The Enterprise crew has visitors — two Retellian cargo pilots, Firek Goff and Firek Plinn, need help repairing their life support systems. The pair explains that they have been hired to return a young woman to her homeworld. Because of their limited resources and the length of the trip, they are transporting her in stasis. A few days ago, her stasis pod began to malfunction. The crew cannot support a passenger out of stasis, so they need Trip's help repairing their systems. Firek Goff refuses Archer's offer to help them transport their passenger more quickly, but he does accept the captain's offer of a meal.

Trip, meanwhile, brings some equipment over from Enterprise and starts working. He finds himself intrigued by the woman in the stasis pod, and is surprised when she suddenly awakens. Goff and Plinn are signaled that the pod has malfunctioned, and Goff heads back to the ship. As Trip frees the woman from stasis, he notices that her wrists are bound — she is a prisoner, not a passenger. As Trip reacts, Goff attacks him, rendering him unconscious. Goff alerts Plinn to the chaos, but Plinn is caught by Reed before he can make it back to the ship, and Goff escapes with the mysterious woman and Trip in tow.

While Archer sets out after the ship, Goff orders Trip to repair the stasis pod. Trip knows that he's expendable once the repairs are finished, so he attempts to figure out an escape route. Unfortunately, he's having trouble understanding the alien woman, whose name is Kaitaama. He eventually locates the universal translator and the two are able to communicate, but Kaitaama is very combative. As royalty from Krios Prime, she treats him like a subject, ordering him around and questioning his methods. Trip doesn't much like this, but urges Kaitamma to escape with him. She's resistant, but finally agrees, and the two set out in the cargo ship's escape pod. After a turbulent ride, Trip finally locates a humid, swamp-like planet, and they land.

Back on Enterprise, Archer and T'Pol come up with a ruse to trick Plinn into giving them information, so that they might be able to track down Trip. Archer informs Plinn that he will face a harsh tribunal with T'Pol at the helm. He implies that T'Pol is very strict, and fond of handing down extreme sentences. Terrified, Plinn reveals the information they need to find Trip.

Meanwhile, Trip and Kaitaama have set up camp on the planet, but they can't seem to stop bickering. Despite this, there is a definite undercurrent of sexual tension between them. When their fighting finally comes to a head, Kaitaama suddenly pulls Trip to her, giving him a passionate kiss. Trip, in turn, kisses her back. Later on, Goff tracks them down, but they manage to trick him and render him unconscious. Moments later, Archer, T'Pol and Reed show up as well.

Back on Enterprise, a Krios ship shows up to take the prisoners into custody and return Kaitaama to her home planet. Trip ponders visiting Kaitaama, but notes that her family probably wouldn't like it. She agrees, but playfully notes that someday she'll have the authority to change the rules. Intrigued, Trip bids her farewell.

Cast:

Scott Bakula as Captain Jonathan Archer
Connor Trinneer as Chief Engineer Charles Tucker III
Jolene Blalock as Sub-commander T'Pol
Dominic Keating as Lt. Malcolm Reed
Anthony Montgomery as Ensign Travis Mayweather
Linda Park as Ensign Hoshi Sato
John Billingsley as Dr. Phlox

Guest Cast:

Padma Lakshmi as Kaitaama
Leland Crooke as Firek Plinn
Scott Klace as Firek Goff

Creative staff:

Director: David Livingston
Story By: Rick Berman and Brannon Braga
Teleplay By: David A. Goodman