Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 50 — page 35: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION despair was. It had been bred out of him back at the Academy. He gave the Sokkath battle fleet location, times and course vectors, concisely and rapidly. Then he waited for instructions. “Where are you now?” Jarril shouted through the half-open door of the radio shack. “Claire! What’s the name of your sun? And _ what planet is this?” Whilst Claire was answer- ing, his own mind crawled with the shattering concept that he had failed to find out this information before. He just couldn’t understand what was the matter. “The sun is Aurea IX,” Claire said, coming to stand just inside the door. “This is the fourth planet. We call it ‘Earth’ !” “T am on Aurea IX Four,” Jarril said into the micro- phone. “Instructions as to course of action.” “Keep quiet and keep alert. Do not call out again. For your information and _ data correlation, the Sokkath battle-fleet you have reported 34 will shortly be engaged by the second Terran battle-fleet. We will pick you up after that. Probability of your rescue within two Terran days is eighty per cent. Evaluate from there. A full transcript of this highly- irregular transmission will go into your records. Get your- self back to one hundred per cent. efficiency, Lieutenant. Good-bye.” Jarril didn’t even bother to reply. Claire offered Jarril a cigarette. He refused, and looked his astonishment, tinged with disgust, as she put one in her mouth and lit up. “You are old-fashioned, Jarril,” she laughed. “Haven’t you ever seen a girl smoke before?” “No. To smoke reduces one’s efficiency.” “I enjoy it.” Claire puffed a streamer of blue smoke from pursed red lips. Jarril noted the soft lines of her cheek and the way her hair curled gently around under her ears. Then he looked away. Women were not for guardsmen. Claire said: comicloooks.com