The Project Gutenberg EBook of Once a Greech, by Evelyn E. Smith

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net

Title: Once a Greech

Author: Evelyn E. Smith

Illustrator: Dillon

Release Date: March 16, 2010 [EBook #31664]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ONCE A GREECH ***

Produced by Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Once a Greech

By EVELYN E. SMITH

Illustrated by DILLON

[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction
April 1957. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

[Sidenote: _The mildest of men, Iversen was capable of murder ... to
disprove Harkaway's hypothesis that in the midst of life, we are in
life!_]

Just two weeks before the _S. S. Herringbone_ of the Interstellar
Exploration, Examination (and Exploitation) Service was due to start her
return journey to Earth, one of her scouts disconcertingly reported the
discovery of intelligent life in the Virago System.

"Thirteen planets," Captain Iversen snarled, wishing there were someone
on whom he could place the blame for this mischance, "and we spend a
full year here exploring each one of them with all the resources of
Terrestrial science and technology, and what happens? On the nineteenth
moon of the eleventh planet, intelligent life is discovered. And who has
to discover it? Harkaway, of all people. I thought for sure all the
moons were cinders or I would never have sent him out to them just to
keep him from getting in my hair."

"The boy's not a bad boy, sir," the first officer said. "Just a thought
incompetent, that's all--which is to be expected if the Service will
choose its officers on the basis of written examinations. I'm glad to
see him make good."

Iversen would have been glad to see Harkaway make good, too, only such a
concept seemed utterly beyond the bounds of possibility. From the moment
the young man had first set foot on the _S. S. Herringbone_, he had
seemed unable to make anything but bad