ABSTRACT
James T.Kirk, captain of the USS Enterprise, has been called before a special subcommittee of the body which has assembled to draft a new constitution for the Federation. As he awaits his turn to testify, he listens with surprise and alarm as a ‘soft-spoken Andorian biologist’ offers a ‘blistering indictment’ of the Federation’s treatment of its non-Terran citizens. ‘Could it really be that life in the service was that out of touch with the needs of nonhumans? If so, it was a wonder the Federation had lasted in its present form for nearly a century.’2 When Kirk takes the stand, he faces sharp questions from the Andorian delegate, Thirlev, who reviews many incidents when the captain had made decisions based on human morality and logic, decisions which led him to violate the Prime Directive’s edicts against non-interference in developing cultures.
