Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 71 — page 65: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION The hush. Then the radiance. Slowly the Terms filed into the arena, rank upon rank of ' living flame. First the fighters, their antenne shining crimson and splendid against the tall night. Then the twin glows of blue that denoted the spinners, the weavers. The golden blaze of the harvesters. The lam- bent colours crept through the air like a mood, like a dream, and deepened into a shimmer- ing cataract of rainbow fire, a pean of light and glory that whirled and spun in a joyous rhythm as old as the race itself. Then—chaos. A blinding flare cascaded from the six-foot antenne of the statue. The radiance grew, brighter than an atomic flare, more terrible than the sun. TheTermsstood frozen. Beside me, Starza swore. This wasn’t in the script. That colossal voice. Ear-snapping clicks, and liquid vowels. Terminese. The forbidden tongue. The voice blared. I caught most of it. “Children, you have sinned. You are defiled with the taint of 64 alien monsters. You have failed the Queen- Mother. Return, my children, return to your tribes. Return to the tabernacle of unity, the one-in-all, the Queen- Mother! For in death there is life, and there is joy in im- molation. Return!” Lastly, the climax. That last shattering hunk of propa- ganda that would have been so tritely amusing if it hadn’t been so terrifying. *“You have nothing to Bees but your chains.” The giant antenne faded to a liquid silver. The silver of _ hope, of forgiveness. For a moment I was blind. I felt Fern trembling against me. The execs were chattering like frightened sheep. Then I could see. I saw Starza. He was moving down the aisle, curs- ing in a tight dull monotone. I followed him down into the arena. The Terms stood shrivelled, mute. Starza was fumbling at the base of the statue, and he said, in .a thick horrible voice: “Look.” The loudspeaker. The coiled wiring, conmiclsooks.conn