Silver held back a chuckle and teasingly saluted her...which brought grins to the onlookers nearby. He ended up buying that ship after all for a relatively cheap price and he and Dawn set sail the next day. When Silver tried to have Dawn do menial jobs on the ship, she confronted him and told him,"Captain, I can do more than this little bit you've given me. Why don't you kindly allow me to work on some other areas of this blasted tub." Reluctantly, Silver agreed and, over the course of the journey, he was amazed at how much she was able to accomplish despite her handicap. But something else was transforming as well. He was starting to develop feelings for her...not those protective feelings that he felt after he first met her, but feelings of deep affection. He wondered if she could have them as well, but he thought it best not to say anything about for now.
Instead he wondered if she could somehow receive an operation to help her see again, that she may change her mind about living a pitiful life as a beggar in the strange Earth. One day he asked her,"Dawn,why are ya so dead set to live permanently on this dangerous planet Earth?"
Stiffening imperceptibly, Dawn said simply,"I have no ties to anything or anyone anymore." When Silver asked if her friends back at the "Outcroppings" would care for her, she said that they had their own lives to live and shouldn't be burdened down with the likes of her. But when Silver tried to find out if she had any kin, she faced him angrily and said," I'm dead to my family since I could never be what they expected of me...only Seth, my brother, loved me for who I was. . . but now he's gone as well."
Once again Silver has guilt pangs over what he did and the very thought of knowing that the boy was her only support made things even worse. Silver proposed the option of having an operation so that she would be able to do as she wanted without falling below others standards.
" Do you have any idea how much they cost? I mean it would probably take me three years to save enough for it and who's to say if it will do any good?"
Silver replied,"What if I told ya that I happened ta have a doctor friend who owes me something in return fer something I did for him years ago?"
"I would ask you why you'd want to waste his time and your time with that?"
Silver was tempted to say that he loved her and wanted her to live a happy life possibly with him, but instead he just said," It will do ya a world of good, lass."
Dawn thought it over a few minutes and then replied,"All right. I'll go see him." Silver smiled and was very relieved that she didn't raise a fuss at him for bringing up the topic. "Right-o. We should start plotting our course now fer Japitex."