Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 72 — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION much. He had once applied as a colonist and had been re- jected for lack of acquired skills but, as the man had said, what could he lose? Anyway, it was a place to sit and rest and do some more worrying. The reception room seemed different. Gone were the pastels, the soft, deep chairs, the sweet scents of pine. Now the air was full of the harsh reek of sweating jungles, the arid scents of primitive life. The murals and tableaux were different, too. Frank edged his way towards one and looked at it. The moving pictures in tri-di colour gave the illusion that he was staring through a window into another world. It was an alien world. Great, jagged mountains towered in the. far distance, lush jungle re- flected the green sky and, in the foreground, something moved. Frank felt himself tense at the sight of the creature. It was big, scaled, all mouth, fangs and clawed feet. The monster shifted, and now Frank could see something lying just before it. A woman, 48 not the inflated, barely-dressed product of an advertiser’s imagination, but a nice, nor- mal, attractive girl. The beast moved towards her, saliva dripping from its jaws, its red eyes flaming. It extended | a clawed foot, was about to touch her, to roll her and tear the flesh from her bones, when another figure appeared. It was that of a man, dressed as a man would be in such a jungle. He held a rifle and, as Frank watched, he dropped to one knee, took aim and fired at the monstrous creature. Flesh and scales disintegrated beneath the im- pact of explosive bullets, the creature roared and threshed in his death-throes, and the man picked up the girl and stroked her hair. It was a disappointment when the scene dissolved in ° a swirl of colour and the hidden projectors began to repeat the sequence. “Better than the thrill theatre,” gasped a painted girl to the man beside her. He grunted, his eyes gleaming as he watched the episode repeat itself. “I'd sure like to hunt them ¥ s comiclbooks.conn