Authentic Science Fiction, December 1951 — page 75: what you’re looking at

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

THE MOON IS HEAVEN 73 to take Atah’s place. But very few of them could do so with the same efficiency, with the same calm grip of things. No, you reckon Atah ought to be on that next Moon trip. For yourself, you’re not so sure. You've got other ideas of how to spend your life. Ideas that somehow get mixed up with Reina. You reckon you could spend a year or two writing things about this trip and the Moon in general. That would be enough for you. ‘‘ What about you, Reina,’’ you say. ‘‘ You haven’t said anything.’’ “Oh, I don’t know,’’ she replies. ‘‘ I guess I’ll have had enough in a couple of weeks. I’l! confess that when we worked it out at thirty, I was a little scared, I didn’t intend to be up here that long.’”’ Maybe there’s a look in her eyes, maybe there isn’t. You imagine you see one anyway. And anyway, you imagine it’s connected with those ideas of yours. You could be wrong. It’s going to hurt if you are. ““Tf we-are honest, that probably goes for all of us,”’ Clavier says. ‘‘I, too, was a little scared when we worked it out at thirty weeks. But now there is a chance of leaving earlier, I think we ought to take it. I will start right now to look for a reservoir.’ He gets up and reaches for his suit. Atah laughs and calls to him. ““ Hold it, Clavier. You don’t have to start digging this very minute. It wouldn’t do much good if you did. How’d you know where to dig?”’ “Where to dig? Why anywhere. I would keep digging until I found the reservoir.’ “ Keep digging in one place?’’ Atah says with a slight smile. “Why no,’’ the chemist explains eagerly. ‘‘After digging a little way and not finding a reservoir of hydrogen, I should start somewhere else. And so on until I did find one.”’ ‘‘ And how far would you dig before giving up? And waere would you go next? The Moon’s a pretty big thing, comicbooks.com