Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 72 — page 25: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION and downwards towards the illuminated terraces below. After it came the flying plat- form, its signal lights blazing, the loud-hailer roaring com- mands. “Halt or we fire!” That was bluff, Frank knew. Shooting down coleopters from the sky wasn’t a prac- tical proposition when over a city. A human body could doa lot of damage plummeting down from a height of several hundred feet, not to speak of the crashing coleopter itself. But the police didn’t rely on mere threats. The loud-hailer fell silent as the platform - drove forward with a roar from its fans. It swooped above Frank, steadied, then dropped down towards him. The tiny lift, meant to carry no more than _ the weight of a man, tipped and bucked as the column of air from above thrust down at it. Desperately, Frank speeded his engines, but their power was weak compared to those of the platform. Like a moth pressed down by an invisible thumb, the coleopter des- cended to the streets below. Anger made Frank risk 24 suicide. His vehicle was noth- ing but a circular wing sur- rounding opposed fans and rode on a column of air. The direction of flight was governed by the weight of his body, the speed of the engines by a simple control. Used with discretion, the coleopter was as safe as an old fashioned bicycle. He threw discretion to the winds. The machine tilted as he threw his weight to one side. For a moment the thrust from above was unopposed by the thrust from below and he fell, sickeningly, towards the city. Frantically, he threw himself towards the opposite side, managing to restore equili- brium just in time, then, before the flying platform could catch up with him, sent the lift thudding down on a terrace. He had cut the engines and was inside the building before the hover police could land. The building was an enter- tainment centre, a tall, many- roomed hive filled with bars, dance floors, tri-dis, slot machines and people on the loose looking for fun. Each floor had its own turnstile comiclooks.cormn