Authentic Science Fiction Monthly, No. 67 — page 98: what you’re looking at

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

LONELY IMMORTAL volunteer becoming a guinea- pig to one of your ex- periments!” *“No,”’ said Rand, “not a brave man; only a blind one. Good afternoon.” Nixon lay on the bed trembling a little. Fear was only natural, for very soon he would be cut off from this mad world to become im- mortal. _IMMORTAL.. The word shouted at him. Professor Rand had in- stalled the equipment in Nixon’s own bedroom. Nixon was to lie on the bed to cushion the shock; that way, it was more likely that he would survive the change over from the present to a marooned part of time that would, ever increasingly, be- come a forgotten past. “Are you ready?” came Rand’s voice. His body shook excitedly. ““Ready!”? he quavered. “We're starting up the machine. It will take quite a few minutes to build up maximum force, so don’t ex- pect immediate results. Just keep relaxed.” 97 He waited. Outside, the church clock struck midnight. Exactly the time they had planned to begin, so that he would be isolated on a quiet peaceful moment in time that could not disturb his en- joyment of immortality. IMMORTALITY! He almost laughed as he realised that long after Rand had died, and his son, and his son, he would still be living and thinking great thoughts! It obsessed him until he became almost fran- tically impatient. He wanted to be severed from this damned world now. Now! “Sorry,” came Rand’s voice. “We can’t seem to get it to build up sufficient power. We’ll have to make adjustments. Get some rest while we work this out. It may take hours.” Nixon switched off his bed- side lamp and, for a while, watched the scientists working under the light fitted over the machine. Then, uneasily, he slept. He woke once as the church clock was striking two, loudly. He looked round. Rand was still working feverishly and comiclooks.comn