Episode Synopsis

TREKCORE > ENTERPRISE > EPISODES > OASIS > Synopsis

 OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS from StarTrek.com

Archer, Tucker and T'Pol partake in a spicy dinner with an exotic alien trader named D'Marr, discussing with him their needs for raw materials to patch up Enterprise. In exchange for a few kilograms of an Earth beverage called "coffee," D'Marr reveals the location of an old vessel that crash-landed years ago on a nearby planet, a shipwreck that no one else has salvaged because it's "haunted." The crew locates the derelict ship and goes to take a look, joking that maybe they should calibrate their sensors for ghosts. Breaking into the spooky wreckage, Tucker and T'Pol look for engineering while Archer and Mayweather try to find clues as to what happened to the ship. As Tucker uncovers dilithium crystals he says are in perfect shape, T'Pol sees the reflection of a humanoid figure, who disappears immediately when she turns. T'Pol reports that someone is there, despite the fact that scanners show no bio-signs. She and Tucker spot the figure again and follow him, but find themselves at a dead end. Tucker uses his phase-pistol to cut open the bulkhead, and they discover a lush airponics bay behind it — hidden to their sensors by a dampening field. Exploring the oasis, Tucker is stopped dead in his tracks by an attractive humanoid woman, who immediately rushes away. Tucker and T'Pol chase her into a cargo bay, where they come face to face with 18 aliens pointing weapons at them.

Archer and Mayweather join their crewmates and speak with the Kantare, who inform the team they were a supply ship who came under attack nearly three years ago from unknown assailants and forced to make a crash landing. They didn't send out a distress call for fear the raiders would find them and finish them off, so they opted instead to hide behind the dampening field. Tucker believes he can get their ship flying again, and the Kantare hesitantly agree to the help. While Tucker is working in their engineering section, he is startled once again by the young woman he encountered in the airponics bay, whose name is Liana. She is the daughter of Ezral, the ship's engineer, and she gives Trip some advice about the ship's systems. Her mother, Maya, tries to keep her away from Tucker, but Liana is intent on getting to know the human and learn about his world. As Tucker makes progress on the engines, the ship's captain, Kuulan, asks him and T'Pol to help repair the computer core's optronic relays. Tucker needs to get some diagnostic gear from Enterprise, so he asks Liana to come with him. Her father initially forbids it, but she promises "not to say anything." Meanwhile on the starship, Archer, Reed and Mayweather examine a schematic of the Kantare ship and find discrepancies in their story — for instance, no indications of damage from weapons, and the fact that the airponics bay is not big enough to feed all those people. Archer decides to take a look at a data module they recovered earlier. Tucker is giving Liana a tour of Enterprise when he's called to the captain's ready room. Archer and Reed inform him what they've uncovered: the Kantare ship was brought down not by an attack, but rather an internal malfunction — and it happened nearly 22 years ago! On top of that, they launched several escape pods, and one has been found. Rattled that Liana would be part of such a big lie, Tucker accompanies his fellow officers to the Launch Bay to open the retrieved escape pod, and there he recognizes the desiccated corpse of Shilat, a Kantare he saw alive on the surface just an hour ago.

Archer, Reed and Tucker bring Liana back to the planet and set out to get an explanation. But then the Kantare confront them and confiscate their weapons, demanding that repairs be completed before they'll let Tucker and T'Pol leave. Tucker is forced to work on the optronic relays, held at gunpoint by Shilat. Tucker asks point-blank how a dead man can be guarding him. Liana comes in, orders Shilat to step out and begins to confess the truth. Meanwhile Archer, Reed, Mayweather and a security team embark upon a rescue effort. They invade the derelict ship and get into a firefight with the Kantare, but they are at a disadvantage because the Kantare can appear and disappear at will, and phase-pistol shots pass right through them! Tucker, now knowledgeable of the situation, convinces Liana to stop the firefight. She begins removing datachips from a console, causing each Kantare in turn to shimmer out of existence — except for herself and Ezral.

Ezral confesses to creating holographic versions of his dead crew to provide his daughter with a family to grow up with. He believes himself responsible for the catastrophe that downed their ship, because after an ion storm overloaded the plasma conduits, he left his station to protect his young daughter rather than make repairs, and an explosion resulted, killing half the crew instantly including his wife. He and Liana ultimately were the only survivors, and for years he tried in vain to repair the ship while watching his daughter grow up, so he decided to bring his wife and friends back through holographic technology, and the resulting "oasis" became the only home she's ever known. Archer and Tucker understand his quandary, but they urge Ezral to consider his daughter's best interests, that perhaps this life is not enough for her. Later Ezral visits Archer on Enterprise and, though reluctant to leave the home he created, acknowledges he should stop being so afraid of change, and asks Archer to help him get his ship flying again. Tucker completes repairs and sees Liana off, getting a kiss from her as she looks forward to her new life.