The Primate Directive, Issue 2

The Primate Directive, Issue 2
Cover by Rachael Stott.
Attribution
Series:	The Original Series
Miniseries:	The Primate Directive No. 2
Writer(s):	Scott & David Tipton
Artist(s):	Rachael Stott
Publication information
Published:	January 2015
No. of covers:	3

Overview

"The colossal crossover nobody ever expected continues! Captain Kirk and the Enterprise crew have landed on the Planet of the Apes-but how?! And how are the Klingons involved? Plus: Taylor meets up with Kirk and Spock, but will he greet them with open arms? Or flying bullets?"

Summary

Investigating rumors of Klingon expansionism, Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise discover a mysterious trans dimensional portal being used by the Klingons. Following the Klingons through the portal, the Enterprise crew is surprised to find themselves orbiting a far-future parallel Earth, one where the Federation apparently never existed. Upon beaming down to the planet, Kirk and Spock see a familiar face, their old adversary Commander Kor, as well as some unexpected ones: intelligent talking gorillas?!

Using the binoculars, Spock confirms that this Earth's dominant lifeforms do appear to be talking self-aware gorillas. As the crew watches, they are approached from behind from a pair of gorillas. Though they attempt to quietly extradite themselves, Kirk is forced to stun Brutus after they come under fire. As Kor and Marius come running, the second guard informs Marius of what happened. Hearing about humans with such technology, Kor realizes he has been followed and has a good idea of who followed him. As the away team takes stock of their situation, they discover the humans of this world but find them primitive and mute, their mental faculties comparable to those of young children.

Back aboard the USS Enterprise, the senior staff is joined by Lieutenant Weaver for her expertise in biological sciences. After introductions are made, Kirk cuts right to the heart of the matter: Why are apes in charge of Earth? Spock reveals that upon arrival in this universe, he had used Hodgkin's Law to run several simulations of what this alternate Earth might be like, after he had, incorrectly, assumed that the large amount of bipedal primates he detected were humans. What he failed to do was fully appreciate just how many random variables nuclear war introduces. He has now however been able to crudely construct a model that shows the orangutans, gorillas and chimpanzees emerged as the dominant lifeforms on the planet following the nuclear holocaust while humanity was reduced to the primitive state that they saw beforehand. All this aligns perfectly with the modus operandi of the Klingons. Klingon society and economy is built around the dominance of less developed cultures but the Organian Peace Treaty has severely limited their ability to wage war. This new universe however has no Federation or even Romulans to keep them in line, leaving them free to pillage and plunder to their hearts' content. Deciding to honor the Prime Directive, Kirk readies an away team has Spock order the computer to find somewhere "familiar" to beam down to.

The computer interprets that directive as depositing them next to the shattered remains of the Statue of Liberty. On the now sandy shores of Liberty Island, the crew glimpses human footsteps next to those of a horse. Following the tracks, they glimpse a human couple only for the man to attack them. Once he sees that they are human however, he becomes more reasonable and introduces himself as George Taylor, a former astronaut who, upon hearing the away crew came in a ship, is eager to use it to overthrow the apes. At Taylor's request, the Enterprise crew seeks out Cornelius and Zira, stunning their encampment before retrieving the two. Off to the side, Spock is troubled by Taylor's aggressive attitudes.

In a forest, the two groups compare notes with Cornelius being willing to accept Kirk's tales of alien intervention, noting the gorillas, the military caste, have recently become emboldened enough to act above the rights granted to them by their station. Taylor takes the opportunity to once again "request" usage of the formidable arsenal aboard the Enterprise to overthrow the apes before Kirk convinces him to back down.

As Kirk and Zira discuss strategy, Taylor knocks out Chekov, stealing his communicator and sprinting off.

Log entries

Captain's log, supplemental

Having retrieved Colonel Taylor's friends from the archeological site, we have made our way some distance from the gorillas and are commencing with an exchange of information. Should what Taylor indicated turn out true, the ramifications are most troubling...

References

Characters

Brutus • Pavel Chekov • Cornelius • James T. Kirk • Kor • Marius • Leonard McCoy • Nova • Rogers • Montgomery Scott • Spock • George Taylor • Weaver • Zira

Starships and vehicles

USS Enterprise

Locations

Earth • Earth

Races and cultures

ape • chimpanzee • gorilla • orangutan

States and organizations

Federation • Klingon • Romulan • Starfleet Legal

Other references

binoculars • captain's log • colonel • communicator • doctor • general • Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development • lieutenant • Organian Peace Treaty • parallel universe • phaser • Prime Directive • Statue of Liberty • surgeon • transporter

Appendices

Images

Soldier Brutus

General Marius

Cornelius

Dr. Zira

Lt. Rogers

Lt. Weaver

Nova

Colonel George Taylor

External link

The Primate Directive, Issue 2 article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.