Summary
The episode starts off with Hoshi hailing a damaged shuttlepod
hanging in space. After finding no bio-signs, the opening
credits start. As we come back from commercial, we see
the command crew minus Trip and Archer listening to the
Captain's logs. They say Archer and Trip had a successful
first contact with the Enolians and were leaving the planet
Keto-Enal. As the crew are going over what could have happened
to them, Phlox says he found traces of human blood in the
pod and Reed comes to the conclusion that they were abducted,
with a fight.
We are then introduced to prison transport ship with variety
of aliens sitting in shackles with Archer and Trip sitting
among them. Archer asks a guard to speak with a superior
officer and the guard responds by pushing a button on a
pad, shocking Archer. A prisoner tells them they are heading
to Canamar - a prison colony.
Back on the Enterprise, we find they have gone to Keto-Enal.
After sending a description of Trip and Archer to an Enolian
ambassador, they are told they were arrested for smuggling.
On the transport, Archer and Trip are given some sort
of sludge to eat and as Trip complains, a very large Naussican
tries to start a fight. The guards quickly subdue him with
an electric shock. As Trip responds with a friendly thanks,
the guard proceeds to shock him too.
On Enterprise, the Enolian Ambassador says he has contacted
the transport ship and Enterprise can rendezvous with them
and pick up Archer and Trip.
Archer and trip are told by a guard that they will be
released to their ship, but as that happens, the Naussican
starts another incident, distracting the guard. As this
happens, another prisoner, an Enolian, somehow picks his
shackles and takes out the guard. He releases the shackles
on the Naussican and together they take out the other guard.
As they go for the pilot, he reaches for a weapon, forcing
the Naussican to take him out as well. After a scolding
from the Enolian, they decide to try and figure out how
to fly the ship themselves. When Archer tells them the
dangers of piloting a warp vessel without experience, they
decide to make him fly it. After all, he is a good pilot- "I'm
a smuggler remember?" As Archer figures out the controls
of the alien ship, the Enolian orders him to pilot the
vessel to a Binary system, four light-years away. When
asked why he was about to be released, Archer tells the
Enolian that his friends made a few "discreet" payments.
The Enolian also explains that he was able to pick the
lock using a sub-dermal implant that depolarized the lock.
Back on the Enterprise, they receive a distress signal
from the transport, which quickly cuts off. Hailing the
ship, they receive no answer. They increase speed toward
the rendezvous coordinates and order Enolian attack ships,
which are closer to the transport to intercept it.
Still in shackles, Trip is annoyed by a talkative alien
next to him. On the bridge of the transport, Archer and
the Enolian's conversation about Sol is interrupted by
two Enolian patrol ships coming up on their aft. Not wanting
to try and engage a more heavily armored ship, Archer convinces
the Enolian to release Trip and let him follow through
on a plan. When Trip is in position, they offer the patrol
ships their surrender. As the ships move in to dock, Trip
opens the plasma vents and Archer fires on it, igniting
the plasma and knocking the propulsion out on both ships.
The Naussican then shackles Trip back up, which leads to
a hilarious exchange between him and the talkative alien
to Trip's right. (more on that later)
On the Enterprise, the Enolian Ambassador tells the crew
that they have matched the voiceprint taken from the surrender
call and the man leading the revolt is Kuroda Lorehn. He
is responsible for many brutal crimes and the Enolian high
command doesn't want to take any more chances. He says
that the Enolian patrol ships sent to find the transport
have now been ordered to destroy it and if the crew wants
to save Archer and Trip, they must get to them before the
Enolians do.
Archer tells Kuroda his tale of being capture, with a
twist obviously. Kuroda becomes impressed with Archer and
offers him a chance to work with himself after they get
free. He tells them they are going to a trading outpost
called Tamaal and a new ship will meet them there. Back
in the "passenger bay" Trip finally flips on
the annoyingly talkative alien and orders him to just shut
up. As they arrive in the Tamaal system, Kuroda tells Archer
of his plan to dock with a shuttle and then destroy the
transport in orbit of the planet with the remaining prisoners
still aboard.
As Enterprise enters the system, they find a shuttle on
the way to the transport and plot a course to intercept
it.
Archer releases trip from his shackles so he can fix a
malfunctioning docking manifold. As he works, Archer tells
them they must retake the ship and Trip must take out the
Naussican. When Archer leaves, Trip asks the Naussican
for a hand with the docking port. With his back to Trip,
the Naussican is unaware of Trip picking up an extra shackle
which he knocks him over the head with. He goes down and
Trip takes his weapon. As Trip tries to stun Kuroda, though,
the annoying alien screams "Watch out!" and Kuroda
ducks under the weapons fire. He rolls to the side and
stuns Trip. The docking port still must be fixed, though,
so Kuroda keeps Archer alive to fix it. As Archer works,
Trip wakes up shackled again next to the annoying alien,
who tells Trip he should be thankful. When Archer finishes
fixing the port, the shuttle docks and Archer opens the
door to see Reed, Travis and a security detail run in with
their guns firing. They take out the Naussican in quick
work, but the lead security officer is then stunned and
Kuroda makes a run for it, hiding behind prisoners. After
a short gun battle, Kuroda is hit and goes down. The Enterprise
security detail loads all the prisoners onto the shuttle
as the prison transport begins to break up in orbit.
Archer runs to the cockpit to try and slow down the decay
of the orbit, but can't do anything about it. When all
but Archer and an unconscious Kuroda are off the transport,
Archer begins dragging Kuroda to the docking port, but
is surprised to find him awake. Kuroda locks the docking
port door and him and Archer start fighting. With an impressive
light show around them, Archer and Kuroda take turns giving
and taking blows, until Kuroda picks up a shackle to hit
Archer with. Archer grabs the control pad and shocks Kuroda.
He is distracted enough for Archer to get in a kick, knocking
him backwards. Archer makes a run for the docking port
as Kuroda runs to the cockpit. Unable to get Kuroda to
come with him, Archer abandons the transport as it burns
up with Kuroda inside. The shuttle and prisoners pull away
and get out of the atmosphere safely.
Phlox, T'Pol and the Enolian Ambassador wait at an airlock
on the Enterprise as Archer and Trip come through. Archer
tells Phlox to see to the prisoners and the injured guards
as he and Trip head down the corridor. The Enolian ambassador
offers his apologies for the "misunderstanding" and
asks the Captain if he wouldn't mind giving a report. And,
a very angry Archer, in one of the best Jonathon Archer
scenes of the series so far, grows a backbone and tells
off the Enolian. With Trip and T'Pol behind him, Archer
turns and leaves the Enolian ambassador in the middle of
the corridor alone.
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