Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 72 — page 73: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION of weeks. I gathered he’d done some co-pilot work on freight- ers from the other satellites, but that he had had some sort of a curious urge to come over and see what went on there on Fourth. I saw a little of myself as a youngster in him; he was still drinking in the whole great adventure, able to en- joy the horror and the pity of it all, and to laugh without it catching him in the belly. Finally, he brought up the business of the job again, and ij agreed to go along with him and see the owner of the ship. The man’s name, when he mentioned it, made me even more curious to know how a nice kid like this had got mixed up with such people. ‘““Hallo, Molson. Nice to see you again. Take a seat.”’ Bushman grinned up at me with his jolly, fat man’s face. All but his dead, fish eyes. They were running over me like slimy tentacles, checking and appraising what they saw. [ sat on the edge of the chair, tensed up inside and needing a drink. I wanted that job, any job, badly. I hadn’t _worked in over a year—not ~I ho since the Starfish business. But even that was not good enough reason to make me want to speak civilly to Bushman. I’ve been around; you don’t spend ten years of your life as a space pilot without rubbing your nose in the dirt sometimes, but beside Bushman I’m a white- haired boy. ‘All right,’ I said. ““You know me. I’m one of the best pilots in the business. Do I get the job, or don’t I? If so, where to—and what in?” *“Relax, Molson.’ Bush- man wiped his moist fore- head with an immaculate white handkerchief. ‘You were one of the best pilots in the business. But you slipped.” The euphemism was not meant to spare my feelings, it was merely Bushman’s cute way of showing that he had the upper hand. Slipped— eighty-five human lives, a ship wrecked beyond repair and myself over three months in hospital. The Board of Inquiry called it criminal negligence, and brought forth as witness one of the survivors, a button-eyed little electronics man, who swore that I had comicloookks.com | a Ey —