Astounding British Edition, Vol. 9, No. 7 — page 61: what you’re looking at

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

i ot ee Ke nO et oe ere J [a 2s tel oe te Ce RE Pen oe, — Se Mn ow ff CEE TM yy ba eK PO RE, ROR ee ON iin > eRe Se AL ee et myo tative. Stooped, heavily wrinkled, his dor- sal scales faded with age, he turned and waved an affectionate greeting. But he was Clearly very perturbed. His small face scales stood almost horizontal with anxiety, and his throat undulated ner- vously as he talked. “You’re Howard Brad?” he asked. “Yes; and this is Ran. We were as- signed the colonial survey.” “Glad you’re back. The Assembly is waiting for your report. It may give us # clue... but you must have left Mars before you had the news! One of their ambassadors has come back.” “Only one?” Ran asked. “The others are—” The director's rumbling, froglike voice choked and his face scales shook with grief. “So foolish a sacrifice! But they seem to have under- stood their own people very well. After the ambassadorship had landed on Agon, they sent their ship back into space for safety. One Centaurian was left on board. Under certain conditions he was to return FOR THE GLORY OF AGON and warn us. Here, let me run through the recording for you.” The director turned the re-play dial and on the telescreen Brad saw the scene which had been recorded some hours before. It was the anxious face of a Cen- taurian, slightly distorted by spatial static. Behind him Brad saw the vague shape of the colony on Mars. The Centaurians bore a remarkable physical resemblance to Earthmen. Their bodily structure was so similar that the Biological Institute suggested that the two species could interbreed. The chief dif- ference was in size; the tallest Centaurian in the colony was not quite four feet tall. And the Centaurians had proved to be vastly adjusted to the thin, Martian atmo- sphere than to the heavier oxygen content of Earth air. “I was asked to bring warning,” the Centaurian said. His voice was guttural, the accent faintly metallic. “Our mission has failed. They questioned us until they | knew why our first invasion fleet had sur- FANTASY BOOK CENTRE SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT . for the convenience of personal ET A SE OE EE LD callers visiting us in London, we are now operating a bookshop which will ultimately be devoted to science-fiction and fantasy. . located in the West End, the new branch will be found close to HOLBORN CENTRAL UNDERGROUND, quite near to reach from King’s Cross and Euston, a crowflight half-mile from the White Horse. . the address of the new shop is 10 SICILIAN AVENUE, SOUTHAMPTON ROW, HOLBORN, LONDON, W.C.1 (Telephone: CHAncery 8669) SCIENCE-FICTION and FANTASY BOOKS and MAGAZINES in great profusion are available in the new premises, plus magazines subscription services, Science-fiction Lending Library, etc. etc. MAIL-ORDER enquiries and Mail-order Library should continue to be addressed = to our head office at 52 Stoke sabi Road, London, N.16. (Telephone: CLIssold 5541). for TOPS in SCIENCE-FICTION VISIT FANTASY BOOK CENTRE 4 AF Alek AS HAN stig tse Comicbooks.com —