The Project Gutenberg EBook of Feet Of Clay, by Phillip Hoskins

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: Feet Of Clay

Author: Phillip Hoskins

Release Date: June 7, 2010 [EBook #32724]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FEET OF CLAY ***

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

_Life is pretty strange when a god who is good and benevolent must
prove that he has_

Feet of Clay

BY PHILLIP HOSKINS

"The problem," said Cassidy, "would seem to be simple." He thumped his
outsized knuckles against the desk. "Almost too simple."

"Why?" The other was a wearer of the black and silver uniform of
Extrasol Traders; a short man, made shorter by the beer-barrel shape of
his body and the extreme width of his shoulders. His head was capped
with close-cropped gray curls.

[Illustration: _Illustrated by Paul Orban_]

"Why?" he repeated. "I've been studying it ever since it first cropped
up, and I must admit that it's been beyond me."

"I must confess, Dillon," said Cassidy, "I wonder how you ever rose to
the managerial ranks of Extrasol. I find it hard to imagine a personnel
man stupid enough to put you in charge of even a backwater planet like
this Kash. Surely somebody in the home office must know how dumb you
are?"

"My dumbness is not the subject of this conversation," said Dillon,
grimly. "I didn't like the idea of calling in a trouble-shooter. I liked
it even less when I found out it was to be you."

Cassidy grinned. "You mean my wonderful personality hasn't made an
impression on you? I'm cut to the quick."

"I put up with you for only one reason. You know aliens, far better than
I could ever hope to. You're about the best in the field."

"Only about? Really, Dillon, if you knew of someone better than me, why
didn't you get them?"

"All right!" He shouted the words. "You're the best! But you still
haven't explained why the problem seems simple to you." He pulled out a
cigarette, and bit down savagely on the end, only to spit out the loose
tobacco amidst a sputter of curses.

"The misfortunes of being feeble-minded," sighed Cassidy. "But