She barely seemed to hear him. “And Portia… I don’t know. She’s aggressive, to be sure, but there was something about her… a sincerity, even a vulnerability.” Her eyes focused on his again. “But also a, a clarity. Intelligence too. It’s hard to believe she’d do something so… chaotic, so self-defeating.”

McCoy pondered her words as he took a bite of his grits. “I’ve found over the years that people with a mind to do violence can create all sorts of rationalizations that seem sensible in their own heads. We like to think we’re rational creatures, but much of what we do is just animal instinct that we invent justifications for after the fact.”

Her lips twisted at the sourness of his words. “I prefer to think people are better than that.”

He shrugged. “Before we can get better, we have to admit our flaws to ourselves. It’s like Jim says—we know we’re killers, but we decide we won’t kill today.”

“Then Jim is cynical too. It’s not that simple. Most humanoids evolved cooperation as their primary survival strategy. It’s how we have complex language and the ability to organize into societies, pass down knowledge, build civilizations. The idea that we’re innately savages with a thin veneer of self-control was discredited centuries ago. Cooperative, selfless behavior is every bit as innate to us as aggression.”

McCoy tilted his head. “For us, maybe. But can you really say the same about the Warborn? A people literally bred to be nothing but killers?”

“I don’t accept that they’re so fundamentally different from other Arcturians. The differences are more epigenetic, hormonal.”

“Epigenetics can have a profound influence on brain development. You know that.”

“But given how differently they’re raised, how can we know what’s nature and what’s nurture? Len, the Warborn I’ve met and spoken to are as diverse and individual and complicated as anyone else. I liked them. Including Portia. I just can’t believe she’s a murderer.”

He furrowed his brow. “What other explanation is there? Who else has a motive to kill Rakatheema? Or the ability to frame Portia for it?”

She sighed. “I don’t know. I just know I want to believe in her.”

McCoy reached over and touched her hand. “You want to believe in everyone. It’s a wonderful quality. But it means you’re bound to be disappointed sometimes.”

After a moment, she pursed her lips and tilted her head. “Well, I guess you’re right. For instance, I believed you’d be a better cook than this.”

He feigned offense. “My dear lady, I am a doctor, not a restaurateur.”

Starfleet Academy

“Did you kill him?”