Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 62: what you’re looking at

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

SOME OTHER TIME you, and I want’ you to do what you want todo. _[’m— I’m all confused.”’ Louise was staring at him with tear-wet eyes. Slowly she extended the gun on her palm towards Carpenter. He looked at the gun, a puzzled, weary expression pulling down the lines of worry on his face. “You can put that away, Louise. That won’t solve a thing. They very seldom do.”’ He swung bitterly on the alien, clothed exactly in his flesh. “And, anyway, why should I take advantage of this poor devil who can’t kiil?” He gazed through the win- dow on the dusty surface of Mars. Louise loved him— she had admitted it. He had known for a long while how she felt; but to hear her say it, like that, openly—— “Why did you make Katrin’s doll walk with your tele- kinesis ?”” he asked the alien, swinging round abruptly. “Why? That was an early attempt to influence the chil- dren of your experiments. But 61 they were too naive for it—the whole process would have been too slow. You were the obvious answer.” “I visualised men and women living more com- fortably and happily on Mars, on the other planets and satellites. [ came to Mars, full of responsibilities and worries and overwork. The environ- ment, the choking dust that even the filters couldn’t era- dicate then, saw to it that I succumbed to this crawling germ in me. So I got T.B. Don’t you think that was a strong enough urge to finish my work? And now it’s all to stop. It just isn’t fair!” “You mean——?”’ “IT can’t forget that Laura woman. Oh, sure, plenty of women before this have been told that their sons will be soldiers. But it’s different, somehow, when you know that your son’s body will be altered and changed so that he can batter his way roughshod over other forms of life.” “‘Doctor——”’. Louise said, and stretched out a hand. conmicloooks.com