Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 67 — page 117: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION seemed to be carved out of ice. “T just called to see how you were...” I started, but he was not listening to me. He looked past me to- wards the end of the room. With his lips writhing sound- lessly he walked over to the locker that stood by the bed. I noticed that its door was slightly ajar. He closed it firmly, locked it, and placed the key in his pocket. “‘Who sent you here to spy on me—the colonel?” he said, turning to face me again. “Don’t be stupid,” I said. “You can’t go on brooding like this. Try and snap out of it, man. Accept things as they are.” He smiled. It was a frighten- ing thing. “Perhaps I won’t have to,” he said quietly. Then, with a sudden change of tone: ““Now, get out! And don’t let me catch you snoop- ing round here again.” I got out, telling myself in future to mind my own damned business. The next day the Old Man called me to Base H.Q. “The supply ship is on its way, Samuels. I want you to take Wilson and Chambers out in a crawler and re-mark the 116 landing area. We don’t want any recurrence of the M3 business.” I agreed with a shudder. M3 had been one of the first exploratory rockets. In- stead of landing on the crater _ rim with its dangerous jagged rocks as ordered, the pilot had pulled what he thought was a smart move and touched down on the smooth plain. The ship immediately began to sink in the several kilometers deep dust “‘sea.”’ Panicking, he had tried to blast out again, forgetting his blocked jets. The ship exploded, what wreckage remained soon sink- ing from sight. We put on our suits, Wilson complaining bitterly about being forced to do something which entailed physical exer- tion. Chambers was incom- municative, but I sensed an air of suppressed excitement in his quick movements. There were still traces of the black marking fluid that had once covered the landing area, but most of it had been obscured by the ever-present pale dust which flowed across the surface of the moon like a liquid due to the forces of thermal agitation. I halted the crawler just outside the area and we strapped con- tainers of the pressurised conmmcloooks.com