Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 66 — page 132: what you’re looking at

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

THE CREEP could get sufficient purchase on the cold, smooth, parallel bars to climb to the top of the machine. He took the upper cross- bar in his hands and pulled himself up. His toes were still on the lower rung when he noticed that the bar in front of his eyes had a faint line round its middle and was ridged as if to give a better grip. : He stepped back on the rubble. Unless he was mis- taken, the upper crossbar was in two halves and these were intended to be turned. He rotated the left half gently. Nothing happened and he tried the other half. Im- mediately he felt the bar kick slightly. He looked down into the street. Trying not to think about how far he would have to fall, he stepped on the footbar and twisted the right half of the handbar firmly. With the beautiful fluidity of superb machinery, the two rungs slid up the sides of the power ladder and carried Sam to the top of the 131 sphere. The motion of the rungs was differential and instead of jamming to a halt abruptly, they slowed gently and stopped at the rim of an open, yard-wide circular port. Concealed lighting bathed a bathroom-sized chamber. Most of the floor of the small chamber consisted of another round port. This, too, was open. Sam was puzzled— either the alien had left in a hurry and had been careless, or else he hadn’t intended returning to his ship. With a look of prayer at the blue sky, Sam swung a leg and climbed into the upper chamber. It was a bare metal-walled room, with nothing to claim his interest. He waited until he was sure the sound of his entry hadn’t roused any oc- cupants of the sphere. Then he lowered himself through the second port and down a conventional ladder into the inner chamber. This was more like his conception of the inside of a spaceship. There was the comiclooks.conm