I am a trained empiricist, sir. Superstition is not compatible with my pursuits. - Sean Russell

There were no sounds of men, here; only the whisperings of the world of nature, which men often called silence.

Ironically, or so it seemed to Tristam, the day was perfect and the green countryside rolled past in ordered tranquillity, the death of a single man having shockingly little impact on the larger world.

"We continue to negotiate the treaty, endlessly apparently, to everyone's continuing loss." He smiled wryly. "You know how such things go. We no longer debate to gain real advantage but to come away from the table having created the perception that we have somehow won. 'Politics,' this is called."