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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
123
"They
want
to
get
back
Earthside."
"After
five
years
on
the
checkpoint,
they
say
you
can't
take
Earth.
The
gravity
gets
you."
"I'll
take
gravity.
Any
time...."
From
these
conversations,
Barrent
learned
that
the
grim-faced
guards
were
human
beings,
just
like
the
prisoners
on
Omega.
Most
of
the
guards
didn't
seem
to
like
the
work
they
were
doing.
Like
Omegans,
they
longed
for
a
return
to
Earth.
He
stored
the
information
away.
The
ship
had
reached
the
checkpoint,
and
the
giant
switchboard
flashed
and
rippled,
making
its
final
adjustments
for
the
intricacies
of
docking.
At
last
the
maneuver
was
completed
and
the
engines
shut
down
to
stand-by.
Through
the
communications
system,
Barrent
heard
the
guards
leave
their
assembly
room.
He
followed
them
down
the
corridors
to
the
landing
stage.
He
heard
the
last
of
them,
as
he
left
the
ship,
say,
"Here
comes
the
check
squad.
Whatcha
say,
boys?"
There
was
no
answer.
The
guards
were
gone,
and
there
was
a
new
sound
in
the
corridors:
the
heavy
marching
feet
of
what
the
guard
called
the
check
squad.
There
seemed
to
be
a
lot
of
them.
Their
inspection
began
in
the
engine
rooms,
and
moved
methodically
upward.
From
the
sounds,
they
seemed
to
be
opening
every
door
on
the
ship
and
searching
every
room
and
closet.
Barrent
held
the
needlebeam
in
his
perspiring
hand
and
wondered
where,
in
all
the
territory
of
the
ship,
he
could
hide.
He
would
have
to
assume
that
they
were
going
to
look
everywhere.
In
that
case,
his
best
chance
lay
in
evading
them
and
hiding
in
a
section
of
the
ship
already
searched.
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