Kirk frowned and shifted in his chair, reminded of his own unease at the consequences of the Federation’s Augment policy. It had been more than a dozen years since he had exiled Khan Noonien Singh and his fellow Augment leaders to Ceti Alpha V following their attempted takeover of the Enterprise. He had recommended to Starfleet Command that the planet be made an official, supervised penal colony, expecting that a legion of historians would descend on the lush, untamed world to fill in the extensive gaps in the recorded history of the Eugenics Wars through interviews with the very men and women who had waged them.

Instead, Starfleet Intelligence had classified the entire incident, not wishing to let the Klingons learn of the existence of dozens of human Augments under Starfleet supervision—least of all the direct progenitors of the genetic line that had caused the Augment Crisis. War had broken out regardless barely a month later, but at the time, there had still been hope of staving it off. Even after the brief conflict, Starfleet had not wished to jeopardize the Organian-imposed peace by revealing the secret. SI had assured Kirk that Ceti Alpha V would be monitored, so Kirk had moved on, not without regret that military secrecy had required censoring one of the greatest historical finds of his career.

Kirk noted Admiral Cartwright’s gaze upon him; no doubt he had noted Kirk’s reaction to the mention of Augments. Once Cartwright was satisfied that Kirk intended to keep his silence, the older admiral turned back to the superintendent. “It’s precisely because of the state of Klingon relations that we need the Warborn in the fleet. Ever since Chancellor Kesh figured out that the Organians can’t stand interacting with corporeals and won’t intervene in our affairs as long as we leave them alone, he’s been testing our defenses more and more, or tacitly encouraging rogue captains to do it. It’s easy for you sheltered Academy types to focus on the peaceful ideals of the Federation, but out there in the field, it’s getting more dangerous. It’s only a matter of time before the Klingons invade us yet again.” He glanced at Kirk. “And things aren’t much better on the Romulan front, even after the Renz Verus business. With enemies testing us on two fronts, we need every advantage we can get.”

“That’s not what this is about, Lance,” Kirk interposed. “The commander made that clear. The Warborn see it as their sacred duty to fight only for Arcturus. We don’t have the right to try to subvert that for our own interests.”

Rakatheema raised a wrinkly hand. “That is essentially true, Admiral. Of course, it is always possible that some Warborn might feel that they protect Arcturus by fighting for the Federation. But that should be for them to decide as individuals.”

“My point exactly,” Kirk replied.