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Buffalo Dogs [An Amazing Conroy Story] [MultiFormat]
eBook by Lawrence M. Schoen
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eBook Category: Science Fiction John W. Campbell Memorial Award Nominee
eBook Description: 'Buffalo dogs' are breadbox-sized creatures that can eat anything and fart oxygen. In addition to having a monopoly on these creatures, the alien Arconi can sense falsehood, and their laws allow them to execute anyone in possession of an unlicensed 'buffalito.' Enter the Amazing Conroy, a stage hypnotist who is accused of smuggling, cleared of all charges, and then attempts to actually smuggle a fertile buffalo dog off world.
eBook Publisher: Fictionwise.com, Published: Absolute Magnitude, 2001
Fictionwise Release Date: February 2006
This eBook is part of the following series:
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Available eBook Formats [MultiFormat - What's this?]: Adobe Acrobat (PDF) [228 KB], eReader (PDB) [38 KB], Palm Doc (PDB) [25 KB], Rocket/REB1100 (RB) [23 KB], Microsoft Reader (LIT) [82 KB] - PocketPC 1.0+ Compatible, Franklin eBookMan (FUB) [95 KB], hiebook (KML) [111 KB], Sony Reader (LRF) [47 KB], iSilo (PDB) [21 KB], Mobipocket (PRC) [27 KB], Kindle Compatible (MOBI) [54 KB], OEBFF Format (IMP) [37 KB]
Words: 7726
Reading time: 22-30 min.
Microsoft Reader (LIT) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud ENABLED
Adobe Acrobat (PDF) Format: Printing DISABLED, Read-Aloud DISABLED
All Other formats: Printing DISABLED, Read-aloud DISABLED
 
"'Buffalo Dogs' by Lawrence M. Schoen is reminiscent of those early wonder stories of Asmiov and Clark that I grew up on. Mr. Conroy is a stage hypnotist who travels the far flung outposts of deep space entertaining the residents with a fairly standard stage show. Can he make a victim bark like a dog? Or think they are a chicken? On the planet Gibrahl he soon finds himself in trouble. The natives read minds, and absolutely believe whatever they see in another's mind. When he uses hypnosis to convince an audience member that they are a creature which is strictly regulated by the natives, it becomes interesting. How did he come into possession of the prescribed animal? They story evolves from there as he turns the natives' obsessive acceptance of what they 'see' to his advantage."--James S. Reichert, Tangent Online
Getting arrested a few days before I was to head back to Earth was the last thing I had in mind. I'd been working the Lil Doggie, the only spaceport lounge on Gibrahl, for the past three and a half weeks. My contract called for two shows a night, with an additional matinee on Saturday. I had Sundays off. A day on Gibrahl runs near enough to twenty-four hours as not to quibble, but the weeks last for eight of them instead of seven. My agent back on Earth hadn't bothered to look into the extra day issue before booking me into a contract that paid by the week. It meant that the two shows I was required to do on Gibsday were freebies; all the work for none of the pay.
The marquee out front read "THE AMAZING CONROY, MASTER HYPNOTIST" and cycled through a google of colorful hues in a blatant attempt to remain eye-catching. It worked. My smallest audiences were decent, and the large ones packed the place. Venues like Gibrahl are always hungry for any kind of entertainment, and a stage hypnotist can make a good buck.
The humans in my audience were all on Gibrahl for the same thing. Every one of them was in some way involved in the buffalo dog trade. The buffalitos were the only resource on Gibrahl, the single commodity responsible--directly or indirectly--for bringing people here. It was a colony world, and it wasn't our colony. Gibrahl belonged to the Arconi, and the human presence was limited to a single square kilometer base. The Arconi laid down the rules, and as long as they had something Earth wanted we abided by them like good little humans. Which is why I got arrested.
Earlier in the day the Arconi had arrested a buffalo dog courier for attempted smuggling. The Terran consulate insisted it must have been a paperwork snafu, but the Arconi possess a limited psychic faculty concerning truthfulness and discovered otherwise. Arcon justice is as swift as it is certain. The man had been tried, convicted, and executed before the end of my dinner show.
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