Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 53 — page 58: what you’re looking at

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

CONSPIRACY scene changing round you. One second, there—and then, here.” She shook her head. “TI don’t get any of that.” “It doesn’t matter. Look, think of it this way. Your world, this world, on one page of a book, and the other world, my old world, on the page backing onto it. The vibrator breaks through the paper. I was there—now I’m here. On the other side of all the things we see now, there’s the city. On the other side; or a billion billion miles away.” “This about the vibrator. You mean you’re not the only one who’s come—through the paper?” “I wish I were. I don’t know how many there are over here. Thousands, anyway.” “Thousands! Doing what ?” He looked at her sadly, wearily. “Doing what I was trained to do. Preparing to take your world over.” “But why?” He spread his hands. “‘Be- cause they can’t help them- 57 selves. Because for hundreds —over a thousand—years, they have held power on my world by brutality and force. They need to go on using force because they are afraid to stop. All that time ago, a group made themselves mast- ers of my world, and they did it at a time when our science was developed enough to make it easy enough to hold power once it was gained. There are a lot of things you need, if you are going to hold onto power—but especially good communications. My world was advanced enough to have them then, as your world has them now.”’ He looked out to the lake, where a swan was swimming lazily and majestically. ‘And there’s something else you need,” he went on grimly, “to hold power. You need ruthlessness. My people had that, all right.” “Your people ?”’ “Of course. I couldn’t be here if I didn’t belong to the rulers. The other poor devils conmicloooks.com