Shuttlepod One

"Shuttlepod One" is the fifteenth episode (production #116) of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise. During a shuttlepod mission, Tucker and Reed are cut off from Enterprise and become convinced the starship has been destroyed and that their days are numbered.

Plot

On board Shuttlepod One, Trip and Reed are attempting to locate the Enterprise in an asteroid field that Archer was planning to map. Trip suggests that because they are early, Captain Archer could have finished and gone to do something else in the interim. Reed says that they won't know when the ship returns until they see it, as their sensors and communications array are down. Just then, Reed spots something on one of the asteroids and calls Trip away from the communication circuits to look. It is an impact crater surrounded by hull plates from the Enterprise.

On board the Enterprise, Hoshi reports to Archer in the Ready Room. Archer asks after the Tesnians and Hoshi says that Phlox is rotating the 34 survivors in order to give them all six hours of boron gas a day. Hoshi has learnt to speak Tesnian and reports that the survivors of the crashed ship are upset at losing everything, as they had lived on board for years. Mayweather reports from the Bridge that their ETA at Tesnia is 20 hours, which allows for enough time to return to meet the shuttlepod. Archer and T'Pol use a mini-shuttle to inspect the damage to the ship. Archer orders work on a new door for Launch Bay 2.

Back on Shuttlepod One, Trip and Reed assume that the Enterprise has been destroyed with all hands lost. They have ten days' worth of air and are more than ten days travel time from Echo Three, a subspace amplifier. It could relay the signal from their portable distress beacon back to Starfleet. Their conversation gets heated and Trip orders Reed to navigate to Echo Three using the stars for reference as Navigation is down. Trip grows tired of Reed's pessimistic attitude and says that in the nine days they have left they could be picked up by an alien vessel. They prepare ration packs. Later, after dinner, Reed records a message for his parents while Trip tries to sleep. Trip is exasperated at Reed's continued log recordings.

Later, Reed wakes up in Sickbay. Trip is on the next bio-bed, unconscious. Phlox orders Reed to get some rest and he and Archer leave. T'Pol remains and comments on Reed's selflessness. Reed has been dreaming. The shuttlepod is then rocked by an impact which breaches the hull. They find two small holes at either end of the cabin. Reed uses the remains of Trip's ration pack meal to fill the holes. He looks at a diagnostic panel and reports that one of the oxygen cylinders was also breached, leaving them with less than two days' worth of air left. Trip tells Reed that they can survive for an extra half-day if they lower the temperature of the shuttlepod and use the power for the atmosphere recyclers.

On board the Enterprise, T'Pol presents Archer with her analysis of the scans of the Tesnian ship; they were hit by a micro-singularity. The Enterprise was also hit, but the polarised hull plating dispersed their energies. Archer is skeptical. Archer is more concerned with Trip and Reed than about finding scientific proof of miniature black holes.

On board Shuttlepod One, Reed records more logs to his old girlfriends. Trip is tiring of Reed recording nearly identical letters and Reed complains that he has never been able to get close to anyone - his family, his old girlfriends, but he was starting to feel comfortable with the crew of the Enterprise. Later, they listen to the static on the radio while drinking bourbon. The radio picks up a signal - it is Hoshi hailing the shuttlepod from the Enterprise. She transmits new rendezvous coordinates and gives an ETA of two days. Trip says that they only have one days' worth of air left and no way to communicate with the ship.

Trip and Reed try to work out a way to communicate their situation to the Enterprise in order to make them speed up. They jettison the engine, which detonates with a large shock wave. Later, Reed checks the oxygen gauge and finds that they have ten hours' worth of air left. Trip attempts to get in to the airlock to sacrifice himself for Reed. Reed says that he would rather have the Enterprise find them both dead than him as the lone survivor.

Reed wakes up in Sickbay. Archer tells him that they were suffering from hypothermia when the Enterprise picked them up. As Archer, Phlox and T'Pol leave, Reed calls T'Pol over to ask if she has something to say about heroics. T'Pol wishes him goodnight as she leaves. Reed looks over to Trip's sleeping form and wishes him goodnight too, asking if he doesn't mind Reed calling him Trip.

External links

• Shuttlepod One at the Internet Movie Database
• "Shuttlepod One" at TV.com
• Shuttlepod One at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• Shuttlepod One at StarTrek.com