Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 44 — page 111: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION home. He dared to hate the portly factory physician for aminute. But the hate would not stay. Tab was taking care of that. Ashew! He especially wanted to see Lilian Four. She was Shift C’s captain in the forthcoming production competition. He wanted to apologise to her, for now Shift C had no chance of winning. After today their record must put them in last place. The best George Three could do was to hope that the girl would not take the loss too hard. There were the others, too. Some of them had bet heavily on the competition. They would be pretty mad at him. There was very little he could say to them except that he was sorry, but he ought to have been able to say it. Shift C meant a great deal to him. In a way it meant more to him that the shift would suffer than that he was now on probation. As he made his way toward the gate George Three pon- dered the Shift’s importance to him. It was his one real contact with the world now that he had been transferred to the city. It extended him beyond the drab, grey outlines of his work-sleep-eat existence. Without it he was a weak, poor individual. It was not good to be an individual. It was somehow wrong, perhaps even traitorous... Ashew! George Three entered his dark attic room cautiously, a rolled paper club ready. He reached for the light switch with his left hand and tensed his whole body as he threw the switch. Instantly he was upon them, swatting the floor frantically. He caught one huge rat a glancing blow and drew satisfaction from the animal’s squeal. He darted across the long, narrow room and very nearly headed off another rat. He brought the frayed paper clubdown solidly. But he missed. Shivering at thesightof bared yellow fangs, he half-heartedly pursued the last animal to the small closet. The conventional chase ended, he relaxed. From his .pocket he produced a small key and inserted it in the lock of a small floor cabinet. As © 110 conmicloooks.conn