******
Julius walked over to a couch, a slight stumble in his step. Apparently he had exhausted his own store of liquor and was now here for hers. He plowed himself into the couch and stared off at the ceiling.
Laina sighed and walked over to sit across from him. She hunched over to look into his eyes.
“Look at me!” Laina shouted.
Julius dropped his gaze with a scowl, a dark glare that would scare anyone else—but not her.
“What’s wrong with you?” she asked. “You wanted to help before. You wanted to help Chorus. We went through all this trouble… and now you’re going to just give up?”
Julius looked away. “We lost. He has Chorus… and we lost our deal. We’re back to being pirates. I’m sorry I couldn’t come through for you on your dream of freedom.”
Laina sighed. “I didn’t want freedom anymore, Julius. I don’t want us to leave this ship—it’s home.”
Julius gave her a dubious look. “You wanted to leave. That was your dream… and the crew’s. Freedom. You’re just telling me what you think I want to hear.”
“No, Julius. I changed my mind.”
He snorted. “Yeah! Changed your mind. Right.”
“You think you’re the only one who likes to change direction? Mister ‘there’s been a change of plans’?”
He said nothing, so she decided to go for broke.
“Julius, I was the dissenting vote. I voted against the deal.”
He stayed quiet another moment, his eyes squinting in disbelief.
“What?” he finally yelled. “After all the trouble you went through to make it happen? Sitting in on that meeting… It was your social manipulation skills that made the deal happen, and sweetened it. Why would you vote against it?”
Laina bit her lower lip. “When I saw how it affected you… The deal, I mean. That’s when I realized it wasn’t what I wanted, either. But it was too late to change it.”
“That’s insane, Laina,” he said. “How could we both not want the deal offered to us? It’s beyond logic and reason. That deal was our ticket to a new life—”
“A life away from each other,” she interrupted, her voice quivering and her eyes tearing up. “I didn’t… want that.”
Julius looked at her, his anger replaced with something that looked akin to shock.
“Laina, I …”
She stood up, drying her eyes as she whirled around.
“We need to do this,” she said, her voice powerful, commanding again. “Not just to find Chorus, but to stop whatever Daniel has in store for us. If we don’t, we’re doomed. With Xanthus dead, we’re the only ones that even know about all of this.”
Julius shook his head no. “I will not risk more lives. We’ve lost so many already. I’m tired of being surrounded by death.”
“Well then,” she said, “then what’s one more death on your shoulders? How about the death of your brother? Because that’s the next death you’ll be seeing if you do nothing!”
Julius’ eyes went wide, and he stood up. “What are you talking about?”
Laina gulped. She was not ready to talk about this, but it was her only chance.
“Daryl. He’s alive, Julius—but barely. He’s in the infirmary, being treated by that crazy doctor of yours. Chorus tried to help him but couldn’t. The only chance he has is for us to find Chorus and the nanobot factory. Only her nanobots can repair the damage that is eating away at Daryl’s brain.”
Julius charged at her and grabbed her by the shoulders. She gasped from the sudden ferocity of it.
“How could you!?” he roared, his grip on her arms causing her pain. “How could you not tell me that my own brother is on this ship? My brother! How fucking dare you not tell me!”
Laina cried despite herself. “I couldn’t tell you!” she sobbed. “If I had, you would be too distracted to carry out the mission! You would never have gone this far.”
He finally let go and pushed her away. She had to grab onto the couch to avoid falling to the ground.
“And what good did that do?” he said. “We got nothing out of it. Nothing!”
Julius rushed to the exit, then turned around halfway.
“Stay the fuck away from me for a while, Laina. For your own good.”
He stormed out of the room, leaving Laina alone and shaking. She now knew that any chance they might have had together—any chance she hoped for—was gone. He would never trust her again.