Oasis (Enterprise)

ST episode
name =Oasis


All is not as it appears to be with Erzal & Liana
series =Enterprise
ep_num =19
prod_num =120
date =April 3, 2002
writer =Rick Berman
Brannon Braga
Stephen Beck
director =Jim Charleston
producer =Dawn Valazquez
guest =Rene Auberjonois
Tom Bergeron
Annie Wersching
Rudolph Willrich
Claudette Sutherland
stardate =unknown
year =2151
prev =Acquisition
next =Detained

Oasis is the 19^th episode (production #120) of the television series '. It guest stars Rene Auberjonois, who previously starred as Odo in '.

ynopsis

The crew is directed to a barren planet, where a derelict ship may be salvageable for supplies. But the crew quickly learns that rumors about the shipwreck being haunted may be true.

Plot

Teaser
In the Captain's Mess, Archer, T'Pol and Trip are eating with D'Marr, a trader. Archer needs dilithium ore and raw duratanium for the ship but D'Marr prefers to trade in silks and spices. For ten kilos of coffee, D'Marr tells them of a transport vessel that has crashed on a planet two days' journey from where they are now. He landed to claim it as salvage, having detected no life-signs aboard. T'Pol asks why he didn't go ahead and D'Marr replies that "the crew objected", even though there was nothing alive on the planet.

Act One
Archer orders a shuttlepod down to the planet, leaving Reed in charge. On board the ship, T'Pol detects no bio-signs, so Trip and T'Pol head towards Engineering. Mayweather looks back at the hatch, wondering why D'Marr would have stayed long enough to close it if he left in such a hurry. In Engineering, T'Pol hears a noise but detects nothing with her tricorder. Trip asks if she ever gets scared and T'Pol replies no.

In the corridors, Archer and Mayweather find a computer terminal with its data modules intact, so they decide to take it back to the "Enterprise". Mayweather thinks that if D'Marr had been scared off by other scavengers then they would see evidence, as the ship would have been stripped to its keel.

In Engineering, Trip and T'Pol find that the dilithium crystals are in perfect shape and the ship could fly with little difficulty. T'Pol notices a blurred reflection of a humanoid face but sees nothing when she turns. They investigate and discover a section of the ship behind a bulkhead, protected from sensor scans with a dampening field. Trip and T'Pol make their way through an airponics bay to locate the generator. Rounding a corner, Trip meets Liana and both are amazed to see the other. She flees and they pursue, running in to a chamber containing many crewmembers pointing phase pistols at them. T'Pol and Trip holster their own weapons to show peaceful intentions.

Ezral and Captain Kuulan tell the Away Team that the ship was attacked by raiders while returning from their colony on Kotara Barath, three years ago. They set up a dampening field to hide and didn't signal to avoid attracting the raiders' attention. Archer offers assistance to make the ship spaceworthy, with Ezral accepts.

Later, in Engineering, Trip is startled by the sudden appearance of Liana. She warns him of a live power relay. Liana's mother arrives to take her away and Trip smiles a goodbye.

Act Two
Over a dinner that Liana has made for him, Trip asks if she is looking forward to returning to her world, Kantare, and seeing her friends. Liana looks troubled and Kuulan walks in with Ezral for a status report. They then ask for help with the computer core, which uses optronic relays. Trip worked on something similar with the Xyrillians and says that he can help. Kuulan refuses an offer to visit the "Enterprise", to Liana's disappointment.

In the Situation Room on the "Enterprise", Reed's analysis of the Kantaran ship reveals impact damage but no weapons signatures. Reed goes on to say that the raiders must have left since their attack, so there is no reason to delay activating the beacon. Mayweather states that the airponics bay isn't big enough to feed all of the crew. Archer orders that the data module be downloaded and analysed.

Later, Trip is summoned to the Ready Room, where Archer and Reed tell him that the Kantaran ship suffered a catastrophic malfunction before it crashed and wasn't attacked. They go on to tell Trip that the oxidation rate of the ship's hull plates reveal that it crashed nearly 22 years previously, not three as Ezral claimed. The data module also showed that escape pods had been launched. Reed located a pod in orbit and ordered it brought aboard.

In the Launch Bay, Reed opens the escape pod and Trip is amazed to see the corpse of Shilat - Trip had spoken to him on the planet's surface only an hour before.

Act Three
T'Pol is working in the Kantaran ship's computer core when she sees something interesting on the monitor. She takes her tricorder to investigate. Trip meets Liana in the Mess Hall of the "Enterprise". Liana grows upset when Trip presents the evidence to her and he agrees to take Liana home. In a darkened section of the Kantaran ship, T'Pol is surprised by several Kantaran crewmen who appear from nowhere. Captain Kuulan tells her that she has been "looking where she shouldn't have".

The Away Team are arrested when they return to the ship with Liana. Trip is led away to complete the repairs while Archer and Reed are ordered to leave. Liana pleads with Ezral to tell Kuulan to stop. Trip is taken to the computer core, where Ezral orders him to complete the repairs. Trip appeals for Liana's sake but Ezral is implacable, saying "I've made all the friends I need" as he departs.

On board the "Enterprise", Archer, Reed and Mayweather plan a raid on the Kantaran ship to rescue T'Pol and Trip, placing the shuttlepod away from the crash site and entering through the escape pod ports.

In the computer core, Trip wonders how Shilat can guard him when his corpse is in the "Enterprise"'s Launch Bay. Liana relieves Shilat and tells Trip that his first thought of the ship being haunted isn't too far from the truth.

Elsewhere, the rescue team split up and work their way along the corridors. Reed is hit with a phaser beam and Archer returns fire before rescuing him. The beam from Archer's phase pistol passes through the advancing figure. Trip pleads with Liana to stop the battle before anyone dies. The Kantaran crew emerge from the walls to overwhelm Reed and Archer. Liana removes some datacards from the computer core and the Kantaran crew disappear in front of Ezral, Archer and Reed - they were all holograms.

Act Four
Ezral explains that he was the chief engineer on the ship when it was caught in an ion storm that overloaded their plasma conduits. Captain Kuulan set a course for the planet, intending to crash-land. Ezral went to his quarters on the lowest deck to save Liana. As he was away from his station, there was a plasma explosion that killed half the crew instantly. Trip wants to know what contingency plans there are for Liana when Ezral grows old and dies.

Mayweather returns with T'Pol, who is unharmed. Archer tells Ezral that he should decide if the only help he needs is repairs on the holographic systems.

Act Five
In the "Enterprise"'s Ready Room, Archer greets Ezral. He asks for a list of components required to make his ship spaceworthy and tells Archer that the holographic crew can help repair her. On the Kantaran ship, Trip gives Liana a protein resequencer, programmed for creating ice cream and some of his favourite flavours before kissing her farewell.

External links