Astounding Science Fiction (British Edition), April 1944 — page 60: what you’re looking at

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

58 There was no way. The room had no windows, and the door was firm. Gallegher floated toward the piles of junk. An old sofa. Box of scraps. Pillows. A rolled carpet. Junk. Gallegher found a length of wire, a bit of mica, a twisted spiral of plastic, once part of a mobile statuette, and some other trivia. He put them together. The result was a thing vaguely resembling a gun, though it had some resemblance to an egg beater. It looked as weird as a Martian’s doodling. _ After that, Gallegher returned to the chair and sat down, trying, by sheer will power, to sober up. He didn’t succeed too well. When he heard footsteps returning, his mind was still fuzzy. The door opened. Blazer came in, with a swift, wary glance at Gallegher, who had hidden the gadget under the table. “Back, are you? I thought it might be Max.” “He'll be along, too,” d’you feel?” “Woozy. I could use enGiher ‘drink. I’ve finished this bottle.’ Gallegher had finished it. He had poured it down a rat hole. Blazer locked the door and came forward as Gallegher stood up. The scientist missed his balance, lurched forward, and Blazer hesitated. Gallegher brought out the crazy egg-beater gun and snapped it up to eye level, squinting along its barrel at Blazer’s face. The thug went for something, either his gun or his sap. But the eerie contrivance Gallegher had leveled at him worried Blazer. His motion was arrested abruptly. He was wondering what menace confronted him. In another second he would act, one way or another—perhaps continuing that arrested smooth motion toward his belt. Gallegher did not wait. Blazer’s stare was on the gadget. With utter disregard for the Queensbury Rules, Gallegher kicked his opponent below the belt. As Blazer folded up, Gallegher followed his advantage by hurling himself headlong on the thug and bearing him down in a wild, octopuslike thrashing of lanky limbs. Blazer kept trying to reach his weapon, but that first foul blow had handicapped him. Gallegher was still too drunk to co- ordinate properly. He compromised by crawling atop his enemy and beating the man repeatedly on the solar plexis. Such tactics proved effective. After a time, Gal- legher was able to wrench the sap from Blazer’s grasp and lay it firmly along the thug’s temple. Blazer said. “How ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION That was that. With a glance at the gadget, Gallegher arose, wondering what Blazer had thought it was. A death-ray projector, perhaps. Gal- legher grinned faintly. He found the door key in his unconscious victim’s pocket, let him- self out of the attic, and warily descended a stairway. So far, so good. A reputation for scientific achievements has its advantages. It had, at least, served the purpose of distracting Blazer’s attention from the obvious. What now? The house was a three-story, empty struc- ture near the Battery. Gallegher escaped through a window. He did not pause till he was in an airtaxi, speeding uptown. There, breathing deeply, he flipped the wind filter and let the cool night breeze cool his per- spiring cheeks. A full moon rode high in the black autumn sky. Below, through the earth- view transparent panel, he could see the brilliant ribbons of streets, with slashing bright diagonals marking the upper level speedways. Smith, Fatty Smith. Connected with DU, somehow— With an excess of caution, he paid off the pilot and stepped out on a rooftop landing in the White Way district. There were televisor booths here, and Gallegher called his lab. The robot answered. *““Narcissus—”’ “Joe,” the robot corrected. ““And you’ve been drinking some more. Why don’t you sober up?” “Shut up and listen. What’s been happen- ing?” “Not much.” “Those thugs. Did they come back?” “No,” Narcissus said, “but some officers came to arrest you. Remember that sum- mons they served you with today? You should have appeared in court at 5 p.m.” Summons. Oh, yeah. Dell Hopper—one thousand credits. “Are they there now?” “No. I said you’d taken a powder.” “Why?” asked Gallegher. “So they wouldn’t hang around. Now you can come home whenever you like— if you take reasonable precautions. “Such as what?” “That’s your problem,” Narcissus said. “Get a false beard I’ve done my share.” Gallegher said, “All right, make a lot of black coffee. Any other calls?” “One from Washington. A commander in the space police. He didn’t give his name.” comiclooks (©