sirens of titan

"Tell me one good thing you ever did in your life."
- WINSTON NILES RUMFOORD
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Break every link with air and mist,
Seal every open vent;
Make throat as tight as miser's fist,
Keep life within you pent.
Breathe out, breathe in, no more, no more,
For breathing's for the meek;
And when in deathly space we soar,
Be careful not to speak.
If you with grief or joy are rapt,
Just signal with a tear;
To soul and heart within you trapped
Add speech and atmosphere.
Every man's an island as in
lifeless space we roam.
Yes, every man's an island:
island fortress, island home.
-Bee Rumfoord
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"Sim-faw!" cried the sleeper menacingly, to anyone who might menace his sleep. "Soo! A-so! What's a mabba? Nf."
"You better go," whispered Constant.
"Yes," whispered Salo.
"Good-by," whispered Constant, "and thanks."
"You're entirely welcome," whispered Salo. He backed into the ship, closed the airlock. The ship arose with the sound of a man blowing over the mouth of a bottle. It disappeared into the swirling snow and was gone.
"Toodle-oo," it said.
Malachi Constant's feet squeaked in the snow as he walked to the bench. He brushed aside the snow on the bench and sat down.
"Fraugh!"cried the sleeper, as though he suddenly understood all.
"Braugh!"he cried, not liking at all what he suddenly understood.
"Sup-foe!"he said, saying in no uncertain terms what he was going to do about it.
"Floof!"he cried.
The conspirators presumably fled.