“Terra Prime” is episode twenty-one of season four of Star Trek: Enterprise.
In the previous episode, “Demons”, Paxton seized control of the verteron array on Mars and demanded the solar system be cleared of all aliens. On Enterprise, Hoshi tells the captain she can’t block the transmission and Reed says that Paxton has wired in his warp reactor to the array. If it’s fired on, the explosion will take out half of Utopia Colony. They can’t contact Starfleet either, and Paxton is showing Trip and T’Pol’s baby, saying it is the most dangerous enemy humanity has ever faced.
At the conference they’re watching as Paxton is saying this is the future and humanity’s genetic heritage will be lost. Paxton will guarantee safe passage out of the system for 24 hours, but if there’s one single alien left after that, he will start destroying things, starting with Starfleet Command. Humanity’s future will be secure. Enterprise has been scanning for Vulcan lifesigns to beam T’Pol and the baby out, but Reed reports the array is targeting them. They start to leave but are hit. At 2% power; they could have been vapourised.
Soval and the Andorian ambassador speak to Samuels; there are demonstrations outside both their embassies. Using words not in the Universal Translator. Samuels reassures them that Paxton won’t destroy where they are until the deadline is up. Soval and the Andorian find the fact that so many people are supporting Paxton to be disturbing. Perhaps humanity isn’t quite ready to host this conference.
With Enterprise back at Earth, Samuels meets with Captain Archer. Archer says he can’t attack the array; two of his officers are hostage. Samuels understands; if Archer can’t, another captain will be assigned with no blame assigned to Archer. The captain is concerned an attack will kill thousands of colonists. The situation is even worse; 14 comets are set to collide with Mars as part of the terraforming project. Without the array, they could hit anywhere. The captain wants to take a small team down. Paxton can’t destroy a ship if he can’t see it.
Trip and T’Pol are taken to see the baby by Paxton. He says he got the DNA from the medical freezers on Enterprise. Terra Prime has supports everywhere. Now, he wants Trip to complete his half of the bargain. Refine the ship’s targeting system. Or T’Pol dies.
Reed meets with Harris again. He wants to know how to get through the Martian planetary sensor grid undetected and is sure Section 31 knows how. They do. Reed says they already have a way to reach the surface. Which the captain, Travis and Reed tell Samuels; they’re going to fly down behind a comet. If that plan doesn’t work, the array will be destroyed.
Paxton comes to see T’Pol and the baby; she notices his hand shake. They spar about matters; Paxton thinks T’Pol should be concerned about the pollution of the Vulcan gene pool. T’Pol tells him that neither of their species is what it was or will be in the future. Life is change. Paxton thinks it means extinction. T’Pol scans Paxton as he leaves.
Gannet was arrested for being a spy and she’s asked Travis to come see her. She claims she works for Starfleet Intelligence, looking for the real Terra Prime agent on Enterprise. She doesn’t expect the captain to believe this, but if they go after Paxton and someone on Enterprise is working for him, he would know they are coming. Travis doesn’t believe her. The captain is speaking to Hoshi, who will be in command. Because every other senior officer qualified won’t be on the ship.
Trip is doing the changes for Paxton and tells Greaves he didn’t use to like Vulcans either. Why doesn’t Greaves? Because they let millions of people die during World War III. Which Trip points out was before First Contact. Yes, but they could have stopped it, but didn’t. A devastated Earth was easier to control. Trip calls the baby a half-human thing, which annoys Trip. Greaves tells him to go ahead. So Trip punches him and does some sabotage whilst Greaves is down.
This doesn’t do much because Paxton knows Trip did it. He would have been disappointed if he hadn’t. It shows Trip is a man of principle. Now, change the verteron array’s targeting system or when Paxton destroys Starfleet Command it will take out half of San Francisco. Trip refuses.
Captain Archer, Reed, Travis and Phlox are heading down to Mars in a shuttlepod behind a comet, as Paxton is getting ready to obliterate Starfleet. And the conference is falling apart because of his actions.