Fantascience Digest, Vol. 3, No. 1

About this issue

This science fiction fan magazine features Lee Gregor's "The Musician," a tragic novella set on wartime Venus. The protagonist, Lieutenant J-74k-MK, is a draftee musician assigned to an underground military base conducting recruit initiation ceremonies at an electronic organ. Despite aspirations toward genuine music, he has only known shallow propaganda songs and marching pieces. When summoned by his commanding officer, he receives orders for a dangerous test mission: piloting an experimental mole (underground vehicle) equipped with new neutron-blast weaponry against enemy positions. Before the mission, the General shows him a recently excavated pre-war space vessel containing ancient recording equipment. Upon activating the machinery, Lieutenant J discovers Beethoven's Fifth Symphony—his first encounter with meaningful music. The revelation transforms him from suicidal apathy to purposeful desire, but the story suggests he will not survive his imminent combat mission.