Janith-Lau stepped forward slowly, her manner placating. “Portia… let’s just talk about this, okay? We’ve both been accused of this crime—that gives us common ground. We’re willing to hear you out, but not if you come like this, waving phasers around and frightening people.”

Portia stepped closer, keeping the phaser’s emitter pointed at Janith-Lau. “Your pacifist act is unconvincing. Rakatheema’s dead. I didn’t do it. You’re the only other ones who have a reason.”

“To oppose him, yes. To challenge him. But we do not believe violence solves problems. It just makes it harder to find solutions.”

“That’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? We were made to solve problems with violence. It’s the whole reason we exist. So you reject our right to exist.”

“We believe you don’t have to be bound by your origins. You can choose to be more.”

“And what if we choose to fight? For Starfleet, for ourselves, it doesn’t matter which. If we get to choose, then you don’t get to tell us which choice is right.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Janith-Lau saw Vekal spring into motion. She had a brief impression of his hand reaching for Portia’s shoulder, poised for a Vulcan nerve pinch. But before he reached her, she spun, grabbed his wrist, and threw him to the floor.

“You!” she cried, pinning him down. “You’ve had it in for us from the first day.”

“And you are proving my concerns warranted through your actions,” Vekal gasped. “You are too innately aggressive to be in Starfleet.”

“Warborn are not aggressors. We defend.” She dragged him to his feet and shoved him into Bertram’s grip. The big Arcturian held the leaner Vulcan effortlessly. “I’m entitled to defend myself against a false charge of murder. I’m entitled to hunt down the real killers.”

Vekal only grew haughtier. “You are delusional. These people are pacifists. Rakatheema was an experienced Starfleet Security officer. Even if they had the inclination to murder him, they would not have the skill.”

Portia peered at him. “But you would, wouldn’t you? You peace-loving Vulcans certainly put a lot of effort into martial-arts training.”

“It is a way to discipline our minds and bodies.”

“And it gives you the precision you’d need to crush an Arcturian’s windpipe. That Vulcan strength wouldn’t hurt either.”

“You merely attempt to obfuscate the evidence pointing to your own guilt. The fact that you do so in the midst of committing a violent crime makes it less than convincing.”

The Warborn cadet bit back her response, pausing for a moment. “I have never needed your approval, Vekal. It’s irrelevant to me.” Turning away, she shifted her attention—and her phaser—back toward Janith-Lau. “You, though—you’re the leader here, the one behind the strategies. Anything this group does is on your orders or with your consent.”