Star Trek: Enterprise (2001–2005): Season 4, Episode 21 - Terra Prime - full transcript

With T'Pol and Trip hostage, John Frederick Paxton demands that all aliens leave the solar system or else he will destroy Starfleet Headquarters. With that warning and the clock counting, Starfleet orders Archer and the Enterprise to Mars to take out the weapon threatening Earth. Meanwhile, the cloned baby of T'Pol and Trip is getting sicker and time is running out for her as well. Imprisoned, Gannet Brooks reveals to Travis that she is a secret member of Starfleet Intelligence. She has been assigned to find a Terra Prime operative working undercover on the Enterprise. With the clock ticking, the future of the planned Federation lies in the balance.

NARRATOR:
Previously on Enterprise:

Today we have assembled the
representatives of numerous worlds

to forge an unprecedented alliance.

It's almost possible to forget
what she represents.

According to every analysis,
this child is the offspring

of Commander Tucker
and Commander T'Pol.

We think Terra Prime is involved.
It has something to do with the child.

Find it, and we'll have the answers.

I've never been pregnant, Trip.

Then how do you explain all this?

She's not here to do a story
on Enterprise, Travis.



REED:
She's a spy.

I'm returning Earth
to its rightful owners.

I have just taken over
the verteron array on Mars.

I can now fire on any ship or facility
in the system.

I have no intention
of using this weapon again

provided that every single non-human
in our system leaves immediately.

I know there will be questions.

We've been dealing
with non-humans for...

- Block that transmission.
- He's on every frequency.

The signal's going system-wide.

Target his ship.

Take out their communications.

He's tied his warp reactor
into the array.

If we hit him,
it'll take out half the Utopia colony.



Open a channel to Starfleet.

PAXTON:
Judge the evidence for yourself.

Everything's jammed.

The citizen-soldiers of Terra Prime
will act to protect you

against the most dangerous enemy
that humanity has ever faced.

PAXTON: Do not be deceived.
This is no ordinary innocent child.

This is an alien-human hybrid,

living proof of what will happen
if we allow ourselves

to be submerged
in an interstellar coalition.

Our genetic heritage, the entire...

I want that transmission blocked.

MAN [OVER COM]: We're trying.
We can't break through the signal.

Then find some way to contact
Enterprise. I wanna speak to Archer.

Terra Prime is dedicated to the
protection of life in all of its diversity.

Over the next 24 hours,
we guarantee safe passage

to all aliens
leaving our solar system.

So long as non-humans
keep to their own...

Scan Paxton's ship
for Vulcan bio-signs.

Get a transporter lock
on the baby and T'Pol.

But if any alien, if one single alien
remains after the deadline,

Terra Prime will defend
the sovereignty

of every single human being.

And we will begin
by destroying the institution

whose blind arrogance
and moral cowardice

have put us all at risk,
Starfleet Command.

We do not seek war,

but if the aliens do not leave
and force us to fight,

I make this solemn promise to all
of the sons and daughters of Earth,

our future will be secure
because humanity will prevail.

He's targeted us with the array.

Apparently,
they don't like being scanned.

Get us out of here.

Damage?

Massive power surge.
We've lost half our relays.

That beam was only 2 percent
of the array's total output.

He could have vaporized us.

We'll consider ourselves warned.
Set a course to Earth.

- If you'll excuse me...
- Of course.

Ambassador.

Spontaneous demonstrations
have already begun

around the Vulcan compound.

Isolated incidents, I'm sure.

There are protestors chanting
outside the Andorian embassy.

[VOICES SHOUTING OVER COM]

And they're using words
that aren't in the universal translator.

It's obvious Paxton's ultimatum
is part of a coordinated plan.

Why are we all still here?

We could be obliterated
at any second.

No, Paxton's a fanatic,
but he's a man of his word.

He won't act
before his deadline's up.

The deadline aside,
the fact that Paxton has the support

of so many of your people
is almost as troubling.

I agree.

Earthmen talk about uniting worlds,
but your own planet is deeply divided.

Perhaps you're not quite ready
to host this conference.

Paxton's holding two of my officers
hostage at the array.

We can't attack it.

The council's aware of that.

If you can't bring yourself
to fire on them,

another captain can be assigned
to Enterprise.

- No one will think less of you.
- It's not just the hostages.

Any attack on the array

will trigger a massive explosion
that could kill thousands of colonists.

This wasn't an easy decision
for the council.

The potential for disaster's even
greater than you think.

Over the next 30 months,

the terraforming project has 14 comets
set to collide with Mars.

Without the array to divert them
toward the polar caps,

the comets could hit anywhere,
even the domed cities.

I'm taking a small team.

We'll break into the facility
and stop them.

Paxton can destroy any ship
that approaches Mars.

If he can't see us,

he can't destroy us.

It's unharmed, just as I said.

Her medical readings appear normal.

There's nothing normal about it.

She's not an "it."

How did you obtain
our genetic material?

The child is a binary clone.

They needed cells from both of us.

The medical freezers on your ship hold
bio-samples from your entire crew.

Terra Prime has supporters
everywhere.

Someone on Enterprise helped you?
Who?

I've let you see your daughter.
That's my half of the bargain.

Now it's your turn.

I need to make modifications
on my ship.

I'm listening.

I need you to refine
my targeting system.

You really think I'm gonna help you
turn that array into a weapon?

You really think
I'm gonna give you a choice?

HARRIS:
Two meetings in the span of a week.

People might start to talk.

I don't like it any more than you do.

So you wanna go to Mars
and you need my help.

You know the situation.

I believe I'm aware
of the broad strokes.

I also understand Paxton's tapped
into the planetary sensor grid.

No one can get within 1000 kilometers
of the verteron array

- without being detected.
- You're going to tell me how.

What makes you think
I even have that information?

Because your section routinely thinks
about the unthinkable,

and because you've never missed
a chance to put me in your debt.

You're a good judge of character.

The grid was designed to function
in the planet's original atmosphere,

but terraforming's made
the air much thicker.

How does that help us?

Sections of the grid
continually need recalibration

and are prone to false signals.

You can exploit that weakness.

The good news is, with terraforming,

there's no more need
for pressure suits in the lowland.

Oxygen, yes. Thermal garments.

According to this,

if we keep our altitude less than
ten meters above the surface,

Paxton won't see us.

You still need to reach the surface
undetected.

That part's taken care of.

Without your help.

So the student has surpassed
the teacher.

When you're finished with Mars,
why don't you come work for me?

I've got quite enough to keep me busy
on Enterprise.

And if Archer's coalition is formed,
Enterprise could be busier than ever.

Indeed.

Well, then I imagine
this will be the last time we meet.

Always the optimist.

Good luck.

Malcolm.

ARCHER: Comet Burke,
deflected by the array eight years ago,

set to hit the North Pole of Mars
at dawn.

SAMUELS: You're not serious.
- I have experience with comets, sir.

Compared to penetrating
Xindi defenses,

this will be a walk in the park.

But that's only 14 hours from now.

What happens if this plan of yours
doesn't work?

Enterprise will destroy the array
as ordered.

All the rocking in the world
will not make that child Vulcan,

or human.

Human and Vulcan genes
produced this child,

which indicates our two species have
more similarities than differences.

PAXTON:
Don't you realize that baby is...?

That baby is as much a threat
to your species as it is to mine?

She's not a threat.

That child is a crossbreed freak.

How many generations before
our genome is so diluted

that the word "human" is nothing more
than a footnote in some medical text?

The same thing could happen to your
people. Or don't you care about that?

Neither of our species is what it was
a million years ago,

nor what will it become in the future.

Life is change.

Change in this case
means extinction.

And I, for one, will not let that baby
bring humanity to that point.

I won't let you hurt her.

I won't have to.

T'POL:
What does that mean?

We're within range.

Bridge to Engineering.

Kelby here.

ARCHER:
We're coming up on the comet.

I'm on it, sir.

MAN: Open up, sir.
- This is it, people. Cycle the ports.

Ensign, rig the intakes
for cometary debris.

Yes, sir.

Engineering's good to go, sir.

You've got full impulse
and warp standing by.

All right, Travis.

Let's hitch a ride to Mars.

Aye, aye, sir.

- Thank you for seeing me.
- What's so urgent?

I never got my lawyer.

You'll have to talk to the captain.

- Apparently, he's busy.
- We all are.

That's it?

I don't work for Terra Prime.

I work for Starfleet Intelligence.

That's not possible.

[SCOFFS]

You are not the only one
who wants to serve his people.

If you're an SI agent,
you'd be out of this brig

with one call to your division head.

And everyone on Enterprise
would know who I am,

including the real
Terra Prime operative.

Mayweather. Go ahead.

REED: We're ready for you
in the launch bay.

On my way.

You know I'm going to tell the captain
about this.

He won't believe you.

Probably not. Why--?
Why are you telling me this now?

You're going after Paxton.

If someone on Enterprise
is working for him,

he could know you're coming.

So you're revealing all of this
because you're worried about me.

Yes.

I'm touched.

Travis, wait!

You're not going
to manipulate me again.

Goodbye.

Keep the sensors locked on the array.
The moment it powers up--

HOSHI:
I won't hesitate, sir.

I remember when you used to jump
every time the engines hiccupped.

I still do. I'm just better at hiding it.

REED:
Captain.

Don't get too used to that chair.

- I'm gonna want it back.
- Understood.

You know, I never used to like Vulcans
all that much myself.

They always seemed so smug,

making us jump through hoops for
every little advance in warp technology.

And they knew the answers
all along.

So, what was it with you?

The ears?

The fact that they're vegetarian?

- They're not human.
- Well, can't deny that.

And they sat by
while millions of our people died.

World War Ill.

We didn't make contact with the
Vulcans until ten years after the war.

But they were up there.

With their superior technology,
they could've stopped it,

but they didn't.

I think it suited their plans.

A devastated Earth
was much easier for them to control.

Is that the kind of paranoid crap
Paxton's been feeding you?

Get back to work.

You ever actually met a Vulcan?

Your friend, she was the first.

If you got to know some,
actually took the time to talk with one--

Yeah, well,
you obviously did more than talk.

And look what you got for your trouble,
some half-human thing.

Go ahead.

Okay.

[YELLS]

You're a traitor.

A traitor to humanity.

Hull plating steady at 94 percent.

What's wrong
with the inertial dampeners?

We need to maintain
an erratic flight profile

so we look like a chunk of the comet.

[PANEL BEEPS]

Thirty minutes to the atmosphere.

I'm taking us closer to the nucleus.
It's going to start getting a little rough.

Start?

Would you like me
to give you something?

I've already had
the maximum dosage.

Here's a bag.

No.

There's nothing aliens like better than
to see us fighting one another.

- Where's T'Pol and the baby?
- They're together.

You'll eat
as soon as you finish your work.

I am finished.

All you've done is try to sabotage
the targeting system.

I don't know
what you're talking about.

Please, I've been monitoring your work
from the control center.

And to be honest,
I'd have been disappointed

if you hadn't tried to sabotage
the array, but you did.

Which proves
you're a man of principle.

That is why I know you're going to
refine the array just as you promised.

I told you I'd make modifications
to your ship, not your weapon.

In two hours,
I'm going to fire a verteron beam

directly at Starfleet Command.

Now, with this targeting system
the way it is, I will hit Starfleet,

but I'll also take out
half of San Francisco along with it.

I need a scalpel, not a bludgeon.

I don't care what you need.

Starfleet's been warned,
if that's what concerns you.

Now, you can either help me

and a few empty buildings
will be destroyed,

or you refuse me
and millions may die.

You told Starfleet when you're
planning to fire the array,

and you don't think they're gonna blast
this facility off the face of the planet?

If you're so eager for a bloodbath,
a bloodbath is what you will get.

Put him in detention.

And make sure
he has a news screen.

I want him to see the bodies when
they start to pull them from the rubble.

Hello.

I'm your mother.

You're going to need a name.

We should discuss that
with your father.

The gravity's starting
to tear the comet apart.

Picking up ionization
from the upper atmosphere.

[THUD]
[SYSTEMS POWERING DOWN]

What was that?

The engines shut down
but there were no warning lights.

The console's locked up.

[PANEL BEEPING]

Hull plating's off-line.

Hull temperature's climbing.

We're coming in too hot.

MAYWEATHER:
Bypassing auto flight control.

- Switching to manual.
REED: At this speed?

We're out of options.

Ground proximity?

Five seconds to impact.

Well, that was fun.

Can we do it again?

A mark three interlock.

The closer we get, the more we risk
being spotted by Paxton's sensors.

Get close to that ridge line.

I was thinking the same thing.

You'll want to keep your arms
inside the vehicle at all times.

REED: Thirty-two.
PHLOX: Hmm?

REED: This is the 32nd planet
I've set foot on.

[PHLOX CHUCKLES]

PHLOX:
Two hundred and forty-eight.

ARCHER: The verteron array
is on the other side of that rise.

We'll head through there.

PAXTON: I'm told you have
something to say to me.

In private.

PAXTON:
I keep no secrets from my men.

You and I both know that's not true.

Josiah, give us the room.

I'll be outside.

My daughter's ill.

You'll arrange for medical care
at once.

No one leaves this facility.

You will provide immediate transport

for my child, Commander Tucker,
and myself.

The hospital at Utopia colony
will be suitable until Enterprise arrives.

[CHUCKLES]

What, have you been inhaling
the atmosphere?

What makes you think
you can dictate terms to me?

This.

Taggart's Syndrome.

Since you obviously didn't die
by age 20,

you're receiving treatment.

Rigelian gene therapy?

You're not a doctor.

The very thing you're warning humans
to avoid is what's keeping you alive.

Alien knowledge, freely shared.

You're not only a terrorist,
you're a hypocrite.

This is not the time for timidity
and second-guessing.

We cannot afford to doubt ourselves.

Colonel Green also said,
"To be human is to be pure."

Under his rule,
you would have been euthanized

for having a genetic disorder.

I'm not the first significant leader who
failed to measure up to his own ideals.

You're not significant.

History will determine that.

So go ahead,
tell my followers what you wish.

See if they take the word of an alien
over mine.

What's wrong with your child?

Elevated white blood cell count,
low-grade fever.

Well, its two halves are warring
with one another,

alien and human.

Conflict was inevitable.

Josiah.

Your child
and the Coalition of Planets,

both doomed from the beginning.

[DEVICE BEEPING]

REED:
Ten meters.

Paxton's deadline is up.

We have to face an unpleasant reality.
Captain Archer's mission has failed.

Paxton will need two minutes
to power up the array

before he can fire.

- Two minutes?
- It's enough.

I'm not prepared to take that chance.

Your estimates could be wrong.

I won't destroy the array
unless we have no other choice.

- I understand your reluctance.
- I'm following orders.

I'm giving you new orders. Do it now.

- Sorry, sir.
- I can have you relieved of duty.

Actually, I can only be relieved
by a higher-ranking officer

in my chain of command.

- Open a channel to Admiral Gardner.
- Belay that order.

I won't risk exposing our position
by breaking radio silence.

You're risking the lives
of hundreds of thousands of people.

I know what I'm doing.

The guard is still walking away.

There's another guard approaching.

Took you long enough.

- Where's T'Pol?
- Crew quarters.

- Paxton's getting ready to fire the array.
- If he powers it up--

Enterprise has orders
to destroy the complex.

I've spoken to our operatives.

There's no indication that the Vulcans
have withdrawn from their consulates

in Canberra or Berlin.

I never expected them to comply.

Let's get this done.

[PANEL BEEPS]

I'm picking up a power surge
in the array.

You're out of time.
Destroy the complex now.

Take us in, full impulse.

Charge weapons.

Josiah, begin the firing sequence.

Target locked.

Give the order.

Coordinates locked in.

COMPUTER:
Two minutes to pulse activation.

[DOOR OPENS]

Step away from the controls.

Jonathan Archer,

the man who delivered us
from the Xindi.

Well, look at you now.

- Archer to Enterprise.
HOSHI: Go ahead, captain.

We're inside the control room.

Standing by.

Shut it down.

Main controls are in there.

[ALARM BLARES]

COMPUTER:
Ninety seconds to pulse activation.

The room's depressurizing.

Get Malcolm out of here.

Go.

Plasma grid.

Control panel.

PAXTON: I know the reason
you've turned your back on humanity.

[GLASS CRACKING]

I blame your father.

He wanted the secrets
of warp technology so badly,

he allowed the Vulcans
to turn him into their pet human.

And you,
well, the sins of the father...

COMPUTER:
Plasma grid off-line.

Firing sequence aborted.

PAXTON: My father never
asked anything from anyone.

His mining operations
transformed the moon

from a mere colony into
a completely self-sufficient world.

And that is how we should go
to the stars,

taking the worlds we need
and taming them

with human hands and human minds
and human souls.

That might've worked for the moon,

but the galaxy's a lot more crowded
than we thought.

That's not our problem.

It's an opportunity.

It's over, Paxton.

We are each his father's child.

I've been a miner all my life.

You get used to the low oxygen.

[ALARM BLARES]

COMPUTER:
Firing sequence resumed.

Pulse activation in 30 seconds.

[ARCHER COUGHING]

Pulse activation in 15 seconds.

- Ten, nine, eight, seven,
- I've locked the sequence.

- You can't stop it from firing.
- six, five,

- I've locked it.
- four, three, two, one.

Pulse activated.

Terra Prime forever.

Looks like Paxton's aim was off.

With a little help from you.

Maybe a little.

Commander.

She's dying.

ARCHER: Captain's starlog,
January 22nd, 2155.

Enterprise is returning to Earth.

Paxton is in custody,

but the consequences of his actions
continue to affect us all.

Guess we shouldn't keep
calling her "she."

Elizabeth.

My sister would have liked that.

It appears my initial prognosis
was incorrect.

It's genetic.

The Vulcan and human DNA
aren't compatible.

There anything you can do?

I'm attempting
to stabilize her nucleotides,

but there's never been
a child like her.

Her name is Elizabeth.

I can't figure out
why the console locked up

at the same time
the engines shut down.

It does seem a bit coincidental.

Flight control and engine power
are routed separately

until they reach

that junction.

The panel's open.

If ionized gas got in here,

it could've melted the primary circuits
of both systems.

It could've been knocked loose
by an impact.

No, it's been forced.

This was deliberate.

[DOOR CHIMES]

Come in.

On your feet, sir.

Shuttlepod 1 was sabotaged.

- Sabotaged?
- We nearly crashed.

- Is this your signature?
- Yeah.

You think I had something
to do with it?

Is there any reason
why we shouldn't?

That's a shuttlepod maintenance log.

Commander Tucker took me
off that team

when he came back from Columbia.

Who replaced you?

- Who?
- Ensign Masaro.

They really wanna postpone
the conference?

"Postponed" is a diplomatic way
of saying it's dead.

Paxton's unnerved them,

and there's not a lot I've been able
to say to change their minds.

Excuse me, sir.

Sato. Go ahead.

It's Archer.
Are you still with Samuels?

We're in the mess hall.

ARCHER:
Is Ensign Masaro there?

No, I don't see him, sir.

We think Masaro may be working
for Terra Prime.

Samuels may be in danger.

Reed and Mayweather
are on their way.

Wait here, sir.

Samuels is in here. He's safe.

Captain.

You don't wanna do this.

I have to.

Give me the phase-pistol.

- That's an order.
- I can't, sir.

- Ensign--
- I wanted you to know.

I'm sorry.

I believed in what we were doing.

Tell my parents I'm sorry.

I never wanted anyone to get hurt.

Ensign--

[PHASE-PISTOL FIRES]
[BODY THUDS]

[SIGHS]

I wish I could do more.

I know.

When you invited me
to join this crew,

I thought it would be an interesting
diversion for a few months.

Some time away
from the complications of family,

which on Denobula
can be extremely complicated.

I didn't expect to gain another family.

It hurts as if she were my own child.

Make something good come from this,
captain.

Fellow delegates,

this last week we've seen
what humans can be at their worst.

But we cannot, we must not,
use that as an excuse

to end the dream that began here.

For then, the demons of our past
will have won.

Instead, I want to look to the future

and begin by honoring the people
responsible for our being here tonight.

They represent all of us at our best.

Up until about a hundred years ago,

there was one question that burned
in every human,

that made us study the stars
and dream of traveling to them.

"Are we alone?"

Our generation is privileged

to know the answer to that question.

We are all explorers,

driven to know
what's over the horizon,

what's beyond our own shores.

Yet,

the more I've experienced,

the more I've learned

that no matter how far we travel

or how fast we get there,

the most profound discoveries

are not necessarily beyond
that next star.

They're within us,

woven into the threads that bind us,

all of us,

to each other.

The final frontier begins in this hall.

Let's explore it together.

I hear the conference
is back on track.

It's a first step.

The captain says it's going
to take years to work out the details.

But it'll happen.
And you're part of the reason why.

Just doing my job.

So was I.

I know.

If Vulcans and Andorians
can get along,

you'd think we could.

A lot of details to work out.

Isn't that the fast way home?

The least I can do is give you a ride.

The launch bay's this way.

[DOOR CHIMES]

Come in.

The, uh,

delegates at the conference, they've,
uh, asked about the service for, um...

For Elizabeth.

They want to attend.

She was important.

There's something else.

I spoke with Phlox.

Turns out there was a flaw
in the technique

that Paxton's doctors used
in the cloning process.

Human DNA and Vulcan DNA,

Phlox says there's no medical reason
why they can't combine.

So if a Vulcan and a human

ever decided to have a child,

it'd probably be okay.

That's sort of comforting.