Horatio shook his head. “Listen to yourself, Portia. Practitioners of nonviolence using murder to advance their cause? That’s contradictory.”

Portia held his gaze evenly. “No, Horatio. It’s hypocritical. Not everyone’s as pure in their ideals as you.”

He took a breath. “I’m just saying it’s best to avoid these rash accusations. If you’re concerned about what people think of us, then it’s best not to play into their expectations.”

“Forget that,” she said over the end of his sentence. “I’m done caring what other people think of me or intend for me. If Starfleet won’t trust me, if it won’t accept me, then I want no more part of it. I’m leaving.”

Horatio caught her arm, and she glared at him dangerously. “Where will you go? You’re under restriction.”

“Like I said—I’m good at stealth.” She looked around. “We all are. We’re trained in infiltration and survival in hostile territory. Plus we have the sensor and comms interference from these vacuum flares in our favor.”

Benedick still appeared lost. “But the Federation isn’t our enemy.”

“If they think we’re the enemy, it’s the same principle. We need liberty to act. To gather intelligence and strategize the defeat of our real enemies. We can’t do that if we stay here.”

He considered for a moment, then straightened. “I like it here, Portia. I have friends here.”

Horatio nodded, placing a supportive hand on Benedick’s shoulder. “Many of us do. We are not without support. We should rely on that support, win more allies—not risk alienating the friends we have, sacrificing their trust by going renegade.”

“You do that, Horatio. You’re good at that.” Portia shook her head. “I’m not. I need to fight to survive. It’s what we are at the core, whether we like it or not. At least we can make it our own.”

She looked around at the others. “These two are obviously staying here. Who’s coming with me?”

Bertram shrugged and stepped forward from the wall where he’d been leaning distractedly this whole time. “I’ll come. Why not? I never wanted this Starfleet thing anyway. You have a battle for me, I’ll fight it. At least if we get caught, they’ll ship us back to Arcturus where we belong.”

With a sigh, Viola stepped forward too. “I’ll join you. I’ve tried to become what they want me to be, but I can’t change my instincts. It was simpler before all this.”

Titus moved to join her, then Caliban. Benedick stood with Horatio, and they were soon joined by Rosalind, Lysander, and the rest. It was not quite an even split—seven to five in Horatio’s favor.

But it would do. A small team was best for infiltration anyway. And peace activists would not be formidable opponents.

“Let’s go,” she told her four.