Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 67 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

THE MAN IN BETWEEN yet been so drunk that I didn’t know what I was saying. I stood up and walked forward towards the controls. The fuel gauge registered full. I checked the water. Full. I opened the locker and stared at the ranked cans of rations. Harry, whatever his reasons, had done what I couldn’t do. He had restocked my ship and got it into space. I returned to the bunk, pulled my feet off the floor, and gripped the edge just in time to prevent my drifting up to the ceiling. ““Where are we?”’ “Three hours out from Central and heading towards Morgan’s Cluster.” “That where we’re going?” ““No.” He sat down beside me and rubbed his chin again. ““Well? You still haven’t told me.” “We're partners,” I said. “For this trip only unless you give me- good reasons. [| don’t like running in double harness.” “Maybe that’s your trouble.” He hesitated and 13 gnawed his lower lip. “Look, Jim, at the moment you’re sore at Consolidated for jump- ing your claim. That’s right, isn’t it?” I just stared at him. ““Have you ever looked at it from their viewpoint? They don’t know you, probably have never even heard of you or your claim. To them you’d just be another prospector making a nuisance of himself with a ridiculous accusation. I’m talking of the company, Jim, not the local agents.” **Same thing.” ““No it isn’t. A company has no soul, no heart, no jaw to take a swing at. A company is impersonal. Consolidated ex- ists to make money for its shareholders. To do that it has to be efficient, and that means buying rich claims as cheap as possible and selling what they take out of them for all the traffic will bear. That’s busi- ness.”’ “So it’s business. They rob me blind and it doesn’t matter because it’s business. What comiclooks.conn