Enterprise Episode 10 Summary:
Fortunate Son
Caution: May contain spoilers!
The Enterprise is told by Starfleet to turn around and head back... not to Earth, but to check out an distress beacon that has been detected. They discover that a cargo ship has been attacked by Nausicaan pirates and is in trouble. When they get there they discover the ship, with communications knocked out, but mostly all right. The captain has been injured in the battle, and an over-enthusiastic crewman hit the beacon. Without communications there was no way for them to let Starfleet know that they didn't need any help.
The Enterprise offers help in the form of labor and spare parts, and the crew of the freighter accept gladly. They do seem to want to get rid of the Enterprise though. They are chummy with them, especially with Mayweather, who grew up on freighters, but something is definitely Not Right. A scan by T'Pol reveals they have a Nausicaan on board. A few pointed questions to the first officer (who is in charge due to the captain being injured) and he tells them that they have a prisoner, and leave us alone. Under the threat of removing all the repairs to the ship, he agrees to take the captain to see him.
In a move of unbelievable stupidity, they try to trap Archer, T'Pol and a couple of others in an interstellar boxcar, shooting all the way. Just before they lock they airlock they punch a hole in the hull of the boxcar, starting a nice slow leak. They then boogie out of there, and leave the Enterprise to rescue their Captain. They had captured the Nausicaan to get the frequency of his ships shields, so they could wage their own little war on them.
While the Enterprise tries to follow the freighter's warp signature, the first officer finds a Nausicaan ship and chases it, confident he'll be able to blow it out of the sky. Too bad he didn't ask for the real codes for their shields, as the ones that Nausicaan gave them do nothing to the enemy ships, and when they discover a Nausicaan pirate base in an asteroid, with a bunch of other ships, they are in trouble. Luckily the Enterprise arrives just in time to watch them get their asses kicked, and convince them, with the help of Mayweather, to let the prisoner go and why can't we be friends?
Personal Commentary
Oh oh.... another "character development" plot.... at least it's not about T'Pol this time, I'd hate for them to get on the same thing they used to do with Worf on TNG and have what seemed like a Worf-season. Oh well. An interesting story anyway, showing some of the conflicts that ships other than the Enterprise have, and how they deal with them.
This is part of the Enterprise Episode Guide, hopefully well maintained. Please message me with corrections or any important details I left out.