Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 65 — page 63: what you’re looking at

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

LEAVE by SYDNEY J. BOUNDS ERRY WARD WATCHED Jesh grow big in the viewing screen. He watched with his eyes and half his conscious mind; the other half was busy watching Jerry Ward watching Earth... He tried to analyse his feelings. There was a deep- rooted uneasiness. There was —he mentally shied away from the word—fear. He felt that he ought to be glad to see Earth again, but the feeling was not there, and he won- dered why. Part of it was due to Burke, and his coming interview with Burke’s sister—but only part of it. It was the other part that bothered him. He ought to be glad to be home. And he wasn’t. He didn’t have to see Burke’s sister. It was only a sense of duty that insisted he should. After all, Burke had been one of his crew, and Burke had died in space. He felt, some- how, that it was the right thing for him to break the news per- sonally—routine notification was not enough. It was soul- less, reducing human relations to a mechanised formula. A warning light winked on the control panel and he fired the forward rockets that would bring thespaceship to a feather- light landing. There was silence, a gentle swaying motion, and the long trip was over. : He unbuckled his straps and stretched himself. He was bantam-sized, with reddish- dark hair and a promontory of a jaw. He strode aft, to the cabin that had been Burke’s, and seized the ready-packed holdall of personal effects. He stood a moment, silently pay- ing his last respects to a dead shipmate, then turned to leave. comicloooks.com