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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
66
For
a
moment
the
machine
teetered,
its
wheels
spinning
wildly.
Then
it
flipped
over
on
its
back.
Barrent
collapsed
beside
it.
When
he
could
see
again,
the
machine
was
still
on
its
back.
It
was
extruding
a
set
of
arms
to
turn
itself
over.
Barrent
threw
himself
on
the
machine's
flat
belly
and
hammered
with
his
fists.
Nothing
happened.
He
tried
to
pull
off
one
of
the
wheels,
and
couldn't.
Max
was
propping
itself
up,
preparing
to
turn
over
and
resume
the
contest.
The
girl's
motions
caught
Barrent's
eye.
She
was
making
a
plucking
motion,
repeatedly,
insistently.
Only
then
Barrent
saw
a
small
fuse
box
near
one
of
the
wheels.
He
yanked
off
the
cover,
losing
most
of
a
fingernail
in
the
process,
and
removed
the
fuse.
The
machine
expired
gracefully.
Barrent
fainted.
Chapter
Eleven
On
Omega,
the
law
is
supreme.
Hidden
and
revealed,
sacred
and
profane,
the
law
governs
the
actions
of
all
citizens,
from
the
lowest
of
the
low
to
the
highest
of
the
high.
Without
the
law,
there
could
be
no
privileges
for
those
who
made
the
law;
therefore
the
law
was
absolutely
necessary.
Without
the
law
and
its
stern
enforcement,
Omega
would
be
an
unthinkable
chaos
in
which
a
man's
rights
could
extend
only
as
far
and
as
long
as
he
personally
could
enforce
them.
This
anarchy
would
mean
the
end
of
Omegan
society;
and
particularly,
it
would
mean
the
end
of
those
senior
citizens
of
the
ruling
class
who
had
grown
high
in
status,
but
whose
skill
with
a
gun
had
long
passed
its
peak.
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