DIRECTED BY
AIRED ON
January 23, 2002
RUNTIME
44 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
163
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-12 18:58:31
PAGE VERSION
Version 1
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0
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0
SUMMARY
The crew discovers a new planet with two races, one in desperate need of medical and scientific assistance. In the course of trying to help, Dr. Phlox recalls his own Denobulan past to address the ethical dilemmas that arise in the present.
STORY
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BEHIND THE SCENES
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QUOTES
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REVIEWS
I see an average episode
Written by
Pike on 2018-04-05
★
★
★
★
On one side, there is progression in the main characters' storylines. On the other, the smaller stories are uninteresting in this episode.
But the worst part of this episode is without any doubt the story of Benton magically curing the ills. This was really beyond the series standards.
SUMMARY
I give it 4 out of 10. Average.
TRANSCRIPT
[Sickbay]
(Phlox enters and switches on the lights.)
PHLOX: Good morning, everyone. Be patient.
(The menagerie awakes and starts chirping, rustling and making general living noises as he goes around feeding them.)
PHLOX: Ah! Someone had a busy night.
(He picks up a small egg, drops in some meat, a clawed arm reaches from the sand and drags it down.)
PHLOX: Don't worry. I didn't forget you.
(He removes cover from case and offers a green caterpillar to the occupant.)
PHLOX: Now, Let's try it without biting my fingers this time.
(Phlox eats the second one himself. Later, Hoshi enters bearing a PADD.)
HOSHI: People are getting jealous. You get more letters from home than anyone on this ship. What's her name?
PHLOX: It's nothing like that. They're from Doctor Lucas. He's a colleague from the Interspecies Medical Exchange.
HOSHI: I didn't know there were humans serving on Denobula.
PHLOX: He's the first. He helped me get settled in when I came to San Francisco. I'm trying to return the favour.
HOSHI: I had a pen pal once when I was twelve, from Brisbane, Australia, and I loved getting her letters. It was like this little window into distant places with strange sounding names.
PHLOX: The curiosity of an explorer, even then.
HOSHI: Are we still on for later?
PHLOX: Oh, yes. I'm looking forward to it. If you think you're ready, we can tackle gerunds today.
HOSHI: I can hardly wait.
(Hoshi leaves. Phlox sits down to listen to his letter.)
LUCAS [OC]: My dear Doctor Phlox, it's me again, Jeremy. I hope you are well. It's been a hell of a week here. Wall to wall emergencies and three midnight deliveries. It's mating season, so you know how that goes. I thought human reproduction was complicated. You Denobulans make us look like single-cell organisms.
PHLOX [OC]: Dear Doctor Lucas, sorry to hear about your difficult week. I know the rigours of mating season only too well. It might help to bear in mind that a dose of niaxilin can be quite effective in separating the two combatants. It sounds like you've settled into your new living quarters. That part of the city has some very lively Kaybin bars along the river.
[Engineering]
TUCKER: Up here, Doc!
PHLOX [OC]: They're open all night, if I recall. Please, don't venture inside them unescorted. They can be quite disturbing to the uninitiated.
(There is an injured crewman on the upper walkway.)
TUCKER: He was trying to reroute a nitrogen valve and the seal blew. How bad is it?
(Phlox checks the man's head and hand.)
PHLOX: Oh, it's superficial. Only first degree burns. A little dermoline gel should do the trick.
PHLOX [OC]: Most of my work is fairly routine. Scrapes and bruises, the occasional emergency. And you'll be pleased to hear that the crew finally seems to be growing accustomed to an alien doctor on board. I must admit, I wasn't planning to stay this long but the opportunity to observe your species on their first deep space venture has proven irresistible.
[Mess hall]
PHLOX: Lieutenant, I saved a seat for you.
REED: Yeah, another time, Doctor. I'm due back in the Armoury.
PHLOX [OC]: It's a bit daunting at times, trying to socialise with the crew, form friendships, but our profession guarantees that sooner or later everyone comes to see us. It makes interaction quite a bit easier.
[Sickbay]
PHLOX: It's just a little gastrointestinal distress.
ARCHER: He hasn't been himself lately.
(Archer strokes Porthos.)
PHLOX: Well, you've been feeding him cheese again, haven't you? You've got to learn how to say no, Captain.
ARCHER: No more dairy products, you hear that? Doctor's orders.
PHLOX [OC]: I never thought I'd meet a species that forges such intimate bonds with lesser creatures. It's surprising the things you humans choose to invest your emotions in.
ARCHER: Sorry to bother you with this.
PHLOX: No bother. He was one of my more co-operative patients today.
ARCHER: Thanks, Doc. (to Porthos) See all the trouble you cause?
PHLOX [OC]: I've noticed how the captain seems to anthropomorphise his pet. He even talks to the creature although I'm fairly certain it has no idea what he's saying. Then again, I've been known to speak to my Pyrithian bat on occasion.
[Mess hall]
(It's movie night - For Whom The Bell Tolls, 1943, starring Gary Cooper and Ingrid Bergman.)
ROBERT [on screen]: We won't be going to America this time, but always I go with you wherever you go. Understand? You go now, Maria.
MARIA [on screen]: No. I stay with you, Roberto.
ROBERT [on screen]: No, Maria. What I do now, I do alone. I couldn't do it if you were here. If you go, then I go, too. Don't you see how it is? Whichever one there is.
MARIA [on screen]: No! No!
CUTLER: (seeing Phlox looking around) We can go if you're bored.
PHLOX: No, no. I'd like to stay and see what happens.
CUTLER: You won't be disappointed. The ending's classic.
PHLOX: No, not the film. I'm sensing a rising emotional undercurrent in the room. I'm curious to see if it culminates in some kind of group response.
CUTLER: They don't have movies where you come from, do they?
PHLOX: We had something similar a few hundred years ago, but they lost their appeal when people discovered their real lives were more interesting.
CUTLER: Still, it's nice to take a break from real life every now and then, don't you think?
PHLOX: I suppose it is.
(Phlox takes popcorn.)
ROBERT [on screen]: I am you now, and you are me. Now you understand and you're going well and fast and far
(Tucker realises Phlox has spotted him crying.)
TUCKER: Something in my eye.
ROBERT [on screen]: Stand up now and go and we both go. Stand up, Maria. Remember, you're me too.
PHLOX [OC]: It's remarkable, Doctor. Even fictional characters seem to elicit human compassion. My shipmates have calmly faced any number of dangers, and yet a simple movie can bring tears to their eyes.
[Corridor]
PHLOX: Temporal vein.
CUTLER: Temporal vein. Internal maxillary.
PHLOX: And what is the maxillary connected to?
CUTLER: Posterior auricular?
PHLOX: Very good. The external jugular.
CUTLER: Oh, er, superior vena cava.
PHLOX: And that leads to?
CUTLER: Oh, easy. The seat of all joy and sadness.
PHLOX: Physiologically, it is nothing more than a very efficient pump. What could possibly make you people think it is the source of all emotion?
CUTLER: You know, you may know about our cardiopulmonary system, but you have a lot to learn about the human heart. (gestures to door) This is me.
PHLOX: Good night.
(Phlox starts to walk away.)
CUTLER: Oh, Doctor. I just wanted to thank you. It was fun tonight.
PHLOX: You're welcome.
CUTLER: Er, they're showing another one next week. Sunset Boulevard. I think you might like it.
PHLOX: I'm sure I will.
(Cutler puts her hand on his shoulder.)
CUTLER: See you tomorrow? Oh, sorry. I forgot Denobulans don't like to be touched.
PHLOX: It's all right. I'm trying to shed some of my cultural inhibitions.
CUTLER: Oh, in that case.
(She gives him a kiss on the cheek.)
CUTLER: Good night.
(Cutler goes into her quarters, Phlox walks on.)
PHLOX [OC]: Since we were on the subject of mating, I think Crewman Cutler may be romantically interested in me. I can't be certain, however. The pheromones of human females aren't as potent as Denobulans'.
[Bridge]
(A spaceship hangs motionless in the middle of the viewscreen.)
ARCHER: Are there any inhabited systems nearby?
T'POL: There's a Minshara class planet less than a light year away.
HOSHI: The ship's not answering our hails, Captain.
REED: It's definitely pre-warp, sir. It could be unmanned. Maybe a probe of some kind.
ARCHER: Any biosigns?
T'POL: Two, but they're very faint.
ARCHER: Bring it into Launch Bay two, and tell Doctor Phlox he might have a couple of patients.
[Sickbay]
(They revive a humanoid with pronounced bones around the eye sockets and forehead.)
ARCHER: We found your ship adrift. We thought we might be able to help.
ALIEN: Trenakadula ta? Morana dona?
HOSHI: I need a little more.
ARCHER: I'm Jonathan Archer. You're on the Starship Enterprise.
ALIEN: Kandala vaganish. Yoreta vala?
(Hoshi nods.)
ARCHER: Can you understand me?
ALIEN: Who are you? What planet?
ARCHER: Earth. We're from Earth.
ALIEN: This is a warp vessel?
ARCHER: Yes.
ALIEN: We left Valakis over a year ago, along with three other ships.
ARCHER: Why?
ALIEN: You must have noticed our condition by now.
PHLOX: I detected the illness.
ALIEN: Twelve million of us died the year before we left. I can only imagine how many have died since. Our doctors can't find a cure, but a more advanced people, people with warp technology, like you, your medical science must be more effective.
T'POL: You've encountered other warp-capable species?
ALIEN: The M'klexa and the Ferengi. They both visited our world. Do you know them?
T'POL: No.
ALIEN: Are you the ship's doctor?
PHLOX: I am.
ALIEN: My people are dying. Will you allow him to help us?
(Archer and T'Pol walk away a little to discuss.)
ARCHER: Any thoughts?
T'POL: They did come looking for us, and considering they've already met two other warp-capable species the risk of contamination seems acceptable.
ARCHER: (to Phlox) See what you can do.
ALIEN: Thank you.
PHLOX [OC]: If this letter arrives later than usual, Doctor, I hope you'll forgive me. I've been presented with a rather unusual case involving a pair of alien astronauts. It may not surprise you that they landed in my Sickbay through an act of human compassion. I said before that my duties entail the occasional emergency. Emergencies, it seems, come in all shapes and sizes. I was once nearly overwhelmed by fifty patients in a refugee camp on Matalas. Captain Archer is now asking me to take responsibility for over fifty million.
[Mess hall]
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) How are your patients?
PHLOX: (in Denobulan) Their condition is grave, but they're resting for now.
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) I'm sure you'll find a way to help them.
PHLOX: (in Denobulan) Your syntax is improving. Continue.
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) Do you like the food?
PHLOX: (in Denobulan) The sauce is good but I don't care for this vegetable.
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) Eggplant's not a vegetable, it's a nostril.
PHLOX: It's a nostril?
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) A fruit. (in English) I've noticed you and Crewman Cutler spending a lot of time together. Is there something going on between you two?
PHLOX: In Denobulan, please.
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) Are you two mating?
PHLOX: I believe the word you're searching for is dating.
(He gives it in Denobulan.)
HOSHI: Well, are you?
(She speaks in Denobulan, but is having to use her PADD for reference.)
HOSHI: Well, are you?
PHLOX: (in Denobulan) I'm not exactly sure.
HOSHI: There are ways you can tell. (in Denobulan) Does she want to spend time with you? Does she find excuses to (in English) to make physical contact?
PHLOX: Well, she did kiss me on the cheek the other night.
HOSHI: In Denobulan, Doctor.
PHLOX: (in Denobulan) Do you have any advice?
HOSHI: (in Denobulan) I think you make a very cute washboard.
PHLOX: I beg your pardon?
HOSHI: Couple. A cute couple.
[Bridge]
REED: It's pretty crowded out there. A lot of spacecraft and artificial satellites.
TRAVIS: Nothing I can't avoid, sir.
ARCHER: Put us in a low orbit, Travis. They're expecting us.
PHLOX [OC]: The Captain has committed all our resources to helping people he didn't even know existed two days ago. Once again, I am struck by your species' desire to help others.
[Hospital Ward]
ESAAK: It seems the more aggressively we treat the illness the more resistant it becomes.
PHLOX: What's the current rate of infection?
ESAAK: One out of three.
ARCHER: It's a full blown epidemic.
ESAAK: These are in the most advanced stage.
(Phlox checks the apparatus.)
PHLOX: You're treating them with a synthetic antibody?
ESAAK: It's effective at first, but the disease mutates. Once it moves into the respiratory system there's no way of controlling it. Pulmonary failure usually follows in a few days.
PHLOX: Captain, treatment with priaxate should ease the symptoms in the sickest patients, at least temporarily. I can easily show the Valakians how to synthesize as much as they need.
ARCHER: Go ahead.
PHLOX: I'll need all of the lab work you have, and case histories of patients in every stage of the disease.
ESAAK: Certainly.
(The group moves off, but Hoshi stays behind to check on one of the astronauts.)
HOSHI: Excuse me. We're the ones that brought him here. Can you tell me how he's doing?
LARR: Dak mul ahna.
HOSHI: I'm sorry. Could you say that again?
(As Phlox and the doctor discuss medicine.)
T'POL: We should assign some crewmen to watch Doctor Phlox and his equipment.
ARCHER: I don't think these people are about to steal anything.
T'POL: Your experience with lesser civilisations is limited, Captain. You might be surprised what a temptation our technology can be.
(She overhears Hoshi's young man.)
LARR: Dak mul ahna. Kal ah ku dah.
ARCHER: Hoshi?
HOSHI: Captain, the UT can't translate his language.
ESAAK: Dukat ah pra kee, Larr.
(Larr bows and leaves them.)
HOSHI: He doesn't speak the same language as you?
ESAAK: No, he's Menk. They're not as evolved as Valakians but they're very hard workers.
ARCHER: They're indigenous to this planet?
ESAAK: Is that so strange?
ARCHER: On most of the planets we've encountered, only one species of humanoids survived the evolutionary process.
ESAAK: You two are not from the same planet?
T'POL: No. We may look alike, but the similarity ends there.
PHLOX: I don't see any Menk patients here. Where are they being treated?
ESAAK: They haven't contracted the disease.
PHLOX: Have you looked into their immunity?
ESAAK: It was one of the first things we pursued, but Menk and Valakian are physiologically incompatible.
PHLOX: Still, could be significant. I'd like to see your data on the Menk as well.
ESAAK: Of course.
PHLOX [OC]: I had meant to transmit this letter by now but the Valakian epidemic has been taking up most of my time. Working with the physicians here has been quite fulfilling. I suppose it's the reason we joined the Interspecies Medical Exchange, but I worry about falsely raising their hopes. Despite Captain Archer's confidence in me I'm afraid the scale of the disaster may outweigh our best intentions. I've decided to enlist Crewman Cutler's help in my task.
[Sickbay]
(Cutler helps to pack medical supplies.)
CUTLER: So what are the Menk like?
PHLOX: You'll have the chance to see for yourself. You're a trained exobiologist. I'd find your assistance in the field invaluable.
CUTLER: Thank you, Doctor.
PHLOX [OC]: On a personal note, the affection Crewman Cutler is showing has left me a bit perplexed, so I've decided to discuss it with the one person on board who might understand the complexities of the situation.
(Later, T'Pol is on a biobed.)
T'POL: That's impossible.
PHLOX: It's nothing to be ashamed of.
T'POL: My teeth were sealed with a tri-fluorinate compound twenty three years ago.
PHLOX: Well, normal wear and tear has allowed some decay to sneak in. See for yourself. There, on your anterior tricuspid.
(T'Pol gets up.)
T'POL: I'm sure you have more pressing concerns. I'll come back later.
PHLOX: I'm waiting for the computer to analyse some tissue samples. It'll only take a moment to repair.
(T'Pol lies down again.)
PHLOX: Open, please. Wider. You've lived among humans for quite some time now, Sub-commander. I'm curious, have you ever known them to mate outside their species? Ah! There it is.
T'POL: Are you asking out of personal interest or scientific curiosity?
PHLOX: Both, I suppose. There's a crewman on board I've become close with. I think she's attracted to me.
T'POL: In my experience, humans lack the emotional maturity for interspecies relationships. They tend to be easily infatuated with things they find new. This crewman may simply be satisfying her curiosity at your expense.
PHLOX: Open.
PHLOX [OC]: Sub-commander T'Pol has a very pragmatic feel of the universe. I admire her logic although she lacks the instinctiveness that a more emotional response can provide. Somehow, I find this unsettling.
PHLOX: There. That wasn't so bad. Thanks for your insights.
T'POL: Be careful.
[Ready room]
ARCHER: Come in.
PHLOX: You asked to see me, Captain?
ARCHER: I've just gotten a call from the director of the clinic. He's eager to hear if you've made any progress. Doctor?
PHLOX: I've developed a medication to ease the symptoms of the disease, but
ARCHER: But?
PHLOX: This epidemic isn't being caused by a virus or bacteria. The proteins that bind to their chromosomes are deteriorating. Their illness is genetic. It's been going on for thousands of years, but the rate of mutation has accelerated over the last few generations. Based on my projections, the Valakians will be extinct in less than two centuries. I wish I had better news.
ARCHER: What about a cure?
PHLOX: Genetic abnormalities on this level are very difficult to reverse.
ARCHER: But not impossible.
PHLOX: No. I still believe the Menk immunity could be the key to a cure. I plan to study them in more detail.
ARCHER: Take all the time you need.
PHLOX [OC]: When I began to practice medicine I had no idea it would take me on journeys to other worlds. Every species I encounter allows me to explore a new physiology. At the moment, I find myself in the enviable position of studying two humanoids from the same planet. It's a rare and exciting opportunity.
[Menk village]
(A simple rustic village in the woods.)
PHLOX: Tell them we'd like to run some tests, take samples of their blood. It will be completely painless.
HOSHI: Kuhl toh bah.
LARR: Kuhl pra toh bah aren so l'tee.
MENK: Ylyn parum ta see ettaj.
HOSHI: He's says they'd be happy to help.
PHLOX [OC]: As fascinating as the two species are from a biological standpoint, it's their ability to co-exist that intrigues me the most. The Valakians are highly evolved, technologically advanced, while the Menk are relatively primitive by comparison. To my surprise, the two seem to be living side by side, peacefully.
(A little later, Cutler and Phlox are gathering samples.)
HOSHI: Pra du matta.
LARR: Pra ducat matta ku mampah.
(Phlox is scanning Menk.)
MENK: Koh utah?
HOSHI: He wants to know what you're doing.
PHLOX: Have you learned enough Menk to explain a molecular bio scan?
HOSHI: Doctor, er, esatta prah koo kuvalakii.
CUTLER: What'd you say?
HOSHI: I told him the Doctor was looking inside of him.
CUTLER: Thank you.
HOSHI: Tik tik.
MENK: Nan dah.
HOSHI: You're welcome.
LARR: Neek. Rasata. Food.
CUTLER: Did he just say food?
LARR: Rasata. Food.
PHLOX: Have you been teaching him English?
HOSHI: No, he must have picked it up by listening to us.
PHLOX: Perhaps we've found an assistant comm. officer.
LARR: No food?
HOSHI: Tik tik.
LARR: Tik tik.
PHLOX: I haven't seen any crops or livestock. I wonder where they get this.
HOSHI: Larr, ku rasata gol dach?
LARR: Pah ku mano. Nda tomah.
HOSHI: He says the soil here isn't good for planting.
LARR: Gol dach puu kani valakii. Hrat atiba si ohno.
HOSHI: The Valakians don't let them live where the land is fertile.
LARR: Valakii fora tlet rasata kee, akem, pinj erana.
HOSHI: The Valakians give them whatever they need. Food, clothing, medicine.
LARR: Menk akata y Valakii.
HOSHI: He says the Valakians are good to them. They protect them.
(All tuck into the food.)
PHLOX [OC]: Despite the Menk's insistence that they're treated well, my human crewmates seem to see things differently.
CUTLER: Tik tik. Well, that's the last one.
PHLOX [OC]: They think the Menk are being exploited by the Valakians, so their first instinct is to rise to their defence, despite the fact that the Menk don't appear to need or want a defender.
PHLOX: Wait a moment.
(Larr has been re-arranging the phials in the container.)
PHLOX: Impressive.
CUTLER: What'd he do?
PHLOX: He's grouped the samples together by family. Cross-referenced by bloodlines and marriage if I'm interpreting the colour codes correctly. Tik tik.
PHLOX [OC]: On the surface the Menk appear to be a primitive species, unsophisticated even by human standards. No offence. But their abilities appear to have been underestimated, even by myself.
CUTLER: It seems like a vacation, if I didn't keep remembering why we were here.
HOSHI: I'm going to help Larr finish packing up. He's back on duty at the hospital in an hour.
(Hoshi leaves.)
CUTLER: This really doesn't bother you.
PHLOX: What?
CUTLER: The way the Valakians treat them.
PHLOX: Why should it? On most worlds with two humanoid species one would have driven the other to extinction. Here, they've developed a symbiotic relationship that seems to work quite well.
CUTLER: They force the Menk to live in compounds. They treat them almost like pets.
PHLOX: Their culture is different. It's their way.
CUTLER: Doesn't make it right.
PHLOX: Are you married, crewman?
CUTLER: Of course not. I would have told you.
PHLOX: I'm married.
CUTLER: You are?
PHLOX: Three times.
CUTLER: So, you have two ex-wives?
PHLOX: I have three current wives and they each have two husbands not counting myself.
CUTLER: Is that considered normal for Denobulans?
PHLOX: Quite.
CUTLER: Why are you telling me this?
PHLOX: I've been getting certain signals from you that suggest you may be interested in a romantic relationship with me.
CUTLER: Oh.
PHLOX: Unless I misinterpreted those signals.
CUTLER: You didn't. But I still don't know why you're telling me this.
PHLOX: You need to know that my culture is different.
CUTLER: That doesn't matter.
PHLOX: It doesn't? This culture's different. That seems to matter to you a great deal.
CUTLER: Phlox, as far as your extended family goes I'm not interested in becoming wife number four. I just want to be your friend.
PHLOX: What do you mean by friend?
CUTLER: Let's just see where it goes.
[Valakian hospital ward]
(The alien removes his oxygen mask.)
ALIEN: Captain, I'm glad you could come.
ARCHER: It was no problem. How are you feeling?
ALIEN: The medication you gave us helps with the pain, but my prognosis hasn't changed.
ARCHER: We're trying to do something about that. I have a lot of faith in Doctor Phlox.
ALIEN: I wanted to thank you for getting me home before it was too late. It took us a year to get out to where you found us. You brought us home in a day.
ARCHER: We started out in ships very similar to yours. Someday you'll be travelling just as fast as we are.
ALIEN: Someday may not be soon enough. If your doctor can't help us we need to keep searching for others that can. We need warp drive. A million more of us will die before our next ship even leaves this system. With warp engines we won't have to wait for people to find us. We can seek help on our own.
ARCHER: You may not find that everyone you meet wants to help you.
ALIEN: Still, we have to try.
(comm. beep.)
ARCHER: Archer.
PHLOX [OC]: It's Phlox, Captain. We've collected all the samples.
ARCHER: I'll meet you at the shuttlepod. Archer out.
[Bridge]
ARCHER: Anything to report?
T'POL: We've received twenty nine hails in the past two hours.
ARCHER: From whom?
T'POL: Apparently, word of our arrival has spread quickly. Other clinics are requesting help. Two orbital spacecraft approached us while you were on the planet. They mistakenly believed that we already had a cure. We had to turn them away.
ARCHER: Do you have a minute?
[Ready room]
ARCHER: The Valakians want our warp technology.
T'POL: What did you tell them?
ARCHER: That I'd think about it.
T'POL: And?
ARCHER: Safe to say I know where you stand on the subject.
T'POL: Even if you give them our reactor schematics they don't have the technical expertise to build a warp engine.
ARCHER: They have no experience working with antimatter. I doubt they even realize how dangerous it is. They're not ready.
T'POL: Then your decision shouldn't be difficult.
ARCHER: We could stay and help them.
T'POL: The Vulcans stayed to help Earth ninety years ago. We're still there.
ARCHER: I never thought I'd say this, but I'm beginning to understand how the Vulcans must have felt.
(In Sickbay, Phlox is studying a DNA sequence, and what he sees troubles him greatly.)
[Mess hall]
PHLOX: Trouble sleeping, Captain?
ARCHER: Looks like I'm not the only one.
PHLOX: Actually, Denobulans require very little rest, unless you count our annual hibernation cycle.
ARCHER: Am I going to be without my doctor this winter?
PHLOX: Only for six days.
ARCHER: Maybe I'll join you. Any progress?
PHLOX: The research has been challenging, to say the least.
ARCHER: A cure, Doctor. Have you found a cure?
PHLOX: Even if I could find one, I'm not sure it would be ethical.
ARCHER: Ethical?
PHLOX: We'd be interfering with an evolutionary process that has been going on for thousands of years.
ARCHER: Every time you treat an illness, you're interfering. That's what doctors do.
PHLOX: You're forgetting about the Menk.
ARCHER: What about the Menk?
PHLOX: I've been studying their genome as well, and I've seen evidence of increasing intelligence. Motor skills, linguistic abilities. Unlike the Valakians they appear to be in the process of an evolutionary awakening. It may take millennia, but the Menk have the potential to become the dominant species on this planet.
ARCHER: And that won't happen as long as the Valakians are around.
PHLOX: If the Menk are to flourish, they need an opportunity to survive on their own.
ARCHER: Well, what are you suggesting? We choose one species over the other?
PHLOX: All I'm saying is that we let nature make the choice.
ARCHER: The hell with nature. You're a doctor. You have a moral obligation to help people who are suffering.
PHLOX: I'm also a scientist, and I'm obligated to consider the larger issues. Thirty five thousand years ago, your species co-existed with other humanoids. Isn't that correct?
ARCHER: Go ahead.
PHLOX: What if an alien race had interfered and given the Neanderthals an evolutionary advantage? Fortunately for you, they didn't.
ARCHER: I appreciate your perspective on all of this, but we're talking about something that might happen. Might happen thousands of years from now. They've asked for our help. I am not prepared to walk away based on a theory.
PHLOX: Evolution is more than a theory. It is a fundamental scientific principle. Forgive me for saying so, but I believe your compassion for these people is affecting your judgment.
ARCHER: My compassion guides my judgment.
PHLOX: Captain.
ARCHER: Can you find a cure? Doctor?
PHLOX: I already have.
PHLOX [OC]: Two days ago, when we first discovered the alien shuttle, I had no idea that I'd be facing a dilemma of this magnitude. For the first time, I find myself in conflict with my Captain. But he is my Captain and he's placed a great deal of trust in me. I believe I owe him the same. I only hope that he is willing to look beyond his sympathy for these poor people.
[Sickbay]
ARCHER: Doctor.
PHLOX: Captain.
ARCHER: I'm going down to the Valakian hospital.
PHLOX: Sir, it would go against all my principles if I didn't ask you to reconsider what I
ARCHER: I have reconsidered. I spent the whole night reconsidering, and what I've decided goes against all my principles. Someday my people are going to come up with some sort of a doctrine, something that tells us what we can and can't do out here, should and shouldn't do. But until somebody tells me that they've drafted that directive I'm going to have to remind myself every day that we didn't come out here to play God.
PHLOX [OC]: I'd like to think, Doctor Lucas, that if I'd had the chance to talk to you face to face you'd have never let me even consider withholding my findings from the Captain. But I'm ashamed to say that I almost did just that.
[Valakian hospital ward]
ARCHER: Phlox tells me this medicine will help ease the symptoms for a decade, maybe more. A lot can happen in that time. I wouldn't be surprised if you developed a cure on your own.
ESAAK: And if we don't? With a warp capable starship, our chances would be greatly improved.
ARCHER: I'm sorry.
(Archer hands over a PADD.)
ARCHER: This will give you detailed instructions on how to synthesise more of the medicine.
ESAAK: We appreciate everything you've done.
PHLOX [OC]: If I hadn't trusted him to make the right choice I'd have been no better than the Vulcan diplomats who held your species back because they felt you couldn't make proper decisions on your own.
[Sickbay]
(Phlox is dictating his letter.)
PHLOX: I came very close to misjudging Jonathan Archer, but this incident has helped me gain a new respect for him. Happiness and health to you, Doctor. Your dedicated colleague, Phlox.
(Hoshi enters.)
HOSHI: You wanted to see me?
PHLOX: Please.
(He hands over the data slide.)
PHLOX: For Doctor Lucas.
HOSHI: It'll go out first thing in the morning. Everything all right?
PHLOX: Fine, fine. The past few days have been taxing.
HOSHI: Want my advice? Get out of Sickbay.
PHLOX: Yes. Perhaps you're right.
HOSHI: Good night.
(Hoshi leaves.)
PHLOX: Good night. Phlox to Crewman Cutler.
CUTLER [OC]: Go ahead.
PHLOX: I, er, know it's short notice, but I was wondering if you might like to join me for a little snack in the Mess hall. I could use a friend right about now.
CUTLER [OC]: Ten minutes?
PHLOX: Thank you. Sweet dreams.
(He turns off the lights and leaves.)
2024-09-12 18:58:31 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
