Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 72 — page 141: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION He pointed to the garage. “In there,’ he managed to say. “Grey, spherical object, about eight feet diameter,” added Sommers. “Must be some advanced mechanism, for it dissolved a hammer we pitched at it.”’ Nobody seemed to hear the last sen- tence. They peered at if for a while, uncertain what to do. Then: “‘Do it again,” sug- gested the fire chief. ““Don’t make sense to me.”’ The patrolman picked up a stone and lobbed it at Algo. Being a good deal lighter than the hammer, Algo merely stopped it in flight a foot from his surface. The stone hit the ground and stopped rolling. The fire chief regarded the other scornfully, and casually unhooked an axe from the engine behind him. “Pebbles, chaaw,” he taunted. ““You coppers need men to help in clearing up kids trash. Watch.”’ He hefted the axe, making the blade flash in the sunset light. “Got an axe here,” he called. “If there is anyone inside that thing, sing out before I pitch it. I'll give you ten seconds.”’ They all stood watching the grey sphere in the shadows, waiting for some sound or movement. But none came, despite the fact that Algo had received a code word and had already reacted to it. Ax was the precise mnemonic for FIRE. The fire chief had counted off the last three seconds. “O.K. You’ve had it.’ He swung the axe. “Here it comes.” The weapon curved from his hand with a dexterity suggesting long practice and flashed toward the target. Algo vapourised it and sent it back in a fine gaseous squirt of high carbon steel. It went over the fire chief’s shoulder close enough to blister his cheek and struck the engine. Instantaneously, the fire-fighting machine burst into flames. Three seconds later the petrol tank exploded and the yard became a sea of fire. ““Holy cow, I can see the headlines now,” muttered the comicbooks.comly