Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

*. «+ AND A STAR TO STEER HER BY” ball club! A home run goes near forty miles in Ganymede’s field!” “How about you, Garv? Got that restaurant lined up?” Shaking his head, Garver replied, ““Haven’t been off the port yet. Slept in the ship. I'll get down to El Paso tomorrow. Probably won’t get any- thing lined up for a while.” Vanderhoff sipped his drink and thought a moment. “‘Well, in that case, there’s nothing to keep you boys from coming over to my new place in Mesilla Park. I'll whomp up a stag supper.” ‘‘Fine!”” Garver said with a smile. He picked up his drink with his left hand and offered a toast. He didn’t have to stand for this one, according to tradition. “Gentlemen, the cap- tain.” Winch raised his glass. captain—God bless him.” “The The next day, Garver found himself a place to live on the north side of El Paso. His search for a restaurant or tavern was unsuccessful. The real estate dealers had a few listed, but the locations didn’t suit Garver. He wanted to have the first crack at the spaceport business, which meant he’d have to find a place on the north side of town. White Sands Spaceport covered an area extending from El Paso north to Alamogordo, cradled between the mountains on either side of the Tularosa Basin. El Paso was the spaceport town. Giving up the idea of trying to locate a place through agents, he rented a ground car and went looking. He made sure the car’s air-con- ditioning system was working; the midsummer heat was almost too much for him. El Paso had grown since his last trip through on the Timurlane. Space travel was expanding and everything associated with it was expanding, too. 23 The city now contained more than a million heat-prostrated victims. He spent a day wandering around the Fort Bliss section of the city. Most of the business was concentrated along the broad strip of Highway 54, but there was nary a lot or bare piece of ground along the whole thing. He was about to give up when he spotted an old warehouse about a quarter of a mile back from the highway. The steel in it was good and the cinder block walls were solid. He could not see much of the inside through the windows, but it was empty. : A long search through the records in the city hall told him who owned the.place. A run through the classified section of the phone book gave him the restaurant suppliers, contractors, and wholesale food dealers. Garver was practically in business. “Well, if it isn’t my old skipper!” Garver greeted Vanderhoff near the door of the Traveler’s Tavern. “‘What are you doing down this way?” Vanderhoff shook Garver’s hand. “Thought I’d drop down and see this fabulous place of yours. A few of the boys were over at my place, and that’s all I heard about.” He glanced around the entrance way with its diffused light and paneled walls. ““Doesn’t look much like a warehouse to me.” Taking the other’s hat and flipping it onto a shelf, Garver took his arm. “As the boy said, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. Come on. Now’s my chance to repay you for that fine bit of chow I had at your place a couple of months ago!” He led the ex-skipper across the small main floor dining room. It was softly lit and filled with tables at which. men were eating and talking. They were all spacemen from their green coveralls. The air was cool and smelled strangely reminiscent of ship air. Garver had turned the ceiling into a Eomichooks com