Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 47 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION I suggest we take our friend’s advice, and sleep on it; we can’t decide on anything till we know more about this place. We don’t even know that the planet is habitable outside this camp.” Susan said nothing; she was trying to fight down a flood of hysteria which threatened to overwhelm her. AT CLOSE quarters the force- screen appeared rather like a dust haze.The three Earthlings moved forward cautiously. Through it could be seen the surface of the planet, distorted and changing shape with their every movement. It was, to all appearances, barren; the only features they could make out were rounded contours which might have been either hills or sand dunes. While they slept the three blurred discs which were suns had changed their positions, both with respect to one another and to the planet. Susan, glancing up at them, wondered how much time had elapsed. There was no means of telling. None of them wore a wrist watch, but she felt almost completely her usual 26 self, which rather suggested that she must have been asleep along time. Her gaze shifted to her husband as he moved for- ward suddenly. “Don’t, Ted; you know what Janton said about danger.” He ignored her, and forced - his way into the screen for perhaps a foot before there was a coruscation of snapping green sparks, and the thing flung him “back, his face contorted with pain. After that verification of the truth of Janton’s statement, they made no further attempts on the screen. Rather aimlessly they wan- dered away, but they already knew that there was nothing new for them to explore. The place was just a landing field with a circle of huts set round it. Many of them were obviously living quarters for the men and women, number- ing perhaps two hundred, who made up the force. Some were just as obviously workshops, and others were closed and shuttered. Small though the place was, it could quite easily have held five times the number of people actually conmicloooks.conn