Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 43 — page 136: what you’re looking at

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

THE LAVA SEAS TUNNEL erley, below him in the nose of the mighty boring machine. ““Ready, Hedgerley ?” “Ready, sir.” How smooth the reply was, Steve Martel thought. How strongly it contrasted with his own tension! But then, Hedgerley had not taken part in the earlier deep boring, when ... But that was one of the things he must try not ~ to think of. “Couple all drives,” he ordered. ““Coupled, sir.” Martel depressed the master switch. A screaming roar shook the floor, echoing like the tattoo of a drum. Hedg- erley’s voice came over the reproducer. “Temperature ofrocktwelve graduations above melting level. Depth of liquid lava increasing. Two—five—ten feet. Heat dispersing at maxi- mum rate permissible. Ready for stage two.” Then, in less mechanical. tones: “It’s going to work!” Martel wiped his brow. Of course it was going to 135 work, he thought. It had before—when there had been the accident which he must try to forget. “Prepare stage two!” he ordered. Turbines whined and flames glowed redly through the observation ports of indes- tructible mica. Below them, the rock made molten by the huge flame projectors was being sucked away. It would be ejected upon the walls of the boring, giant sprocket holes being formed in it as it solidified, so that the machine could wind itself — back up to the Earth’s sur- face. Steve Martel checked that the mechanism was work- ing correctly, then operated controls which lowered the machine ponderously to the new bottom of the shaft. Twice he repeated the se- quence, then changed to auto- matic control. An inferno raged below, then the suction turbines screamed. Came a moment’s silence, then the huge machine sank a further stage. comicloooks.comn