"I pray the Lord my soul to keep. His love to guard me through the night, and wake me with the morning's light," a voice whispered, rushing through the familiar prayer. The room was pitch black, but Brick recognized the voice as Kindle's.

"You got the words wrong, and you forgot to say Amen," he said.

Springs squeaked in the darkness. "I thought you were asleep," Kindle said.

"I was. You woke me up."

"No, no way. I was quiet."

"Take it from me, kid. If you don't want people to hear, you gotta be so quiet that God himself has to lean in to hear you."

"I don't care about that. I'm not embarrassed," she snapped. Then, curiosity piqued, she added, "Why do you know, anyway?"

"I pray too. I do the other one, though. The good one. And I say Amen."

"I was gonna, but you interrupted me. I do both parts."

"Both parts?"

Having already been caught, she finished the prayer more slowly. "If I should live another day, I pray the Lord to guide my way." She ended with 'Amen', which Brick whispered along with her. They were quiet for awhile. Brick began to wonder if she'd fallen asleep. He thought he heard two sets of snores. But, as if in answer to his thought, the snoring hitched into a high stutter before smoothing out again. It was only one voice, after all.

"Girl sleeps hard," Kindle said. "I was surprised she could sleep with..." She trailed off.

"With what?"

"You were talking. I almost woke you up, but I didn't wanna get my face mashed in if you freaked. It sounded like a bad dream. I, uh...I think you were crying." Brick tried to say something, but Kindle hurried on. "It's okay, though. I cry sometimes. I cried on the train here, after they took my necklace."

"Yeah, well...they took mine too. Listen, kid, are you sure you can't tell me about the key? It's important."

"Why?" she asked.

"I think it used to be my sister's. I left home a long time ago, and I guess she disappeared a year or two later," Brick said. A long time ago seemed like an understatement. It had been twelve years at least since he last set foot on Menoetius. "My dad only got to tellin me three years back, and he said I should try here. He'd heard something from someone, who heard from some other guy...hardly nothin to go on, but I was just doing merc jobs anyway, so..."

It sounded ridiculous, like he was grasping at straws. Less than straws- mere stalks of hay.

"Oh," Kindle said.

"So, will you tell me? About the necklace?"

"I gotta be honest, Big. I don't even remember my mom wearing it. It might not have even been hers, but it was the only thing the Lance gave me after she died, before they shipped me off to New Haven. I shouldn't have said..." She swallowed hard. "I didn't know."

"It's alright," Brick said. It had been a thin hope, anyway, as thin as the straws that led him to Pandora in the first place. Still.

"Your mom is dead, huh?" He'd suspected as much, but she'd never mentioned it before.

When Kindle spoke again, Brick could hear the swell of rage in her throat. "Her commander called it a friendly fire incident. Some idiot shot her in the back while they were fighting bandits, and I never even got to say goodbye. I just got that stupid key and an apology from the commander. I hate that. Like, why'd he have to apologize? It didn't fix anything."

"He was s'posed to keep her safe, and he didn't. He probably feels bad."

"Fuck that. He feels bad? I feel worse. He doesn't get to feel better just by saying sorry, if I don't even..." Kindle drew in a long, shaky inhalation, then breathed out. "Sorry. And sorry about your sister, too."

"Thanks."

They fell silent again, and this time Brick was sure when he heard a second set of snores join the first. He turned on his side, his shoulder nearly brushing the upper bunk in the narrow space, and tried to remember his dream. It had seemed so vivid before, but now it slipped through his fingers when he drew close, and all he could recall was Emmett's face...his eyes transformed into glassy moons.