Minefield ( episode ) " Enterprise " strays into a Romulan minefield and is disabled by a cloaked mine . While deactivating another mine , Reed gets pinned to the ship ' s hull . Summary . Teaser . Captain Archer invites Lieutenant Reed to breakfast , hoping to become better acquainted with his armory officer . Reed , however , seems nervous and reluctant to discuss anything other than work . He brings up the World Cup , but Reed isn ' t a fan of soccer or any other sport . Just as Archer is getting frustrated , T ' Pol alerts him that an uncharted system has been detected and one of the planet s is Minshara class . As enters the planet ' s orbit , it is rocked by massive explosions , rocking the bridge and damaging sections of the ship and injuring several crewmembers . Act One . A mad dash for information occurs . Reed reports a thermokinetic explosion in the front of the ship , breaching C and D deck , but can ' t tell if anyone died . Hoshi Sato is unconscious , but alive and 17 other injuries are reported . Sickbay is flooded and Doctor Phlox gets to work . Soon , Travis Mayweather reports that the ship has been hit by something that has attached itself to the hull . With no life sign s and tricobalt , Reed identifies it as an alien orbital mine , probably the same thing that earlier hit them . Since the mine has the power to disable " Enterprise " , Reed suits up and heads out to defuse it . As he does so , Archer orders the quantum beacon s deployed . T ' Pol eventually confirms there are several more mines cloak ed around them . As Reed approaches the mine and reports as he examines it , enters the bridge to confirm no crew was lost , and that he ' s examined the breached sections . Uncertain that Reed will succeed in his task , Archer suggests an alternate plan to Tucker : detach the section of the hull plating surrounding the mine , allowing it to drift away . Tucker notes that this will take a few hours and will expose a good portion of the impulse manifold , but Archer tells him to get started on it anyway – the captain will consider the plan a last resort . Then , Reed and the " Enterprise " suddenly become aware of a strange alien starship de - cloaking nearby . Act Two . The ship hail s " Enterprise " , but the universal translator can ' t quite get a lock on the strange language , and Sato is out of commission in sickbay . The aliens begin to fire warning shots at " Enterprise " , so Archer orders Travis Mayweather to move them out of harm ' s way – slowly , so as not to injure Reed , who is still hard at work on the hull . Mayweather must also be careful not to collide with any of the other mines in the field . The unknown alien ship cloaks immediately after the " Enterprise " starts to move away from the planet . But Archer still thinks they ' re still out there . Reed begins to make some headway in his efforts to disarm the mine , but just as he ' s making progress , the motion from " Enterprise " jostles the mine . Another landing spike thrusts out of the mine and through Reed ' s leg , pinning him to the ship ' s hull . Hoping to disarm the mine and save his officer , Archer heads out to the hull . With Reed unable to reach the mine , Archer must depend on him for instructions to disable it . Reed thinks it is too dangerous , but Archer insists that he ' s a quick study . Meanwhile , Sato is translating the mysterious alien language from sickbay . The aliens have ordered " Enterprise " to leave immediately or be destroyed – they have annexed the planet in the name of the Romulan Star Empire . Tucker and Sato don ' t know who they are , but T ' Pol corrects Sato ' s pronunciation , revealing she does . Act Three . T ' Pol explains what she knows of the Romulans to the crew , that they are an aggressive , territorial race that the Vulcan High Command has not ever made direct contact with . Archer mentions that he saw a mention of them when he was with Daniels , but only the name . Sato is preparing to be able to compose a response within the hour explaining the crew ' s desperate circumstances . Out on the hull , Archer works painstakingly to deactivate the mine under Reed ' s instruction . During , he also tries to engage Reed in casual conversation to calm himself down , but it doesn ' t seem to calm the armory officer ' s nerves . Rattled , Reed reveals that he doesn ' t believe socializing with superior officers has any place on a starship . Archer , however , points out that the crewmembers all have to depend on one another , and that " Enterprise " s mission is not a typical one . Reed relents and starts to talk about his family history , his attempt to join the Royal Navy and decision to apply for Starfleet . As they continue to talk , it becomes apparent that Reed is prepared to sacrifice himself for the ship , even saying so after telling the story of the . Archer , however , is determined to save both his officer and the " Enterprise " . Just then , Reed and Archer both turn to see two Romulan vessels decloaking behind the " Enterprise " . They hail T ' Pol and , now that they can translate the language , hear the Romulan commander . He insists that " Enterprise " leave immediately , demanding that the ship jettison the section of hull plating . He knows that Reed is trapped outside , but his view is that the loss of a single crewman is insignificant . The Romulan ships then re - cloak . Archer tells T ' Pol he ' s almost done but , complicating things even further , the mine re - arms just as Archer believes he ' s defused it – he is forced to quickly reset it again . Reed ascertains that they will now have to dismantle the entire mine , but there ' s no time . Reed once again volunteers to sacrifice himself . Act Four . Reed is completely convinced he must be sacrificed , saying it will take days to get inside the mine and that the ships will eventually attack the ship . He even goes so far as to disconnect his air supply hose . Archer , however , won ' t have it , and quickly attaches the auxiliary air hose from his own suit to Reed ' s . He then asks how long the mine was armed before he completed the sequence , and how big the mine ' s yield was . Desperate , Archer comes up with one last - ditch plan , and orders two hatches and a plasma torch from Tucker . With that equipment , Archer and Reed braces themselves as Tucker detaches the hull plating . Then Travis Mayweather witnesses two Romulan vessels decloak and Trip warns T ' Pol that the Romulans are charging weapons . As they drift away , Archer uses the torch to free Reed from the hull . As the mine begins to arm itself , Archer and Reed grab their shuttlepod hatches and launch themselves out of harm ' s way . The mine explodes . As the Romulans descend on " Enterprise " , Archer and Reed make it back to the ship just in time for T ' Pol to order the ship to warp speed . " Enterprise " makes a safe getaway as the Romulans do not pursue , and Archer and Reed are left to ponder their ordeal ( it takes the mine 34 seconds to explode ) . Memorable quotes . " " This isn ' t a visit to the principal ' s office , Malcolm . " " " " They missed our starboard nacelle by less than " twenty " meters . " " " " Not a very " subtle " warning shot ! " " " " If you plan to go to warp , sir , you ' ll let me know ? " " " " I ' ll try to remember . " " " " You ' ll have to wait in line for my osmotic eel to cauterize your wound . He ' s getting quite a workout today ! " " " " Thought you might need a hand . " " " " Actually , I ' d prefer a leg . " " " " Please sir , may I have some more ? " " " " So you were saying at breakfast that you didn ' t follow any particular sports ? " " " " Well I haven ' t started following any " since " breakfast , sir . " " " " Frankly , sir from my point of view that kind of socializing has no place on a starship . " " " " I had a C . O . once , felt the same way . ' They ' re your crew , not your friends . ' I thought about that a lot . . . when I took this command but then I realized this is not a typical mission . We could be out here for years . All we have to depend on . . . is each other . " " " " They say they ' ve annexed this planet in the name of something called the . . . ' Romalan Star Empire ' ? . " " " " Romulan . It ' s pronounced ' Romulan ' . " " " " Detach the hull section and leave this system immediately . We will not tolerate espionage ! " " " " Polarize the hull plating . " " " " I ' ll do what I can but keep in mind we ' re missing some of it . " " " " So how long was it ? " " " " I counted 10 seconds . " " " " 10 ? ! It was more like 20 . " " " " Respectfully , sir , it was 10 . " " " " I ' m not going to argue with you , Malcolm . . . It was 20 . . . That ' s an order . " " Deleted scenes . Scene 21 . In the sickbay full of injured crewmen , Ensign Sato tries to stand up , but Dr . Phlox stops her . He tells her that her injuries don ' t appear to be serious , and that the present circumstances should not keep them from continuing their Denobulan lessons . He retakes the class about anatomy , asking how to say " thyroid gland " , " hypothalamus " , and " xiphoid process " . Sato gets the first two right , but makes a mistake on the last one , saying a word that could be misinterpreted as " big toe " . Phlox corrects her and resumes the lesson . Links and references . References . access panel ; amputation ; annexation ; aquaphobia ; arming mechanism ; armory ; armory officer ; asteroid ; bolt - coupling ; boridium ; breakfast ; casualty report ; cauterization ; centimeter ; ; circuit probe ; " Clement " , HMS ; " Clement " crewmembers ; cloaking device ; cloaking system ; concussion ; crewman ; detonation circuit ; duratanium ; duty roster ; eggs Benedict ; emergency bulkhead ; England ; EPS conduit ; EPS grid ; fraternization ; gamma spectrum ; geography ; grappler arm ; great uncle ; hemisphere ; homework ; hull plating ; hyperspanner ; imaging chamber ; impulse manifold ; impulse reactor ; kiloton ; locker room ; magnet ; Malcolm Reed ' s great - uncle ; maneuvering thruster s ; meter ; micrometeorite ; millimeter ; mine ; minefield ; Minshara class ; ordnance training ; past tense ; phase variance ; plasma fire ; plasma vent ; polarized hull plating ; principal ; proximity sensor ; quantum beacon ; Reed family ; roast ; ; ; Romulan mine ; Royal Navy ; sensor log ; ; soccer / football ; standard orbit ; Suliban ; Tanner ; thermokinetic explosion ; torpedo launcher ; translator ; tricobalt explosive ; volcano ; Vulcan High Command ; warning shot ; World Cup