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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/30474-0.txt b/30474-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..969704f --- /dev/null +++ b/30474-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,288 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30474 *** + + 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 motion. Ebor, +looking up, noticed for the first time that the dome wasn't there any +more. The main dome, housing the staff and equipment of the base, just +wasn't there. + +And the driver, he now saw, was aiming the car toward the nearby +crater wall. Extending two of his eyes till they almost touched the +face-plate of his helmet, he could see activity at the base of the +crater wall, and what looked like an air-lock entrance. He wondered +what had caused the change, which had obviously been done at top +speed. The last time he'd been here, not very long ago, the dome had +still been intact, and there had been no hint of any impending move +underground. + +The driver steered the car into the open air lock, and they waited +until the first cargo truck had lumbered in after them. Then the outer +door closed, the pumps were turned on, and in a minute the red light +flashed over the inner door. Ebor removed the spacesuit gratefully, +left it in the car, and walked clumsily through the inner door into +the new base. + +A good job had been done on it, for all the speed. Rooms and corridors +has been melted out of the rock, the floors had been carpeted, the +walls painted, and the ceiling lined with light panels. All of the +furnishings had been transferred here from the original dome, and the +result looked, on the whole, quite livable. As livable as the dome had +been, at least. + +But the base commander, Darquelnoy, waiting for his old friend Ebor +near the inner door of the lock, looked anything but happy with the +arrangement. At Ebor's entrance he raised a limp tentacle in weary +greeting and said, "Come in, my friend, come in. Tell me the new jokes +from home. I could use some cheering up." + +"None worth telling," said Ebor. He looked around. "What's happened +here?" he asked. "Why've you gone underground? Why do you need +cheering up?" + +Darquelnoy clicked his eyes in despair. "Those _things_!" he cried. +"Those annoying little creatures on that blasted planet up there!" + +Ebor repressed an amused ripple. He knew Darquelnoy well enough to +know that the commander invariably overstated things. "What've they +been up to, Dar?" he asked. "Come on, you can tell me over a hot cup +of restno." + +"I've been practically living on the stuff for the last two dren," +said Darquelnoy hopelessly. "Well, I suppose another cup won't kill +me. Come on to my quarters." + +"I've worked up a fine thirst on the trip," Ebor told him. + + * * * * * + +The two walked down the long corridor together and Ebor said, "Well? +What happened?" + +"They came here," Darquelnoy told him simply. At Ebor's shocked look, +he rippled in wan amusement and said, "Oh, it wasn't as bad as it +might have been, I suppose. It was just that we had to rush around so +frantically, unloading and dismantling the dome, getting this place +ready--" + +"What do you mean, they _came_ here?" demanded Ebor. + +"They are absolutely the worst creatures for secrecy in the entire +galaxy!" exclaimed Darquelnoy in irritation. "Absolutely the worst." + +"Then you've picked up at least one of their habits," Ebor told him. +"Now stop talking in circles and tell me what happened." + +"They built a spaceship, is the long and the short of it," Darquelnoy +answered. + +Ebor stopped in astonishment. "No!" + +"Don't tell me no!" cried Darquelnoy. "I _saw_ it!" He was obviously +at his wit's end. + +"It's unbelievable," said Ebor. + +"I know," said Darquelnoy. He led the way into his quarters, motioned +Ebor to a perch, and rang for his orderly. "It was just a little +remote-controlled apparatus, of course," he said. "The fledgling +attempt, you know. But it circled this Moon here, busily taking +pictures, and went right back to the planet again, giving us all a +terrible fright. There hadn't been the slightest indication they were +planning anything _that_ spectacular." + +"None?" asked Ebor. "Not a hint?" + +"Oh, they've been boasting about doing some such thing for ages," +Darquelnoy told him. "But there was never any indication that they +were finally serious about it. They have all sorts of military +secrecy, of course, and so you never know a thing is going to happen +until it does." + +"Did they get a picture of the dome?" + +"Thankfully, no. And before they had a chance to try again, I whipped +everything underground." + +"It must have been hectic," Ebor said sympathetically. + +"It was," said Darquelnoy simply. + +The orderly entered. Darquelnoy told him, "Two restno," and he left +again. + +"I can't imagine them making a spaceship," said Ebor thoughtfully. "I +would have thought they'd have blown themselves up long before +reaching that stage." + +"I would have thought so, too," said Darquelnoy. "But there it is. At +the moment, they've divided themselves into two camps--generally +speaking, that is--and the two sides are trying like mad to outdo each +other in everything. As a part of it, they're shooting all sorts of +rubbish into space and crowing every time a piece of the other side's +rubbish malfunctions." + +"They could go on that way indefinitely," said Ebor. + +"I know," said Darquelnoy gloomily. "And here we sit." + +Ebor nodded, studying his friend. "You don't suppose this is all a +waste of time, do you?" he asked, after a minute. + +Darquelnoy shook a tentacle in negation. "Not at all, not at all. +They'll get around to it, sooner or later. They're still boasting +themselves into the proper frame of mind, that's all." + +Ebor rippled in sympathetic amusement. "I imagine you sometimes wish +you could give them a little prodding in the right direction," he +said. + +Darquelnoy fluttered his tentacles in horror, crying, "Don't even +_think_ of such a thing!" + +"I know, I know," said Ebor hastily. "The laws--" + +"Never mind the laws," snapped Darquelnoy. "I'm not even thinking +about the laws. Frankly, if it would do any good, I might even +consider breaking one or two of the laws, and the devil with my +conditioning." + +"You _are_ upset," said Ebor at that. + +"But if we were to interfere with those creatures up there," continued +Darquelnoy, "interfere with them in any way at all, it would be +absolutely disastrous." + +The orderly returned at that point, with two steaming cups of restno. +Darquelnoy and Ebor accepted the cups and the orderly left, making a +sloppy tentacle-cross salute, which the two ignored. + + * * * * * + +"I wasn't talking necessarily about attacking them, you know," said +Ebor, returning to the subject. + +"Neither was I," Darquelnoy told him. "We wouldn't have to attack +them. All we would have to do is let them know we're here. Not even +_why_ we're here, just the simple fact of our presence. That would be +enough. _They_ would attack _us_." + +Ebor extended his eyes in surprise. "As vicious as all that?" + +"Chilling," Darquelnoy told him. "Absolutely chilling." + +"Then I'm surprised they haven't blown themselves to pieces long +before this." + +"Oh, well," said Darquelnoy, "you see, they're cowards, too. They have +to boast and brag and shout a while before they finally get to clawing +and biting at one another." + +Ebor waved a tentacle. "Don't make it so vivid." + +"Sorry," apologized Darquelnoy. He drained his cup of restno. "Out +here," he said, "living next door to the little beasts day after day, +one begins to lose one's sensibilities." + +"It has been a long time," agreed Ebor. + +"Longer than we had originally anticipated," Darquelnoy said frankly. +"We've been ready to move in for I don't know how long. And instead we +just sit here and wait. Which isn't good for morale, either." + +"No, I don't imagine it is." + +"There's already a theory among some of the workmen that the blow-up +just isn't going to happen, ever. And since that ship went circling +by, of course, morale has hit a new low." + +"It would have been nasty if they'd spotted you," said Ebor. + +"Nasty?" echoed Darquelnoy. "Catastrophic, you mean. All that crowd up +there needs is an enemy, and it doesn't much matter to them who that +enemy is. If they were to suspect that we were here, they'd forget +their own little squabbles at once and start killing us instead. And +that, of course, would mean that they'd be united, for the first time +in their history, and who knows how long it would take them before +they'd get back to killing one another again." + +"Well," said Ebor, "you're underground now. And it can't possibly take +them _too_ much longer." + +"One wouldn't think so," agreed Darquelnoy. "In a way," he added, +"that spaceship was a hopeful sign. It means that they'll be sending a +manned ship along pretty soon, and that should do the trick. As soon +as one side has a base on the Moon, the other side is bound to get +things started." + +"A relief for you, eh?" said Ebor. + +"You know," said Darquelnoy thoughtfully, "I can't help thinking I was +born in the wrong age. All this scrabbling around, searching +everywhere for suitable planets. Back when the Universe was younger, +there were lots and lots of planets to colonize. Now the old problem +of half-life is taking its toll, and we can't even hope to keep up +with the birth rate any more. If it weren't for the occasional planets +like that one up there, I don't know what we'd do." + +"Don't worry," Ebor told him. "They'll have their atomic war pretty +soon, and leave us a nice high-radiation planet to colonize." + +"I certainly hope it's soon," said Darquelnoy. "This waiting gets on +one's nerves." He rang for the orderly. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of They Also Serve, by Donald E. Westlake + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30474 *** diff --git a/30474-h.zip b/30474-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b97721b --- /dev/null +++ b/30474-h.zip diff --git a/30474-h/30474-h.htm b/30474-h/30474-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..57564ed --- /dev/null +++ b/30474-h/30474-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,548 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"/> + + <title>They Also Serve, by Donald E. Westlake</title> + + <style type="text/css"> + body { + font-family: Georgia,serif; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + } + + p { + text-align: justify; + margin: 0em; + text-indent:1em; + } + + h1,h2 { + text-align: center; + font-weight: normal; + margin-top:2em; + } + + img { + border:none; + } + + ins {text-decoration:none;border-bottom:thin red dotted;} + + .transcriber_note { + margin: 2em 10%; + padding: 1em 1em; + border:thin gray solid; + background-color:#eee; + color:#000; + text-align:left; + } + + .transcriber_note p {text-align:left;margin-top:.5em;text-indent:0em;} + + #title_page {width:90%;margin:4em auto;} + #title_page p {text-indent:0em;text-align:center;} + .image {width:auto; + text-align:center; + margin:1em auto 0em auto; + text-indent:0em;} + #title_image_2 {float:right;} + #title_page h1 {font-size:175%; + font-family:sans-serif; + padding:1em; + } + #title_page p.prolog { + margin: 4em auto; + padding-bottom: 2em; + font-style:italic; + text-align:left; + text-indent:0em; + } + + .author { + font-size:125%; + font-family:sans-serif; + padding:1em; + } + + .illustrator { + font-family:sans-serif; + padding-bottom:2em; + } + + .pagenum { + position: absolute; + left: 1%; + right: 87%; + font-size: 10px; + text-align: left; + color: gray; + background-color: inherit; + font-weight: normal; + font-style: normal; + font-variant: normal; + letter-spacing: normal; + text-indent: 0em; + } + + /*a[title].pagenum:after { + content: attr(title); + }*/ + /* Uncomment above to show original page numbers */ + + .first_paragraph {text-indent:0em;} + .first_paragraph img {float:left;position:relative;} + .first_word {font-variant:small-caps;font-size:1.75em;margin-left:-.7em;} + .first_paragraph:first-letter {color:white;background-color:white;} + + + hr.thoughtbreak {display:none;} + + .post_thoughtbreak { + margin-top:2em; + } + + /* framing decoration */ + #the_beginning { border-top:thin gray solid; margin:2em 0em;} + #the_end { border-bottom:thin gray solid; margin:2em 0em;} + #the_end p {text-align:center; text-indent:0; padding-bottom:3em;font-weight:bold;} + + /* no underlines in links */ + + a:link { text-decoration: none; } + a:visited { text-decoration: none; } + + a:hover { + color: red; + background: inherit; + } + </style> + +</head> + +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30474 ***</div> + + <div class="transcriber_note"> + <p>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.</p> + </div> + <div id="the_beginning"> </div> + <div id="title_page"><a class="pagenum" id="page49" title="49"> </a> + <div id="title_image_1" class="image"> + <img src="images/title-1.png" width="472" height="135" alt="Various scenes of a satellite circling the moon" /> + </div> + <div id="title_image_2" class="image"> + <img src="images/title-2.png" width="286" height="709" alt="A lumpy man-like alien with 4 eyes holds what appears to be a coffee cup." /> + </div> + <h1>THEY ALSO SERVE</h1> + <p class="author">By DONALD E. + WESTLAKE</p> + <p class="prolog">Why should people hate + vultures? After all, a vulture + never kills anyone…</p> + <p class="author">Illustrated by Douglas</p> + </div> + + +<p class="first_paragraph"><a class="pagenum" id="page50" title="50"> </a><img src="images/t.png" width="73" height="70" alt="T" /><span class="first_word">The</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The driver sat at the controls, and +the car jerked into motion. Ebor, +looking up, noticed for the first time +that the dome wasn’t there any more. +The main dome, housing the staff and +equipment of the base, just wasn’t +there.</p> + +<p>And the driver, he now saw, was +aiming the car toward the nearby +crater wall. Extending two of his +eyes till they almost touched the +face-plate of his helmet, he could see +activity at the base of the crater wall, +and what looked like an air-lock entrance. +He wondered what had +caused the change, which had obviously +been done at top speed. The +last time he’d been here, not very +long ago, the dome had still been intact, +and there had been no hint of +any impending move underground.</p> + +<p>The driver steered the car into the +open air lock, and they waited until +the first cargo truck had lumbered in +after them. Then the outer door +closed, the pumps were turned on, +and in a minute the red light flashed +over the inner door. Ebor removed +the spacesuit gratefully, left it in the +car, and walked clumsily through the +inner door into the new base.</p> + +<p>A good job had been done on it, +for all the speed. Rooms and corridors +has been melted out of the rock, the +floors had been carpeted, the walls +painted, and the ceiling lined with +light panels. All of the furnishings +had been transferred here from the +original dome, and the result looked, +on the whole, quite livable. As livable +as the dome had been, at least.</p> + +<p>But the base commander, Darquelnoy, +<a class="pagenum" id="page51" title="51"> </a>waiting for his old friend Ebor +near the inner door of the lock, +looked anything but happy with the +arrangement. At Ebor’s entrance he +raised a limp tentacle in weary greeting +and said, “Come in, my friend, +come in. Tell me the new jokes from +home. I could use some cheering up.”</p> + +<p>“None worth telling,” said Ebor. +He looked around. “What’s happened +here?” he asked. “Why’ve you +gone underground? Why do you +need cheering up?”</p> + +<p>Darquelnoy clicked his eyes in despair. +“Those <em>things</em>!” he cried. +“Those annoying little creatures on +that blasted planet up there!”</p> + +<p>Ebor repressed an amused ripple. +He knew Darquelnoy well enough to +know that the commander invariably +overstated things. “What’ve they +been up to, Dar?” he asked. “Come +on, you can tell me over a hot cup of +restno.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve been practically living on the +stuff for the last two dren,” said Darquelnoy +hopelessly. “Well, I suppose +another cup won’t kill me. Come on to +my quarters.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve worked up a fine thirst on the +trip,” Ebor told him.</p> + +<hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + +<p class="post_thoughtbreak">The two walked down the long +corridor together and Ebor said, +“Well? What happened?”</p> + +<p>“They came here,” Darquelnoy +told him simply. At Ebor’s shocked +look, he rippled in wan amusement +and said, “Oh, it wasn’t as bad as it +might have been, I suppose. It was +just that we had to rush around so +frantically, unloading and dismantling +the dome, getting this place +ready—”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean, they <em>came</em> +here?” demanded Ebor.</p> + +<p>“They are absolutely the worst +creatures for secrecy in the entire +galaxy!” exclaimed Darquelnoy in irritation. +“Absolutely the worst.”</p> + +<p>“Then you’ve picked up at least +one of their habits,” Ebor told him. +“Now stop talking in circles and tell +me what happened.”</p> + +<p>“They built a spaceship, is the long +and the short of it,” Darquelnoy answered.</p> + +<p>Ebor stopped in astonishment. +“No!”</p> + +<p>“Don’t tell me no!” cried Darquelnoy. +“I <em>saw</em> it!” He was obviously at +his wit’s end.</p> + +<p>“It’s unbelievable,” said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“I know,” said Darquelnoy. He led +the way into his quarters, motioned +Ebor to a perch, and rang for his orderly. +“It was just a little remote-controlled +apparatus, of course,” he +said. “The fledgling attempt, you +know. But it circled this Moon here, +busily taking pictures, and went right +back to the planet again, giving us all +a terrible fright. There hadn’t been +the slightest indication they were +planning anything <em>that</em> spectacular.”</p> + +<p>“None?” asked Ebor. “Not a +hint?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, they’ve been boasting about +doing some such thing for ages,” +Darquelnoy told him. “But there was +never any indication that they were +finally serious about it. They have all +sorts of military secrecy, of course, +and so you never know a thing is +<a class="pagenum" id="page52" title="52"> </a>going to happen until it does.”</p> + +<p>“Did they get a picture of the dome?”</p> + +<p>“Thankfully, no. And before they +had a chance to try again, I whipped +everything underground.”</p> + +<p>“It must have been hectic,” Ebor +said sympathetically.</p> + +<p>“It was,” said Darquelnoy simply.</p> + +<p>The orderly entered. Darquelnoy +told him, “Two restno,” and he left +again.</p> + +<p>“I can’t imagine them making a +spaceship,” said Ebor thoughtfully. +“I would have thought they’d have +blown themselves up long before +reaching that stage.”</p> + +<p>“I would have thought so, too,” said +Darquelnoy. “But there it is. At the +moment, they’ve divided themselves +into two camps—generally speaking, +that is—and the two sides are trying +like mad to outdo each other in everything. +As a part of it, they’re shooting +all sorts of rubbish into space and +crowing every time a piece of the +other side’s rubbish malfunctions.”</p> + +<p>“They could go on that way indefinitely,” +said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“I know,” said Darquelnoy gloomily. +“And here we sit.”</p> + +<p>Ebor nodded, studying his friend. +“You don’t suppose this is all a waste +of time, do you?” he asked, after a +minute.</p> + +<p>Darquelnoy shook a tentacle in +negation. “Not at all, not at all. +They’ll get around to it, sooner or +later. They’re still boasting themselves +into the proper frame of mind, +that’s all.”</p> + +<p>Ebor rippled in sympathetic +<a class="pagenum" id="page53" title="53"> </a>amusement. “I imagine you sometimes +wish you could give them a little +prodding in the right direction,” +he said.</p> + +<p>Darquelnoy fluttered his tentacles +in horror, crying, “Don’t even <em>think</em> +of such a thing!”</p> + +<p>“I know, I know,” said Ebor hastily. +“The laws—”</p> + +<p>“Never mind the laws,” snapped +Darquelnoy. “I’m not even thinking +about the laws. Frankly, if it would +do any good, I might even consider +breaking one or two of the laws, and +the devil with my conditioning.”</p> + +<p>“You <em>are</em> upset,” said Ebor at that.</p> + +<p>“But if we were to interfere with +those creatures up there,” continued +Darquelnoy, “interfere with them in +any way at all, it would be absolutely +disastrous.”</p> + +<p>The orderly returned at that point, +with two steaming cups of restno. +Darquelnoy and Ebor accepted the +cups and the orderly left, making a +sloppy tentacle-cross salute, which +the two ignored.</p> + +<hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + +<p class="post_thoughtbreak">“I wasn’t talking necessarily about +attacking them, you know,” said Ebor, +returning to the subject.</p> + +<p>“Neither was I,” Darquelnoy told +him. “We wouldn’t have to attack +them. All we would have to do is let +them know we’re here. Not even <em>why</em> +we’re here, just the simple fact of our +presence. That would be enough. +<em>They</em> would attack <em>us</em>.”</p> + +<p>Ebor extended his eyes in surprise. +“As vicious as all that?”</p> + +<p>“Chilling,” Darquelnoy told him. +“Absolutely chilling.”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="page54" title="54"> </a>“Then I’m surprised they haven’t +blown themselves to pieces long before +this.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well,” said Darquelnoy, “you +see, they’re cowards, too. They have +to boast and brag and shout a while +before they finally get to clawing +and biting at one another.”</p> + +<p>Ebor waved a tentacle. “Don’t make +it so vivid.”</p> + +<p>“Sorry,” apologized Darquelnoy. +He drained his cup of restno. “Out +here,” he said, “living next door to the +little beasts day after day, one begins +to lose one’s sensibilities.”</p> + +<p>“It has been a long time,” agreed +Ebor.</p> + +<p>“Longer than we had originally +anticipated,” Darquelnoy said frankly. +“We’ve been ready to move in for +I don’t know how long. And instead +we just sit here and wait. Which +isn’t good for morale, either.”</p> + +<p>“No, I don’t imagine it is.”</p> + +<p>“There’s already a theory among +some of the workmen that the blow-up +just isn’t going to happen, ever. +And since that ship went circling by, +of course, morale has hit a new low.”</p> + +<p>“It would have been nasty if they’d +spotted you,” said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“Nasty?” echoed Darquelnoy. “Catastrophic, +you mean. All that crowd +up there needs is an enemy, and it +doesn’t much matter to them who +that enemy is. If they were to suspect +that we were here, they’d forget their +own little squabbles at once and start +killing us instead. And that, of course, +would mean that they’d be united, for +the first time in their history, and +who knows how long it would take +them before they’d get back to killing +one another again.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Ebor, “you’re underground +now. And it can’t possibly +take them <em>too</em> much longer.”</p> + +<p>“One wouldn’t think so,” agreed +Darquelnoy. “In a way,” he added, +“that spaceship was a hopeful sign. +It means that they’ll be sending a +manned ship along pretty soon, and +that should do the trick. As soon as +one side has a base on the Moon, the +other side is bound to get things +started.”</p> + +<p>“A relief for you, eh?” said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“You know,” said Darquelnoy +thoughtfully, “I can’t help thinking I +was born in the wrong age. All this +scrabbling around, searching everywhere +for suitable planets. Back when +the Universe was younger, there were +lots and lots of planets to colonize. +Now the old problem of half-life is +taking its toll, and we can’t even hope +to keep up with the birth rate any +more. If it weren’t for the occasional +planets like that one up there, I don’t +know what we’d do.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t worry,” Ebor told him. +“They’ll have their atomic war pretty +soon, and leave us a nice high-radiation +planet to colonize.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly hope it’s soon,” said +Darquelnoy. “This waiting gets on +one’s nerves.” He rang for the orderly.</p> + +<div id="the_end"> + <p>THE END</p> +</div> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 30474 ***</div> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/30474-h/images/t.png b/30474-h/images/t.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..45586b0 --- /dev/null +++ b/30474-h/images/t.png diff --git a/30474-h/images/title-1.png b/30474-h/images/title-1.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..bb20090 --- /dev/null +++ b/30474-h/images/title-1.png diff --git a/30474-h/images/title-2.png b/30474-h/images/title-2.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..355b8e6 --- /dev/null +++ b/30474-h/images/title-2.png diff --git a/30474.txt b/30474.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d614413 --- /dev/null +++ b/30474.txt @@ -0,0 +1,676 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of They Also Serve, by Donald E. Westlake + +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.org + + +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 *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Barbara Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + 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 motion. Ebor, +looking up, noticed for the first time that the dome wasn't there any +more. The main dome, housing the staff and equipment of the base, just +wasn't there. + +And the driver, he now saw, was aiming the car toward the nearby +crater wall. Extending two of his eyes till they almost touched the +face-plate of his helmet, he could see activity at the base of the +crater wall, and what looked like an air-lock entrance. He wondered +what had caused the change, which had obviously been done at top +speed. The last time he'd been here, not very long ago, the dome had +still been intact, and there had been no hint of any impending move +underground. + +The driver steered the car into the open air lock, and they waited +until the first cargo truck had lumbered in after them. Then the outer +door closed, the pumps were turned on, and in a minute the red light +flashed over the inner door. Ebor removed the spacesuit gratefully, +left it in the car, and walked clumsily through the inner door into +the new base. + +A good job had been done on it, for all the speed. Rooms and corridors +has been melted out of the rock, the floors had been carpeted, the +walls painted, and the ceiling lined with light panels. All of the +furnishings had been transferred here from the original dome, and the +result looked, on the whole, quite livable. As livable as the dome had +been, at least. + +But the base commander, Darquelnoy, waiting for his old friend Ebor +near the inner door of the lock, looked anything but happy with the +arrangement. At Ebor's entrance he raised a limp tentacle in weary +greeting and said, "Come in, my friend, come in. Tell me the new jokes +from home. I could use some cheering up." + +"None worth telling," said Ebor. He looked around. "What's happened +here?" he asked. "Why've you gone underground? Why do you need +cheering up?" + +Darquelnoy clicked his eyes in despair. "Those _things_!" he cried. +"Those annoying little creatures on that blasted planet up there!" + +Ebor repressed an amused ripple. He knew Darquelnoy well enough to +know that the commander invariably overstated things. "What've they +been up to, Dar?" he asked. "Come on, you can tell me over a hot cup +of restno." + +"I've been practically living on the stuff for the last two dren," +said Darquelnoy hopelessly. "Well, I suppose another cup won't kill +me. Come on to my quarters." + +"I've worked up a fine thirst on the trip," Ebor told him. + + * * * * * + +The two walked down the long corridor together and Ebor said, "Well? +What happened?" + +"They came here," Darquelnoy told him simply. At Ebor's shocked look, +he rippled in wan amusement and said, "Oh, it wasn't as bad as it +might have been, I suppose. It was just that we had to rush around so +frantically, unloading and dismantling the dome, getting this place +ready--" + +"What do you mean, they _came_ here?" demanded Ebor. + +"They are absolutely the worst creatures for secrecy in the entire +galaxy!" exclaimed Darquelnoy in irritation. "Absolutely the worst." + +"Then you've picked up at least one of their habits," Ebor told him. +"Now stop talking in circles and tell me what happened." + +"They built a spaceship, is the long and the short of it," Darquelnoy +answered. + +Ebor stopped in astonishment. "No!" + +"Don't tell me no!" cried Darquelnoy. "I _saw_ it!" He was obviously +at his wit's end. + +"It's unbelievable," said Ebor. + +"I know," said Darquelnoy. He led the way into his quarters, motioned +Ebor to a perch, and rang for his orderly. "It was just a little +remote-controlled apparatus, of course," he said. "The fledgling +attempt, you know. But it circled this Moon here, busily taking +pictures, and went right back to the planet again, giving us all a +terrible fright. There hadn't been the slightest indication they were +planning anything _that_ spectacular." + +"None?" asked Ebor. "Not a hint?" + +"Oh, they've been boasting about doing some such thing for ages," +Darquelnoy told him. "But there was never any indication that they +were finally serious about it. They have all sorts of military +secrecy, of course, and so you never know a thing is going to happen +until it does." + +"Did they get a picture of the dome?" + +"Thankfully, no. And before they had a chance to try again, I whipped +everything underground." + +"It must have been hectic," Ebor said sympathetically. + +"It was," said Darquelnoy simply. + +The orderly entered. Darquelnoy told him, "Two restno," and he left +again. + +"I can't imagine them making a spaceship," said Ebor thoughtfully. "I +would have thought they'd have blown themselves up long before +reaching that stage." + +"I would have thought so, too," said Darquelnoy. "But there it is. At +the moment, they've divided themselves into two camps--generally +speaking, that is--and the two sides are trying like mad to outdo each +other in everything. As a part of it, they're shooting all sorts of +rubbish into space and crowing every time a piece of the other side's +rubbish malfunctions." + +"They could go on that way indefinitely," said Ebor. + +"I know," said Darquelnoy gloomily. "And here we sit." + +Ebor nodded, studying his friend. "You don't suppose this is all a +waste of time, do you?" he asked, after a minute. + +Darquelnoy shook a tentacle in negation. "Not at all, not at all. +They'll get around to it, sooner or later. They're still boasting +themselves into the proper frame of mind, that's all." + +Ebor rippled in sympathetic amusement. "I imagine you sometimes wish +you could give them a little prodding in the right direction," he +said. + +Darquelnoy fluttered his tentacles in horror, crying, "Don't even +_think_ of such a thing!" + +"I know, I know," said Ebor hastily. "The laws--" + +"Never mind the laws," snapped Darquelnoy. "I'm not even thinking +about the laws. Frankly, if it would do any good, I might even +consider breaking one or two of the laws, and the devil with my +conditioning." + +"You _are_ upset," said Ebor at that. + +"But if we were to interfere with those creatures up there," continued +Darquelnoy, "interfere with them in any way at all, it would be +absolutely disastrous." + +The orderly returned at that point, with two steaming cups of restno. +Darquelnoy and Ebor accepted the cups and the orderly left, making a +sloppy tentacle-cross salute, which the two ignored. + + * * * * * + +"I wasn't talking necessarily about attacking them, you know," said +Ebor, returning to the subject. + +"Neither was I," Darquelnoy told him. "We wouldn't have to attack +them. All we would have to do is let them know we're here. Not even +_why_ we're here, just the simple fact of our presence. That would be +enough. _They_ would attack _us_." + +Ebor extended his eyes in surprise. "As vicious as all that?" + +"Chilling," Darquelnoy told him. "Absolutely chilling." + +"Then I'm surprised they haven't blown themselves to pieces long +before this." + +"Oh, well," said Darquelnoy, "you see, they're cowards, too. They have +to boast and brag and shout a while before they finally get to clawing +and biting at one another." + +Ebor waved a tentacle. "Don't make it so vivid." + +"Sorry," apologized Darquelnoy. He drained his cup of restno. "Out +here," he said, "living next door to the little beasts day after day, +one begins to lose one's sensibilities." + +"It has been a long time," agreed Ebor. + +"Longer than we had originally anticipated," Darquelnoy said frankly. +"We've been ready to move in for I don't know how long. And instead we +just sit here and wait. Which isn't good for morale, either." + +"No, I don't imagine it is." + +"There's already a theory among some of the workmen that the blow-up +just isn't going to happen, ever. And since that ship went circling +by, of course, morale has hit a new low." + +"It would have been nasty if they'd spotted you," said Ebor. + +"Nasty?" echoed Darquelnoy. "Catastrophic, you mean. All that crowd up +there needs is an enemy, and it doesn't much matter to them who that +enemy is. If they were to suspect that we were here, they'd forget +their own little squabbles at once and start killing us instead. And +that, of course, would mean that they'd be united, for the first time +in their history, and who knows how long it would take them before +they'd get back to killing one another again." + +"Well," said Ebor, "you're underground now. And it can't possibly take +them _too_ much longer." + +"One wouldn't think so," agreed Darquelnoy. "In a way," he added, +"that spaceship was a hopeful sign. It means that they'll be sending a +manned ship along pretty soon, and that should do the trick. As soon +as one side has a base on the Moon, the other side is bound to get +things started." + +"A relief for you, eh?" said Ebor. + +"You know," said Darquelnoy thoughtfully, "I can't help thinking I was +born in the wrong age. All this scrabbling around, searching +everywhere for suitable planets. Back when the Universe was younger, +there were lots and lots of planets to colonize. Now the old problem +of half-life is taking its toll, and we can't even hope to keep up +with the birth rate any more. If it weren't for the occasional planets +like that one up there, I don't know what we'd do." + +"Don't worry," Ebor told him. "They'll have their atomic war pretty +soon, and leave us a nice high-radiation planet to colonize." + +"I certainly hope it's soon," said Darquelnoy. "This waiting gets on +one's nerves." He rang for the orderly. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of They Also Serve, by Donald E. 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Westlake + +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.org + + +Title: They Also Serve + +Author: Donald E. Westlake + +Release Date: November 14, 2009 [EBook #30474] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THEY ALSO SERVE *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Barbara Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + <div class="transcriber_note"> + <p>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.</p> + </div> + <div id="the_beginning"> </div> + <div id="title_page"><a class="pagenum" id="page49" title="49"> </a> + <div id="title_image_1" class="image"> + <img src="images/title-1.png" width="472" height="135" alt="Various scenes of a satellite circling the moon" /> + </div> + <div id="title_image_2" class="image"> + <img src="images/title-2.png" width="286" height="709" alt="A lumpy man-like alien with 4 eyes holds what appears to be a coffee cup." /> + </div> + <h1>THEY ALSO SERVE</h1> + <p class="author">By DONALD E. + WESTLAKE</p> + <p class="prolog">Why should people hate + vultures? After all, a vulture + never kills anyone…</p> + <p class="author">Illustrated by Douglas</p> + </div> + + +<p class="first_paragraph"><a class="pagenum" id="page50" title="50"> </a><img src="images/t.png" width="73" height="70" alt="T" /><span class="first_word">The</span> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The driver sat at the controls, and +the car jerked into motion. Ebor, +looking up, noticed for the first time +that the dome wasn’t there any more. +The main dome, housing the staff and +equipment of the base, just wasn’t +there.</p> + +<p>And the driver, he now saw, was +aiming the car toward the nearby +crater wall. Extending two of his +eyes till they almost touched the +face-plate of his helmet, he could see +activity at the base of the crater wall, +and what looked like an air-lock entrance. +He wondered what had +caused the change, which had obviously +been done at top speed. The +last time he’d been here, not very +long ago, the dome had still been intact, +and there had been no hint of +any impending move underground.</p> + +<p>The driver steered the car into the +open air lock, and they waited until +the first cargo truck had lumbered in +after them. Then the outer door +closed, the pumps were turned on, +and in a minute the red light flashed +over the inner door. Ebor removed +the spacesuit gratefully, left it in the +car, and walked clumsily through the +inner door into the new base.</p> + +<p>A good job had been done on it, +for all the speed. Rooms and corridors +has been melted out of the rock, the +floors had been carpeted, the walls +painted, and the ceiling lined with +light panels. All of the furnishings +had been transferred here from the +original dome, and the result looked, +on the whole, quite livable. As livable +as the dome had been, at least.</p> + +<p>But the base commander, Darquelnoy, +<a class="pagenum" id="page51" title="51"> </a>waiting for his old friend Ebor +near the inner door of the lock, +looked anything but happy with the +arrangement. At Ebor’s entrance he +raised a limp tentacle in weary greeting +and said, “Come in, my friend, +come in. Tell me the new jokes from +home. I could use some cheering up.”</p> + +<p>“None worth telling,” said Ebor. +He looked around. “What’s happened +here?” he asked. “Why’ve you +gone underground? Why do you +need cheering up?”</p> + +<p>Darquelnoy clicked his eyes in despair. +“Those <em>things</em>!” he cried. +“Those annoying little creatures on +that blasted planet up there!”</p> + +<p>Ebor repressed an amused ripple. +He knew Darquelnoy well enough to +know that the commander invariably +overstated things. “What’ve they +been up to, Dar?” he asked. “Come +on, you can tell me over a hot cup of +restno.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve been practically living on the +stuff for the last two dren,” said Darquelnoy +hopelessly. “Well, I suppose +another cup won’t kill me. Come on to +my quarters.”</p> + +<p>“I’ve worked up a fine thirst on the +trip,” Ebor told him.</p> + +<hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + +<p class="post_thoughtbreak">The two walked down the long +corridor together and Ebor said, +“Well? What happened?”</p> + +<p>“They came here,” Darquelnoy +told him simply. At Ebor’s shocked +look, he rippled in wan amusement +and said, “Oh, it wasn’t as bad as it +might have been, I suppose. It was +just that we had to rush around so +frantically, unloading and dismantling +the dome, getting this place +ready—”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean, they <em>came</em> +here?” demanded Ebor.</p> + +<p>“They are absolutely the worst +creatures for secrecy in the entire +galaxy!” exclaimed Darquelnoy in irritation. +“Absolutely the worst.”</p> + +<p>“Then you’ve picked up at least +one of their habits,” Ebor told him. +“Now stop talking in circles and tell +me what happened.”</p> + +<p>“They built a spaceship, is the long +and the short of it,” Darquelnoy answered.</p> + +<p>Ebor stopped in astonishment. +“No!”</p> + +<p>“Don’t tell me no!” cried Darquelnoy. +“I <em>saw</em> it!” He was obviously at +his wit’s end.</p> + +<p>“It’s unbelievable,” said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“I know,” said Darquelnoy. He led +the way into his quarters, motioned +Ebor to a perch, and rang for his orderly. +“It was just a little remote-controlled +apparatus, of course,” he +said. “The fledgling attempt, you +know. But it circled this Moon here, +busily taking pictures, and went right +back to the planet again, giving us all +a terrible fright. There hadn’t been +the slightest indication they were +planning anything <em>that</em> spectacular.”</p> + +<p>“None?” asked Ebor. “Not a +hint?”</p> + +<p>“Oh, they’ve been boasting about +doing some such thing for ages,” +Darquelnoy told him. “But there was +never any indication that they were +finally serious about it. They have all +sorts of military secrecy, of course, +and so you never know a thing is +<a class="pagenum" id="page52" title="52"> </a>going to happen until it does.”</p> + +<p>“Did they get a picture of the dome?”</p> + +<p>“Thankfully, no. And before they +had a chance to try again, I whipped +everything underground.”</p> + +<p>“It must have been hectic,” Ebor +said sympathetically.</p> + +<p>“It was,” said Darquelnoy simply.</p> + +<p>The orderly entered. Darquelnoy +told him, “Two restno,” and he left +again.</p> + +<p>“I can’t imagine them making a +spaceship,” said Ebor thoughtfully. +“I would have thought they’d have +blown themselves up long before +reaching that stage.”</p> + +<p>“I would have thought so, too,” said +Darquelnoy. “But there it is. At the +moment, they’ve divided themselves +into two camps—generally speaking, +that is—and the two sides are trying +like mad to outdo each other in everything. +As a part of it, they’re shooting +all sorts of rubbish into space and +crowing every time a piece of the +other side’s rubbish malfunctions.”</p> + +<p>“They could go on that way indefinitely,” +said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“I know,” said Darquelnoy gloomily. +“And here we sit.”</p> + +<p>Ebor nodded, studying his friend. +“You don’t suppose this is all a waste +of time, do you?” he asked, after a +minute.</p> + +<p>Darquelnoy shook a tentacle in +negation. “Not at all, not at all. +They’ll get around to it, sooner or +later. They’re still boasting themselves +into the proper frame of mind, +that’s all.”</p> + +<p>Ebor rippled in sympathetic +<a class="pagenum" id="page53" title="53"> </a>amusement. “I imagine you sometimes +wish you could give them a little +prodding in the right direction,” +he said.</p> + +<p>Darquelnoy fluttered his tentacles +in horror, crying, “Don’t even <em>think</em> +of such a thing!”</p> + +<p>“I know, I know,” said Ebor hastily. +“The laws—”</p> + +<p>“Never mind the laws,” snapped +Darquelnoy. “I’m not even thinking +about the laws. Frankly, if it would +do any good, I might even consider +breaking one or two of the laws, and +the devil with my conditioning.”</p> + +<p>“You <em>are</em> upset,” said Ebor at that.</p> + +<p>“But if we were to interfere with +those creatures up there,” continued +Darquelnoy, “interfere with them in +any way at all, it would be absolutely +disastrous.”</p> + +<p>The orderly returned at that point, +with two steaming cups of restno. +Darquelnoy and Ebor accepted the +cups and the orderly left, making a +sloppy tentacle-cross salute, which +the two ignored.</p> + +<hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + +<p class="post_thoughtbreak">“I wasn’t talking necessarily about +attacking them, you know,” said Ebor, +returning to the subject.</p> + +<p>“Neither was I,” Darquelnoy told +him. “We wouldn’t have to attack +them. All we would have to do is let +them know we’re here. Not even <em>why</em> +we’re here, just the simple fact of our +presence. That would be enough. +<em>They</em> would attack <em>us</em>.”</p> + +<p>Ebor extended his eyes in surprise. +“As vicious as all that?”</p> + +<p>“Chilling,” Darquelnoy told him. +“Absolutely chilling.”</p> + +<p><a class="pagenum" id="page54" title="54"> </a>“Then I’m surprised they haven’t +blown themselves to pieces long before +this.”</p> + +<p>“Oh, well,” said Darquelnoy, “you +see, they’re cowards, too. They have +to boast and brag and shout a while +before they finally get to clawing +and biting at one another.”</p> + +<p>Ebor waved a tentacle. “Don’t make +it so vivid.”</p> + +<p>“Sorry,” apologized Darquelnoy. +He drained his cup of restno. “Out +here,” he said, “living next door to the +little beasts day after day, one begins +to lose one’s sensibilities.”</p> + +<p>“It has been a long time,” agreed +Ebor.</p> + +<p>“Longer than we had originally +anticipated,” Darquelnoy said frankly. +“We’ve been ready to move in for +I don’t know how long. And instead +we just sit here and wait. Which +isn’t good for morale, either.”</p> + +<p>“No, I don’t imagine it is.”</p> + +<p>“There’s already a theory among +some of the workmen that the blow-up +just isn’t going to happen, ever. +And since that ship went circling by, +of course, morale has hit a new low.”</p> + +<p>“It would have been nasty if they’d +spotted you,” said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“Nasty?” echoed Darquelnoy. “Catastrophic, +you mean. All that crowd +up there needs is an enemy, and it +doesn’t much matter to them who +that enemy is. If they were to suspect +that we were here, they’d forget their +own little squabbles at once and start +killing us instead. And that, of course, +would mean that they’d be united, for +the first time in their history, and +who knows how long it would take +them before they’d get back to killing +one another again.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said Ebor, “you’re underground +now. And it can’t possibly +take them <em>too</em> much longer.”</p> + +<p>“One wouldn’t think so,” agreed +Darquelnoy. “In a way,” he added, +“that spaceship was a hopeful sign. +It means that they’ll be sending a +manned ship along pretty soon, and +that should do the trick. As soon as +one side has a base on the Moon, the +other side is bound to get things +started.”</p> + +<p>“A relief for you, eh?” said Ebor.</p> + +<p>“You know,” said Darquelnoy +thoughtfully, “I can’t help thinking I +was born in the wrong age. All this +scrabbling around, searching everywhere +for suitable planets. Back when +the Universe was younger, there were +lots and lots of planets to colonize. +Now the old problem of half-life is +taking its toll, and we can’t even hope +to keep up with the birth rate any +more. If it weren’t for the occasional +planets like that one up there, I don’t +know what we’d do.”</p> + +<p>“Don’t worry,” Ebor told him. +“They’ll have their atomic war pretty +soon, and leave us a nice high-radiation +planet to colonize.”</p> + +<p>“I certainly hope it’s soon,” said +Darquelnoy. “This waiting gets on +one’s nerves.” He rang for the orderly.</p> + +<div id="the_end"> + <p>THE END</p> +</div> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of They Also Serve, by Donald E. 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Westlake + +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.org + + +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 *** + + + + +Produced by Greg Weeks, Barbara Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + 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 motion. Ebor, +looking up, noticed for the first time that the dome wasn't there any +more. The main dome, housing the staff and equipment of the base, just +wasn't there. + +And the driver, he now saw, was aiming the car toward the nearby +crater wall. Extending two of his eyes till they almost touched the +face-plate of his helmet, he could see activity at the base of the +crater wall, and what looked like an air-lock entrance. He wondered +what had caused the change, which had obviously been done at top +speed. The last time he'd been here, not very long ago, the dome had +still been intact, and there had been no hint of any impending move +underground. + +The driver steered the car into the open air lock, and they waited +until the first cargo truck had lumbered in after them. Then the outer +door closed, the pumps were turned on, and in a minute the red light +flashed over the inner door. Ebor removed the spacesuit gratefully, +left it in the car, and walked clumsily through the inner door into +the new base. + +A good job had been done on it, for all the speed. Rooms and corridors +has been melted out of the rock, the floors had been carpeted, the +walls painted, and the ceiling lined with light panels. All of the +furnishings had been transferred here from the original dome, and the +result looked, on the whole, quite livable. As livable as the dome had +been, at least. + +But the base commander, Darquelnoy, waiting for his old friend Ebor +near the inner door of the lock, looked anything but happy with the +arrangement. At Ebor's entrance he raised a limp tentacle in weary +greeting and said, "Come in, my friend, come in. Tell me the new jokes +from home. I could use some cheering up." + +"None worth telling," said Ebor. He looked around. "What's happened +here?" he asked. "Why've you gone underground? Why do you need +cheering up?" + +Darquelnoy clicked his eyes in despair. "Those _things_!" he cried. +"Those annoying little creatures on that blasted planet up there!" + +Ebor repressed an amused ripple. He knew Darquelnoy well enough to +know that the commander invariably overstated things. "What've they +been up to, Dar?" he asked. "Come on, you can tell me over a hot cup +of restno." + +"I've been practically living on the stuff for the last two dren," +said Darquelnoy hopelessly. "Well, I suppose another cup won't kill +me. Come on to my quarters." + +"I've worked up a fine thirst on the trip," Ebor told him. + + * * * * * + +The two walked down the long corridor together and Ebor said, "Well? +What happened?" + +"They came here," Darquelnoy told him simply. At Ebor's shocked look, +he rippled in wan amusement and said, "Oh, it wasn't as bad as it +might have been, I suppose. It was just that we had to rush around so +frantically, unloading and dismantling the dome, getting this place +ready--" + +"What do you mean, they _came_ here?" demanded Ebor. + +"They are absolutely the worst creatures for secrecy in the entire +galaxy!" exclaimed Darquelnoy in irritation. "Absolutely the worst." + +"Then you've picked up at least one of their habits," Ebor told him. +"Now stop talking in circles and tell me what happened." + +"They built a spaceship, is the long and the short of it," Darquelnoy +answered. + +Ebor stopped in astonishment. "No!" + +"Don't tell me no!" cried Darquelnoy. "I _saw_ it!" He was obviously +at his wit's end. + +"It's unbelievable," said Ebor. + +"I know," said Darquelnoy. He led the way into his quarters, motioned +Ebor to a perch, and rang for his orderly. "It was just a little +remote-controlled apparatus, of course," he said. "The fledgling +attempt, you know. But it circled this Moon here, busily taking +pictures, and went right back to the planet again, giving us all a +terrible fright. There hadn't been the slightest indication they were +planning anything _that_ spectacular." + +"None?" asked Ebor. "Not a hint?" + +"Oh, they've been boasting about doing some such thing for ages," +Darquelnoy told him. "But there was never any indication that they +were finally serious about it. They have all sorts of military +secrecy, of course, and so you never know a thing is going to happen +until it does." + +"Did they get a picture of the dome?" + +"Thankfully, no. And before they had a chance to try again, I whipped +everything underground." + +"It must have been hectic," Ebor said sympathetically. + +"It was," said Darquelnoy simply. + +The orderly entered. Darquelnoy told him, "Two restno," and he left +again. + +"I can't imagine them making a spaceship," said Ebor thoughtfully. "I +would have thought they'd have blown themselves up long before +reaching that stage." + +"I would have thought so, too," said Darquelnoy. "But there it is. At +the moment, they've divided themselves into two camps--generally +speaking, that is--and the two sides are trying like mad to outdo each +other in everything. As a part of it, they're shooting all sorts of +rubbish into space and crowing every time a piece of the other side's +rubbish malfunctions." + +"They could go on that way indefinitely," said Ebor. + +"I know," said Darquelnoy gloomily. "And here we sit." + +Ebor nodded, studying his friend. "You don't suppose this is all a +waste of time, do you?" he asked, after a minute. + +Darquelnoy shook a tentacle in negation. "Not at all, not at all. +They'll get around to it, sooner or later. They're still boasting +themselves into the proper frame of mind, that's all." + +Ebor rippled in sympathetic amusement. "I imagine you sometimes wish +you could give them a little prodding in the right direction," he +said. + +Darquelnoy fluttered his tentacles in horror, crying, "Don't even +_think_ of such a thing!" + +"I know, I know," said Ebor hastily. "The laws--" + +"Never mind the laws," snapped Darquelnoy. "I'm not even thinking +about the laws. Frankly, if it would do any good, I might even +consider breaking one or two of the laws, and the devil with my +conditioning." + +"You _are_ upset," said Ebor at that. + +"But if we were to interfere with those creatures up there," continued +Darquelnoy, "interfere with them in any way at all, it would be +absolutely disastrous." + +The orderly returned at that point, with two steaming cups of restno. +Darquelnoy and Ebor accepted the cups and the orderly left, making a +sloppy tentacle-cross salute, which the two ignored. + + * * * * * + +"I wasn't talking necessarily about attacking them, you know," said +Ebor, returning to the subject. + +"Neither was I," Darquelnoy told him. "We wouldn't have to attack +them. All we would have to do is let them know we're here. Not even +_why_ we're here, just the simple fact of our presence. That would be +enough. _They_ would attack _us_." + +Ebor extended his eyes in surprise. "As vicious as all that?" + +"Chilling," Darquelnoy told him. "Absolutely chilling." + +"Then I'm surprised they haven't blown themselves to pieces long +before this." + +"Oh, well," said Darquelnoy, "you see, they're cowards, too. They have +to boast and brag and shout a while before they finally get to clawing +and biting at one another." + +Ebor waved a tentacle. "Don't make it so vivid." + +"Sorry," apologized Darquelnoy. He drained his cup of restno. "Out +here," he said, "living next door to the little beasts day after day, +one begins to lose one's sensibilities." + +"It has been a long time," agreed Ebor. + +"Longer than we had originally anticipated," Darquelnoy said frankly. +"We've been ready to move in for I don't know how long. And instead we +just sit here and wait. Which isn't good for morale, either." + +"No, I don't imagine it is." + +"There's already a theory among some of the workmen that the blow-up +just isn't going to happen, ever. And since that ship went circling +by, of course, morale has hit a new low." + +"It would have been nasty if they'd spotted you," said Ebor. + +"Nasty?" echoed Darquelnoy. "Catastrophic, you mean. All that crowd up +there needs is an enemy, and it doesn't much matter to them who that +enemy is. If they were to suspect that we were here, they'd forget +their own little squabbles at once and start killing us instead. And +that, of course, would mean that they'd be united, for the first time +in their history, and who knows how long it would take them before +they'd get back to killing one another again." + +"Well," said Ebor, "you're underground now. And it can't possibly take +them _too_ much longer." + +"One wouldn't think so," agreed Darquelnoy. "In a way," he added, +"that spaceship was a hopeful sign. It means that they'll be sending a +manned ship along pretty soon, and that should do the trick. As soon +as one side has a base on the Moon, the other side is bound to get +things started." + +"A relief for you, eh?" said Ebor. + +"You know," said Darquelnoy thoughtfully, "I can't help thinking I was +born in the wrong age. All this scrabbling around, searching +everywhere for suitable planets. Back when the Universe was younger, +there were lots and lots of planets to colonize. Now the old problem +of half-life is taking its toll, and we can't even hope to keep up +with the birth rate any more. If it weren't for the occasional planets +like that one up there, I don't know what we'd do." + +"Don't worry," Ebor told him. "They'll have their atomic war pretty +soon, and leave us a nice high-radiation planet to colonize." + +"I certainly hope it's soon," said Darquelnoy. "This waiting gets on +one's nerves." He rang for the orderly. + + +THE END + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of They Also Serve, by Donald E. 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