The Project Gutenberg EBook of Skin Game, by Charles E. Fritch

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Title: Skin Game

Author: Charles E. Fritch

Illustrator: Kelly Freas

Release Date: March 16, 2010 [EBook #31665]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SKIN GAME ***

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_Working on the theory that you can skin a sucker in space as well
as on Earth, the con team of Harding and Sheckly operated furtively
but profitably among natives of the outer planets. That is--until
there was a question of turnabout being fair play in a world where
natives took their skinning literally!_

SKIN GAME

By Charles E. Fritch

Illustrated by Kelly Freas

"People are basically alike," Harding said democratically. He sat idly
against the strawlike matting of the hut wall and reached for a native
fruit in a nearby bowl. "They're all suckers, even the smartest of them;
in fact, the ones who think they're the smartest generally wind up to be
the dumbest." Carefully, he bit into the fruit which resembled an orange
and, mouth full, nodded approvingly. "Say, these aren't bad. Try one."

Sheckly shook his head, determined to avoid as many aspects of this
culture as he could. "But these aren't people," he reminded, not happy
with the thought. "They're lizards."

Harding shrugged and settled back, his grinning features ruddy in the
flaring torchlight. "Humanoids have no monopoly on suckerhood. When it
comes to that, we're all brothers under the skin, no matter what
color or how hard the skin may be." He sighed, contemplating the
harvest-to-be. "No, Sheckly, it'll be like taking candy from a baby.
We'll be out of here with our pockets bulging before the Space Patrol
can bat an eyelash in this direction."

Unconvinced, Sheckly stared glumly through the open doorway of the hut
into the warm humid night, where a fire flared in the darkness and long
shadows danced and slithered around it.

"It's not the Space Patrol I'm worried about," he said, after a while.
"I don't mind fleecing humanoids--" he shivered, grimacing--