The Project Gutenberg EBook of Insidekick, by Jesse Franklin Bone

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Title: Insidekick

Author: Jesse Franklin Bone

Illustrator: Wood

Release Date: May 6, 2010 [EBook #32272]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Insidekick

By J. F. BONE

Illustrated by WOOD

[Transcriber Note: This etext was produced from Galaxy Science Fiction
February 1959. Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that the
U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]

Sidenote: Johnson had two secrets--one he knew and would die rather than
reveal--and one he didn't know that meant to save him over his own dead
body!]

Shifaz glanced furtively around the room. Satisfied that it was empty
except for Fred Kemmer and himself, he sidled up to the Earthman's desk
and hissed conspiratorially in his ear, "Sir, this Johnson is a spy! Is
it permitted to slay him?"

[Illustration]

"It is permitted," Kemmer said in a tone suitable to the gravity of the
occasion.

He watched humorlessly as the Antarian slithered out of the office with
a flutter of colorful ceremonial robes. Both Kemmer and Shifaz had known
for weeks that Johnson was a spy, but the native had to go through this
insane rigmarole before the rules on Antar would allow him to act. At
any rate, the formalities were over at last and the affair should be
satisfactorily ended before nightfall. Natives moved quickly enough,
once the preliminaries were concluded.

Kemmer leaned back in his chair and sighed. Being the Interworld
Corporation's local manager had more compensations than headaches,
despite the rigid ritualism of native society. Since most of the local
population was under his thumb, counter-espionage was miraculously
effective. This fellow Johnson, for instance, had been in Vaornia less
than three weeks, and despite the fact that he was an efficient and
effective snoop, he had been fingered less than forty-eight hours after
h