Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 52 — page 36: what you’re looking at

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

STAR HAVEN lifted his line from the water, frowned at the empty hook, and shook his head as he wrapped the line around the crude rod. “‘They’re getting crafty. Notice how they ate the bait without getting them- selves caught?” “T...’’ Hermitage stopped, his face blank and seeming to be drained of all life and feel- ing. Gerald froze, his head tilted as, rising above the murmur of the waterfall, a sound lanced through the soft air. The sound of a woman screaming in an ecstasy of terror. | FOR A MOMENT SHOCK HELD them rigid, then, with an explosion of smoothly directed effort, they swung into action. Gerald dropped his rod, snatched up his weapon belt and tore the pistol from its holster as he ran towards the sound. Hermitage followed, crashing through the shrubs and swearing as his foot slipped on the grass. Both men broke onto the shore at the 35 same time and jerked to a halt as they stared towards the lake. Something threshed on the surface. It was big, with a smoothly rounded back and a shovel ‘mouth open to reveal a pink gullet. From either side of the wide mouth a long, flat- tipped tentacle-like appen- dage extended, the broad, oar-like extremities churning the water to froth as they swept across the lake. Behind it, as if from a hidden tail, spouts of glistening spray shot upwards and made a rainbow pattern against the clear blue of the sky. The swimmers had all left the water and had run to the far edge of the beach. The men had weapons in their hands, evidently recovered from their clothing, and the women, one of whom still screamed, retreated further toward the shelter of the forest. Even as Gerald watched, one of the men raised his pistol and fired directly towards the great bulk comiclooks.cormn