Authentic Science Fiction, December 1951 — page 58: what you’re looking at

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

56 THE MOON I8 HEAVEN step in yourself, close the inner door and open the outer one. Once more you are out on the dead, cold Moon. Atah has already grabbed himself a bag and a hammer. He’s striding off across the plain with Leeson close bebind. You give Reina a shove and walk fast to catch up. ““Wonder how friend Schnabel is getting on,’’ Leeson says. Atah sends him a swift look, then looks away. You nudge Leeson and point to the radio antenna on your helmet. Leeson nods, remembering that if Schnabel has his radio on he can hear all you say. “Making a good job of it, I reckon,’’ Leeson adds, giving you a broad grin. ‘‘ That guy sure knows his stuff.’’ You reckon it’s time to change the subject. ‘‘ Looking for anything in particular, Atah?’’ you ask. ‘‘ Or is this a general survey?”’ Atah doesn’t slacken his stride. ‘‘ Well, it’s general in a way. We've got to collect data and then classify it. But I want to keep my eye open for sedimentary rocks. This atmosphere is attenuated all right, but there’s a slim chance that a bit of weathering took place in the past. It’d be fine evidence to come across sedimentary.”’ He’s probably right. You wouldn’t know, although you get the general idea of it. The Moon was formed from cooling gases that turned into rock, igneous rock. And when igneous — rock is weathered, it becomes sedimentary rock. That much comes back to you from high school days. It’s all you need to know. The pace you're all making would be fantastic on Earth. Here the lesser gravity lets your muscles do amazing things. Even Reina is taking six-foot strides. Within a few minutes you are nearly across the plain. You glance around. Under your feet the rock is grey with occasional bright streaks that lead away into the distance behind you. The greyness is caused by innumerable tiny pits, diminutive replicas of the craters. Every now and then, Atah bends down and peers into one of the larger pits, Some- comicbooks.com