Starfleet General Order One, better known as the Prime Directive, prohibits members of the United Federation of Planets from interfering with the internal social, cultural, and technological development of alien civilizations- especially civilizations who have yet to develop warp travel. Originally developed by the eminently logical Vulcans, the concept later spread to become a general rule for the entire Federation. At the time this story is set, the Prime Directive has been around for a long time, and there is no excuse for anyone to remain unaware of it.
But, as any Star Trek fan knows, the Prime Directive has always been more honoured in the breach. If it is mentioned in a episode, it will almost certainly be broken - and breaking the Prime Directive always has consequences . . . .
A few housekeeping items. Star Trek, of course, belongs to Paramount Pictures and CBS Broadcasting. As I am neither of those entities, you can bet I don't own a thing.
The photo on the cover is courtesy of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
As Star Trek: The Next Generation is the trek series with which I am most familiar, the setting for this story is roughly contemporaneous, and references to uniforms, ranks, etc. will generally follow TNG rules.
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How to Break the Prime Directive (and get away with it)
FanfictionFour young Starfleet ensigns find themselves in a dilemma after bringing an alien from a pre-warp civilization onto their starship. They know they've broken the prime directive - is there any way they can manage to stay out of trouble?
