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In Times To Come doesn't ordinarily refer back to previous issues, but since some readers didn't spot the little game we were playing with the November 1949 issue, I will make the exception, and point out the letter of Richard Hoen, in our November, 1948 issue. That November issue took a high degree of co-operation from the authors; it isn't easy to write a yarn to a title specification, and I want to thank them for a fine job well done.

With which we jump four months forward to the February 1950 issue, with a brief pause to note en passant that this January issue marks Astounding's twentieth birthday. (Next year we come of age!) But we're starting a new serial in February, "To The Stars," by L. Ron Hubbard. It's a two-parter, and a beautiful development of the theme based on the time-rate differential of ships traveling near the speed of light. Of a man shanghaied aboard a ship half a millennium old, for a trip that leads not only to the stars, but across millennia of time. In Space, the ships can move out and back, but it's a one-way road in Time, when you make The Long Trip, and the crews of the ships are strange gatherings of men from across the ages!

H. Beam Piper is back, too, with an interesting idea. Once, when the winning of wars depended on swordsmen, archers, and cavalry, there were mercenary companies, that sold their training to the highest bidder. Today, more and more, wars are won or lost by science—and a scientific team. The story is titled "The Mercenaries". Provisionally scheduled for February—possibly crowded over to March—are stories by Van Vogt, Kuttner, Foul Anderson, H. B. Fyfe, and a returning old-timer, Cleve Cartmill.

Because there were seven stories in the October, 1949 issue, the point scores inevitably run higher than usual. Because there was considerable disagreement as to just which yarn merited first place, the scattering of point-votes made the scores come out high on the first few places, too. And it's well worthy of mention that a short story—"Production Test"—succeeded in making second place despite the fact that experience shows novelettes have a big advantage in the voting.

Incidentally, next month's scores should be very interesting! We had considerable fun fixing up that November issue that way!

However, here are the standings for the October, 1949 issue: So, gentlemen, have you voted. Incidentally, if you haven't the time and/or energy for a letter, a penny postcard gets your opinion properly scored on the tally. What you think of the stories will, of course, have no influence on my choice of material—unless you communicate that opinion! 162