Cartwright nodded. “All right, yes, I grant you that,” he said, though he did not sound humbled. “I merely meant that the Warborn recruits could substantially bolster our numbers. As for their skills in combat, their mere presence might be seen by the Klingons as a deterrent.”

“Or a provocation,” Professor Blune said, “as the superintendent suggested.”

“Pardon me,” Rakatheema said, “but in all this talk about the broader astropolitical or military ramifications of the Warborn as a group, you are forgetting what really matters: who they are as individuals. These are people who seek a place to belong, a constructive purpose to fulfill. I admit that even we Arcturians tend to perceive the Warborn as a faceless, interchangeable mass. They can be difficult to tell apart visually. But I have met them, spoken with them, and even with their collective upbringing and training, they are as unique as any of us.

“Yet the one thing they have in common is a yearning to serve. To contribute. All I ask is that you give them that chance.”

“He’s right,” Kirk said. “When has it been Starfleet’s way to judge potential applicants by their race, or by the circumstances of their birth? All we have ever judged any applicant by is their merit.” He looked around the table at the others. “At least, that’s what we tell ourselves. This is our chance to prove that we mean it.

“Will it lead to challenges, to complications? No doubt it will. There have been many challenging, complicated students in the Academy’s history, from almost every member species. I’m sure a number of you are dying to point out that I was one of them.” That generated a few chuckles. “But more than one of my instructors told me something that I’ve now learned for myself from this side of the equation: There is nothing more satisfying for a teacher than a student who challenges us. Who makes us question what we thought we knew. Who makes us better, in the same way we strive to make them better.

“We don’t know what new challenges we’ll face if we admit the Warborn. But we don’t know what challenges we’ll face if we go out to explore other planets, meet other cultures. And that is exactly why we do it. That, to us, is the very thing that makes it impossible to pass up.”

Kirk stopped himself from saying anything more. These were fellow Starfleet veterans, after all—officers who had lived for discovery and challenge as long as he had, or considerably longer. There was no need to oversell them—simply to remind them of what they already knew.

Chandra looked around the table, sizing up the thoughtful looks on the others’ faces. “It appears to me that Commander Rakatheema and Admiral Kirk have both made their points persuasively. Do any of you still wish to object to admitting the Warborn?”