Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition) — page 47: what you’re looking at

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

THE TEST 45 This virgin enthusiasm had long since departed. It was not so much that the people he dealt with were.so uniformly psychotic, they were psy- chotic in such drearily uninteresting ways. In late twentieth century Europe, Eros played a poor third to starvation and fear. Now in his civilian practice, Captain Jones thought— The lieutenant came in with a sheaf of papers. ; “Preliminary screening on Hut 9,” he said. He laid them on the captain’s desk. The captain yawned and shuffled the papers. One F6, three F5, one Fl, the rest clustered around the center. He flipped the Fl over and looked at the abstract from the man’s first interview clipped to the back. “Stahlgesetz, eh?” he said. “Turn him over to that Free Europe liaison officer; they want those boys.’ He stapled a blue tag to the paper. He picked out the F6 and laid it aside, leafed rapidly through the rest. ‘“‘Um-m-m,” he said, “standard nega- tive correlation with IQ, no anomalies. Run ’em through the mill.”’ He clipped a yellow tag to the bundle and picked up the form he had laid aside, frown- ing thoughtfully. “How about this one, now?’ he said. ‘‘Resistance fighter, chemical engineer, he says. Intelligence notes he gave correct Resistance passwords, made a good impression. Notice any- thing about him when you gave the . tests?” The lieutenant had been looking out the window again, he spent much of his time looking out windows at noth- ing. He brought his attention back to the captain. “‘Let’s see,” he said. He took the paper and studied the name. It meant nothing to him, he did not associate it with any face, and he had forgotten Otto’s initial reluctance, those who knew English were always seizing opportunities to show it off. The lieutenant shook his head and handed the paper back. “I see,” the captain said. He pursed his lips thoughtfully and sighed. A few months ago, this case would have been interesting. Now it simply meant more work. He clipped a red tag to the paper and handed it back to the lieutenant. “Process him throug’ phase B and C,” the captain said. The next morning Otto and the Stahlgesetz were removed from the hut. Otto was taken to another com- pound and put in a room by himself, in a large building which might have been some sort of dispensary or hos- pital. He was not sure if this was good or bad, and he comported himself alertly and circumspectly, but with the outward appearance of confidence, as behooved any prudent man in the face of uncertainty. Presently the lieutenant who had given the tests came in. The lieutenant studied Otto with some interest, re- membering him now, and recalling that this one spoke English. “Good morning,” he said in that language. “I have some more ques- tions for you.” Otto smiled. ““Good morning,” he said. So, he thought, only more psy- chological questions. The tests yes- terday must have turned out well, he thought, the Ami is more friendly to- day, he sees me now as an individual. He watched the lieutenant slip some printed matter from a folder which also contained a few sheets stapled tegether with a red tag. The papers the lieutenant removed were printed in the language of Otto’s cover nationality. “IT can take the tests in English, if it would be more convenient,’ Otto offered politely. “I am quite fluent.” That always flatters them, he thought, they like to think of it as a universal tongue. im) EComichooksnco im