Avon Fantasy Reader No. 9 — page 73: what you’re looking at

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

“a ; a a a ok a all ae i ie, pa SO oes oh he ae alee eee a) —s > FT ee, rae bi ve i ea Tem bie e i wh k A sepa ta ali abs bh Sid had i enormous projectiles hurtled past me on their death-dealing errands. As I steered toward the palace of my father a fifth shot past me, hurling my tiny craft through the thin atmosphere like a leaf caught in a whirlwind. When > I succeeded in righting it, and looking downward once more, a chill of horror crept over me, for this last messenger of death had dug a huge pit more than sixty miles in diameter, and the center of the pit marked the spot where my father’s palace had stood. My beloved parents were no more. P’an-ku, the mighty monarch, was dead. J was P’an-ku, ruler of a desolate waste that had once been the mighty, flourishing empire of Magong. : I alighted near the rim of the enormous crater and stepped out of my craft. A moment later, gasping for breath, I hastily sprang back inside and closed the door. The atmosphere of Magong was nearly gone. With her huge ray projectors still going, she was committing suicide in order that her hated enemy might be destroyed. ae eee oy ca | _ Rising, I made for the nearest ray projector station. Circling close te it, I peered in the windows. Not a living soul greeted my gaze, but there were many dead bodies on the floors. The projectors, however, were still working —pointed by machinery set to keep their rays on Mars until they should fail to function for lack of power. | An occasional meteor cluster struck Magong from time to time, but they grew smaller and fewer in number—a sure sign that their projectors were succumbing, one by one, to the death-dealing rays our people had left trained on their planet. Rising, I made for the nearest world which would support human life—Earth. It was a good two hours’ journey, and I noted with alarm that I had only a small supply of concentrated air in my - tank—enough to last me about forty-five minutes by using it judiciously. Pressing my speed control lever to the highest notch, I rushed Earth- ward with super-meteoric swiftness. Ferty-five minutes passed, and still the Earth, although looming big ahead of me, was many thousands of miles away. Glancing at. the indicator on my air tank, I saw that it registered zero. I closed my foul air escape valves, and breathed as lightly as possible. Presently I felt a deadly lethargy creeping over me. By exerting my will power to the utmost I managed to retain control of my senses for a few minutes longer. : Suddenly my waning consciousness registered the fact that my _ in- struments showed I had nearly reached the outer limit of the Earth’s atmosphere. To have entered it at the speed at which I was traveling would have meant a sudden, flaming death. Two things I managed to do before my senses fled—set my control lever at low speed, and unfasten the door beside me. Then came oblivion. When I regained consciousness I was lying on the earthen floor of a large, mud-walled hut. Standing around me was an awe-stricken group of light-skinned, half naked savages. I sat up, and as I did so, the earth shook beneath me and a portion of the mud wall collapsed, crushing (Co) EComicbooks