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"Unexpected"
Production 005
10/17/2001
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Synopsis:
After discovering the presence of a damaged alien vessel,
Archer dispatches Tucker to its aid, but the engineer's
encounter with a Xyrillian female has an unexpected side
effect.
A rash of odd malfunctions are afflicting the Enterprise
NX-01, such as a gravity outage while Captain Archer is
showering. Chief Engineer Tucker determines that the
ship's plasma exhaust flow is being restricted for some
unknown reason. When Archer orders Lt. Reed to ignite the
plasma exhaust, they discover a cloaked alien ship riding
between the ship's nacelles. Archer hails the
"hitchhikers" and learns their engines are malfunctioning
and they've been using Enterprise's exhaust to replenish
them. Archer offers to help them with repairs, so Tucker
prepares for a three-day away mission on the disabled
ship. Tucker has to undergo a very uncomfortable
three-hour decompression and acclimation process, and when
he enters the Xyrillian ship, he is faced with a
disorienting visual and auditory experience — the walls
are glowing with bioluminescent moss, the consoles operate
with viscous fluids and electrical arcs, there's an
aquarium holding hundreds of undulating eels, and the
Xyrillians themselves glisten with moist, scaly skin.
Tucker insists on going straight to work in their engine
room, but he has a very hard time adjusting to the
environment. After finally agreeing to get some rest,
Tucker starts to enjoy his stay, and develops a
flirtatious friendship with the female engineer, Ah'len.
On a break from their repair work, Ah'len shows Tucker a
holographic chamber where she recreates a
three-dimensional landscape of her homeworld. While
sitting in a holographic boat in an exotic ocean, she
introduces Tucker to one of their games: they immerse
their hands into a box of granules which begin to glow,
enabling them to read each other's minds.
After helping the Xyrillians get their teraphasic coils
back on line, Tucker returns to Enterprise and the ships
go their separate ways. As Tucker relates his experiences
to Reed over lunch, he notices an unusual growth on his
left wrist. He visits Dr. Phlox, who determines the growth
is a nipple and he has an embryo forming in his ribs...
Tucker is pregnant! Tucker insists to Phlox, T'Pol and
Archer that he had no sexual encounters during his stay,
but then realizes that the "box of pebbles" he shared with
Ah'len must have inadvertently served as a medium to
transfer genetic material. Phlox says the embryo is
actually not his child, but that he is simply serving as a
host, so Tucker hopes the lifeform can be removed from him
and incubated. But Phlox is hesitant to perform any
procedure without learning more about the Xyrillian
gestation process, so Archer sets out to track down the
Xyrillian ship, while agreeing to keep Tucker's condition
secret from the rest of the crew.
Days go by as Enterprise looks for the Xyrillians, and in
the meantime the bulge in Tucker's ribcage is growing
while he experiences morning sickness, a ravenous
appetite, and severe mood swings, which baffle his
crewmates. After more than a week, Tucker has to face the
possibility that he will have to deliver the baby and care
for it. On the "bright side," Archer points out to
Tucker's chagrin that he's making history with the first
interspecies pregnancy involving a human.
Tucker is relieved when the Xyrillians' warp signature is
detected, but upon approach, Enterprise comes face-to-face
with a Klingon battle cruiser. Apparently the Xyrillian
ship has malfunctioned again and they're hiding in the
Klingons' plasma wake. Archer hails the Klingons and
informs them about the stealth vessel. The angered
Klingons intend to kill the Xyrillian crew, but Archer
tries desperately to talk them out of it. Tucker steps
forward and suggests that the Xyrillian crew would be
willing to share their holographic technology if their
lives are spared. The Klingon captain, Vorok, is enticed,
but refuses to let Tucker join them as they board the
ship. Archer then reveals that Tucker has some unfinished
business involving a pregnancy, but Vorok holds firm.
Tucker then grits his teeth and shows his "bulge,"
revealing he is the one who is pregnant and giving the
Klingons an uproarious laugh.
Tucker and two of the Klingons board the Xyrillian ship,
and after a decompression period, Tucker talks Trena'l,
one of their leaders, into cooperating. Trena'l installs a
topographical survey of the capital city of Kronos into
the holographic chamber, allowing the Klingons to
experience a simulation of their homeworld, and agrees to
adapt the technology to the Klingon ship. Meanwhile Ah'len
is surprised to learn about Tucker's pregnancy, unaware
such a thing could happen with another species. She scans
the embryo and determines it can still be transferred to
another host, and learns it's a girl.
Captain Vorok informs Archer that the Xyrillians will soon
be free to go, but when Archer extends his friendship to
the Klingons, Vorok issues a stern warning that if they
should ever meet again, he will regret it. On a brighter
note, life for Tucker returns to normal again, except for
knowing that he will go down in history as the first human
male to become pregnant.
Cast:
Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato
John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox
Guest Cast:
Julianne Christie as Ah'Len
Randy Oglesby as Trena'L
Christopher Darga as Klingon Captain
Regi Davis as Klingon 1st Officer
TL Kolman as Alien Man
John Cragen as Crewman
Drew Howerton as Steward
Mike Baldridge as Dillard
Creative staff:
Director: Mike Vejar
Written By: Rick Berman & Brannon Braga
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