| Archer,
Tucker and T'Pol partake in a spicy dinner with an exotic alien trader named
D'Marr, discussing with him their needs for raw materials to patch up Enterprise.
In exchange for a few kilograms of an Earth beverage called "coffee," D'Marr
reveals the location of an old vessel that crash-landed years ago on a nearby
planet, a shipwreck that no one else has salvaged because it's "haunted."
The crew locates the derelict ship and goes to take a look, joking that
maybe they should calibrate their sensors for ghosts. Breaking into the
spooky wreckage, Tucker and T'Pol look for engineering while Archer and
Mayweather try to find clues as to what happened to the ship. As Tucker
uncovers dilithium crystals he says are in perfect shape, T'Pol sees the
reflection of a humanoid figure, who disappears immediately when she turns.
T'Pol reports that someone is there, despite the fact that scanners show
no bio-signs. She and Tucker spot the figure again and follow him, but find
themselves at a dead end. Tucker uses his phase-pistol to cut open the bulkhead,
and they discover a lush airponics bay behind it hidden to their sensors
by a dampening field. Exploring the oasis, Tucker is stopped dead in his
tracks by an attractive humanoid woman, who immediately rushes away. Tucker
and T'Pol chase her into a cargo bay, where they come face to face with
18 aliens pointing weapons at them. Archer and Mayweather join their crewmates
and speak with the Kantare, who inform the team they were a supply ship
who came under attack nearly three years ago from unknown assailants and
forced to make a crash landing. They didn't send out a distress call for
fear the raiders would find them and finish them off, so they opted instead
to hide behind the dampening field. Tucker believes he can get their ship
flying again, and the Kantare hesitantly agree to the help. While Tucker
is working in their engineering section, he is startled once again by the
young woman he encountered in the airponics bay, whose name is Liana. She
is the daughter of Ezral, the ship's engineer, and she gives Trip some advice
about the ship's systems. Her mother, Maya, tries to keep her away from
Tucker, but Liana is intent on getting to know the human and learn about
his world. As Tucker makes progress on the engines, the ship's captain,
Kuulan, asks him and T'Pol to help repair the computer core's optronic relays.
Tucker needs to get some diagnostic gear from Enterprise, so he asks Liana
to come with him. Her father initially forbids it, but she promises "not
to say anything." Meanwhile on the starship, Archer, Reed and Mayweather
examine a schematic of the Kantare ship and find discrepancies in their
story for instance, no indications of damage from weapons, and the fact
that the airponics bay is not big enough to feed all those people. Archer
decides to take a look at a data module they recovered earlier. Tucker is
giving Liana a tour of Enterprise when he's called to the captain's ready
room. Archer and Reed inform him what they've uncovered: the Kantare ship
was brought down not by an attack, but rather an internal malfunction and
it happened nearly 22 years ago! On top of that, they launched several escape
pods, and one has been found. Rattled that Liana would be part of such a
big lie, Tucker accompanies his fellow officers to the Launch Bay to open
the retrieved escape pod, and there he recognizes the desiccated corpse
of Shilat, a Kantare he saw alive on the surface just an hour ago. Archer,
Reed and Tucker bring Liana back to the planet and set out to get an explanation.
But then the Kantare confront them and confiscate their weapons, demanding
that repairs be completed before they'll let Tucker and T'Pol leave. Tucker
is forced to work on the optronic relays, held at gunpoint by Shilat. Tucker
asks point-blank how a dead man can be guarding him. Liana comes in, orders
Shilat to step out and begins to confess the truth. Meanwhile Archer, Reed,
Mayweather and a security team embark upon a rescue effort. They invade
the derelict ship and get into a firefight with the Kantare, but they are
at a disadvantage because the Kantare can appear and disappear at will,
and phase-pistol shots pass right through them! Tucker, now knowledgeable
of the situation, convinces Liana to stop the firefight. She begins removing
datachips from a console, causing each Kantare in turn to shimmer out of
existence except for herself and Ezral. Ezral confesses to creating holographic
versions of his dead crew to provide his daughter with a family to grow
up with. He believes himself responsible for the catastrophe that downed
their ship, because after an ion storm overloaded the plasma conduits, he
left his station to protect his young daughter rather than make repairs,
and an explosion resulted, killing half the crew instantly including his
wife. He and Liana ultimately were the only survivors, and for years he
tried in vain to repair the ship while watching his daughter grow up, so
he decided to bring his wife and friends back through holographic technology,
and the resulting "oasis" became the only home she's ever known. Archer
and Tucker understand his quandary, but they urge Ezral to consider his
daughter's best interests, that perhaps this life is not enough for her.
Later Ezral visits Archer on Enterprise and, though reluctant to leave the
home he created, acknowledges he should stop being so afraid of change,
and asks Archer to help him get his ship flying again. Tucker completes
repairs and sees Liana off, getting a kiss from her as she looks forward
to her new life. |
