Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
138
Barrent
thought
about
the
prison
ships
constantly
shuttling
back
and
forth
between
Earth
and
Omega,
dumping
their
human
cargo
and
returning
for
more.
He
wondered
where
Wonderson
got
his
statistics.
For
that
matter,
he
wondered
where
the
police
were.
He
had
seen
no
military
uniform
since
leaving
the
starship.
He
would
have
liked
to
ask
about
it,
but
it
seemed
wiser
to
discontinue
that
line
of
questioning.
"Thank
you
very
much
for
the
credit,"
Barrent
said.
"I'll
be
back
with
the
payment
as
soon
as
possible."
"Of
course
you
will,"
Wonderson
said,
warmly
shaking
Barrent's
hand.
"Take
your
time,
sir.
No
rush
at
all."
Barrent
thanked
him
again
and
left
the
store.
He
had
a
profession
now.
And
if
other
people
believed
as
Wonderson
did,
he
had
unlimited
credit.
He
was
on
a
planet
that
seemed,
at
first
glance,
to
be
a
utopia.
The
utopia
presented
certain
contradictions,
of
course.
He
hoped
to
find
out
more
about
them
over
the
next
few
days.
Down
the
block,
Barrent
found
a
hotel
called
The
Bide-A-Bit.
He
engaged
a
room
for
the
week,
on
credit.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
In
the
morning,
Barrent
asked
directions
to
the
nearest
branch
of
the
public
library.
He
decided
that
he
needed
as
much
background
out
of
books
as
he
could
get.
With
a
knowledge
of
the
history
and
development
of
Earth's
civilization,
he
would
have
a
better
idea
of
what
to
expect
and
what
to
watch
out
for.
His
Opinioner's
clothing
allowed
him
access
to
the
closed
shelves
where
the
history
books
were
kept.
But
the
books
themselves
were
disappointing.
Most
of
them
were
Earth's
ancient
history,
from
earliest
beginnings
to
the
dawn
of
atomic
power.
Barrent
skimmed
through
them.
As
he
read,
some
memories
of
prior
reading
returned
to
him.
He
was
able
to
jump
quickly
from
Periclean
Greece
to
Imperial
Rome,
to
Charlemagne
and
the
Dark
Ages,
from
the
Norman
Conquest
to
the
Thirty
Years'
War,
and
then
to
a
rapid
survey
of
the
Napoleonic
Era.
He
read
with
more
care
about
the
World
Wars.
The
book
ended
with
the
explosion
of
the
first
atom
bombs.
The
other
books
on
the
shelf
were
simply
amplifications
of
various
stages
of
history
he
had
found
in
the
first
book.
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
