I'm always surprised by the stuff that sticks in my memory.

Long day with Andal in the Cosmodrome, relieving Fallen of their extra stuff—I mean, we must have been out there for eight or ten hours, must have picked up at least a couple kilos of high-grade spinmetal—but I don't really remember any of that. I remember being across from Andal that night, with a fire between us, dead tired.

When night rolled around on those trips, he'd get so quiet I used to think he'd fallen asleep. Thinking it all through, I guess. Lost in his own head.

I remember getting sick of hearing nothing but the fire, so I broke the silence. Said I really liked his cloak and was thinking that, one of these days, I just might steal it.

I remember the easy grin on his face when he said, "You'll have to peel it off my dead body."

"Great," I said. "Don't know if I've mentioned, but I got no problem looting a buddy's corpse. Waste not, want not, I always say. Besides, you'd want me to have it."

We laughed about that.

It's funny what you remember.