Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 52 — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION ate the beetles. At the same time as Gerald is conducting his experiments we shall con- centrate on building hydro- ponic tanks. Fortunately there is plenty of wood on this planet and we have tools and power machines to cut and rip the trees into planks for buildings. We can start with burning a wide clearing, ploughing the soil and running an electric current through the fields. If that doesn’t repel the beetles then we'll try some- thing else. Perhaps we could adapt the waste products of the pile to fashion a low- radiation dust which would not harm our seeds, but would kill off the native life. If we fail at that then we can try again. Perhaps we could dust the soil with a six-month dust, kill the native life, plant and harvest a crop, and then redust. Pll have to consult with the atomic engineers about it, but in the meantime we'll concentrate on building the tanks.” “Wait a minute.” Gerald carefully set down his un- 48 tasted coffee and stared at the commander. “Do I get this right? You want to kill the beetles, after all I told you about ruining a planet’s ecology. You want to use radi-dust, and you know damn well what that might do to the soil. You want to slash down the trees to build tanks to grow food which we don’t really need. Are you insane or just plain stupid?” ‘Gerald!’ “Shut up, you uniformed fool! I’ve stood ali ’'m going to stand from you and your ridiculous code of blind obed- ience to outmoded conven- tions. Know it or not, what you intend doing is to ruin this world. You know that? You're going to kill it just as the rest of your kind killed Earth. Cut down the forests— and let erosion ruin the fields. Spread radi-dust, and make some nice new deserts. Kill the beetles, and set your self up higher than God and ten million years of selective evolution. Well, I won’t let you do it. You hear that, comicloooks.conmn