First 'Vanishing Point' Plot Details

See Also: 'Singularity' Episode Guide

Ensign Hoshi Sato will be made to feel very insignificant in the upcoming Enterprise episode 'Vanishing Point', when an apparent transporter accident renders her invisible to everyone onboard.

Sources today revealed the first information for the Enterprise episode with production number 036, likely to be the tenth episode to air this season. While no creative staff or extended plot information is yet available, it can already be revealed that 'Vanishing Point' will place Hoshi Sato in a predicament somewhat similar to that of Geordi LaForge and Ro Laren in The Next Generation's 'The Next Phase.'

In 'Vanishing Point,' the Enterprise arrives at an alien planet. Captain Archer sends down a Shuttlepod to take soil samples and take photographs of the surfaces, but then it turns out the aliens who inhabit the planet don't take too kindly to this, and several hostages are taken. Communications are hindered by the fact it seems impossible for Hoshi to decipher the alien's language. Luckily, eventually these problems seem to be solved, and once Captain Archer agrees to return the soil samples and destroy the photographs the hostages are released again.

Unfortunately, at the same time strange events are happening to Hoshi Sato. First she is told by T'Pol that the alien language, which Hoshi was unable to decipher, was easily cracked by Crewman Baird. T'Pol then asks Hoshi to remain off-duty for the time being, informing her that Crewman Baird has been placed in charge of the communications department. Hoshi is left very puzzled, but in a later scene the audience will likely have the same reaction, as on the bridge Archer and T'Pol seem completely unaware of this order and wonder why Hoshi hasn't gone on-duty yet.

In turn, Hoshi herself is beginning to feel even more insignificant, as all crewmen she passes ignore her, and even the computer refuses to acknowledge her commands. She soon finds out why, when she discovers she can step through walls - she's practically become a ghost, having gained the ability to pass through walls but lost all means of communicating with the world. At the same time, she learns this is the work of the aliens, who are also secretly planting explosives on one of the Enterprise's decks.

The Enterprise crew soon discover Hoshi has disappeared, and they believe this happened as the result of a transporter failure. Archer prepares to contact Hoshi's father via subspace, right as she herself arrives in his ready room to try and warn the Captain the aliens are trying to destroy his ship. As Archer holds a difficult conversation with Hoshi's grief-shaken father, she tries to find a way to transmit a message. Nothing seems to work, until right at the end of the conversation she finds that by thrusting her hand into an electronic device, she can cause a small electrical reaction and make a little blue light blink. With this newfound ability and her own knowledge of Morse code, she tries to catch Archer's attention, hoping she'll be able to get the message through to him before the aliens succeed with their sabotage...

Please keep in mind that the above information is based on an early script of the episode, and may still change as the episode enters production. Also please be aware that Paramount has released no official information about this episode yet, and until that happens, any such information from unofficial sources should be treated as you would any rumour.

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