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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
98
The
mutants
stopped
here
and
made
their
camp.
Barrent
went
on,
and
by
midnight
he
was
starting
up
the
rocky,
windswept
slope
of
one
of
the
higher
mountains.
He
was
hungry,
but
the
cool,
clear
air
was
exhilarating.
He
began
to
believe
that
he
really
would
live
through
the
Hunt.
He
heard
a
noisy
group
of
Hunters
making
a
sweep
around
the
mountain.
He
avoided
them
easily
in
the
darkness,
and
continued
climbing.
Soon
there
was
no
sound
except
the
steady
rush
of
wind
across
the
cliffs.
It
was
perhaps
two
in
the
morning;
only
three
more
hours
until
dawn.
In
the
small
hours
of
the
morning
it
began
to
rain,
lightly
at
first,
then
in
a
cold
torrent.
This
was
predictable
weather
for
Omega.
Predictable
also
were
the
towering
thunderheads
that
formed
over
the
mountains,
the
rolling
thunder,
and
the
vivid
yellow
flashes
of
lightning.
Barrent
found
shelter
in
a
shallow
cave,
and
counted
himself
lucky
that
the
temperature
had
not
yet
plunged.
He
sat
in
the
cave,
half-dozing,
the
remnants
of
his
makeup
running
down
his
face,
keeping
a
sleepy
watch
over
the
slope
of
the
mountain
below
him.
Then,
in
the
brilliant
illumination
of
a
lightning
flash,
he
saw
something
moving
up
the
slope,
heading
directly
toward
his
cave.
He
stood
up,
the
needlebeam
ready,
and
waited
for
another
lightning
flash.
It
came,
and
now
he
could
see
the
cold,
wet
gleam
of
metal,
a
flashing
of
red
and
green
lights,
a
pair
of
metal
tentacles
taking
grips
on
the
rocks
and
small
shrubs
of
the
mountainside.
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