See Also: 'The Catwalk' Episode Guide

Archer and his crew will have to take back Enterprise from the clutches of alien intruders while an ion storm rages outside in the upcoming episode 'The Catwalk'.

Sources today revealed the first information on the Enterprise episode, which has a production number of 038. As it is the twelfth episode to go before the cameras this season, 'The Catwalk' will probably air in January 2003.

Please note that the below synopsis, while based on an incomplete version of the script, is extensive and contains details of the episode's climax.

As the episode opens, Archer, Trip and Mayweather are preparing to visit an alien planet when Enterprise is hailed by a vessel. Three aliens - Rellus Tagrim, Renth and Guri - appear on the viewscreen. They ask to come onboard Enterprise, and for good reason too - an ion storm is heading towards their location.

The Enterprise crew prepares to ride out the storm by relocating to a narrow area within the nacelles - 'The Catwalk' - which will not be affected by the radiation from the upcoming storm. Archer tries to get to know the aliens, who are from the Takreta system, quite a distance from their current location. Guri informs Archer that the trio are in fact stellar cartographers; the captain is suitably impressed.

Meanwhile the crew continue to move into their new quarters - Phlox is almost forced to abandon one of his critters when he isn't allocated sufficient space, but T'Pol generously bends the rules and allows him (and a grateful Edosian slug) a little more room. Trip and some of his engineering staff are quartered with Tagrim, Renth and Guri after he asked to share with them. When Trip moves away, Guri and Tagrim talk furtively together. Guri says they still have time to outrun the storm, but Tagrim is adamant that they're safer on Enterprise. Obviously anxious about their situation, Guri reveals he knows nothing about stellar cartography, and is concerned the NX-01 crew may start asking questions.

Archer is also preparing to relocate, packing up a few personal items from his ready room. The rest of the crew are settling into their new quarters, and Archer moves through the compartments that make up the Catwalk, chatting to various crew members, even helping one with a crossword puzzle. Reed, who is bunkmates with Hoshi and several others, brushes his teeth with a sonic toothbrush.

In Act Two, one of Enterprise's most mysterious characters makes an appearance. Yes, it's none other than 'Chef' himself who hands out ration packs to the crew. Reed is rather upset about the prominence of chicken on the menu. "If I eat any more fowl, I'm going to start growing feathers," he says wryly. As they open their dinners, Hosi and Mayweather smell something burning, and Reed and Trip go to investigate.

It turns out the aliens are doing some cooking of their own, using a heating element to grill some alien meat. Trip is shocked - the aliens are sitting on top of a volatile manifold, and their culinary exploits could ignite the plasma beneath. Renth angrily informs Trip they can't eat the ration packs, but the engineer is unsympathetic.

At a staff meeting in the makeshift command area, T'Pol informs Archer and Trip that the carbon dioxide levels have risen twelve percent over the past hour. Trip blames it on the aliens' cooking, before going on to condemn them for being "noisy, smelly and rude." Archer gently reminds Trip that he asked to be quartered with them.

As the crew settle in for the long haul, Archer encourages T'Pol to try and get to know some of the crew members more. The captain even suggests she should join one of Trip's poker games once in a while. Suddenly an alarm goes off - a crewman informs Archer that an object was detected off the port bow, but it suddenly disappeared.

Later, in Act Three, Trip makes the journey to engineering to check on the ship's status. Wearing an EV suit, he crawls onto the deck and moves to a workstation. With all the lights powered down, the ship has a rather ghostly feel. While examining the engine schematics, he notices a strange beeping. Moving to investigate, Trip notices several blinking devices attached to the warp reactor controls!

At that moment a hatch opens and two aliens enter engineering at the other end. Trip moves to blend in with the shadows as the strangers climb down a ladder and moves towards the controls. The aliens remain hidden by the shadows, but Trip does overhear their conversation - the magnetic constrictors seem to be out of alignment. They fail to correct the problem, and leave engineering for the bridge.

Trip moves to the workstation and uses the internal sensors to view other parts of the ship. When the camera changes to the bridge view it reveals six aliens working at the consoles. Curious, Trip zooms in on the aliens only to find they're of the same species as Tagrim and his friends. What's more, the aliens have occupied the armoury and launch bay one - and they're all armed! As he makes his way back to the others, Trip looks out one of the windows, only to see an alien ship docked at Enterprise's starboard docking port.

After hearing Trip's briefing, Archer decides to confront Tagrim and the others. Tagrim denies all knowledge of the intruders, but says they sound like officers of the Takrit Order. Renth explains that the Takrit Order is the personal security force of the First Regent. "They're vile and corrupt...trust me, you want nothing to do with them!" he exclaims. Archer, however, decides to turn the trio over to the Takrit Order after Phlox's scans reveal they are immune to the effects of the ion storm.

Renth panics and confesses to Archer. As it turns out, they used to work for the Regent, but when they weren't properly paid they stole several personal items from the Regent, and then sold them. He adds that the Takrit Order don't care about the crew - all they want is Enterprise. Suddenly, the ship shudders - the aliens have activated the injectors and the nacelles start to power up.

As Act Four begins, the scene shifts to the aliens on the bridge. One of the aliens informs their captain that the navigation subsystems will have to be rerouted before helm control is enabled. But they still aren't going anywhere - the aliens need to retrieve a device from their vessel to stabilise the warp drive's subspace field.

Meanwhile Archer and T'Pol plot to retake the ship. They enter the galley and access one of the com junctions to contact the aliens on the bridge. Once the aliens accept their message, Archer hams it up with a 'deranged captain' act, claiming the rest of the crew are dead, and that he ejected Tagrim, Renth and Guri with the bodies of his crew. When the alien captain asks him to come up to the bridge, Archer threatens to steer Enterprise into a plasma eddy.

Archer then sends a signal to Trip and Mayweather, who turn Enterprise towards a plasma stream using the makeshift helm controls they rigged in the Catwalk. The aliens are frantic - but their captain refuses to bow to Archer's demands. As Mayweather continues to steer Enterprise on its course to annihilation, the whole ship shakes.

In engineering, two aliens work on the controls when T'Pol enters in an EV suit and fires at them. They take cover behind the workstations and fire back, but don't see Archer creeping in behind them - he aims his phase pistol and stuns the aliens. Things look to be going well, until Mayweather loses helm control! Thanks to some quick work by Trip, the problem is quickly averted.

The angry alien captain and his lieutenant make their way to engineering to stop Archer and T'Pol regaining control of the warp reactor. Archer notices the aliens approaching on one of the consoles and sends T'Pol back to the Catwalk. He then contacts Trip, asking for some turbulence and magnetizes the boots of his EV suit to the deck. The aliens enter engineering, weapons at the ready, but Archer calls for the pre-arranged turbulence, and the aliens fall over and drop their weapons as the ship rocks from side to side.

Brandishing his phase pistol, Archer tells the aliens he's locked the ship on a direct course for the plasma stream. "Of course, my calculations could be off," he says, as the ship is jolted once again. The aliens are mollified, head off to the starboard airlock, and warp away as fast as their engines can carry them.

It is not yet known who wrote or directed 'The Catwalk.' Please note that this information is based on an early, incomplete draft of the script. It has not been confirmed by Paramount Pictures and until that time it should be treated as you would any other rumour.

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