Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 67 — page 121: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION | “You’re leaving, sir?” I said. Things were happening too fast. Taking the Old Man ' away would be like pulling the props out from under us. “Only for a short time,” he answered. “It seems that the Government wish me to ap- pear before the U.N. com- mittee and give them an outline of the work we have been doing here. The future of the Base may depend on that interview. It is a respon- sibility which I would rather not have undertaken, but those are the orders.” He looked us all over, very slowly. ‘““There are further orders, which affect leave arrangements.”’ There was a pause, and I could hear the rasp of breath over the throb of the ventilation pumps. “T am to pilot the ship on its return journey, taking with me all the available data, and » the body of Wilson. The rest of you will all go back to Earth for an extended leave on the next supply ship.” Chambers moved a pace — forward, his body arched like a spring. ‘*‘When will that be?” His voice crackled from a dry throat. The Old Man looked at him steadily. The fact that the future of the Base depended 120 solely upon his testimony must have killed any feeling of pleasure he might have at returning to Earth. “Provisionally, in six months time,” he said. “Six months!’’ Chambers’ voice trembled on the edge of a scream. ““How do we know that’s true? It might be an- other three years; you wouldn’t tell us.” “That is all, gentlemen.” The Old Man’s face was stony. “They can’t do this! What sort of fools do they take us for?” Chambers seemed to have lost all control. I nodded to the young lieutenant. We closed in on either side of Chambers and practically carried him out of the room. Down in the sick bay we pumped sedatives into him and gradually talked him back into some kind of sanity. Blastoff was scheduled for the following day, so there was plenty for me to do, ferrying out crates of samples and bales of reports and stowing them in the hold of the supply ship. It was a job that had to be done carefully. If a crate came adrift under the stress of acceleration it could do a lot of damage. comiclooks.com