Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) s03e06 Episode Script
The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail
1
♪
Previously on Star Trek:
Strange New Worlds
UHURA: Spock, meet James Kirk,
first officer of the Farragut.
UNA: When I took my commission,
I spent a week shadowing Pike.
It made all the difference.
PELIA: You want to know the worst thing
about living almost forever?
The loss of those you love.
UNA: It wasn't your fault, Chris.
PIKE: I led the mission.
We're responsible for
other people's lives.
The lives of my crew
mean everything to me.
KIRK: Our job puts us up against death
more than is fair.
Now, you can let death win
or you can fight back.
KIRK: First officer's
personal log. Stardate
What is the stardate?
They're all blending together.
Farragut is conducting
a planetary survey
of Helicon Gamma, an
uninhabited M-class world
outside Federation space, and
I am so deeply bored.
I find myself constantly questioning
Captain V'Rel's orders.
It's like she's allergic to risk.
We're out here to get our hands dirty,
to be explorers,
not to triple-check
every sensor reading.
I get it.
She wants to do everything by the book.
Any changes since last night?
I just think the book
would be more interesting
if I got to write it.
V'REL: Helm,
bring us into a low geosynchronous orbit
over the northern continent.
Captain V'Rel, if I may,
we could get much more detailed readings
from an even lower orbit.
- How low do you suggest?
- Lowest orbit there is.
Our boots on the ground.
Given the geological instability,
it seems an unwarranted risk.
Risk is why we're here, isn't it?
Starfleet could have sent a probe,
but instead they sent us
because some things you
need to see for yourself
- to truly understand.
- Captain,
an unknown force just impacted
- Helicon Gamma's surface.
- Report.
ALVAREZ: There's a seismic
disturbance in the planet's crust.
(EXPLOSION)
- Red alert.
- (ALARM SOUNDING)
Helm, take evasive action.
All hands, brace for
(ELECTRICAL CRACKLING)
(COUGHING)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.)
(HEAVY IMPACT)
(ALARMS SOUNDING)
KIRK: Medical team to the bridge.
This is the USS Farragut.
We need immediate assistance.
We've taken heavy
Sir, something's interfering
with the comms signal.
I'm trying to identify the source.
It's coming from that.
PIKE: Space.
The final frontier.
These are the voyages of
the starship Enterprise.
Its five-year mission:
To explore strange new worlds
to seek out new life
and new civilizations
to boldly go where no
one has gone before.
♪
♪
♪
SPOCK: Readings?
Life signs on board,
but barely enough to crew the ship.
Multiple systems nonfunctioning.
- What in Baird's name happened here?
- Whose name?
The Scottish inventor.
Everyone knows John Logie Baird.
(MAN COUGHING)
- Rescue?
- That is our purpose.
The question is: Rescue from what?
I only saw a glimpse. It was huge.
- He's got internal bleeding.
- (PAINED GROAN)
I need to get him to sickbay.
I'd better go to Engineering
and check there's still a warp core.
Report back with your findings.
We will offer our assistance
to Captain V'Rel on the bridge.
- (COMMS CHIME)
- Wait.
It's not just ship to ship.
All comms are down.
We'll have no way to get
in touch with each other.
Go. But find your way to the bridge
as soon as you can.
(WHIRS SLOWLY)
Don't you shut down on me.
CHAPEL: Reinforcements have arrived.
(PAINED GROAN)
Where's your CMO, Ensign?
Just you, then.
(GROANING)
I'm seeing a lot of
blunt-force injuries in here.
- What happened?
- ENSIGN: You should ask the captain.
Bed four.
Captain V'Rel, I'm Nurse Chapel.
You have a cerebral contusion.
There's no cranial swelling.
I need to get back to the bridge.
Mm-hmm, right after we make sure
that your brain isn't herniating.
- Stay.
- (GROANS)
Our away team is heading to the bridge.
They can help.
Try bypassing primary sensors.
See if anything's functioning
in the lateral array.
(HEAVY IMPACT)
Alvarez, get us out of this debris.
Sir, it's too dangerous
without the sensors.
- Captain
- Captain V'Rel left me the conn,
and it's up to me to return it intact.
Mr. Spock.
Ensign Uhura. La'An.
- Welcome aboard.
- LA'AN: James.
Quite a mess you've
gotten yourself into.
Seems to be my specialty.
It's a miracle you
got our distress call.
- Signal was jammed.
- UHURA: The interference has
wreaked havoc with us, too.
But I might be able to
set up line of sight.
- Permission to borrow your telemetry?
- More than granted.
Alvarez, aim us at the Enterprise.
Stand by for the captain.
Captain Pike.
I'll dispense with the pleasantries
since we're still in
a critical situation.
Is the threat still in the area?
Unknown.
Tell me what you do know.
We were in the middle
of a geological survey
of Helicon Gamma when
well, there's no
scientific way to put it
all hell broke loose.
- Planetary instability?
- No.
A focused gravitational
beam aimed at the planet.
Aimed by what?
A ship capable of generating
a tractor beam that
powerful would have to be
Several orders of magnitude bigger
than any starship on record.
I know. It sounds crazy, but it's true.
We barely saw it. It
wasn't interested in us.
We were just collateral damage.
(QUIETLY): Destroyer of Worlds.
PIKE: And it just disappeared?
When the debris hit, we lost sensors,
comms, all critical systems.
Captain V'Rel was
injured but lucid enough
to give the evacuation order.
Escape pods have been deployed.
I'm keeping a skeleton crew aboard
so Farragut doesn't
become a salvage job.
Well, you've performed commendably,
but let's get you all to safety.
Number One, I want all Farragut crew
- beamed aboard immediately.
- UNA: Aye, Captain.
Full evacuation. We'll
start with the escape pods.
- PIKE: Proceed.
- Captain Pike
I know, I wouldn't want
to give up my ship either,
but the safety of the
crew has to come first.
It's the right call.
We have some critically
injured patients in sickbay
- and no doctor.
- Ensign Uhura,
confirm with Chapel
which patients require
immediate evac and
get them to Enterprise.
- On it, Captain.
- Before you evacuate,
transfer all tactical
info on this mystery ship.
I want to be ready if
they take another swing.
I have restored some
function to sensors.
Sending what little data we have back
with Lieutenant Noonien-Singh.
Beaming back now, Captain.
I'll hand this to you personally.
Energize.
- Now put all your systems
- (TRANSMISSION BREAKS UP)
KIRK: Uhura, get him back.
What happened?
- I don't think I can.
- Why not?
Alvarez, I need you on tactical.
- Prepare all weapons.
- Aye, Commander.
SPOCK: We have visual on
Enterprise. They are engaging.
Whatever we've got, fire at that thing.
That is illogical.
Enterprise's weapons
were clearly ineffective.
Our targeting systems are down.
Firing would serve little purpose
- and risk damaging Enterprise.
- Well, we have to do something.
We can't just sit here.
SPOCK: At present,
I am afraid that is all we can do.
Diagnostic. I want a complete
ship diagnostic right now.
UHURA: Uh, well, here's some good news.
- We're not being jammed anymore.
- Great.
Bridge to sickbay. I need to speak
to Captain V'Rel ASAP.
CHAPEL: Nurse Chapel reporting.
She required an emergency craniectomy,
which I'm not qualified to perform,
so I beamed her to the Enterprise
two minutes ago.
Commander, you are now
captain of the Farragut.
We await your orders, sir.
UNA: Anything you recognize?
PIKE: Klingon maybe. Hard to say.
There's not much left to recognize.
Some of them seem ancient.
Damage report.
Main power's off-line, all
network systems are down.
Engines, weapons, internal comms.
Hand communicators
still are not working.
Too much interference.
- Life support?
- Working but minimal.
Send a runner.
Tell the crew to gather
in central spaces.
Areas near the outer hull are
gonna get pretty damn cold.
Captain, the last runner we sent
to Engineering hasn't come back.
Then we have to assume
that we've been boarded.
Did the Farragut's sensor
logs tell us anything
about the species that built this thing?
Their hull is nearly
impenetrable to our sensors,
but it's clear they're
incredibly advanced.
Sir, have you heard of Asaasllich,
Destroyer of Worlds?
It-it also translates as Astrovore.
Astrovore? No.
Well, every child growing up
on a remote colony world has.
Different names, same story.
Scavenger ship, hundreds of years old,
prowling just beyond
the edges of known space.
Consuming resources from planets
and any ship unlucky
enough to cross its path.
ORTEGAS: I heard a version when
I was posted near the border.
Klingons called it
Chach-Ka. "The Annihilator."
MITCHELL: Admiral Sawyer
told a story like that
in his Stellar Cartography class.
The monster past the edge of the map.
LA'AN: Whether or not this is that
ship, we know it's a scavenger.
We have to assume that their intention
is to tear the Enterprise apart as well.
Number One, I need you
and Ortegas to find a way
to get engine control back online
so that when we get to Engineering
and we stop the power drain,
we're ready to make a run for it.
Acting captain's log.
Feels strange to say that.
Under better circumstances,
it would be thrilling.
I've asked the Enterprise
officers to fill in
for our missing bridge crew.
But they barely know me,
and now I have to ask them to trust me.
(SIGHS)
If I were in their shoes
(DOOR CHIMES)
Pause recording. Come in.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
Captain Kirk, we
compiled all of the data
from our encounter
with the alien vessel.
What do we know?
Our sensors cannot
fully penetrate its hull,
so we can ascertain
little of its composition,
capabilities or crew complement.
What about weaknesses?
UHURA: Fundamental math? Its size.
It would be hard to
generate a stable warp field
at that scale, wouldn't it?
Well, odds are, it's slow, but
- But then we can catch it.
- Regulations
Regulations would have us tuck tail
and run back to Federation space.
By the time we reach a subspace relay
and get reinforcements,
Enterprise will have
been ripped to scraps.
We all have people on
My brother is on that ship.
SPOCK: As the ranking officer,
we will follow your orders.
I merely wished to provide you
with all relevant information.
SCOTTY: Those are the signatures
from the picked-apart alien
ships we saw in Nessie's gob.
Enhance that bit, would you?
(PADD BEEPS)
SPOCK: One of the vessels is
a D7-class Klingon cruiser.
Could any of them have survived?
Highly unlikely.
The hull plating would be disassembled,
venting all breathable air.
Even the Klingons couldn't
fight their way out.
These scavengers, they take
what they please from ships
damn the crew and pervert
the tech into their own.
We've no idea what they're capable of.
Chapel's right.
If speed is our weapon,
then we have to press it.
What speed?
Uh, with all due respect, Commander
I mean, Acting Captain?
Is it just Captain? Uh
Sir, they easily could've
destroyed the Farragut
or made off with us tucked
in their bloody huge pouch,
but they didn't.
And you have a theory as to why?
Because your ship's so banged
up it wasn't worth stealing?
Well, then I need you to
perform some miracles, Mr. Scott.
We need engines and
weapons, in that order.
- Aye.
- Patch up the wounded.
Get them back to work
as soon as you can.
We need to figure out where
that scavenger ship is headed
so we can find a way to get there first.
That's it. Let's get going.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
(PHASER CHARGES)
Really missing the turbolift.
Only eight decks and two
access ladders left to go.
(METAL SCREECHING)
(PHASER CHARGES)
Oh! Oh, no, don't shoot.
You don't live to be 5,000 by
getting yourself shot a lot.
We're on our way to Engineering.
Bad place to be right
now unless you're fond
of choking to death on
your own gurgling blood.
Wh From what?
The umbilical!
Come with me. Come.
It's flooded with toxic gas.
It's tunneled straight through our hull.
It's tapped into our power systems,
our computer network, our fuel storage.
We've barely any auxiliary power left.
If we don't disconnect it,
we will not have enough to escape.
If the air is toxic,
we'll need breathers
to get close to the umbilical.
Grab them. Ensign Miller
will escort your team.
The second we disconnect
from that thing,
we need to be ready to fly.
Yes, Captain.
SCOTTY: Yeah, you heard right.
You better start doing your
job, you daft piece of
KIRK: Mr. Scott?
Everything okay in there?
Soon will be, once I've
torn a few things out
and put them back proper.
An-And how long will that take?
To do it right? Two days.
Hmm.
Why don't you start
with doing it the way
where we won't immediately explode,
and we'll take it from there?
(CHUCKLES THINLY)
Spock and Uhura made a breakthrough.
Oh, aye? Oh.
The mineral that the
scavenger ship was collecting
at Helicon Gamma it was aldentium.
Oh, I've heard of it.
A few species use it in
their propulsion systems.
There's another world nearby
with significant deposits
Sullivan's Planet
directly in their path.
Inhabited?
Over a hundred million people.
Pre-warp, so the
non-interference directive
means we can't warn them.
Not that there's anything
we could do anyway.
Listen, we need to get there first.
Set a trap for the scavengers.
You're not asking me
to warp us past them,
with the head start they've got?
Look, I can give us warp power,
but if you think this
tub will hold together
at high speed after the
beating she just took,
your bum's out the window.
The plasma manifolds
I understand.
No, I'm not sure you do.
You were handed a raw deal, all right?
No one can fault you for that.
But if we push this ship
too hard and it fails,
that's our fault, not theirs.
It's a risk.
But I am betting on us.
Prepare for maximum warp.
Huh.
What's the problem?
I just bypassed every safety feature
to make a direct connection
to the helm controls.
I should've shocked the
bejesus out of myself.
Disappointed you didn't
set your hair on fire?
If there's not enough power to do that,
there's nowhere near
enough to steer the ship.
(METAL SCREECHING)
That's a good sound, right?
The ship is happy screaming?
- It's a reminder to work faster.
- (SIGHS)
Can we fire the thrusters manually?
I mean, we can if we
want to very quickly die.
The maneuvering thrusters
use a chemical reaction.
They can be triggered by hand.
MITCHELL: But with no comms, we'd
have no way to coordinate them.
With no sensors, we'd be
flying literally blind.
Who needs sensors? We have eyes.
Add to that no shields
or navigational deflector.
If we make a mistake,
which we definitely would,
we end up a scorch mark on the wall.
PELIA: Communication issue?
I got here just in time, then.
This may be the first time I'm glad
to have lived through the 1980s.
(MUFFLED BREATHING)
LA'AN: Captain.
(TRICORDER BEEPS)
PIKE: It is hooked directly
into our power grid,
our computer systems, and our fuel pods.
LA'AN: We could try to
sever it with our phasers.
PIKE: That much energy
would take out half the ship.
(RUMBLING)
LA'AN: Cover!
(PHASER CHARGES)
(PAINED GROAN)
(AIR HISSING)
PIKE: I don't think they
can see us through the smoke.
Let's get her out of here.
Uhura, status.
Approaching warp seven, sir.
(WHIRS SLOWLY)
Well, Farragut may be
held together by duct tape
at this point, but
as long as it holds
Sensors indicate we have
overtaken the scavenger vessel.
Excellent work, everyone.
How long until we
reach Sullivan's Planet?
Two hours, if we can
maintain this speed.
I will be accepting drinks in the galley
from everyone who said
that this was impossible.
After we have saved
your ship, of course.
Of course.
(SIGHS)
(RUMBLING)
Report.
Well, we've dropped out of warp,
and I've lost all engine power.
Captain, our stratagem has put us
directly in the path
of the scavenger vessel.
I am aware, Spock.
It's the plasma manifolds
they've blown out.
KIRK: Well, then take whoever you need
and get down there and fix them.
They are gone! Beyond repair!
We'll need to put into spacedock now
and replace them.
We just we pushed her too hard.
We're dead in the water.
SCOTTY: I told you, I
rechecked the numbers
and re-rechecked them, and
all three times confirmed
the warp engines are
now giant paperweights.
UHURA: We still have some impulse power.
SCOTTY: Not nearly enough.
I'm afraid all we can do is play dead
and hope the scavenger ignores us.
There's a chance it'll just go
on its merry planet-eating way.
SPOCK: Our other option is to
abandon ship and escape by shuttle.
We could take one to the
nearest subspace relay
and hail Starfleet.
CHAPEL: By the time we get there,
everyone on Sullivan's
Planet will be dead.
So we're agreed, both
options are terrible,
but we have to pick one.
In one hour it'll be here.
That's how long we've got to
decide which is least terrible.
That is not our decision to make.
I pick neither option.
Okay. That is a bold and
if you don't mind me saying
highly unorthodox choice.
Okay.
Sir, he's just concerned.
They have our crew,
and the planet they're
headed for is inhabited.
We won't be able to warn them without
Thank you, Ensign Uhura.
I'm up to speed on the particulars.
No need for further discussion.
CHAPEL: Then how will we
provide you with options?
I don't need options.
I don't need chattering voices.
What I need is to clear my head.
And I can't do it with all this
Well, that could have gone better.
No. How?
This is his first time
in the chair, right?
He's had the conn before
but never like this.
He's showing classic signs
of strain under duress.
The pressure he must be feeling
Aye, great. First he's reckless,
now he's liable to snap like a twig.
Let's say he does. What then, huh?
We would take steps to
remove him from command.
And what would
those steps be, exactly?
As ranking medical officer on board,
it's within my power to evaluate him
and, if he is mentally
unfit, remove him from duty.
UHURA: Okay, before we even
think about going down this road,
we should consider
that he's still working
on his command style.
Aye. Right now his style is lacking.
That's my point.
Maybe we can help him find it.
I've seen him in a crisis before,
when he didn't have the
pressures of being captain.
He saw something in me that
I hadn't seen in myself.
It saved my life.
I think he just needs to be reminded
that same thing is in him.
Well, one of us should talk to him.
He is clearly agitated.
Perhaps someone with
a less emotional style
might be more effective.
PIKE: Maurer come on.
Maurer, stay with us.
She can't wait. We
have to treat her now.
LA'AN: What, with those
two things roaming around?
PIKE: We have no choice.
LA'AN: They're not taking any damage.
PIKE: In here, the Port Galley.
LA'AN: No fumes. We're safe.
She's bleeding out.
- I need a medkit.
- Wait, wait, wait, I think
If we had comms and a
functioning transporter,
we could have saved her.
You don't know. Those ion particles
are like bullets. They
rip through flesh and bone,
primitive but effective.
(LOUD BANGING)
And yet their suits are highly advanced.
I have never seen a device
absorb phaser fire like that.
- It doesn't make sense.
- Maybe they're from some
dark corner of the cosmos
that'll never make sense.
We have to find a way to get
through their defenses somehow.
No one has ever seen them, but I know
they were considered
monsters, even by the Gorn.
Set phasers to kill.
(PHASER POWERING UP)
(PHASER POWERING UP)
(BANGING CONTINUES)
(GLASS RATTLING)
I had this imported from
an Ithenite distillery.
I'll get you another one.
(CLINKING)
(SCREECHING)
PELIA: As an old friend
of mine once said,
"Let there be light."
(SIGHS) Come, come, come.
Her quarters are
exactly what I expected.
Here. No, no. Okay.
There you are.
Not you. (GROANS)
You were once bouncy
and cheerful, but when
the novelty wore off,
you got a little creepy.
How is any of this junk
going to help us fly out of here?
Oh, my goodness,
I piloted many a starship with this.
Granted, they were 8-bit,
but it was a good
time on a Friday night.
Ah, found it.
Take.
(CHUCKLES) Is this a, uh,
personal massager?
Oh, this was once a
state-of-the-art communicator.
You had to plug it into the wall,
but if people annoyed you,
you'd put them on hold.
I think there are more.
So the signals are grounded,
transmitted cable to cable.
(GRUNTS) Take that.
Which will insulate
them from being jammed.
We're going to have the crew
strip the ship for copper cables,
and we're going to wire the Enterprise.
(LAUGHS)
Go on.
Captain V'Rel and I had an ongoing game.
For the first time, I think I was
on my way to beating her,
but we never had the chance to finish.
I think this is how we left the board.
If I may interrupt.
Oh, you already have.
Don't stop now.
You rightly dismissed two
flawed courses of action,
but time is short and
we require a new plan.
It was V'Rel's move, and
I had her in a corner.
If I could just figure out
what she would have done next.
You are acting captain.
Your crew is waiting.
To keep them waiting longer would be
- not good.
- Here's the thing.
I'm frozen.
I find this surprising.
Your brother speaks often
of your aspirations for command
and of your affinity for leadership.
Actually, he said
you are not afraid to
throw your weight around,
no matter who's in front of you.
Yeah, that sounds like Sam.
And in a way he's right.
From the moment I joined the Academy,
I was determined to sit in that chair
faster than anyone before me
because I thought I knew better.
I thought I was better.
Whenever orders don't make sense to me,
which happens more often than I'd like,
I always think that I should
be the one giving them.
Earlier, I told Captain
V'Rel to send a landing party
to Helicon Gamma.
I pushed her hard on it.
Thank God she ignored me,
otherwise we'd all be
standing on the surface
when it exploded.
Good leaders know when to listen
and when not to.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, I failed at that test, too.
Mr. Scott warned me
not to push the engines,
but I ordered him to anyway.
I've been flying by the seat
of my pants this whole time,
making call after call
with no clue where they'd lead us,
hoping I'd luck into the right one,
and all I did was put us
belly up in the path of
the ultimate destroyer.
And now you are having
a crisis of confidence,
but you still have to lead.
Believe me, I'd love to,
but there's nothing coming to me.
(SIGHS)
My mom was fond of an expression.
"The dog who caught the car."
Now that I've finally
latched onto one
I have no idea what to do with it.
On Vulcan, we have a similar expression.
"The sehlat who ate its tail."
Though I would point out you have
a significant leg up
over a quadrupedal beast.
Your human intuition.
It has guided us this
far. We are all still here.
I recommend you keep following it.
Okay.
If you insist.
(BOATSWAIN'S WHISTLE SOUNDS)
Scotty, how long until that
scavenger ship gets here?
Less than 20 minutes, but
that's just an estimate.
Well, it's good enough for me.
Glad to see you back, sir.
Me, too.
Look, I know we got off
to a rough start here,
and there's nothing I can
say that can make up for that.
Rousing speeches
aren't exactly my forte.
I think you're doing just fine, sir.
But let me be crystal
clear to each of you.
Even if my actions indicated otherwise,
I have no intention of giving
up on rescuing the Enterprise,
not with the lives of both
of our crews on the line.
Thank you, sir. I needed to hear that.
And I need to hear from you.
What do we know?
Besides the fact that
we're dead in space,
what do we know about these scavengers?
Their ship has to have
some kind of weakness.
Uhura, what have you seen?
Ships, a lot of them,
from across the quadrant.
It appropriates them,
steals their functionality,
and bends that to its own needs.
SCOTTY: And its needs are bottomless.
All it does is consume
and make itself bigger.
The bigger it gets,
the more it requires.
Then it moves on to devour
the next resource, like
it will never stop,
you know, it'll never have enough.
Exactly. Scotty, you
just found their weakness:
Their ravenous need to consume.
Bottomless greed.
We can use that against them.
How?
That's where you come in.
I need you to fill the plasma manifold
until it's overflowing with aldentium.
No-no, the-the
manifold's a useless husk,
and we don't have a drop
of aldentium on board.
We just need to make it look like we do.
CHAPEL: As aldentium decays,
it gives off lots of anti-protons.
Well, I could flood the intermix
chamber with anti-protons
and make it look like our
engines run on aldentium.
They'll catch the scent and
gravitate towards our tailpipe.
We are going to make the Farragut
into a banquet that's
impossible for these scavengers
to resist, and when they come to dine,
we're going to make them regret it.
The captain has given his orders.
I still feel funny being
called that while V'Rel's alive.
I promise to demote you at
the earliest opportunity.
Wait, so what exactly
do we do after we get these
scavengers to try and eat us?
Here's where the plan
gets a little crazy.
(LAUGHS): This is where
the plan gets crazy?
Glad you're sitting down, Nurse Chapel.
You especially, Mr. Scott,
are not going to love it.
(PIKE SHOUTS)
(LA'AN GRUNTING)
La'An!
- (PIKE AND LA'AN GRUNTING)
- (SCREECHES)
- (SCREECHING)
- (GRUNTS)
(PIKE SHOUTS)
(LA'AN GROANS)
(PHASER WHIRS)
(PHASER CHARGES)
(SCREECHING)
(SCREECHES)
(LA'AN PANTING)
(ALARM SOUNDING)
(BOTH GRUNT)
(PIKE GASPING)
(COUGHING)
You all right?
(PANTING): Yeah.
It didn't shoot.
Why didn't it kill me?
(AIR HISSING)
We may only have a minute.
How do we get this thing
the hell off my ship?
Well, if we can't disconnect
it, what if we convince them to?
- How do you mean?
- Make them want to disconnect it.
Give them a taste of something
highly undesirable.
I see, stir up a little acid reflux?
- Yeah.
- What about, uh, baryon particles?
That would ruin their
fuel and their day.
One of us would have to
access the waste system
beneath the warp drive.
Waste system? All right, you do that.
I have to isolate the fuel line.
And bring a hyper coupler.
La'An?
Be careful, that other
alien's still out there.
(PHASER CHARGES)
(DIAL TONE)
PELIA: Ladies, I haven't done this
since I was a roadie for the Dead.
Your species can
communicate with dead people?
- (PHONE RINGS)
- UNA: Hello?
Ah, ah, yes, yes.
Uh, uh, Lieutenant, it's for you.
- Hello?
- Starboard thrusters are ready.
Port thrusters standing by.
Okay, Erica, don't crash.
The scavenger vessel
has dropped out of warp.
Anti-protons anti-protoning?
We're as juicy a
target as I can make us.
Red alert. All stations prepare for
well, for that.
- Ready impulse engines.
- Standing by.
How many times has she helmed?
Twice, including now.
Full impulse, Uhura.
(THRUSTERS HOWL)
- Scotty, your turn.
- If you insist.
I do, Mr. Scott.
Detach at my mark.
KIRK: Mark.
Spock?
The sehlat has eaten its tail, Captain.
The scavenger ship has been disabled.
Uhura, get us line of
sight to the Enterprise
as quickly as you can.
MITCHELL: Incoming transmission.
It's the Farragut, audio only.
UHURA: Enterprise, do you read?
Took you long enough, Ensign.
Good to hear your voice, too.
We're pretty banged up, but
we disabled the scavenger ship.
SCOTTY: Tell her it's just temporary.
How temporary?
UHURA: No idea, but this is your chance.
For a jailbreak. (SCOFFS)
(SIGHING)
ORTEGAS: Port and starboard thrusters,
give me ten percent.
- (RUMBLING)
- Whoa,
we got to kill those
thrusters. We are not off-leash.
(LA'AN GRUNTS)
Captain, any luck finding the fuel line?
I've got a pretty solid guess.
Hand me that connector?
And you might want to take a step back.
If it explodes, it will take
out the entire engineering hull.
A big step, then?
(EXHALES)
(WHIRRING)
Baryon particles are
entering the deuterium stream.
The mixture is destabilizing.
Let's get the hell out of here
before we get sucked
out with this thing.
(RUMBLING)
Wait.
Emergency systems are rebooting.
ORTEGAS: Captain did it.
The umbilical's detached.
Port and starboard thrusters,
50%.
Ease off starboard thrusters. Whoa.
N-Not that easy. Give me 30%.
50%. Now wait.
50, 80.
Cut starboard thrusters.
(METAL GRINDING)
Hate to backseat-drive,
but you're hitting the wall.
Full port thrusters.
Thruster controls aren't responding.
That's real bad.
Wait, I have an idea.
- I'm all ears.
- (RUNNING FOOTFALLS OVER PHONE)
Commander?
(RUNNING FOOTFALLS)
Commander?
(AIR HISSING)
Yes! Starboard thrusters to 20%.
Keep us even.
Captain.
PIKE: The scavenger.
The scavenger vessel's systems
are coming back on line.
They are targeting Enterprise.
Lock phasers.
Uh
SPOCK: Sir, the grapplers have proven
to be resistant to our weapons.
Okay, Spock.
What do you got?
(ALARM BEEPING RAPIDLY)
(LAUGHTER)
(PHASERS CHARGE)
Mr. Spock, scan the
debris for life signs.
Approximately 7,000 life signs,
but they are dwindling quickly.
Can we beam survivors aboard?
(SIGHS)
Not even if we wanted to.
There's too much debris
to get a transporter lock.
Captain?
The life signs.
Yes, Mr. Spock?
SPOCK: The life signs are all human.
The markings on the hull.
Can you get us a clearer image?
SCOTTY: Aye.
UHURA: I found this in
our historical database.
In the mid-21st century,
before first contact with the Vulcans,
a group of scientists believed
that Earth's environmental
crisis was too severe
to recover from, so they built a ship.
They hoped it would carry humanity
to civilizations in other worlds.
But it failed.
UHURA: The ship disappeared.
The entire crew,
their families, gone.
Never heard from again.
PELIA: I remember when it launched.
We-we hadn't yet invented warp drive.
We'd barely put out the fires
of the Third World War.
One of the few nations left standing
sifted through the ashes
of their space program,
scoured the world for a crew.
You might say
they were the best of us,
the most optimistic,
searching for a way to carry on
the flame of life.
All those people.
7,000 souls.
The descendants of the
original inhabitants.
KIRK: So what went wrong?
How did they go from that to
whatever it is they became?
(DOOR CHIMES)
Come in.
Ah
Just wanted to let you know in person,
Dr. M'Benga says that
Captain V'Rel is going
to make a complete recovery.
We'll tow Farragut back to spacedock.
Then you only have
to hold the fort down
a little while longer.
I'm imagining the look
on Admiral April's face
when he sees us pull
in with no nacelles.
He likes Aldebaran whiskey.
Maybe have a bottle ready.
You know, it might not feel like
it, but you made the right call.
We were under attack.
You saved hundreds of lives,
both here and on Enterprise.
Number of
estimated human casualties
on unknown vessel
7,000.
Well, may I?
Please.
You know, when, uh
when I got bumped up to first officer,
I remember second-guessing Bob
uh, Admiral April a lot.
- Did he ever straighten you out?
- No.
He let me learn a very hard lesson.
The big decisions they seem so simple
when someone else has to
live with the consequences,
but the choices you
make in that chair
they are yours to make
and what comes after
that is yours to live with.
Some decisions you will regret
for the rest of your life,
but you still have to make them.
They were human beings.
Why does that make
it feel so much worse?
All I can say is
having empathy for your
adversary is part of the job.
But I didn't.
I didn't think of them as people
at all.
Until it was too late.
Well, maybe that's the lesson.
Empathy isn't conditional.
It's either given or it isn't.
They clearly saw us,
and either they didn't
recognize us or they didn't care.
Whatever journey they had been through
the last 200 years, it broke them.
When they left Earth
they were the best
humanity had to offer.
They weren't monsters.
Is that what we would become
in the same circumstances?
I'd like to believe we wouldn't.
- Why not?
- Because of how you're feeling right now.
Because the next time
you're in that chair,
you will remember we are
often not that different
from our enemy.
And that knowledge,
from this moment on,
will continue to guide you.
Good night, Captain Kirk.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
(DOOR WHOOSHES SHUT)
♪
Previously on Star Trek:
Strange New Worlds
UHURA: Spock, meet James Kirk,
first officer of the Farragut.
UNA: When I took my commission,
I spent a week shadowing Pike.
It made all the difference.
PELIA: You want to know the worst thing
about living almost forever?
The loss of those you love.
UNA: It wasn't your fault, Chris.
PIKE: I led the mission.
We're responsible for
other people's lives.
The lives of my crew
mean everything to me.
KIRK: Our job puts us up against death
more than is fair.
Now, you can let death win
or you can fight back.
KIRK: First officer's
personal log. Stardate
What is the stardate?
They're all blending together.
Farragut is conducting
a planetary survey
of Helicon Gamma, an
uninhabited M-class world
outside Federation space, and
I am so deeply bored.
I find myself constantly questioning
Captain V'Rel's orders.
It's like she's allergic to risk.
We're out here to get our hands dirty,
to be explorers,
not to triple-check
every sensor reading.
I get it.
She wants to do everything by the book.
Any changes since last night?
I just think the book
would be more interesting
if I got to write it.
V'REL: Helm,
bring us into a low geosynchronous orbit
over the northern continent.
Captain V'Rel, if I may,
we could get much more detailed readings
from an even lower orbit.
- How low do you suggest?
- Lowest orbit there is.
Our boots on the ground.
Given the geological instability,
it seems an unwarranted risk.
Risk is why we're here, isn't it?
Starfleet could have sent a probe,
but instead they sent us
because some things you
need to see for yourself
- to truly understand.
- Captain,
an unknown force just impacted
- Helicon Gamma's surface.
- Report.
ALVAREZ: There's a seismic
disturbance in the planet's crust.
(EXPLOSION)
- Red alert.
- (ALARM SOUNDING)
Helm, take evasive action.
All hands, brace for
(ELECTRICAL CRACKLING)
(COUGHING)
(INDISTINCT ANNOUNCEMENT OVER P.A.)
(HEAVY IMPACT)
(ALARMS SOUNDING)
KIRK: Medical team to the bridge.
This is the USS Farragut.
We need immediate assistance.
We've taken heavy
Sir, something's interfering
with the comms signal.
I'm trying to identify the source.
It's coming from that.
PIKE: Space.
The final frontier.
These are the voyages of
the starship Enterprise.
Its five-year mission:
To explore strange new worlds
to seek out new life
and new civilizations
to boldly go where no
one has gone before.
♪
♪
♪
SPOCK: Readings?
Life signs on board,
but barely enough to crew the ship.
Multiple systems nonfunctioning.
- What in Baird's name happened here?
- Whose name?
The Scottish inventor.
Everyone knows John Logie Baird.
(MAN COUGHING)
- Rescue?
- That is our purpose.
The question is: Rescue from what?
I only saw a glimpse. It was huge.
- He's got internal bleeding.
- (PAINED GROAN)
I need to get him to sickbay.
I'd better go to Engineering
and check there's still a warp core.
Report back with your findings.
We will offer our assistance
to Captain V'Rel on the bridge.
- (COMMS CHIME)
- Wait.
It's not just ship to ship.
All comms are down.
We'll have no way to get
in touch with each other.
Go. But find your way to the bridge
as soon as you can.
(WHIRS SLOWLY)
Don't you shut down on me.
CHAPEL: Reinforcements have arrived.
(PAINED GROAN)
Where's your CMO, Ensign?
Just you, then.
(GROANING)
I'm seeing a lot of
blunt-force injuries in here.
- What happened?
- ENSIGN: You should ask the captain.
Bed four.
Captain V'Rel, I'm Nurse Chapel.
You have a cerebral contusion.
There's no cranial swelling.
I need to get back to the bridge.
Mm-hmm, right after we make sure
that your brain isn't herniating.
- Stay.
- (GROANS)
Our away team is heading to the bridge.
They can help.
Try bypassing primary sensors.
See if anything's functioning
in the lateral array.
(HEAVY IMPACT)
Alvarez, get us out of this debris.
Sir, it's too dangerous
without the sensors.
- Captain
- Captain V'Rel left me the conn,
and it's up to me to return it intact.
Mr. Spock.
Ensign Uhura. La'An.
- Welcome aboard.
- LA'AN: James.
Quite a mess you've
gotten yourself into.
Seems to be my specialty.
It's a miracle you
got our distress call.
- Signal was jammed.
- UHURA: The interference has
wreaked havoc with us, too.
But I might be able to
set up line of sight.
- Permission to borrow your telemetry?
- More than granted.
Alvarez, aim us at the Enterprise.
Stand by for the captain.
Captain Pike.
I'll dispense with the pleasantries
since we're still in
a critical situation.
Is the threat still in the area?
Unknown.
Tell me what you do know.
We were in the middle
of a geological survey
of Helicon Gamma when
well, there's no
scientific way to put it
all hell broke loose.
- Planetary instability?
- No.
A focused gravitational
beam aimed at the planet.
Aimed by what?
A ship capable of generating
a tractor beam that
powerful would have to be
Several orders of magnitude bigger
than any starship on record.
I know. It sounds crazy, but it's true.
We barely saw it. It
wasn't interested in us.
We were just collateral damage.
(QUIETLY): Destroyer of Worlds.
PIKE: And it just disappeared?
When the debris hit, we lost sensors,
comms, all critical systems.
Captain V'Rel was
injured but lucid enough
to give the evacuation order.
Escape pods have been deployed.
I'm keeping a skeleton crew aboard
so Farragut doesn't
become a salvage job.
Well, you've performed commendably,
but let's get you all to safety.
Number One, I want all Farragut crew
- beamed aboard immediately.
- UNA: Aye, Captain.
Full evacuation. We'll
start with the escape pods.
- PIKE: Proceed.
- Captain Pike
I know, I wouldn't want
to give up my ship either,
but the safety of the
crew has to come first.
It's the right call.
We have some critically
injured patients in sickbay
- and no doctor.
- Ensign Uhura,
confirm with Chapel
which patients require
immediate evac and
get them to Enterprise.
- On it, Captain.
- Before you evacuate,
transfer all tactical
info on this mystery ship.
I want to be ready if
they take another swing.
I have restored some
function to sensors.
Sending what little data we have back
with Lieutenant Noonien-Singh.
Beaming back now, Captain.
I'll hand this to you personally.
Energize.
- Now put all your systems
- (TRANSMISSION BREAKS UP)
KIRK: Uhura, get him back.
What happened?
- I don't think I can.
- Why not?
Alvarez, I need you on tactical.
- Prepare all weapons.
- Aye, Commander.
SPOCK: We have visual on
Enterprise. They are engaging.
Whatever we've got, fire at that thing.
That is illogical.
Enterprise's weapons
were clearly ineffective.
Our targeting systems are down.
Firing would serve little purpose
- and risk damaging Enterprise.
- Well, we have to do something.
We can't just sit here.
SPOCK: At present,
I am afraid that is all we can do.
Diagnostic. I want a complete
ship diagnostic right now.
UHURA: Uh, well, here's some good news.
- We're not being jammed anymore.
- Great.
Bridge to sickbay. I need to speak
to Captain V'Rel ASAP.
CHAPEL: Nurse Chapel reporting.
She required an emergency craniectomy,
which I'm not qualified to perform,
so I beamed her to the Enterprise
two minutes ago.
Commander, you are now
captain of the Farragut.
We await your orders, sir.
UNA: Anything you recognize?
PIKE: Klingon maybe. Hard to say.
There's not much left to recognize.
Some of them seem ancient.
Damage report.
Main power's off-line, all
network systems are down.
Engines, weapons, internal comms.
Hand communicators
still are not working.
Too much interference.
- Life support?
- Working but minimal.
Send a runner.
Tell the crew to gather
in central spaces.
Areas near the outer hull are
gonna get pretty damn cold.
Captain, the last runner we sent
to Engineering hasn't come back.
Then we have to assume
that we've been boarded.
Did the Farragut's sensor
logs tell us anything
about the species that built this thing?
Their hull is nearly
impenetrable to our sensors,
but it's clear they're
incredibly advanced.
Sir, have you heard of Asaasllich,
Destroyer of Worlds?
It-it also translates as Astrovore.
Astrovore? No.
Well, every child growing up
on a remote colony world has.
Different names, same story.
Scavenger ship, hundreds of years old,
prowling just beyond
the edges of known space.
Consuming resources from planets
and any ship unlucky
enough to cross its path.
ORTEGAS: I heard a version when
I was posted near the border.
Klingons called it
Chach-Ka. "The Annihilator."
MITCHELL: Admiral Sawyer
told a story like that
in his Stellar Cartography class.
The monster past the edge of the map.
LA'AN: Whether or not this is that
ship, we know it's a scavenger.
We have to assume that their intention
is to tear the Enterprise apart as well.
Number One, I need you
and Ortegas to find a way
to get engine control back online
so that when we get to Engineering
and we stop the power drain,
we're ready to make a run for it.
Acting captain's log.
Feels strange to say that.
Under better circumstances,
it would be thrilling.
I've asked the Enterprise
officers to fill in
for our missing bridge crew.
But they barely know me,
and now I have to ask them to trust me.
(SIGHS)
If I were in their shoes
(DOOR CHIMES)
Pause recording. Come in.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
Captain Kirk, we
compiled all of the data
from our encounter
with the alien vessel.
What do we know?
Our sensors cannot
fully penetrate its hull,
so we can ascertain
little of its composition,
capabilities or crew complement.
What about weaknesses?
UHURA: Fundamental math? Its size.
It would be hard to
generate a stable warp field
at that scale, wouldn't it?
Well, odds are, it's slow, but
- But then we can catch it.
- Regulations
Regulations would have us tuck tail
and run back to Federation space.
By the time we reach a subspace relay
and get reinforcements,
Enterprise will have
been ripped to scraps.
We all have people on
My brother is on that ship.
SPOCK: As the ranking officer,
we will follow your orders.
I merely wished to provide you
with all relevant information.
SCOTTY: Those are the signatures
from the picked-apart alien
ships we saw in Nessie's gob.
Enhance that bit, would you?
(PADD BEEPS)
SPOCK: One of the vessels is
a D7-class Klingon cruiser.
Could any of them have survived?
Highly unlikely.
The hull plating would be disassembled,
venting all breathable air.
Even the Klingons couldn't
fight their way out.
These scavengers, they take
what they please from ships
damn the crew and pervert
the tech into their own.
We've no idea what they're capable of.
Chapel's right.
If speed is our weapon,
then we have to press it.
What speed?
Uh, with all due respect, Commander
I mean, Acting Captain?
Is it just Captain? Uh
Sir, they easily could've
destroyed the Farragut
or made off with us tucked
in their bloody huge pouch,
but they didn't.
And you have a theory as to why?
Because your ship's so banged
up it wasn't worth stealing?
Well, then I need you to
perform some miracles, Mr. Scott.
We need engines and
weapons, in that order.
- Aye.
- Patch up the wounded.
Get them back to work
as soon as you can.
We need to figure out where
that scavenger ship is headed
so we can find a way to get there first.
That's it. Let's get going.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
(PHASER CHARGES)
Really missing the turbolift.
Only eight decks and two
access ladders left to go.
(METAL SCREECHING)
(PHASER CHARGES)
Oh! Oh, no, don't shoot.
You don't live to be 5,000 by
getting yourself shot a lot.
We're on our way to Engineering.
Bad place to be right
now unless you're fond
of choking to death on
your own gurgling blood.
Wh From what?
The umbilical!
Come with me. Come.
It's flooded with toxic gas.
It's tunneled straight through our hull.
It's tapped into our power systems,
our computer network, our fuel storage.
We've barely any auxiliary power left.
If we don't disconnect it,
we will not have enough to escape.
If the air is toxic,
we'll need breathers
to get close to the umbilical.
Grab them. Ensign Miller
will escort your team.
The second we disconnect
from that thing,
we need to be ready to fly.
Yes, Captain.
SCOTTY: Yeah, you heard right.
You better start doing your
job, you daft piece of
KIRK: Mr. Scott?
Everything okay in there?
Soon will be, once I've
torn a few things out
and put them back proper.
An-And how long will that take?
To do it right? Two days.
Hmm.
Why don't you start
with doing it the way
where we won't immediately explode,
and we'll take it from there?
(CHUCKLES THINLY)
Spock and Uhura made a breakthrough.
Oh, aye? Oh.
The mineral that the
scavenger ship was collecting
at Helicon Gamma it was aldentium.
Oh, I've heard of it.
A few species use it in
their propulsion systems.
There's another world nearby
with significant deposits
Sullivan's Planet
directly in their path.
Inhabited?
Over a hundred million people.
Pre-warp, so the
non-interference directive
means we can't warn them.
Not that there's anything
we could do anyway.
Listen, we need to get there first.
Set a trap for the scavengers.
You're not asking me
to warp us past them,
with the head start they've got?
Look, I can give us warp power,
but if you think this
tub will hold together
at high speed after the
beating she just took,
your bum's out the window.
The plasma manifolds
I understand.
No, I'm not sure you do.
You were handed a raw deal, all right?
No one can fault you for that.
But if we push this ship
too hard and it fails,
that's our fault, not theirs.
It's a risk.
But I am betting on us.
Prepare for maximum warp.
Huh.
What's the problem?
I just bypassed every safety feature
to make a direct connection
to the helm controls.
I should've shocked the
bejesus out of myself.
Disappointed you didn't
set your hair on fire?
If there's not enough power to do that,
there's nowhere near
enough to steer the ship.
(METAL SCREECHING)
That's a good sound, right?
The ship is happy screaming?
- It's a reminder to work faster.
- (SIGHS)
Can we fire the thrusters manually?
I mean, we can if we
want to very quickly die.
The maneuvering thrusters
use a chemical reaction.
They can be triggered by hand.
MITCHELL: But with no comms, we'd
have no way to coordinate them.
With no sensors, we'd be
flying literally blind.
Who needs sensors? We have eyes.
Add to that no shields
or navigational deflector.
If we make a mistake,
which we definitely would,
we end up a scorch mark on the wall.
PELIA: Communication issue?
I got here just in time, then.
This may be the first time I'm glad
to have lived through the 1980s.
(MUFFLED BREATHING)
LA'AN: Captain.
(TRICORDER BEEPS)
PIKE: It is hooked directly
into our power grid,
our computer systems, and our fuel pods.
LA'AN: We could try to
sever it with our phasers.
PIKE: That much energy
would take out half the ship.
(RUMBLING)
LA'AN: Cover!
(PHASER CHARGES)
(PAINED GROAN)
(AIR HISSING)
PIKE: I don't think they
can see us through the smoke.
Let's get her out of here.
Uhura, status.
Approaching warp seven, sir.
(WHIRS SLOWLY)
Well, Farragut may be
held together by duct tape
at this point, but
as long as it holds
Sensors indicate we have
overtaken the scavenger vessel.
Excellent work, everyone.
How long until we
reach Sullivan's Planet?
Two hours, if we can
maintain this speed.
I will be accepting drinks in the galley
from everyone who said
that this was impossible.
After we have saved
your ship, of course.
Of course.
(SIGHS)
(RUMBLING)
Report.
Well, we've dropped out of warp,
and I've lost all engine power.
Captain, our stratagem has put us
directly in the path
of the scavenger vessel.
I am aware, Spock.
It's the plasma manifolds
they've blown out.
KIRK: Well, then take whoever you need
and get down there and fix them.
They are gone! Beyond repair!
We'll need to put into spacedock now
and replace them.
We just we pushed her too hard.
We're dead in the water.
SCOTTY: I told you, I
rechecked the numbers
and re-rechecked them, and
all three times confirmed
the warp engines are
now giant paperweights.
UHURA: We still have some impulse power.
SCOTTY: Not nearly enough.
I'm afraid all we can do is play dead
and hope the scavenger ignores us.
There's a chance it'll just go
on its merry planet-eating way.
SPOCK: Our other option is to
abandon ship and escape by shuttle.
We could take one to the
nearest subspace relay
and hail Starfleet.
CHAPEL: By the time we get there,
everyone on Sullivan's
Planet will be dead.
So we're agreed, both
options are terrible,
but we have to pick one.
In one hour it'll be here.
That's how long we've got to
decide which is least terrible.
That is not our decision to make.
I pick neither option.
Okay. That is a bold and
if you don't mind me saying
highly unorthodox choice.
Okay.
Sir, he's just concerned.
They have our crew,
and the planet they're
headed for is inhabited.
We won't be able to warn them without
Thank you, Ensign Uhura.
I'm up to speed on the particulars.
No need for further discussion.
CHAPEL: Then how will we
provide you with options?
I don't need options.
I don't need chattering voices.
What I need is to clear my head.
And I can't do it with all this
Well, that could have gone better.
No. How?
This is his first time
in the chair, right?
He's had the conn before
but never like this.
He's showing classic signs
of strain under duress.
The pressure he must be feeling
Aye, great. First he's reckless,
now he's liable to snap like a twig.
Let's say he does. What then, huh?
We would take steps to
remove him from command.
And what would
those steps be, exactly?
As ranking medical officer on board,
it's within my power to evaluate him
and, if he is mentally
unfit, remove him from duty.
UHURA: Okay, before we even
think about going down this road,
we should consider
that he's still working
on his command style.
Aye. Right now his style is lacking.
That's my point.
Maybe we can help him find it.
I've seen him in a crisis before,
when he didn't have the
pressures of being captain.
He saw something in me that
I hadn't seen in myself.
It saved my life.
I think he just needs to be reminded
that same thing is in him.
Well, one of us should talk to him.
He is clearly agitated.
Perhaps someone with
a less emotional style
might be more effective.
PIKE: Maurer come on.
Maurer, stay with us.
She can't wait. We
have to treat her now.
LA'AN: What, with those
two things roaming around?
PIKE: We have no choice.
LA'AN: They're not taking any damage.
PIKE: In here, the Port Galley.
LA'AN: No fumes. We're safe.
She's bleeding out.
- I need a medkit.
- Wait, wait, wait, I think
If we had comms and a
functioning transporter,
we could have saved her.
You don't know. Those ion particles
are like bullets. They
rip through flesh and bone,
primitive but effective.
(LOUD BANGING)
And yet their suits are highly advanced.
I have never seen a device
absorb phaser fire like that.
- It doesn't make sense.
- Maybe they're from some
dark corner of the cosmos
that'll never make sense.
We have to find a way to get
through their defenses somehow.
No one has ever seen them, but I know
they were considered
monsters, even by the Gorn.
Set phasers to kill.
(PHASER POWERING UP)
(PHASER POWERING UP)
(BANGING CONTINUES)
(GLASS RATTLING)
I had this imported from
an Ithenite distillery.
I'll get you another one.
(CLINKING)
(SCREECHING)
PELIA: As an old friend
of mine once said,
"Let there be light."
(SIGHS) Come, come, come.
Her quarters are
exactly what I expected.
Here. No, no. Okay.
There you are.
Not you. (GROANS)
You were once bouncy
and cheerful, but when
the novelty wore off,
you got a little creepy.
How is any of this junk
going to help us fly out of here?
Oh, my goodness,
I piloted many a starship with this.
Granted, they were 8-bit,
but it was a good
time on a Friday night.
Ah, found it.
Take.
(CHUCKLES) Is this a, uh,
personal massager?
Oh, this was once a
state-of-the-art communicator.
You had to plug it into the wall,
but if people annoyed you,
you'd put them on hold.
I think there are more.
So the signals are grounded,
transmitted cable to cable.
(GRUNTS) Take that.
Which will insulate
them from being jammed.
We're going to have the crew
strip the ship for copper cables,
and we're going to wire the Enterprise.
(LAUGHS)
Go on.
Captain V'Rel and I had an ongoing game.
For the first time, I think I was
on my way to beating her,
but we never had the chance to finish.
I think this is how we left the board.
If I may interrupt.
Oh, you already have.
Don't stop now.
You rightly dismissed two
flawed courses of action,
but time is short and
we require a new plan.
It was V'Rel's move, and
I had her in a corner.
If I could just figure out
what she would have done next.
You are acting captain.
Your crew is waiting.
To keep them waiting longer would be
- not good.
- Here's the thing.
I'm frozen.
I find this surprising.
Your brother speaks often
of your aspirations for command
and of your affinity for leadership.
Actually, he said
you are not afraid to
throw your weight around,
no matter who's in front of you.
Yeah, that sounds like Sam.
And in a way he's right.
From the moment I joined the Academy,
I was determined to sit in that chair
faster than anyone before me
because I thought I knew better.
I thought I was better.
Whenever orders don't make sense to me,
which happens more often than I'd like,
I always think that I should
be the one giving them.
Earlier, I told Captain
V'Rel to send a landing party
to Helicon Gamma.
I pushed her hard on it.
Thank God she ignored me,
otherwise we'd all be
standing on the surface
when it exploded.
Good leaders know when to listen
and when not to.
(CHUCKLES)
Well, I failed at that test, too.
Mr. Scott warned me
not to push the engines,
but I ordered him to anyway.
I've been flying by the seat
of my pants this whole time,
making call after call
with no clue where they'd lead us,
hoping I'd luck into the right one,
and all I did was put us
belly up in the path of
the ultimate destroyer.
And now you are having
a crisis of confidence,
but you still have to lead.
Believe me, I'd love to,
but there's nothing coming to me.
(SIGHS)
My mom was fond of an expression.
"The dog who caught the car."
Now that I've finally
latched onto one
I have no idea what to do with it.
On Vulcan, we have a similar expression.
"The sehlat who ate its tail."
Though I would point out you have
a significant leg up
over a quadrupedal beast.
Your human intuition.
It has guided us this
far. We are all still here.
I recommend you keep following it.
Okay.
If you insist.
(BOATSWAIN'S WHISTLE SOUNDS)
Scotty, how long until that
scavenger ship gets here?
Less than 20 minutes, but
that's just an estimate.
Well, it's good enough for me.
Glad to see you back, sir.
Me, too.
Look, I know we got off
to a rough start here,
and there's nothing I can
say that can make up for that.
Rousing speeches
aren't exactly my forte.
I think you're doing just fine, sir.
But let me be crystal
clear to each of you.
Even if my actions indicated otherwise,
I have no intention of giving
up on rescuing the Enterprise,
not with the lives of both
of our crews on the line.
Thank you, sir. I needed to hear that.
And I need to hear from you.
What do we know?
Besides the fact that
we're dead in space,
what do we know about these scavengers?
Their ship has to have
some kind of weakness.
Uhura, what have you seen?
Ships, a lot of them,
from across the quadrant.
It appropriates them,
steals their functionality,
and bends that to its own needs.
SCOTTY: And its needs are bottomless.
All it does is consume
and make itself bigger.
The bigger it gets,
the more it requires.
Then it moves on to devour
the next resource, like
it will never stop,
you know, it'll never have enough.
Exactly. Scotty, you
just found their weakness:
Their ravenous need to consume.
Bottomless greed.
We can use that against them.
How?
That's where you come in.
I need you to fill the plasma manifold
until it's overflowing with aldentium.
No-no, the-the
manifold's a useless husk,
and we don't have a drop
of aldentium on board.
We just need to make it look like we do.
CHAPEL: As aldentium decays,
it gives off lots of anti-protons.
Well, I could flood the intermix
chamber with anti-protons
and make it look like our
engines run on aldentium.
They'll catch the scent and
gravitate towards our tailpipe.
We are going to make the Farragut
into a banquet that's
impossible for these scavengers
to resist, and when they come to dine,
we're going to make them regret it.
The captain has given his orders.
I still feel funny being
called that while V'Rel's alive.
I promise to demote you at
the earliest opportunity.
Wait, so what exactly
do we do after we get these
scavengers to try and eat us?
Here's where the plan
gets a little crazy.
(LAUGHS): This is where
the plan gets crazy?
Glad you're sitting down, Nurse Chapel.
You especially, Mr. Scott,
are not going to love it.
(PIKE SHOUTS)
(LA'AN GRUNTING)
La'An!
- (PIKE AND LA'AN GRUNTING)
- (SCREECHES)
- (SCREECHING)
- (GRUNTS)
(PIKE SHOUTS)
(LA'AN GROANS)
(PHASER WHIRS)
(PHASER CHARGES)
(SCREECHING)
(SCREECHES)
(LA'AN PANTING)
(ALARM SOUNDING)
(BOTH GRUNT)
(PIKE GASPING)
(COUGHING)
You all right?
(PANTING): Yeah.
It didn't shoot.
Why didn't it kill me?
(AIR HISSING)
We may only have a minute.
How do we get this thing
the hell off my ship?
Well, if we can't disconnect
it, what if we convince them to?
- How do you mean?
- Make them want to disconnect it.
Give them a taste of something
highly undesirable.
I see, stir up a little acid reflux?
- Yeah.
- What about, uh, baryon particles?
That would ruin their
fuel and their day.
One of us would have to
access the waste system
beneath the warp drive.
Waste system? All right, you do that.
I have to isolate the fuel line.
And bring a hyper coupler.
La'An?
Be careful, that other
alien's still out there.
(PHASER CHARGES)
(DIAL TONE)
PELIA: Ladies, I haven't done this
since I was a roadie for the Dead.
Your species can
communicate with dead people?
- (PHONE RINGS)
- UNA: Hello?
Ah, ah, yes, yes.
Uh, uh, Lieutenant, it's for you.
- Hello?
- Starboard thrusters are ready.
Port thrusters standing by.
Okay, Erica, don't crash.
The scavenger vessel
has dropped out of warp.
Anti-protons anti-protoning?
We're as juicy a
target as I can make us.
Red alert. All stations prepare for
well, for that.
- Ready impulse engines.
- Standing by.
How many times has she helmed?
Twice, including now.
Full impulse, Uhura.
(THRUSTERS HOWL)
- Scotty, your turn.
- If you insist.
I do, Mr. Scott.
Detach at my mark.
KIRK: Mark.
Spock?
The sehlat has eaten its tail, Captain.
The scavenger ship has been disabled.
Uhura, get us line of
sight to the Enterprise
as quickly as you can.
MITCHELL: Incoming transmission.
It's the Farragut, audio only.
UHURA: Enterprise, do you read?
Took you long enough, Ensign.
Good to hear your voice, too.
We're pretty banged up, but
we disabled the scavenger ship.
SCOTTY: Tell her it's just temporary.
How temporary?
UHURA: No idea, but this is your chance.
For a jailbreak. (SCOFFS)
(SIGHING)
ORTEGAS: Port and starboard thrusters,
give me ten percent.
- (RUMBLING)
- Whoa,
we got to kill those
thrusters. We are not off-leash.
(LA'AN GRUNTS)
Captain, any luck finding the fuel line?
I've got a pretty solid guess.
Hand me that connector?
And you might want to take a step back.
If it explodes, it will take
out the entire engineering hull.
A big step, then?
(EXHALES)
(WHIRRING)
Baryon particles are
entering the deuterium stream.
The mixture is destabilizing.
Let's get the hell out of here
before we get sucked
out with this thing.
(RUMBLING)
Wait.
Emergency systems are rebooting.
ORTEGAS: Captain did it.
The umbilical's detached.
Port and starboard thrusters,
50%.
Ease off starboard thrusters. Whoa.
N-Not that easy. Give me 30%.
50%. Now wait.
50, 80.
Cut starboard thrusters.
(METAL GRINDING)
Hate to backseat-drive,
but you're hitting the wall.
Full port thrusters.
Thruster controls aren't responding.
That's real bad.
Wait, I have an idea.
- I'm all ears.
- (RUNNING FOOTFALLS OVER PHONE)
Commander?
(RUNNING FOOTFALLS)
Commander?
(AIR HISSING)
Yes! Starboard thrusters to 20%.
Keep us even.
Captain.
PIKE: The scavenger.
The scavenger vessel's systems
are coming back on line.
They are targeting Enterprise.
Lock phasers.
Uh
SPOCK: Sir, the grapplers have proven
to be resistant to our weapons.
Okay, Spock.
What do you got?
(ALARM BEEPING RAPIDLY)
(LAUGHTER)
(PHASERS CHARGE)
Mr. Spock, scan the
debris for life signs.
Approximately 7,000 life signs,
but they are dwindling quickly.
Can we beam survivors aboard?
(SIGHS)
Not even if we wanted to.
There's too much debris
to get a transporter lock.
Captain?
The life signs.
Yes, Mr. Spock?
SPOCK: The life signs are all human.
The markings on the hull.
Can you get us a clearer image?
SCOTTY: Aye.
UHURA: I found this in
our historical database.
In the mid-21st century,
before first contact with the Vulcans,
a group of scientists believed
that Earth's environmental
crisis was too severe
to recover from, so they built a ship.
They hoped it would carry humanity
to civilizations in other worlds.
But it failed.
UHURA: The ship disappeared.
The entire crew,
their families, gone.
Never heard from again.
PELIA: I remember when it launched.
We-we hadn't yet invented warp drive.
We'd barely put out the fires
of the Third World War.
One of the few nations left standing
sifted through the ashes
of their space program,
scoured the world for a crew.
You might say
they were the best of us,
the most optimistic,
searching for a way to carry on
the flame of life.
All those people.
7,000 souls.
The descendants of the
original inhabitants.
KIRK: So what went wrong?
How did they go from that to
whatever it is they became?
(DOOR CHIMES)
Come in.
Ah
Just wanted to let you know in person,
Dr. M'Benga says that
Captain V'Rel is going
to make a complete recovery.
We'll tow Farragut back to spacedock.
Then you only have
to hold the fort down
a little while longer.
I'm imagining the look
on Admiral April's face
when he sees us pull
in with no nacelles.
He likes Aldebaran whiskey.
Maybe have a bottle ready.
You know, it might not feel like
it, but you made the right call.
We were under attack.
You saved hundreds of lives,
both here and on Enterprise.
Number of
estimated human casualties
on unknown vessel
7,000.
Well, may I?
Please.
You know, when, uh
when I got bumped up to first officer,
I remember second-guessing Bob
uh, Admiral April a lot.
- Did he ever straighten you out?
- No.
He let me learn a very hard lesson.
The big decisions they seem so simple
when someone else has to
live with the consequences,
but the choices you
make in that chair
they are yours to make
and what comes after
that is yours to live with.
Some decisions you will regret
for the rest of your life,
but you still have to make them.
They were human beings.
Why does that make
it feel so much worse?
All I can say is
having empathy for your
adversary is part of the job.
But I didn't.
I didn't think of them as people
at all.
Until it was too late.
Well, maybe that's the lesson.
Empathy isn't conditional.
It's either given or it isn't.
They clearly saw us,
and either they didn't
recognize us or they didn't care.
Whatever journey they had been through
the last 200 years, it broke them.
When they left Earth
they were the best
humanity had to offer.
They weren't monsters.
Is that what we would become
in the same circumstances?
I'd like to believe we wouldn't.
- Why not?
- Because of how you're feeling right now.
Because the next time
you're in that chair,
you will remember we are
often not that different
from our enemy.
And that knowledge,
from this moment on,
will continue to guide you.
Good night, Captain Kirk.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
(DOOR WHOOSHES SHUT)