Eversion

by Alastair Reynolds

“There are many, it is true. But I have never found it easy to speak in the company of other men. I have nothing to say to men who speak only of whoring and drinking.

Men speak things in their sleep, as you have learned. On a ship, it is easy for such things to reach the ears of other men, even if they are themselves asleep. A ship is a dream of whispers.”

“Sleep well, Silas, and in the morning you will be troubled by other things.”

There is no law that says every man must be driven by the same compulsions as his fellows.”