Last season on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds...
Do you really still believe our futures
are written in stone?
All I know is that
I'm not ready to let you go.
Everything that happened to me
was so I could do this.
No, this is... Marie...
It's my destiny.
You, of all people, can understand that.
You have to tell me why things are so weird with you and Spock.
Spock and I made it very clear with each other... no labels,
no complicated expectations, just fun times.
Is this
a "hit it" situation?
It's a new future.
It's whatever kind of adventure we want it to be.
- Captain's personal log. - Stardate 2491.5.
We're at the end of a routine mission on Tulaxar...
our 15th in a row... and if I'm being honest,
this may well be my favorite part.
Were you followed?
- No, sir. - And the meds?
Handed off more than enough to save the planet.
Any issues being discovered?
Nothing I couldn't handle.
Four of the ones she drank with
might need a day or two to sleep it off.
Lightweights.
Captain, we are in position.
Ready to beam you up
- on your order. - Copy that, Number One.
You know what?
We...
we might ride a little more.
If you say so, Captain.
You know, just to be safe.
Hyah.
Welcome back, Captain.
I can take your saddle, if needed.
Well, I,
prefer to carry my own gear.
But thanks, Spock.
But you knew that already.
I felt it important to be here
as soon as you returned to the ship.
You wanted to see me in my outfit, didn't you?
Perhaps.
Follow me to my quarters, Mr. Spock.
These boots are hard to take off alone.
Six months, Chris, nonstop.
That's a lot of missions in a row.
I'm just worried the crew
is starting to feel the strain, that's all.
Look, they came to Enterprise to see things, to...
do things.
And the more you see and do in the moment,
the less you have to think about the past, right?
We all need weekends once in a while.
Even you.
Understood, Number One.
Not to mention, as much as I enjoy having the conn,
I wouldn't mind a little time on-planet once in a while.
Next mission, I promise.
That might be sooner than you think.
Admiral April is on his way to see you.
I told you, Bob,
I'm not looking for a promotion.
Well, regardless of intent,
you're being considered for one.
To commodore.
And that, as we both know,
is a stepping stone.
Look, I felt the same way when I was captain.
You just need to think about it.
Really think.
You just might surprise yourself.
How long do I have to consider?
We'll need an answer when you get back from the next mission.
Where are you sending us?
This is a fun one.
Really?
You haven't heard the constant noises?
Scotty acts like every time I steer the ship,
it makes his job harder, so he added endless beeping
to literally make my job harder.
Are you listening?
Sorry. I just have to get prepared for my mentee training.
Right, your new Academy cadet.
When I got to Enterprise,
I didn't know anything about anything,
and all of you helped me.
I just want to pass that on to the next person.
I've been practicing my Vulcan with Spock to improve it.
Taz Nyota Uhura dwi-mâsh.
Tan-fi bo-shish ner gab-no-vet âs
dwoz nufezh po nen lhi-de-mosh.
Please do not speak Vulcan.
Your accent is improper.
I thought I got that right.
I am fully versed in all human dialects.
That is all that is required for us to communicate.
Right. Let me start again.
I am Ensign Uhura, but you can call me Nyota, if you like.
I was at the Academy just a few years ago,
so I know exactly how you must feel.
You are several years older than I am,
and since you are human, it is unlikely
you know how I feel.
Were you present for the K'thoniadisaster?
Or the FFakishaconflict?
That all happened after I left.
Your Vulcan is poorly pronounced,
your time at the Academy was completely different than mine.
It appears we do not have many shared experiences at all.
This is an unusual mission.
We are to face a category ten interstellar squall,
something we rarely see in the Alpha Quadrant.
I-I've seen one once,
a long time ago, but not from this close.
I think I was in a phone box at the time.
Such distortions are often briefly occurring.
This one has appeared around the star Ithaxus.
No explanation.
Doesn't look like it's safe for us to get near it.
Any inhabited planets
nearby we should be worried about?
None.
Thank goodness.
And that's the key element of this mission.
No one we have to protect.
We are here to observe an unusual stellar display.
That is all.
It sounds like
we're going to the theater.
Minus the Playbill.
A theater that would likely tear
our ship into small particles of subspace
should we get too close.
Come on, Mr. Spock. Where's your sense of adventure?
Perhaps I did not clearly state the part
about being torn into small particles of subspace.
Interstellar storms are like space-time gone wild,
the very stuff of the universe.
Don't you think a glimpse
is worth a little risk?
See? Now, that's the spirit.
Keep us at arm's length, Erica.
Aye, sir.
Very long arms.
I wish we could get closer, though.
It's absolutely stunning.
I understand the feeling.
To actually see something like this.
Digital data is more relevant.
Sensors are active.
- Data is cogent. - If you had to give up
seeing this kind of thing all the time,
would you miss it?
Every day.
Yeah.
Sir, I'm getting a comm signal.
- Location, Nyota? - The signal's erratic,
but it seems to be coming from inside the storm.
It's a mayday, sir.
A ship is stuck inside the storm?
That's what the signal's saying.
Take us closer, Erica.
But keep your foot on the brakes.
Understood, Captain.
Not now, Scotty.
Deeper scans suggest signal origin
is a buoy inside of the storm.
- A buoy? - It's a starship distress buoy,
but I can't get a lock on the signal.
Any sign of the source of the buoy? Any ships?
Scanning, Captain.
The storm is undergoing exponential expansion.
You think?
- Reverse course, Erica, fast. - Already on it.
We have life support.
Unfortunately, that is the extent of the good news.
No weapons functionality. Zero.
Long-range comms are down.
Transporters are offline.
Not sure when they'll be fixed, or if.
We have only the barest amount
of impulse power. For now.
- Warp? - Out of the question.
Look, our problem is,
we lost all our iridium.
Without it, we can't ignite the warp engines.
We're basically stuck here.
And do we know where "here" is?
All we've been able to determine is,
the stellar storm somehow pulled
the ship into a warp field.
The stars aren't lining up to give us a location,
but we think it's just the main computer coming back on line.
Okay.
Deploy a locator and send out a mayday. Let's use a flare.
- On it. - Short-range scans
suggest we can only extrapolate our position.
Of the four planets scanned so far,
three are M-class.
Inhabited? Anyone who
- might give us a hand? - Impossible to tell,
given our current sensor capabilities.
But we have detected iridium on the nearest M-class planet...
a few hours' journey with our current impulse engines.
And one of our shuttles is still functional enough
to get us to the surface, I think.
Well, Number One,
you wanted a mission on a strange new world.
Looks like you got one.
Curie, this is Enterprise.
You are now entering the planet's upper atmosphere.
Heading towards the last known iridium location.
The land mass is quite choppy down there.
We're five-by-five. We might have to land
pretty far from the signal.
There aren't any closer options.
The iridium's over there.
Near what is definitely a volcano.
I'm detecting life signs.
What kind of life signs?
Large.
Taller than us?
Much taller.
Is there a way around that?
No.
We want the iridium,
we have to get past that.
Great news.
I've got a fix on the creature.
That's not the problem. It's...
trying to do something about it.
- Can't you just stun it? - Well, if I had
phasers, sure...
I might be able to send a bolt
of electricity, but I don't want to kill the laddie.
We should probably determine what it can withstand first.
What are you doing?
Why did you just shoot it?
Wha... I was on stun.
And you saw. Nothing happened.
The laddie may be a wee bit
stronger than we anticipated.
"Laddie"? You think that's what I talk like?
- That's totally what you talk like. - Fine.
Something's just grabbed the ship.
Space.
The final frontier.
These are the voyages of the stars hip Enterprise.
Its five-year mission:
to explore strange new worlds...
to seek out new life
and new civilizations...
to boldly go where no one has gone before.
Where did they come from?
- Unclear, Captain. - Our sensors are functioning
below normal parameters.
They seem to have attached some kind
of energy tendrils.
They are similar to our tractor beams, but the style
is one I am not familiar with.
Do we have any weapons? Shields?
No, the shields are still
not functioning, Captain, and Scotty cannot
repair the weapons without iridium.
We-we are crippled.
They're literally towing us away.
Do we have impulse? Anything?
No, using impulse engines
would be like trying to free ourselves from a boat
using a pair of flippers.
Small flippers.
Flippers that could be lost at any time.
Comms are still functioning, sir.
As is our universal translator.
Does anyone recognize that ship?
I do not,
and it does not exist in our database.
Hail them, Nyota.
Let's try the friendly approach first. We don't have much else
- to work with. - Hailing them, sir.
This is Captain Christopher Pike
of the starship Enterprise.
You seem to have...
you seem to have accidentally taken hold of our ship.
Anything?
They're responding, sir.
I am Battle Commander Cassell.
We didn't attach our tethers by accident.
We seized your damaged ship as salvage.
Your ship and its resources are now our property.
Still nothing from the ship.
Scotty said he'd come right back.
He didn't. Typical.
I don't like it.
We may be on our own, at least for now.
We need to get a better idea of what we're facing.
What about the new...
vaporization thingy?
You know what it's called.
Scotty's not even here to get annoyed.
Just makes me feel better.
The phasers have been modified
with a contained disintegration function.
We need to get a clear shot at that copse of trees.
Maybe we can see the "laddie" that's hiding behind it.
Commander Cassell,
we are members of Starfleet.
Any actions against us will be seen
as actions against the United Federation of Planets.
We aren't familiar with your Starfleet
or Federation, but if you're in league with the Dol'drm,
we will destroy you.
What?
Be careful what you say, Captain.
If they are not familiar with Starfleet,
it is possible that they are pre-warp.
They may be seizing our ship to learn about our technology,
which is strictly against our prime directive.
They have the ship, Spock.
Right now talking is our only way out.
Allow me to scan it further.
Perhaps you could stall.
We are not familiar with the Dol'drm.
We're new to this region of space,
and if you don't know the Federation,
we also don't know you.
We are at war, Captain,
with a terrible and destructive enemy,
and as part of our wartime covenants,
we have seized your ship as scrap for our war effort.
If you are not aligned with the Dol'drm,
you will be released when we return home.
You can't just take our ship without consequences.
And yet you have shown us none. This discussion is over.
Commander, we do have weapons,
and Starfleet has more... a lot more.
Do you really want us to turn all of them on you
just to prove our point?
Why don't you come aboard?
I can show you myself, and we can discuss ways
that the Federation can help you.
I don't think this will be useful.
But if you have weapons to show us, personally,
I'll come on board to see them.
That-That's not exactly what I said. I...
End communication.
Okay, not ideal.
You sure this is going to work?
Not in the slightest.
Well, at least we're talking.
I am afraid our circumstance is...
slightly more complicated than we realized, Captain.
I have determined our current location.
Scans have revealed that we are in the Sol system.
Sol?
Spock, this doesn't make any sense.
Three M-class worlds?
The stellar storm created an incredible amount of energy,
far beyond what our ship is capable of.
However, where it sent us is less relevant than when.
Currently, we are 65 million years in the past.
The planet Commander Cassell is dragging us toward is Mars.
Mars?
Then that would mean the planet that Una flew the shuttle to...
Is Earth, Captain.
So, according to Enterprise, we can't harm
any native life because doing so could wreck the future.
Unfortunately, the dinosaurs do not share
our temporal prohibitions when it comes to eating us.
I have an idea.
But I don't think either of you are gonna like it.
We are way
- past that. - Yeah.
What you got, boss?
They have never heard
of Starfleet or the Federation
because neither will exist
for millions of years.
It may be challenging
to form a shared frame of reference, Captain.
It shouldn't be that different from any first contact
with a pre-warp species.
Except you invited her on board your starship.
Yeah, there is that.
Look, by the time our present comes around,
Mars has been lifeless for eons.
I'm going to wager that nothing we say here
is going to change the future,
so long as she doesn't leave the ship with anything material.
Alternatively, any single one of our actions
could result in our future never occurring.
Okay, so out of an abundance of caution,
we'll keep her from...
Everything?
It feels like you're not helping.
That's odd.
Scanners seem to have detected something on the hull.
Possible hull breach on Deck Seven.
We're on Deck Seven.
No adjustment in air temperature. Strange.
Where?
Corridor.
Commander Cassell.
I'm Captain Pike.
You are... short.
Our-our planet's a little heavier than yours.
Hence this unpleasant artificial gravity on your ship?
- Too unpleasant? We can adjust. - No need.
We're obviously considerably stronger than you are.
How did you get inside our ship?
We phased through your wall.
Do you not have phasing technology?
Well, no, but we have transporters which allow us...
Which we can gladly discuss at a later juncture.
Allow me to introduce our science officer Spock,
Dr. M'Benga, and our engineer Mr. Scott.
Forgive me if I don't.
My guards are under standing orders
to kill anyone who comes too close.
Okay.
I assure you, that won't be necessary, Commander.
- You're here as our guests. - We're here as your captors
to see your weaponry, Captain Pike.
Commander, you are not our enemy.
That assessment is mine to make.
You would do the same in my position, would you not?
Our transporter typically sweeps our visitors
for health and safety.
Would you permit me to examine you?
To ensure you haven't brought any pathogens aboard
and that you can handle any you might find aboard as well.
Well, I am confident our biological prophylaxis
will keep all parties safe.
However, given I also trained in medicine,
I am curious to see what technology you have.
After that, we will see your weapons systems.
Stun?
Your plan is to get close and just use stun?
- That is correct. - I'll remind you,
we tried it. It didn't faze it one bit.
I mean, we could just disintegrate it,
if it wasn't for, you know,
the whole "destroy the entire future" part.
I'm going to get close enough so it opens its mouth,
shoot in its soft palate, and hope it works.
And that it doesn't decide you're maybe a delicious snack
with several more yummies nearby?
We'll kill it if it gets to that.
Don't.
We genuinely don't know the future effects
of anything we might do here.
I'll stun, and then we run.
Crazy.
Dangerous.
Maybe even insane. But I'm kind of impressed.
Is that weird?
Hey! Dinosaur!
You there!
Did it eat her?
It's not chewing.
It's asleep. Stun worked!
And you didn't kill him.
Nice work.
Let's move. Before she wakes up.
- She? - Yeah.
It's not a "laddie," it's a "lassie."
There are many different types of people on this ship.
In this room alone, we have
humans, Vulcans and Tellarites.
As members of Starfleet, we've encountered
countless other species.
We come from different planets,
but we have ways to work together.
And none of these countless species wish to destroy you?
Members of the Federation, no.
But I get the feeling others do?
Well, those that don't like us
aren't against just one of us, they're against all of us.
Our unity is our best deterrent.
Again, because of your weapons?
Federation members do bring weapons to the table,
but that same unity means we often do not have to use them.
I must admit, I have difficulty imagining
such an alliance as this.
Many worlds working together.
Technically, we...
we don't just work together, we...
we pick up a lot of stuff from each other.
None of those others
are concerned that you'll turn their weapons against them?
Sometimes it's just recipes.
Or...
music. Whatever we share,
it tends to add up
to more than the sum of its parts.
I only know my world
and the Dol'drm.
"Alien" to me means evil.
Humans
have a way of saying, when it comes
to facing an enemy, the carrot or the stick.
What is a carrot?
Is it a weapon of some sort?
I imagine it is more persuasive than a stick.
Yeah, it is,
but not in the way that you're thinking.
No, you eat a carrot.
It's a reward.
It helps to form an alliance.
No, the stick is the only weapon.
So you're benevolent until that no longer works,
and only then are you hostile?
It's a strategy of sorts.
I'm happy to say
we have no issues of contamination.
You clearly dedicate many resources
to this medical facility.
Frankly, it's something of a wonder
to see so few occupied beds or injuries.
Captain Pike,
perhaps I have been too quick to judge you and your crew.
It appears you are not the enemies
we perceived you to be.
Glad to hear it.
But appearances can be deceiving.
Do you have this saying, too?
Take me to your weapons systems,
and then I may better understand what this alliance
with its many points of view
and carrots and sticks has to offer.
Of course.
Phasers and photon torpedoes are your ship's primary weapons?
But not the part most used.
I assume you are referring to defensive systems?
You mentioned the use of shields.
Our shields are damaged.
Given time, our engineering station
or our science station will find ways of repairing our systems.
What is the main purpose of your science station?
Is it to assess the vulnerability
of potential enemies?
Science allows us a broad understanding
of every culture we encounter so we can share strengths
and compensate for each other's respective weaknesses.
Understanding other cultures has allowed us
to advance faster than if we were alone.
I am sorry for your loss?
You used the word "alone."
Our people
have ten individual words for such a state,
differentiated by emotional inflection.
I'm sorry, I don't follow.
Your translating machine used the word "widower."
And so my condolences.
Our captains are not permitted relationships during war.
They leave us vulnerable, too hesitant to sacrifice.
And we have always been at war.
Well, isn't love part of what we fight for?
If not that, then...
Have you ever seen my homeworld of Mars?
We are not familiar with the current condition of Mars.
If the ship's scanners are repaired,
will you pull it up on-screen?
Please.
- It's beautiful. - Yes.
But there is something more important for you to see.
Turn the planet view 173 degrees.
Valles Marineris.
That crater was caused when the Dol'drm crashed a ship
onto the surface and fed on our world.
The only way to stop them was
to tear away the very land around them.
The invaders died.
But that crater and two million lives is the price we paid.
- That's horrible. - That's why your discussions
of cultures, of science,
although kind and hopeful,
are not relevant.
What we need to do is destroy the Dol'drm
before they devour the rest of our planet
and turn it all into a red wasteland.
Well, have you ever tried communicating with the Dol'drm?
We cannot. They are insects.
They do not speak or reason as we do.
They simply feed and move forward.
You may have other options.
Some on our planet argued this.
They believed there were other ways to deal with them.
As they talked, we died.
There's only one thing that's ever worked.
Force.
What if we could offer you something
that would work without weapons?
Something only Starfleet's resources can provide?
The Federation have met maybe
65 different insectoid species.
Of those, 17 of them don't use sonic communication,
like us.
This is where xenoanthropology helps.
We've been able to design multiple systems
that work for creatures who communicate
using light, touch or,
in one particularly difficult case, smell.
Which stunk.
But it did allow us, eventually, to speak with them.
Fascinating.
You keep insisting it's impossible
to communicate with the Dol'drm.
If we find out we can, maybe we could find a way
to stop them without weapons.
What if we could end your war?
What if we could offer them something?
Isn't it worth a brief consideration?
Brief.
You have an update?
As more systems come on line, the introduction of variables
still generates a consistent outcome.
Quantum entanglement has Enterprise firmly anchored
65 million years in the past.
You're saying we're stuck here?
Yes. And also no.
The nature of quantum entanglement
could theoretically snap us
right back to the moment we left.
Well, that seems good.
However, to do so would require
the power equivalent of a supernova,
the very same amount that sent us here.
Without it, we are trapped in the past.
- Less good. - Indeed.
Captain, Commander Cassell
and her guard have left the lab.
- Where did they go? - I don't know.
They just phased through the floor and were gone.
- Engineering. - Pike to Engineering.
What's happening down there?
That tall, scary Martian lady
just came right through the bulkhead and took it.
- We couldn't stop her. - Took what?
The ship's primary antimatter fuel cell.
Cassell's location keeps moving.
Deck Ten.
Deck Nine.
Deck Eight. She's headed for her egress point.
I'm not armed.
I just want to talk.
We were helping you,
and now you're taking our fuel cell? Why?
Captain...
I have been nothing but honest with you.
And consistent.
You, however, have not been equally truthful.
What are you talking about?
You spoke to me of Starfleet,
of all that you've achieved.
It was easy to get a sense of your respect for your values,
your deep feeling for those you have fought for and loved.
With these things you were frank.
You also spoke to me of where you are from.
But you failed to explain when.
Your Federation doesn't exist.
- That's not entirely true. - Yet.
It doesn't exist yet.
You showed me your computer
so I could speak with the Dol'drm.
It was simple to understand from there
how you determine time with it.
Your Federation won't exist for millions of years.
And by then my civilization will be gone.
I'm sorry.
Our regulations...
they forbid me from telling you that.
But that doesn't mean that we can't find a way
- out of this for both of us. - Captain.
I understand you are trying to save your people.
As I am doing for mine.
But we live now, not in the future.
Your ship's given us exactly what we need
to win our war.
I'm sorry.
Commander...
This wreckage is apparently the source of the iridium.
And that's, like, an alien spaceship.
On Earth.
65 million years before us.
I have to say this out loud to believe it.
Those burns... a weapon did that.
It was shot down.
Our Martian friends?
The iridium's inside.
No life signs, but there might be an engine compartment.
Wait here.
All these cryobeds?
I think this was a colony ship.
Must have all died on impact.
Reflexes.
They must all be dead.
If they were settlers,
I'm not sure if I should feel sad or...
relieved.
Whatever the reason they were in cryosleep,
they were shot down and died on a planet far from home,
headed who knows where.
They may be different from us, but...
they wanted to survive, too.
Iridium fuel pod.
The only one that wasn't damaged.
Let's hope Scotty and Pelia
can jury-rig it to the Enterprise.
Can we go now, please?
This place is giving me the creeps.
Yeah.
You just punched it.
Yeah, well, I didn't have time to shoot it in the mouth, did I?
Well, if you two are finished just standing here...
Hey, I've managed to hook up the backup antimatter pod.
You gotta hurry up with that iridium.
Yeah, yeah, we're coming. Geez.
You punched a dinosaur?
Well,
I'm sure it had it coming.
What is it?
It's just, I broke my hand and I don't feel any pain.
Well, how is that possible?
It isn't.
The truth is,
I've felt different for a while now.
I-I've always had elevated strength and reflexes,
but now it's-it's almost like
my whole body feels more attuned.
And your mind?
Confused.
Look, I carry recessive augmented DNA, right?
Now, is it possible that somehow
all I've been through has activated those recessive genes?
Are you going to try and take over the galaxy now?
I don't know.
Hey. You may be carrying enhanced warrior genes,
but it's not who you are.
I've got to go.
Iridium is installed and ready to function,
as long as we don't want to double-check it.
Do we need to double-check it?
We need to get a fix on that Martian ship.
Are you concerned or are you worried, Mr. Scott?
Just worried, sir.
Good man.
Bridge is coming back on line.
- Long-range sensors? - Reinitializing.
- Time? - 15 seconds.
Every second could be getting Commander Cassell
closer to detonating that antimatter.
Well, I can't get power to the ship's systems
any faster, Captain.
- Screens are working, Chris. - Great. How about
- long-range comms? - On and functioning, sir. Orders?
Connect the Martian ship.
Hailing them.
And initializing ship-to-ship visuals.
Commander Cassell, this is Captain Pike
of the USS Enterprise.
I should have told you where...
when we're from.
I should have been honest, because then you might have
believed me about everything else.
There are other ways of solving conflict.
I understand how you...
Captain, you have lost crew mates?
- Friends? - Yes. Many.
Imagine those losses a thousandfold.
Imagine a wound on your planet that will never heal.
A memorial to millions of dead etched in rock and blood.
I know you believe that what you're doing is right.
But I have seen a future where species can coexist.
And I have seen one on your computers
where my homeworld is a barren red wasteland.
Can you tell me the Dol'drm are not responsible for that?
No, I can't.
But I can tell you that if you use our technology
to change the future, millions of lives may be lost.
And millions of lives may be saved.
The lives of my people.
Isn't that what a captain does?
Save her people?
Wouldn't you?
She shut off her comms.
And they're not responding to hails.
- Engines? - Half-impulse.
Erica, plot an intercept course.
We're gonna try to stop them from using
- our antimatter. - The only question is,
where are they planning to use it?
They don't have warp. Where is this enemy planet?
Long-range sensors are fully operational.
Extrapolating their course.
They are headed for the fifth planet in the system.
- Jupiter? - No, this planet is much smaller.
Similar to Mars.
At a distance of 480 million kilometers from Sol
and 120 million kilometers from the Martian solar rotation.
But there's no fifth planet like that in our solar system.
The planet is populated by billions of life-forms.
An arachnid species.
That's what we found crashed on Earth, with the iridium.
The fifth planet of our solar system
is the Dol'drm homeworld.
Captain, the Martian warship is approaching
the fifth planet at high impulse.
On screen.
We will be in firing range
of the Martian ship in less than one minute.
Phasers aren't working yet.
We just need to disable
the Martian ship. Can we try a tractor beam?
- There's not enough power at this range. - Photon torpedoes?
We need something.
- Checking. - Captain,
my calculations indicate that if the Martians
detonate our antimatter pod at their current proximity,
they will be unable to escape the explosion.
It's her only way to guarantee a kill shot.
She's gonna sacrifice her ship and her crew
to destroy the planet.
Captain, I think we have enough power
- to fire one photon torpedo. - As soon as we're in range.
The Martian ship just activated
a missile launcher.
They have deployed the antimatter.
Can we shoot it down without detonating it?
Yes, but we're still not in range.
Spock, how long to impact?
- 30 seconds. - Erica,
give it everything you've got. Push it right to the edge.
- We have to get in range. - Aye, sir.
Come on, baby. You've got this.
- 20 seconds to impact. - Erica?
Pegging the red line, sir.
There's a reason for those lights.
- Shut them off, Scotty. - Sir, we're in range.
Locking photon torpedo on target.
- 12 seconds to impact. - Target locked.
We've got it, sir.
Captain.
Fire, sir?
Do not fire. Repeat, do not fire.
- But, sir... - Captain, that planet's about to be destroyed
by our technology.
Our future's at stake. We must fire.
You heard my order. Hold fire, stand down photon torpedo.
Chris, our future notwithstanding,
we can't just sit here and let that entire planet be destroyed.
In our future...
there is no fifth planet.
Three seconds.
Two. One.
I'm sorry.
That blast wave's gonna hit us.
But I think I can outrun it.
No. We should not run.
We need to head into the blast wave.
Head into that?
You saw what just happened to the Martian ship.
We may be able to use it to send us back to our time.
The antimatter explosion, combined with the explosion
of the planet's core, has created the necessary energy
to free Enterprise from this temporal anchor point,
snapping the quantum entanglement
back to the exact point we came from.
Before the blast wave tears our ship apart?
Unknown.
But it is our only option if we intend to go home.
Erica, come about.
Take us straight into the blast wave.
Spock, if you have any calculations, now's the time.
Helm, come to course 1-4-7, mark 2.
Roger that.
Everybody, hang on to something.
Anything.
Everything.
After running multiple simulations,
I determined that a fragment from the Dol'drm planet
is the Chicxulub asteroid.
Theone that hit Earth
65 million years ago?
And led to the extinction of the dinosaurs.
Does that mean...
Yes.
The remaining debris, less than four percent
of the planet's original mass,
eventually became part of the asteroid belt
as we have come to know it.
Furthermore, the absence of the planet
caused a gravimetric shift in the system,
moving Mars further from the sun.
Its atmosphere cooled to become the Mars we know today.
Earth also cooled, ushering in the Cenozoic Era,
and eventually...
The evolution of humanity.
Even I remember a part of that.
So, we only exist
because of what we did?
I think we might exist because of what we didn't do.
The Martians had to take our weapons.
And we had to let them destroy the Dol'drm planet.
Because they always have.
We were always there.
So we were never in danger of changing anything?
O-Or were we?
What about Commander Cassell?
Did she destroy her own planet?
I think...
we could all use a night off.
Yeah, I heard it.
Let's go before he changes his mind.
You're all dismissed.
Thank you.
Commander Cassell.
She just wanted to save her own people.
I would have done exactly the same thing.
And now they're all gone,
without a trace of their ever having existed.
Not entirely.
I ran Cassell's DNA through our database.
It appears that Martian DNA is present
in innumerable species throughout the galaxy.
They escaped?
Some, at least.
The commander may not have survived,
but her people did.
And the Dol'drm?
If their planet had remained in the system,
entire histories would be erased.
Trillions of lives.
Evolutions undone.
Yeah, but...
I didn't know that in the moment that I made that call.
It was a hunch... it was a good one, but...
but I had no data.
You, more than anyone that I know,
have thought about the past and the future a great deal.
But most of us live in the now.
I guess...
never slowing down, never stopping...
it's been quieter than being in my head.
A bit of unsolicited advice.
Find a way to make peace with both.
A Princess of Mars.
Who knew that book would be so prophetic?
"I have ever been prone to seek adventure
"and to investigate and experiment,
where wiser men would have left well enough alone."
Love this book.
My father... he-he always laughed at the idea
of Martians existing before Federation terraforming.
If I could just go back and tell him now.
I think one time-travel adventure a day is enough.
And this one needs to stay a secret.
Thought you'd say that.
Well, if it were up to me, everyone would know
that the Enterprise was responsible
for humanity's origin.
But the Federation Council might want us to pause
before we rush in to amend history books.
So, what do we say?
The truth.
We lost contact with your ship for a few moments.
Then the solar storm collapsed, exploded and vanished.
By the time the ensuing gamma-ray burst had dissipated,
communication with the Enterprise was reestablished.
And what about...
us answering our own Mayday
from a subspace buoy we deployed 65 million years ago?
One sent here by a storm that we created
after it sent us back in time.
Chris,
everything happened as it was meant to.
That much is clear.
So don't overthink it.
What about the promotion?
Had any time to consider?
Yeah.
I saw the past, present and future
in a way that I never thought possible.
I want to focus on my now,
and that's here with Enterprise.
I'm not ready for the promotion.
But...
I know someone else who is.
I... That's...
Chris.
You don't have to say anything.
So I'll say it.
To Commander Una Chin-Riley.
Congratulations on your promotion.
You more than deserve it.
One step closer to captain
and your own starship.
Cadet.
I wanted to see how you're feeling
after your first real adventure on the Enterprise.
I have learned that Starfleet is not what I expected.
It can surprise you.
My family was disappointed that I was not placed
at the Vulcan Science Academy.
I thought this would be a good alternative.
Well, it very well could be.
It is not.
I now understand why my parents were disappointed.
This is a chaotic place.
It likely helps that Spock is part human.
I, however, am not.
Thank you for your questions, Ensign,
but any further are not necessary.
Honestly?
She might just be very Vulcan.
That's all.
It's gonna be a long year.
Come on. La'An and Una and I are gonna talk about dinosaurs.
Way more worth your time.
Scotty.
Are you gonna...
Say sorry?
You wrench jockeys are kind of sensitive, aren't you?
Frickin' engineers.
Bloody pilots.
So...
are you guys gonna tell us about the dinosaurs?
Yeah.
Come on.
It was... something.
We've seen a lot of strange new worlds,
but we'll never see something like this again.
Captioning sponsored by CBS.
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org