfort and looked at the frail chairs. He pretended to ease into one, but held himself up from it. “Where are your orders?” said Drummond. Gedso fumbled through the baggy pockets of his tunic, found three apples and aé core, but, much to his embarrassment, no orders. Faltering he said, “| guess—l must have packed them. I'll get them.” He went out and got them from his trunk and brought them back. Drummond again ordered him to sit down. It did not occur to Gedso to resent such treatment. He was only nominally under orders from General Drummond, for the Scienticoros was too important and too powerful to be ordered about by E-I.C.C. officers. Acidly, Drummond threw the orders on the desk before him. “Two months ago | phoned for a technician. The fools! they know what the catalyser from these mines is worth. They know how important it is that we work unhampered. Political fools, bungling the affairs of the Empire! They send me prisoners on their last leg with disease instead of workmen and artisans! They send me drunkards and worse for officers. | beg for a technician! A real technician to do something about this continual warfare! | tell them that day by day it grows worse and that it is only a question of time before all of us will be devoured alive!” CORniclooo SS (SO)