Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 72: what you’re looking at

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

Sometimes, foresight is not enough. You need courage too. DEATH DEFERRED by E. C. TUBB He awoke to the sound of screaming madness and lay for a moment, nerves tense and ears strained, his heart thudding painfully against his ribs. Around him the sirens filled the night with their pulsing wail, shredding the darkness with heart-stopping noise. Starlings, perched in ranked array on the ledges of ancient buildings, jerked awake and twittered in sleepy protest and, mingled with both bird-noise and warning, came the soft murmur of wings, the throb of jet-disturbed air, and the thin, whistling scream of rising interceptors. - Jeff Harrigan swallowed, pressed the switch of the bed- side lamp, and stared into un- relieved darkness. He swal- lowed again and found the flashlight he had kept in readiness for the past nine months, blinking as its bril- 71 liant shaft cut across the room. A woman sat up in the bed beside him and brushed dishevelled hair from her eyes. “Jeff! What’s the matter ?” “Get up,”’ he snapped, and threw his legs over the edge of the bed. ““Hurry!”’ “Jeff!” She stared at him, her eyes wide with panic. “Is ONE es “Yes,” “Hurry!” He grabbed her by the arm as she fumbled, still not wholly awake, with slippers and robe. “No time for that. Now: hurry, damn you! Hurry!” Desperately he jerked her away from the bed and out of the room, the flashlight glanc- ing from the walls as he ran down a short corridor, drag- ging the woman after him and ignoring the pain from his he said, grimly. comiclooks.cormn