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Enterprise is still undergoing
repairs, but Captain Archer is determined to make it to Degra's
rendezvous point on time. The crew, however, is still reeling
from the loss of the 18 crewmen who died during the Xindi
attack. The loss seems to be hitting Trip especially hard,
particularly when Archer orders him to write a letter of
condolence to an engineering crewman's family. T'Pol, meanwhile,
is dealing with problems of her own — she's coping with the
lingering effects of her trellium addiction, and is finding her
emotions difficult to control. Phlox points out that the
addiction caused serious damage to her neural pathways. She may
have to learn to live with these emotions.
Enterprise finally meets up
with Degra, who leads them inside a nearby Sphere cloaking
barrier. He then invites Archer onto his ship to meet with him
and the Xindi-Arboreal from the Council. Degra explains that he
was the one who arranged for Archer to be returned to
Enterprise. He also called off the Xindi attack on the ship.
Degra goes on to reveal that the Xindi weapon is set to be
launched in a matter of days — if the Xindi are to believe
Archer's story, they need proof and they need it soon. Archer
brings Degra and the Arboreal onboard Enterprise and shows them
his evidence — the Xindi-Reptilian corpses he and T'Pol
recovered from their time travel mission to Detroit, as well as
a sample of the toxin the Reptilians planned on using against
Earth's population. He also shows them the information
Enterprise collected on the bizarre trans-dimensional "test
subject" they encountered — which Archer believes was of the
same species as the Sphere-Builders. Archer uses the evidence to
deliver his point: humans and Xindi are destined to form an
alliance to stop the Sphere-Builders. If the Xindi attack Earth,
it will never happen. Both species will be destroyed.
Meanwhile, the ship's hull has ruptured and is spewing a steady
stream of plasma. To repair it, Trip and Malcolm Reed don EV
suits and head out to the hull, hoping to get close enough to
the malfunction to fix it. They're successful, but Reed
collapses from the heat. Phlox rushes him to Sickbay and Degra,
who has been observing, expresses concern for the injured
officer. Trip, who has barely been containing his resentment
towards Degra and the other visiting Xindi, lashes out — the
Xindi had no problem killing seven million humans, he says, but
one is more than they can handle? Trip continues his tirade, but
Archer steps in and orders him to cool off.
Later, Degra and Archer discuss their respective research on the
Delphic Expanse's Spheres. Archer apologizes for Trip's
behavior, but Degra assures the captain that he understands. The
two continue to talk, and seem to be forging a bond. Degra
expresses hope that Enterprise will one day be able to return to
its mission of exploration.
Suddenly, Enterprise is approached by a Reptilian ship —
somehow, they've found Degra. Enterprise can't beat the
Reptilian ship alone, soArcher insists that Degra has to help
them. Degra is aghast at the idea of attacking other Xindi, but
he knows their ship's vulnerabilities and realizes it has to be
done. He assists Enterprise in disabling the Reptilian vessel
... and then fires again and obliterates it. Archer is somewhat
shocked by this, but Degra tells him the action was necessary —
otherwise, the Reptilians would have contacted the Council and
the alliance he has forged with Archer would have been lost.
Later, back on Enterprise, Degra comes up with a proposal:
Archer must speak to the Xindi Council. He believes that
Archer's evidence will force the Council to take him seriously.
He gives Archer the coordinates of the Council chamber, but
since it would take Enterprise weeks to get there, he also
provides the location of a subspace corridor that can serve as a
shortcut. In the meantime, Degra (who has a much faster ship)
will do everything he can to stop the launching of the weapon.
Cautiously hopeful, the two men shake and agree to meet in three
days.
Meanwhile, Trip is struggling with the losses he's experienced.
He tells T'Pol that even though he's supposed to be writing a
letter to the family of Crewman Taylor, he can't help but dwell
on Elizabeth, his kid sister who was killed in the Xindi attack
on Earth. T'Pol manages to comfort him and helps him come to
terms with the difficulty of the past few months. Later, Trip is
able to write the letter, and in doing so, finally says good-bye
to his sister.
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