Calpurnia pursed her lips. “Very well,” she said stiffly, turned and walked out of the diner.
“And escort her to the hatch, Lyssa!” I added.
“I am,” Lyssa said, her tone calm.
Lyth rubbed his jaw. “Danny…”
“No. This is Juliyana’s doing. She’s trying to slap both of us for some reason that we won’t figure out dealing with Calpurnia, because she doesn’t know what it is. That’s why Juliyana sent her.” I shook my head. “I meant it when I said I’m done playing this game.” I got to my feet. “Coffee for both of us, and food for you,” I said firmly.
“Yes, Captain,” Lyth said, his tone meek, which didn’t fool me for a minute, either.
—27—
Juliyana took her time crossing over to the Lythion. I’d expected that and used the time to sober Lyth as much as possible. I briefly considered waking Jai and Marlow and telling them to cross over here, too. And Sauli should be in on it, too.
But there was the unknown factor that held my hand. Juliyana was playing this stupid game for a reason that had to be very personal, but I couldn’t figure it out yet. It would be kinder to keep this just between us for now. If there was anything important that needed passing along, I could do it later.
The first cup of coffee I pushed in front of Lyth had a half-dose of sobersol in it, which would minimize the side-effects, but diminish the impact of the alcohol enough for him to make sensible decisions.
Lyth cooperated. He ate and drank everything I put in front of him. He knew as well as I did that he needed to be sober, now.
“You have shitty timing,” I told him, as he grimaced and picked up the third cup of coffee.
“This sort of stuff never comes at a good time, have you noticed?” And he drank.
I kept the lights up high in the diner, and I also had Lyssa drop the temperature in there by a couple of degrees. That made the coolness not quite uncomfortable but would help us stay alert.
Juliyana arrived with her entourage. The two unenhanced men, armed to the teeth, and Calpurnia.
“There is no threat here,” I pointed out coldly, while Juliyana stood a dozen paces from the table with her arms crossed. “Send your people back.”
“I move everywhere with them.”
There were a dozen arguments I could have made but I rejected all of them and gritted my teeth. “Get rid of them, Juliyana. You really want them to hear what comes next?”
Her eyes narrowed. Then she glanced over her shoulder at the pair. “Go back and get the ship ready to jump.”
One of them nodded and the pair left.
Calpurnia remained. I looked at her. “You, too.”
“She stays,” Juliyana said.
Calpurnia lifted her chin, looking at me.
“Don’t feel too pleased,” I warned her. “Most of the time, when people say you should probably leave, you end up wishing you had listened, I’ve found.”
Calpurnia shrugged.
“Okay, then,” I replied, with a sigh.
“To the bone, huh?” Lyth murmured to me.
I glared at him.
That seemed to make him happier.
I got right to it. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, working for Humanists?” I demanded of Juliyana.
She had been braced for this, for her expression didn’t slip by a millimeter. “That’s really none of your business.”
“When Lyth is a member of my family? That makes it my business. And his. Did you even stop to consider for a single second about the…the morals of working for them?”
Juliyana shifted her gaze to Lyth, then back to me. “They’re paying a fuck-ton of money. That’s the only moral in question.”
“They lost family, too,” Calpurnia added, her tone righteous.
“And Lyth just narrowly avoided another assassination attempt by them, less than a week ago!” I thumped the table.
Calpurnia jumped.
Juliyana flinched, but she was already holding herself in, controlling her reactions, hiding everything, so only that tiny tic showed. That, and her gaze shifted back to Lyth and away.
I’d surprised her. More than that. But she still had all her shields up.
“Lyth deserves an explanation,” I added.
“Then why isn’t he asking for it?” Juliyana replied.
“Because I’m too insulted to want to speak to you right now,” Lyth replied. His tone was icy.
Juliyana breathed hard. She could feel the ground shifting beneath her. “It has been my policy for…for years, to not pick sides.” Her tone was defensive, but I suspected she was also speaking truthfully. We’d nudged her that far, at least. “Picking sides…that’s how we ended up on Nijeliya, fighting to survive. It’s why the Empire imploded.”
“But Humanists, Juliyana?” I breathed. “Did you even hesitate?”
Her glance shifted back to Lyth and away. She didn’t speak.
Stalemate.
I got to my feet. “Sit down, both of you. It’s late for us. We’re tired. Go on, sit.”
Calpurnia headed for the table without glancing at Juliyana. Juliyana stayed where she was as I brushed by her.
“Where are you going?” she demanded.
“To get coffee. Late, remember?”
“I don’t want coffee.”
“Sit, anyway,” I told her. “You owe us that much.”
She considered that, then moved over to the table and sat next to Calpurnia, which put her at an angle from Lyth. It wasn’t her usual seat.
Lyth grimaced when I put the three mugs on the table. Only Calpurnia reached for hers with any enthusiasm.
I sat and sipped. I’d had enough, too, but drinking anything was sociable. It could take the edge off communications.
“You’re not drinking?” Lyth asked Juliyana.
“I don’t want any.”
“You love this coffee,” Lyth pointed out, a furrow between his brows. Which was true. It had a thick, rich flavor that I also enjoyed, when I wasn’t on my third mug of it.
“I don’t want the caffeine,” Juliyana said stiffly.
“Since when?”
Calpurnia lowered her mug. She looked as though she had taken a fist to her metal-lined belly. Her mouth was open. She glanced at Lyth and back at Juliyana.
It was her expression that opened the door of understanding for me. I put my mug down, too. “How long have you been
