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. . . things a man wouldn't do, for his own self-respect, if he didn't think it was necessary."
"But I do! Uh, I was a slave. You knew that? Maybe it would help if a man knew how a slave feels."
"Perhaps. Though it might make you too emotional. Besides, slave traffic isn't all we are interested in. A man comes here, we don't promise him certain work. He does what he's told. We use him. We usually use him up. Our casualty rate is high."
"I'll do what I'm told. I just happen to be interested in the slave traffic. Why, most people here don't seem to know it exists."
"Most of what we deal in the public wouldn't believe. Can you expect the people you see around you to take seriously unbelievable stories about far-away places? You must remember that less than one percent of the race ever leaves its various planets of birth."
"Uh, I suppose so. Anyhow they don't believe it."
"That's not our worst handicap. The Terran Hegemony is no empire; it is simply leadership in a loose confederation of planets. The difference between what the Guard could do and what it is allowed to do is very frustrating. If you have come here thinking that you will see slavery abolished in your lifetime, disabuse your mind. Our most optimistic target date is two centuries away -- and by that time slavery will have broken out in planets not even discovered today. Not a problem to be solved once and for all
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