Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 72 — page 57: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION time. I was thinking about Paul. Finally, I went inside. My first impression was of a great dim grotto, lit by smouldering tapers. There was music, a discordant cacophony with drumbeats that made your flesh crawl. It was music out of the pit, the kind of music a Zarl would have written in its death-throes. “Registration, sir?’’ He was a fat little man in blue evening tunic who took my name, beneficiary, and ten credits admission fee. “Spectator or participant, sir?” His smile was jovial, but the little pig eyes were cold, dead. Those eyes watched a dozen deaths nightly. It was my job to stop those deaths, to wipe out the hate bars, yet here I was, an Actor Ninth Class, smiling awkwardly at him, saying: “Spectator, please.”’ He bowed, led me to the roped-off spectator booths. I ordered a drink and gazed at the participants with a sick fascination. They sat quietly, faces rigid, staring into the bar mirror. 56 They drank with studied deli- beration, eyes darting. A tall man in grey tunic suddenly threw his drink into a startled face. Steel flashed. There was a moan. Grey tunic fell to the sawdust-covered floor, writh- ing. There were shouts of delight from the spectators as two white-capped bar- tenders carried the body away. The drums blared. *““Not fast enough,” said a voice at my elbow. “Eh, Midge ?” It was Director Latham. “Surprised to see me here?” His smile was wry. “‘For your information the show was a flop.” I moistened my lips. “Im- possible. The Reaction indi- cators > *“Novelty only, son.” He looked old, tired. ““Sure, it’s a beautiful show. They’ll watch it for a week, two weeks.” He stared bleakly at the participants. ““Then the snake pits again. We’ve failed.” His words sank in, numbly. I whispered: “We had a sixty million audience; it’s all the quota council needs. They could enact leglislation to- morrow——”’ comiclooks.corn