Two members of the Xindi Council offer to stop the launch of the superweapon if Archer can prove that the Xindi have been manipulated; the crew holds a memorial for their dead shipmates.
Summary
T'Pol visits sickbay for futher treatment for her trellium addiction. She tells Doctor Phlox that she is concerned that the new emotions will overwhelm her. Phlox counsels her that it will take time to learn to control the emotions, but she will get used to it.
Captain Jonathan Archer leads the crew in a memorial for the 18 dead aboard ship. Afterwards, Archer assigns Commander Tucker to write a letter to the parents of Crewman Jane Taylor, a member of his engineering team that died in the Xindi attack. Tucker is initially reluctant, however, and Archer insists that Tucker (and not one of the officers under him) write the letter.
While eating in the heavily damaged mess hall, Tucker reveals to T'Pol that not only is he having trouble writing the letter, he has not slept since the Xindi attack; nearly two days. Moments later, their meal is interrupted by a nearby explosion. T'Pol and Tucker respond to the emergency and assist in shutting down the damaged systems and summoning Phlox. When Phlox learns of Tucker's lack of sleep, he orders the commander to get some rest. While sleeping, Tucker has a dream where he is confronted by Crewman Taylor in her quarters, who demands to know why he has not written that letter yet. She wants to know why it is so much that Tucker simply remember her. Tucker tries to run from Taylor, but finds the exit blocked. He awakes in a cold sweat, alone in his quarters.
Following hidden instructions left by Degra, Enterprise arrives at a sphere, where it meets with Degra's shuttle. Degra invites Archer aboards his ship to discuss the bioweapon. Archer attempts to convince Degra and Jannar that what he is saying is true; that the Xindi are being misled by the Sphere Builders. Archer invites the two Xindi aboard Enterprise and shows them the bodies of the Reptilians he stopped from releasing a bioweapon in 2004, as well as the bioweapon itself so the Xindi crew can test it for traces of time travel. He also shows them the scans of the Sphere Builder test subject they rescued several months ago. Additionally, T'Pol and Archer show Degra the information they have acquired on the spheres, which surpasses that of the Xindi in some respects. Degra comments that he is surprised by the detailed nature of the scan, considering that Enterprise is a warship, to which Archer responds that Enterprise was originally a ship of exploration and, if their mission succeeds, will be again.
A Xindi-Reptilian warship confronts Enterprise.
Meanwhile, one of the warp plasma EPS conduits ruptures out of the ship's hull, necessitating an EVA trip by Tucker and Malcolm Reed to fix it. Reed is forced to operate a shut-off valve extremely close to the venting plasma and nearly dies of overheating, as Tucker is so focused on what he is doing. Tucker rushes Reed back into the ship where the lieutenant is hurried off to sickbay. Degra expresses his hope that Reed survives, causing Tucker to verbally lash out. Tucker accuses Degra of hypocrisy and asks is "seven million and one" is too many deaths for the Xindi to take. Archer orders Tucker to stop and escorts Degra from the room, but not without Degra pausing to look sorrowfully at Tucker as he exits.
Moments later, a Xindi-Reptilian ship arrives at the sphere, having followed Degra,despite his attempt to mask his warp trail. The Reptilian captain demands that Degra and Jannar dock with his ship so that appropriate action can be taken against Enterprise. Archer begs Degra for some piece of information about the Reptilian ship that would give the still-weakened Enterprise an advantage in the imminent firefight. Degra and Jannar are conflicted. They know that Archer has provided them with compelling evidence of the Reptilian's deceit, but to aid in an attack upon another Xindi ship would be treasonous. Degra's ship leaves Enterprise, but instead of docking with the Reptilian ship, it attacks in conjunction with Enterprise, quickly targeting key systems of the Reptilian ship. Once the ship is disabled, Enterprise stands down, but Degra continues his attack, destroying the Reptilian vessel. Degra tells Archer that to leave the Reptilians alive would only make matters worse for them, as the Reptilians would have reported to the council immediately. Degra provides Archer with coordinates for a subspace corridor that can take him to the Xindi Council planet.
T'Pol confronts Tucker about his problems, and he reveals that it is not Jane's death that's bothering him; it is his sister, Elizabeth. He wants to know how someone so young and full of promise could just die. He has been repressing his emotions for months now, but finally lets go and cries for his sister. Tucker says that he envies the Vulcans, and how they do not feel any emotion. T'Pol tells Tucker that Vulcans feel sadness at the loss of family and colleagues, just as humans do, but Vulcan emotions can be so strong that they would be overwhelming if they were not surpressed. As such, it is she who envies him. Having finally accepted the loss of his sister, Tucker finally writes the letter to Crewman Taylor's parents.
Background Information
- The photograph of Tucker's sister was a photo of the actress portraying her standing on a terrace on the Paramount Pictures lot.
- At the beginning, Archer holds a memorial speech for eighteen lost comrades, but in the previous battle, only seventeen are lost (fourteen counted dead and three unaccounted for), though one more could have died from injuries sustained.
Links and References
Main Cast
- Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
- John Billingsley as Phlox
- Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
- Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
- Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
- Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
- Connor Trinneer as Charles "Trip" Tucker III
Guest Stars
- Randy Oglesby as Degra
- Rick Worthy as Jannar
- Bob Morrisey as Xindi-Reptilian Captain
- Seth MacFarlane as Ensign Rivers
Co-Star
Uncredited Co-Stars
- Jorge Benevides as Private R. Azar
- Solomon Burke, Jr. as Billy
- Jason Collins as Corporal R. Ryan
- Henry Farnam as Damron
- Chase Kim as Private R. Azar
- Thomas Kopache as The Alien (photograph)
- Ricky Lomax as Private W. Woods
- Andrew MacBeth as Private E. Hamboyan
- Erin Price as Elizabeth Tucker (photograph)
- Unknown actor as a Xindi-Reptilian Guard (corpse)
References
bailing wire; Brody; car; chronometric distortion; Degra's shuttle; EV suit; EPS control specialist; Florida; genie; hand scanner; imaging chamber; injector assembly; Kamata; Marcel; Rostov, Michael; magnesium; neural pathway; optical subprocessor; pepperoni; pizza; plasma fire; plasma flow regulator; plasma torch; power cell; Saratoga; spatial anomaly; spit; subspace corridor; Taylor family; Tucker, Elizabeth; Xindi Council; Xindi-Reptilian warship; warp plasma; warp plasma conduit
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Star Trek: Enterprise Season 3 |
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