Silent Enemy (Enterprise)

ST episode
name =Silent Enemy


series =Enterprise
ep_num =11
prod_num =112
date =January 16, 2002
writer =Andre Bormanis
director =Winrich Kolbe
producer =Dawn Valazquez
guest =Jane Carr
Guy Siner
Paula Malcomson
John Rosenfeld
stardate =unknown
year =2151
prev =Cold Front
next =Dear Doctor

"Silent Enemy" is the eleventh episode (production #112) of the television series "".

ynopsis

Archer and Hoshi attempt to get to know Malcolm Reed better in order to surprise him on his birthday. Meanwhile, the "Enterprise" encounters a non-communicative alien ship that fires upon them. The "Enterprise" is unable to defend itself as it was not fitted with phase cannons before it left spacedock. Trip and Reed insist that they can construct the weaponry as well as the engineering staff at Jupiter Station. Archer orders the "Enterprise" to return to Earth to have the phase cannon fitted but authorises Trip and Reed to go ahead with creating and fitting their version.

The "Enterprise" encounters the alien ship again and this time is able to defend itself and defeat the ship. Hoshi discovers that Reed is taking inoculations to enable him to eat pineapple. At the celebration of the defeat of the alien ship, Reed is amazed that the cake is pineapple, as he didn't know that anyone knew his favorite food.

Plot

Teaser

The "Enterprise" launches Echo Two, a subspace amplifier. It activates and begins networking with Echo One, launched earlier. Hoshi estimates an hour before the ship can call Starfleet. At that moment, an unknown vessel drops out of warp. Archer hails them and receives no response. The vessel then turns and goes to warp. Reed didn't detect any readings from the vessel at all. It is as if the ship was never there.

Act One

In the Situation Room, Archer wonders why the alien vessel behaved as it did. Hoshi points out that the Universal Translator is far from perfect; T'Pol says that some species have motives that can't be understood in human terms and Mayweather suggests that the aliens may not have found the "Enterprise" very interesting. As the senior staff leave, Hoshi whispers conspiratorially to Archer that she has "found them". 'They' are in Kota Baharu, Malaysia and took Hoshi a week to find. Archer suggests breaking in the subspace amplifier and will be in his Ready Room when Hoshi is ready.

In the Ready Room, Archer speaks to Reed's parents. It is his birthday in two days, September 2nd. Reed's mother says that the last time they heard from him was a call from San Francisco to say that he had been assigned to the "Enterprise". Reed's father asks what Reed's duties are aboard the ship. Archer says that Reed is the armory Officer and Reed's father replies that his grandfather would be pleased as he was an Ordnance Officer in the Royal Navy. Reed is the first member of his family for generations to not join the Navy, his father says disapprovingly. Archer continues by asking what Reed's favourite food is, in order to make him a special dinner as a birthday treat. Reed's parents say that Reed never made any requests for food and always ate what was put in front of him. At that point, Reed's father ends the conversation. Archer looks at the empty screen thoughtfully, then goes on to the Bridge. He tells Hoshi that it is her top priority to find out what Reed likes to eat. Hoshi protests that she is running a diagnostic on the subspace-transceiver array - Archer tells her to get help, if required.

Later in a corridor, Archer meets up with Trip. He says that Trip missed seeing T'Pol eat with chopsticks at dinner, something Trip regrets. Archer asks about news from home. Trip says that Duvall has been given command of the "Shenandoah"; Archer thanks God that they are 100 light years away from Earth. Trip continues by saying that he received a letter from a Natalie in Pensacola, Florida and finds an excuse to walk away. Archer asks if Trip is OK and Trip wishes that he could have said goodbye face-to-face. They continue on Trip's rounds of Engineering checks. Archer relates the conversation with Reed's parents and Trip is incredulous. Archer observes that none of the crew know much about Reed at all. At that moment, T'Pol hails to say that the alien vessel has returned.

Back on the Bridge, Archer hails the vessel again and tries to make contact. Hoshi detects a signal and seconds later a loud screeching echoes through the ship, incapacitating the crew. T'Pol says that they are being scanned. The vessel then moves to intercept, shooting at the "Enterprise" and making direct contact before going to warp. Reed says that he was able to take readings of the ship when they dropped their shields to fire. 15 bio-signs, maybe more. T'Pol says that they don't match anything in the database. Archer and T'Pol leave the Bridge.

Elsewhere, Trip supervises repairs. He tells Archer and T'Pol that he and 13 crewmen were almost blown out in to space with the last shot. Archer and T'Pol continue. Archer says that the "Enterprise" wasn't fitted with phase cannon as it left spacedock several weeks ahead of schedule. He recommends returning to Earth in order to have them fitted.

In the armory, Reed asks for two weeks for he and Trip to do the job themselves. Archer insists on returning - other systems require Trip's attention. Reed and Trip request permission to at least start the work for Jupiter Station to finish and Archer agrees. Archer hails Mayweather to order a course plotted for Earth and the "Enterprise" goes to warp.

Act Two

In the armory, Reed explains a diagnostic read-out of a phase cannon to the Engineering staff. It has a maximum power output of 500 gigajoules. They have one prototype and the "Enterprise" was designed for three. Trip continues by saying that they have to make it work and design and fit two more. Engineering will have to pull double shifts to get the work done ahead of their ETA at Jupiter Station.

On the Bridge, Hoshi talks to Reed's sister via subspace. She says that he once expressed an interest in eating octopus but that he may have been joking. Reed isn't the easiest person to get to know, she says. Hoshi also talks to Reed's former roommate at Starfleet. He can only say that Reed hates eating fish. Mayweather asks how Hoshi is getting on; she replies that the most that Reed's friends and relatives know about him is that he occasionally eats. T'Pol suggests talking to Reed to find out.

In the Mess Hall, Hoshi joins Reed at his table. She asks Reed what his favourite food is and he becomes embarrassed. Reed misinterprets Hoshi's questions as an attempt to become closer, which he thinks isn't appropriate. Now it is Hoshi's turn to be embarrassed and she leaves the table quickly.

On the Bridge, T'Pol detects the alien vessel on a pursuit course, dead astern. The vessel attacks, disabling the "Enterprise"'s warp drive and main power. A shuttle approaches the ship from the alien vessel. The doors to Launch Bay 2 open and T'Pol can't seal them. Working in torchlight, two crewmen hear a noise. Shining the light along the corridor, they see two alien bipeds crossing the intersection. They follow and quickly disappear, their torches rolling across the floor.

Archer and two crewmen walk along the corridor, armed with phase pistols. They come across the lights and see the aliens standing over the prone crewmen. Archer calls a warning to stand away then shoots one of the aliens. It has no effect, so Archer tries the higher setting. This also has no effect and the aliens walk away. Archer summons Phlox to E Deck, Section 7 to attend the crewmen. The security team hail Archer to say that the aliens have departed in their shuttle. The shuttle arrives back on the alien ship which moves off, blasting a warp nacelle as it departs.

Act Three

In Sickbay, Phlox tells Archer and T'Pol that the crewmen were subjected to invasive scans and that they could have residual neurological damage. T'Pol claims no knowledge of this species, so Archer orders her to find out what she can. Trip hails Archer to say that it will be two days before warp drive is back online. Impulse engines will be back online shortly.

On the Bridge, Mayweather suggests contacting the Vulcan High Command for help. Hoshi attempts to and discovers that Echo Two is no longer in position. Scans reveal that both subspace amplifiers have been destroyed.

In the Armoury, the Engineering team work on the phase cannon project. Reed tells Trip that he wants to avoid using the main EPS grid and draw power from the impulse engines. Trip says that it should be done by the book and pulls rank to emphasise this. Reed complies.

In Engineering, Trip and Archer talk about the mission. Archer feels bad because he rushed the "Enterprise" out of spacedock to prove a point to the Vulcans; it is because of him that the ship isn't ready to face this alien threat. Trip reminds Archer that the Vulcans would have sent Klaang back to Kronos as a corpse and that their mission was required. Trip reassures Archer that every member of the crew thinks that their mission is worth the risk. In the phase cannon port, Trip tells Reed that he accepts the risk level of powering the phase cannon from the impulse engines.

:"Captain's starlog, September 1st, 2151. It's been two days now with no sign of the alien vessel. My crew has managed to do in 48 hours what would have taken the armoury team at Jupiter Station at least a week. To say that I am proud of them would be an understatement. We're preparing our first test. Everybody has their fingers crossed, including me."

The "Enterprise" locates an uninhabited planet and locks on to a mountain peak in the middle of an impact crater. Archer asks for "a little off of the top" and Reed's shot reduces the mountain to rubble with a blast yield of ten times the expected output. Relays were blown out on Decks C and D and T'Pol detects an anomalous reading in Launch Bay 2. Archer, T'Pol, Reed and Trip discover an alien device that outputs a field of over 600 megajoules; it is probably what caused the power overload in the phase cannon test. T'Pol also reports that the device is tapped in to internal sensors and comms channels. Archer activates a viewscreen and gives the aliens a message; he doesn't want a fight but is prepared to protect his ship by any means necessary. With that, he phasers the device.

Act Four

Hoshi goes to Sickbay to talk to Phlox. Phlox says that the injured crewmen have returned to duty. She asks Phlox what Reed's favourite food is. Phlox concludes that medically speaking, there is no accounting for taste as he tells Hoshi that Reed eats eggs, sausages, bacon and pancakes with peanut butter. Hoshi makes to leave and Phlox says "Bromelain!". Reed suffers from several allergies - dust mites, oak pollen, tropical grasses - and Bromelain. Reed takes injections to tolerate Bromelain so that he can eat pineapple. Hoshi leaves, excited.

On the Bridge, T'Pol detects the alien vessel astern. The ship hails and runs an edit of Archer's earlier message; "You are defenseless. Prepare to surrender your vessel". Archer orders Reed to fire both phase cannon but the blasts barely scratch the alien shields. Archer asks if Reed can overload the cannon as he did yesterday. That would knock out two decks, replies Reed. Trip suggests shunting the excess energy to structural integrity.

With the modifications finished as the ships are 1000 metres apart, Reed fires and causes damage to the alien vessel, knocking out their shields. Reed follows up with two torpedoes and causes further damage before the aliens go to warp. Trip reports that the plasma relays on B Deck were blown out by the recoil. Archer doesn't see any point in returning to Jupiter Station now that the phase cannon are working and Hoshi suggests that they drop another subspace amplifier now that they have come back this far.

Act Five

In the armory, Archer, Trip and Reed drink beer in celebration of the good job they performed yesterday. Archer grants them permission to sleep in tomorrow with a smile. Hoshi enters with a flight case. Archer opens it and produces a birthday cake for Reed, saying with another smile that it was no trouble at all. Reed cuts the cake and says "Pineapple! That's my favourite! How on Earth did you know?". "We have our sources", says Hoshi with a grin.

External links