Star Trek: Discovery

Previously on Star Trek: Discovery...

These experiences I've had,

and now we're on this quest

to find the thing that created us.

- But Paul... - Hates the unknown.

And we've always been able to find answers together.

I don't know how to talk to him about this.

- It's a time bug. - They're designed

to paralyze an enemy ship

by randomly cycling them through time.

The whole point is to keep us stuck.

Adira, the time bug wasn't your fault.

Well, I brought it on board, didn't I?

Two signatures on the bridge, that's you and me.

Three from sickbay. That's moll and I'ak and the clue.

They found it.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

Get away from us.

- Captain? - System shows

it's a terran warp pod. Two life signs,

sickbay equipment. It's got to be

- a life-support system. - It's moll and I'ak.

We'll find them.

They left a warp signature.

We'll track it.

Paul is prepping to do a full chemical analysis

of this vial.

And then we'll have our next stop.

You think the scientists designed these clues

to mock you when you can't figure them out?

- I think this will work. - It better.

This clue's been stalling us for two days.

- Any other tests we can run? - That'll tell us

something different than the

hundred other tests we've already run?

I don't think so.

Vial's composition's

generic, and the water inside remains pure,

inert, distilled, and wet.

Vial's damaged. Maybe there's a piece missing.

Modified spectral analysis reveals the fluid

in this vial to be...

- Still just distilled water. - Damn.

The other clues had words,

had symbols, they had more.

You know, I have reviewed scans from

iss enterprise multiple times.

There was never anything else there.

I even tried fabricating the last two pieces

of the map to see what'd happen

when I put them in, and... Let me guess, nothing.

There's no shortcuts here.

We have to solve this clue to find

the next and then the next, and we need all five.

Then somehow you are gonna tell us

where the progenitors' power is.

So keep at it.

If chemistry isn't the solution,

try history, anthropology.

Try planets where distilled water

had cultural or symbolic significance 800 years ago.

And include worlds that had severe droughts

and would have needed rainwater alternatives.

- On it. - Thank you.

I still find it disorienting myself sometimes.

But you get used to it.

Here I was, thinking you were born in here.

We could be at black alert within the hour.

What are our coordinates?

Excuse me?

I assume I'm here because you have a lead

on moll and I'ak.

No. Not yet.

The USS locherer is handling the search.

This is discovery'smission.

Finding the progenitors' technology

is discovery'smission,

and you seem to have your hands full at the moment.

This particular clue... We are a bit stalled.

The scientists who hid the technology's location

each made their own piece of the clue trail in secret.

Stands to reason they would have employed

their respective fields of expertise

in the process, don't you think?

And then knowing

the identity of the vial's creator

might prove useful.

You found the names of the scientists.

I can be resourceful.

I know it's eccentric of me,

but I-I do love the feel of paper.

And this isn't replicated either.

This is a genuine 21st century legal pad.

Where did you even find that?

Like I said, I'm resourceful.

And you have a mission to see to.

Zora, pause the program.

Send a message to Dr. Pollard:

"We might be on to something with this

grief-alleviation therapeutic."

"Brain wave patterning is incredible."

"And this holo of my grandmother is"

"exactly as I remember her."

"Sending over my data in a few minutes."

Zora, start the program again.

No.

Program, check the database.

She should be able to answer that.

We spoke often

about her spiritual feelings and practices.

Of course.

Okay, we haven't yet found clues from Dr. Derex or Dr. Kreel.

For the vial, I'm betting on kreel.

His specialty was designing weather modification towers

to generate rain.

So, we're going to denobula.

Maybe not. Zora, can you confirm,

denobulan weather towers seed clouds

- with silver iodide, right? - Yes, commander.

That is typical of their function

both at present and during Dr. Kreel's time.

All right, so then the water

would be filled with contaminants,

but it's ultra-distilled.

Well, kreel's file also mentioned

he did work in weather technology for other worlds.

If a planet were arid enough...

Then water would have to be extracted from the air

at the molecular level,

which would mean no contaminants whatsoever.

Zora, how many m-class planets

were on denobulan trade routes when this vial was created?

15.

And how many of them were dry enough

that water would need to be harvested

in that particular way?

Only one, captain.

Halem'no.

The planet halem'no.

Long-range scans show a functioning weather tower

of denobulan design.

It manufactures rain,

and it emits a low-grade force field

that shields the planet's only habitable region

from dust storms.

We've been able to confirm that Dr. Kreel

designed the tower, so we believe

the next clue is inside of it.

Why would he make a weather tower look like a mountain?

That's a good question.

Ensign tal, any life signs down there?

Yes. Humanoid.

D-Definitely pre-warp and pre-industrial.

There's no functioning electrical grid,

and geological surveys show

that the storms on the planet have gotten

increasingly more severe over time, so...

Maybe Dr. Kreel installed the tower

as a humanitarian mission

and hid it so not to violate the prime directive?

Makes sense. It's good to see you on the bridge, ensign.

They requested more time up here. I felt they were ready.

Didn't necessarily mean today.

No time like the present.

Okay, so

the prime directive will be a concern for us, too.

We'll need to get in and out without revealing

our technological capabilities.

Can scans help us locate the clue inside of that thing?

No, there is an unusual energy field surrounding the tower.

Won't let me beam you in either.

- Any idea why? - Not yet,

- but we are working on it. - Okay. Well, while they

get to the bottom of that, I will head to the surface

with lieutenant tilly.

We'll have to get inside

of that tower before moll and I'ak make their next move.

Commander asha, get us as close to the planet

as you can without the ship being seen.

- Aye, captain. - You have the conn, rayner.

Aye, captain.

Let's get to it.

Come.

Look. The whistling.

It's a component of their language.

Zora, can you play what they're saying in federation standard?

Hello? Is someone there?

- I am, my good compeer. - Are you hurt?

No, but I am very thirsty.

There is water for you here.

Why would they speak in whistles?

They don't always.

They have a phonetic language for day-to-day interactions,

but the whistle-speak

lets them communicate across great distances.

It's not uncommon to find in cultures

before communication technology evolves.

You can learn so much about a society

by the way the individuals speak to one another.

Like the halem'nites.