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A rash of odd malfunctions are afflicting the Enterprise
NX-01, such as a gravity outage while Captain Archer is showering. Chief
Engineer Tucker determines that the ship's plasma exhaust flow is being
restricted for some unknown reason. When Archer orders Lt. Reed to ignite the
plasma exhaust, they discover a cloaked alien ship riding between the ship's
nacelles. Archer hails the "hitchhikers" and learns their engines are
malfunctioning and they've been using Enterprise's exhaust to replenish
them. Archer offers to help them with repairs, so Tucker prepares for a
three-day away mission on the disabled ship. Tucker has to undergo a very
uncomfortable three-hour decompression and acclimation process, and when he
enters the Xyrillian ship, he is faced with a disorienting visual and auditory
experience — the walls are glowing with bioluminescent moss, the consoles
operate with viscous fluids and electrical arcs, there's an aquarium holding
hundreds of undulating eels, and the Xyrillians themselves glisten with moist,
scaly skin. Tucker insists on going straight to work in their engine room, but
he has a very hard time adjusting to the environment. After finally agreeing to
get some rest, Tucker starts to enjoy his stay, and develops a flirtatious
friendship with the female engineer, Ah'len. On a break from their repair work,
Ah'len shows Tucker a holographic chamber where she recreates a
three-dimensional landscape of her homeworld. While sitting in a holographic
boat in an exotic ocean, she introduces Tucker to one of their games: they
immerse their hands into a box of granules which begin to glow, enabling them to
read each other's minds.
After helping the Xyrillians get their teraphasic coils
back on line, Tucker returns to Enterprise and the ships go their
separate ways. As Tucker relates his experiences to Reed over lunch, he notices
an unusual growth on his left wrist. He visits Dr. Phlox, who determines the
growth is a nipple and he has an embryo forming in his ribs... Tucker is
pregnant! Tucker insists to Phlox, T'Pol and Archer that he had no sexual
encounters during his stay, but then realizes that the "box of
pebbles" he shared with Ah'len must have inadvertently served as a medium
to transfer genetic material. Phlox says the embryo is actually not his child,
but that he is simply serving as a host, so Tucker hopes the lifeform can be
removed from him and incubated. But Phlox is hesitant to perform any procedure
without learning more about the Xyrillian gestation process, so Archer sets out
to track down the Xyrillian ship, while agreeing to keep Tucker's condition
secret from the rest of the crew.
Days go by as Enterprise looks for the
Xyrillians, and in the meantime the bulge in Tucker's ribcage is growing while
he experiences morning sickness, a ravenous appetite, and severe mood swings,
which baffle his crewmates. After more than a week, Tucker has to face the
possibility that he will have to deliver the baby and care for it. On the
"bright side," Archer points out to Tucker's chagrin that he's making
history with the first interspecies pregnancy involving a human.
Tucker is relieved when the Xyrillians' warp signature
is detected, but upon approach, Enterprise comes face-to-face with a
Klingon battle cruiser. Apparently the Xyrillian ship has malfunctioned again
and they're hiding in the Klingons' plasma wake. Archer hails the Klingons and
informs them about the stealth vessel. The angered Klingons intend to kill the
Xyrillian crew, but Archer tries desperately to talk them out of it. Tucker
steps forward and suggests that the Xyrillian crew would be willing to share
their holographic technology if their lives are spared. The Klingon captain,
Vorok, is enticed, but refuses to let Tucker join them as they board the ship.
Archer then reveals that Tucker has some unfinished business involving a
pregnancy, but Vorok holds firm. Tucker then grits his teeth and shows his
"bulge," revealing he is the one who is pregnant and giving the
Klingons an uproarious laugh.
Tucker and two of the Klingons board the Xyrillian
ship, and after a decompression period, Tucker talks Trena'l, one of their
leaders, into cooperating. Trena'l installs a topographical survey of the
capital city of Kronos into the holographic chamber, allowing the Klingons to
experience a simulation of their homeworld, and agrees to adapt the technology
to the Klingon ship. Meanwhile Ah'len is surprised to learn about Tucker's
pregnancy, unaware such a thing could happen with another species. She scans the
embryo and determines it can still be transferred to another host, and learns
it's a girl.
Captain Vorok informs Archer that the Xyrillians will
soon be free to go, but when Archer extends his friendship to the Klingons,
Vorok issues a stern warning that if they should ever meet again, he will regret
it. On a brighter note, life for Tucker returns to normal again, except for
knowing that he will go down in history as the first human male to become
pregnant.
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