Patterns of Force

On a routine check of the planet Ekos, the U.S.S. Enterprise is attacked with a thermonuclear missile. According to Federation surveys, the culture on Ekos should not be able to support that kind of technology.

John Gill, a historian and one of Kirk's professors at Starfleet Academy, is stationed on Ekos as a cultural observer. Kirk decides that he and Spock will beam down to the planet's surface, find Gill, and see what is going on. When they reach the planet's surface, the two officers witness the capture of a young man by what appear to be Nazis. In the next moments they, too, are apprehended by the Nazis and have a first-hand look at this amazing development in Ekos' culture.

They officers are questioned and imprisoned, along with the young man they had seen earlier. Isak, their fellow prisoner tells them that his planet, Zeon, came to help promote peace and advance the civilization of Ekos, only to be attacked by the Nazis. The Ekosians seem almost identical to the German Nazis of 20th Century Earth; uniforms, scare tactics and execution of the Zeons... their version of the Earth Nazi's Jew. And the Fuhrer is none other than Kirk's old teacher... John Gill.

Still, Kirk can't believe that the man he knew could have changed his ideas to this extent and insists that he must see the man. He and Spock engineer a jailbreak and, along with the young Zeon, make their way to the Zeon underground. With the Zeon's help, the two U.S.S. Enterprise officers infiltrate the building where Gill is about to give a speech, announcing Ekos' attack on the planet Zeon.

Kirk discovers that Gill has been given a drug that makes him no more than a puppet to his second in command, Melakon. Using a communicator that Spock has managed to build out of surviving parts of their two devices, Kirk contacts the ship and has McCoy beams to the planet. There they make their way to Gill, where the doctor injects him with a stimulant. Still the drug retains its hold on the Fuhrer and time is running out to stop the attack on the peaceful Zeon. While the others stall, Kirk remains with Gill and finally revives him enough to rescind his previous speech and order his people to a more peaceful civilization.

Melakon, in a desperate attempt to salvage his reign, shoots Gill, and is in turn shot by Isak. When Kirk demands from the dying Gill why he introduced such a vicious culture to the people of Ekos, Gill replied that the people had fragmented and he thought that he could pattern them after the most efficient state in history, without a power-hungry leader to make it into a repeat of Germany. Melakon, however, seized power from Gill and began his rampage to control, not only Ekos, but Zeon, too. As he dies, Gill confirms that the Prime Directive is, in fact, the only way.

Leaving Isak and his followers to clean up the government and promote a more peaceful way of life on Ekos, Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam back to the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Cast:

William Shatner as James Tiberius Kirk™

Leonard Nimoy as Spock™

DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy™

James Doohan as Montgomery Scott™

Nichelle Nichols as Uhura™

Walter Koenig as Pavel Andreievich Chekov™

Guest Cast:

David Brian as John Gill

Skip Homeier as Melakon

Richard Evans as Isak

Valora Norland as Daras

William Wintersole as Abrom