DIRECTED BY
AIRED ON
October 30, 2002
RUNTIME
42 minutes
STARRING
VIEWS
159
LAST UPDATE
2024-09-12 18:51:57
PAGE VERSION
Version 1
LIKES
0
DISLIKES
0
SUMMARY
In need of fuel, the Enterprise arrives at a Quonset mining colony for deuterium supplies. They discover that Klingons are forcing the colonists to give up all their deuterium. Archer and the rest of the crew work to train the colonists so they can fight back against the Klingons.
STORY
No story yet.
BEHIND THE SCENES
No trivia yet.
QUOTES
FILMING LOCATIONS
TOPICS
No topics yet.
REVIEWS
Still the same
Written by
Pike on 2018-04-07
★
★
★
★
This season is continuing to be quite dull and boring. I wish there would be drastic changes to shake things up. I truly miss Anna Del Amico.
SUMMARY
Once again, a dull episode. I give it 4 out of 10. Average.
TRANSCRIPT
(A rocky, scrubby terrain with a bit of a settlement and some machinery around. A young boy runs to bring water to a couple of workers on a rig, when they see a small craft flying towards them.)
MAKLII: (orange headband) Is it them?
TESSIC: (red haired man) I don't know. No. It's not their ship. It's someone else.
(as it comes in to land, we see that it is a shuttlepod. Pod 1 to be exact, and once it is down safely, Archer, T'Pol and Tucker climb out, wearing desert fatigues, to be met by the two men)
ARCHER: My name is Captain Archer from the starship Enterprise. We tried to hail you, but there was no response.
TESSIC: Our communications are down.
ARCHER: That must make it difficult to do business. A Kreetassan merchant told us this was a deuterium facility.
TESSIC: He was correct.
TUCKER: Our ship took some damage a few weeks ago. We lost most of our reserves.
TESSIC: I'm sorry, but we can't help you. Two of our pumps are offline. You'll have to return later in the season.
ARCHER: Our supply will be gone in less than two weeks.
TESSIC: There's nothing we can do.
T'POL: Are you certain? You seem to have a large inventory. Our sensors showed over eighty thousand litres.
TESSIC: You scanned our tanks?
ARCHER: I apologise, but when you didn't respond to our hails. You sure you couldn't spare a few hundred litres?
TESSIC: We're holding that for someone else. Come back at the end of the season. I'm sure we'll be able to accommodate you.
(Tessic starts to walk away.)
MAKLII: Do you have any experience repairing extraction pumps?
TUCKER: Not specifically, but I could grab some tools and take a look.
MAKLII: (to Tessic) We get those pumps operating, we can make our quota.
ARCHER: It seems that there might be an opportunity for us to help each other.
TESSIC: Follow me.
(Archer and T'Pol do. Tucker returns to the pod for his tools.)
[Shuttlepod]
(Tucker hears someone making gun noises. It's the boy, who is startled when Trip activates an alarm.)
TUCKER: What are you doing in my chair?
Q'ELL: I didn't touch anything. I just like to look inside the ships that come here.
TUCKER: You should have asked.
Q'ELL: You might have said no.
TUCKER: Well, what do you think?
Q'ELL: Well, it's a little small and your thruster controls are hard to reach.
TUCKER: Maybe you need longer arms.
Q'ELL: How fast can it go?
TUCKER: She's designed for one quarter impulse, but, I've been able to squeeze a little more out of her.
Q'ELL: You're a pilot?
TUCKER: Engineer. Commander Trip Tucker.
Q'ELL: Q'ell.
TUCKER: Nice to meet you.
Q'ELL: Could you teach me how to fly it? I can drive the crawler that we use to move our drill rigs.
TUCKER: Tell you what. I'll be heading back up to the ship later. You can come along, if it's all right with your folks. I'll give you a tour.
Q'ELL: Really?
[Settlement]
(In a tent, Tessic, Maklii - sans headband - and a woman are bartering with Archer and T'Pol.)
TESSIC: Two power cells. We need six.
ARCHER: We can't spare that many. Maybe three.
TESSIC: Do you have any idea how much labour it takes to refine a litre of deuterium?
ARCHER: Actually, no. I'd enjoy seeing how your facility works.
TESSIC: We have three months of good weather, Captain. Three months to pump all the deuterium we can before the winter. We don't have time to give tours. Five power cells for two hundred litres. I can't do any better.
E'LIS: Our medical stores are running low.
ARCHER: Four power cells and whatever medical supplies we can spare.
TESSIC: All right. But only if you can repair our pumps.
ARCHER: Commander Tucker and his team will do the best they can.
TESSIC: I expect you to leave orbit in two days. If the pumps are working, you'll leave with the deuterium. If not, you'll leave without it. Are we agreed?
ARCHER: Agreed.
[Sickbay]
(The woman is gazing at a four-legged starfish in a tank.)
PHLOX: It's yours, if you'd like it.
E'LIS: I wouldn't know what to feed it.
PHLOX: Her needs are modest. A nutrient broth every three or four days. Less often when she's working.
E'LIS: Working?
PHLOX: She'll ingest a little blood while she's healing an injured artery.
E'LIS: Thank you, but I'll just take some vascular adhesive.
PHLOX: Try this, instead.
(He hands over a gun-like contraption.)
E'LIS: An auto-suture.
PHLOX: I'm surprised you don't have one.
E'LIS: This is a very expensive piece of equipment. I can't.
PHLOX: Nonsense. Please. Cardio-stimulator, neural shock kit. I had no idea processing deuterium was such a dangerous business.
E'LIS: It can be.
PHLOX: I've only heard of hexatriol being used to treat serious plasma burns.
E'LIS: Deuterium can burn almost as hot as plasma when it's ignited.
PHLOX: I hope you won't need it. Is there something wrong?
E'LIS: No. I'd better get back.
PHLOX: Of course.
E'LIS: Thank you again.
(She leaves carrying two cases of medical supplies.)
[Settlement]
(Walking among the structures in the blazing sun.)
ARCHER: You've been to other colonies that trade deuterium, haven't you?
T'POL: Several.
ARCHER: Are they all this rustic?
T'POL: Not usually.
ARCHER: Their equipment's falling apart. Half these structures look like they're about to collapse. Phlox tells me they don't even have basic medical supplies. Deuterium is a highly valuable commodity. You'd think these people would be better off.
T'POL: We're here to trade with them, not judge their living conditions.
ARCHER: Then why do they need us to finish fixing their pumps in two days? What's the hurry?
[Bridge]
TRAVIS: Lieutenant, a ship just dropped out of warp. Six hundred thousand kilometres and closing.
REED: I see her.
HOSHI: It's probably more deuterium customers.
TRAVIS: I'm reading twelve biosigns, all Klingon.
[Settlement]
TUCKER: (to Maklii) You'll want to keep an eye on those phase inverters. They tend to depolarise.
MAKLII: (answering comm.) Pump Six.
TESSIC [OC]: Korok's ship is entering orbit.
MAKLII: I thought we had three more days.
TESSIC [OC]: Secure the pumps. Get everyone inside.
TUCKER: Some kind of trouble?
MAKLII: Help me close these induction valves.
TUCKER: What's going on? Who's Korok?
[Inside a module]
T'POL: They must realise that you trade with other ships.
TESSIC: They believe that we have an exclusive arrangement.
E'LIS: If they think anyone's been here before them, they get very angry.
TESSIC: (to Archer) Please, don't get involved. We'll talk to them.
ARCHER: Archer to Enterprise.
REED [OC]: Go ahead, Captain.
ARCHER: Have the Klingons detected Enterprise yet?
[Bridge]
REED: No indication, sir.
[Inside a module]
(Maklii and Tucker enter.)
ARCHER: Travis, adjust your orbit.
[Bridge]
ARCHER [OC]: Keep Enterprise out of sight.
TRAVIS: Aye, sir.
[Settlement]
(Six Klingons beam down from a tatty looking vessel.)
KOROK: My old friend.
TESSIC: We weren't expecting you so soon. We've had trouble with two of our pumps.
KOROK: My crew's hungry. Let's have food and drink. Then we'll discuss business.
TESSIC: Your deuterium. We don't have all of it. We did our best but we need more time.
[Inside a module]
TUCKER: Can you make out what they're saying?
T'POL: Tessic is explaining that their yield isn't what they'd hoped.
TUCKER: Good ears.
[Settlement]
TESSIC: Without those pumps we couldn't operate at full capacity.
KOROK: I sense what you're about to say is not going to make me happy.
TESSIC: We can give you eighty thousand litres. If you'll give us one more week, we'll have the rest.
KOROK: You've had enough time. We'll take all of it, now.
TESSIC: We don't have it. I told you, two pumps were down.
KOROK: They all appear to be working.
TESSIC: We were just able to repair them.
KOROK: You're lying!
(He knocks Tessic down.)
MAKLII: Leave him alone. You'll get your deuterium.
(He gets hit too. Archer restrains Tucker from going outside.)
TESSIC: Wait, please.
KOROK: I can get deuterium anywhere. I come here because I like you, when you show me hospitality and respect.
MAKLII: You take everything we own, and you want us to respect you.
KOROK: I'll give you four days. Have it all ready. (into communicator) HIjol!
(The Klingons are beamed away and the rest run out to help.)
E'LIS: Let's get him inside.
[Inside a module]
(Q'ell has got the medical kit all ready.)
ARCHER: So this is your exclusive arrangement?
TESSIC: It's not your concern.
(E'Lis starts tending Maklii's injury.)
TUCKER: How long have these bullies been pushing you around?
MAKLII: Five seasons. They take all the first yield deuterium we can extract.
E'LIS: Hold still.
MAKLII: After they leave, we manage to pull a few thousand litres out of the deep strata, but it takes weeks and it's so full of impurities we can barely refine it.
TESSIC: It still brings in a decent price. We make enough to get through the winter.
MAKLII: Barely.
T'POL: Have you tried contacting your homeworld?
TESSIC: It's too far away.
TUCKER: You must have weapons. some way to defend yourselves. How many of them are there?
E'LIS: Usually seven.
TUCKER: Seven? You've got them outnumbered nine or ten to one.
TESSIC: You've never seen a Klingon in battle, have you? We tried to stand up to them once, three seasons ago. Five of us died fighting them. Then they killed three more to prove their point.
E'LIS: (holding Q'ell) One of them was his father.
ARCHER: Maybe there's something we can do.
TESSIC: Just take your two hundred litres and go. If you're here when they come back, they'll kill you.
[Settlement]
ARCHER: Mister Reed.
REED [OC]: The Klingon ship's gone to warp, sir. I'm sending a shuttlepod down.
ARCHER: We'll be at the landing site.
(Tucker sees Q'ell looking wistfully after him.)
TUCKER: I'll catch up with you later, Captain. Sorry I never got to give you that tour.
Q'ELL: I once saw a Kellenite ship with cannons and torpedoes.
TUCKER: Most big ships carry weapons.
Q'ELL: Like Enterprise.
TUCKER: Yeah, like Enterprise.
Q'ELL: You could have fought the Klingons. Beaten them.
TUCKER: Maybe.
Q'ELL: Why didn't you try?
TUCKER: It's not that simple.
[Ready room]
ARCHER: Come in.
T'POL: The deuterium's been stowed. Two hundred litres. Should I instruct Ensign Mayweather to break orbit?
ARCHER: So that's it? We just take our deuterium and leave? They work their asses off to provide for their families and then the Klingons just stroll in and rob them blind. Does that seem right to you? Malcolm tells me that Klingon ship isn't much more than a freighter. I'd lay odds they're no match for Enterprise.
T'POL: And if they withdraw? What will keep them from coming back after we've gone?
ARCHER: We could try to contact the Klingon High Council. We saved Klaang from the Suliban, we pulled one of their battle cruisers out of a gas giant. I say they owe us a favour.
T'POL: I doubt these marauders answer to the High Council.
ARCHER: I already know where Vulcans stand on interfering with other cultures but this isn't a culture. Seventy six settlers are being preyed upon. If this were an Earth colony I'd be grateful if someone showed up to give me a hand.
T'POL: Captain, this may surprise you, but I agree. However, short of killing the Klingons any action we take will only make the situation worse.
ARCHER: I just hate the idea of turning our backs.
[Settlement]
(It's nighttime, and Tessic is working on a machine.)
ARCHER: Need a hand?
TESSIC: Control arm is jammed. I could use some help with the release valve.
ARCHER: Okay.
TESSIC: Turn it to the left.
ARCHER: This one?
TESSIC: Thought you'd be off charting your next start system by now.
ARCHER: Sometimes I have a bad habit of overstaying my welcome.
TESSIC: You obviously didn't come down here in the middle of the night to help me with this crawler.
ARCHER: Seems to me this crawler's the least of your problems.
TESSIC: We've been through this before. It's not your concern. Give it another turn.
ARCHER: You said they've been coming here for what, five seasons? How much longer do you plan on letting this go on? Another five?
TESSIC: That's good. Leave it there. Reconnect this coolant line. Intake's above your head.
ARCHER: I had a talk with my tactical officer. We're confident you have the ability to defend yourselves.
TESSIC: We already tried. There are eight people buried not far from here who can attest to that.
ARCHER: It would be different this time. We would help you prepare.
TESSIC: I don't want your help. I'm responsible for my people, not you. They put their trust in me. They depend on me. I'm supposed to protect them! Look at me I can barely keep this crawler running. You say you and your tactical officer want to help us. Even if you do once you're gone, we'll be alone again waiting for them to come back.
ARCHER: There's a saying on my world. Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish, and he eats for a lifetime.
[Inside a module]
(A table has been laid out with an assortment of weaponry.)
REED: I was hoping for a bit more to work with.
MAKLII: They do a decent job keeping the shib'a lizards from chewing on the power couplings.
REED: With a few modifications these should be effective against more than lizards.
MAKLII: You must have a well stocked armoury onboard Enterprise.
REED: But this battle won't be won with firepower. Deception and surprise can be just as potent as brute force.
T'POL: Klingons are aggressive warriors but their tactics are crude. They're slow to adapt to changing circumstances.
TESSIC: This all sounds very ambitious. What exactly are you expecting us to do?
ARCHER: You're going to lure them into a trap.
TESSIC: What kind of trap?
TUCKER: A very hot one. The deuterium in those wellheads, how much pressure is it under? Three, four thousand millibars?
MAKLII: Five.
TUCKER: Should create some interesting fireworks.
TESSIC: You'll never get the Klingons near that deuterium field. They know it isn't safe.
MAKLII: They may be crude, but they're not fools.
ARCHER: That's where deception and surprise come in. Did you bring the map I asked you for?
TESSIC: It's right here.
ARCHER: The structures in the colony, they're mostly modular, right?
TESSIC: They're all modular. Most deuterium fields are depleted within three or four years at most. It forces us to be itinerant.
ARCHER: So you're saying you could relocate these buildings in a relatively short time.
MAKLII: It depends where you're suggesting we relocate them.
ARCHER: About fifty metres to the south, right here.
TESSIC: What good would that do? The terrain there is no different than where the town is now.
TUCKER: That's what we're counting on. If we can move the structures and the rigs, everything should look pretty much like it did yesterday.
MAKLII: Everything except the well-heads.
ARCHER: They'll have to be capped off, and camouflaged.
TESSIC: We can do that.
REED: The gullies on this hillside, are they deep enough to hide in?
TESSIC: If you keep your head down.
T'POL: We'll shuttle small groups to Enterprise for whatever training we have time for. Preferably people who have experience with weapons.
ARCHER: We've got three days. We should get to work.
TESSIC: What are we waiting for?
(All through the night, crew and colonists dismantle buildings, shut down wells and tractor pumps to the new location.)
TUCKER: One more metre. Okay, shut her down.
[Armoury]
REED: You ready?
(Hoshi starts up the training target.)
REED: And begin.
(Maklii tries to hit the flying ball, and fails every time.)
MAKLII: Shib'a lizards don't move that fast.
HOSHI: Do you mind, Lieutenant?
(She goes over to Maklii.)
HOSHI: I can see your finger tensing on the trigger before you fire. It's throwing off your aim. I used to make the same mistake. Keep your eye on the target and don't squeeze the trigger until you have a clear shot.
(She demonstrates, and hits the target every time.)
HOSHI: Try again.
[Settlement]
(The furniture is being arranged inside the module.)
TUCKER: I think the table was a little bit to the left.
(He hands over water.)
ARCHER: Thanks. How are things going with the pumps?
TUCKER: It'll be tomorrow before they're all in place. We started capping off the heads.
ARCHER: Let me know.
(Archer takes another piece of furniture.)
ARCHER: I got it. If you need more people.
TUCKER: I rigged two ignition sequences. The perimeter and the centre are on separate circuits.
ARCHER: I thought taking the town apart was tough. But putting it back together.
TUCKER: This plan is a long shot, isn't it?
ARCHER: Do you think it's a mistake?
TUCKER: I didn't say that.
ARCHER: I've never liked bullies, Trip. Not on Earth and not out here.
[Armoury]
(Three men, a woman and Travis are attending the defence class.)
T'POL: Klingons carry disrupters but they prefer to use bladed weapons in combat. The two most common being the bat'leth, a curved, bilateral sword and the mek'leth, a two-pronged dagger. The bat'leth can decapitate its victim with one stroke while the mek'leth is typically used to slash the throat or disembowel. I cannot teach you to defend yourselves against these weapons. The Vulcan martial art, Suus Mahna, takes years to master. However, I can teach you a simple evasive technique. Ensign Mayweather.
(T'Pol picks up a piece of pipe.)
T'POL: Since I don't have a bat'leth, this will have to suffice.
(She throws the pipe to Travis.)
T'POL: Try to strike me. You won't hurt me.
TRAVIS: It's not you that I'm worried about.
(He swings it and she dodges either side then rolls away.)
T'POL: That was called the Navorkot. It isn't difficult to learn. Who would like to try first?
[Settlement]
(Night again, and Q'ell brings water to Tucker.)
TUCKER: Thanks.
Q'ELL: Lieutenant Reed said I'd have to hide in the canyons when the Klingons come back.
TUCKER: He doesn't want you to get hurt.
Q'ELL: But I want to help. I can shoot a shib'a lizard from forty metres.
TUCKER: Malcolm's got this rule. You've got to be taller than the gun to use it.
Q'ELL: I don't want to hide.
TUCKER: Shooting at a lizard is a whole lot different than shooting at a person, and lizards don't shoot back. When those Klingons show up I want you to do exactly what Lieutenant Reed says. Understood?
Q'ELL: Yes, sir.
(In the Armoury, the trainee gunmen are turning into marksmen. By morning, the wells are capped off and concealed under rock and rubble.)
[Inside a module]
ARCHER: We had a little trouble moving one of the pumps, but it's in place now. We're ready.
TESSIC: I just hope everyone survives this. Your people, as well as mine.
ARCHER: We left Earth just over a year ago to explore, to meet people like you. We'd only been out of Spacedock for three days when we found ourselves in a full-fledged firefight with some pretty nasty characters called the Suliban. I got shot in the leg. Just before I passed out I remembered thinking this isn't what I signed up for. I should be mapping star clusters or making first contact with friendly species. But when those Suliban started firing at my crew I knew I didn't have any choice but to fight back. I'm not ashamed to admit I was nervous. I'm nervous now. But I know we can do this. (comm. chirps) Archer.
TRAVIS [OC]: The Klingon ship just dropped out of warp, Captain.
ARCHER: Acknowledged.
[Settlement]
(The wind blows through the deserted settlement as the Klingons beam in.)
KOROK: Listen.
KLINGON 1: What?
KOROK: The pumps. They're silent. (raises his voice) Where's your hospitality? This is no way to treat your friends. Show yourselves!
(He gives orders in Klingon and his men start to search the modules. Maklii makes a bird call, and another man shows himself then runs off. The Klingons follow and the first one gets knocked down by a wire suddenly pulled taut. Then the shooting starts and they take cover. The Starfleet crew have dressed like the colonists, including bandanas to conceal their lack of forehead markings.)
KOROK: This will cost you more than deuterium!
(A woman with excellent aim hits a Klingon with a rock.)
KLINGON 1: P'taQ!
(he catches up to her and her evasion training keeps her alive. Another Klingon enters a module, sees a loose section and thinks he will catch someone escaping around the back. Archer knocks him out with a pipe. Tessic also uses the evasion technique, then T'Pol wades in.)
T'POL: Hey!
(As her feet connect with the Klingon's face, several times. She knocks him out and they leave the scene.)
T'POL: Come on.
KLINGON 1: There.
(He aims his weapon at Maklii in amongst the pumps.)
KOROK: What are you doing? You'll kill us all. Those wellheads, they're under great pressure. If you ignite them you'll incinerate the entire town.
(Maklii runs away)
KLINGON 1: They're making fools of us.
(Korok finally uses his binoculars.)
KOROK: They're hiding in the dirt like Targ. They'll learn to show us respect. We'll kill another four. Perhaps the boy as well.
(As the Klingons march towards the gullies where the fighters are concealed)
T'POL: Captain.
ARCHER: They're too far south.
REED: We've got to get them to move fifty metres to our left.
ARCHER: Everybody, this way.
(The Klingons spot them moving, and some throw down their bat'leths to draw their disruptors.)
REED: A little farther. This is good.
(Archer watches Korok advance on a pile of stones.)
ARCHER: A few more metres.
(Korok's hobnails connect with metal in the ground, and he finally takes note of the landscape.)
KOROK: This shouldn't be here.
ARCHER: Now.
(Trip sets off his charges and the Klingons are surrounded by a circle of fire.)
ARCHER: They're all yours, Tessic.
TESSIC: Korok!
(The Klingons aim their disruptors at him.)
TESSIC: I wouldn't do that. There's two more wellheads by your feet. Leave here now or we'll ignite them.
KOROK: P'taQ. You'll live to regret this.
TESSIC: If you're thinking about coming back, I wouldn't advise it. We'll be ready. We're not afraid of you anymore.
(Korok holsters his weapon.)
KOROK: We can find deuterium anywhere. Yours isn't fit for a garbage scow.
(He speaks into his communicator and the party is beamed away. The colonists rejoice at their victory.)
[Shuttlepod]
TUCKER: Unless you're planning to join Starfleet I'm afraid you'll have to give up that chair.
Q'ELL: I wish you didn't have to leave.
TUCKER: Yeah, that's one of the tough things about my job. Saying goodbye to people like you and your friends. Oh, almost forgot.
(He gets a PADD out of a case.)
TUCKER: Schematics for Enterprise. You said you like to look at starships. This one'll knock your socks off.
Q'ELL: Thanks. Do you think you'll come back?
TUCKER: Who knows? Our engines need a lot of deuterium.
[Settlement]
(Everyone is cleaned up and back in proper desert uniform.)
ARCHER: There must be over a thousand litres here.
MAKLII: Two thousand.
ARCHER: Our deal was for two hundred.
TESSIC: Our deal was for power cells, medical supplies and repair work. You provided us with much more than that.
MAKLII: Besides, we seem to have a surplus at the moment.
(Q'ell runs out to join them.)
MAKLII: Give your crew our thanks.
ARCHER: Have a good season.
(They get into the shuttlepod and fly off, leaving the deuterium behind.)
2024-09-12 18:51:57 -
Pike:
Added the transcript.
