Changes: Precious Cargo (episode)

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After Enterprise rescues a pair of aliens with a mysterious cargo, Trip finds himself in a major predicament after he accidentally opens the cargo.

Summary

The Enterprise answers a distress call from a Retellian cargo ship that is experiencing problems with its life support systems. The two crewmen explain that they have been hired to return a young woman back to her home-world when a few days ago her stasis pod began to malfunction. Their ship is a small cargo vessel, however, not designed or equipped for more than two people: they still have a long journey ahead of them (at warp 2) and if she wakes up, there won't be enough food and air to breathe. They gladly accept all the accommodation Captain Archer offers them and are grateful for Trip taking a look at the power cells for the pod.

When Archer offers to help them to their destination in just a few days, they get nervous, however, politely declining the offer, insisting that they are on a schedule and that the family is not even expecting her on her home world for another five months.

However, when the passenger awakens following another malfunction, it becomes obvious that she is not there of her own will: she is kicking and screaming in the pod that she is being held in, demanding to be let out. When Trip tries to help her out, one of the Retellian cargo pilots, Goff, strikes him down and flees the Enterprise at once - leaving his brother behind. Having a faster speed, the Enterprise is able to easily catch up. However, when dropping out of warp, the cargo ship manages to release a dilithium hydroxyl cloud that disables Enterprise's warp drive.

On the cargo ship, the outraged passenger, whose name is Kaitaama, explains to Trip that she is a prisoner and that she was attacked on her way back from a diplomatic mission. She is surprised that Trip doesn't know her, for her family is apparently known on hundreds of worlds. She is the First Monarch of the Sovereign Dynasty of Krios Prime. She is sure that she has been kidnapped by the Retellians for a ransom - so she suggests just waiting until the ransom is paid and they are returned safely. Trip, however, doesn't want to sit around and wait until some ransom is paid so he suggests trying to escape the cargo vessel through an escape pod he saw earlier. She protests, stating that it is too dangerous, but Trip tells her that he is not one of her subjects and that he will try to get out regardless of what she says.

Despite protests and refusal to help at first, she finally changes her mind and takes her chances with Trip aboard the escape pod which is entirely too small, obviously made for one person only. Crammed inside a tiny space, they irritate each other a lot and do not get along very well at first, but manage to tolerate each other until they can land on a habitable planet.

Back on the Enterprise, Archer and T'Pol bluff that under Starfleet regulations Plinn, the other alien who was left behind, will be held responsible for the actions of his brother and severely punished if he doesn't reveal the cargo vessel's warp frequency. After much pressure and theatrical performance, however, they are finally able to get that information out of him.

In the meanwhile, the escape pod approaches a planet that supports a breathable atmosphere. They manage to land and end up in a hot, humid, swampy area that does offer a breathable atmosphere but is not very hospitable otherwise. Kaitaama and Trip continue irritating each other again, and after some arguing, yelling and bickering end up physically intimate. Shortly after, the escape pod beacon is traced back by Goff who lands on the planet in pursuit of the two. Setting a trap, however, they manage to strike him down. Shortly thereafter, Archer, T'Pol, and Lieutenant Reed arrive on the planet to rescue the two.

"Captain's starlog, September 12, 2152. We've rendezvoused with the Krios battle cruiser which is taking the kidnappers into custody."

Back on the Enterprise, Trip accompanies Kaitaama to the battle cruiser that is awaiting her. He jokes that he doubts that from what she told him, her family would allow her to see him if he were to ever visit Krios Prime. But she states that once she has been made First Monarch, she will have the authority to change the rules and asks him to come visit her to find out...

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Log Entries

"Captain's starlog, September 12, 2152. We've rendezvoused with a Krios battle cruiser, which has taken the kidnappers into custody."

Memorable Quotes

"Take him back to docking port 2. Put him in the airlock and post a security detail."
"I'm telling you the truth!"
"We'll keep the outer hatch unlocked. If you decide to leave, you know the way out."

- Archer, at the end of an unfruitful interrogation of Plinn

"Is your entire species so ill-mannered?"
"No... just me."

- Kaitaama and Charles Tucker

"Is it edible?"
"Well, depends how hungry you are."

- Kaitaama and Charles Tucker, on the escape pod emergency rations

"Well, we started out with 83 crewmen on board. We're down to 76."

- Archer about T'Pol's supposed strictness about unbecoming conduct for an officer.

"How much do you weigh?"
"What?"
"Your weight?"
"72 kilograms."
"Height?"
"1.8 meters. Why are you asking these questions?"
"Does your culture observe any postmortem rituals?"
"This is not fair! I demand to speak with someone from my government!"

- T'Pol pretending to be Plinn's judge and executioner

Background

This was the first Enterprise episode on which David A. Goodman worked. "They were pretty much ready to fire me," Goodman recalled about the producers' reaction to this episode's script, "and to be fair, I was rewritten a lot on 'Precious Cargo', so the piece of crap that aired was not the piece of crap that I wrote." Thanks to Brannon Braga, Goodman remained on the series, going on to write the script and co-write the story (with Taylor Elmore) for the later second season installment "Judgment". ("Judgment" podcast/audio commentary)
Dr. Phlox (John Billingsley) does not appear in this episode.
Leland Crooke previously played Gelnon in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes "One Little Ship" and "Honor Among Thieves".
Kaitaama's line to Trip that she hoped he would visit him on Krios Prime was added to suggest that the very different versions of "Krios" seen in TNG: "The Mind's Eye" and "The Perfect Mate" were not the same planet. ^{(citation needed • edit)}
The Ardanan power relay was a reuse of the chrono deflector used by the future Admiral Janeway in VOY: "Endgame". ^{(citation needed • edit)}
Among the items from this episode which were sold off on the It's A Wrap! sale and auction on eBay were many crowbars. [1]

Links and references

Starring

Scott Bakula as Jonathan Archer
John Billingsley as Phlox
Jolene Blalock as T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Hoshi Sato
Connor Trinneer as Charles "Trip" Tucker III

Guest Stars

Previous episode:
"Vanishing Point"

Star Trek: Enterprise
Season 2

Next episode:
"The Catwalk"

@@ Line 89: / Line 89: @@
 ==Background==
+* This was the first ''[[Star Trek: Enterprise|Enterprise]]'' episode on which [[David A. Goodman]] worked. "''They were pretty much ready to fire me,''" Goodman recalled about the producers' reaction to this episode's script, "''and to be fair, I was rewritten a lot on 'Precious Cargo', so the piece of crap that aired was not the piece of crap that I wrote.''" Thanks to [[Brannon Braga]], Goodman remained on the series, going on to write the script and co-write the story (with [[Taylor Elmore]]) for the later [[ENT Season 2|second season]] installment {{e|Judgment}}. ("Judgment" podcast/[[audio commentary]])
-* [[Doctor|Dr.]] [[Phlox]] ([[John Billingsley]]) does not appear in this episode.
+* [[Doctor|Dr.]] [[Phlox]] ([[John Billingsley]]) [[Main character non-appearances|does not appear]] in this episode.
 * [[Leland Crooke]] previously played [[Gelnon]] in the ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'' episodes {{e|One Little Ship}} and {{e|Honor Among Thieves}}.
 * Kaitaama's line to Trip that she hoped he would visit him on Krios ''Prime'' was added to suggest that the very different versions of "Krios" seen in {{TNG|The Mind's Eye}} and {{e|The Perfect Mate}} were not the same planet. {{incite}}
-* The [[Ardanan]] [[power relay]] is a reuse of the [[Chrono deflector]] used by the future [[Admiral]] [[Kathryn Janeway|Janeway]] in {{VOY|Endgame}}.
+* The [[Ardanan]] [[power relay]] was a reuse of the [[chrono deflector]] used by the future [[Admiral]] [[Kathryn Janeway|Janeway]] in {{VOY|Endgame}}. {{incite}}
-* Among the items from this episode which were sold off on the [[It's A Wrap! sale and auction]] on eBay were many [[crowbar]]s. {{stala|9533}}
+* Among the items from this episode which were sold off on the [[It's A Wrap! sale and auction|''It's A Wrap!'' sale and auction]] on eBay were many [[crowbar]]s. {{stala|9533}}
 ==Links and references==