(Patrick Stewart) offers to return them each to Ornara and provide replacement parts for the remaining freighters. The Brekkans, Sobi and Langor, argue that they retain ownership of the felicium, as the items the Ornarans offered in payment were lost on board the freighter. T'Jon and Romas, of Ornara, are suffering from the effects of the plague and are sent to sickbay where Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) can find no reason for their symptoms. In a gesture of goodwill following the demand of compassion from Crusher, the Brekkans offer two doses of felicium for T'Jon and Romas's immediate needs. Langor explains that the entire Brekkan economy and industry is devoted to producing the medicine for Ornara, whose inhabitants provide Brekka with the necessities of daily life in return. After T'Jon and Romas take their doses, Dr. Crusher realizes that felicium is actually a highly addictive narcotic, and the plague itself was cured long before, so the symptoms believed to be attributed to the plague are actually withdrawal symptoms. Crusher wants to offer assistance to aid the Ornarans in breaking free of their addiction but Picard warns that the Federation cannot intervene due to the Prime Directive. He and Dr. Crusher later question the Brekkans alone and confirm that the Brekkans know the truth regarding the plague being eradicated, the addictive nature of the medicine and are exploiting the Ornarans because Brekka's economy would collapse if the Ornarans no longer needed felicium. The Enterprise arrives at Ornara and Sobi and Langor have agreed to provide the felicium to the Ornarans for later payment. Picard announces that as the Prime Directive prevents him from interfering in the transactions between the two planets, it also prevents him from providing any replacement parts for the ageing freighters. Sobi and Langor, T'Jon and Romas are furious at the decision as it means that the trade between Ornara and Brekka will stop because the freighters can no longer make the trips without the parts. After the four are transported off the Enterprise, Picard confides to Dr. Crusher that while the Ornarans may suffer from withdrawal symptoms in the short term, this will be an opportunity for both races to advance in their own ways. Production The episode was influenced by co-executive producer Maurice Hurley's recent work on Miami Vice, and was intended to have the Enterprise come across a drug deal in progress. Hurley was