The Project Gutenberg EBook of They Also Serve, by Donald E. Westlake

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Title: They Also Serve

Author: Donald E. Westlake

Release Date: November 14, 2009 [EBook #30474]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEY ALSO SERVE ***

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This etext was produced from Analog Science Fact & Fiction
September 1961. Extensive research did not uncover any
evidence that the U.S. copyright on this publication was
renewed.

[Illustration]

THEY ALSO SERVE

By DONALD E. WESTLAKE

Illustrated by Douglas

_Why should people hate vultures? After all, a vulture never
kills anyone..._

The launch carrying the mail, supplies and replacements eased slowly
in toward the base, keeping the bulk of the Moon between itself and
Earth. Captain Ebor, seated at the controls, guided the ship to the
rocky uneven ground with the easy carelessness of long practice, then
cut the drive, got to his walking tentacles, and stretched. Donning
his spacesuit, he left the ship to go over to the dome and meet
Darquelnoy, the base commander.

An open ground-car was waiting for him beside the ship. The driver,
encased in his spacesuit, crossed tentacles in a sloppy salute, and
Ebor returned the gesture quite as sloppily. Here on the periphery,
cast formalities were all but dispensed with.

Ebor stood for a moment and watched the unloading. The cargo crew,
used to working in spacesuits, had one truck already half full. The
replacements, unused to spacesuits and, in addition, awed and a bit
startled by the bleakness of this satellite, were moving awkwardly
down the ramp.

Satisfied that the unloading was proceeding smoothly, Ebor climbed
aboard the ground-car, awkward in his suit, and settled back heavily
in the seat to try to get used to gravity again. The gravity of this
Moon was slight, of course--barely one-sixth the gravity of the Home
World or most of the colonies--but it still took getting used to,
after a long trip in free-fall.

The driver sat at the controls, and the car jerked into