Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition) — page 58: what you’re looking at

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

56 ASTOUNDING SCIENCE FICTION > Roger Toomey stared into the bed- room’s darkness. He _ whispered, “Jane.” “What?” 3 ‘““You’re not sleeping?’ =NOG.” ‘I can’t sleep, either. I keep holding the headboard to make sure’m... you know.” His hand moved restlessly and touched her face. She flinched, jerking away as though he carried an electric charge. She said, “I’m sorry. I’m a little nervous.” “That’s all right. ’m getting out of bed anyway.” ‘What are you going to do? You’ve ot to sleep.” “Well, I can’t, so there’s no sense keeping you awake, too.” “Maybe nothing will happen. It doesn’t have to happen every night. It didn’t happen before last night.” “How do I know? Maybe I just never went up so high. Maybe I just never woke up and caught my- self. Anyway, now it’s different.” He was sitting up in bed, his legs bent, his arms clasping his knees, his forehead resting on them. He pushed the sheet to one side and rubbed his cheek against the soft flannel of his pajamas. He said, “‘It’s bound to be different now. My mind’s full of it. Once I’m asleep, once I’m not holding myself down consciously, why, up I'll go.” “I don’t see why. It must be such an effort.” “* That’s the point. It isn’t.” “But you're fighting gravity, aren’t you?” “I know, but there’s still no effort. Look, Jane, if I only could understand it, I wouldn’t mind so much.” He dangied his feet out of bed and stood up. “I don’t want to talk about at.” 2 His wife muttered, “I don’t want ‘ to, either.”’ She started crying, fighting back the sobs and turning them into strangled moans, which sounded much worse. Roger said, “I’m sorry, Jane I’m getting you all wrought-up.” *“No, don’t touch me. Just .. .” just leave me alone.” | He took a few uncertain steps away from the bed. She said, ““Where are you going?” “To the studio couch. Will you help me?” “How?” “‘T want you to tie me down.” “Tie you down?” “With a couple of ropes. Just loosely, so I can turn if I want to. Do you mind?” Her bare feet were already seeking her mules on the floor at her side of the bed. “‘All right,” she sighed. Roger Toomey sat in the small cubbyhole that passed for his office and stared at the pile of examination papers before him. At the moment, he didn’t see how he was going to mark them. He had given five lectures on elec- tricity and magnetism since the first night he had floated. He had gotten through them somehow, though not swimmingly. The students asked ridic- ulous questions so probably he wasn’t making himself as clear as he once did. Today he had saved himself a lecture by giving a surprise examina- tion. He didn’t bother making one up; just handed out copies of one given several years earlier. Now he had the answer papers and would have to mark them. Why? Did it matter what they said? Or anyone? Was it so important toknow the laws of physics? If it came to that, what were the laws? Were there any, really? Or was it all just a mass of confusion EComichooksco im