Authentic Science Fiction, December 1951 — page 12: what you’re looking at

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

10 THE MOON IS HEAVEN dwindle away in the sky, followed by their generous portion of good will. A good will that, under Sed Linell’s organising, let them scrape up enough to bring thirty of them half-way across the world. And what a world it is, you think. Still the same old stuff that started with a man dropping out of a tree and clubbing the man who dropped out beside him. The old stuff that goes on and on, without significantly altering the basic structure of things. Millions die. Millions come alive. The sun rises and sets on it all, day after day, century after century. And here and there a few men think and work on problems like getting to the Moon. Making the biggest advances of all. You stop thinking about all that when you see that Atah has turned his attention again to your report. You light a cigarette and watch his lean face move slightly under the influence of the thoughts inside his head. His eyes travel rapidly across the pages.- His nose twitches as the smoke from your cigarette reaches him. He doesn’t smoke himself. Doesn’t care whether you do. Has more important things to think about. He reaches the last page, the last line, the last word. He lays the typescript aside and looks at you. Then a slow smile comes. “* All right,’’ he says. ‘‘ Let it go through. If they come, the mob, they won’t like it, but it’ll be their own fault.” A bead of sweat dribbles down your temple and you agree with him that they won’t like it. Wherever they are, they don’t realise the drudgery of it all. Even your down-to- earth reports won’t have disillusioned them much. They are still carried away by the drama, the sensation of it. When they come they won’t like the heat and the dryness and the primitive conditions you work under. They’ll have visions of a grandstand view from alcrete buildings surrounding the launching site. Bars and cafes where they can congregate and talk and drink away the wait- ing period. comicbooks.com