[ river giggles just a little at claire's mention of her daughter, imagining the lamentations of a mother for their child's future. she tries not to think of her own mother - how easily her parents abandoned her to the academy's devices, how quickly they disavowed simon for daring to look for her, those no good tam children that are now lost to the stars - and instead, she just hopes that claire's daughter will enjoy the hubble telescope when it's their turn to meet the universe. ]

In four hundred years of space-farin', we never did find signs of extraterrestrial lifeforms. [ she sounds a bit put out by this fact ] Easier to colonize empty stars, so it's probably for the best. We're a greedy species.

[ they don't quite teach the history of earth the way claire might know of it - too inflammatory, river supposes, which makes her appreciate claire's frankness about it. she wants to know so much that an open invitation to ask questions might be a bit dangerous. river ponders it for a moment before blinking at claire and starting with a simple: ]

What do you miss the most?

[ yes, a very simple, easy to answer low stakes questions... ]