Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (2022) s03e09 Episode Script

1
♪
Previously on Star Trek:
Strange New Worlds
- (GORN SCREECHES)
- (ORTEGAS GROANS)
(ROARS)
LA'AN: Are we gonna
discuss Lieutenant Ortegas?
She passed her psych eval.
Could it be she's back
on rotation too soon?
UNA: Your maneuver endangered
everyone on the ship unnecessarily.
I'm sorry about what
happened to you, Erica.
But I can't have it
affect your judgment.
ORTEGAS: Out here, I get
to prove what I'm made of.
Nothing could touch me until
it did, and now there are days
when I'm as scared as I was then.
(GORN ROARS)
ORTEGAS: Personal log. Stardate 2198.7.
Enterprise is investigating
a peculiar area of uncharted space.
Like stories told by old Earth sailors,
this region is legendary for
its tales of strange phenomena.
Ghost stories at sea.
(EXHALES)
(SIGHS)
(WHISPERS): Hermanito.
Fine.
What we've found is a parsec of space
with gravity waves so odd,
even Spock can't figure it out.
UHURA: Sensors are coming
back with conflicting data.
Our probes are being
pushed around the area
like beach balls.
ORTEGAS: Like I said, the only way
to get answers is to send in a shuttle
with an expert pilot
riding the manual controls.
Be mindful, I have never seen this level
of gravimetric volatility
without a discernible source.
You're just making it sound more fun.
You're sure about this?
Dr. M'Benga cleared me for
solo missions. I am good to go.
I have endeavored to create
a predictive map focused
on a particular area
showing the highest level
of gravimetric fluctuation.
This module will augment
the shuttle's sensors
to assist with the
collection of in-flight data.
Got it. Don't worry.
I'm gonna get you so much data,
it'll be coming out your ears.
It's an expression.
You know that, right?
I must admit, I am disappointed
to not be joining you on this mission.
But monster gravity waves, remember?
We have specifically
retrofitted the shuttle,
stripped out all nonessential equipment.
Like they say, every ounce counts.
And you, Mr. Spock,
are too many ounces.
(UHURA CHUCKLES)
I maintain my weight within
a variance of 1.8 kilograms.
Is that not obvious?
Besides, you're needed
here in the science lab,
monitoring the incoming scans.
In a gravity field this dense,
there's potential for data loss.
Comms will be impacted, so
stay in constant contact.
- Roger that.
- Once your survey's complete,
deploy the subspace monitoring buoy.
SPOCK: Other than a number
of unverified signals,
we know very little about
this region of space.
In other words, Starfleet
is posting a spy satellite
to see who comes snooping around.
Well, consider me briefed.
Now, here's another old pilot saying
let's light this candle.
(CHUCKLES)
Did you see Spock's face?
(CHUCKLES)
I know. I almost feel bad.
He looked like the kid who was told
he couldn't go on the roller coaster.
(CHUCKLES)
But if I'm being honest,
the solo mission's a bonus.
Chance to clear my head.
You'll be okay out there
for a couple hours all alone?
Trust me,
flying's my happy place.
I know, so have fun but be safe.
- "Safe" is my middle name.
- Wait.
You told me "Danger"
was your middle name.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN AND SHUT)
ORTEGAS: Enterprise, shuttlecraft
Archimedes lowering blast shields
and exiting shuttle bay.
Okay. Show me
- what you've got.
- (WHIRRING)
COMPUTER: Sensors activated
for nonvisual control.
Monitor set for gravitational imaging.
PIKE: Status, Number One?
UNA: Holding at minimum safe distance.
2.4 million kilometers.
Uhura, how's she doing?
Ortegas reports five-by-five, sir.
She started her survey run.
ORTEGAS: I'm here, Captain.
This reminds me of those
old stories on Earth
about pilots who flew
airplanes into hurricanes.
I always wondered what
that must've been like.
Now I know.
(WHIRRING)
SPOCK: Science lab to bridge.
Data collection is complete.
I know you're enjoying yourself, Erica,
but playtime's over.
Deploy the buoy and return home.
A little envious, Captain?
Nah, this chair suits me just fine.
- (CRASHING)
- (ALARM SOUNDING)
Ortegas to Enterprise.
I've lost helm control.
Something's got me!
Trying to get a visual!
Oh. A wormhole's just
popped up out of nowhere.
- (CRASHING)
- (UHURA GROANS)
- Red alert.
- (ALARM SOUNDING)
Where the hell did that thing come from?
UNA: Sensors must
have missed it somehow.
- Sensors missed a wormhole?
- And it's right
on top of Ortegas's position.
Uhura, contact the shuttle.
Tell Ortegas to get out of there.
Archimedes, come in.
Erica, come in.
That wormhole's creating
comms interference.
Wait, I've got something.
COMPUTER: Hull integrity 60%.
55%.
- 50%.
- ORTEGAS: Yeah, I get it! I'm turning into the skid.
Captain, she's too close.
Heading right into the
eye of the hurricane.
Come on. You got this.
(CHOPPY): You got this.
You
Sir.
I've lost contact with Ortegas.
I'm not picking up her transponder.
There's no sign of the shuttle.
She's gone.
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.
♪
♪
♪
- COMPUTER: Shields 11%.
- ORTEGAS: Nav systems out!
Helm controls dead!
COMPUTER: Hull integrity nine percent.
ORTEGAS: Engines not responding.
- COMPUTER: Primary systems failing.
- ORTEGAS: Sensors
are barely functioning.
They're telling me I'm
caught in the gravity well
of a gas giant dead ahead.
Enterprise, this is
Archimedes. Can you read me?
What the hell am I doing?
I'm on the other side
of a freakin' wormhole.
Computer, do we still have enough power
to deploy the subspace relay?
Affirmative.
Okay. Record this on
replay and broadcast.
Mayday, Mayday.
This is Lieutenant Erica Ortegas
of the Federation starship Enterprise.
I just got kicked out of a wormhole.
I don't know where I am,
but I'm going down.
Whoever hears this,
come find me at these coordinates.
And bring snacks.
(GROANS)
(GRUNTING)
The rations.
(MUTTERS)
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Damn it.
(SIGHS)
Personal log. Stardate unknown.
I've crashed
who knows where?
Sensors are too damaged to get a fix.
Life support's on batteries.
But I'm alive, so (CHUCKLES SOFTLY)
that's a win.
(RAPID BEEPING)
Shuttle has seen better days.
(HISSES, GROANS)
I deployed Starfleet's fancy relay buoy.
Hopefully, it can transmit my mayday
back through the wormhole.
Ah.
I was just getting to the good part.
So much for a log. Doesn't matter.
Just make a list of what needs fixing.
(GROANS, CHUCKLES)
Mm.
Oh.
(BREATHING HEAVILY)
Starting with me.
Starfleet Academy Survival 101.
You're stranded on an alien planet.
What do you need?
Water.
Food.
Shelter.
Got one.
Need the other two.
(GRUNTING)
You are now a water condenser.
Please condense.
(SIGHS)
(CHIRPS)
(SPEAKS SPANISH)
And it's amazing.
I've made water!
Beto, if you could see me now.
I have made water!
First survival problem solved.
Now for problem two food.
Knife, fire cube, flare.
Breathable ish.
(WIND WHISTLING)
Big rocks close.
More big rocks far away.
Looking to get away from it all?
I know just the place.
PIKE: All right, let's go over it again.
There was no wormhole,
and then it just appeared.
It's not normal.
SPOCK: It is possible our sensors
simply did not register its
presence during initial scans.
Wormholes are notoriously unstable,
and the fact that this
one has remained nonvariant
for the last 46 hours is,
in and of itself, unique.
It's been nearly two days.
We've maintained continuous
scans of the area.
There's no sign of shuttle debris.
- Nothing at all.
- UHURA: That could be a good sign.
No debris means Erica could be alive.
Her shuttle may be damaged and
adrift in the gravity field.
UNA: We've picked up no life
signs, no transponder signal.
If the shuttle was adrift,
we would have registered
its ping by now.
LA'AN: If Ortegas was pulled in,
could she even survive
traveling through a wormhole?
SPOCK: There is little
comprehensive data on wormholes.
That answer is unknown.
Where would Ortegas end up
if she did make it through?
The exit point of this wormhole
is essentially unknowable.
It could be anywhere in our galaxy,
anywhere in the universe,
or hypothetically, even
in another universe.
If the shuttle did get pulled in,
its engines wouldn't have enough power
- to get back out.
- And still no comms?
I'm using a narrow subspace
beam to try and reach her,
but the wormhole's event
horizon keeps reflecting it back.
I'm working on a way to penetrate it.
Which brings us back to square one.
Captain, a reminder.
We're scheduled to rendezvous
with the Constellation
to deliver a vaccine to the
colonists on Epsilon Indi III.
They are fighting off a pandemic.
We need to keep trying.
Hey.
No one's giving up yet.
We still have time to
explore more avenues.
Let's make the best of it.
(SIGHS)
We need to bring Erica home.
ORTEGAS: All right, need to find food.
What have we got?
(SCOFFS)
Clearly, no apple orchards nearby.
This isn't looking promising.
(RUMBLING)
What the hell?
"Nonspecific seismic activity,"
whatever that means.
Not helpful.
Hello, wormhole.
Don't move.
You're my ticket home.
Wait a second.
That gas giant seems big.
A little too big.
(TRICORDER TRILLING)
Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
This can't be right.
Gas giant's here.
Moon here.
The orbit's not circular.
It's a flat ellipse.
But the perigee's way too close.
Which means the moon's orbit cuts right
through the planet's thermosphere.
Through that toxic soup.
And brings it right down here to me.
Which means I've got a few hours
to find a snack and
get back to the shuttle.
Ooh, I can figure this out.
"Take a shuttle," they said.
"Fly through a gravity field."
"It'll be fun," they said.
Things look bad.
Really, really bad.
(GRUNTS)
A cave,
a hollow,
anything.
(GASPS)
Neighbors?
You requested an hourly update.
- Sensor scans are still negative.
- UNA: Captain,
Constellation is requesting
an update on our rendezvous.
UHURA: I've got it! Erica's alive!
I picked up a faint mayday
from the subspace buoy.
PIKE: Let's hear it.
ORTEGAS (CHOPPY): Mayday
Lieutenant Federation Enterprise.
(GARBLED RADIO TRANSMISSION)
That's it, but it's definitely Erica.
She made it through the
wormhole and sent this message.
It could also be a signal ghost
reflected by the event horizon.
Lieutenant Ortegas could
have sent the message
- before she entered the wormhole.
- I know comm signals.
This message was sent on the
other side of the wormhole.
Are you sure?
SPOCK: Gravimetric refraction
would negate our ability
to verify the signal's
exact point of origin.
Captain, I know she's
alive. I can feel it.
UNA: We all want Ortegas to be alive,
but we can't discount the possibility
of the opposite, Nyota.
Sir, there's one way to be certain.
We can send probes through the wormhole
to strengthen our comms
connection to Erica's shuttle.
If she's there, if she's alive,
we'll be able to contact her.
- Let's do it.
- (SIGHS)
Una, contact Captain Decker.
Tell him we have an emergency situation,
but we plan to rendezvous
with Constellation on schedule.
UNA: Aye, Captain.
(WIND WHOOSHING)
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Hello?
Anybody home?
(SIGHS)
♪
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
(SNIFFING)
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
(SNIFFING)
(PANTING)
We've sent six communication
probes into the wormhole.
All of them have failed
to return a signal.
UHURA: The probes aren't strong
enough to boost the signal.
If we use more, maybe a dozen,
and linked them together
SPOCK: There is something else.
Recent scans have
revealed a new problem.
All right, we'll add it to the list.
The wormhole's aperture is shrinking.
UNA: Shrinking?
- Do we know why?
- We do not.
But it is possible that the
incursion of Ortegas's shuttle
and our probes are the cause.
So sending more probes
could cause the wormhole
to shrink even faster.
Indeed, or close completely.
UHURA: Right now the
aperture is still open.
We just need to limit incursions.
You just said we'd need 12 more probes.
But a shuttle,
retrofitted with more powerful engines,
could do the job. Am I right?
The probability of failure is greater
than the possibility of success.
But it is possible.
Theoretically, yes.
But it would require exact calculations.
Theoretically possible?
Captain, I have to advise against it.
We've already lost one crew member.
And we have to make our rendezvous.
UHURA: What are you saying, sir?
That we should give up on her?
I care about Erica.
Her life matters to me.
But there are 4,000 colonists
in need of a vaccine,
families with children.
4,000 lives against hers.
I'm just asking for a little more time.
I'll authorize the mission, provided
you can show me hard data
on its potential success.
You got four hours.
Numbers add up, I'll approve it.
You'll have the proof you
need, Captain, I promise.
(GORN GROWLING, CLUCKING)
What I'd give for a phaser.
(GORN SCREECHES)
(GRUNTS)
(GORN SCREECHING)
- (ORTEGAS GRUNTS)
- (SCREECHES)
Go ahead, damn it! Get it over with!
(SCREECHING)
- (SNAPS NECK)
- (SCREECHES)
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
UHURA: No.
No. Damn it.
SPOCK: This is the 20th simulation
and the 20th failure.
Computer?
Reset wormhole navigational simulation:
Kamili Alpha One.
Ensign, based on these results,
a successful rescue mission
is a statistical improbability.
It is illogical to continue,
as the captain will not
authorize the mission
without positive data.
I have faith this can work.
If you don't, you can
go, but I'm staying.
Computer, run simulation.
I'm next. Is that it?
Oh, your leg is mangled.
(GROANING)
Found your weak spot.
(GORN GROWLING, CLUCKING)
If you want to eat me (GRUNTS)
you'll have to earn it.
(SCREECHES)
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
What is this?
A trap?
I go for the meat, you, you grab me?
Pull my legs off?
But if you wanted to
kill me, you could've
done that at the hole, so what is this?
What is happening?
To hell with it.
I'm starving.
(GRUNTING)
(GROANING)
Don't look at it.
Just eat it.
(GRUNTS)
(RETCHING)
(TRILLING)
(THUNDER CRACKING)
ORTEGAS: I think that's
a Gorn comms array.
I could use that.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Once I figure out how
to fix this comms array,
I'll be able to signal
our surveillance buoy
and hopefully hail the Enterprise
on the other side of the wormhole.
What the hell is that?
(RUMBLING)
(GASPING)
(CREATURES HISSING)
(SKITTERING)
(CREATURES HISSING, SKITTERING)
(SCREECHES)
(CREATURES HISSING)
All right, what do we got?
Ensign Uhura has an
intriguing if unorthodox plan.
Mr. Spock doesn't believe
that a shuttle could make it
through the wormhole and return safely,
and he's right.
So I had to think outside of the box.
Way outside. I ran every simulation
and found the only viable
way to successfully transit
the gravity waves and search for Erica.
We need to take Enterprise
through the wormhole.
Unorthodox is an understatement.
SPOCK: In addition, Uhura's
plan requires we create a stable
warp field around the
ship, effectively wedging
the wormhole aperture open.
What about the vaccines on
board for Epsilon Indi III?
We're not just gonna
be risking ourselves.
I understand that,
which means we have
enough time to try it once.
You can pull the plug
if it gets too risky.
Can this really work?
Using a starship to
prop open a wormhole?
Yes, in theory.
When we're inside this thing,
how bad is signal interference?
Scan capability needs to be above 60%.
COMPUTER: 61%.
Okay.
We've got a rescue mission.
ORTEGAS: A personal deflector shield.
Repurposed power source.
So, how's this sound?
I wrap up your leg,
you let me sleep here.
- And don't eat me.
- (CLUCKING)
Deal?
(GORN GROWLING)
You want me to use this paste?
Is it ground-up crystals?
(SCREECHES)
Sorry, sorry.
What the hell am I doing?
(LOW GROWLING, CLUCKING)
(GROWLS)
You're welcome.
(LOW GROWLING, CLUCKING)
(SCREECHES)
I get it. You're no fan of fire.
I need to cook this to eat it.
Understand?
You like pit-monster sushi. I don't.
I need fire.
I'm hungry.
(LOW GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Hmm.
That's your helmet?
You're a pilot?
Like me?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
♪
Storm's over.
Crap.
It's shrinking?
Somehow I've got to let
Enterprise know I'm alive.
I need to repair your comms gear.
To do that, I'm gonna need your help.
You growling and me playing
charades isn't gonna cut it.
We need to be able to communicate.
Trust me. I know what I'm doing.
I think I know what I'm doing.
Not exactly a universal translator,
but, uh, better than nothing.
It should give yes or no responses.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
TRANSLATOR: Agree.
Wait, how'd you know what I was saying?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
- You understand me.
- (GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
You study your prey.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Disagree.
You want to understand your enemy.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
Let's try a different question. Uh
- Do you like it here?
- (GROWLING, CLUCKING)
- Disagree.
- (CHUCKLES)
Second that.
Are you male?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Disagree.
Female?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
Look at us.
Just a couple girls
having a slumber party.
We could braid each other's hair.
If you had any. Or if I had any.
I can't believe I'm joking with a Gorn.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Here we are,
two pilots stranded
on a flying tombstone.
It's a miracle you've
been able to survive
this friggin' death moon all alone.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
Just playing chess with a Gorn.
The queen
like this.
- No.
- (HISSES)
Only a knight can jump
over other pieces. Got it?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
I feel like you've played chess before.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
You've beaten me three games straight.
Are you hustling me?
You carved these out
of creatures' bones?
Agree.
Mama needs a new shuttlecraft.
(LAUGHS)
I won. I won? Ha!
- I won.
- (GROWLING, CLUCKING)
You want me to eat it?
Is that what the winner
does? The winner eats
the final captured piece?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
(LAUGHING): No, I don't agree.
It's a game, not a food group.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
(ORTEGAS SCOFFS)
All right. Don't get
your scales in an uproar.
Mmm.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Ah.
(COMMS TRILLING)
Hey, you want to help me here?
It's your gear.
If we make an SOS beacon,
there's a chance we can be rescued.
I know my people.
They're searching for me.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
I, uh, do these for luck when I fly.
Means we'll make it home.
(POWERING UP)
Whew! Hell yeah! (LAUGHS)
Chalk up another "W" for the home team.
Whoo! (LAUGHS)
(EXHALES)
I am bowled over by your enthusiasm.
It's working.
Once it's recharged,
we can get a signal,
maybe get off this rock.
Damn thing keeps getting smaller.
There's something else going on.
Why didn't my sensors
detect the wormhole
before it showed up?
Why didn't my tricorder
pick up your shelter?
And what is with those
strange flashes of light?
You know that vibe in the air
right before flying into battle?
You're in the clear, but somehow
you can't shake the feeling
like you're being watched.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
Your wounds are infected.
I need to get you more crystals.
- (GROWLING, CLUCKING)
- Disagree. Disagree.
If this infection
spreads, it will kill you.
This weird goo is the only
stuff that slows it down.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Disagree. Disagree.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Broken. Is that it?
You think you're too broken to fix?
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
I've seen the Gorn
destroy their own ship
because they thought it was weak.
So for you, rescue's a death sentence.
(LOW CLUCKING)
Okay.
So what? You'll come with us.
Show my people who you really are,
like you've shown me.
We can work this out.
I know it.
(GROWLS, SCREECHES)
Disagree.
So, you are not giving up.
You're not dying.
Not here, not now.
I won't let you.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Disagree.
(SCREECHES)
Disagree.
(HISSES, SCREECHES)
Disagree.
Sensor readings will be unreliable.
To navigate through the gravity field,
we must be on manual control.
Other than Ortegas, I am
the best pilot on the ship.
Never heard that one before, sir.
(RUMBLING)
Gravimetric pressure increasing.
(RUMBLING)
Engaging full impulse.
The odds are in our
favor. We can do this.
Scan ability is 61%.
(LOUD BANG)
(PRAYING SOFTLY IN SWAHILI)
(RUMBLING)
UNA: We are stationary in the wormhole.
How's our static warp field?
Stable, but the wormhole is exerting
increasing gravimetric pressure.
Well, we are the peach
pit stuck in its throat.
If we overstay, the Enterprise
will be crushed by the aperture.
Una, let me know when
we hit the redline.
UNA: Aye, Captain.
LA'AN: All sensors are trained
on the gas giant and its moons.
There are lots of them.
396 to be exact.
I'm picking up Ortegas's mayday.
It doesn't specify where
she might have crashed.
LA'AN: Scanning 396 moons
will take longer than we
have to make the rendezvous.
Uhura, monitor all
frequencies for any comms.
Spock, start scanning moons.
Begin with the closest.
Maybe we'll get lucky.
(WIND WHOOSHING)
I see you, whatever you are.
Always in the right place
and at the wrong time.
So what do you want?
(GRUNTS)
(CREATURE CHITTERING)
(POWERING DOWN)
That battery was
charging the comms array.
And powering the shield.
Without it, we've got no protection
from the creatures.
Or from the orbital storm.
I just killed us.
(THUNDER RUMBLING)
Once we hit the storm's horizon,
the pit things will come
out and tear us to shreds.
And if somehow we survive that,
then we choke and die
in a toxic hurricane.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
The flare.
The flare.
Yes.
When the atmospheres collide,
the air is going to be flammable.
Oh, but we don't have much time.
Almost none.
We need to make something
that will ignite part of
the gas giant's atmosphere
so we can create a burning SOS
across the face of the planet.
- Disagree.
- No, no, this is doable.
I know my people, I know
they're looking for me.
But to ignite the air,
we'll need the storm
to be right on top of us.
Disagree.
Which also means we'll be
exposed to a big fiery kaboom.
- Agree. Disagree.
- Yes, I know, I get it.
It's a huge gamble, but it's
how we get a chance to live.
(LOW GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Please.
Help me save us.
Yes! A thruster pack with
propellant in the tank.
If we launch it right
when the storm hits,
there's our kaboom.
There's no way they'll miss it.
But if we pull this off,
we're at the center of a giant fireball.
(LOW GROWLING, CLUCKING)
(EXCITED CHUCKLE)
I thought I had a rough landing.
It's part of the heat
shield from your escape pod.
I know you hate to admit it,
but you like this plan.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
- Disagree.
- (THUNDER RUMBLING)
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Yeah, I see it.
(GRUNTING)
Just sit there and keep judging me.
It's fine.
(PANTING)
(LOW GROWLING, CLUCKING)
You're right.
We're toast.
I give up.
It's pointless.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Disagree.
(GRUNTING)
The enemy of my enemy.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Disagree.
Friend.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
(THUNDER CRASHES)
Hopefully, there's enough power
in these crystals for a launch.
When it does, things go boom.
We just have to time it right or we die.
All right, Enterprise,
let's light this candle.
Damn it.
- I have to go launch it manually.
- (GROWLING, CLUCKING)
- Disagree.
- No time to argue.
Disagree.
- Disagree. Disagree.
- No.
(PANTING)
(POWERING UP)
(YELLS)
If we don't make it,
at least we know we're
not broken anymore.
(GROWLING, CLUCKING)
Agree.
You said you wanted to be
told when we hit the redline.
Here it is.
- Captain, I have to tell you
- I know you fudged the numbers, Nyota.
Doesn't matter.
I would've searched for her anyway.
Blurring the rules
that is new for you, but
it's not bad for the right reasons.
Thank you, Captain.
Spock, anything?
We've scanned 146 moons. All negative.
I'm sorry, Chris, we've run out of time.
Erica may or may not be alive,
but if we don't get
out of this wormhole,
we risk the entire crew
and the colonists.
All right. Prepare to reverse course.
SPOCK: Captain, I am picking up
an anomalous reading from
one of the unscanned moons.
It is an unusual atmospheric eruption.
PIKE: On-screen, magnify.
- What is that?
- Scans indicate it is a volatile explosion.
Yes!
It's her!
That's her!
Only Erica would be crazy enough
to set a planet on fire
to get our attention.
La'An, take a landing
party to the surface.
Bring Lieutenant Ortegas home.
With pleasure, sir.
(SOBS)
Over there.
(GROWLS)
Erica!
(PHASERS CHARGE)
(SCREECHES)
No!
No!
- Erica. Are you all right?
- Why?
Why?
Why? Why?!
- Lieutenant?
- No, no.
No, I'm not talking to you.
There has to be some reason.
Where are you?
Who's behind this?
You hear me? Strange sparkle thing.
I can feel you're watching!
Now come and face me!
Are you there?! What do you want?!
LA'AN: Enterprise, beam us up now.
Hello, Lieutenant Erica Ortegas.
I have taken on this form
so that we may more easily communicate.
Who are you?
We are the Metrons.
We've inhabited this region of space
since long before your
species walked upright.
Why did you do this to us?
Curiosity.
- Curiosity?
- Human and Gorn.
Two barbaric species, each determined
to destroy the other.
But what could happen if
you were forced together
with the need to survive?
We found the idea of
such an experiment
- intriguing.
- This was more than that.
When you first arrived,
this creature didn't
need you to survive.
It kept you alive because it was lonely.
And you,
you managed to work past
your pain and trauma.
There is hope for your two species.
Well, pardon me for saying,
but I don't care what you think.
The violent reaction
of your fellow human
has given us much to consider.
We need more data to determine
if the Human and the
Gorn will ever find peace.
(INDISTINCT WHISPERING)
What are they telling you?
You are not ready to meet us.
You won't remember
me, and perhaps someday
we may need to reset your
perception of the Gorn as well.
- What will I remember?
- What you experienced.
It was genuine.
You may keep it.
(DOOR CHIMES)
Come in.
Erica?
I saw you in the transporter room,
but there were so many
people, I didn't want to
I know what you did to get me back.
(SNIFFS) Oh.
- You smell
- (LAUGHS)
awesome. (SNIFFS)
Yeah, I would have
stopped into the local spa,
- but it was closed.
- (CHUCKLES)
(SIGHS)
What you had to face down there
what happened to the Gorn
She kept me alive.
She saved me.
She was my friend.
La'An is my friend, too.
I don't know what to do with that.
They both wanted to protect you.
So what do I do now?
You remember her.
Okay.
(DOOR WHOOSHES OPEN)
(DOOR WHOOSHES SHUT)