Benedick, the outgoing Warborn cadet, was there as well, with Portia hovering beside him like a bodyguard. “I too stand ready to listen, Zirani,” Benedick said, a kindly expression on his jowly, drooping face. “I know how it feels to endure deaths among your people. A number of the Warborn that I was raised alongside did not survive the cryogenic process.”

Hearing that made her feel guilty. “It’s, ah, it’s okay, Benedick. I doubt they were anybody I knew. Just a random group of tourists. Probably older people.”

Portia grimaced. “Such folly. To die so carelessly, for no reason.”

Her words made Kayros bristle. “It doesn’t mean their lives were worth any less!”

The tough Warborn female’s eyes widened in offended surprise. “That’s what I meant. Life is too valuable a resource to squander so frivolously, out of mere unconcern for an obvious risk. Life should be fought for, protected. It should not be taken for granted or thrown away for no purpose. One’s own or anyone else’s.”

Portia strode off before a chastened Kayros could decide how to reply. The Warborn continued to surprise her. She felt she’d hit it off well with a few of them, mainly Benedick and Horatio, but Portia had seemed the most cold and hostile one, the Warborn least likely to find a place in Starfleet.

Now Kayros began to realize what a loss that would be.

San Francisco

When Leonard McCoy invited Jim Kirk to dine with him and Ashley Janith-Lau, the admiral was glad for the opportunity to set aside his worries about the burgeoning vacuum flare crisis for an evening. Granted, Janith-Lau was a reminder of the ongoing controversy around the Warborn Arcturians, but that was a milder crisis, and Kirk still had hopes of finding common ground with the charming activist. Mainly, though, he welcomed the chance to see how his old friend and his new friend (or friendly rival, perhaps) were hitting it off. The two of them had been seeing each other for nearly a week now, and while it appeared to be in a relaxed, casual capacity, McCoy certainly seemed happier than Kirk had seen him in quite a while.

Both Kirk and McCoy were initially a bit awkward with each other in Janith-Lau’s company, embarrassed by their mutual former hope for romance between her and Kirk. But the pediatrician proved a deft peacemaker, her easy, comfortable rapport with both men proving contagious. Soon the three of them were chattering and laughing around the table like lifelong friends.

It was inevitable, of course, that the conversation eventually came back around to the Warborn. But this time it was a relaxed and open discourse among friends, and Kirk took heart from that.