The
Seventh
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T'Pol is assigned a secret mission by the Vulcan High Command, she
asks Archer to accompany her. The captain is surprised by her request,
but agrees especially when T'Pol reveals that there is a personal
side to the mission. Many years ago, T'Pol was sent to retrieve
several rogue Vulcan operatives. She was able to apprehend all but
one of them, a man known as Menos. Now, the Vulcans believe they
have located Menos, and they want T'Pol to bring him in. Soon, T'Pol,
Archer and Mayweather are on their way to the Pernaia system, where
Menos was last spotted. As Mayweather pilots their craft, T'Pol
briefs Archer on Menos: he was assigned to infiltrate a cell of
smugglers, and apparently became one of them. Now, he reportedly
makes a career of smuggling synthetic bio-toxins used to make transgenic
weapons. T'Pol last spotted him on Risa, where she nearly caught
him. Once the trio lands at the snowy alien outpost, T'Pol spots
Menos in the crowded, bar-like shelter. Menos puts up a good fight,
but Mayweather manages to apprehend him, and the trio prepares to
take him aboard their ship. Unfortunately, the landing deck of the
outpost is being thermalized, and they won't be able to leave for
several hours. Meanwhile, back on Enterprise, Trip is confronted
with the difficulty of serving as acting captain. Both Phlox and
Reed need him to make decisions that will affect the ship and crew,
while Hoshi informs him that Enterprise has been hailed by the Vulcan
Captain Tavek, who has an urgent message from Admiral Forrest. When
Tavek insists on speaking to the captain, Trip pretends to be Archer.
As it turns out, the message from Forrest consists of water polo
scores, and a relieved Trip hastily thanks the captain and bids
him farewell. Back at the alien outpost, Archer, T'Pol and Mayweather
are holding Menos captive until it's safe to take off. Menos tries
to appeal to T'Pol, saying that he has a wife and two daughters
and that he's really not a smuggler at all he merely transports
spent injector casings. As they continue to talk, Menos insinuates
that he wasn't alone when T'Pol nearly apprehended him on Risa.
This triggers some fragmented flashes of memory for T'Pol. In one
vision, she sees herself chasing two men through the jungle; in
another, she seems to be in emotional distress at a Vulcan monastery.
Determined to prove that Menos is a criminal, T'Pol makes her way
across the dangerous dock to his ship ? only to find cases full
of spent injector casings. Frustrated, she returns to the shelter,
and asks to speak to Menos alone. With his help, she manages to
piece her visions into a coherent scenario. It seems that there
was one other fugitive she was charged with retrieving: Jossen,
who she spotted on Risa with Menos. She chased both of them through
the jungle, and ended up killing Jossen. Later, she underwent an
obscure Vulcan ritual known as the Fullara, wherein her memories
of the event and all the surrounding emotions were repressed. T'Pol
reveals this to Archer, who is upset that Menos is manipulating
her emotions. With T'Pol's guard down, Menos manages to escape,
and Archer, Mayweather and T'Pol chase him to his ship. Though Menos
nearly traps them, T'Pol manages to apprehend him. As she trains
a weapon on him, Menos appeals to her guilt he insists that she
will let him go, rather than killing another innocent man. Archer,
however, reminds T'Pol that she was assigned to apprehend Menos
not judge him. The captain's words help T'Pol to come to final decision,
and she brings Menos in. Meanwhile, Mayweather discovers that Menos
actually was hauling more than injector casings a large container
of bio-toxins sits just beyond a hidden forcefield. Back on Enterprise,
Archer extends his sympathies to T'Pol, noting that her newly-resurfaced
memories aren't going to be easy to deal with. T'Pol notes that
she's ready to move on, and tells Archer that if he ever needs someone
he can trust, she's there for him. |
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