Conroy owns a company called Buffalogic, Inc. He was a hypnotist and is a foodie. He goes to Colson's World for a festival which features all types of BBQ. There he sees a girl he last saw when he was 19 named Bethany Colson. She looks the same as she did then. With her is a young girl named Gel.
Reggie, a Buffalo dog or buffalito was with Conroy. Buffalitos can eat anything but they will not eat humans and they produce oxygen instead of CO2 when they fart.
Gel and Reggie get into an area where a Thoat is and the Thoat feels threatened and lunges for them. Gel makes the animal disappear. She has made other things disappear also. The problem is she cannot control this and Conroy feels hypnosis may help. It turns out the things are not destoryed as Conroy thought but moved elsewhere. Gel is part Plenum and part human, he discovers.
Barry of the title is one of the mascots of the festival - it is a stuffed bison toy. It turns out to be the key to keeping Gel alive.
I had not read any of Dr. Schoen's other works. I enjoyed reading this. I have been "hypnotized" which in my case was more playing along, I believe than real hypnosis. The process is explained and I love the idea of another race that looks human because they are half human. The Plenum are usually found in pairs and are capable of teleportation.
If I may quote from the postcard:
"take one mesmerizing rogue and an adorable, flatulent pet
add a barbecue competition....
american bison and martian thoats...
a child with the power to destroy a world...
an old man with a secret that could rock humanity'...
a woman from collage who hasn't aged in fifteen years...
alien beings with instantaneous, galaxy-wide teleportation....
and a plushie!"
How can one resist an advertisement such as that!
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