See Also: 'Acquisition' Episode Guide

Sources revealed today that the crew of the Enterprise will soon make humanity's first contact with the Ferengi - without ever realising who they encountered.

The Ferengi will make their first appearance in the upcoming episode 'Acquisition,' expected to air sometime in early Spring. The episode's teleplay was written by the writing team of Maria and Andre Jacquemetton, based on a story by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga. Directing duties were in the hands of James Whitmore, Jr., while Ethan Phillips has already been reported to appear as one of the Ferengi.

In the episode, four Ferengi pirates manage to render the entire crew of the Enterprise unconscious, and begin to look through the ship for loot. Luckily, Tucker is in the decon chamber when they board the ship, and avoids inhaling the gas used by the Ferengi to infect the atmosphere. He wakes up Archer and T'Pol, and the three begin to work to take the ship back.

In the few days since it was announced the Ferengi would be appearing on Enterprise, fans have been concerned that this would conflict with the Next Generation episode 'The Last Outpost,' in which the official first contact between humans and Ferengi was supposed to have taken place. However, in 'Acquisition' Captain Archer's crew will apparantly never find out that the intruders are called Ferengi, allowing for the existence of the Ferengi to remain hidden for another two centuries.

In addition to the above information, sources also provided the creative staff list for the upcoming episode 'Rogue Planet,' in which the Enterprise crew encounters a rogue hunting species known as the Eska. This episode was based on a story by Rick Berman, Brannon Braga and Chris Black, while Black also wrote the screenplay. Black currently serves as supervising producer on Enterprise, and has previously written for series such as Sliders, Xena and Cleopatra 2525. The episode's director was longtime Trek veteran Allan Kroeker.

As usual, please be aware that Paramount has not yet released any official information on these episodes, and until this happens the above info should be treated as you would any rumour.

Discuss this news item at Trek BBS!
 Add TrekToday RSS feed to your news reader or My Yahoo!
Also a CSI: Crime Scene Investigation fan? Then visit CSIFiles.com!