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"Unexpected" |
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ABOUT THE
SHOW |
SHIPS & CHARACTERS
SEASON 1 |
SEASON 2 |
SEASON 3 |
SEASON 4 |
A rash of odd malfunctions are
afflicting the Enterprise NX-01, such as a gravity outage while
Captain Archer is showering. Chief Engineer Tucker determines
that the ship's plasma exhaust flow is being restricted for some
unknown reason. When Archer orders Lt. Reed to ignite the plasma
exhaust, they discover a cloaked alien ship riding between the
ship's nacelles.
Archer hails the "hitchhikers" and learns their engines are
malfunctioning and they've been using Enterprise's exhaust to
replenish them. Archer offers to help them with repairs, so
Tucker prepares for a three-day away mission on the disabled
ship. Tucker has to undergo a very uncomfortable three-hour
decompression and acclimation process, and when he enters the
Xyrillian ship, he is faced with a disorienting visual and
auditory experience — the walls are glowing with bioluminescent
moss, the consoles operate with viscous fluids and electrical
arcs, there's an aquarium holding hundreds of undulating eels,
and the Xyrillians themselves glisten with moist, scaly skin.
Tucker insists on going straight to work in their engine room,
but he has a very hard time adjusting to the environment. After
finally agreeing to get some rest, Tucker starts to enjoy his
stay, and develops a flirtatious friendship with the female
engineer, Ah'len. On a break from their repair work, Ah'len
shows Tucker a holographic chamber where she recreates a
three-dimensional landscape of her homeworld. While sitting in a
holographic boat in an exotic ocean, she introduces Tucker to
one of their games: they immerse their hands into a box of
granules which begin to glow, enabling them to read each other's
minds.
After helping the Xyrillians get their teraphasic coils back on
line, Tucker returns to Enterprise and the ships go their
separate ways. As Tucker relates his experiences to Reed over
lunch, he notices an unusual growth on his left wrist. He visits
Dr. Phlox, who determines the growth is a nipple and he has an
embryo forming in his ribs... Tucker is pregnant! Tucker insists
to Phlox, T'Pol and Archer that he had no sexual encounters
during his stay, but then realizes that the "box of pebbles" he
shared with Ah'len must have inadvertently served as a medium to
transfer genetic material. Phlox says the embryo is actually not
his child, but that he is simply serving as a host, so Tucker
hopes the lifeform can be removed from him and incubated. But
Phlox is hesitant to perform any procedure without learning more
about the Xyrillian gestation process, so Archer sets out to
track down the Xyrillian ship, while agreeing to keep Tucker's
condition secret from the rest of the crew.
Days go by as Enterprise looks for the Xyrillians, and in the
meantime the bulge in Tucker's ribcage is growing while he
experiences morning sickness, a ravenous appetite, and severe
mood swings, which baffle his crewmates. After more than a week,
Tucker has to face the possibility that he will have to deliver
the baby and care for it. On the "bright side," Archer points
out to Tucker's chagrin that he's making history with the first
interspecies pregnancy involving a human.
Tucker is relieved when the Xyrillians' warp signature is
detected, but upon approach, Enterprise comes face-to-face with
a Klingon battle cruiser. Apparently the Xyrillian ship has
malfunctioned again and they're hiding in the Klingons' plasma
wake. Archer hails the Klingons and informs them about the
stealth vessel. The angered Klingons intend to kill the
Xyrillian crew, but Archer tries desperately to talk them out of
it. Tucker steps forward and suggests that the Xyrillian crew
would be willing to share their holographic technology if their
lives are spared. The Klingon captain, Vorok, is enticed, but
refuses to let Tucker join them as they board the ship. Archer
then reveals that Tucker has some unfinished business involving
a pregnancy, but Vorok holds firm. Tucker then grits his teeth
and shows his "bulge," revealing he is the one who is pregnant
and giving the Klingons an uproarious laugh.
Tucker and two of the Klingons board the Xyrillian ship, and
after a decompression period, Tucker talks Trena'l, one of their
leaders, into cooperating. Trena'l installs a topographical
survey of the capital city of Kronos into the holographic
chamber, allowing the Klingons to experience a simulation of
their homeworld, and agrees to adapt the technology to the
Klingon ship. Meanwhile Ah'len is surprised to learn about
Tucker's pregnancy, unaware such a thing could happen with
another species. She scans the embryo and determines it can
still be transferred to another host, and learns it's a girl.
Captain Vorok informs Archer that the Xyrillians will soon be
free to go, but when Archer extends his friendship to the
Klingons, Vorok issues a stern warning that if they should ever
meet again, he will regret it. On a brighter note, life for
Tucker returns to normal again, except for knowing that he will
go down in history as the first human male to become pregnant.
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