A pretty bad issue with unknown stories by mainly unknown authors.
Sea Legs • novelette by Frank Quattrocchi
A member of space corps returns to earth after his period of service ends. No one has before returned to earth after their tour. As the protagonist apparently is an idiot he has no knowledge at all how the political system in the earth works. And because he is especially stupid he doesn’t bother to learn anything about it before he gets to the earth. He is treated with a lot of suspicion and eventually he meets a resistance leader who gives him an expositionary lecture which lasts several pages. A pretty bad story with almost as bad writing. **-
Tiger by the Tail • shortstory by Alan E. Nourse
A shop lifter is using a purse with unlimited capacity to steal utensils which are made from aluminum. It turns out that an alternate universe wants to get aluminum from ours. At least so the scientists assume by some tremendous leaps of reasoning. By another lunatic leap of fancy, the scientists find themselves in a dangerous stalemate with the other universe. **½
Zeritsky's Law • shortstory by Ann Griffith
It is discovered that it is extremely easy to froze and thaw people. (if it would be that easy, no one would never have died from exposure to cold). As it is so easy to it is only natural that one company manages to get practical monopole for the procedure. They NEVER make any mistakes, until they eventually make a slight error keep one man frozen for too long time. And after that the procedure is made illegal with a mandatory penalty of death. And apparently there is a grave international situation going on (never mentioned before the final chapter) which has some effect on people wanting that treatment. A confusing mess of story, the writing as such has some wry humor, but the plot isn’t worth much. **+
Self Portrait • interior artwork by Martin Schneider
A diary of a man who works in some kind of government research facility. He tries to create the ultimate leg prosthetic and his friend tries to develop a chess playing computer. Apparently such computer would be ultimate tactician and beat any other nation in any war. The man keeping the diary would want to take part to the development of the computer and apparently conspires a bit to achieve that goal. I am not entirely sure as the diary includes endless extremely boring discussions about the ultimate tactical computer. **
Psychotennis, Anyone? • shortstory by Lloyd Williams
A contestant has died in a ball game played with balls controlled by thought. That should not have happened, as the mechanics of thought control should have prevented that. A bad, boring, confusing and not too well written story. No wonder it has never ever been reprinted. *+
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