Episode Report Card Keckler: C+ | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT The Worm Turns
By Keckler | Season 1 | Episode 3 | Aired on 10.02.2001
The shuttlecraft flips over and docks on the Magical Mystery Ship upside-down. Inside the shuttle, Reed examines the hatch and comments that it's just their luck not to have a hatch release. "Shouldn't be a problem, though; I can place microcharges here and here," Weapon-Happy Reed says, indicating the areas. "Hold on, Malcolm," Cpt. Quantum says, doing some hatch-fiddling, and POOF! It opens without the slightest need for blasting. "Sorry," he says to the crestfallen Reed. Hoshi radios back to the Enterprise that they've gained access and are proceeding to enter. The large miner lights on either side of their helmets illuminate their way in the dark corridors of the ship. "Well, at least we know they're bipeds," Hoshi comments as they climb down the ladder. "What gives you that idea?" Reed asks. "The ladders," she tells him. Cpt. Quantum smiles affectionately at his away team and takes readings. "Come on," he says, noting that the atmosphere is comprised of nitrogen and methane with a temp of negative twenty. Hoshi locates a power source, and Reed points out something on the ground. Cpt. Quantum scans it. "Molecules look like amino acids," he reports. "Blood?" Hoshi trembles. They all shine their headlights around at the walls, green stuff dripping down. Vulcan blood? They enter another chamber with some sort of pulsing noise going on. Cpt. Quantum walks over to the source of the noise. It's a container fixed on the wall, with green liquid sloshing through it and tubes running up to the ceiling. "Some sort of hydraulics," Reed comments. Let me guess -- he wants to blow this up, too. "Whatever it is, it hasn't been here very long," Cpt. Quantum comments. Hoshi looks up and, since we all saw the previews, we know what's coming. A piercing shriek. Alien bodies hang from the ceiling in green cocoon-like body bags, the tubes joining them together and running back to the hydraulic pump. Hoshi backs out of the room. "Hoshi, where do you think you're going?" Cpt. Quantum shouts. "I don't think you need a translator!" she quails. Cpt. Quantum tells her to stay with them, and Reed reports that the alien bodies are being "flushed out with some kind of fluid." Hoshi continues to wheeze and whimper audibly. "Are they all --" Cpt. Quantum starts to ask. "All dead, sir, I'm afraid so," Reed reports. Just a question: How would they have picked up bio-signs from the Enterprise if they were all dead?
Back aboard the ship, the away team stands in the DeCon chamber. "They're clean!" Phlox announces, disappointed, and closes his window. T'Pol joins them in the locker room and asks how many bodies they found. Reed hazards they found fifteen, and Cpt. Quantum tells her the bodies were being drained of something. "Whoever did it went to a lot of trouble. My guess is they're coming back," Cpt. Quantum says. T'Pol says they should leave, but Cpt. Quantum says they can't just leave fifteen dead people "over there." "Your reason for boarding that vessel was to provide assistance if assistance was required. Clearly, it no longer is," T'Pol lectures. Cpt. Quantum gets mad and slams his locker shut. "You're telling me we should just leave them there?" he asks. T'Pol and her dinners advance into Quantum's viewing range and ask what other choice he thinks they have. "Your intentions were honorable, Captain, but nothing can be done for that crew now, and if we remain here your crew could be put in jeopardy." Quantum looks around for a moment and finally calls up to the bridge, telling Mayweather to go to warp three and resume course, taking them out of there. Hoshi looks contemplative, but also glares at the captain for some reason. Enterprise warps off, leaving the dead ship.