Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 48 — page 75: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION Nielson tried to shove the life-rocket out of the cabin by sheer force. He strained back and leg muscles, stopping only when his feet slipped on the metal flooring and he fell flat on his face. He lay there, not rising, because his face to the floor prevented him from seeing the face grinning through the transparent life- rocket. “It can’t be that the whole spaceship is conspiring against me,” Nielson thought. ‘““T must be doing something wrong. Maybe I’ve _ not listened long enough to the tape.” The tireless voice patiently resumed its explanation : “. . . in which the corpse may be placed and fired manually into space. As a safety measure, the life-rocket cannot be fired if the space- ship’s fuel supply is limited to the danger zone, because the recoil from the firing would cause an: unsafe drain on reserves of fuel to resume the proper course for the main 74 ship. In such a situation, the surviving crew member must evacuate the life-rocket manually, from outside the outer hull. To reach the outer hull, follow this pro- cedure...” Nielson listened dazedly to the complex instructions on climbing into the spaceship’s spacesuit, squeezing through the tiny airlock, moving about on the hull with magnetised boots, keeping bearings, avoiding vertigo, saving eyes from sunblinding... He wouldn’t do it! He might get out onto the hull and then be unable to find his way back inside. He’d think of some other way to dispose of the body. Nielson snapped off the manual and tried to stop thinking. But after three seconds, he realised that the manual was still talking. He stared at the switch, which was still in the on position. He shoved it into the off position. It re- bounded into the on position. Nielson’s eyes had something comicloooks.com