Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 47 — page 59: what you’re looking at

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

ao et re aes “le AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION eyes under quite severe con- ditions of positive or negative acceleration, rapid change of direction and so on, and when later we fitted the blood reservoir—you will have no- ticed the protuberant object grafted on each Mutilant’s head—we found the blood pressure at the nerve centres to be improved to such an extent that most Mutilants remained conscious while thirty gs were imposed for sustained periods of time. An unmodified human would black out, and probably pass out, under the strain of fourteen gs imposed for only a few brief seconds,” Kersch nodded with com- plaisance. “The blood reser- voir, jocularly referred to as the ‘header-tank’ or ‘gristle- graft’ by many of my staff, was entirely my own innova- tion. Only the Mark III Mutilants have it so far, and it weighs less when full—with a half litre of blood—than a third of the average weight of the left arm that we usually amputate and discard. The unsatisfactory prone position can now be abandoned, the fuselage can be slenderized, 58 and, of course, safety equip- ment is thrown overboard with the legs.” I swayed. “N ... no parachute?” : **A man fights best when the alternative is certain extinc- tion. Safety devices tempt only the morally weak.” “But . .. but this blood tank. It6-revoltt <.. <¢ 7 ok stopped myself in time, but Kersch seemed oblivious. He was saying: “Yes, ah yes. Plastic gristle, to put it in the layman’s jargon, dir- ectly above the brain. When gs are applied, the blood drains from the upper parts of the body in an unmodified human; blood drains from the tank to the upper parts of the Mutilant’s body. It has a sealed screw cap of rigid P.V.C. at the top, and this can be removed for purposes of transfusion after heavy blood losses. We top them up, so to speak. The graft rather detracts from the subject’s appearance, but by then he is invariably beyond caring about such trivialities as per- sonal attractiveness.” Kersch laughed dryly. “That brings us to the more conmicloooks.comn