Release date: April 25, 2024
Captain Burnham and Book journey into extradimensional space in search of the next clue to the location of the Progenitors’ power, while Rayner navigates his first mission in command of the U. S. S. Discovery and Culber opens up to Tilly.
* * *
BOOK: Personal log, Cleveland Booker. Stardate 866282.9. My mentor… the man who gave me my name, my new life he used to say, “No matter how bad things get, the one thing you always have is a choice.” I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t made some questionable ones.
[Grudge meows]
But I’ve made some good ones, too. Which is how I know it’s not too late for his daughter.
If I can turn things around, so can she.
Cleveland showed me how things could be, who I could be.
And I suppose, just in doing that, he saved me.
I owe it to him to do the same for her.
Today… I may get my chance.
We’re at their last known coordinates.
Seems like we’re about to find them.
All right, Commander Stamets, Lieutenant Tilly, it’s all you.
Thank you, Captain.
When we arrived here at the coordinates Jinaal gave us, it seemed there was nothing but a disperse nebula and a warp trail from Moll and L’ak that disappeared into empty space.
Emphasis on “seemed.”
Now we have a pretty good idea of where they went.
Zora, adjust the view screen to compensate for the Lorentzian coefficient and high-energy spectra.
ZORA: Of course, Lieutenant.
What is that?
That is a wormhole… of sorts.
We just couldn’t see it until we recalibrated our scans.
We believe it leads to a pocket of inter dimensional space.
The opening is collapsing and expanding
due to matter-antimatter chain reactions,
likely caused by the Burn.
That’s what we have to pass through to get to the next clue.
And based on the trajectory of the warp trail,
Moll and L’ak should be in there as well.
Nice work, both of you.
Thank you.
Lieutenant Gallo, what are scans telling us?
GALLO: Not much. That aperture is scrambling my readings.
We won’t know what we’re dealing with until we’re on the other side. Discovery is too big to get through. It’d have to be a shuttle.
Lieutenant Christopher, will you be able to maintain comms contact?
I’ll do my best, but not knowing what’s inside there, I can’t guarantee it.
Okay, Lieutenant Linus, prepare a shuttle.
Tell Engineering to boost comms and fortify shields.
And, Commander Rhys, have a security team on standby.
I’ll go and I’ll bring Book with me.
Commander Rayner, you have the conn.
Captain Burnham?
A word?
With respect, it’s too risky a mission for the ship’s captain.
Let me take it.
I appreciate the suggestion, but I need you here on the ship.
Well, at least take a security team.
Our advantage is Book’s personal connection to Moll.
We bring in a security team,
the implied threat nullifies that advantage.
I feel the same responsibility you do.
We both saw a future
where the Breen destroyed everything,
but that’s only one possible future.
You can’t let that cloud your tactical judgment.
This decision is tactical.
So… what’s this really about for you?
You have permission to be blunt.
As they say in the Ballad of Krul,
“Serve it without a grum of osikod.”
That is a… classic work on Kellerun.
I did my research on your culture,
just like you did on mine.
So, without “osikod…”
Nothing to report.
I’m just doing my job.
Part of that is to protect you.
When’s the last time you took the conn from another captain?
Couldn’t say. Been a while.
Look, we haven’t worked together very long.
We have different styles,
but I wouldn’t want to disadvantage any mission,
especially not one this important.
I know you can lead this crew, Commander.
I believe in you.
You have your orders.
BOOK: Ship feels good.
Purring like Grudge when she’s killed something.
What do you think you’ll say to Moll if we find them?
Don’t know.
Maybe we’re not so different.
Me and her, us and them.
Former couriers. That sort of thing.
Cleveland, of course.
I think I can reach her.
We’ll need to bring them in, either way.
Sounds like that time bug of theirs
was a real pain in the ass.
Come on.
You must have had some fun with it,
knowing exactly what was going to happen.
There were still some surprises.
Closing in on the aperture.
Need to increase our speed. We’re not gonna make it
through the opening in time at this rate.
Even if I gunned it, we could still get caught in that thing.
There’s a “but” in there, I hope?
But as soon as I finish charging
the impulse capacitant cells,
I can release them into the drive coils.
That’ll give us a boost.
Just don’t burn out our engines.
We still have to get back.
There’s an old Kwejian saying.
“Never return from a hunt without enough bait
for the Carrion Reaver.”
It’s catchy.
[Book laughs]
BOOK: Okay, we have to time this perfectly.
Got the cycles on lock.
On your mark.
Discovery, we’re heading in.
RAYNER [over comm]: Aye, Captain. Standing by.
Ready? In three,
two, one.
Go.
[alarm blaring]
How are we doing, Book?
BOOK: It’ll be close. Hang on.
[groans]
Captain, are you okay?
Did you make it in safely?
BURNHAM [choppy]: We’re okay. We made it.
Picking up some interference, though.
RAYNER: Captain?
Lieutenant Christopher?
Trying to get her back, sir.
Cycling through all frequencies.
Commander Stamets to the science lab.
I need you to boost comms. Bring whoever you need.
STAMETS [over comm]: On my way.
Eyes up, everyone.
Captain’s counting on us.
Yellow alert.
Visibility’s shit in here.
It’s exotic matter of some kind.
It’s wreaking havoc on our sensors.
And our holopadds.
Flying deaf and blind.
[laughs] Good times.
Book, watch out.
Hang on.
BURNHAM: Debris is not a good sign.
That’s Moll and L’ak’s ship.
BURNHAM: Half of it anyway.
The aperture must have caught the stern
when they were passing through.
You think they made it?
Maybe.
If they made it into that…
BOOK: ISS.
That’s Mirror Universe.
How did it end up in inter dimensional space?
I don’t know.
It’s got to be one hell of a story.
♪
♪
♪
[original Star Trek theme plays]
BOOK: Fair amount of damage.
Looks like it got trapped here during a battle.
BURNHAM: Had to have been ages ago.
Crossing between universes has been impossible for centuries.
So why hide the clue in here?
Shipwreck in a hidden wormhole?
Sounds pretty secure to me.
You know anything about this ship?
Oh, I only know the USS Enterprise.
I’ve never encountered the Terran version.
Internal layout and systems should be roughly the same.
Over there.
The rest of Moll and L’ak’s ship.
BURNHAM: If they’re still alive, they are gonna be desperate.
I’ll find us a place to dock.
Hey, uh, sorry.
I need to get into an EPS panel right there.
Oh. Have at it.
You working on comms?
Yeah. I’m helping Adira and Paul.
We’re trying to boost the signal
by pulling power from the EPS grid.
And I’ve followed this conduit for three decks, including
the quarters of a new ensign who’s very nice
but keeps a Cardassian vole as a pet. Anyhow…
I have some work to do in my office.
Um… I’ll leave you to it.
Hey, is everything okay?
Yeah, I’m fine.
Okay. Well, you’re always there for everyone else,
so if you ever need to talk about anything…
Yeah, well…
STAMETS: Tilly, what’s your status?
Working as fast as I can.
CULBER: I’m fine.
I’ll find you later. I’m fine.
STAMETS: Well, Rayner’s asking for updates, so, uh,
as soon as you have any good news, let us know.
We’ll be standing by. TILLY: Okay. Will do.
What about the, uh, graviton-pulse idea?
Yeah, I’m just rechecking my calculations.
You’ve done that twice already.
Just want to be sure.
Adira.
The time bug wasn’t your fault.
Yeah, well, I brought it on board, didn’t I?
Fix the problem yet?
Um, Lieutenant Tilly’s attempting
to boost the comms signal,
but interference from the aperture’s rapid shuttering…
I don’t need to know how the cake is boiled, Commander.
Kellerun boil their cakes?
Don’t knock it till you try it.
Other options, one sentence or less.
Well, um, we need to find a way to hold the aperture open.
Then do it.
Not that simple, I get it.
Go on, more words.
We could use the shield generator
to disrupt the antimatter reactions,
but the power drain could result
in shorting out of basic systems, like comms,
which would defeat the purpose.
A graviton pulse would also do it, but there is a, uh,
43.7% chance of implosion,
meaning that the aperture would shut forever,
with the captain and Booker still inside, so we…
We’re just… we’re trying to improve those odds, so…
Sir, if I could quote something you told me recently,
“You’re not in this alone.”
Sounded better when you said it.
Find another way to get comms back, and fast.
If they haven’t run into Moll and L’ak already,
they will soon enough.
And who knows what kind of mess that’ll be?
Holopadds are useless in here, too.
Uh, we can use the ship’s sensors
to track quantum signatures from our universe.
That’ll help us find the clue
and Moll and L’ak, if they’re here.
You remember the access codes from your Terran counterpart?
Already there. Not working.
She must have been dead by the time the Enterprise got here.
We’ll have to find another way in.
Well, I once hacked an Andorian transport ship
using a subroutine dodge through backup logs.
I thought it sounded rather impressive, myself.
Sorry.
Oh, that was my brother’s station
on the USS Enterprise.
Ever meet the Terran version?
No.
But I’m sure he was just as ruthless as the rest, though.
[console beeps]
Your hack worked. We’re in.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure you meant to say,
“Book, your idea was amazing.
“You are a hero among men.”
A hero among men.
Huh. That’s weird.
What?
The intermix chamber was ejected from the warp drive.
Shuttles and escape pods gone, too.
Captain’s logs erased.
Crew abandoned ship.
Evacuation is a last resort in Terran culture.
Enterprise took some damage, but it wasn’t terminal.
Definitely some sort of story there.
Indeed.
So what’s the verdict?
Were you able to find them?
Two signatures on the bridge. That’s us.
Three in sickbay.
That’s Moll, L’ak and the clue.
They found it.
Let’s get it.
BOOK: Any idea where they found the clue in the first place?
BURNHAM: I saw a trace signature in the transporter room.
It had to have been there.
BOOK: Scientists would have put it there for a reason.
BURNHAM: Let’s check it out.
Bedding, blankets, kids’ clothes?
Not what I would expect to see on a warship.
Why would someone want us to see this?
“Light of hope shines
through even the darkest of nights.”
It’s the crew’s story.
Terran High Chancellor was killed for trying
to make reforms, and this crew escaped.
They mutinied.
Brought refugees with them,
who were trying to flee their universe for ours.
It says
a Kelpien slave, turned rebel leader, helped them.
Saru.
Action Saru in any universe.
Well, it’s got to be why
the escape pods and shuttles are gone.
They fled the Enterprise once it got stuck here.
I hope they made it.
Yeah.
Me, too.
Let’s keep moving.
BURNHAM: Sickbay’s over here.
Ready?
Holo doubles.
Clever. Now we won’t know where to shoot.
They must’ve hacked the room’s holo emitter,
but if we can find it…
BURNHAM: Got it. Up there.
But I can’t hit it from this angle.
Yeah, two out of the ten blasts will be real.
I’ve had worse odds.
Got it.
Come on.
Okay.
[gasps]
Go!
[weapons firing]
Could have just said “Hello.”
You could have just left us the hell alone.
Lower your phasers. Let’s talk.
You were the ones who came in firing.
Just at the holo emitter.
Yeah, or your aim’s shit.
Your ship is in pieces.
Surrender to us now, let us get you out of here safely.
[quietly]: Hey, cover me.
Hey.
Easy.
Okay?
Easy.
Look, we’re here to help.
Moll,
I knew your father.
[scoffs]
And that’s supposed to make me trust you?
No, but I know the kind of man he was.
Cleveland Booker was garbage.
And we are not going to rot in a Federation brig.
You’ll get a fair trial.
You do not have another play here.
Wrong. You may have a shuttle.
We have the clue.
MOLL: The way I see it, we can blast away at each other
probably all end up dead… or
you give us a ride out of here, let us go,
and we let you replicate that.
Tempting, but that’s not the clue.
Remember Lyrek?
Decoy stanzas,
the real clue hidden somewhere else.
They all look different.
Go ahead. Use that tricorder there.
Calibrate it to scan for quantum signatures from our universe.
It’s the real deal.
BOOK: We can you get out of here.
All of us.
Whatever trouble you’re in…
You don’t know us.
I know you wouldn’t risk each other’s
lives over latinum…
Shut up, I said shut the hell up!
Which means you must be in real trouble.
Hey, the Federation can help you!
Can they erase an Erigah?
Moll.
No? So stop pretending like you can do a damn thing!
Moll!
What?!
Erigah? You’re Breen?
[sighs] An Erigah is a Breen blood bounty.
They’re after you, aren’t they?
That’s why you’re here.
You hope you can use whatever’s at the end of that clue trail
to get them to release it.
BOOK: Moll.
What did you do?
MOLL: I know I’m new around here, but
how much longer are you bucket-heads gonna make me wait?
Got other deliveries to do.
[speaks Breen]
Am I supposed to be trembling at this point?
[speaks Breen]
[speaks Breen]
[speaking Breen]
You must be the one who wanted to talk to me.
Hi. I’m Moll.
I like latinum and long walks on the beach.
What do you need?
L’AK: Be silent, courier.
We’ve had reports
your dilithium’s been cut with impurities.
I need to inspect.
[laughs softly]
Not my deliveries, green eye.
Inspection was not a request.
I’ve met Bolians with meaner left hooks.
[both grunting]
No. You know,
I’ve learned a thing or two about Breen insignia.
This one means royalty.
Rumor has it
the Primarch’s nephew doesn’t fit the mold around here,
has been demoted to shuttle bay duty.
That’s you, isn’t it? L’ak.
[grunts]
Must be so humiliating.
What if I said…
I could help you get payback?
You are cutting the dilithium.
Look, I’m good at what I do.
Great, actually.
Having a partner on the inside
would make it all go a lot smoother.
I should kill you for the suggestion.
But you didn’t,
which means you’re intrigued.
I know
what it’s like to be on the outside, alone.
Makes you hungry.
Also…
[click]
makes you smart.
[footsteps approaching]
Like I said
smart.
You sure you want to make a deal?
You don’t know anything about me.
Not much.
Not yet, anyway.
Whatever we did
is none of your damn business.
Love is a powerful thing.
Do not let it take you down the wrong road.
You both still have choices.
You always have choices.
You’re right.
We do.
Damn it.
[grunts]
Moll!
COMPUTER: System failure.
Sickbay lockdown engaged.
BOOK: The control panel.
It’s fried.
I can’t get back in.
There should be security controls on the bridge.
BOOK: Moll?
I could use an extra pair of hands.
We both want the same thing, don’t we?
To get them out.
[sighs]
One wrong move, and I will dust you.
Hmm?
Dilithium’s clean.
You’re free to go.
Sure you don’t want to check my ship again?
Make sure that I didn’t smuggle any tribbles on board?
I wish I could.
My uncle is coming down for inspection,
and I need to shine my boots.
Is that a euphemism?
No. He just really likes our boots to be shiny.
Oh, sounds like an asshole.
[laughs]
You have no idea.
Oh, green eye, you made me a promise.
I’ll show you next week.
Yes, that is what you said last week.
[footsteps approaching]
Don’t argue with me. We pay what we pay.
You don’t like it, we’ll find a courier who does.
Another time, I promise.
Come on. Show me what you look like.
You’ve seen my face.
Okay, the other face.
L’ak?
It’s just…
It…
It’s not… me.
Okay.
But it’s
it’s a part of you, right?
Both faces are.
You’ve seen parts of me that I hate.
[L’ak sighs]
Hello, L’ak.
Soon as I figure out a way
to bring down the containment field, this truce is over.
I really do want to help you, okay?
Says the man who took my father’s name.
Look, I know he left you and your mother.
I also know that staying away was the hardest choice
he ever had to make.
But he did it to protect you.
You know, from a dangerous life.
He didn’t want it blowing back.
And you bought that?
[laughs] Let me guess. Daddy issues.
He promised to get us off Callor Five,
take us to some safe-haven colony in the Gamma Quadrant.
Described it in perfect detail.
Absolute paradise.
Every night I’d go to sleep thinking about it.
Then one day, he just stopped coming home.
My mom had to get a job in the rubindium mines.
You have any idea what that’s like?
She died when I was 14, and…
I was left completely alone.
I don’t think he knew any of that.
Maybe he did, maybe he didn’t.
He’s dead now.
And L’ak is the only thing that matters to me.
Exhausting, huh? Staring each other down.
What can I say?
I don’t trust you.
Do you even know what you’re after?
What all these clues lead to?
“Power beyond all comprehension,”
is what the diary said.
I don’t care, as long as it can end an Erigah.
If the Breen got a hold of that power,
it would be catastrophic.
You have to know that.
We’ll be long gone by then.
Not unless they take it from you and kill you anyway.
Do you really trust them more than you trust us?
L’ak, the Federation is all about second chances.
Book and I are both living proof of that.
[inhales]
If we did come in,
if we served our time… if
would we serve it together?
I can advocate for that.
Because I would rather die
than be separated from her.
I get that. I do.
[electronic chirping]
MOLL: I can’t access the containment field.
You said you wanted to help. Help.
I’m trying.
The security system’s firewalled.
Antique piece of shit!
[pounds console]
I loved her, you know.
Michael.
Captain “Put Down Your Phasers”?
Yeah, I really see the appeal.
We were couriers, like you and L’ak.
I understand it
depending on someone like that, knowing they’re all you’ve got.
You know, she was my first real friend after Cleveland died.
Unless you count Grudge.
But she bites when I don’t feed her,
so, it’s a bit one-sided.
He talked about you a lot… Cleveland.
And the look in his eyes when he did…
For what it’s worth, he loved you.
But I’m sorry for what you went through because of him.
I hated my father, too.
For a long time, so…
[electronic chirping]
It’s not working.
I need to get back to L’ak.
You better go before the morning shift gets here.
What?
I’ve got new contracts
in Emerald Chain territory.
Okay.
So…
I’m going.
For how long?
I don’t know.
Why there?
Osyraa’s a butcher.
Well, Imperium space
isn’t much safer with all your faction wars.
Plus the contracts are better.
If it’s about latinum,
we can change our deal.
I still won’t be making enough.
You never even told me what’s so damn important.
What do you need so much latinum for anyway?
There’s a colony
in the Gamma quadrant.
A place where I could just wake up every day and
be.
No more courier runs, no more watching my back.
Peace, freedom.
You know?
No.
I don’t.
Why do you stay here?
You hate it.
Where would I go?
Come with me.
Just you and me.
[footsteps approaching]
MOLL: Is that…?
My uncle.
Breen Primarch
of the sixth flight.
I’m done waiting.
What are you doing?
Creating a power surge.
It’ll burn through the security system.
Short out the containment field.
Could do a lot more to a ship this old.
Look, wait, let me just check the…
MOLL: Shit!
BOOK: Look out!
Moll.
No, no, no, no, no! Wait.
L’ak, wait.
Get
out of my way.
[explosion]
[grunting]
[both grunting]
Impulse engines are overloaded.
Nav systems are fried.
We have no control over the ship?
BOOK: Our shuttle.
And that was our only way off.
COMPUTER: Warning, impact in eight minutes.
BOOK: Okay, we’ve got eight minutes to figure a way out.
We need to go get Michael and L’ak.
You’re staying here.
I’m getting L’ak.
And we will figure something out ourselves.
No.
You want to hate me, fine.
I will not let anything happen to Michael.
Or you.
Why?
Enough with the Cleveland Booker shit.
Why me?
Because I’m Kwejian.
Everything I cared about out there is gone.
And he may have been
a shit dad to you,
but he was a great mentor to me.
And like it or not,
that makes you
just about the only family I’ve got left.
I could kill you right now.
That’s a choice.
I hope you’ll make a different one.
Let’s go.
[grunting]
Get out of my way!
[grunts]
[panting]
BURNHAM: Please, just stop.
I know how much you love Moll.
This is not how you help her.
You let me go,
or I will cut through you.
[panting]
Move!
I cannot do that.
I can’t do that.
[both grunting]
You made a decoy.
[exhales] Solid bluff.
I didn’t think you had it in you, Starfleet.
[grunting]
This wasn’t supposed to happen.
L’ak!
What the hell did you do to him?
It was an accident.
We got to get him to Discovery.
Here.
Get away from us!
COMPUTER: Warning, five minutes to impac.
We’re on a collision course for the aperture.
What?
The shuttle’s gone.
So the Enterprise is our only way out?
Yeah.
We got to find a way, come on.
Damn it.
I’m here.
You’re gonna be okay.
[grunting]
Leave her alone!
Stop! Let me go!
That all you got?
[grunting]
[speaking Breen]
Speak her language.
She deserves to understand what you’re saying.
You carry the genetic code of the Yod-Thot.
They who rule.
Yet while we campaign for the throne of the Imperium,
you consort with lesser beings.
And you do so wearing that face.
An insult to your heritage.
This… is Breen.
Then why can we change?
Both faces are part of us.
If we deny half our nature, we deny it all.
We have evolved past the need for that form.
Holding it makes you unfocused,
inflexible and weak.
There is only one path
to redemption.
[weapon whirs]
Was fun while it lasted, green eye.
Erigah.
I know.
Go, now.
Wait. Why didn’t you kill him?
He raised me.
[alarm sounding]
Moll, please, go.
Go to Chain territory, find that colony.
It doesn’t matter what happens to me
as long I know that you’re safe.
I asked you to come with me.
I can’t.
Not now.
An Erigah is impossible to lift.
They will never stop hunting me.
Us.
They’ll be hunting us.
Nothing’s impossible, L’ak.
We can do this.
You and me. [Exhales]
Come on, babe.
Let’s be happy together.
Please?
Okay.
I love you, Moll.
More than anything.
You know that, right?
No, no, no, no, don’t.
Okay? I’ll figure this out.
We’ve made it through worse before.
We’re trapped.
Oh. Nothing’s impossible for us.
Okay? I’ve got this.
I promise.
There should be enough power left to activate a tractor beam.
Can’t save the day if we can’t see.
Nice.
COMPUTER: Warning, four minutes to impac.
It’s on.
Here goes nothing.
Lieutenant Christopher, anything on comms yet?
Negative, sir. Still trying.
NAYA: Commander?
There’s something happening at the aperture.
Lieutenant Gallo, enhance it.
Aye, Commander.
Seems to be a… tractor beam?
From the shuttle?
No. Something much larger.
The beam is oscillating, a repeating pattern.
Three-four-one-four.
Commander Stamets,
Ensign Tal, get in here.
Lieutenant Tilly, you too.
Almost got it, sir, a way to hold the aperture open.
Tilly rerouted portions of the EPS grid.
Change of plans. I need you to hold it open
and make it bigger.
Big enough for a starship.
When you say “big enough for a starship,” do you mean
that Discovery is going in?
No.
Our captain’s coming out.
How could you possibly know that
they’re coming out? Ballad of Krul.
It doesn’t matter. Can you do it?
That would require a massive amount of power,
more power than the entire ship could safely produce.
Well, there’s got to be a way. Come on.
Look, I need ideas, come on!
A cask of Kellerun citrus mash
for whoever lands this, go.
Could we invert the deflector array
and force the aperture open?
Rerouting energy distribution systems would take too long.
What if we discharge the spore reserve?
Hit them with a tachyon pulse?
LINUS: We should maintain our reserves
in case an emergency jump is required.
Well, can’t we just strap in and pull power
from gravitational systems?
If they don’t reset, eventually we’ll just
end up floating around.
Wait a minute.
If we change out the photon-torpedo payloads
and replace them with antimatter…
STAMETS: It would add fuel
to the antimatter reactions already happening
in the aperture.
And that could generate the energy we need.
Yes, uh… [stammers] if we hit it
precisely with a sequential, hexagonal pattern,
uh, it should stay open for approximately 60 seconds.
But once it collapses, it’s gone for good.
Why hexagonal?
Um…
STAMETS: It doesn’t matter.
It’ll work.
Citrus mash all around then.
Rhys, coordinate engineering and munitions,
replace the payloads, fire on my mark.
Asha, get us into position. Gallo, lower our shields
so we can catch that tractor beam.
We’re only gonna get one shot at this.
I trust you’ll all make it count.
Red alert.
OTHERS: Aye, Commander.
BOOK: Tractor beam’s holding steady.
No sign of a response yet.
COMPUTER: 60 seconds to impact.
Book, in case we don’t make it, I need to say something.
Come on, don’t go there.
No.
You were one of the surprises in the time cycles.
That’s all.
It was nice.
And we were happy.
All right, let’s get that thing open.
Fire!
The vessel’s tractor beam has just made contact with us.
RAYNER: All right, let’s pull them out.
We’re locked on.
Route whatever power isn’t keeping us breathing
or held down to that tractor beam.
Hit it?
Uh… feels weird.
Let’s just fly.
Is that the ISS Enterprise?
Gallo, how much time do we have
to get them out?
20 seconds.
♪
RAYNER: Captain?
BURNHAM: Burnham to Discovery.
Thanks for the assist.
Anytime.
Great to hear your voice again.
Likewise, Commander.
[alert beeping]
Michael?
Sir, the ISS Enterprise is preparing to fire.
Captain? BURNHAM: We see it.
System shows it’s a Terran warp pod.
Two life signs, sickbay equipment.
It’s got to be a life-support system.
It’s Moll and L’ak.
Right.
[console buzzes]
I can’t stop them from launching.
Me, either.
Commander, can you grab them?
RAYNER: I’m on it. Damn it. Too late.
But they left a warp signature, we’ll track it.
Putting out an alert.
We’ll find them.
RAYNER: The Ballad of Krul.
Section Four, verse seven.
Krul calls to his war brother for rescue
with a repeating drumbeat.
Three taps.
Then four, one, four.
I was impressed.
It was a long shot.
No question.
Great work today.
If it hadn’t panned out, you’d be riding
your own coffin into the sun right now.
Ah, but I’m not.
I’m right here.
You’re telling me to take the win.
Mm-hmm.
I can do that.
How did it feel being back in the chair?
Captain’s chair is for the captain.
I’m ordering Commanders Owosekun and Detmer
to head a team to fly the Enterprise
back to Fed HQ storage.
Hell of an assignment.
They deserve it.
They do.
Get some rest, Commander.
[piano music playing]
♪
[chuckles softly]
It’s a bit of a day, huh?
I feel like I’ve been through a gormagander’s digestive tract.
Mm.
I guess I’m not the only one?
Thanks for noticing, Doc.
Are you here to take me up on my offer?
‘Cause I’m all ears.
Oh, it’s a bit, um…
These experiences I’ve had.
I mean, I died.
I came back to life.
And then with Jinaal, I was there.
But I wasn’t.
It was weird.
That’s as close to a scientific term as I can get for it.
And now we’re on this quest
to find the thing that
created us.
I mean, it’s all so big.
And impossible to grasp and
part of me kind of loves that.
I think.
As terrifying as it is.
But Paul…
Oh, hates the unknown.
And we’ve always been able to find answers together.
I don’t know how to talk to him about this.
Change is hard.
But it can also be freeing.
I know, it’s just…
I’m not sure what all this will look like.
It sounds like he’s not the only one who hates the unknown.
You should talk to somebody about that.
[chuckles]
They’re not really that far apart.
The intellectual and the spiritual.
Both reach for understanding.
Both bring us to new places.
But I didn’t say “spiritual.”
Yeah…
Hugh, you kind of did.
[door chimes]
Come.
Anything on Moll and L’ak yet?
Starfleet has every ship in the sector on high alert.
But we have this.
Paul is prepping to do a full chemical analysis
of this vial.
And then
we’ll have our next stop.
You ever wonder why there’s always a lesson
with these clues?
Like with the itronok.
Do you value life-forms different than your own?
And with the necropolis planet.
Importance of cultural context.
See, the scientist who left that on the Enterprise must’ve
known the history of that ship.
Ha.
She did.
She was Terran.
The ship’s junior science officer, Dr. Cho.
So I had Zora look up the crew names on the manifest.
Guess what?
Most of them ended up in Federation databases.
So they did make it.
Mm-hmm.
Started new lives in our universe.
Yeah.
Dr. Cho even ended up joining Starfleet.
She become a branch admiral.
After that, her records just
vanish.
Ah, well, Jinaal did say
he erased all evidence of their group.
Mm-hmm, well, nearly all.
They had hope.
And they found freedom.
Despite impossible odds.
Maybe that’s why Dr. Cho went back and left the clue on that ship.
Maybe that’s our lesson here.
That like them
maybe we can shape our own futures, too.
[chuckles softly]
[Burnham exhales]
What I said earlier, about how we used to be happy…
Oh, no, no, no, it’s fine.
We were, weren’t we?
[comms chime]
STAMETS: Captain, we are ready for the vial.
On our way.
So
What do you think happens when we finally put this thing together?
I don’t know.
But I can’t wait to find out.
