Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 42 — page 142: what you’re looking at

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

» -_ wit, feet. ee . ¢ oar ee ’ + Rat ees eee" — . ~ Se hee, Leap etme a : F 2 PROCESS It was horrible. It was bes- tial. And when he heard the first footsteps start down the long corridor outside, Kermit fell to his knees and prayed. Once, when he was ten, when such things were still done, he had prayed. Now he prayed again. He was still praying when the rough hands jerked him to his ‘Strange. He was no longer afraid. Maybe it was because he had found out the worst they could do to him. He had survived that. They could not do more, and that much he could take. If more, he would die. And of that he was not afraid. So there was no personal fear. Weak as he was, he walked erect. But the horror persisted. Not only that man was capable of such inhumanity to man, but that these men saw nothing horrible in it. They saw it only as necessary—and good. Even Samuels. For this __ time Samuels was in the room. Samuels and others, also Brothers, Kermit thought. Even they could see nothing wrong in this. Nor in the purpose for 141 which it was to be done. That was the real horror. “Well,” Samuels said. “Ready for your second lesson ?”’ ‘“Ready,”’ Kermit answered, his voice steady. He felt no fearatall. Stranger yet, he felt no anger either. No anger against Servant or Friend. No anger even against Samuels and Father. Not one of them ranked what he was doing. To them the history of mankind was not a process that would result in something great and won- derful. To them it was a static thing, a repetition of the same errors time and time again. Their answer was the crea- tion of this monstrous ant- society. And in their creation of it they were driven by be- liefs and conditioning over which they had really no control. But whatever the cause— they must be prevented from carrying out their purpose. Not only for his own sake, not only for their sake, but for the millions of men they con- trolled, the millions who were yet unborn. But how? “Are you going to lie down?’ Samuels was asking. “Or shall we use force?” comiclooks.conn