Astounding Science Fiction, British Edition — page 39: what you’re looking at

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

ILL WIND 37 it, and left him the job of testing. But Dave’s luck had gone on; in quick succession, he’d been given a master pilot’s rating, the biggest and most powerful of the spaceships servicing the space station, and the first chair- manship of the League of Space Flight. And the peak of Dave’s good luck had left his brother sitting in the street, trying to figure what truck hit him: Jeanie. He wasn’t going to let Dave take her away from him! He loved Jeanie; his whole life had been wrapped up in her for sixteen months. Jeanie under- stood him, sympathized with him, and shared his problems. Now he knew she’d been leading him on; she’d decided on Dave for a husband. Dan thought violently: Let him sit up there and rot! His headache was getting worse. But, if he didn’t go, what would be his future as a pilot? Would Jeanie have him if she realized he’d let Dave die? Was the weather a good enough excuse? He tried to weigh the con- sequences of his nonaction. : He knew he was the best test pilot they had. They were short of pilots now, and they’d need somebody to run the scheduled ships. Jeanie probably wouldn’t have him, but he wasn’t sure he wanted her after the trick she’d pulled. And any fool could see that the weather was too bad to get a ship off the ground. Deciding that food might help his condition, he went into the tiny kitchen and had a shot of grapefruit juice. The bitter taste served to clear his head a bit. He had the eggs done to perfection and was about to attack them with a fork when, over the howl of the wind, he heard a knock on the door. He ignored it; visitors were the last things he wanted right then. But the door flew open, letting in a gust of wind and a slender girl with wildly flying auburn hair. Her face was blotched with crying, and she hadn’t bothered to repowder her face where tears had made tracks through her makeup. She got the door closed with difficulty and stood against it, brush- ing back her hair. “Dan! Are you going after him?’ she breathed heavily, a touch of panic | in her voice. He sat back down. ‘‘Look outside, Jeanie. You can’t lift a rocket in winds like this.”’ His answer froze the girl. It was a moment before she spoke. Then, she came over to the table and leaned on it. Her tone was one of amazement. “You... youre not.-gome up?’ She said it as if she couldn’t believe it. “That’s right.” “But Dave is up there! Your brother!”’ He shrugged. “I can’t help it. Look Jeanie, this wind is deadly. The planes are on the ground; the copters are on the ground; the spaceships are on the ground; even the birds are on the ground—provided they’re hanging on tight.” Jeanie worked her mouth as though she were trying to say something. Then she noticed the phone on the living room floor. Striding in, she picked it up and surveyed the torn cord. ““They’ve been calling you, haven’t they?’’ She didn’t wait for an answer. ““The men at White Sands think you can do it, don’t they? Why did you turn them down? What’s the matter with you?” “White Sands is faced with an emergency,” Dan _ replied sourly. “Washington has probably landed on them. They’re grasping at straws. They'll do anything to make an attempt—even crack up their last serviceable ship. Well, I’m not going to be their goat. I’m no fool—”’ connicloooks.c© im