St. Altimus

"A Visit From St. Altimus"

''Twas the night before Futuremas, and all through the base, not a whisper was heard from the Futuron race The burners were all hung in their cradles with care, in the hopes that in battle their charge would be there''

''We stayed awake late, my brother and me, for St. Altimus to visit our Futuremas tree The hour grew late, my brother asleep, I cracked open one eye and made not a peep''

''When what did my trusty transcoder record, but a stranger with a visor all pitted and scored He appeared in my heat sink with a crate full of joy bringing weapons to good little Futuron boys''

''His face, they all say, had taken a rake from a three-breasted death-breathing Futuron drake He slew while he slept, he killed while he ate and now he was here, with his death-dealing crate''

''He drew forth some burners, for my brother and me, and placed them so gently 'neath the Futuremas tree Then he lifted his visor and gave me a wink, and I saw that his face was far worse than you'd think''

''Then up went his crate, and St. Altimus too up the duct through the heat sink all the way past the flue "I'll be back," he called out, "with more burners next year, for Futuron men must fight without fear!"''