Star Trek: Enterprise s02e10 Episode Script

Vanishing Point

These are at least 300 years older than the ones in the last chamber.
You sure you can't read any of this? No.
How about you? Well, I think this says tall guys are popular.
You're a budding linguist.
Let's get a shot of that one.
- I wonder what happened to them.
- It is kind of weird.
Not a single bio-sign on the entire planet.
- Tucker.
- You about finished down there, Trip? You can't believe these ruins, sir.
We've been through two dozen chambers.
No telling how many more there are.
I'm afraid you're not going to find out today.
That storm we told you about hasn't changed course.
You and Hoshi are gonna need to get back to Enterprise.
We'll just finish up with Mr Tall and Popular.
We should be back to the shuttlepod in 5, 6 minutes.
Don't take any longer than that.
Archer out.
Captain, we have another storm.
Another one? The discharges are more intense.
- It's a good deal bigger.
- And stronger.
It's pushing the first storm through these mountains at twice the speed it was moving a few minutes ago.
They're diamagnetic storms, Captain, saturated with polaric energy.
This is the shuttle? Less than 10 kilometres from the first storm.
You may not be able to see it yet but it'll be coming through the mountain pass to the north.
We can see it just fine, Captain.
The storms are throwing up too much interference into the atmosphere.
The shuttle's out of the question.
These ruins have very thick walls.
I'm sure we'll be safe inside.
I'm afraid we're not talking about thunderclouds, Hoshi.
A polaric burst that could short-circuit a shuttlepod could do a lot worse to your nervous system.
But, sir, these buildings are over 4,000 years old.
I'm sure they've survived hundreds of these storms.
I've sent Malcolm down to the transporter.
We're going to need to bring you up one at a time.
Couldn't we wait it out inside the shuttle? Polarise the hull plating.
That would most likely attract a polaric discharge.
You have to do this, Hoshi.
There's no choice.
I'll need you clear of the structure, one at a time.
Understood, Captain.
- Ladies first.
- Have you ever done this? No, but the Captain has, and Malcolm did it twice.
They said there's nothing to it.
Your molecules get pulled apart.
Then they get put back together again.
Do you know how many molecules you're made up of? - Lots.
- All right.
How many? - A few trillion.
- That's a pretty big jigsaw puzzle.
What if some pieces get put in the wrong place? I bet a lot of them look real similar.
Starfleet said it's safe.
That's good enough for me.
Okay, but, you go first and if you get to Enterprise in one piece - I'll be right behind you.
- Fair enough.
- Tucker to Enterprise.
- I read you, Commander.
Ready to go.
- Commander? - Safe and sound.
I'm on my way, sir.
Ensign Sato ready for transport.
Welcome to the club.
How do those molecules feel? All in the right place? I'll let you know.
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 Come in.
- No worse for the wear, Ensign? - I guess you could say that, sir.
I'll be at my post in a few minutes.
I just want to clean up and change.
I think you've had enough excitement for one afternoon.
- The morning will be fine.
- Thank you.
I assume you and Trip will want to finish your survey tomorrow - weather permitting.
- Sir? You left a shuttlepod there, remember? Somebody's got to go back and get it.
I'm sure Commander Tucker can find someone to hold the second flash unit.
You wouldn't be using the transporter.
You'd be taking the other pod.
- I don't want to get lost.
- Lost? Too much excitement for one day.
I could really use some rest, sir.
See you in the morning.
- That's a lie, Malcolm.
- We all heard it, Commander.
- There's no use pretending.
- Come on, Travis.
Anyone sitting here? But that's what you said, though.
- Is anyone sitting here? - No.
Please.
- So, what was it like? - Travis.
Let her eat her supper.
It was very unsettling.
Didn't you find it unsettling? For a minute or two, but once I counted my fingers and toes I don't know, I just don't feel right.
It was probably that storm.
- You don't forget things like that quickly.
- It's not the storms.
It's the transporter.
I don't feel like myself since I went through it.
I need to check the medical database and find out what happened to the people they used when they tested that thing.
You mean other than Cyrus Ramsey? Cyrus Ramsey? Don't tell me you don't know about poor Cyrus.
Am I supposed to? You can't go on a survival overnight without hearing the story of someone seeing Ramsey's molecules re-materialising on a foggy night.
What happened to him? Next thing you'll tell us you never heard of the Easter Bunny.
What happened to him? Madison, Wisconsin.
May, I think.
2146.
He was a test subject for the first long-range transport.
Just 100 metres.
Something went wrong with the pattern buffer.
He never re-materialised.
Come on, Hoshi, everybody's heard of Cyrus Ramsey.
I must have fallen asleep before the ghost stories.
- Where'd you do your survival training? - Death Valley, California.
Middle of July, naturally.
You? Captain and I were in the same group.
Alice Springs, Australia.
Never saw so many flies in my life.
The biting kind.
- Tucker.
- The storms are breaking up.
We shouldn't have trouble getting you back down in the morning.
Travis was just telling me he'd like to see the ruins.
I don't think Hoshi will be joining you.
I'll need a pilot to bring the other pod back.
Travis it is.
I'll see you both in the morning.
Archer out.
- Never say I don't take you anywhere.
- You don't take me anywhere.
See you later.
Doctor? Dr Phlox? - Hello? - Ensign.
Something I can do for you? I just looked in there.
Were you in there? - Did you hear me come in? - I was feeding my leeches.
- Are you all right? - You didn't hear me.
I'm right here, Ensign.
Are you not feeling well? No, I'm not feeling well.
I de-materialised, and then I re-materialised and No, I'm not feeling well.
I heard about your ordeal on the surface.
Those storms sounded terrifying.
Doctor, I'm not talking about the storms.
I'm talking about my molecules.
Come sit down.
Let's take a look.
It'll take me a while to account for every molecule but you appear to be in one piece.
I don't think you're in danger of becoming the next Cyrus Ramsey.
Don't tell me they talk about him on Denobula.
I spent nearly nine months on Earth, remember? I just don't feel right.
Ever since the transport, I've been shaky, not myself.
- Not a single bio-molecular anomaly.
- No? How about this? A subcutaneous pigmentation.
It's not where it used to be.
It was a good centimetre lower.
Well, it looks lovely where it is now.
It's not a joke, Doctor.
If that machine could move a birthmark, who knows what else it could do? I'm telling you, I don't feel right.
I have a lot of animals to feed before bedtime.
If I were you, I'd get a good night's sleep.
- Hello? - You're needed on the Bridge, Ensign.
- What time is it? - 1100 hours.
- There's been an emergency.
- 1100 hours, that's impossible.
- My shift starts at 0800.
- Now, Ensign.
I'm sorry, Captain.
I don't know what happened.
Tucker and Mayweather have been taken hostage.
Trip got off a short message, but we've heard nothing in an hour.
Taken hostage by who? The people down there didn't like you disturbing their ruins.
People? There wasn't a bio-sign on the planet.
The chambers you and Mr Tucker photographed contained sacred relics.
How could you possibly know that? - Have you found their bio-signs? - They're still in the complex.
I'm trying to isolate the specific chamber.
It's Mayweather's communicator.
Go ahead, Travis.
- Ensign? - I need more.
This is Captain Archer of the Starship Enterprise.
We apologise if we've trespassed.
My crewmen didn't mean any harm.
I'm sorry, sir, it's not working.
I'm going to need more.
Can I speak to one of my officers? It's not going to get much better than that.
What's the problem? Maybe you should forget about the UT.
Just try and talk to them.
If I went back to the Universal Translator, maybe I could You already tried that.
Talk to them.
- I can't.
- Lives are at stake, Ensign.
I know.
I don't understand what he's saying.
I'm sorry.
No need to apologise.
Why don't you go back to your quarters and get some rest? Captain, I realise I overslept.
I don't know how it happened but, please, I don't want to go back to my quarters.
- Take the comm.
- Aye, Captain.
Malcolm.
Anyone sitting here? Subcommander.
Ensign.
Would you like to join me? Thank you.
I would have thought you'd be on the Bridge.
Why is that? Commander Tucker.
Travis.
The hostage situation was resolved.
They're back on board.
It's only been an hour since I left the Bridge.
What happened? Crewman Baird deciphered their language: A simple bi-modal syntax.
- I don't understand.
How? - With the universal translator.
That's impossible.
I ran every linguistic algorithm.
When the Captain agreed to return the soil and rock samples and destroy the photographs that were taken the hostages were released.
If we've decrypted their language, I should get back to the Bridge.
The Captain might want to speak with them.
Captain Archer has asked that you remain off duty for the time being.
Crewman Baird has been placed in charge of Communications.
After lunch, you should look at the secondary couplings.
- They'll need to be aligned.
- Alison.
Start on C-Deck, work your way downwards.
Yes, ma'am.
- The stream's too unstable.
- Come on, Hoshi.
- What? - You can do it, Ensign.
It's as easy as one, two, three.
- Can you see me? - Ensign.
Can you see me? Is there something in particular you'd like me to look at? Something's wrong, Doctor.
Something's very wrong.
Ever since I used that transporter nothing has been the way that it's supposed to be.
I couldn't translate a simple bi-modal syntax, but Crewman Baird could.
Crewman Baird doesn't know the first thing about our linguistic database.
And Captain Archer told me to stay in my quarters.
But my mirror doesn't want to give me a solid reflection and my shower can't decide whether to bounce off me or go through me.
And nobody wants to talk to me.
Sometimes I think they don't even see that I'm there.
The turbolift control won't even respond to me.
Well, I see you, Ensign.
And the Sickbay doors responded when you came in.
Transporter technology is very new.
I'm sure humans were just as frightened when the automobile was introduced or the aeroplane.
New forms of transport take a while to get used to.
I'm not at all surprised at your reaction.
You wouldn't catch me using that apparatus.
But I can promise you one thing.
You're in perfect health.
You're neither transparent, nor porous.
You won't put this in my medical record, will you? As far as I'm concerned, I didn't even see you come in here.
Not funny, Doctor.
I would like to give you a mild sedative.
It'll help you get a good night's sleep.
If it's all the same to you the last thing I need right now is to be medicated.
As you wish, but stop by in the morning, all right? First thing.
Thank you, Doctor.
You're upside down, Ensign.
I was taught never to contradict a superior officer.
The Captain told me what happened.
Did they treat you all right? Didn't even tie us up.
Once the Captain promised to give them their stuff back they walked us to the shuttlepods, and away we went.
I'm sorry I wasn't more helpful trying to translate.
- I don't know what happened.
- We're safe and sound.
That's all that matters.
- Have you tried this thing? - I get motion sickness, remember? Have you felt okay since we were transported yesterday? Considering that I've been back down to the surface, kidnapped and released I've probably had better days.
- Why, you not feeling well? - I didn't think I was.
But the Doctor seems to feel my symptoms are psychological.
- What kind of symptoms? - Just haven't been myself.
Everything's a little off.
Even the laws of physics.
Well, in that case, you're right.
You shouldn't get on this thing.
The laws of physics don't apply in here, either.
Sorry, just trying to cheer you up.
It's okay.
Phlox promises me I'll be fine.
It's going to be a while before any of us gets used to being taken apart and put back together again.
Seems perfectly natural to be anxious about it.
I hope it's just a question of being anxious.
What else could it be? I saw my reflection become transparent.
I saw water pass right through my hand.
I'm not convinced that the transporter put me back the way it's supposed to.
All the King's horses and all the King's men.
I can see why you might imagine the universe unravelling.
If you're afraid you haven't been put back together right why assume anything else makes sense? If I were you, I'd ask the Doc for a sedative.
Nothing like crawling into bed.
- You men are all alike.
- No, wait and see.
A night's sleep will do you a world of good.
Thank God you're here.
I've been stuck in here for hours.
- The door control isn't - She was here last night, over there.
Commander.
- T'Pol to Captain Archer.
- Go ahead.
Have the security details reported back? No sign of her yet.
We've covered the forward section of C-Deck.
- She's not here.
- Yes, she is.
Have you tried the bio-sensors again, Captain? - Still nothing.
- I'll go take a look at them.
I'm going to maintain our present orbit until Hoshi turns up.
- T'Pol, meet me in Sickbay right away.
- Yes, sir.
She came to Sickbay after the incident with the storm then a second time, early last night.
- She wasn't feeling well? - She said she felt shaky.
You're aware that was the first time she'd ever transported? - Quite aware.
- I believe that caused her anxiety.
She was convinced her molecules hadn't been reassembled properly.
I should have taken her more seriously.
These are the bio-molecular scans I took during each of her two visits.
They seemed perfectly normal at the time.
When I heard she was missing, something made me take a closer look.
You see these protein filaments? Now, look at this.
I'm gonna need some help here, Phlox.
Look how much her sub-cellular membranes have degraded.
These scans were taken less than 24 hours apart.
It's virtually impossible.
- What's impossible? - Ensign Sato wasn't imagining it.
Her molecules are coming apart.
It's the secondary phase coils.
- What about them? - They're not aligning.
They're not perfectly synchronised.
Must have happened right after I came up from the surface.
If they're not perfectly synchronised The re-sequencing would start to dissipate.
Within hours, she'll lose molecular cohesion.
She didn't want to go first.
I told her I wouldn't leave her alone, with that storm coming but she insisted on going second.
She wanted to be sure it was working, that it was safe.
I'm the one who should be missing.
I told her to go first.
She should have listened to me.
- It wasn't your fault.
- Take the transporter off-line and figure out what went wrong.
Starfleet promised me this sort of thing wouldn't happen.
- Aye, sir.
- Captain if there was a loss of molecular cohesion I'm afraid we shouldn't be looking for Hoshi per se.
- What should we be looking for? - Sub-cellular residue.
There wouldn't be anything left by now except for sub-cellular residue.
You're wrong, Doctor.
I'm still in one piece.
You just can't see me.
Have the Doctor help you recalibrate the sensors.
Then start scanning for this residue.
- Archer to Mayweather.
- Go ahead, sir.
- Archer to Mayweather.
- Go ahead, sir.
Prepare to break orbit and resume previous course.
Aye, Captain.
I'll be in my Ready Room.
- There's no way to be certain this is her.
- Is it Hoshi's DNA or isn't it? It's difficult to tell.
The amino acids have broken down.
Don't waste your time.
It's not me.
The internal scan said Access Shaft B-7.
She's got to be here somewhere.
If you spent a little more time trying to figure out what happened - What's the problem? - The stream's too unstable.
Lieutenant? Come on, Hoshi.
It's as easy as one, two Here, Doc.
Over here.
What do you think? Try isolating the dipeptides.
Now run a comparison with her genetic profile.
Why would she have come down here? I doubt we'll ever know, Commander.
Captain Archer will want Hoshi's parents to have this.
They're both alive, aren't they? Yeah.
Both alive.
You go ahead, Doc.
I'm going to stick around for a minute.
I understand.
- Hoshi? - You can see me? I should have made you go first.
What could I have been thinking leaving you down there? I was the ranking officer.
I had no business leaving a subordinate in the path of those storms.
Why didn't you listen to me? I told you we'd be safe.
And now look what you've done.
Captain, I need you to listen to me.
There are aliens on board from the surface.
They're planting bombs on D-Deck.
You've got to hear me.
The ship is in danger.
- Go ahead.
- We've located her father, sir.
The mother isn't home.
- What time is it there? - 0900.
Put him through.
- Good morning, sir.
- Captain Archer.
Is everything all right? No, sir.
Everything is not all right.
We've had an accident with our transporting device.
Transporting device? What is that? - You don't have time for this.
- A matter stream converter.
It was approved for transporting bio-matter before we left Earth.
Gotta find something to get your attention.
- We've used it a number of times - Bio-matter? What are you referring to, produce or people? I'm just trying to explain to you that Starfleet told us it was safe.
- So, Hoshi's safe? - No, sir.
There was an accident.
She began to - Her molecules began to destabilise.
- Her molecules? - What are you talking about, Captain? - This isn't easy, sir.
I fought to get Hoshi to come on this mission.
I'm responsible for her being out here.
She's become a member of our family.
Family? We're her family, not you.
Why are you calling me? To say that she has become a member of your family? I'm sorry, Captain, you are not making any sense.
We lost Hoshi today, Mr Sato.
- I wish I didn't have to tell you that.
- You are saying Hoshi is dead? We're all going to be dead if I can't get him to notice this.
Maybe you could call us back later.
This afternoon.
How about Morse code? You know Morse code, don't you? I need time to speak with Hoshi's mother.
Come on, listen.
- This afternoon.
- Can you hear it? - I'm so sorry.
- So am I.
Come on.
That's right.
It's not supposed to be making that noise, is it? Listen, you can hear it.
SOS.
It's a call for help.
I need you to hear it.
- Archer to T'Pol.
- Yes, Captain? - Could you come here for a minute? - Right away.
That's right, show it to her.
One of you will figure it out.
Look at this.
I've never heard it make that noise before.
The plasma circuit's being interrupted.
I'll ask Commander Tucker to take a look at it.
Listen to the pattern.
Three dots, three dashes, three dots.
SOS.
- Dots? - Dots and dashes.
Morse code.
It's been used on Earth for centuries.
It's a distress call.
Let's see how good your memory is.
- H-O - It's changed.
S- H It still sounds like Morse code.
l.
Come on.
This plasma circuit is self-contained.
No one outside of this room could be using it to send a message.
I'm not outside this room.
I'm right here.
It's been a very difficult day.
Perhaps you should get some rest.
You're right.
I'll have Trip look at it tomorrow.
Tomorrow's too late.
They're gonna blow up the ship! Captain! No, wait! - What's the problem? - What? - What's the problem? - What? - The stream's too unstable.
- Come on, Hoshi, come on.
You can do it, Ensign.
It's as easy as one, two Three.
Nice work, Malcolm.
I told you, piece of cake.
Where are they? We've got to stop them.
Who? You heard me? You can hear me.
Do you see me? - Everything's fine, Hoshi.
- It's not fine.
- They put a bomb on the warp reactor.
- Who? - The aliens from the surface.
- There's no one on the surface.
- It's uninhabited.
- What are you talking about? They kidnapped you and Travis.
We've got to stop them.
Hoshi, the transporter was affected by the storms.
I had some trouble re-integrating your matter stream.
Trouble? You were, sort of, trapped in the pattern buffer but only for a few seconds.
Are you saying that I was just on the surface? You insisted on going second.
- Do you have a mirror? - What? Forget it.
And I was sure I was going to be the next Cyrus Ramsey.
Cyrus who? So you're saying that all of that happened in 8 seconds? Actually, it probably happened in the last one or two seconds as your matter stream was coalescing.
She seems fine.
Malcolm's recommending some new transport protocols to Starfleet.
He's suggesting we start compressing the transport beam.
I hope you don't plan on beaming me anywhere for a long time.
But you said you stepped onto the aliens' transporter by choice.
I was trying to save Enterprise.
- Sounds like you overcame your fear.
- It's all in my head, remember? Does it matter? You were afraid of getting lost, afraid of disappearing but you still climbed onto that platform, real or not.
If it's all the same to you, sir I'd like to stick to shuttlepods for the time being.
Come on.
Let's go to the Bridge.
Captain If you don't mind.

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