Star Trek: Discovery

Previously on Star Trek: Discovery...

All those in favor of peaceful efforts

at first contact, please raise a hand.

Those in favor of striking the anomaly, do not.

Why do you care so much about this?

The power source that controls the device,

I need it to go home.

We have received word that the DMA is now days away

from Ni'Var, Titan and Earth.

- What happens now? - We're fast-tracking the first contact mission.

Whatever we think we know about Species Ten-C, we're wrong.

However we think first contact will go, it won't.

So that's the hyperfield.

There is a planet about two light-years away from it.

I really think we should check it out once we get closer.

What do you think we'll find?

I have no idea.

Captain's log, stardate 865783.7.

We have less than 29 hours before United Earth and Ni'Var

start getting hit by debris from the DMA.

29 hours, billions of lives.

Until I figure out how to get us in front of the Ten-C,

there is nothing we can do to stop this.

They live inside of a hyperfield,

and right now I have no idea how to get in,

what we'll find once we do, how to communicate with them,

what they even look like.

As a xenoanthropologist, I've never had less to work with.

And as a captain, I have never been more afraid.

Our only hope is the dead planet we're orbiting right now.

It was a gas giant until a series of massive asteroids hit

and burned the gas away.

Its star is surrounded by Dyson rings

made from the same rare material as the DMA controller,

and my gut tells me there has to be a connection.

That this planet must have been the Ten-C's home at some point.

And the ruins down there can tell us how they lived,

what's important to them.

Cultural context, a way to begin communicating.

If I'm wrong, we'll have no way

to make up the time we spend down there.

And the DMA will be that much closer to our homes.

Hey, um, fly good.

You got it.

But if I'm right, and something we find can help us

connect with the Ten-C, then maybe we have a shot

at stopping this before it's too late.

I have to be right.

I have to.

Scan it again.

- There has to be a way in. - A new scan won't tell us

anything the last dozen hasn't.

Any chance the DMA could be powered from somewhere else?

No.

We get in, we find the power source, we shut it down.

Everybody wins.

We just need to get in.

If I know Michael, she'll find a way

into the hyperfield before we do.

Kick me while I'm down, why don't you?

Maybe if we stay cloaked

and keep close to Discovery, we can slip in behind them.

I'll go one better: we hitch a ride with Discovery.

There's an animal on Kwejian...

Uh, was an animal.

- The Kowolian nightsprey. - Mm-hmm.

To survive, it nested on the back of a jajtspat.

So we attach like a parasite. Yeah, that's a good idea.

No. Not like a parasite.

The nightsprey takes nothing, brings no harm.

The jajtspat can't even tell it's there.

It's a tonal difference, I get it, but still,

it's probably safe to assume the jajtspat

didn't have a sentient supercomputer

monitoring all of its perimeters.

- You don't seem worried. - Oh, there's nothing I love

more than a problem to solve.

Okay.

I can create a patch.

It'll numb the sensors on a section

of Discovery's hull, just big enough to attach your ship

- without Zora realizing it. - Like a blind spot.

Well, with Zora's new sentience, she'll pick up on it eventually,

but with any luck, we'll have nightspreyed ourselves

into the hyperfield before that happens.

- There's just one catch. - I don't like the sound of that.

Well, you're not gonna like this, either.

Patch has to be installed manually.

You want to go on board?

No, in fact, that's the last thing I want to do.

But the access point I need is in Engineering.

I'm going with you.

I can move faster on my own.

You don't know the ship half as well as I do.

And what if you see Michael?

One wrong move, and it's over for both of us.

We're doing this together, okay?

End of story.

Captain.

When we agreed to survey the planet,

I didn't expect Discovery would be losing her captain

and her first officer.

Nilsson has the conn; you are in excellent hands.

I'm sure we are.

And while a xenoanthropologist

is understandably the best choice to lead this mission,

is Captain Saru's presence truly necessary?

Mr. Saru can speak over a hundred languages

and his sensory capabilities dwarf ours.

He might see something that I can't.

And every minute that we spend on that planet,

the DMA is that much closer to killing billions.

I have to make that time count.

Understood.

What about the others?

Do they understand?

As you said, a lot at stake here.

Madam President,

General, Doctor.

- I appreciate you seeing us off. Captain.

I cannot express a greater need for urgency

than you must already feel.

Please, all of you, travel safely.

May you find answers, in whatever form they take,

and quickly.

In other words, make the trip count;

don't screw it up.

Captain Burnham,

I must voice my dismay at this decision.

We left delegates behind because time is of the essence.

On behalf of the citizens of United Earth,

whose lives are in danger in this very moment,

I ask that you reconsider, so that we might better commit

the precious time that they have left

to actually attempting to communicate with the Ten-C.

We have much to convey,

and no idea how long it will take to do so.

I hear you, General.

I do.

Both Earth and Ni'Var

are home to me.

Whatever we might find down on that planet,

it could cut our communication time in half.

"Might." "Could."

This is quite the gamble for so much uncertainty.

I am certain that first contact will not go well

if we show up to the Ten-C knowing nothing about them.

I will find something down there.

I promise.

We ready?

- Aye, Captain. - Aye, Captain.

Captain Burnham?

Good luck.

[original Star Trek theme plays]

Disco Zero Nine to Discovery,

we're about to enter the ionosphere.

Losing comms from there.

Understood, Commander.

Good luck. Hope you find what you're looking for.

Protective shielding deployed.

It's good to know that the laws of physics

still apply outside of our galaxy.

Hang on. Ride'll smooth out in a minute.

Scans show numerous impact craters,

presumably caused by the asteroids.

Uh, based on the rate of atmospheric dissipation,

these would have occurred approximately 1,000 years ago.

Around the time the hyperfield itself was constructed.

Well, that makes sense. Given how advanced they are,

the Ten-C would've had some idea

of what was coming and evacuated beforehand.

Take a look at these ruins.

The way the buildings have collapsed.

I cannot think of any materials

that could withstand the extreme pressures

at the core of a gas giant. It seems rather impossible

for biological entities, as well.

The Ten-C must've lived in the gas layers.

But how?

They must be unlike any species we've ever encountered.

Well, there has to be something down there

to help us communicate with them.

Oh, one structure looks like it's still intact.

Perhaps it was reinforced in some way?

- But why? - We're about to find out.

Any life signs?

None whatsoever.

One less thing to worry about.

Oh, well, apologies. I-I should have clarified.

I do not read any life signs, including ours.

So we might not be alone.

Make sure they're set to stun.

We're under attack! Take cover!

Oh.

- Mr. Saru. It's okay. -

- - Breathe.

- - Are you all right?

I... I am fine. Just, uh...

disoriented.

- Are you sure? - I said I am fine, Commander.