Shuttlepod One

"Shuttlepod One" is the sixteenth episode (production #116) of the television series Star Trek: Enterprise.

During a shuttlepod mission, Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed become convinced Enterprise has been destroyed and that their prospects of survival are slim.

Plot

On board Pod 1, Commander Tucker and Lieutenant Reed are attempting to locate Enterprise in an asteroid field that Captain Archer had intended to map. Just then, Reed spots an impact crater surrounded by debris, and they conclude that the ship has somehow been destroyed. They are now alone, with ten days' worth of air left. Tucker orders Reed to head to Echo Three, a subspace amplifier, using the stars for reference as navigation is down. To pass the time, Reed records messages to his family and friends, but Tucker becomes exasperated as Reed's recordings slowly become more pessimistic.

On board Enterprise, it is revealed that the debris that Reed and Tucker saw was from an explosion while a Tesnian ship was trying to dock with the Enterprise. Archer asks about the Tesnians and Ensign Sato says that Doctor Phlox is rotating the 34 survivors in order to give them all six hours of boron a day. Ensign Mayweather reports that their ETA at Tesnia is 20 hours, allowing enough time to return to meet the shuttlepod. Archer and Sub-Commander T'Pol use a mini-shuttle to inspect the damage to the ship, and Archer orders work on a new door for Launch Bay 2. Later, T'Pol presents her analysis to Archer - both ships were hit by a theoretical "micro-singularity", but he remains sceptical.

The shuttlepod's hull is also breached by a micro-singularity, which they quickly seal. Reed reports that one of the oxygen cylinders was damaged, leaving them with less than two days' worth of air. Tucker tells Reed that they can survive for an extra half-day if they lower the temperature to conserve power for the air recyclers. Later, the radio picks up a signal - it is Sato transmitting new rendezvous coordinates and gives an ETA of two days. Unfortunately, they only have one day's worth of air left and no way to communicate with the ship. They jettison and detonate the engine, hoping to attract Enterprise's attention. It works. Finally, Reed wakes up in Sickbay, relieved to see Tucker's sleeping form there as well.

Connections

This episode of Enterprise uses a similar plot device to one used in the original Star Trek episode, "The Galileo Seven", in which Spock makes a desperation attempt at attracting the attention of the Enterprise to save a seemingly doomed shuttlecraft. And both episodes, "The Galileo Seven" and "Shuttlepod One" were each the sixteenth episodes of their respective series.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Shuttlepod One

• Shuttlepod One on IMDb
• "Shuttlepod One" at TV.com

• Shuttlepod One at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)

• Shuttlepod One at StarTrek.com