Narrator, one foot away from Nostromo:

So,
what do they have in common?

Xin, a slave worker on an unnamed off-world colony,
a nameless soldier-terrorist in a castle on a mysterious planet,
a nun in a crowded monastery on a ravaged planet,
a rubbish collector on a dirty planet,
a day-dreaming astronomer on Europa,
an engineer, former war refugee on Europa,
a zen master on a Taoist planet,
an ecology student in roaming, free space,
the spirit of Europa, Jupiter’s satellite, and her volcanic sister Io,

And
Kyniska and Arion, space buccaneers…

Friend. If sailor tales to sailor tunes… quoting from Billy Bones:

“Th’ expense of spirit in a waste of shame
Is lust in action; and till action, lust
Is perjured, murd’rous, bloody, full of blame,
Savage, extreme, rude, cruel, not to trust,
Enjoyed no sooner but despisèd straight,
Past reason hunted; and, no sooner had
Past reason hated as a swallowed bait
On purpose laid to make the taker mad;
Mad in pursuit and in possession so,
Had, having, and in quest to have, extreme;
A bliss in proof and proved, a very woe;
Before, a joy proposed; behind, a dream.
All this the world well knows; yet none knows well
To shun the heaven that leads men to this hell.”