EPISODE: "Cease Fire" PROD#: ENT041 TRAN#: 2.15 RATING: PG-V AIRDATE: wed-12-feb-2003-20:00 EPDATE: [no date given; autumn 2152 ?] OFFICIAL: startrek.com/library/episodes_ent_detail.asp?ID=127523 FROM: Phillip Thorne, thorne@underbase.org POST-TO: rec.arts.startrek.tech, rec.arts.sf.tv REVIEW#: 32.0 FORMAT#: 4.11 URL: underbase.org/dept/trek/ent215_cease_fire.txt This technical overview is intended to support discussion of the current episode, and to later serve as a reference: it contains PLOT SPOILERS; CONTINUE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Whenever possible, it indicates who did/claimed/knew what; the official of technobabble and alien nouns is obtained from TV closed-captioning ("CC"). If you have corrections or clarifications, please contact me. Abbreviations used: (m/f/?) name belongs to mel/fem/unclear, (os) on [viewer] screen, (vo) voiceover, (?) quote is uncertain, (sp?) spelling is unclear, VDB Vulcan database, VHC Vulcan High Command; series: TOS TAS TNG DS9 VGR ENT. Although CC uses "Launch Bay", "Sick Bay", and "shuttle pod", I often condense those terms to single words. "Star Trek" and all related indicia are copyrights of Paramount Pictures, while this overview is (c)2003 Phillip Thorne. Feel free to use this document as a reference, but please give credit where due. If you enjoyed my detailed style herein, consider subscribing to my similarly-detailed e-newsletter, the _Non-Sequitur Express_. I. TERMS TECHNICAL surveillance satellite, jamming signal, shuttle main power, shuttle starboard engine, bio-sign, tactical alert, phase-cannons, bio-signature, Shuttle Pod One, Shuttle Pod Two PLANETS Paan Mokar, Weytahn, Class D, Andoria MEDICAL & BIOLOGICAL mutagenic pathogen, analeptic radiation CULTURAL Andorian Imperial Guard, pinkskin, Treaty of 2097, Denobulan infantry, Territorial Compromise, V'Lar's treatise on negotiating tactics, Vulcan High Command CHARACTERS Cpt.Jonathan Archer Travis Mayweather Dr.Phlox Lt.Malcolm Reed Ens.Hoshi Sato Sub-Cdr.T'Pol Cdr.Charles "Trip" Tucker III Jeffrey Combs as Shran Suzie Plakson as Tarah [Shran's second-in-command] Gary Graham as [Ambassador] Soval John Balma as [Sub-Commander] Muroc [Soval's aide] Vaughn Armstrong as Admiral Forrest Zane Cassidy as Andorian Soldier Christopher Shea as Telev [Plus four other male Andorians] MENTIONS [none] III. NOTES TEASER Night, a derelict city, weapons fire. Into a shabby room (ANDORIAN COMMAND POST) stagger four male and one female (TARAH) Andorians of the "Imperial Guard", meeting a fifth male (SHRAN, in command), who's considering a blue-glowing map display on a table. Shran offers "another option" to the current unsteady "cease-fire"(cc) -- a "pinkskin" named Archer. ACT 1 (Enterprise at warp.) ARCHER speaks to ADMIRAL FORREST on his desk screen, regarding AMBASSADOR SOVAL. He explains the armed situation, on a planet the Vulcans call "Paan Mokar" and the Andorians "Weytahn", which constitutes "a front between their systems", over which they've "nearly gone to war" twice in "a century". It's the first time (Forrest reminds him) the Vulcans have asked for "our" help [Starfleet, Earth?]. (Enterprise at warp.) In the Captain's Mess, Tucker glances anxiously at his glass, trembling on the tabletop; he's uncomfortable about running the "injectors" at "110%". T'Pol reminds him they're rated at "120%". He comments on Weytahn: it's "Class D, not much larger than" the moon. T'Pol: "its sole value is its strategic location," and it had been settled by the Andorians "a century ago" [c.2050], who began terraforming it. It was annexed by the Vulcans in 2097 [55 years ago], who relocated the colonists and emplaced a "surveillance satellite". "It's been deserted for nearly a century." (Enterprise and two Vulcan delta-ringships in orbit, aft view.) "Captain's Starlog, supplemental..." Ent takes 3 days to arrive, and meets two Vulcan delta-ringships [_D'kyr_-type]. Ambassador Soval and his aide, SUB-COMMANDER MUROC, come aboard. The "Andorian Imperial Guard" landed 6 days earlier, in violation of the "Treaty of 2097". Soval's not happy to have Archer here, doesn't know why Shran asked for him, and refers to a "Vulcan intelligence site compromised" and "a priceless monastery destroyed". In Sickbay, Phlox warns Archer about a "mutagenic pathogen" on the planet, and "bombards" him with "analeptic radiation" (in the decon chamber(?), off Sickbay). (Vulcans are unaffected.) He refers to his time as a medic in the "Denobulan infantry". (Shuttlepod (One, we later learn) launches from the forward-starboard bay.) The shuttlepod enters the "Andorian jamming signal", causing it to lose "navigational sensors" and "com". T'Pol asks Archer if he'd read the materials she'd provided: the "Territorial Compromise" (1200 pages), the "definitive" "V'Lar's treatise on negotiating tactics", the "Revised Intersystem (?)", and the VHC's briefing on the "border incursions of 2112". (Shuttle lands.) Archer and T'Pol look around, and are met by Tarah and two (three?) males, who put bags over their heads. Taken to the command post, meet Shran. ACT 2 Archer asks to see the three Vulcan "hostages" ("Tarah" objects to the term). "Andoria". Shran wants to negotiate directly with Soval. (Shuttle approaches Enterprise.) Archer and T'Pol meet with Soval and Muroc. Soval isn't familiar with the human idiom "the ball's in your court". Three Andorian vessels have been detected, ETA 5(?) hours. Soval, T'Pol, Archer board the shuttle from above. Tucker voices his concern about the Andorian ships, now only 4 hours away. The Territorial Compromise took "8 years" to negotiate, he warns Archer. Tarah objects to Shran's plan. "They stall and lie and make promises they don't intend to keep," she says of the Vulcans. On approach, the shuttle is attacked. "Main power is off-line", the "starboard engine" is hit, and Archer takes them in "on thrusters". (Blue-sparkle beams from three successive points in city.) (Shuttle skid-crashes into street.) ACT 3 The shuttle leaves a trail of burning debris, and its port wing is torn off. The trio climbs out; the officers have phase-pistols. Soval recognizes the spots as the "southeast quadrant, near the spaceport"; he negotiated the last agreement, and served here as an intelligence officer. Archer came "a dozen lightyears" and refuses to leave. (Enterprise and two Vulcan delta-ringships in orbit, dorsal view.) On the bridge, Muroc(os). Reed, Mayweather, Sato; mel and fem in background. Mayweather reports ETA as 3 hours. Tarah continues her arguments. "They have no conscience, only their precious logic." Soval was last here "almost a hundred years ago." Archer leaves to scout, commenting that his ears are less likely to draw fire. "What *is* their fixation with our ears?" Soval asks T'Pol, irritated. "I believe they're envious." They discuss her career path, and possible emotional contamination. Tarah and one male examine shuttle. Sato detects an "E.M. differential" that is "definitely a bio-sign", which she's "90% sure" is human. Mayweather reports the Andorians dropping out of warp, ETA 13 minutes. Reed reports the Vulcans breaking orbit. Tucker orders "tactical alert". The trio come under attack by blue-sparkle beams. Soval is hit in the upper chest. ACT 4 T'Pol recognizes the fire as Andorian, and diagnoses the injury as "not life-threatening". Archer leaves his phase-pistol with Soval (who objects that he hasn't "fired a weapon in 50 years") and sneaks up behind their attacker, on a broken upper floor. He knocks out the male Andorian with a fist to the jaw, takes one weapon, and tosses the other into the alley. (3 Andorian ships approach planet, aft view.) Archer finds their other attacker: Tarah. She tells him the weapon lacks a stun setting, and drops her gun. "All we want is a chance to fight for what's ours, before cowards like Shran negotiate it away." Archer has her covered, then stumbles as the floor splinters. They fight, he subdues her; Shran and 2 males arrive. (Enterprise (port) stands between 3 Andorian (for) and 2 Vulcan (aft).) Tucker orders split-screen conference on the viewer: Muroc on left, CAPTAIN TELEV on right. He announces he'll open fire on any ship that makes an aggressive move. "Phase-cannons". Muroc is sure the trio are dead, but he triumphantly announces having "isolated [Archer's] bio-signature". They receive a hail: Archer is at the Andorian "command post", Soval is being treated, the Vulcan ships are being permitted to land and retrieve their troops. Tucker will send Mayweather in Pod 2. (Enterprise between 1 each Vulcan and Andorian ships (for).) "Captain's Starlog, Supplemental..." In the conference room, negotiations finish up: Soval, Muroc, Shran, T'Pol, Archer. Shran pours (brown?) liquid from a purple flask into half-frosted tumblers. "Vulcans don't drink," objects Soval, "But this occasion merits an exception." The talks will continue on "Andoria". Departing, Soval turns to Archer. "Captain, your presence here has not been -- overly meddlesome." "I think he likes you, pinkskin," comments Shran. "I wouldn't go that far," answers Archer. (1 each Vulcan and Andorian ships, aft.) V. CONNECTIONS 1. Andorians and Shran have appeared in two prior ENT episodes, 107-"The Andorian Incident" and 114-"Shadows of P'Jem". Vulcan Ambassador Soval has appeared in 101-"Broken Bow", 114-"Shadows of P'Jem", 201-"Shockwave", etc. Starfleet Admiral Forrest has appeared in 101-"Broken Bow", 110-"Fortunate Son", 114-"Shadows of P'Jem", 117-"Fusion"; and was mentioned in 103-"Fight or Flight" and 207-"The Seventh". 3. This particular type of Vulcan ship (with the ring-nacelle at right angles to a horizontal ring-hole in a flat delta-fuselage) first appeared as the _D'kyr_ in 201-"Shockwave". VI. ANALYSIS 1. Tarah, the female officer of the Andorian Imperial Guard, wears a uniform with a plunging neckline that demonstrates, antennae notwithstanding, that Andorians are probably mammals. Andorians have blue skin, yellow-tinged white hair, normal humanoid ears, and a pair of antennae emerging from the upper corners of the forehead, which is heavily creased. The eyebrows are white (matching the hair), large and heavy, with a pronounced upward curve at the outer corners. Andorians can be rendered unconscious by a fist to the jaw. 2. Andorian hand-weapons (and possibly large (unseen) field artillery (or were they shooting the shuttlepod with rifles?) fire sparkly white-edged blue beams. The guns themselves are blocky, angular. 3. Andorian starships (seen here for the first time) are blocky like their handguns. Three warships of a single class are seen. The class has an elongated rectangular hull, with the nose consisting of two trapezoidal wedges placed base-to-base. Two vertically-stacked blue-glowing rectangular engine throats cover the entirety of the hull's aft end. The midhull sprouts a gullwing-bent wing, with a rectangular pod (warp nacelle?) at the elbow, and a pair of elliptical pods (weapons?) at the tip. 4. This episode reinforces the ENT-provided name of the Andorian homeworld: "Andoria", replacing the fan-provided name of "Andor" (as seen in _Worlds of the Federation_). (At least it's not "Andoria Prime".) 5. In Sub-Commander Muroc, we meet another Vulcan male without an "S"-name. "V'Lar's Treatise" was probably written by a female, one without a "T'"-name. The names of ships -- Ti'Mur, Ni'Var, D'kyr, Nyran (108-"Breaking the Ice", 114-"Shadows of P'Jem", 201-"Shockwave", 207-"The Seventh", respectively) -- and of planets (P'Jem, Paan Mokar) -- seem to constitute other schemes. 6. Names are not provided for any of the 5 alien ships. 7. Phlox bombards Archer with "analeptic radiation" as a prophylactic against a pathogen on the planet's surface. Does this boost the human immune system in general? or alter his internal chemistry (short-lived radioisotopes? toxins?) to make it inhospitable? 8. ENT took 3 days to travel "a dozen lightyears" (Archer's angry round figure) to Weytahn. This is at least consistent with its 4-day trip from Earth to Klaang's homeworld. Given that Weytahn lies between Vulcan and Andorian space, where was ENT at the time? Has it swung back from its 100-Ly outward journey, or is Vulcan space really big? VII. NITS 1. If the script demanded a few moments for Phlox to speak to Archer, did we really need VGR-level silliness of "analeptic radiation"? Couldn't he have administered an injection, then monitored its uptake for a few minutes? VIII. NEXT WEEK On 19-feb-2003, new episode "Future Tense" (fka "Crash Landing") features first contact with the Tholians, plus the Suliban yet again. (See: http://startrek.com/production/seriesv/articles/121802.asp)