Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition), April 1944 — page 46: what you’re looking at

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

44 of your victims. May the god who made you have pity on you; I have none.” “Tll promise anything!” His rage lessened not, but grew. A picture came of the women who must have shud- dered at the very sight, let alone the touch of the monstrosity that was now pleading with a human voice for a quality of mercy it had never shown to anyone. He thought of Eleanor— And his heart steeled; his mind chilled to a new depth of deadly will. “Promises,” he mocked; and his laughter rang out demoniacally over that ancient valley of the long dead Moon. “Now we’re back to Hitler, when he finally started to run: all the promises, the compromises, the deals he offered—and he never understood how hopeless it was. He—’’ There was a flicker of yellow-red-blue- green in the brush a hundred yards to the right. A moment before, Pendrake had longed for the return of the mighty killer. But now—revulsion came swift to emotions that had been plucked raw. Horror flashed in waves along his nerves. “T’m mad,” he thought. “One man can’t administer justice. Letting another human being go to a death like this. After all, it wasn’t a true parallel. It—” Frantically, he began to lower the rope. “Quick,” he cried, ““‘we can talk when you’re out of reach of—” The rope sagged with weight. Glassily, Pendrake watched the desperate man in his fight for life, watched the tiger. The animal paced wildly up and down in an obvious fever of excitement. It kept. looking up with eyes of yellow fire, roaring uneasily, and with an unmistakable gather- ing awareness of escaping food. Suddenly, whatever tie had held it back, whatever tie of fantastically ancient companionship had bound it to the man, snapped. It ran back, then turned toward the cliff again, and became a streak of blazing color against the gray-brown walls. A hundred, a hundred and fifty, a hundred and eighty feet it raced up that perpendicular wall. And had its prey. The two bodies went down with a crash. After a minute, the squealing died. There was a crunching of bones and a slavering sound so horrible that Pendrake drew back nauseated. And then someone was yelling: “Pendrake! We heard your voice. Pen- drake, where are you? The Germans are coming. Pendrake—” ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION X. THE winter clung. The snow seemed deter- mined to stay forever. When it finally dis- sipated, the new glistening all plastic Inter- planetary Building was opened with a triumphant fanfare; and the great appoint- ment had already come to Hoskins: Com- missioner—Chairman— “It is absolutely unfair,” he said to Cree Lipton, “that I should have this. There are a hundred men who laid the groundwork and fought in obscurity. Frankly, I accepted only when I heard that the notorious ex- Governor Cartwright, who was defeated in the last elections, was gunning for the job as a sort of pension for services rendered to the party—” “IT wouldn’t worry about it,” Lipton said. “You can help those chaps more than they could ever help themselves. By the way, did you see the announcement about Venus? Recognition for the Lambton colony there as a United Nations first-degree Mandate, with Venusian citizenship already given a special first-class status. Professor Grayson and the other scientists and their families didn’t die in vain.” i Hoskins nodded. “It’s a great victory, but the danger of important inventions held secret by well-meaning individuals being stolen and misused—” He was interrupted: “Listen, Ned, what I really came to see you about—put on your hat, come with me.” Hoskins shook his head, smiling. “Can’t be did, old man. The reports from our suc- cessful expedition to the Moon are just reaching the flood stage. There’s one really curious item—” He took a folder from a drawer, and flipped over several pages of foolscap. “ “The Nazi prisoners claim,’”’ he read, “‘ ‘that they - were captured easily because their military forces had for months been engaged in dig- ging along collapsed tunnels trying to root out some creatures who live inside the Moon. They claim that these beings are human. Our own investigations have found only caves that sooner or later come to a dead end—’ ” He saw that Lipton was looking at his watch. The F.B.I. agent caught his glance, and apologized: “I’m sorry to break in on you, but the zero hour is approaching, and we shall just have time to fly to New York and be in at the kill.” Hoskins gasped: “You don’t mean—” oO comiclooks (©