In a temporal chamber, the Suliban's boss orders a Suliban doctor to remove Silik's enhanced vision as punishment for failing to destabilise the Klingon Empire. Meanwhile, Daniels gives Archer dinner, then they arrive at a stellar nursery, where a transport captain, named Fraddock, explains that there are Borothan pilgrims on board, who plan to see a phenomenon called the Great Plume of Agosoria, which they associate with the beginning of the universe. Archer invites everybody on the ship onboard the Enterprise and Fraddock declines but decides to pass on the message.
Archer, T'Pol, and Trip then greet about twelve guests, one of whom gives them presents. Archer offers them dinner and they explain that they usually fast at this time, but make an exception. They then discuss their religion in the mess hall. On the bridge, Hoshi considers giving the guests a tour, but Malcolm would rather they keep the tactical areas off-limits. Trip, meanwhile, gives some of the aliens a tour of engineering, one of whom turns out to actually be an expert on engineering, and another of whom tampers with the engine.
More aliens are learning about sickbay, when a plasma storm strikes, leading to an antimatter cascade that almost destroys the ship. Luckily, however, the damage suddenly stops despite Trip not having done anything. The aliens leave, bringing Phlox with them so he can visit their ship, and Trip discovers the tampered engine. Believing one of the aliens was responsible, he tells Archer, who tells Fraddock, who questions the other aliens, but nobody comes clean.
Archer exits the ready room and runs into Daniels. Daniels wants to talk to Archer, despite Archer stating that he's busy, and reveals that he believes one of the aliens to be a Suliban. This piques Archer's interest, so Daniels leads him to his quarters, where he reveals that he's from the future, and in fact isn't a Starfleet officer but rather works for an organisation that prevents people from meddling with the timeline. He then explains that a "Temporal Cold War" is taking place, and the 22nd century is important to it. He proves he's from the future by revealing information, then explains that the ship was saved by a Suliban named Silik, who Daniels needs to capture, but he needs Archer's help in tracking Silik.
Archer tells Trip and T'Pol and orders them to cooperate, then Phlox comes back, along with several aliens who want to see the Plume. Archer asks Phlox about the aliens' behaviour, but he saw nothing noteworthy. Meanwhile, Daniels works with Trip and T'Pol with several gadgets, one of them allowing the user to walk through walls.
While Archer is feeding Porthos, Silik appears, having determined that he's being searched for due to detecting tachyon particles, which usually aren't there. He demands to know who's doing the searching, and Archer initially plays dumb, but then Silik claims that Daniels isn't who he seemed to be, the cascade may have been intentional, and he (Silik) saved everyone's lives. T'Pol then reveals that it's Daniels who's looking for Silik, so Silik stuns Archer and leaves.
Daniels detects Suliban lifesigns in engineering, then Trip sees movement around the catwalk and orders everyone but Daniels to evacuate. Silik appears and seemingly blows Daniels up, then Trip calls Archer, but Archer doesn't reply, so Trip calls Phlox to Archer's quarters.
Phlox revives Archer and orders Malcolm to find the intruder, who must still be onboard since Fraddock claims nobody returned. Archer discovers that Silik stole Daniels's "temporal observatory" device, then Trip finds Silik with Daniels's scanning device. Archer pursues Silik and the two men fight, ending with Archer destroying the temporal observatory and Silik cryptically telling Archer that he may have "endangered [his] future". Silik escapes and flies away on his ship, while Archer orders Daniels's quarters locked and his roommate reassigned.
Tropes
- Actor Allusion: Captain Archer meets a man sent back in time to put right what once went wrong.
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: According to Daniels, the Temporal Accords prohibits interference in historical events.
- Ambiguously Human: Implied.Archer: Are you human?
Daniels: More or less. - Bond Villain Stupidity: In a rather bizarre example of You Have Failed Me, the Suliban's benefactor punishes Silik by removing his advanced eyesight.
- Call-Back: Trip isn't impressed by Archer's description of the "temporal observatory," since he's witnessed similar technology on the Xyrillian ship.
- Chekhov's Gun: The hand-held device that Daniels uses to walk through walls makes a comeback when Archer uses it to get the jump on Silik.
- Continuous Decompression: When Silik opens the shuttlebay doors, spacing himself (his enhanced Bizarre Alien Biology allows him to survive in a vacuum for a short time) and almost taking Archer with him. Both Explosive Decompression and Space Is Cold are Averted, although Archer is gasping for breath when he gets to the control room. He also loses the "walk through walls" gadget.
- Famous, Famous, Fictional: Phlox mentions that he spent time studying various religions on Earth, including visiting a Tibetan monastery, attending mass at St. Peter's Square, and partaking in a Vulcan ceremony.
- Fictional Geneva Conventions: According to Daniels, numerous species with time-travel technology agreed to only use it for non-intrusive historical research as per the Temporal Accords. Those who refused to do so are responsible for the Temporal Cold War.
- The Mole: Daniels is a mole from the future to protect Enterprise.
- Negative Space Wedgie: Enterprise flies into a plasma storm that nearly destroys her.
- No MacGuffin, No Winner: Archer shoots the device that Silik is trying to steal.
- Not Now, Kiddo: Archer tries to give Daniels the brush-off until he mentions the Suliban, stopping Archer long enough to hear him out.
- Pre-Mortem One-Liner:Silik: Did they tell you that the 22nd century was going to be your final resting place? (shoots Daniels)
- See the Invisible: Downplayed—Daniels' equipment can detect Silik when he's invisible, but can't give an exact location.
- Show Within a Show: Night of the Killer Androids, the film that was chosen for Enterprise movie night (out of over 50,000 available options). We don't see any footage, but according to Travis, Hoshi (who missed the movie but still knows about it), and Malcolm, it's apparently pretty bad.
- Understatement: When Daniels shows Archer his "temporal observatory".Daniels: I know this must seem a little overwhelming.
Archer: "Overwhelming" doesn't quite cover it. - You Owe Me: Silik saves Enterprise from being destroyed, then demands that Archer repay him by telling him who's after him.
