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In scanning the Xindi database
obtained from the marauder ship, Captain Archer manages to
discern that the Xindi recently visited a nearby planet, and
plans to see if it will provide any more clues regarding the
mysterious species.
Once there, Archer, T'Pol,
Hoshi and Reed head down to explore the jungle-like world. They
discover a Xindi landing pod, which appears to be damaged by
weapons fire. They also find some alien remains, though they
don't appear to be Xindi. As the four officers continue to
explore, strange changes begin to take place. T'Pol, separated
from the others, notices that she is developing bizarre alien
characteristics. She goes in search of the others, and finds
that they have completely mutated into alien beings — they don't
seem to recognize her and are speaking in a strange language.
T'Pol manages to communicate briefly with Enterprise, but is
soon taken hostage by her altered colleagues.
T'Pol nabs Hoshi's universal translator and uses it to
communicate with the others. The alien Archer, Reed and Hoshi
all seem intent on returning to their homeland, which they call
Urquat. T'Pol tries to convince them to return to Enterprise,
but the beings do not trust her and insist on trekking through
the jungle.
Back on Enterprise, Trip decides to take action and heads down
to the surface with two MACOs. They manage to capture the
altered Reed, but one of the MACOs is injured. Archer and Hoshi
retreat to the jungle, so T'Pol decides to stay with them while
Trip takes Reed to the ship. Back on Enterprise, Phlox studies
the alien Reed and deduces that the officers have contracted a
mutagenic virus, which was apparently designed to rewrite the
DNA of its host. In other words, it will change the humanoids it
infects into another species. The virus has little effect on
Vulcans, which explains why T'Pol remained mostly the same.
Therefore, Phlox wants to concoct an antivirus using T'Pol's
genetic profile.
Before Trip can ponder this much further, Enterprise is hailed
by a pair of alien vessels. Their leader, Tret, says that they
have detected a dangerous virus onboard Enterprise — the ship
must be quarantined and the carrier of the virus must be
destroyed. As this would mean killing Reed, Trip refuses. Tret
comes onboard to discuss the matter further, explaining that
this particular virus infected tens of millions of people on his
homeworld. If they hadn't destroyed these people, the virus
would have transformed the entire population into an alien race.
Tret goes on to explain the origins of the virus — it was
created by the former inhabitants of the planet, the Loque'eque.
Centuries ago, they lost the ability to reproduce and created
the virus to transform other species into their own in order to
save themselves from extinction. Tret is concerned that, if
those infected leave the planet, the virus will be spread to
other systems, resulting in an epidemic. Upon learning that
there are other infected beings on the planet — Archer and Hoshi
— Tret prepares to send his men down to eradicate them.
Down on the Loque'eque planet, Archer has a dream about Urquat.
With renewed passion, he attempts to find this place, claiming
that it is underground. He leads T'Pol and the alien Hoshi to
some underground tunnels ... but once they reach what is
supposed to be Urquat, all they find is ruins, a devastated
civilization that obviously hasn't been inhabited for many
years. Suddenly, they hear Tret's men approaching. They manage
to escape to the surface, but more of Tret's officers are
waiting for them. Luckily, Trip and the MACOs arrive just in
time to save them, and take them back to Enterprise. Phlox has
managed to synthesize an antidote to the virus using T'Pol's
DNA. As he prepares to cure the altered crewmembers, Enterprise
takes off with Tret's ships in hot pursuit.
Tret's ships fire on Enterprise, but before they can do any
serious damage, Phlox presents a now-human Archer and Hoshi,
proving that he was able to find a cure for the virus. Archer
agrees to give Tret some of Phlox's serum in order to prevent
future outbreaks. Phlox suggests destroying the last of the
virus, but Archer insists they keep it onhand. He explains that
he believes Tret's men will most likely wipe out all trace of
the virus. As it was created in an effort to preserve a
civilization, Archer believes it's best to save what remains of
this species. |
