Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 67 — page 35: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION big. Something has to keep them in check. The law can’t do it; they operate within the law. Individuals can’t do it. Who cares for the grievance of a single man? The public must do it. The consumers and customers, the people who, though they never realise it, are more essential to the company than the company is to them. If the public let themselves be exploited then they must blame themselves, not the companies who do the exploiting.” He rose and held out his hand. . “Think about it, Jim. Society needs balance to re- main healthy. Too much or- ganisation is as bad as too little. Together the public and the companies can turn the Belt into a new world. But if one operates without the other, you'll wind up with something not fit to live in. Do I have to tell you what should be done?” He left then and I smoked 34 and stared up at the ceiling as I thought about what he had said. We needed balance, and that meant arousing the seventh decant to an aware- ness of what it was. We needed a police force, public utilities, safeguards against exploitation. At the moment I was a hero. I could talk and the others would listen, and it wouldn’t be hard to get some- thing started. I could even be Mayor. I smiled as I thought about it; then as I remembered the cheque I lost the smile. Was that what the company wanted ? A thriving community so that people could buy more goods and so increase the profits? A new source of labour and a new market for their products? Was I just their stooge? I thought about it until I ‘fell asleep. I dreamed of intermeshed wheels and, when I awoke, I felt like hell. ButI was going to do thejob. comiclooks.cormn