Jasyn stood in the hatchway, silhouetted in the very early dawn light. A stray breeze pulled at her long hair. She looked out, at the small pockets of activity in the port. Clark came up behind her, silent on bare feet.
"Couldn't sleep?" he asked quietly.
Jasyn shook her head, sending her hair rippling in dark waves over her shoulder. "She should have been here a month ago," she said, barely above a whisper. "She isn't going to come back, is she?"
They'd been through this once before, thinking Dace was gone. He rubbed his wife's shoulder. She looked up, at stars barely visible in the growing daylight.
"She used to watch the stars. She told me about it, how it gave her hope to see them."
"She'll come back, some day," Clark said, sounding brighter than he felt. "She'll surprise us."
"Do you really think so?" Jasyn sighed.
"I want to believe it."
They stood in silence, Jasyn leaning back against him. He put his arm around her, wishing he could make the pain less for her. Together they watched the sky lighten to pale blue.
Clark's eye was caught by a single figure walking purposefully towards the ship. There was something familiar about the person. Jasyn stiffened when he came close enough for them to recognize. She turned away when it was obvious he was headed for their ship.
"I can't face him right now," she said as she stepped around Clark, into the ship.
He heard the door to their cabin close. He leaned on one arm against the hatch.
Darus came closer. He carried an air of defeat, beaten down in the slump of his shoulders. He walked around a refueling crane, making for the Phoenix. Clark watched him draw closer. Darus stopped at the foot of the boarding ramp. He looked up at Clark. His face was lined, he looked older than he ever had. There was no humor in his eyes.
"Can I come in?" he asked.
"Jasyn will probably skin you alive."
"I deserve it."
Clark was moved by the expression on Darus' face. He hurt as much as they did. "Come on in," he invited, stepping inside himself.
He busied himself in the galley, finding something hot to drink. He put two mugs on the table. Darus slumped in a chair, dropping a duffle on the floor next to him. He murmured his thanks for the mug, taking it mechanically.
"So, what are you doing out here?" Clark asked.
"Lowell didn't send me, if that's what you're asking." He shifted the mug around on the table, finally raising it to sip the drink. "I'd resigned myself to dying alone, some day. I convinced myself I was happier that way. Even on Vallius, there were days when I was glad no one would do more than wonder what happened to me. I didn't have anyone to care, either way."
He trailed into silence, drinking. Clark sat at the table, waiting, uncomfortable with the intimate sharing.
"I had no idea she was my daughter." Darus cupped his hand over his chin, hiding the tremble in his lips. His eyes were bright. "I've lost her again. I should never have helped Lowell talk her into going." He dropped his hand to wrap it around the mug. He stared into the steam rising lazily from the mug as if it held the question he most wanted to answer.
"Lowell didn't talk her into it," Jasyn said, behind him. She'd slipped out of the cabin unnoticed. She crossed behind Clark and helped herself to a mug of the drink.
"He bullied her into it," Darus said. "And I helped."
Jasyn sat next to her husband. "She didn't do it for him. She told me before she left. If it had been Lowell alone, nothing would have made her go. She went for the Eggstone. And Tayvis."
"She's still gone." Darus rolled his mug between his hands.
"So quit blaming yourself," Jasyn said, more gently than the words suggested.
Silence fell, strained and full of unspoken grief. Darus finally broke it by clearing his throat. "I came to ask you a favor."
Clark took Jasyn's hand, an unspoken request that she not lose her temper with the older man. She squeezed his back, telling him to mind his own business.
Darus searched their faces. "I turned in my resignation a week ago. Two more years and I would have had a full pension. I couldn't take two more years." His voice trailed off. He dropped his gaze to stare into his mug and cleared his throat. "Not much work for a weapons engineer. Not one my age. Not outside the Patrol."
"What do you know about a Bentley twin shaft?" Clark asked.
"Absolutely nothing," Darus admitted.
"Then—"
"Don't say no, please," Darus pleaded. He looked at Jasyn, sensing she was the one to make the decision. He looked so much like Dace Jasyn had to look away.
"You're family, now," Clark said. "You can always learn. I'm sure Beryn will be glad to teach you."
Jasyn said nothing for a long moment, twisting her mug in a ring of condensation on the table top. She finally stood with a heavy sigh. "Welcome aboard," she said, heading for the cockpit. "You think that cargo is still available? We've waited here long enough. She'll come to us, when she comes back."
"We can have it loaded by late afternoon," Clark answered.
Jasyn nodded and went into the cockpit, closing the door behind her.
"Did I hear cargo mentioned?" Beryn asked as he came out of his cabin, yawning widely.
"We're moving on," Clark said. "Meet your new apprentice. Darus Venn, this is Beryn Norris."
Beryn raised one eyebrow at the name.
"You sure Jasyn's ready to leave?" Beryn asked Clark as he rummaged in the galley.
"Her idea. Dace will catch up to us, eventually."
"If she comes back," Darus said heavily.
"Jasyn said when, not if," Clark said. "There's always hope. At least where Dace is involved."
"When, not if," Darus said to himself.
"You ever done preflight?" Beryn asked as he sat at the table.
Darus shook his head.
"Then it's time you learned."