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Enterprise Episode Guide - Season One Episode: 8
Breaking The Ice
Tensions between Vulcan and Earth continued to manifest in deep space as Enterprise stopped to study the largest comet ever observed by humans. Learning the comet contained large amounts of the extremely rare mineral eisilium, Captain Archer dispatched Lt. Reed and Ensign Mayweather to land on the comet and collect samples. At that point the Vulcan starship Ti'Mur arrived in the vicinity unannounced. Its captain, Vanik, told Archer they were there not to observe the comet, but to observe Enterprise, to Archer's dismay. To make matters worse, Commander Tucker discovered that Sub-commander T'Pol received an encrypted transmission from the Vulcan ship. He reported this to Archer, who ordered him to decrypt the message with Ensign Sato's help.
Reed and Mayweather proceeded with their away mission on the comet, setting explosive charges in the ice to begin their drilling operation, with reminders from Archer that they were being watched by the Vulcans. Meanwhile Tucker decrypted and read the secret transmission to T'Pol, and found it to be an intensely personal letter from home. Assuring Archer there was nothing incriminating about the letter, Tucker confessed his action to T'Pol, apologized and agreed to keep the subject to themselves. After an awkward dinner between the two captains during which Archer accused Vanik of spying, it became apparent that the Ti'Mur was there to bring T'Pol back to Vulcan, to attend to the personal matters brought up in the letter.
On the comet, Reed and Mayweather had to rush the drilling operation because their explosions shifted the comet's rotation and put them at risk of exposure to the nearby star. While returning to their shuttlepod, Mayweather was injured, slowing the men down while the star's heat began to fracture the ice. Once they were inside the pod, the ice collapsed and they became trapped in a chasm. The Enterprise crew attempted to rescue them with the ship's magnetic grapplers, without success. Archer swallowed his pride and accepted the Vulcans' offer of help, and they used their tractor beam to retrieve the shuttlepod from the ice. As the Ti'Mur prepared to depart, T'Pol declined to return home, instead declaring her intention to stay aboard Enterprise.
Episode info from: www.startrek.com
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