Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, Issue 45 — page 9: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION Nursery muttering to himself. I’m sure Katrin is not pretending.” “Pretending? Why should she?” “Well, Doctor Arm- stron e “T’ll go over to the Nursery right away. This could be im- portant, especially at this stage. There’s only a month to go before the Congressional re- port and we daren’t risk a single slip-up.”’ ‘‘What about the two com- mittee men from Earth, Doctor ?” “Tell them to wait.” Carpenter was walking with his nervous, jerky stride. through the open doorway, his thoughts going out towards the cluster of luxuriously furnished children’s rooms under the wide glassite dome. His whole life’s work, distilled and boiled down to bare essentials, scampered and gam- bolled in eight heedless, capri- cious, mew children out there. He was coughing again before he had reached the end of the corridor. His gaze went ~ untidiness. to the filters over the air intakes. Nothing could go wrong there, he supposed, but the thought always rode dom- inant in his mind. Technical Services saw to the air purify- ing system, checking the intake plants and the blowers, en- suring a constant supply of sweet, Earth-normal air throughout the domed re- search station. It was not a pleasant conception—the idea of the tons of red dust and sand that blew forever over the surface of Mars being sprayed inside the domes. Armstrong was waiting at the Nursery, a confident, almost arrogant smile plas- tered on his thick features. His white chemical-stained smock passed unnoticed by Carpen- ter—whose own lab coat was similarly soiled—but the im- pression he always gained from Armstrong was one of Even his hair looked as though it had not been combed. “Good morning, Doctor,” Armstrong said. *‘Where’s Katrin?” comicloooks.com