The Merchandise Guide
Annual 1975

The short range multi-purpose Eagle stands lightly on the level rock of the lunar surface, stark in the glare of the banked floodlights that flank the perime- ter of Nuclear Waste Disposal Area 2. From the cargo compart- ment of the strange, almost bird- beaked craft, a conveyor gently unloads the huge drums of atomic waste, sent up from Earth to this safe burial ground, and Service Technicians Nordstrom and Steiner, each protected by his light-weight red space suit, super- vise the lowering of the drums into the deep holes bored down into the very innards of the moon.

These men are used to their job. They are familiar with the inher- ent dangers of handling 'hot' material. But like all old hands on Moonbase, they've done it a hundred times before and control the operation with careful, but casual efficiency.    A routine job. One of the many responsibilities entrusted to Moon-base Alpha, the giant com- plex that is man's first permanent outpost in the gradual reach to- wards the stars. And yet, within the pulsing heart of Main Mission --the central control area of Moonbase Alpha--the atmos- phere is abnormally tense!

"The radiation count seems normal, Victor . . ." Doctor Helena Russell glances anxiously at Professor Bergman, whose nar- rowed eyes are fixed on the array of oscilloscopes and bio-monitors in front of him. "But somethingk's happening out there! Nordstrom's brain-activity's showing varia- tion!"    Suddenly, it happens! The oscil- loscope jumps haywire, the needle registers sudden peaks, and out- side, Nordstrom seems to go mad! His voice gargling thickly, he leaps away from his companion and stumbles towards the deadly laser-field that seals off the area

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