Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 52 — page 22: what you’re looking at

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

STAR HAVEN ground with seeds from the bulging stores. But why hadn’t it all been done before? It annoyed him. All his life he had been used to the obeying and giving of com- mands, and in his universe there was no room for doubt. Discipline was everything and orders were things to be obeyed blindly and without question. Nothing should have stopped the first colonists from doing their job—no- thing, that is, but death, and apparently they hadn’t died. He paused by the door of a storeroom, watching a tractor make its slow way across the too-small clearing, then stepped inside the cool dim- ness. A woman looked up from where she sat sorting seeds, then stared down at her task again. Williams was used to this. For some reason the others tended to ignore him and, while obeying his _ orders, made no effort to accept him as a friend, volunteer conver- sation, or treat him with 21 other than a distant courtesy. Not that he minded. He was firm in the conviction that a commander should not per- mit undue familiarity with his subordinates, and his insis- tence on the wearing of cor- rect uniform had done nothing to make him popular. “How is it going?’ He stepped towards the woman and stared down at the heaps of glistening seeds. “Fertile?” “Mostly, sir.” The “‘sir sounded very stilted. “I’m testing them now for germina- tion.” “Good.” He frowned at the bulging sacks. ““Have you any idea whether or not these are native produced ?” “They are all terrestrial seeds, sir. They were brought here with the first settlers.” He nodded, waiting for her to elaborate on the bare statement; then, when she did not, sighed and asked the obvious question. 39 ee 3° “How long would you say they have been here?” ‘About ten years, sir,” comicloooks.com