" How can you eat that stuff?" " It's healthier than that." "At least this tastes like something." "I guess it just takes a more discriminating palate to appreciate Vulcan cuisine." "Do you know there are over 5,000 subspecies of termites on Loracus Prime?" "I thought we were headed for a nebula." " Anybody hear about this?" " Not a word." "I wonder if somebody lives there." "There's a lot of plant life." "It might be an oxygen atmosphere." "What do you think?" "First Contact?" "I don't see any cities or agriculture." "Maybe they live underground or in the water." "Is that snow on those mountains?" "You'd think the captain would make an announcement or something." "Well, call him." "T'Pol?" "Seventeen percent oxygen." "Eighty-one percent nitrogen." "Sounds like home." "Any people?" "The planet supports a diverse ecology, but there are no signs of humanoid life." "Still, someone may have a claim on it." "We don't wanna go waltzing into their back yard." "Scan for marker buoys, beacons, man-made satellites." "None in range, sir." "Looks like no one's planted a flag just yet." "Prep a shuttlepod, Mr Tucker." "I like the looks of the northern continent." "See if you can find a good place to set down." " Yes, sir." " Captain?" "There are a number of protocols you may want to consider." "Protocols?" "Vulcan ships would begin by sending automated probes down to collect more detailed scans." "If the planet proved to be Minshara-class, we would then conduct a geophysical survey from orbit." " Minshara-class?" " Suitable for humanoid life." " How long would all that take?" " Six or seven days." "You expect us to sit up here for a week while probes have all the fun?" "This planet has been here a long time." "It will still be here in seven days." "I understand that you have a more cautious approach." "But we didn't come out here to tiptoe around." "Get the pod ready." "I'd like you to put together the survey team." "I assume that's not a violation of protocol." "It's been a long road Gettin' from there to here" "It's been a long time" "But my time is finally near" "And I will see my dream Come alive at last" "I will touch the sky" "And they're not gonna Hold me down no more" "No, they're not gonna change my mind" "'Cause I've got faith of the heart" "I'm going where my heart will take me" "I've got faith to believe" "I can do anything" "I've got strength of the soul" "And no one's gonna bend or break me" "I can reach any star" "I've got faith" "I've got faith" "Faith of the heart" "Thanks." "I tried some plomeek broth this morning." "It was very good." "Vulcan food is interesting." "Did you sterilize the sample containers?" "Yes." "Thanks for choosing me for this mission." "You were selected because your specialty is entomology." "This planet has a diverse insect population." "Great." "You'd have better luck making friends with a housefly." "I know." "Wow." " Worth every light-year." " Set us down just east of those hills." "Aye, sir." "Where no dog has gone before." "I almost forgot what fresh air smells like." "The atmosphere contains trace elements of nitrogen dioxide," " chloromethane" " Put that thing away." "Take a minute to enjoy yourself." "The sky ever get this blue on Vulcan?" "Occasionally." "We're walking on an alien world, light-years from Earth or Vulcan." "Doesn't that impress you?" "I've been to 36 Minshara-class planets." "This experience is only marginally different." "Perfect." "Hold it right there." "Smile." "Be sure to get a copy of that to the Vulcan High Command." "You have your assignments." "We'll rendezvous here at 1900 hours." "Unless the captain wants us to pose for more pictures." "I'm afraid my log entry isn't gonna do this justice." "A cabin in these woods would be nice." "Three weeks in deep space, you're ready to jump ship?" "Don't worry." "I'm not going anywhere." "You guys would be lost without me." "It's beautiful, all right." "But I couldn't call a place home unless it came with a pair of warp nacelles." "Boomers." " Archer." " Is there a problem, captain?" "No, no problem." "Why?" "We were scheduled to rendezvous 15 minutes ago." "Sorry." "We lost track of time." "We'll be right there." "We've identified several nocturnal marsupials." "I'd like to keep Crewmen Cutler and Novakovich with me overnight to study them." "I'm glad to see you're getting in the spirit of things." " Pick you up in the morning." " Captain, if it's all right with you," " Travis and I would like to stay as well." " We would?" "When was the last time you slept under the stars?" "There's plenty of camping gear in the pod." "This isn't shore leave." "This is a research mission." "Why can't it be a little bit of both?" "Research isn't the only reason we're out here." " Pitch your tent, commander." " Thanks, captain." "Don't worry." "We'll keep out of your hair." "Keep in mind, those cargo vessels weren't equipped for rescue operations." "So the captain wasn't sure what to do when he picked up the distress call." "But it wasn't a ship that sent the signal." "It was a life pod." "From one of the old Y-500-class freighters." " Those were retired decades ago." " Exactly." "The pod had been drifting in space for 63 years." "Bio-scans showed one life sign inside the pod." "Human." "The assistant engineer, George Webb, a friend of my uncle's, was assigned to open it." "Took him over an hour to cut through the hull." "He said the metal felt strange." "Cold to the touch." "Of course it was cold." "It was floating in space for 60 years." "He could hear a tapping noise coming from inside." "But when he finally got it open the pod was empty." "No body." "Nothing." "A few days later, Webb started acting strange." "Getting into fights with the crew, muttering to himself in some sort of alien language." "Then one day, he locked himself in Engineering and overloaded the impulse reactors." "He almost destroyed the ship." "Then he sealed himself in a life pod and ejected it." "I assume the captain went after him." "The reactors were too badly damaged." "Some people say it was an alien life form that got into him." "Others think it was the ghost of a dead crewman." "I never knew what to believe." "But Webb is still out there, drifting." "When the subspace noise is real low, some com officers say they can still hear the echo of his distress call." "Beep." "Beep." "It's highly doubtful that a distress beacon could function continuously for 63 years." "Let me guess." "No ghost stories on Vulcan." "That's it." "To the left of that trinary cluster." " What?" " Our sun." " Are you sure?" " Yeah." "Positive." "Just another speck of light." "No different than any other." "When I was a kid, I'd go camping with my buddies." "We'd spend half the night looking up at the stars, wondering what our own sun would look like from this far away." "Now you know." " Are you okay?" " Headache." "If it's all right with you," "I'd like to lie down for a while before we get back to work." "Certainly." "Has anyone heard the one about the haunted comet?" "Wait a minute." "You notice something?" "Fireflies are gone." "Nice going, Travis." "You scared off the bugs." "Maybe it's the ghost of George Webb." "Looks like we might have ourselves a little weather." "A front is approaching from the southwest." "It must be gusting at 80 kph." "This is nothing compared to a hurricane coming up through the Florida Keys." "Try flying through an ion storm at warp 2." "Did you hear that?" " What?" " Someone's out there." "It's the wind." " Oh, son of a bitch!" " What is it?" "There's something in my bag." " Give me your boot." " What for?" "So I can squash it." "Are we allowed to squash alien life forms?" "If they're inside your sleeping bag." "There it is." "Wait a minute." " Where'd you put the phase pistols?" " You wanna shoot a bug?" " I'm just gonna stun it." " T'Pol to Tucker." " Go ahead." " Is there a problem, commander?" "Oh, no, just an 8-inch scorpion thing inside our tent." " Do you require assistance?" " I think I've got it under control." "No, not there." "It's over there." "T'Pol, you said you found a cave this afternoon." " Less than half a kilometre from here." " I think we're gonna need it." "Come in." "Nice catch." "You'd make a good 2-metre man." "Too bad we don't have a pool onboard." "A shame." "A windstorm's moving across the northern continent." " It looks like a nasty one." " Survey team?" "They've taken shelter, but I'd recommend pulling them out." "I've got a shuttlepod on standby." " Archer to T'Pol." " Yes, captain." " What's your status?" " We've relocated into a cavern." "Mr Reed thinks we should come down and get you." "A landing under these conditions might be difficult." "We'll be protected until the winds diminish." "We'll keep an eye on the storm." "Let us know if you need anything." "Understood." "Keep the pod on standby." " Just in case." " Aye, sir." " Who's got the food packs?" " Nope." " Travis?" " Not me, sir." "We must have left them at the campsite." "I'll go." "Be careful." "Trip?" "Hello?" " Was anybody outside just now?" " Just you." "Why?" " There's someone else out there." " What?" "Near the campsite." "I think we've had enough ghost stories for one night." "It's no story." "We've scanned the planet." "It's uninhabited." " I'm telling you, I saw three people." " Three?" "What did they look like?" " It was too dark." " Sub-commander?" "Other than ourselves, there are no humanoid life forms here." "There could be something wrong with your scanner." "It's functioning perfectly." "Perhaps you imagined seeing them." "They looked pretty real to me." "Ethan?" "There's someone back there." "I heard voices." "Are you gonna tell me I'm imagining things too?" " It's not safe here." " We don't know that." "They could be friendly." "Why are they hiding?" "Why don't they come and say hello?" " We should leave." " Where do you propose we go?" " Back out into the storm?" " It's better than being trapped in here." "Slow down, crewman." "That's an order." "Ethan!" "Stay here." "Travis." " I'll be back shortly." " Where are you going?" "If there's someone back there, I intend to find them." "Ethan!" "Travis!" "I saw one." "It came right out of that rock like it was a part of it." "That could explain why they're not showing up on our scanners." "It's too dangerous." "We should go back." "Who were they?" "Excuse me?" "Well, who were you talking to?" "Talking to?" "There's no one here." "We've lost Novakovich, and we're apparently not alone." "There's some kind of life form down here." " Can you make it back to the cavern?" " We're heading there now, sir." "The captain's on his way." "We're getting out of here." "Not a moment too soon." "From what I saw, these things live inside the rock." "I performed a geological analysis." "The rocks are composed of limestone and cormalite." "Nothing more." "She's lying, commander." "I saw her talking to them." " Crewman?" " In there." "There were two of them." " She's mistaken." " No, I'm not." "Why won't you tell us what's going on?" "What do they want?" "I've got a fix." "Twenty kilometres northeast." "Archer to Novakovich." " Ethan, respond." " Who's there?" "Who is that?" "This is Captain Archer." "We're attempting to land." " I want you to get back to the cavern." " Go to hell!" " I have no reason to deceive you." " Neither does she." "You keep claiming these creatures don't exist, but the rest of us have all seen them." "That's a little strange, don't you think?" "I can't explain what you've seen, but I assure you, I didn't speak to anyone." "I'd like to believe you." "But you Vulcans don't exactly have a spotless track record when it comes to being honest with us." " Your point?" " You've held things back before." "You might be doing it again." "Tucker here." "We're closing in on your position, Trip." "There's a clearing 100 metres from the cave entrance." "Get to it." "I'm reading them." "Two kilometres due west." "I'm taking us down." "There's a lot of wind shear near the surface." "Activate the auxiliary landing thrusters." "Altitude 70 metres." "Forty metres." "I'll have to try a different vector." " Starboard." " I see it." "Thruster four's down." " We're leaking plasma coolant." " Almost there." "Sir, we can't safely land in this wind with a thruster out." " Archer to Tucker." " Captain." "Aren't you forgetting something?" "We're gonna have to wait till the wind dies down." " Try to manage till then." " We'll do our best, sir." "If you run across any more of these aliens, try to make contact." "See what you can find out about them." "Understood." "You okay?" "Never better." "You heard the captain." "He wants to know about your friends." "What are you gonna tell him?" "What are you gonna tell him?" " This is pointless." " Is it?" "We're stuck down here for God knows how long, with rock people, who, for all we know, are staring at us from these walls now." "Not to mention a crewman out there who probably won't last the night." "Now, if we're gonna get through this, I need to know what the hell's going on." "You beginning to see my point?" "I share your concern for Crewman Novakovich, but as I told you" "You couldn't care less about him, or any of the rest of us." "That would require some of those useless human emotions." "Your emotions are beginning to affect your judgment." "You're becoming irrational." " You've never seen me irrational." " Sir?" "I hate to add to our problems, but we're running low on water." "Great." " We'll have to conserve what's left." " That won't be necessary." "I detected water about 60 metres in that direction." "How do we know you're not going in there to talk to your friends?" "Join me if you'd like." "It could be a trap, commander." "I can survive without water for several days." "Can you?" "Sit down." "You heard me." "How's he doing?" "Not good." "His bio-signs are very erratic." "Try him again." "Enterprise to Novakovich." "Can you hear me?" "Ethan." "Mr Reed." "Can you get a lock on him?" " Yes, sir." " Looks like our only choice." "Understood." "Stand by." "There's a problem, sir." "There are contaminants in the matter stream." "The phase discriminator can't seem to isolate the debris." "Reed to Sickbay." "Medical emergency." "What are you doing?" " Working." " On what?" "Scans I took this afternoon." "Find anything you wanna tell me about?" "There's nothing of scientific interest on this planet." "Our mission here was a waste of time." "That's what you'd like us to think." " Let me see that thing." " The readings are in Vulcan." " You won't understand them." " No." "But Hoshi would." "This could be evidence." " Of what?" " Your little conspiracy." "I was wrong." "There is something of interest here." "I've learned a great deal about human behaviour." "Under stress, you become volatile." "You're a far more dangerous species than I previously believed." "Your people have been telling us that kind of crap for 100 years." "Looks like you finally found a way to put us back in our cage." " Sir?" " lmagine the news back home, Travis." ""Enterprise crew found dead." "Six weeks into their historic voyage, the bodies of all 82 crewmembers were located on an uninhabited world." "A Vulcan ship made the unfortunate discovery." "Cause of death remains a mystery."" "But what the Vulcans won't say is they know exactly who attacked us." "In fact, they arranged the whole thing." "They lured us down here so they could sabotage our mission." "You were the one who found these caves." "And it was your idea to stay overnight." "I didn't ask you or Mr Tucker to join us." "We know you're here." "Why don't you show yourselves?" "You're not afraid of us, are you?" "There's no one there, commander." "Maybe you're waiting for the others to come down so you can kill us all at once." " Did you see that?" " All I see is a delusional engineer." "Sounds like you're getting a little volatile yourself, sub-commander." "I thought you had your emotions all locked up." " Having a little problem, are you?" " Commander, there!" "You think I'm gonna wait around here for you to slaughter us?" "I'll blow this whole cave apart if I have to." "I know you hear me!" "Human skin is a resilient organ." "These wounds should heal nicely." " Can I talk to him?" " Yes." "But I doubt he'll make much sense." "Have you ever heard of tropolisine?" "No." "It's a psychotropic compound known for its hallucinogenic effects." "This crewman's bloodstream is filled with it." "If it was down on the planet, why didn't our sensors pick it up?" "Normally, it's found in certain flowering plants." "Perhaps your sensors weren't calibrated to detect it." "Or perhaps it wasn't there until that damn wind started." "How long will the effects last?" "Now that he's back on Enterprise, he should be all right in three or four hours." " Will this tro--?" " Tropolisine." " Will it affect T'Pol as well?" " There's no way to know." "It might affect her to a lesser degree, or a greater degree." "Archer to T'Pol." " Yes, captain." " We have Novakovich." "And I have a phase pistol pointed at my head." "What?" "My suspicions were right on the nose, captain." "Our little Vulcan here is not what she appears to be." "Never was." "What are you talking about?" "There's some kind of creatures down here." "They hide inside solid rock." "Travis and I have both seen them." "Cutler saw two of them talking to T'Pol." "They're up to something, but of course, she denies it." "Listen to me." "You've all been exposed to a psychotropic compound." "It causes heightened anxiety, hallucinations" "Are you telling me those creatures aren't real?" "The compound comes from the pollen of a flower." "We think it was blown down from the mountains when the wind started." "The doctor's run tests on Novakovich." "He thinks he's gonna be okay in a few hours." "So if you can get as deep as you can into the caves, your symptoms should dissipate around the same time." "We didn't imagine this, captain." "You dealt with simulations very close to this in Starfleet training." "You're familiar with mind-altering agents." "We'll be down to get you as soon as the winds let up." "You're not here, captain." "You don't understand what's going on." "Put your weapon down, Trip." "That's an order." " T'Pol?" " He's lowered his phase pistol, sir." " Have you been affected?" " Yes, but only slightly." "Try to hold on." "Archer out." "Get to the bridge." "I want a weather report." "Travis." "You still with me?" "I need you on your feet." "Those things could come back at any time." "Listen to me." "I'm giving you an order." "What's wrong?" "Ensign?" "What'd you do to him?" "I see why you get along so well with them, sneaking around in the shadows." "That's second nature to you Vulcans, isn't it?" "I have no idea what you just said, but it didn't sound very nice." "You're making a mistake working with her." "She'll stab you in the back first chance she gets." "Tell you what." "Come out, and we'll settle this peacefully." "Whatever she told you about humans it's not true." "You can see for yourself." "Say something!" "What are you doing here?" "Yes, sir." "I know, I know." "But they're not giving me much choice." "I gotta protect my crew." "I understand, Mr Velik, but I can't do that." "They're trying to kill us." "Nice try." "The centre of the storm's already passed over them, but the system spans some 500 kilometres." "We won't be able to land a shuttlepod before dawn." " When's that?" " Nine hours." " Phlox to Captain Archer." " Go ahead." "Please report to Sickbay immediately." "It's urgent." "I thought you said he was gonna be fine." "I did." "But each tropolisine atom contains a stray neutron." "When it started to break down in his bloodstream, it released an undetectable toxin." "I've injected him with lnoprovalene but I think it may be too late." "If I'd run a submolecular scan, I might have anticipated the complication, but there was no reason to." "At least, there didn't seem to be." "I can't tell you how sorry I am, captain." "What about the others?" "They spent less time exposed" "I've got four people down on the surface, doctor." "I need to know if they're gonna be dead when we get there in the morning." "Stay awake, Travis." "I can't afford to have you going out on me." " I'm trying, sir." " Cutler?" "You okay?" "If you're waiting for me to pass out, you're wasting your time." "You might as well have your friends come out now, do whatever they're gonna do." " T'Pol." " How are you doing?" " Who's that?" " It's the captain, Trip." " Are you all right?" " He's irrational, sir." "Mayweather and Cutler are nearly unconscious." "Both of you listen to me very carefully." "Novakovich may be dying." "Turns out the pollen contains some kind of toxin our sensors hadn't detected." "He's responding to medication, but his odds of recovery would be a hell of a lot better if we'd treated him sooner." "The doctor and Malcolm are synthesizing ampoules of lnoprovalene." "We're gonna have to use the transporter to get it to you, but it's imperative that you inoculate yourselves as soon as possible." "Do you understand what I'm saying?" "Taking an injection isn't gonna change a damn thing." "Don't you see that?" "They're planning something, captain." "First us, then all of you." "What's going on, Hoshi?" "She says Trip's going to kill her." "I don't think she's imagining it." "Say one more word of that gibberish, and I'm gonna split you in two." "Trip, listen to me." "The pollen's affecting her too." "Think about it." "You've heard of people suffering from dementia who revert to their native language." "She can't help it." "The only thing that's affecting her are those rock people." "If I can stop her now, I can save Enterprise." "Trip, how long have we known each other?" "What's that got to do with anything?" "Remember when your EV pack froze up on Titan?" "During the Omega training mission?" "You got nitrogen narcosis." "You started to try to take off your helmet." "You remember what I'm talking about?" "What's your point?" "I ordered you to keep your helmet on." "You were delirious, thought you were gonna die." "But you obeyed that order because you trusted me." "I'm asking you to trust me now." "Take the injection." "Then we'll deal with these rock people." "Too late, captain." "I'm not gonna die with a hypospray in my hand." " Trip" " No!" "It's not gonna happen." "All right." "Forget the medicine." "I think it's time I explain what's really going on." "But just stand by for a minute." "I need Malcolm to target your position." "Then I'll give you your orders." "Archer to Phlox." " The sooner the better." " Understood." "How close can you get it?" "I think I can safely place it two metres inside the mouth of the cave." "Good." "Captain?" "Hello?" "I'm waiting for that order, but I can't wait much longer." "All right, Trip." "This is a major breach of security, but I'm going to have to trust you." "Go ahead." "Starfleet sent us here to make contact with a silicon-based life form." "T'Pol was the only person granted clearance to speak with them." " Seems they've met Vulcans before." " Why couldn't you tell me that?" "When a mission's classified top-secret, I don't ask why." "If it was so top-secret, then why'd you let us all come down to the surface?" " Let us spend the night?" " The winds." "We never thought the storm would drive you into the caves." "That's where these rock people live." "They didn't want anybody in there except for T'Pol, so they're not too happy right now." "I'm sure you can understand that." "They've even threatened to destroy Enterprise." "Now, T'Pol needs to explain to them why you're all there, but she's not gonna have much credibility with you pointing a phase pistol at her." "If they agree to listen to her, you'll need to lower your weapon." "If they don't  I'm gonna have Malcolm destroy the cavern." "Sacrificing four more crewmen is a small price to pay to save Enterprise." "I understand." "Now  I'm gonna ask Hoshi to tell T'Pol everything I just told you in Vulcan." "You got a problem with that?" "Go ahead." "Ensign." "She says play-acting isn't exactly a Vulcan tradition, but she'll do her best." "Hope she knows the difference between stun and kill." "They've agreed to talk to her, Trip." "So lower your weapon, and act real friendly." "So lower your weapon, and act real friendly." "No." "You didn't shoot me last night, did you?" "I'm afraid I did." "I was hoping it was all just a bad dream." "Are they gone?" "They were never here." " What?" " There were no rock people." "You were all hallucinating." " The pollen?" " Yes." "Then what about that speech you gave to the wall?" "The captain felt that if I played along, it might help persuade you to lower your weapon." "You'd grown increasingly illogical and violent." "Something about "splitting me in two."" "A pretty good performance." "Look, I know I kind of shot my mouth off last night." "You were under the influence of the pollen." "We all were." ""Challenge your preconceptions or they'll challenge you."" "Commander?" "That's something Mr Velik used to say." "Tenth-grade biology class." "He was a Vulcan scientist who came to teach us about life on other worlds." "I'd never seen a Vulcan before, not up close." "He scared the hell out of me." "Perhaps it's not too late to follow his advice." "I must have twisted up my neck." "How's Novakovich?" "Do we know?" "The captain says he's going to be fine."