Dumbwaiter

The story follows Sol Jones, a blasé interstellar smuggler who tries to bring a banned Antimony IX diver as a present for Florence through Lamavic customs at Philadelphia International. Inspectors subject him to exhaustive searches with life-indexers and prohibited telepath restrictions; he conceals the creature using dicyanin liquid lenses that allow him to perceive micro-wave auras and avoid detection. The narration satirizes bureaucratic procedure and pet-smuggling culture by blending comic detail about exotic fauna, inventive detection devices, and the smuggler's sly professionalism.