American Science Fiction #41 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

a a lever. 22 STOPWATCH ON THE WORLD He heard me coming and fired his rifle at me twice. He missed my zigzagging figure. quickly now, releasing the lever, and turning round, braced himself to meet my charge. We fell to _ the ground, Chetzisky clinging to me savagely, rolling me over and over until I realised what his game was, to move farther and farther from the ramp. | twisted my head and looked back. My blood went cold. The drum was no longer at the top of the in- cline. It was half-way down and mov- ing faster. ¥ shook Chetzisky off and started for the ramp, but he threw out his foot and tripped me. Sprawled out en the ground I looked up to see the drum swiftly moving towards te trigger mechanism that would ?4- pult it into the head of the vein. I: couldn’t stop it now; time had run out on the world. And in that black moment when the earth trembled on the rim of nothingness, the conditioned —reflex- es that I had acquired in four years of. football asserted themselves. 1 ‘was on my feet rushing madly and then I was sailing through the air. The breath was knocked out of me as I landed on the ramp. Something hard struck my side and kept crush- ing me At first I felt nothing. Suddenly a cold sweat broke out all over me. Chetzisky was beside me _ now, screaming at me and pulling me. “Youll kill yourself,” he kept shrieking. ~— I fought him off. I couldn’t let him pull me off the ramp. Only my body stood between the earth and its annihilation. . “Don’t be a fool; let me help you,” He acted! he pleaded. He was a transformed being now; no longer the madman destroying a planet but a man trying io save the life of another human being. It was too late for such sen- timent now. I aint want to be saved. He came at me adel I got one - arm loose and pushed a fist at him. He went reeling backwards. He changed his tactics and started to pull me by the feet. 1 couldn't get at him. My body started to move. 1 clutched fiercely to one of the tamp— rails. He came around in front of me to loosen my grip. I pushed him off. He picked up a stone and came at me © again. He meant to rescue me, like it or not. He raised the stone to knock me unconscious. A shot rang out. Chetzisky sain forward and dropped to the ground. Canadian soldiers in battle dress were crowding around me. . Arm- strong with them. I felt sick, my ‘head syzn, but I managed to tell him what to do about the drum and the ramp. “Okay. Arnold. We'll get you to a hospital right away.’ ~The world spiralled down out of sight down a cone of darkness until I woke up in this hospital bed hours later with these flaming embers in- side me. It won't be long now. I can © read it in Armstrong’s eyes. There’s strength in the feel of that i friendly hand now that the world inside me is going to pieces. Around me a soft blackness is settling . . EXTRACTS, HOSPITAL CASE HISTORY No. 3007: 7.20 P.M, Patient. relapsed” into | coma. Pulse almost imperceptible 7 2 P.M. Patient pronounced dead. | THE END comicliooks.Ccom -