Authentic Science Fiction, December 1951 — page 82: what you’re looking at

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

80 THE MOON IS HEAVEN You and the pilot are only too willing to do that. As Atah and Reina go off to see about the pipe, you both set to work under Clavier’s guidance. His words are quick and sharp. Direct and to the point. There is never any fumbling for the right term or the correct adjective. He is more like a surgeon than a chemist—never looking up from his busy hands, just asking for things and telling you what to do and how to do it even while he’s doing something intricate him- self, It’s a wonder to you how he manages such delicate work with the space suit gloves on. He must know the generator inside out and several other contortions, too, for you can see that he tackles each problem in just the right order to get the whole thing done in the minimum of time—with no retraced steps, or premature sol- derings. This is just one more thing that increases your admiration for Clavier. You begin to realise what the trip would have been like without him. While you're working, you try to forget that somewhere inside the dome a clock is ticking. Try to forget that as the Earth above you slowly turns, so the available hours are passing. It doesn’t do your work any good to remember things like that. The generator is obviously the biggest problem, for although there are three of you working on it, and only . two on the “pipeline, Atah and Reina finish their task long before the generator is repaired. They come and lend four more hands to the job. But it still takes a long time. These nuclear generators are so very tiny that every inch of space is crammed with intricate mechanisms. The three or four blows that Schnabel must have given it, certainly did a whole lot of damage. You're just thankful that Clavier’s atound. Otherwise the darnage would probably be permanent. At’ ‘length, Clavier gives a grunt and squats back on his haunches, being careful not to touch the seat of his suit on the scorching lunar surface; it wasn’t built to take tem- peratures like that. comicbooks.com