Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 54 — page 126: what you’re looking at

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

DEATH WISH The first hit destroyed the main drive and left them helpless. The second ripped away the rear section of hull and spilled men and air into the vacuum. The third hit was due in sixty seconds’ time ‘ unless a miracle happened. “You swine! You dirty stinking cowardly swine!” Harding swung towards the idiot face of the Head and his hand slammed against the flaccid cheek. “You... You thing!” “Stop it!” Longstrom grabbed at the captain’s arm and was flung aside. “‘Stop it!”’ “The death wish,”’ babbled Carter. ““That’s why we were able to wreck its original ship. It wants to die.” “I tried to warn you,” shouted Longstrom. “‘I tried to tell you, but you wouldn’t listen. You would insist that it was only a machine. You wouldn’t admit that it was humin.’ He stopped then, staring in horror at what the captain was doing, sick at the sight, and yet, despite his sickness, knowing that it was what should have been done long before. Harding was killing the Head. He was killing it as he would kill a man, his big shortened neck, his thumbs digging into the windpipe, his lips drawn back in an animal snarl as he twisted and wrenched. Squeezing its throat wouldn’t kill it, of course; it didn’t need air to live, but, as Longstrom saw the glistening red droplets oozing from around the plastic collar, he had a sick premonition of What must happen. The-join could be nowhere near as strong as a normal neck. He ran, then, tearing open the emergency doors and un- sealing the tiny hatch, with Carter screaming behind him, and Harding snarling his foul- mouthed curses. He kicked the psychologist away, slammed the outer door, and almost fell into the officer’s escape boat. It was small, just big enough for three and able to blast clear and drift to- wards the safe sections of space, where he could be picked up by a Terrestrial ship. He was babbling as he sealed the inner door, his — hands trembling with fear at the thought of the approach- ing torpedo, or worse, the approaching aliens eager for new computor units. The acceleration knocked him out so that he didn’t see hands wrapped around the the spreading flower of blue- 125 conniclooolkks.com