American Science Fiction #41 — page 13: what you’re looking at

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

STOPWATCH, ON, THE), WORLD | 13 he Jet. matters rest. rather. than. per- ENR ACHE by prob further.. art ieee NO. 3007: 6.35 P.M. Thrombopenia very far advanced. Blood bubbling at pat- ient’s lips. Lab reports heparin in blood stream . . .6.50 P.M. Noted Tadiologist flown in by jet bomber from Los Angeles. Says there is no hope. Radioactive element ab- sorbed through lacerations in pat- ient’s body and is now fixed irrevo- cably in bone marrow. Patient seemed to smile at radiologist. I wonder who that serious looking gentleman is who was just examin- ing me. I couldn’t help smiling at his pompousness; you'd think he was a judge reading out a death sen- ~ - fence. Where was I? Oh, yes, back in Katanga. From there I wired the University that I would be unable to give my last two lectures of the semester. The Congo dateline on the telegram must have raised the shaggy brows of the venerable Chan- cellor who till then thought I was no farther away than my rooms at the opposite end of the campus. Armstrong I had cabled immediate- ly with the information about Mac- Roberts. _ I was sure that while 1 marked time in Africa he would be starting the chase in far-off British Columbia. Still, the waiting made me restive, and more so when after leav- ing Leopoldville I lost another day. Engine trouble forced the Constella- tion’ down at Accra, where foul weather closed in to keep us ground- ed. = Finally back in Washington, I ticked off another day on the pocket calendar. Only seven days more, ‘| went directly to the Statler where Armstrong had his rooms. He greeted me enthusiastically, ordered up some drinks, and plunged right into business. “Arnold, thanks to the lead you picked up in the Congo, we © have a good idea where Chetzisky is.” Armstrong unfolded a map. with. ‘places circled “in. red ‘and’ notations scribbled ine “He- is ‘somewhere: in Ings this. area north of Ootsa and . Burns lakes. _Trappers in the region have identified his photograp Also we've traced some significant ship- ments into the area, Paraffin, boron- steel, graphite among other things.” They were significant; they were all materials that could be used in an atomic reactor, principally as mod- erators to control the neutron irra- diation. Hae word of MacRoberts?” I ask-~ ed, | Armstrong gave me a quick. brief- ing on the Canadian geologist. Sin- gle, fairly well. off, Lan MacRob- erts spent his summers away from his teaching chores at the University prospecting for minerals, chiefly in one of the least explored portions of the continent, the Rocky Moun- tain Trench. A transport lost there in 1940 has never been found. Notes found in MacRoberts’ lodg- in the Vancouver suburb of Kerrisdale revealed he had _ discov- ered a strange new mineral of marked. radioactivity. He made his first find near Lake Babine and traced outcroppings of it as far south as lower California, From his fragmentary data MacRoberts was convinced that a vein of this min- eral dipped through the earth’s crust at an inclination of 27.6 degrees. Six months ago she had been given a ‘leave of absence from the ~Univer- sity; since then he had been seen twice in the company of a man fit- ting Doctor Chetzisky’s description. Information indicated both had headed for the Interior. “Well, Jim, what are your plans?” “I have. arranged already | for groups of searchers to move secret- ly out of Prince George and Hazel- ton.” His pencil slid over the map. “But you're the key man, Arnold; these groups will only close in on the word from you. : “You're going to fly into Tweeds- muir’: Park, ostensibly as a_ tired business man on vacation. Its not unusual up there. Even Hollywood. stars like Crosby have escaped into the Tweedsmuir reserve for rest and _ +" ~~ Te ‘a’ new: horizon.” mc beoelom