ENT: "Fight or Flight"

Episode Info:
• Episode #3, Produciton ENT-103
• First Air Date: Wednesday, October 3, 2001
• Starlog: May 6, 2151
• Guest Cast: Jeff Rickets as Alien Captain, Efrain Figueroa as Translator Voice
• Written By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
• Directed By: Allan Kroeker
   
• Reviewed By: James Gardner [EnterpriseReview@aol.com]

[Disclaimer]

Paramount pretty much owns everything you're about to read. It's their dialog, their characters, their franchise. It's their sandbox. We're just playing in it.

[Captioning sponsored by Paramount Television and United Paramount Network.]

[Summary]

The Enterprise makes first contact with a slug and some dead people. Hoshi decides she doesn't like living in space. The slug makes her feel better.

Jump straight to the Analysis

[Breakdown]

"Click, click, click, click..." Hoshi Sato is looking through the glass into a cage containing an adorable slug.

Phlox walks over to her. "I didn't realize you spoke slug."

"I wish I did." Says Hoshi, "She doesn't look any better, does she?"

Do slugs have a gender? I know worms don't... Slugs? Oh well, it's an alien slug.

Phlox thinks like I do. "She? We haven't been able to determine its gender – if it has one."

"I should have left her where I found her."

Dr. Phlox disagrees. "Nonsense! We're on a mission of exploration. There's something to be learned from every life-form."

I'm curious... Where exactly DID they find this slug?

Hoshi seems very worried about the slug. "She wasn't meant to be in this environment."

The Doctor (Phlox, not the EMH) looks over, sympathetically. "I promise to do my best to keep it alive."

Hoshi smiles at the slug. "He's going to make you all better!"

"Actually, I was thinking more about my Pyrithian Bat. He won't eat anything once it's dead."

Commander Charlie "Trip" Tucker III walks in the Sickbay door. "We've routed some more power to Sickbay. Let me know if it's enough."

Phlox looks at the PADD Charlie offered him. "Should do fine."

Trip bends over next to Hoshi, by the slug cage. "How's Sluggo?"

"Dr. Phlox thinks this argon lamp should help." Sato tells him. "She's barely moved all day."

Trip sighs. "We've been out here for two weeks and the only first contact we've made is with a dying worm."

***

Captain Archer is sitting in a chair in his ready room, listening carefully to an annoying squeak coming from the floor. The door chimes. "Come in."

T'Pol strides into the room. "The scans of the sector ahead–"

"Shh!" Archer silences her. "Hear that?"

"Hear what?"

I thought Vulcans had sensitive hearing!

Archer get's down on the floor while he talks. "A squeak. Something squeaking. I think it's coming from under the deck plating but every time I get close to it, it stops. If I can't isolate it I'm going to have to tear the whole flooring up."

"That would be unfortunate. The scans of the sectors ahead indicates little chance of finding inhabited planets."

Archer asks her, "Well, how about the Vulcan starcharts?"

"We have limited data on the course that Starfleet assigned you. There are thousands of star systems along this path."

In other words, she's as ignorant as us humans.

Archer keeps trying to get some info out of her. "There must have been something that piqued your people's interest: a sentient species, a trinary star cluster."

T'Pol indignantly informs him, "We don't select our destinations by what piques our interest."

Captain Archer counters, "Vulcans always need a logical and pragmatic reason."

"My people don't share your enthusiasm for exploration." She says.

A squeaking sound distracts him.

"Space is vast, Captain. I'm sure you're aware that only one out of every 43,000 planets supports intelligent life."

"I took exobiology--I know the statistics," He retorts. "But we're traveling at warp five. There's got to be someone out here."

The door chimes. "Come in."

Hoshi steps in and sees that the Captain and T'Pol are in mid-conversation. "I'm sorry."

T'Pol moves for the door, though. "I'll leave you to your exploring."

Archer address his communications officer. "Trip tells me that Sluggo's not faring too well."

"No, Sir, but the Doctor's doing the best he can. Sir, my quarters are on e-deck starboard section five."

Archer keeps listening for the irritating squeak. "Yes."

And Hoshi makes an award winning trivial comment. "The stars are going the wrong way, sir."

"Wrong way?"

"On both my training tours, I had port-side quarters." She explains. "I'm having trouble sleeping."

Archer: "Because you're on the wrong side..."

"Wrong side of the ship, yes, sir. I spoke with Ensign Porter. He said he'd be willing to switch with your permission."

Archer: "You got it. Can't have my com officer..." He hears the squeak again. "Falling asleep on the bridge."

"Appreciate it, Captain."

Archer looks up at her from his chair. "Is there something else, Hoshi?"

"No, sir. Thank you."

The squeaking continues to distract our good Captain.

*

In some sort of weapons room – perhaps a storage area, Malcolm Reed and Travis Mayweather are preparing to test the torpedo system.

"Ready?" Asks Reed.

Mayweather enthusiastically nods. "Fore and aft target scanners are aligned."

"Activating simulation j-6." Says Malcolm. "Target acquired."

Mayweather: "Simulated launch."

Reed counts down after the launch simulation. "Five seconds to impact, three, two, one..."

On a graphical display, the torpedo misses the target area.

Reed is disappointed. "Wonderful."

"We're only off by three meters."

"Only three meters?" Reed says in an over-acted British accent. "Three meters could mean the difference between hitting a weapons port and a warp core. Instead of disabling a vessel, we'd end up destroying it and probably ourselves in the process."

Travis is still optimistic. "We'll get it right."

Indeed, Travis Mayweather is a very cheery fellow. Cool guy. It's nice to have an optimist on "Star Trek." Always looking on the bright side, and doing so without Dr. Phlox's disturbing smile from "Broken Bow."

Malcolm is still focusing on the weapons, and seems uneasy.. "All this should have been dealt with before we left earth. Have they detected any inhabited planets or vessels?"

"Not yet." Says Travis, disappointed.

"Good."

Mayweather offers some encouragement to the bereaved security officer. "I hope you don't expect everyone we run into out here to hostile. In 23 years, I don't think my folks ran into problems more than a half dozen times."

Malcolm reminds him of a minor point: "I don't believe you were ever out quite this far."

"You think that makes a difference?"

Reed does seem to think so. "All I do know is that until we get these targeting scanners working properly the farther we are from everyone else the better."

"Seems like everybody else on board is itching for a first contact."

I think Mayweather just wants to meet some alien chicks.

Captain Archer slides half steps-half slides down a ladder onto the deck. "How's it going?"

Reed: "Not well, sir. We've corrected the problem but we're still off by .02%. It's unacceptable."

The Captain mentions an alternative not yet brought up: "Are you sure it's not the simulations that are off?"

"There's only one way to find out." Says Reed, seeming eager to blow something up.

Archer is ready to oblige him. "How long would it take to arm a few torpedoes?"

"Moments, sir."

"Archer to T'Pol."

"Yes, sir."

"Prepare to drop out of warp. It's time for a little target practice."

"Acknowledged."

Reed smiles. "Thank you, Captain."

Archer heads for the bridge, calling for Mayweather to come with him. "Come on, Travis. We've got to find Mr. reed something to blow up."

*

The Enterprise drops out of warp outside a small asteroid field and tests the targeting scanners by trying to hit the floating debris. Unfortunately, they have no luck.

"Load another one." Orders the Captain. "Let's try again."

Reed is sitting at his station on the bridge. "Rotate the targeting axis by point-five microns."

"Point-five microns." Says Mayweather, from the helm. (Why is Mayweather making that adjustment?)

Lower in the ship, a missile is loaded, and then fired. It flies out towards an asteroid and glances off the side. It bounces off another floating rock and is now flying straight at the Enterprise!

Captain Archer nervously looks at the viewscreen. "Mr. Reed...."

Malcolm quickly issues a detonation command, and the warhead explodes before it hits the ship.

Malcolm explain to the viewing audience watching 'Enterprise' why he just said stuff about microns. "If I refocus the infrared scanner I might be able to compensate."

"How long will that take?" Archer inquires.

"The better part of a day."

Archer turns to Travis. "Resume course, Ensign."

"Sir..." Reed protests.

"We're not going to sit on our butt for 24 hours. Make your modifications. We'll run another test first chance we get."

*

Later, in the mess hall, Trip walks in and sees Dr. Phlox sitting alone at a table. He indicates the chair next to the Doctor. "Anyone sitting here?"

"No! Please sit down. Sit down!" Says Phlox, while chewing his meal.

"Sluggo any better?"

Phlox frowns. "I'm afraid not. Try the potatoes. They're delicious."

The Doc hands Trip a potato which he has already taken a bite out of.

Trip eyes them suspiciously, "Resequenced protein."

Phlox grins. "Yes! The flavor's remarkable. On my homeworld people would never think of speaking during a meal. Consider it a waste of time. It's taken me a while, but I've grown quite attached to it."

Trip isn't quite as cheery. "Wasting time seems to be all we've been doing. Starting to get a little antsy."

The Doctor doesn't seem to be familiar with this word. "Antsy?"

Trip explains. "Restless."

"Hmm."

"We've been on the move for two weeks and haven't seen a damn thing." Complains the engineer.

Phlox counters. "Every moment's been an adventure for me. Humans are so unpredictable. Have you seen the quantities of food Crewman Namod consumes?"

"Not really."

Phlox continues. "Have you smelled Ensign Socorro after she exercises?"

"Uh..."

Dr. Phlox elaborates far more than you or I would, under normal circumstances. "She gives off a fragrance not unlike the adrenal gland of a Nausicaan."

I wonder if Doctor Phlox has ever read the story "Tobermory" by Saki. 'Tis a very interesting story about a talking cat who never learned discretion.

I guess not. "Crewmen Bennett and Hayden over there--do you see them? If I'm not mistaken they are preparing to mate. Do you think they might let me watch?"

Trip perks up a bit and smiles at Phlox's comments. "It's good to see you're enjoying yourself."

Doc takes another bite of his potatoes."Mmm. "Mmm!"

*

T'Pol calls the Captain over the comm-link. "Bridge to Captain archer."

*

In the situation room, to the back of the main bridge, the command trio is gathered.

Trip is looking at a schematic displayed on one of the consoles. "How big is it?"

T'Pol replies, "Approximately 92 meters in length." (Very approximate there, TP...)

Captain Archer says, "Doesn't seem to be moving very fast."

T'Pol, who knows how to read diagrams better, informs him, "It's not moving at all."

Archer frowns. "That's odd. Where's the nearest star system?"

T'Pol: "Almost three light-years away."

Trip chips in with his opinion. "They could be running some kind of a deep space experiment. Maybe we should go have a look."

T'Pol seems opposed to such an action. "If you insist on allowing your curiosity to dictate your actions."

Archer grins. "We insist."

*

Near the Enterprise is an alien ship. It is totally still.

"Range: 5,000 kilometers." Mayweather informs them.

T'Pol runs some scans of the exterior of the vessel. "The vessel's hull is comprised of tritanium and disilicon polymers."

Trip confirms that the ship isn't moving. "I'm not getting anything on their propulsion system. It may be off-line. It's something, isn't it?"

Lieutenant Reed checks the alien's weapon status. "If they have any weapons they're not charged."

Archer looks to Ensign Sato. "Any com activity?"

"No, sir."

"Run this through the translation matrix: My name is Jonathan Archer. I'm Captain of the Starship Enterprise. We're on a mission of peaceful exploration."

The Captain stops and looks around at his crew. Oh! He remembers one last important bit of information.

"Oh, we come from the planet earth. We are sending you a pulsar grid that should help you locate our star system."

There is no reply. He turns to Hoshi again. "Did you rotate the frequencies?"

"I'll try it again."

She waits a moment. "No response, sir."

Trip, looking at the viewscreen, sees something that catches his interest. "Captain, mind if I push in on the venting ports around that hatch?"

"Go ahead."

As we move in closer, we are able to see portions of the hull with a white gas flowing freely from the ship.

Mayweather sees it too. "Are those the venting ports or hull breaches?"

"Bring us in a little closer, Travis." Orders the Captain. "Let's get a look at the other side. Those look like scorch marks."

T'Pol shoots off some technobabble for us. "The residue indicates oxidization and thermal shock effects. It could be the result of a high-yield particle impact."

Fortunately for the viewing audience, Captain Jonathan Archer simplifies it for us. "You mean weapons."

"Possibly."

"Are we close enough to scan for bio-signs?" He asks.

"Yes." Says T'Pol. But wait! There's a catch. "But scanning the ship's interior might be seen as a violation of privacy."

After all, it could be a cruise ship. We wouldn't want to barge (pun intended) in on a bunch of honeymooning sporosystian life-forms.

Archer checks to see if Hoshi is hearing anything on the comm channel. "Anything?"

Trip stares at the alien ship on their viewscreen. It's pretty close. "If there is anyone home you can bet they know we're out here."

"Then why haven't they responded?" Wonders Reed.

T'Pol has an answer for everything, though. "Not everyone chooses to answer the door when they hear a knock. It would be best to resume our previous course."

Archer ignores her. "See if you can find another hatch."

They find one.

"Diameter?"

"0.9 meters." Responds Trip.

Archer orders a scan, ignoring T'Pol's earlier warnings. "Scan for bio-signs."

"There are a number of life-forms aboard." She informs him.

Archer: "Humanoid?"

T'Pol shows us a little more of that good ol' Vulcan sarcasm. "Their cellular activity is below the threshold of your sensors."

Travis Mayweather is curious about the status of the crew. "Maybe they're in trouble; sick or something."

T'Pol shoots back, "Maybe they're not interested in visitors."

After all, it's completely feasible that they ARE on that space honeymoon.

The Captain hasn't thought of that yet, though. "Mr. Reed, how long to prep a shuttle?"

"Half an hour." Says the armory officer.

T'Pol suggests protocol, as seems to be the norm in this series. "There are a number of protocols we haven't tried."

Archer looks to Reed. "Get started."

Hoshi though, agrees with T'Pol for once. "She may have a point, Captain. I could try hailing them on the theta-band frequencies."

Archer ignores her suggestion. He wants her to come along on the trip. "Suit up, Ensign."

"Me, sir?"

Yes you, Ensign Kim! You have to come so you can scream a lot like it showed in the previews.

Archer nods at his pet Vulcan. "You're in charge till I get back."

***

Jonathan Archer is on his way to his quarters to make a log entry when Trip runs up next to him in the corridor. Trip walks along next to him for a moment, saying nothing, and acting like he's constipated.

After a moment or two, Jonathan notices this odd behavior. "Is there a problem, Commander?"

"I want to go with you."

Archer replies, "I'm bringing a translator and a security officer. Why would I need an engineer?"

The engineer has a pretty good excuse."What makes you think you can open the hatch or turn the lights on, for that matter?"

"We've got beacons, Trip."

"Well, that ship could have a lot of decks. You might need somebody to help you figure out the turbolifts."

The Captain looks at him, unamused. Obviously, Jonathan Archer – turbolift king – can figure out how to use alien equipment within the time allotted before the next commercial break.

So, Trip reveals the REAL reason he's bugging the good Captain. "Okay, I've got a better reason why you need an engineer. 'cause your engineer signed onto this mission of exploration so he could do a little exploring. He didn't sign on so he could sit in engineering while you three get to break into that ship."

Exasperated, Archer says. "We're not breaking in. We're just going to see if everything's okay."

Trip looks disappointed. Poor boy. :( "You're chomping at the bit to find out what's in there. Why should I be any different?"

Archer knows the show is only in week 2, though. "We just got out here, Trip. There's going to be plenty of time to go exploring. Right now, I need you on enterprise down with your engine. The ship's a little young to be without her chief engineer."

He puts his hand on Trip's shoulder. The engineer looks disappointed still, but slightly less so.

*

Now in his quarters, Captain Archer is pacing back and forth, eating cheese, entering his Captain's Log, and being followed by his eager young puppy, Porthos.

"When I used to dream about this mission the last thing I envisioned was having a Vulcan on board who continuously sucked the air out of the room. Well... Maybe she's right. Whoever's on that ship might not want us nosing around. Well, I can't assume that's the case, can I? Maybe they can use our help.... Computer, pause."

Porthos is begging for some of that cheese.

"You know... Hey. You know that you and cheddar don't get along."

The dog begs some more. "Ah..." And the Captain tosses him a piece of cheddar.

"Resume personal log. Before we left, Admiral Forrest said we'd be making history with every light-year but we're not going to do that sitting on our hands."

The door chimes. "Computer, pause. Come in."

His door slides open, and Ensign Hoshi Sato enters in a bunny suit. (Well, actually, a Starfleet Uniform. I miss Voyager.)

"Ensign." He greets her.

"Sorry to bother you, sir."

He smiles and offers her the plate of goodies. "It's not a problem. Cheese?"

Hoshi seems troubled. "No, thank you."

"Everything work out all right?"

"Sir?"

"With the swapping quarters?" He clarifies.

"Yes, it's fine. Thank you." Hoshi pauses a moment, and still seems troubled. Maybe she couldn't find her bunny suit. "I was thinking, Captain I might be a lot more helpful to you if I stay here and keep an open commlink. That way I'll have immediate access to the linguistic database."

Archer makes some sweeping gestures with his cheese, and talks with his mouth full. "Can't you tie your universal translator into the database through the comm?"

"It's not the same." She says. "The lag time is tripled."

"Well, I'd rather wait a few seconds if it means having you on-site. For all we know, the UT won't work. You'll be our only backup. Anyway, it should be exciting. Half the crew would give their eyeteeth to be going over there."

She looks frustrated. Archer notices. "What's wrong?"

Now she reveals why she's so frustrated that she forgot her bunny suit. Obviously, if she had walked in wearing it, he would have thought she was incompetent and left her behind. "The environmental suits... They make me a little... Claustrophobic."

"Claustrophobic." He echoes. "And you took a job on a spaceship?"

She says, "You talked me into it, remember?"

OOO! OOO! Continuity from the previous episode! OOO! Voyager Haters Take Notice!

Archer: "I don't recall reading about any problems during your zero-g training."

"Oh, I just... I bit my lip and got through it."

"Well, you're going to have to bite your lip again." He tells her. "I need you over there."

"Yes, sir."

"What is it, Hoshi? Is something else wrong?"

Hoshi bites her lip. "No, I'd better get back to launch bay."

"Hang on, I'll come with you." He says.

Porthos barks and wags his little puppy tail. He whimpers, looking at the plate.

"That's the last time, Porthos."

He tosses the dog a chunk of cheddar.

*

In the launch bay, Lieutenant Reed is pulling out large rifle looking guns.

Archer looks at them warily. "Going to war, Lieutenant?"

"Can't be too careful, sir."

Archer laughs hysterically. Well, not really. "You've seen too many science fiction movies. We just need the three phase pistols. Put the rifles back."

Then he says to Hoshi, "What are you rated for?"

She looks at the phase pistols. "Been cleared on EM side arms and class-three pulse rifles. Never seen one of those."

Archer reassures her. "Well, Malcolm will check you out on them the first chance he gets. Don't worry. It handles pretty much like an em-33."

Hoshi seems worried about being part of an armed boarding team. I wonder why. Nothing bad EVER happens to boarding teams on Trek. "Is this necessary?"

"Just a precaution." Archer says.

*

The three of them depart the Enterprise in a shuttle-pod, and dock with the alien ship.

They open up the hatch and find that its counterpart on the alien ship is closed. Well, obviously.

"Just our luck. No release." Says Malcolm. "Shouldn't be a problem, though. I can place microcharges here and here."

Reed points at two strategic points along the hatch.

Archer: "Hold on a second, Malcolm."

The Captain reaches up and grabs the end of a valve-type cylinder and turns it. There is a row of similar valves. He turns another, and the hatch opens freely.

"Sorry." Archer says to Reed.

Hoshi sends back a message. "Enterprise, we've got access. We're boarding the vessel."

They go inside. Lots of gloomy scary lighting and flashlight glare.

Hoshi looks around. "Well, at least we know they're bipeds."

"What gives you that idea?" Asks Malcolm.

"The ladder."

Archer leads them through the ship. "Come on."

There are streaks of a green fluid smeared on the wall. Could it be... alien blood?! No! It couldn't be! The creators would NEVER do anything like that.... heh.

The Captain takes some readings of the air. "Nitrogen-methane atmosphere and it's cold. Minus 20 degrees."

Hoshi scans a console up against the wall. It is dimly lit. "There's power going through here but not much of it."

"Captain." Calls Mr. Reed. He has noticed the green streaks.

"Molecules look like amino acids." Says Archer, waving his tricorder about in the air.

"Blood?" Asks Hoshi.

They continue their way through the alien ship in the scary lighting that tells us we're about to discover something shocking that will lead into a commercial break. The heroic crew walks into a large, more open room. The Director shoots from strategic angles so we can't see anything spiffy just yet. We can hear a pulsating mechanical sound, though.

The sound is coming from an odd machine with clear pipes running into it. It has two claw-like attachments that are opening and closing. There is a tank full of the same green fluid that was on the walls.

Reed looks at it. "Some sort of hydraulics."

Archer: Whatever it is, it hasn't been here very long.

Suddenly, Hoshi screams in terror: "AIIIIIEEEEEE!"

She backs away frantically. "AHHHIIIIEEEEE!!!!"

"Hoshi!" Says Archer. "Where are you going?"

"I don't think you need a translator!" She shouts.

Suspended on the ceiling by hooks are alien bodies.

"Stay here." The Captain orders her. She keeps backing away.

Reed: "Their bodies are being flushed out with some kind of fluid."

Archer prompts him. "Are they all...?"

"All dead, Sir. I'm afraid so."

*

Shortly thereafter, back on the Enterprise, the three members of the away mission stand in the decontamination room.

Dr. Phlox opens up a little viewing window and informs us that, "They're clean."

T'Pol asks, "How many?"

"I don't know." Says Archer. "About a dozen."

Reed kept an exact count. "Fifteen."

Archer tells her, "They were being drained of something. Whoever did it went to a lot of trouble. My guess is they're coming back."

"We should leave." T'Pol says.

Archer is surprised by this suggestion. "There are 15 dead people over there. We can't leave."

"Your reason for boarding that vessel was to provide assistance if assistance was required." She tells him. "Clearly, it no longer is."

"You're telling me that we should just leave them there?"

She points out, "What's the alternative? Your intentions were admirable, Captain but nothing can be done for that crew now and if we remain here your crew could be put in jeopardy."

"Archer to the bridge."

"Mayweather here, Sir."

"Go to warp three. Resume course."

"Aye, sir."

***

In sickbay, Hoshi is sitting on a bio-bed, chatting with Dr. Phlox.

He reassures her. "Not long after I became a physician there was an explosion in a cargo ship orbiting my homeworld. I was part of the first medical team to arrive. There were 17 bodies on the bridge alone. I'd never seen that many dead people in one place before. Very disturbing. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

"I screamed like a 12-year-old." She says, frustrated.

"We're all frightened by unfamiliar things. You should be grateful that your body of experience doesn't include rooms full of corpses."

She ignores him. "Nobody else screamed."

Then, Hoshi looks into one of the aquariums at Sluggo. "Has she been eating?

"Not so far. She has been under a great deal of stress but I'm hoping this protein concentrate whets her appetite."

He lets some of a tiny white fluid drip into the cage.

"I'm a translator." She whines. "I didn't come out here to see corpses hanging on hooks."

Phlox says, "It goes without saying that you're going to encounter the unexpected."

"Not corpses on hooks."

"Have you ever considered that you might be happier back at the university teaching?" He asks her, "I did it for years. It was quite rewarding."

Hoshi seems confused, though. "I'm an exo-linguist. I graduated second in my class. I spent three years in Starfleet training. I was Jonathan Archer's first choice for this mission. Every inhabited world we come to is going to be filled with language. Some will have hundreds of them. He needs me here."

Phlox changes the subject back to the slug. "If she doesn't take these nutrients I'm afraid she won't survive."

Hoshi looks down at the white goo. "Are you sure that's what she eats?"

"It's close enough."

"I shouldn't have brought her on board." Laments the bereaved communications officer. "Maybe I could ask the Captain to try to find a planet with an argon- rich atmosphere."

Phlox smiles. "Might be easier just to feed her to my bat."\

Hoshi ignores his comment. "She needs to get back to an environment that is more suited to her."

"Hmm." Muses the good Doctor. "Perhaps someplace where she could teach."

Hoshi looks at him, contemplative.

*

Captain Archer, Commander "Trip" Tucker, and Sub-Commander T'Pol are dining in the Captain's private mess.

" What kind of pasta is this?" Asks Trip, eating hardily. "It's great."

Archer replies somberly, distraught. "Chef told me. I don't remember."

Trip notices T'Pol moving her fork about but not eating much. "Too spicy for you?"

"It's fine." She quietly says.

Trip changes the subject. "Malcolm's anxious to run another weapons test especially after what happened. Tea?"

"No, thank you." Says T'Pol

He offers the pitcher to Archer. "Captain?"

"Sure, thanks."

"I heard they were humanoid." Trip says. "Is that right?"

The Captain confirms, "Humanoid."

"Did they look anything like us?"

"They were in uniform." Archer says.

Tucker keeps on probing. "But you didn't recognize the species?"

Archer snaps back at him. "They were crewmen, murdered on their own ship. 15 dead crewmen."

After a few moments of silence, T'Pol offers, "I detected a stellar nursery along our present course."

Tucker: "I saw one once through the big lens outside anchorage."

The Vulcan suggests, "A closer view might alleviate some of the crew's tension."

"What's the matter?" Archer prompts her. "The tension bothering you?"

"Not in the least."

Archer: "Must be great not to let things bother you. No remorse, no guilt. What if they were Vulcans? Think you would've reacted the same way?"

"They weren't Vulcans."

Archer presses on. "I said 'what if' they were Vulcans? Would you have just left them there hanging like slaughtered animals? Don't you think maybe you would've taken them down? Tried to figure out who they were? Made some effort to contact their families?"

"We don't know where they came from." Says T'Pol "It would be very difficult to locate their families."

"We didn't even try." Archer turns to Trip. "What about you? What if they were humans? Would you just stick your tail between your legs and run? Leave them there to rot? Am I the only one who's having a problem with this?"

Trip tries to console his Captain. "You said it yourself, Sir. Whoever killed those people is probably coming back."

Archer: "So we should avoid confrontation at any cost. Is that what you're saying? Is that what you vulcans do? Bury your heads in the sand and then just fly on by?"

T'Pol replies to him. "'We Vulcans' would have never gone on board that ship in the first place."

Archer puts his fork down. "Oh... You've got an answer for everything, don't you?"

She says, "We have a code of behavior, and we try to obey it."

Subdued but heroic music begins underscoring the scene as Archer states, "You may not believe this but humans have a code of behavior, too."

Captain Archer gets up from the table and moves toward the door. It opens and he turns around in the threshold and tells T'Pol, " It took a few thousand years but I think we're starting to get it right. I can't believe I almost ignored it."

*

"We've reversed course, Sir. We should be back at the coordinates in five hours." Says Ensign Mayweather, from the helm.

Archer asks the Doctor, "You don't have a problem with the environmental suit?"

"Not at all."

Archer begins briefing the crew. "Good. I'm going to need you to examine the bodies. Try to identify their species and while you're at it. It wouldn't hurt if you could figure out what's being done to them."

Phlox says, "I'll see what I can do, Captain."

Archer tells Trip, "You wanted to see what's going on over there. Now's your chance. I can't think of a better way to find their people than through their own comm system. You're going to need to get it up and running."

"Aye, aye, sir."

Archer continues the briefing. "Hoshi will decipher their language and compose a message. Hopefully it will make sense."

"Captain..." She protests.

He cuts her off. "I'm sorry, Ensign."

Malcolm suggests, "I'll bring a security detail."

"There's no one over there who can hurt us." Says the Captain. "Stay here and work on those targeting scanners. Prepare to suit up at 1400 hours. Dismissed."

*

The away team: Captain Archer, Doctor Phlox, Commander Tucker, and Ensign Sato are now on the alien ship. Archer and Phlox are in the room where they found the bodies hanging earlier.

"How were they killed?" Asks Archer.

"Different ways." Says the Doctor, pointing out bodies as he speaks. . "This one was given a lethal dose of chloraxine. The first three back there were shot. Particle weapons, I believe. This fellow hasn't suffered as much cellular decay. He's our best candidate for a postmortem. Care to assist?"

*

On what looks like the alien bridge, Trip and Hoshi have been working to access the comm system. Trip manages to power up a panel. "Yeah."

An alien voice begins speaking on the sound-system in the bridge.

"Maybe it's a log." Suggests Hoshi. "What do you think?"

"Beats me. Could be a laundry list or instructions on how to conquer the universe."

The alien voice keeps talking.

Hoshi: "The grammar sounds bimodal."

Trip is fiddling with the alien technology. "Their transceiver's intact."

He pauses a moment, then says, "Let's hope the next time we make first contact it isn't with a room full of corpses."

Hoshi: "Let's hope."

"Ship." She says.

The alien comm system buzzes.

"Ship." Says Hoshi, doing her best to translate the alien language.

*

Back in the corpse room, Phlox and Archer have managed to take one of the bodies down and laid it on a table. "Just what I thought."

"What?" Asks the Captain.

Phlox answers, "A zymuth gland. It releases triglobulin into the blood. That's what all these tubes and pumps are about. Whoever did this is trying to collect triglobulin."

Archer looks puzzled. "What for?"

"Oh, any number of reasons." Says Phlox. "To create medicines, vaccines. Some species have even been known to use it as an aphrodisiac."

"Aphrodisiac?"

"Mm-hmm. It's quite a common practice. I'm surprised you're not familiar with it."

Archer looks repulsed. "Humans used to collect the bile of black bears and grind down rhino horns, things like that but not people."

Phlox informs him of a grim fact. "It's worth noting that triglobulin is very similar to human lymphatic fluid."

*

Hoshi asks, "How long before the transceiver's on-line?"

"A minute or two." Says Trip. "I can't get enough of this. An alien spaceship... Sending off a message to who knows where."

Ensign Sato isn't interested, though. She just wants to get back to the Enterprise. "The quicker we get this done the quicker we can get back to the ship."

Trip looks at her jealously. "It's your second away mission in two days."

"Yeah, great."

"I wish I had an ear for languages." Trip muses, "The Captain's going to need a translator with him a lot more often than an engineer."

"Distress." She translates. The alien comm buzzes.

Hoshi keeps pushing buttons on the translator. "Two other teachers and I once took a hydro-skimmer out onto this small tributary in the amazon. You know, to see wildlife--sloths, pink dolphins all kinds of snakes."

"Wow."

"Gave me the creeps." She says. "If I didn't like being around anacondas you can imagine how I feel about Suliban or whoever butchered the crew of this ship. I'm going to ask the Captain to take me home."

This really surprises Trip. "You serious?"

She explains, "I should have never left the university. I'm not suited for this."

He tries to reassure her. "Give it a try; you'll be fine."

"You weren't here yesterday. I saw those bodies and fell apart. Captain needs a translator he can count on someone who shows a little grace under pressure. That isn't me."

"You can't be sure of that." Says Trip, in his kindly southern drawl.

"Oh, yes, I can.... Distress."

She pushes a button on the translator. It says, "Kunatsila."

"Distress." She says to it.

"Kunatsila." It replies.

She smiles. "I think I've got it. Ship in distress."

The translator replies: "Dukta-mutoor kunatsila."

"Dukta-mutoor kunatsila."

*

"T'Pol to archer."

Archer pulls out his communicator. "Go ahead."

"There's a vessel approaching, Captain. Its power signatures match the scans you took of those bio-pumps. It appears that whoever killed that crew has returned."

Archer grabs some equipment they brought over. "Time to go, Doc."

He flips open his communicator as Phlox grabs his medical case. "Trip, Hoshi, docking hatch now."

As they prepare to depart for the Enterprise, a huge, menacing-looking vessel drops out of warp and moves toward them.

***

"Distance: 60,000 kilometers." Says Mayweather.

T'Pol hails Malcolm. "Bridge to armory."

"Armory."

She asks, "We have a potentially hostile vessel approaching. Are you prepared to defend the ship?"

"That depends," Replies Reed. "How long till it gets here?"

Mayweather checks his readings. "Ten minutes, maybe less."

Reed answers, frustrated. "Then the answer is most likely no. The scanners are still out of alignment. Look, if you want me to hit a stationary dairy barn then I could accommodate you but not a moving vessel."

T'Pol: "Do the best you can but I need you on the bridge in five minutes."

T'Pol receives a communique from the shuttle. "Archer to T'Pol. Deploy the docking arm."

"Arm extended." She says.

"How close are they?" The Captain inquires of the enemy vessel.

T'Pol: "8,000 kilometers."

"What kind of weapons?"

T'Pol says, "Our sensors can't penetrate their shielding."

"Have you tried hailing them?"

She has. "Yes. There's been no response."

"Try again."

The shuttle successfully attaches to the docking arm, magnetically.

Mayweather confirms, "The pod's on the arm."

*

In the shuttle-pod, Hoshi is looking out the window at the approaching ship.

"T'Pol to Archer. They're still not responding."

The enemy vessel charges its weapons and fires on the Enterprise

We hear Lt. Reed on the comm-link. "They're targeting our engines."

Archer hails the bridge. "We're almost in--stand by to jump to warp."

The alien fires again, causing the shuttle to fall off the magnetic docking arm. Hoshi closes a slat over the window, blocking her view of the enemy firing on them. The docking arm grabs onto the shuttle again, and pulls them inside.

Archer shouts, "Doors!"

The docking bay doors slide shut. "Archer to the bridge. It doesn't feel like we've gone to warp."

T'Pol replies, "Our port nacelle has been damaged."

Archer: "Have Malcolm arm the torpedoes."

The enemy vessel continues to close in on the Enterprise.

*

Archer steps onto the bridge. "Report."

"We're dead in the water, Sir." Says Mayweather.

T'Pol observes, "They seem to have stopped firing. They're closing on our position."

Archer turns to his armory officer. "Malcolm?

"Both forward tubes loaded and ready, Sir."

"Stand by starboard tube." Orders the Captain.

Reed sits at his consol, ready. "Yes, Sir."

"Fire."

A torpedo streaks out toward the enemy ship but glances off the side and explodes, doing no damage.

Archer: "Stand by port tube."

"Ready." Calls Mr. Reed.

Archer gives the order again. "Fire."

This time, the torpedo seems to be flying straight toward their adversary, but the other ship fires a particle beam and destroys it before it impacts. Terrific explosion, by the way.

Archer checks with engineering. "Trip. Warp status."

In the engine room, Trip is running about trying to fix things. "The nacelle's been completely depolarized. I'm afraid we're stuck here for a while."

Suddenly, an odd purplish light beam sweeps across the bridge. Several of the crewmembers flinch away from it.

"What was that?" Asks Mayweather, alarmed.

Phlox checks his readings. "A submolecular bio-scan. You've been probed, Ensign. We've all been probed. They have no doubt discovered that your lymphatic systems contain some useful compounds."

Archer looks up alarmed, then says to Malcolm, "Get to the armory. Start distributing hand weapons. Post security teams at..."

He is interrupted by a shrill alarm.

Ensign Mayweather checks to see what it is. "Sir, another vessel just dropped out of warp. They're on an intercept course."

"Let's see it."

"They're hailing us." Says Hoshi.

Desperate situations call for desperate communications. Captain Archer tells her, "Put it up."

An alien man (at least, I assume it's a man) appears on the viewscreen. He is in what is presumably his bridge. "Atad dvii oora!"

T'Pol notices something. "Captain..."

Archer sees it too. "He's from the same species as the murdered crew. They must've picked up your distress call."

The alien they're talking to seems really ticked off. "Aureetuan!"

Captain Archer gets a bright idea. He tells Hoshi, "Tell him the ship above us killed the crew of the cargo vessel. They're about to do the same to us."

She enters it into the translator and sends it. The alien on the viewscreen runs around to another station on his bridge (Don't you have a crew, buddy?) And checks it. He gives us a funny look.

Hoshi: "I told him what you said, sir, but I doubt it made any sense."

"What do you mean?" Inquires our heroic Captain.

Hoshi plays with the translator some more, frustrated. "This isn't exactly Spanish we're dealing with here. I'd be lucky if I'm getting half the vocabulary right."

The enemy aliens grab the Enterprise with a tractor beam. They're very close now. Malcolm reports on this dire new circumstance. "They've locked onto us with some kind of stabilizing beam."

Archer shouts down to Mayweather, "Use the impulse engines. Get us the hell out of here."

"I can't, Sir. Their beam's disrupting all our propulsion systems."

The alien captain (the one on the viewscreen) starts babbling again. "Tomii alo owaba! Minas! Ooran tuo calla!"

Hoshi tries to translate. "It seems he got the part about killing the cargo ship crew, but he believes we did it, sir. At least I think he does."

T'Pol gets a bright idea. "Tell him we sent the distress call. Why would we kill his people and then do that?"

"Loor rah tee. Ahtara noss rohnay."

Hoshi does the honors. "I think I understood this one. He says the distress call came from his ship, not ours."

"We needed their frequencies." Archer explains. "Going there was the only way to find them."

Hoshi enters this into the translator and sends it.

The alien seems to be getting impatient. "Mii toras amayar tee!"

Hoshi: "Something about DNA scans. He wants to know why we were there two years ago."

Archer finds this confusing, as did I. "Two years ago?"

Hoshi explains. "He probably means two days, Sir. The phonetic processor is still having trouble locking on."

"Atah hoss moor at!" Shouts the alien.

Hoshi looks desperate. "I'm not certain, but I don't think he's going to help us."

Reed reads off the info on his console. "They're fifty meters above us. Forty Nine..."

"The pumps." Says Archer, reaching a moment of inspiration. "Tell them to run scans on the bio-pumps that are hooked up to the corpses. They'll see they're not our technology. Have them compare the power signatures to the ship that's about to land on our roof."

Then he asks, "Where are they, Malcolm?"

"They've stopped at about ten meters."

The alien ship is literally sitting on top of them, its tractor beam still engaged.

Hoshi tries valiantly to translate the Captain's message. "I'm having trouble with the word 'pumps,' sir. I've got the processor searching for synonyms."

"Loorah!" Shouts the alien. "Atah hoss!"

Hoshi: "The translator's not making a whole lot of sense to him, Sir. He's getting frustrated. I think he's running out of patience."

Archer looks over at her. "Then forget the translator. Do it yourself."

"Do what myself?" She says, not comprehending.

"Talk to him."

She's incredulous. I would be too. "That's impossible, Sir. I... I-I haven't even learned their basic conjugations."

Archer: "Talk to him, Hoshi. It doesn't have to be perfect."

"You don't understand--I don't even know how to say 'pump.' I'll get it all wrong. It'll... It'll just make things worse."

"Things can't get much worse." He tells her.

She looks at him, not knowing what to do. "Sir."

The enemy ship has dispatched some sort of mechanical arm which has reached down and touched the Enterprise.

"Captain." Says Lt. Reed. "They've started drilling into the hull."

Archer ignores him and runs over to Hoshi's station. He stands there, close to her, and looks directly at her. "Hoshi, hoshi..." He takes a moment to get her full attention. "I need you to do this. We all do. That's why you're here."

She looks back for a moment, then, unsure, gets up and walks to the center of the bridge where the alien on the viewscreen can see her. "Ataa... Dvii... Oora."

"Ataa iis?" He asks?

"Minas alo..."

The alien is definitely interested in what she's saying. Archer encourages her. "Again."

She is more confident this time. "Ataa loora iis da. Oorehm miista voor."

The alien replies, "Eetova vohmala?"

She quickly spouts off the following, which makes no sense to me whatever. Maybe as a reviewer I should blame Brannon Braga for writing it: "Iis da. Tuo-tuo ama tooras da. Veetal, veetal noss ohmeen. Oorah, ootah, ootah doee oora." oolong, chamomile, earl gray...

"Sciitaara." Says the alien.

Archer anxiously asks, "What'd he say?"

Hoshi keeps talking to him. "Latoora de..."

Alien: "Emos owaba. Aiista..."

"De!" Hoshi says emphatically.

Archer looks at her questioningly. "Ensign?"

The alien vessel (the one they'd been talking to that's the same race as the 15 slaughtered) closes the comm-channel with the Enterprise. Their bridge is replaced on the viewscreen by a starfield and their ship in it. They fire their weapons.

Reed grins. "They're targeting the vessel above us!"

Hit by the nice aliens' weapons, the enemy ship's tractor beam falters.

Mayweather excitedly starts pushing buttons on his console. "We got impulse back."

Archer: "Move us away."

With perfect timing, Malcolm Reed informs Archer, "Captain, I may be wrong but I think I've got the scanners aligned. Permission to launch a torpedo."

Archer smugly, grimly gives him that permission. "Granted."

The Enterprise fires two torpedoes. Both impact the enemy ship with tremendous explosions. The other alien vessel keeps firing, and the enemy ship explodes.

"Nice of them to wait till we got clear," Says Archer. "All stop. I think we may have just made a friend."

He smiles at Hoshi. "Thanks to you."

*

"Captain's Starlog, May 6, 2151: After helping them recover their dead crewmen we had a chance to spend some time with the Axanar. Turns out they're androgynous and live over 400 years. I look forward to meeting them again under better circumstances. Before we resume our course, I've agreed to make a brief detour."

The Enterprise glides through the black emptiness of space at warp speed.

*

On the surface of a strange new world, Ensign Hoshi Sato and Doctor Phlox stand on the reddish-brown soil

Hoshi sets a rock down. On the rock is the slimy – but adorable – Sluggo. "This isn't exactly like the place you came from but it's close enough. It's not that hard to adapt. You're going to do just fine here.

Phlox smiles at her, and the two of them return safely to the Enterprise.

[Analysis]

All things considered, Enterprise's first regular episode holds its own very well. This is primarily a Hoshi episode, which is an interesting choice of characterization considering the producers' repeated comments that Archer, T'Pol, and Trip will be the stars of season one. Maybe they just want to make sure she doesn't become another Ensign Kim... Which is a good thing. Linda Park gives us a solid performance which suggests a character with more than what we see on the surface. And she screams well. Too well, actually. I hope she doesn't scream this much in every episode. Hoshi's sub-plot about learning to thrive in her environment is handled well, although the comparisons to the space-slug are a little cutesy.

The episode's main predicament – that of the murdered alien crew – is well thought out and well written. Rick Berman and Brannon Braga have done an excellent job of showing us a turn of events that could conceivably lead to the way Starfleet handles these types of encounters in Kirk's or Picard's time.

All the characters are interesting and well portrayed. I don't think there will be anyone in this cast who is quite as unanimously disliked as Wesley Crusher or Neelix. An especially good character moment took place in the dinner scene with the command-trio. Archer's decision to go back was well handled and the episode would have failed if he had done it any differently.

My main concern is that the good characterization of this episode will be forgotten. After all, anyone remember Voyager's "Parallax?" Great conflict between the Maquis and Starfleet, angry Chakotay, and what looked to be planned as a mother-daughter relationship between Janeway and Torres.

The conclusion of the episode with the bad-guy alien ship attacking could have been a little more tense or exciting, but it showcased Hoshi's linguistic skills well when the nice-guy alien ship came to the rescue.

And finally, Jay Chattaway has long been one of my favorites of the recent "Star Trek" music composers, but this just wasn't a great score. It wasn't particularly bad, it just wasn't at all original or dramatic. It worked for briefing scenes with Janeway & Crew. Write something new for Enterprise, please.

But overall, a highly enjoyable and well written second outing. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

[Addendum]

Dear Delta Blues Readers,

I know my reviews since "Broken Bow" Part 1 have been slow forthcoming. Some of you have written me or Jim, and I'm sure you're wondering where they are. I apologize for the delay, and they should be coming out regularly on a weekly basis from here on out. Because of the delay, I'm going to write the breakdowns of the episodes as they come out and come back to the ones I missed this December, during reruns.

In short, though: