The Status Civilization

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Half an hour later, Barrent still hadn't figured out a way of gettingpast the check squad. They had finished inspecting the lower levels andwere moving up to the control room deck. Barrent could hear themmarching down the hallways. He kept on walking, a hundred yards infront, trying to find some way of hiding.

  There should be a staircase at the end of this passageway. He could takeit down to a different level, a part of the ship which had already beensearched. He hurried on, wondering if he were wrong about the locationof the staircase. He still had only the haziest idea of the layout ofthe ship. If he were wrong, he would be trapped.

  He came to the end of the corridor, and the staircase was there. Thefootsteps behind him sounded closer. He started down, peering backwardsover his shoulder.

  And ran headfirst into a man's huge chest.

  Barrent flung himself back, bringing his plastic gun to bear on theenormous figure. But he stopped himself from firing. The thing thatstood in front of him was not human.

  It stood nearly seven feet high, dressed in a black uniform withINSPECTION TEAM--ANDROID B212 stenciled on its front. Its face was astylization of a human's, cleverly sculptured out of putty-coloredplastic. Its eyes glowed a deep, impossible red. It swayed on two legs,balancing carefully, looking at Barrent, moving slowly toward him.Barrent backed away, wondering if a needlebeam could stop it.

  He never had a chance to find out, for the android walked past him andcontinued up the stairs. Stenciled on the back of its uniform were thewords RODENT CONTROL DIVISION. This particular android, Barrentrealized, was programmed only to look for rats and mice. The presence ofa stowaway had made no impression on it. Presumably the other androidswere similarly specialized.

  He stayed in an empty storage room on a lower level until he heard thesounds of the androids leaving. Then he hurried back to the controlroom. No guards came aboard. Exactly on schedule, the big ship left thecheckpoint. Destination: Earth.

  * * * * *

  The rest of the journey was uneventful. Barrent slept and ate and,before the craft entered subspace, watched the endless spectacle of thestars through the viewport. He tried to visualize the planet he wascoming to, but no pictures formed in his mind. What sort of a peoplebuilt huge starships but failed to equip them with a crew? Why did theysend out inspection teams, then give those teams the narrowest and mostspecialized sort of vision? Why did they have to deport a sizableportion of their population--and then fail to control the conditionsunder which the deportees lived and died? Why was it necessary for themto wipe the prisoners' minds clean of all memory of Earth?

  Barrent couldn't think of any answers.

  The control room clocks moved steadily on, counting off the minutes andhours of the trip. The ship entered, then emerged from subspace and wentinto deceleration orbit around a blue and green world which Barrentobserved with mixed emotions. He found it hard to realize that he wasreturning at last to Earth.