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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
71
On
their
second
day,
they
climbed
high
into
the
hills.
They
ate
a
basket
lunch
on
a
grassy
incline
which
sloped
away
to
the
gray
sea.
After
they
had
eaten,
Barrent
asked
Moera
why
she
had
saved
his
life.
"You
won't
like
the
answer,"
she
told
him.
"I'd
still
like
to
hear
it."
"Well,
you
looked
so
ridiculously
vulnerable
that
day
in
the
Victim's
Society.
I
would
have
helped
anyone
who
looked
that
way."
Barrent
nodded
uncomfortably.
"What
about
the
second
time?"
"By
then
I
suppose
I
had
an
interest
in
you.
Not
a
romantic
interest,
you
understand.
I'm
not
at
all
romantic."
"What
kind
of
an
interest?"
Barrent
asked.
"I
thought
you
might
be
good
recruitment
material."
"I'd
like
to
hear
more
about
it,"
Barrent
said.
Moera
was
silent
for
a
while,
watching
him
with
unblinking
green
eyes.
She
said,
"There's
not
much
I
can
tell
you.
I'm
a
member
of
an
organization.
We're
always
on
the
lookout
for
good
prospects.
Usually
we
screen
directly
from
the
prison
ships.
After
that,
recruiters
like
me
go
out
in
search
of
people
we
can
use."
"What
type
of
people
do
you
look
for?"
"Not
your
type,
Will.
I'm
sorry."
"Why
not
me?"
"At
first
I
thought
seriously
about
recruiting
you,"
Moera
said.
"You
seemed
like
just
the
sort
of
person
we
needed.
Then
I
checked
into
your
record."
"And?"
"We
don't
recruit
murderers.
Sometimes
we
employ
them
for
specific
jobs,
but
we
don't
take
them
into
the
organization.
There
are
certain
extenuating
circumstances
which
we
recognize;
self-defense,
for
example.
But
aside
from
that,
we
feel
that
a
man
who
has
committed
premeditated
murder
on
Earth
is
the
wrong
man
for
us."
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