Star Trek: Enterprise s02e08 Episode Script

The Communicator

I need to spend more time in the gym.
If I'd known there were so many hills I would have picked a different city to explore.
It was worth every step, sir.
The architecture alone.
I could have spent all day in that temple.
With your permission, Captain I'd like to write the report to Starfleet.
It was my first visit to a pre-warp culture.
Seems only fitting.
I don't suppose it has anything to do with the tactical situation down there.
Am I that obvious? I can't think of a better man for the job.
Welcome home.
Any unexpected guests? Not a single parasite, spore, or virus.
- I take it the expedition was productive? - Very.
You're done here.
You know, as interesting as that was, it's always good to get home.
The speaker at the political rally What was his name? Chancellor Kultrey? Kultarey.
You could write a book about him alone.
His speech reminded me of Winston Churchill before World War II.
Is something wrong, Malcolm? - My communicator.
- What about it? It's gone.
It's been a long road Gettin' from there to here It's been a long time But my time is finally near And I will see my dream Come alive at last I will touch the sky And they're not gonna hold me down no more No, they're not gonna change my mind 'Cause I've got faith of the heart I'm going where my heart will take me I've got faith to believe I can do anything I've got strength of the soul And no one's gonna bend or break me I can reach any star I've got faith I've got faith Faith of the heart It's not in Decon.
- Any luck? - None yet.
Did the launch bay crew find it while they were securing the pod? I've already spoken to them.
I did everything but tear up the floor plating.
When was the last time you remember having it? I contacted T'Pol to let her know we'd entered the city.
After that? Did you have any reason to take it out of your pocket? - No.
- Are you sure? I'd remember.
Either I dropped it, or someone picked my pocket.
We covered a lot of ground.
It could be anywhere.
I think I can narrow down the search, Captain.
An inverse carrier wave should amplify its power signature.
With any luck, I'll be able to isolate it.
I'm getting something.
I've got it down to 2 square kilometres.
- Can you do a little better? - I'll try.
Didn't you say something about a war brewing down there? We saw a lot of propaganda.
But from what we could tell, nobody's started fighting yet.
It's crucial we retrieve the technology.
We can't risk contaminating a pre-warp culture.
I've isolated the signal to within three city blocks.
That's the best I can do, sir.
This "L" shaped structure, isn't that the fountain? The one with the statues? The tavern was directly across the street.
Here.
The communicator could've slipped out of my pocket when we sat down.
It's a good place to start.
You've got the Bridge.
Tell Dr Phlox we're going to need his cosmetic services again.
You could use another set of eyes down there.
I appreciate the offer, Trip, but the fewer set of eyes, the better.
- I'm a regular bloodhound.
- Next time.
We'll be in range of their surveillance towers in less than two minutes.
The hull plating's already been polarised.
Your feet ready for another hike? It's not a problem, sir.
Captain my carelessness was inexcusable.
I'm prepared for whatever reprimand you feel is appropriate.
How about 30 years in the Brig? Or maybe a good flogging? Sir? It was an accident, Malcolm.
It could have happened to any of us.
Three military aircraft, I suggest you increase our descent vector.
That should keep us well below their visual threshold.
This was the table? Positive.
Try your scanner.
Welcome back.
What would you like? - Can you give us a few minutes? - Of course.
Where's your friend? The young woman.
You have a good memory.
She was difficult to forget.
I'll pass along the compliment.
Do you live here? No.
Just visiting.
We received a shipment of Allakas malt this afternoon.
Sounds good.
- I've got it.
- Where? It's in a room, off that corridor.
- Were you in there? - No.
There are two people inside.
Better wait till they come out.
Does this belong to you? What is it? I don't know.
What kind of weapon is this? - Where is General Gosis? - On the eastern perimeter.
Send a Level 4 communiqué and tell him I think we've found a pair of enemy spies.
Take them to the Complex and put your men on alert.
You won't be seeing your friends at the Alliance for a long time.
I'm telling you, something's gone wrong.
We should hail them.
If they're in a public place, the communicator would draw attention.
We'll have to take that risk.
T'Pol to Captain Archer.
The com-line's open.
Captain, please respond.
Close the channel.
Did you get a fix on the signal? Somewhere in this district.
That's more than 30 km from the tavern.
Where's the shuttlepod? It hasn't moved.
They couldn't have travelled that far on foot.
Not that fast.
Maybe they took a train or a car.
If there was a change of plan, they would have told us.
Try to isolate their bio-signs.
I want to know exactly where they are.
There are nearly 100,000 people in that part of the city.
We'd have more luck if we moved into a lower orbit.
Any closer and we'd be detected.
Do your best.
- Still bothering you? - Didn't have time to visit the Doctor.
I wonder if the guard would bring us some Epsom salts if I asked politely.
I wouldn't count on it.
We came down to retrieve my communicator.
Now we've lost two of them.
Not to mention my phase-pistol and a pair of scanners.
I just hope they don't find the shuttlepod.
If they really think we are spying for this Alliance perhaps we should consider telling them the truth.
I'm not sure anyone would believe us.
Well, it couldn't hurt to try.
Visitors from another world? There's no way to know how they'd react.
- The less we say, the better.
- Understood.
Follow me.
Which of you is the Captain? Something unexpected happened when I was examining this transmitter.
It began to make a sound, so I opened it.
Someone calling herself T'Pol seemed very concerned about her captain's well-being.
Which one of you was she trying to contact? I'm the Captain.
The Alliance must be growing desperate if they're recruiting military officers as spies.
We're not part of the military.
I suppose you're the Captain of a pleasure boat.
This transceiver, what's its frequency, its range? I don't know.
This appears to be a computing instrument.
Tell me, how does it work? My superiors expect answers.
As an officer, I'm sure you can appreciate that.
I have no desire to harm you, but I need you to cooperate.
I'm sorry.
I can't help you.
I trust you enjoyed the rally this morning.
That's why you're here, isn't it? It's curious.
The two of you visiting this city the same day as Chancellor Kultarey.
Did you come here to observe his security arrangement? Or perhaps assassinate him? We're aware of your ancestral claims against our city.
It must make a tempting target.
We're visitors not spies.
This T'Pol who tried to contact you, where is she? You've been surgically altered.
General.
His blood.
It's red.
Take them to Temec.
Have him perform a full examination.
They're here, inside this compound.
Guard towers, gun emplacements.
It's not a hotel.
We could take Shuttlepod Two, set it down here.
They're being held less than 30 metres away.
We'd be back in orbit before anyone knew they were gone.
If you were captured, you'd be giving the inhabitants more technology.
It would undoubtedly affect the evolution of their society.
What if they didn't see us coming? We've still got that Suliban Cell Ship the one we used to rescue Klaang from the Helix.
I've been working on it in my free time.
I'm pretty close to figuring out how it works.
If I can bring the cloak online, we can get past their defences grab our people, and no one will see a thing.
Work quickly.
- I could use a hand.
- Aye, sir.
I suggest we monitor the communiqués coming from the compound.
They may tell us what's happening to the Captain and Mr Reed.
Right away.
I don't get it.
The power converter's engaged.
Juice is definitely flowing through these relays.
So why can we still see the ship? Maybe this panel isn't the cloaking device.
I've identified every other component.
It's got to be it.
Run the power-up sequence again.
This would be a lot easier if there was a button marked "cloak.
" Hold on a minute, Travis.
Are you all right? Just got the wind knocked out of me a bit.
Maybe a little more than that.
Is there any pain? It tingles a little.
Can you move your fingers? - How's that? - You tell me.
They feel all right.
- What does your scanner say? - Very little, I'm afraid.
Quantum physics is hardly my specialty but I'd guess that you received an intense dose of whatever particle radiation that ship uses to conceal itself.
Are you saying I'm permanently cloaked? It's difficult to determine but I suspect your appendage will eventually rematerialise on its own.
Eventually? Come back in an hour.
I'll check on your progress.
What am I supposed to do in the meantime? I can't work like this.
I'd also recommend a fresh uniform.
Thanks.
Shall we try this? It's some kind of coherent energy pulse.
I thought this technology was only theoretical.
Our Alliance friends seem to have turned theory into reality.
May I? There appears to be another setting.
If the Alliance has equipped its troops with these weapons Make sure the devices are kept under guard at all times.
Use men you can trust.
- What did you find? - See for yourself.
- How is this possible? - There's only one explanation.
Our prisoners belong to another species.
Dr Temec tells me your deformities are not the work of a surgeon.
He found no obvious incisions or scar tissue.
You're even more abnormal on the inside.
Redundant renal organ.
And you're missing four thoracic vertebrae.
Temec can't even begin to explain this mass.
As for your red blood the Doctor tells me your haemoglobin is based on iron, a toxic element.
He conducted the test four times to be certain.
He has a theory about where you came from.
I found it difficult to believe until I saw this.
One of our surveillance aircraft took this image early this morning.
The pilot said the object was travelling at very high speed.
Can you explain? None of the other planets in our system are capable of supporting life.
Where do you come from? Our scientists tell me it's unlikely that a craft of this size could have travelled from another star system.
They suspect a larger ship must be somewhere nearby.
Perhaps orbiting our planet.
Tell me your orders! Have you made contact with the Alliance? Answer me.
Our intelligence reports underestimate you, General.
Alien creatures? You're even more delusional than we thought.
This isn't a spaceship.
It's suborbital.
A highly experimental aircraft.
We've been observing your territory for months.
How did you evade our surveillance towers? It's made from a composite alloy.
Invisible to any of your tracking systems.
And your biological anomalies? We've been genetically enhanced.
What kind of enhancements? Our immune systems are resistant to chemical and biological weapons and our internal organs have been modified to increase cellular regeneration by 30%.
That way, our wounds can heal more quickly.
Create the perfect soldier.
How many of you are there? We're prototypes, the only ones.
And your devices, are they prototypes as well? All of them.
Take them back.
Do you believe them? It's a plausible explanation.
The Alliance could have thousands of soldiers with these mutations.
We need to verify what they've told us.
I ran every imaginable test.
If I were to extract the organs I could study them in more detail.
You'll be in charge of the execution.
I'll inform the prisoners.
Subcommander, another communiqué.
It's from a General Gosis to the Chancellor.
He said they've captured two enemy spies.
They're gonna hang them.
Reconnect the diffraction relays and we'll give it another shot.
Any change? Still missing in action.
Having a cloaked hand could have its advantages.
Be useful in a poker match.
I could probably become a world-class magician.
It might be helpful on movie night, if you bring a date.
In case you want to steal some popcorn.
Let's try it again.
Go ahead.
Is it working? Not exactly.
Shut her down.
The cloaking generator's running at 110%, and it's still not enough.
Let's route more power from the warp relays.
Maybe that'll do the trick.
How soon can you launch? We're still reconfiguring the power matrix - but I'm pretty confident - You don't have time.
They're going to be executed in less than two hours.
We'll get it working on our way down, if we have to.
Look, invisible or not this Cell Ship can take more of a beating than our shuttlepod.
You're about to find out.
Prepare it for launch.
An upset stomach? Do you really think he'd fall for that? It may be an old trick where we come from but maybe they haven't heard of it here.
Even if we got out of the compound, we'd never make it to the shuttle.
Not looking like this.
Genetic enhancements.
- Very creative, Malcolm.
- Thanks.
Improvisation isn't my strong suit.
You made us sound like the Suliban.
What do you suppose Enterprise will do? After we're If I know T'Pol she won't want to leave any contamination behind.
It may take some time, but she'll find a way to get everything back.
Including our remains.
It's ironic.
Giving our lives to protect people who want to kill us.
It's a big planet, Malcolm.
I'm sure they're not all like that.
I'm not afraid, sir.
What if we did tell them the truth? You said it yourself, Captain.
They'd never believe us.
If we show them to the shuttlepod bring the General up to Enterprise give him the grand tour top it off with dinner in the Captain's Mess We'd probably all have a good laugh over how he almost sent us to the gallows.
I've gotten plenty of lectures on cultural contamination.
But T'Pol never mentioned anything about sacrificing crewmen to prevent it.
If we did tell them who we are maybe it would do them a world of good.
Look what the Vulcans did for Earth.
That was different.
These people haven't even split the atom yet.
The Vulcans waited until we were ready until we had the ability to travel to other stars.
We're doing the right thing, Malcolm.
I'm sorry you won't get a chance to write that report.
It could still happen, sir.
I'm expecting a rescue party to come barging through that door.
Any moment.
We'll be in range of their surveillance towers in two minutes.
They'll never see us coming.
On your feet.
What was that? There's a power drain in the cloaking generator.
Are the warp relays off-line? Primary and backups.
The weapon nodes are active.
I thought we diverted power from all the secondary systems.
We did.
They may have been programmed to reactivate when we launched.
Three military aircraft off our portside.
They're on an intercept course.
Travis, can't you hold this thing steady? Lt'd be a lot easier if they stopped firing at us.
- Commander.
- Stand by.
He's my tactical officer.
He can tell you everything you want to know about the Alliance's troop deployments, their weapons.
Captain.
You don't need to kill him.
Your ride's here.
Sir, the phase-pistol, our equipment.
Don't leave without me.
Let's go! The shuttlepod's right where you left it, sir.
We'll be there in two minutes.
Captain? Sir, looking for this? Come in.
I scanned the region ahead.
There's a blue giant cluster three light-years from our position.
- Any planets? - None that are inhabited.
Sounds like a nice change of pace.
- Have Travis set a course.
- Yes, sir.
Was there something else? You took a risk coming down in that Cell Ship.
The cloaking device could have failed.
The cloaking device could have failed.
A calculated risk.
I'm glad you did it.
What's important is that we got everything back: The communicator, the phase-pistol, the shuttlepod.
We could have done a lot of damage to those people if we'd left any of it behind.
We did do damage to those people.
We've changed their perception of the Alliance.
They now believe their enemy is capable of creating genetically-enhanced soldiers, not to mention particle weapons.
And thanks to that Suliban ship they also think the Alliance has developed invisible aircraft.
You don't have to leave technology behind to contaminate a culture.
You were willing to sacrifice your life to protect them.
I would not have expected that.
- You're making excellent progress.
- Yeah? What about this? - That's nothing.
- Maybe nothing to you.
Give it time.
Thanks, Doc.

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