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Page 4 of 7mother. T’Pol is angry. Her mother notes now emotional she is. T’Les blames Trip for T’Pol’s emotional outbursts and for her refusal to marry Koss. She warns T’Pol that having children with Trip, if it is possible at all, will result in them being stigmatized. T’Pol tells her coldly: “That wouldn’t be your concern.” T’Pol leaves.
Back at the mountain, Archer and Hernandez are sleeping. Archer wakes up as he hears a noise. He gets his phaser and goes to investigate. Two Xindi-Reptilians appear. One hits Archer. They fight. They throw Archer off the mountain. Archer wakes up for real this time. He was having a nightmare. Hernandez asks if he’s alright. He tells her he decided to go mountain climbing to get some privacy from the people who admire him. He adds: “If they only knew what I’d done.” He mentions how he tortured a prisoner (see season three’s “Anomaly”) and marooned “innocent people” (see season three’s “Damage”). He starts getting ready to go climbing. It’s the middle of the night and Hernandez objects. He tells her he wants to get away from her: “I look at you and I see the person I was three years ago, the explorer that my father wanted me to be. I lost something out there. I don’t know how to get it back.” She kisses him and tells him: “Whatever you lost, maybe I can help you find it.”
On Vulcan, T’Pol and Trip are sightseeing and he wants to “return the favor” when they get back to Earth. She tells him that she’s “decided to marry Koss”. She tells him that her mother will “regain her position at the academy” if she “joins his family”. Trip tells her: “I don’t get it. Are they forcing you to do this?” She replies: “The decision was mine.” He asks if she’s going to leave the Enterprise. She replies that she’s “been negotiating with Koss’ family.” She’ll remain on the Enterprise “for the time being”. Trip is visibly upset that she’s marrying Koss and leaves.
At the mountain, the two captains will reach the summit by nightfall. Archer decides to stop and camp where they are. Hernandez asks why they stopped dating. Archer replies: “I was your superior officer. It wasn’t appropriate.” She tells him: “You’re not my superior anymore.” They kiss. She wonders if “Starfleet would approve”. He replies: You’re forgetting the climbers’ code” (that what happens on the mountain, stays there).
Meanwhile, the ship is being repaired. In Sickbay, Hoshi asks Phlox if she’s ok. Phlox tells her: “Your parasite count is almost negligible” (see season three’s “Countdown”) and gives her a hypo to get rid of the rest. She asks if he’s coming to “Madame Chang’s” that night as he’s talked about it so much. He tells her he can’t go. One of his pets is sick. She insists and then realizes it has to do with the bar fight of the other day. He tells her he doesn’t want to risk anyone getting hurt. She tells him he shouldn’t let “bigots” prevent him from visiting Earth. He tells her he can see why they reacted the way they did and tells her it will take time for “the trauma to heal”. She understands and he asks her to bring him back some takeout.
At Starfleet, the debriefing has ended. Archer stops Ambassador Soval as he is about to leave. He tells him: “I want to apologize for what I said to you the other day. I was out of line.” Soval replies: “Yes, you were.” Archer smiles and adds: “I’m glad we can finally agree
