[ The groan she lets out is one of mostly impotent frustration, like she thinks there's some course of definitive action to be taken, even though she knows there really isn't. She came to Sam precisely because she thought he would know the right steps to take, but that doesn't mean that she wasn't hoping for something swift and concrete. Something would immediately fix it.

It could also just be that she knows precious few people who do things the proper way at all. Her world is an orbit of terrible people doing terrible things in service of a terrible god-king, so the whole "peaceful solution" route is very new to her. ]

She's not gonna say anything except lies. If they're pullin' people, it has to be on her word, right? She's behind it, and the people in Solvunn too. At least Thorne was upfront about their shit. This is fuckin' conspiracy stuff now.

[ It's when Sam mentions the Horizon itself that Julie's anxiety truly surfaces, and she gnaws at her bottom lip. ] Yeah, they can't get here now. What about when the Prime Minister, or the king and queen, or... whoever's in charge of Solvunn, what about when they grab one of us who can get here and force us to bring 'em? We got a good thing goin' here, and these new ones don't seem much like they're out to join the neighborhood and bake us cookies.

[ And that, she realizes as she says it, is the crux for her: this is all she has left. Julie is dead at home, and this place is the closest she's ever going to get back to it, so she can't stand to see it mucked up by the interference of those who seem eager to fight.

There is a wobble in her voice, just barely. ] What if that's why they're here? To wreck it all up?