| Enterprise
navigates into a stellar nursery hoping to make contact with
some of the alien vessels detected among the colorful gases
and protostars. Finding a transport vessel escorting a group
of alien pilgrims to the "Great Plume of Agosoria,"
a protostar which emits an epic burst of energy every 11
years, Captain Archer decides to caravan with the pilgrimage
ship, and invites the group for a social dinner onboard Enterprise.
Relations fare well among the starship crew and the pilgrims;
culminating with Commander Trip Tucker giving a guided tour of
the Enterprise engineering bay. As the group listens
attentively to Trip's oversimplified explanation of the warp
engines, one pilgrim silently slips behind a bulkhead
unnoticed. He opens a panel and dislocates his limb in order
to disconnect a conduit within — he is a Suliban. After the
disguised invader rejoins the group, the entire ship is
suddenly rocked by a powerful plasma storm within the stellar
nursery. Unsuccessfully attempting to steer clear of the
storm, Enterprise is repeatedly hit with plasma
lighting, severely damaging the warp manifold and starting a
disastrous antimatter cascade traveling towards the reactor.
Instead of completely destroying the ship, though, the cascade
is suddenly stopped dead at the very console the Suliban
tampered with moments before.
After
the jostled pilgrims return to their ship, Trip informs Archer
of the recently discovered separated conduit, and that
although it's what saved the ship, no one is taking
responsibility for its disconnection. Perplexed, a sullen
Archer is approached by Crewman Daniels, a steward in the Mess
Hall, who reveals he is not really a member of Starfleet, but
a soldier from 900 years in the future. Taking Archer to his
quarters, Daniels uses a futuristic device to project a
holographic "temporal observatory." Daniels claims
he was sent to track and stop Silik — the same Suliban whom
Archer fought on the Helix during the ship's first mission —
from altering history, but he requires a portion of the Enterprise's
power and equipment to operate his futuristic tracking
technology. Archer discusses Daniel's proposal with a stunned
Trip and the ever-skeptical T'Pol, ultimately deciding that in
case a "Temporal Cold War" actually does exist, it
would be best to give Daniels the aid he needs. Trip and T'Pol
help Daniels set up his tracking devices in Engineering and
are amazed at his futuristic technology, particularly a device
that allows its operator to literally walk through walls.
Meanwhile a suspicious Archer attempts to seek out Silik from
the group of pilgrims, who have returned to the Enterprise
Mess Hall in order to gain a better view of the rapidly
approaching Plume of Agosoria. But when Archer returns to his
quarters he is ambushed by the awaiting Silik. Insisting
someone else is actually the one trying to alter history,
Silik claims to be there to stop whomever it might be and
needs Archer's help in identifying the unknown soldier. In an
attempt to gain Archer's trust Silik confesses to having
disconnected the conduit and saving Enterprise, but
while Archer denies knowing who Silik is referring to, T'Pol
announces over the com that Daniels' modifications in
Engineering are complete, which unwittingly provides Silik
with the information he required. No longer needing him, Silik
stuns Archer into unconsciousness. While waiting for Archer to
arrive, Daniels' tracking device alerts him to Silik's
presence within Engineering, and he insists Trip and T'Pol
immediately leave to bring reinforcements to help contain
Silik. As the two comply and leave Engineering, they witness
Silik murder Daniels without hesitation, then use his
genetically enhanced camouflaging ability to disappear from
sight. Awakened by Dr. Phlox, a sore Archer orders every outer
door and hatch sealed, and security posted on all decks to
prevent Silik's escape. Then confirming his suspicion, Archer
takes T'Pol into Daniels' quarters and discovers that the
device Daniels used to project the Temporal Observatory has
been stolen; deducing it was probably Silik's mission in the
first place. Silik is detected by Ensign Hoshi Sato as he
attempts to bypass the lockout codes for Launch Bay One, while
Trip helps Archer by giving him the phasing device he
witnessed Daniels use earlier. Archer uses it to walk through
a bulkhead wall, catching Silik by surprise, when suddenly
both men are violently rocked as Enterprise experiences
heavy plasma turbulence from the much anticipated Plume of
Agosoria. Silik seizes the moment to escape inside the Launch
Bay, quickly followed by Archer, who, rather than letting
Silik have it, opts to shoot Daniels' device out of Silik's
clutched grasp. Seeing the device is destroyed, Silik
camouflages himself and flees, gaining enough time to open the
Launch Bay doors. Holding on to a handrail as the ensuing
vacuum decompresses the bay of air, Archer watches as Silik
steps to the edge of the opening and jumps out of the ship
headlong into the cloudy depths of the stellar nursery. Saving
himself from being sucked into space after Silik, Archer
climbs into a control room and repressurizes it so he can
breath again. T'Pol comes over the com, requesting to follow
Silik who has just been picked up from space by a Suliban cell
ship. Archer denies T'Pol's request, opting to let the
conniving Silik go as he failed to get what he came for
anyway. Before retiring to bed, the exhausted Archer orders
Daniels' quarters to be sealed off indefinitely, as a
safeguard against any other unknown powerful and mysterious
devices that may lie within.
Guest
Cast:
John
Fleck
as Silik
Matt Winston as Daniels
Michael O'Hagan as Captain Fraddock
Joseph Hindy as Prah Mantoos
Leonard Kelly-Young as Sonsorra
Lamont D. Thompson as Alien Pilgrim Creative
staff:
Director:
Robert Duncan McNeill
Written By: Stephen Beck & Tim Finch Previous
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