Manuel

“I face Aurae. “It’s been a journey,” I mumble. “I wanted to say thank you. For bringing us here. For giving me The Path to the Vale. I was spiraling. People have saved my life before, but I think you saved my soul.”

“And you saved Cassius’s,” she says. “It wasn’t me that did it. I liked him very much. In another life, I might have loved him. But he didn’t need a woman’s love. He needed a brother’s. The way he talked about you. Well…” Her eyes swim with tears. “Lysander was an obligation. You were an aspiration. He was so afraid on our journey to the Core. So nervous to see you and be rejected. But when he saw you respected him, valued him, he shined like a star. His path led back to you, because you made him feel loved. That is all that matters, Darrow. When he died, he knew he was loved. So when you think of him, when you feel sad, remember that.” She kisses me on the cheek. “If we do not meet again, I will see you in the Vale with Cassius. You know the path.”
― Pierce Brown, Light Bringer

“Oh. Darrow. I remembered. No more Truffle Pig. She hates it. Says it’s demeaning to her other contributions and athletic stature.”

“Uh-huh. Well. She doesn’t get to choose her own callsign.”

“Of course not. I was thinking Strawberry Lass. No? Crow Whisperer? Red Rabbit?”

“We’ll figure it out later.” I have a thought. “What do they call baby eagles?”

He acts like he’s just seen a puppy. “Eaglet. Oh gods. She’ll die.”
― Pierce Brown, Light Bringer

“At any rate, it was clear that our backup crew would not fly Gemini 10. So when I heard from John Young (he and Gus Grissom had just come off the Gemini 6 backup crew) that he and I were to fly 10, I was overjoyed. I would miss Ed, but I liked John. And besides, I would have flown by myself or with a kangaroo, I just wanted to fly. All that stuff about crew psychological compatibility is crap. Almost anyone can put up with almost anyone else for a clearly defined period of time in pursuit of a mutual objective important to each.”
― Michael Collins, Carrying the Fire: An Astronaut's Journey

“It is easier to find men who will volunteer to die, than to find those who are willing to endure pain with patience.”
― Pierce Brown, Dark Age