They Also Serve

A routine supply run to a lunar outpost turns unsettling when Captain Ebor discovers the familiar dome gone, replaced by a freshly carved underground facility. His colleague, Base Commander Darquelnoy, greets him with weary humor, hinting that “those things” from the planet below have forced a frantic relocation. As the crew adjusts to the new habitat, the conversation drifts toward a baffling sighting: alien scavengers—vulture‑like creatures—have somehow constructed a spacecraft of their own.

The story balances the stark, low‑gravity setting with a wry, almost slap‑stick camaraderie between seasoned spacefarers. Listeners will be drawn into the mystery of how these unexpected visitors could outwit an entire base, while savoring the dry jokes and the tension of an unexplained, urgent scramble. The first act sets the stage for a larger conflict, leaving enough questions to keep the imagination hovering in the void.