For Jim, who has now experienced first-hand the devastating consequences that can come in pursuit of revenge, the answer has never been clearer. "You didn't save Romulus, but it wasn't because you didn't try. Everything after that is on Nero. He choose more bloodshed instead of trying to stop the destruction. He had over a century to work with; he could've evacuated the planet, or waited for you and used the red matter early. He could've saved his people. He chose otherwise."

The young captain looks across the table at him, his mind on a similar loss, a similar revenge sought in retaliation, which ended with too many casualties along the way. Far, far too recent. "Maybe my dad would still be dead. But Nero had twenty-five years to think about what to do next, and he chose revenge. That's not on you."