Portia gave him a nod of understanding and respect, then turned and opened the door. Kirk stood unthreateningly just outside the doorway as she huddled with the other four and informed them of her decision to stand down. Bertram started to argue, but she slapped him down with a few words, and the others quickly fell in line. Then she turned to the hostages. “You’re free to go. There are people out there who’ll need your help soon.”

The activists sighed and wept with relief, all except the two Vulcans, T’Sena and Vekal. The latter merely stared at Portia as if realizing something about her for the first time.

Ashley Janith-Lau rushed to Kirk and embraced him. “Thank you, Jim. I knew you could find a peaceful resolution.”

He smiled down at her. “Don’t tell your fellow pacifists, but I did it by appealing to her as one soldier to another.”

She stared back. “I… guess we have a lot to talk about.”

“Later. Right now we should get you all out of the building. Probably best to be mobile if the microflares hit.”

No sooner did they get outside than Kirk spotted McCoy and Sulu headed his way. Janith-Lau flew into McCoy’s arms and gave him a rather more enthusiastic greeting than she’d given Kirk. He traded a few murmured words with her, then led her over to the admiral, while Sulu touched base with Captain sh’Deslar.

McCoy’s eyes widened briefly in surprise as he saw Portia coming out behind Kirk, but he quickly gathered himself. “Good, you’re here. You’ll both want to hear this. You too, Ashley.”

As sh’Deslar’s people came forward to take the Warborn into custody, Kirk held out a hand to hold them back. “Go ahead, Bones.”

The doctor explained his epiphany about the Warborn being genetically female, and the computer extrapolation he’d performed. “When I projected for masculine development, several of the simulation runs produced close matches for one cadet. That was enough to be granted access to that cadet’s DNA profile, and I’ve confirmed it’s a match.” He held out a data slate. “Here’s our new top suspect for the murder of Rakatheema.”

Portia gasped at the face displayed on the slate, alongside the computer simulations that matched it in various parameters. “Horatio? It can’t be!”

“I hate to break the news under such circumstances. But he’s your biological brother.”

She waved his words away. “That means nothing. How could he be a killer? He’s the one who’s most pious about peace and nonviolence. He sounds the same as these fools.” She gestured toward the activists.

Janith-Lau cleared her throat pointedly. “You seemed pretty convinced we were capable of murder.”

Kirk spoke before they could continue the argument. “We’ll find the answer when we find Horatio. Let me handle that. For now, we have more urgent worries.”