Authentic Science Fiction, December 1951 — page 44: what you’re looking at

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

42 THE MOON IS HEAVEN braking jet on the trailer rocket. Slowly, very slowly it drops lower and lower. There seems no doubt that it’s going to land on the plain. And it does. There must have been a superfluity of fuel for the jets continue to burn for a few seconds after the tail fins touch down. But before they are out, you and Reina are racing across the plain towards it. Atah crackles through to you again, his voice terribly near. “Don’t run so fast! There’s not all that much rush, and I don’t want you to get heat stroke!’’ You both slow down and walk towards the trailer rocket at a fast pace. You’re anxious to see what has turned up. Reina impulsively reaches out a hand towards the rung on a fin. You grab her arm and pull it back. Then you look sheepish, “ Sorry,” you say. “‘ I thought it was hot. Forgot about the atmosphere not being nearly the same here.’ She gives you a satisfied grin through the window of her helmet and starts to say something. Then, as if remember- ing that everyone could hear it over the radio, she stops and turns back to the fin. In a second or two she is up by the release lever. She tugs at it and jumps clear. You both back away from the rocket and wait while the clockwork disruption mechanism works itself out. Then there’s a silent disintegration before your eyes. Even though you’ve seen it many times back on Earth when they were testing the trailers, you still find it intriguing the way the rocket just falls to pieces in a perfectly orderly manner, releasing its contents gently to the ground and turning itself into several pieces of useful metal and a perfect nuclear reactor. But just as you step forward, the ground shudders terrific- ally, and Atah’s voice calls loudly over the radio, telling you to duck. Without waiting to see the cause of it all, you Sweep out an arm and place it heavily behind Reina’s shoulders, bringing her down to the ground with you. You lie there, staring into the fine layer of Moon dust. comicbooks.com