Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 71 — page 156: what you’re looking at

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

Lee || shy r Fob 7 Is a Re a ‘J * Ae ete | 1 OP eG AMIT Ere 2 FN Lhe VE Sh ai ot) Cal hay ‘ } i LARLY A _ George. YOU DO TAKE - “Yes. At least, for the record. I think we may take it that this Dick was an un- pleasant, but not uncourage- ous, character. And when he saw Harry, and recognised him for what he was, someone with the kind of family one _ never boasts about, instead of _ reporting him before blast-off, he thought to make a steady income. You know: ‘Half your salary from now on or I'll tell the authorities that your mother died raving and get you Earthed for good.’ The rocket companies were short of tough, skilled men, short enough to have turned a blind eye to quite a few things, but not one of them would have risked a screwball with a known history of violent instability.” “But you didn’t suck all this out of your thumb!” protested George. “Anything to support it?” “One small thing. Among the many jobs the engineer had had before space bit him, was one for a brief period as male-attendant in a State asylum.” “Oh. It fits,” conceded “Except—why did IT WITH YOU Dick shove Harry into space? He’d have lost his income.” *“Wind up, I should think,” said Graves briefly. “It wouldn’t be funny travelling with a mad hate, and he certainly couldn’t confide in Tom that late. He’d have done time himself, with pos- sible grounding, for criminal negligence, extortion, and gen- eral charges. He was space- crazy, too, you must remem- ber. I expect one hefty push when the opportunity offered seemed to him a good way out of a business he wished he’d never started. And he knew what happened to his pills, you may be sure of that. That would rankle, too.” “Did anybody follow-up this asylum job of the en- gineer’s with a check on Harry?” I asked. “No. Curiously enough, [ don’t think anybody else associated the two things. I’ve often wondered what would have happened if——” He broke off as a loud © series of bangs, wallops, and tremors drowned out speech for a moment. Away in the 155 icomichbooksscom