“Do we even know how to open the aperture back up?”

The crew had assembled in the briefing room for the first time since their arrival in the Gamma Quadrant; a decision had to be made, and quickly. The Gorn had most likely arrived at the M Class planet picked up on sensors and, most likely, were terrorizing the population.

Alex turned towards the Chief Operations Officer. “Yes. Kind of.”

Brex arched an eyebrow. “That's not a real confidence inspiring statement, sir.”

Alex sighed. It was the truth. He, sort of, knew how to open the aperture back up but there were numerous unknowns at play. “We have limited information from the Turei and our ships on how to enter Underspace but in the past, the Turei have been pretty much in control of the process and told us what to do and where to go. On top of that, portions of Underspace that we went through were in an extreme state of flux. If Underspace as a whole is undergoing some sort of change or expansion then all bets are off in terms of getting that aperture open again.”

V'Rel tapped her fingers against the table, eager to be done with the meeting and get back to her now full sickbays. “Did we even try to open the damn thing back up again?”

Demar shook his head. “Not yet. When the aperture opened up in the Beta Quadrant it was a violent subspace event. We would prefer to avoid that this time; if we get it wrong and destabilize the Underspace then we run the risk of being trapped out here.”

Alex lifted his hand, a finer pointed upward. “I would like to point out that that isn't supposed to happen. Whatever is happening to Underspace is new.”

Ereth cleared his throat, speaking for the first time in the meeting. “We still have the Gorn to deal with. They attacked a Federation vessel and if we leave them out here they will terrorize any population they can find.”

Clara leaned back in her chair, placing her hands on her lap. That led to the fundamental question: Do we prioritize saving ourselves or take steps to protect the native people of this sector from a threat they know nothing about?

“You are correct, Ensign. The people of this sector know nothing of the threat that the Gorn pose. We don't have much information on how Gorn breeding ships operate but all signs point to them going after pre-warp civilizations if they feel like it.” Clara tapped a button on the table, a holo image of the class M planet from the sensor readings they took popping up in the middle of the table. “Their warp trail leads to this planet and shortly before the briefing started, Commander Conklin detected the Gorn ship in orbit.”

Conklin sat up in the chair, tapping a few commands into the PADD that was lying on the table in front of him. A series of pulsing red dots appeared across the northern continent. “Long-range sensor resolution is still diminished but there seem to be five medium to large population centers on the northern continent; perhaps three to five thousand people in each. I have not detected any warp signatures, no matter/antimatter power systems, and no long-range communications. I feel pretty safe in saying they are pre-warp.”

“If they are pre-warp, I would counter the prime directive does apply,” T'Keu stated. “In addition, while the Gorn would represent a threat to the civilizations in the sector, we have to prioritize our own people's safety. We are unaware of what is going on in Federation space; there may be a wider crisis related to Underspace and our return to Federation space would allow us to assist our citizens.”

Brex leaned forward, a look of indignation on his face. “It's been a while since I was in classes at the Academy, but I am pretty sure the prime directive goes out the window in this circumstance. If the Gorn attack a pre-warp planet then the civilization is already culturally contaminated. That isn't a ‘natural course of civilization’ event. These people are possibly being terrorized and used as breeding stock; if we can put a stop to that, we need to.”

 “Any action we take will alter the course of that civilization's cultural development. That is a core tenet of the prime directive.” Coutnered T'Keu.

Demar shot the Vulcan a look that made it clear how he felt. “There are nearly 50 sub-directives to the Prime Directive; it's not as black and white as you make it out to be.”

“It does not change the fact that our priority needs to be returning to Federation space. There are over 800 Starfleet officers on this vessel and the political situation in the Alpha and Beta quadrants is unstable. Our priority must be our own people.”

V'Rel scoffed. “Because that worked out so well for your Romulan kin? A lot of them died so we could ‘focus on our own people.’ Turning a blind eye to the suffering of others is the type of bullshit that got the Federation and Starfleet to where it is now."

Clara lifted her hand, a gesture to silence the conversation. “Enough.  The fact of the matter is a civilization is being terrorized by a species that is likely significantly more advanced than it. The damage is done; as the commanding officer of this vessel, it falls to me to determine if the prime directive applies. I have determined it does not. If they truly have been invaded then they have been exposed to advanced technology and are very aware of life outside their world. If they somehow survive the Gorn attack then they are going to be terrified and angry; decades in the future they could take to the stars in search of revenge. The least we can do is show them the universe at large does have good people in it. If anyone takes issue with this then you are welcome to submit a formal objection in writing and I'll note it in my log.”

T'Keu stiffened in her seat. “I shall.”

“Marvelous,” Clara muttered softly under her breath. “Ensign Erith, set a course for the planet at Warp 2. Commander Demar, assemble multiple away teams to deploy on the surface when we arrive. Dismissed.”