Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 52 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION thing, they may have been careless on others.”’ Hermitage nodded and rose to his feet. “Is there anything else ?”’ “Not at the moment.”’ “Then [ll get to work. Coming, Gerald?” ““Sure.”’ The ecologist rose and stretched himself. Wil- liams glowered at him then, just as he was about to leave the hut, called after him. “Gerald!” “Yes? What is it?”’ ‘Your uniform. Wear it.”’ “Wear ti But... “That’s an order, Gerald!” LS a | EOS BOOIORIEE thinned his lips; then, the habit of a lifetime asserting itself, nodded and stepped into the brilliant sunlight. Williams smiled as he re- turned to his desk. THE SETTLEMENT WAS TOO quiet. Among huts and sheds built to hold five hundred, the thirty-one members of the second group were lost. Wil- liams walked from group to group, giving terse orders, 20 watching the slow progress, and always the main question faced him wherever he turned. Why? Why had they gone? Where had they gone? Were they all dead, their bodies hidden somewhere on the planet, or were they still alive, captives perhaps, or what? He didn’t know, and as the days passed, the conviction grew that he would never find out. He examined the huts a. dozen times, carefully scan- ning the walls for scribbled words, turning the scanty furniture for a mislaid scrap of paper, a letter, anything to throw a light on the prob- lem, but it was always the same. Nothing. The equip- ment was in good condition, the workshops ready to be used, and even the farm tractors were still operable once they had been stripped and reassembled. Power flowed from the atomic pile and the whine of engines echoed over the silent planet as great machines tore at the dirt and seeded the fertile comiclooks.cormn