Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 51 — page 57: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION Warren lay where he was for a moment, fighting for breath. His throat ached. He tried to push himself upright, and fell back. The two Greys stood over him, one restrain- ing the other. He could see little difference between them. One of them spoke, and something in the spacing of the phrases told him that it was not Judith. ‘You have been told what our life is like. Perhaps you will realise now that we are not to be envied. Your time will come soon enough—don’t try to find out too much now. Go back and live.” And then Judith spoke. There was no regret in that voice which could express neither happiness nor regret. She said : “Yes, Warren. I am sorry. You see what madness can possess us. Go back. . . and don’t waste life. There isn’t much of it.” Then she and the Grey who had come to Warren’s rescue turned and stalked off. They 56 lumbered over the sand dunes, leaving him to struggle to his feet and make his way home. He was weak and ener- vated. It had all been a night- mare. He had a vision of the Greys living in a cold, sterile limbo—into which he himself would one day be drawn. The terror came over him in an icy wave. He started away from a Grey he passed in the street, and looked at the un- concerned faces of the human beings who milled around him. A week later he and Deborah were married. The Instructor said noth- ing to Judith. She waited for condemnation or criticism, but there was no open com- ment. The silence weighed down on her. She sensed-re- proof, and wished that it could be spoken. In the end it was she who broached the subject. “My attempt to kill Warren ... What are you going to do about it?” “The attempt did not suc- comicloooks.com