 Why was it unheard of to issue an effective prison sentence to the zarquil operators?
When overwhelming danger is constantly present,of course a man is entitled to have a bodyguard. As for the extraterrestrials—it was a free bar—they were merely amused, since to them all men were pathetically and irredeemably hideous. There was a short man standing next to the pair—young, as most men and women were in that time, thanks to the science which could stave off decay, though not death—but with no other apparent physical virtue, for plastic surgery had not fulfilled its bright promise of the twentieth century. "You must allow me to pay your cleaning bill," Gabe said, taking out his wallet and extracting several credit notes without seeming to look at them. And that, coming on top of Gabriel Lockard's spectacular appearance, was too much. Once the illuminators were extinguished in Gabriel Lockard's hotel suite, it seemed reasonably certain to the man in the gray suit, as he watched from the street, that his quarry would not go out again that night. There he inserted a coin in a locker, into which he put most of his personal possessions, reserving only a sum of money. As a matter of fact, no real identification was possible, for he was no one and had been no one for years. Each time it happens, there's a ... well, there's no experience to match it at a thrill-mill."
 The operators lived significantly long lives
 The operators were above the law  The operators were too difficult to contain in a prison  The operators lived significantly long lives  The laws were difficult to enforce and harder to uphold