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Dr. Soong's Augments devise a plot to wage war on the Klingons.
(Part 3 of 3)
Summary
As the episode opens Captain Jonathan Archer has just reached the primary junction in the central core of Cold Station 12. The Captain has 40 seconds to divert the power to the secondary relays in order to isolate the central lab and keep "hundreds" of lethal pathogens from reaching the lab personnel as well as the Enterprise away team inside the lab. Unfortunately the Captain can't completely stop the pathogens from being released; as the clock reaches zero he's informed by the lab manager that the ventilation grid will carry the pathogens throughout the rest of the station, include the central core. At that point he has less than a minute before he becomes contaminated.
Because Enterprise, situated nearby, is unable to obtain a transporter lock on Archer due to interference within the central core, Archer orders Commander T'Pol to fire the starship's phase cannons at exterior hatch J-9 to decompress the station's central core. As the pathogens begin to be released, Enterprise destroys the top of the shaft where Archer is located. The captain is blown out of the central core due to decompression. As he clears the top of the central core into space, Archer is quickly beamed back aboard Enterprise.
Elsewhere, Malik tells Doctor Arik Soong that their stolen Klingon Bird-of-Prey has "crossed into Klingon space." Soong asks about Enterprise and is informed that Enterprise is holding its position. Soong notes that "Archer's not foolish enough to follow us." Malik responds that Archer won't be following them, as Malik believes Archer's dead. This triggers an angry confrontation between Dr. Soong and Malik.
Dr. Soong becomes furious, shouting "No one was to be killed without my express order!" When Malik tries to excuse his actions, Soong interrupts and tells Malik that if Soong is disobeyed again by Malik that he'll lock Malik in the Bird-of-Prey's targ pit where Malik "won't see the light of day for a month." Still in a state of anger and unsatisfied with the ship's lack of speed, Soong attempts to reassert authority over Malik by ordering him to engineering to repair the port inducer assembly, which Enterprise damaged at the end of the second episode. Malik balks, saying he's not an engineer. Soong tells Malik to go back anyway; "You're a bright boy Malik, I'm sure you'll figure it out." Malik then leaves the bridge in a sulk.
Meanwhile, still in temporary command of Enterprise, T'Pol records a log entry.
- "First officer's log, supplemental. We've evacuated the away team and all personnel from the station. The captain shows no sign of infection. He's recovering in sickbay."
Archer, T'Pol, Doctor Phlox, Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Commander Charles Tucker discuss plans to stop Dr. Soong and his Augments in Enterprise's sickbay. Reed notes there are half-a-dozen Klingon patrols that will intercept Enterprise if it follows the Augments' stolen Bird-of-Prey into Klingon space. To better the odds in Enterprise's favor the Starfleet officers decide to emulate a Klingon warp signature in order to slip past the Klingon patrols. T'Pol reports that the Dr. Lucas and his team are anticipating their return to Cold Station 12 to begin decontamination of the station. Commander Tucker notes "that's quite a mess they gotta clean up." T'Pol says that Dr. Lucas estimates it will take "more than a year" to fully decontaminate the facility.
On the Bird-of-Prey, Dr Soong talks of taking the Augments to an area flooded with radiation from supernova remnants. He refers to it by its Klingon name of "Klach D'Kel Brakt", or more colloquially as the "Briar Patch". Dr Soong knows that there are signs of at least two habitable planets and it would be difficult to find them within the clouds of radiation. Malik impatiently interrupts Dr. Soong with "This is your plan? To hide, again." Dr. Soong tries to explain the need for a safe haven for the embryos to develop. Malik tries to reason with Dr. Soong that Star Fleet won't give up, that they'll send other ships to pursue them, that the "gas cloud" won't protect them. Soong asks Malik what Malik would do, but Malik is uncertain, only that running away is not the answer. Malik then asks if Dr. Soong is familiar with Botany Bay, a "pre-warp vessel launched at the end of the Great Wars." Malik goes on to recount how the vessel left with many of "their brethren", including their leader Khan Noonien Singh. Dr. Soong states that Botany Bay is "a myth" and no evidence it ever existed. Malik believes that it does, but his point is that Kahn made the fatal mistake of running from his enemies rather than facing them. Malik does not want to make that same "mistake" but instead wants face Star Fleet rather than constantly running and hiding. Soong ends the argument by stating that "the matter is not open to debate." He orders the ship to head to the Briar Patch.
When the Enterprise finds the Bird-of-Prey, Soong is sort of relieved that Archer survived but to put him off their trail, he has the female Denobulan pilot ejected in her craft between two magnetic pulls, knowing Archer would rescue her.
After the Augments turn on Soong, Soong escapes to help the Enterprise crew with the help of Persis. The Enterprise crew tries to stop the Augments and T'Pol confronts Tucker. Malik stabs Persis for helping Soong escape and continues with his plan to attack a Klingon colony planet. Malik's scans of the colony reveal three population centers which he plans to attack with a torpedo armed with bio-weapons stolen from Cold Station 12. If they use the pathogens from C12 on a Klingon colony, then Earth will be at war with the Klingons and they can live in peace.
Enterprise manages to destroy the torpedo seconds after it was launched and proceeds to disable the Klingon bird of prey after Soong tells Archer where the stolen bird of prey is most vulnerable. Malik prefers to die rather than be captured and proceeds to overload the dilithium matrix and the Bird-of-Prey explodes. Malik however manages to transport himself onto the Enterprise unnoticed and attacks Archer and a guard in an attempt to kill Soong for betraying the Augments, but Archer manages to kill Malik. Soong is taken to the brig and told that none of his work during his time in prison has been destroyed and is stored in a secure location for potential future use. Soong doubts that will ever happen.
Soong, now believing that humanity cannot be perfected, instead turns his attention to building an artificial lifeform
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Memorable Quotes
"Come on. It's not like we would have made an ideal couple. A Vulcan and a Human? Romeo and Juliet probably stood a better chance."
"Is there something we can do to keep from showing up on their sensors?"
"I could paint a bird of prey on the hull."
- - Archer and Tucker
"How long can we sustain warp five?"
"As long as the captain wants it. Or until we blow up, whichever comes first."
- - Soong and Tucker
"Target the bridge."
- - Archer
"Botany Bay is a myth! There's no evidence it ever existed."
- - Arik Soong
"You could at least let me finish my work before you take it away and destroy it..."
"No one's destroyed anything. It's being stored in a secure location - maybe someday, we'll figure out how to use it to benefit humanity."
"I wouldn't count on it."
- - Soong and Archer
"I've been thinking - perfecting humanity...may not be possible. Cybernetics...artificial lifeforms...I doubt I'll finish the work myself...might take a generation or two..."
- - Soong, back in his cell, thinking towards the future
Background Information
The Qu'Vat colony
- This episode concludes the "Augment" story arc.
- The scene of a gravely-injured Malik crawling through the ruined bridge is slightly familiar and possibly a homage to a very similar scene with Khan in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- The Briar Patch from Star Trek: Insurrection is mentioned here by Arik Soong as a place of refuge for his Augment children. Both Brent Spiner (Soong) and director LeVar Burton had starred in Star Trek: Insurrection. Soong also claims that the Klingon name for the Briar Patch is Klach D'Kel Brakt, which was mentioned by Kor in DS9: "Blood Oath" as the site of a great victory by the Klingons over the Romulans.
- LeVar Burton had not directed an episode of Star Trek featuring Brent Spiner since TNG: "The Pegasus".
- This three-part story arc established that in the 22nd century, genetic engineering was completely banned on Earth after the Eugenics Wars, even for genetic research which could be used to cure critical illnesses. At the end of the story, Archer expresses his hope to Dr. Soong that research into genetic engineering that could cure life-threatening diseases would actually be resumed. According to Dr. Bashir in DS9: "Doctor Bashir, I Presume", by the 24th century genetic engineering was indeed used by that time to treat serious medical conditions, though trying to genetically engineer Humans with "superior" abilities was still banned.
- At the end of this episode, Arik Soong claims "I've been thinking, perfecting Humanity may not be possible. Cybernetics. Artificial lifeforms. I doubt I'll finish the work myself; might take a generation or two." This is a direct link to the Soong family's work in upcoming centuries, which see the creation of the androids B-4, Lore, Data and Juliana Tainer by his great-grandson Noonian Soong.
- This episode was heavily edited by UK Channel 4 when they broadcast it, removing the whole of the fight between Malik and Persis and its conclusion. As a result, Persis simply disappears from the episode without explanation.
- John Billingsley called the episodes making up the Augments arc some of the best work of the season. [1]
- The talk about the Botany Bay and Khan foreshadows the events of TOS: "Space Seed".
- This episode's ending on a positive note suggests that Soong may eventually be released from prison. At this point, it wasn't clear if he had fathered any children yet as no existing family was mentioned.
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
Special Guest Star
Co-Stars
- Adam Grimes as Lokesh
- Kristen Ariza as Augment #1
- Dayna Devon as a N.D. Engineer
- J.D. Hall as the Klingon com voice
Uncredited Co-Stars
- Geneviere Anderson as an operations division ensign
- Fernando Chien as Saul
- Shawn Crowder as a MACO
- Yuri Elvin as M. Romero
- Henry Farnam as command division crewman
- Scott Hill as Ensign Hutchison
- Ricky Lomax as W. Woods
- Paul Sklar as R. Richards
References
Australia; biogenic agent; Botany Bay; Botany Bay, SS; Briar Patch; coil assembly; Cold Station 12; cybernetics; D5 class; Denobulan; Denobulan shuttle; dilithium matrix; dispersive armor; engineer; escape pod; Eugenics Wars; garbage scow; Great Wars; Klach D'kel Brakt; Klag (Governor); Klingon; Klingon battle cruiser; Klingon Bird-of-Prey (22nd century); Klingon chancellor; Klingon High Council; Klingonese; Qo'noS; M'Rek; megahertz; Mississippi; Orion slave girl; Orion; Panama City; penal colony; phase cannons; Qu'Vat colony; Romeo and Juliet; Singh, Khan Noonien; tactical alert; targ pit; transponder; Tucker, Charles II; universal translator; Vulcan; Vulcan (planet); warp coil; warp signature; Xindi incident
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Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4 |
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