"Delirious," said one man. "Shock."
"No _sedative_!" screamed Sale.
The sedative flowed into him.
_Eeeeeeeeeeee_, sang the ancient winds.
_Ahhhhhhhhhhhh_, sang the ancient seas.
"No sedative, no sleep, please, don't, don't, _don't_!" screamed Sale,
trying to get up. "You don't--understand!"
"Take it easy, old man, you're safe among us now, nothing to worry
about," said the rescuer above him.
Leonard Sale slept. The two men stood over him.
As they watched, Sale's features changed violently. He groaned and
cried and snarled in his sleep. His face was riven with emotion. It was
the face of a saint, a sinner, a fiend, a monster, a darkness, a light,
one, many, an army, a vacuum, all, all!
He writhed in his sleep.
_Eeeeeeeeee!_ the sound burst from his mouth. _Ahhhhhhhhhhh!_ he
screamed.
"What's wrong with him?" asked one of the two rescuers.
"I don't know. More sedative?"
"More sedative. Nerves. He needs more sleep."
They stuck the needle in his arm. Sale writhed and spat and moaned.
Then, suddenly, he was dead.
He lay there, the two men over him. "What a shame," said one of them.
"Can you figure that?"
"Shock. Poor guy. What a pity." They covered his face. "Did you ever
see a face like that?"
"Totally insane."
"Loneliness. Shock."
"Yes. Lord, what an expression. I hope never to see a face like _that_
again."
"What a shame, waiting for us, and we arrive, and he dies anyway."