“I can compartmentalize my emotions, and I trust Bones to do the same. We both had to do so often enough on the Enterprise. I’m sure you did too. You know the rules as well as I do.”

Kirk recalled a time or two when those rules had worked against him—such as the Ben Finney court-martial, where his own old flame Areel Shaw had been assigned to prosecute him. In a civilian court, their relationship would have required her recusal, but under military law, an inability to follow orders due to personal attachment would be dereliction of duty.

Cartwright was unswayed. “That may be the case on a starship out in deep space, where there’s no other authority to turn to. A captain or CMO has to take responsibility despite personal attachment, because there’s no one else. Here on Earth, that doesn’t apply. I don’t doubt your ability to compartmentalize when you need to, Jim—but you don’t need to in this case. There’s no good reason for you to be involved besides your personal interest in the suspect.”

The senior admiral stopped and turned to face him, obliging Kirk to do the same. “You’re still thinking like a frontier captain, assuming you have to take sole responsibility for everything that happens. You’ve got to accept that your situation is different now. You’re part of a larger whole, and you can’t just barge in and take charge of every situation. You need to learn that before you end up turning into some kind of maverick.”

Kirk held his gaze evenly. “You give me too little credit, Lance. There’s more at stake here than one person. The Warborn cadets have struggled to gain acceptance from the start, and they’ve just lost their primary advocate. With Rakatheema gone, that leaves you and me as the strongest proponents of their presence in Starfleet. We have a responsibility to see that this tragedy doesn’t ruin their chances.”

Cartwright’s expression wavered as he considered Kirk’s words. “That’s a valid point. Still, you’re too close to this. Besides, your responsibility is to the students—the Warborn and everyone else. They’ll need your attention to get them through this hard time.”

“That’s fair.” Kirk thought for a moment. “At least let me assign Commander Chekov to assist Captain sh’Deslar.”

The senior admiral shook his head firmly. “I need Chekov for the flare task force. He’s the closest thing we have to an expert on the damn things. He’s currently out on the Amazon, patrolling local space.”