| Six
weeks into the Delphic Expanse, Captain Archer and his crew are still searching
for clues regarding the mysterious Xindi. They're also adjusting to the
newest members of the crew, a squad of Military Assault Command Operation
soldiers (MACOs), led by Major Hayes. The crew learns of a Xindi working
at a mining complex, and set out to track him down. Once the reach the complex,
Archer and Reed head down to the grimy mine and meet with the alien Foreman.
The Foreman offers a severed finger that he claims belongs to the Xindi
worker. In exchange for a meeting with the worker, the Foreman demands a
half liter of liquefied platinum. Back onboard, Phlox analyzes the finger
and confirms that it is from a Xindi however, it bears some intriguing variations
from the Xindi corpse that was recovered on Earth. The corpse, Phlox explains,
was reptilian. The finger is not. Meanwhile, Trip labors to strip some of
Enterprise's antimatter relays in order to provide the Foreman with his
liquefied platinum. Trip and Archer return to the mining complex and, in
exchange for the platinum, are introduced to Kessick, a humanoid Xindi.
Archer asks Kessick for the coordinates to the Xindi homeworld, but Kessick
refuses to give them up. He will only share this information, he says, if
Archer helps him escape from the mining complex. As they are arguing, T'Pol
contacts Archer and informs him that there are three warships approaching
Enterprise at warp. Archer orders her to go to tactical alert and plans
to return to the ship. Realizing that Archer has a starship in orbit, Kessick
informs him that he's walked right into the Foreman's trap the Foreman plans
to add the Enterprise crew to his labor force. Kessick says that he can
get Trip and Archer to their shuttlepod on the surface, but they will need
to take him with them. Seeing no other alternative, Archer agrees.
Back
on Enterprise, T'Pol is contacted by the Foreman, who informs him that Archer
and Trip have been delayed. Suspicious, T'Pol orders Reed to devise a plan
to recover the two officers, and to have Major Hayes assist him. Hayes and
Reed clash, however, when the major suggests that Reed's team is too valuable
to put in the line of fire, and that the MACOs should handle the mission
instead. Reed is irritated, but finally agrees. Still, he insists on leading
the mission himself. Meanwhile, Kessick leads Archer and Reed through a
sewage tunnel to a plasma duct. As the three men climb through the plasma
duct, the Xindi reveals more about his people, telling Archer that there
are five distinct species, all in conflict with one another. Unfortunately,
the Foreman is wise to Archer's escape attempt, and orders the plasma re-routed
through the duct. Archer, Trip and Kessick struggle to reach the closest
maintenance hatch but once they do, the guards are waiting for them. Kessick
tries to pretend that he is an innocent prisoner of Archer, but the guards
drag all three men to the Foreman, who orders them killed. Suddenly, Reed
and the MACOs burst onto the scene, intent on rescuing Archer and Trip.
An intense fire fight ensues, and Kessick is hit and knocked unconscious.
Everyone manages to make it back to the shuttlepods and return safely to
Enterprise. Just as the warships are about to catch up with it, Enterprise
jumps to warp. With everyone back onboard, Phlox attempts to treat the wounded
Kessick, but the Xindi is badly hurt and dies. With his dying breath, he
gives Phlox the Xindi homeworld coordinates to pass on to Archer. Meanwhile,
Trip is having trouble sleeping, and has been having recurring nightmares
about the death of his sister. Phlox recommends that T'Pol try treating
the commander with Vulcan neuro-pressure, a somewhat intimate method that
is supposed to be highly effective. After much urging, Trip finally submits
to the treatment, and is surprised to find that it works very well. Unbeknownst
to the crew, the Xindi council is monitoring their actions and some factions
believe that Enterprise is only the first ship of an Earth invasion. The
Xindi-Insectoids wants to destroy Enterprise, but the Xindi-Humanoids believes
that it is best to keep hidden until the new weapon is complete. Also locked
in conflict are the other factions of the species: Xindi-Sloths, Xindi-Reptilians
and Xindi-Aquatics. Once Enterprise reaches the coordinates of the Xindi
homeworld, the crew is surprised to find that there is only a large field
of debris the remains of a planet. The world has been gone for over a hundred
years. T'Pol deduces that the new weapon must be being developed in the
same location as the probe that attacked Earth. Considering this, Archer
orders Mayweather to take them deeper into the Expanse. |
