Future Tense ( episode ) " Enterprise " finds a small craft – apparently from the future – adrift in space , and both the Suliban and the mysterious Tholians are intent on retrieving it . Summary . Teaser . finds a shipwreck adrift in deep space . Scans indicate no life sign s inside , but T ' Pol says that its hull seems to be scattering " Enterprise " s sensor s . Reed then says that he can ' t read any weapon signature s , indicating that the ship may have been disabled in an accident . Captain Archer orders the vessel to be brought into Launch Bay 2 . After its arrival , neither Reed nor Archer can see anything that makes sense about its design , but T ' Pol finds a hatch , which has been fused shut . Using their weapons , the officers open the small hatch , whereupon entering the captain finds a long - dead corpse . T ' Pol confirms that the corpse is Human . Act One . Phlox confirms that the pilot was a Human male and comments that the " Enterprise " crew are apparently not the first Humans to venture so far into deep space . Archer asks the doctor to perform a DNA test , and to check the Starfleet genetic database to see if there is a match . T ' Pol enters sickbay and says that there are no inhabited systems for several light year s . Archer wonders if this Human could be Zefram Cochrane , who disappeared years before while piloting a one - man vessel . He was rumored to have been testing an experimental warp ship , which would explain how the vessel traveled so far if that is indeed who the occupant is . In the hangar , Reed , Travis Mayweather and are making an analysis . The vessel ' s hull seems to absorb EM radiation , and without the damage it never would have shown up on sensors , suggesting it could be a stealth ship . They eliminate a number of possibilities pertaining to how it could have gotten there , and finally conclude that it may have been taken there in a cargo ship . Tucker also realizes that the ship did not have any apparent power source , engine , or propulsion system . Wanting more information about the mysterious ship , Archer talks with Admiral Forrest , who informs him there have been no new missions to account for it . Forrest skeptically says it could be from the distant Vega colony , and that he ' ll consult the Earth Cargo Authority for more information . Archer tells him his theory that the corpse may be that of Zefram Cochrane , and the admiral says that if so , this could be the solution to the greatest missing person mystery of the century . Continuing their analysis , Tucker and Malcolm Reed find another hatch inside the ship covered by organic circuit s . When they manage to open it , they see a tunnel that leads deep into the vessel , a physically impossible occurrence , because it would mean the ship is " bigger on the inside than it is on the outside " . Once they descended , the officers find a chamber with a wall that has a very faint energy signature . Meanwhile , a Suliban ship drops out of warp . Its captain hails " Enterprise " and claims possession of the vessel . Archer argues that it ' s an Earth spaceship because of its Human pilot , to which the Suliban replies that they don ' t want the corpse , just the vessel . Archer continues to argue with the Suliban , asking why it is so important for them to take a damaged ship . After repeating their demands , the Suliban charge weapons and fire on " Enterprise " . Archer returns fire , while in the launch bay , Reed and Tucker get some kind of box out of the mysterious ship ' s chamber . They immediately realize that " Enterprise " is under attack and get out of the vessel . Tucker tries to contact the bridge , but two cloaked Suliban appear and attack him . Reed gets a phase - pistol and shoots one of them and starts a firefight with the other , who goes to the control room to try to open the launch bay doors . On the bridge , Hoshi Sato is unable to lock out the intruders , but " Enterprise " damages the cargo vessel ' s weapons sufficiently to force them to withdraw , taking the two attackers in the launch bay with them . Act Two . Looking at the box that was found in the mysterious ship , Tucker tells Archer he thinks that it must be very important , since it was heavily shielded , and guesses that it ' s the black box – which could reveal essential intelligence about its builder or why it was there – and it seems to use the same organic circuitry as the rest of the ship . Phlox requests Archer ' s presence immediately in sickbay . Once there , the doctor says that he only managed to find a few undamaged s but enough to make a genetic analysis . The corpse ' s DNA did not match anyone in the Starfleet database , but did show him to be no ordinary Human . Phlox found an unusual deviation in the nucleotide sequence , with a familiar chromosome structure . Further research in the interspecies database revealed that the dead body has Vulcan and nucleotide sequences , along with those of an unknown species . Phlox believes this is the result of several generations of interspecies breeding . Suspecting the Temporal Cold War may be involved , Archer goes with T ' Pol to Crewman ' quarters , where his database from the future is secured . While they search the database , T ' Pol says she finds it unlikely that Vulcans and Humans could reproduce because of their significant biological differences , causing Archer to wonder if a child with Vulcan and Human parents would have pointed ears . Finally they find information about the mysterious ship : its commission date is almost nine hundred years into the future . Archer remembers that Daniels talked about historians from the future who traveled back in time to study the past , which could be what the pilot was doing . The database says the small vessel is powered by a temporal displacement drive , which is probably why the Suliban want it . Archer is concerned that if they get their hands on it , they may use its technology to change the course of the Temporal Cold War . Archer receives a call from the bridge ; another alien vessel is approaching at high warp . Archer and T ' Pol arrive at the bridge , where T ' Pol says she recognizes the vessel as Tholian , an extremely xenophobic race . Reed reports some unusual thermal readings ; the temperature is over two hundred degrees inside the Tholian ship . T ' Pol says they ' re believed to be a non - humanoid species . Archer opens a channel with them and starts to talk but is interrupted by the Tholians who say they were sent to retrieve the vessel . They say it is dangerous to " Enterprise " s crew because of its " temporal radiation " . Archer denies the request and the Tholian ship locks onto " Enterprise " with a tractor beam . The captain tells the Tholians that if they don ' t release " Enterprise " he ' ll destroy the vessel in the launch bay . The Tholian ship withdraws , leaving Archer to wonder if there are others who think they have a claim on the vessel . Act Three . Phlox joins T ' Pol in the mess hall , and delightedly tells her that he ' s found another nucleotide sequence in the pilot ' s genome that appears to be Rigelian . She tells the doctor that the captain asked her to perform a metallurgical analysis of the vessel ' s hull , revealing several unusual alloy s . The doctor comments about Archer ' s theory that the vessel traveled from the future , and he thinks there is a lot of evidence to endorse it . T ' Pol remains skeptical . Phlox remembers the Vulcan Science Directorate has asserted that time travel is impossible , and suggests that after " Enterprise " s findings , they might reconsider their opinion . She replies that the impossibility of time travel is not an opinion , but simple logic . Phlox remembers a time when Denobulan s believed they were the only intelligent species in the galaxy until the B ' Saari made first contact , eventually forcing even the hardened cynics to re - evaluate their beliefs . T ' Pol states that she prefers to embrace logic over surprises . In engineering , Reed and Tucker try to make the mysterious device work . Realizing that it could be from the 31st century , Reed recalls his childhood dream of building a time machine , but Tucker dislikes the idea of knowing the future and rejects the hypothetical invitation to go there . As an example , he asks Reed to consider learning the name of the woman he will marry from a book from the future . When he eventually he married her , would he do it because he loved her or because of the foreknowledge he had received ? Reed thinks that is irrelevant . Finally , Tucker manages to power up the device , and goes to the ship to get some organic circuits to build an interface . In the launch bay , Tucker says that he would like to travel to the past to see the dinosaur s , while Reed says he ' d choose to go to 1588 to witness the defeat of the Spanish Armada . When they open a hatch on the vessel ' s hull , the situation repeats itself : Tucker anticipates Reed ' s choice of destination as 1588 , while Reed has a feeling of repetition . The conversation starts over a third time , and each officer anticipates what the other is about to say . They visit Phlox to see what ' s happening with them , but the doctor can find nothing wrong . T ' Pol says that the craft is emitting some type of high energy particles , which could be the temporal radiation mentioned by the Tholians . Phlox believes there are unlikely to be any lasting effects since the radiation intensity is quite low . Archer orders Launch Bay 2 sealed to prevent more incidents , and learns from Tucker that he was unable to get data from the black box . T ' Pol asks to speak with the captain in private , and she comments that she thinks that it ' s too dangerous to keep the craft with them , since they ' ve been attacked by two hostile species and the radiation could spread to other sections of the ship . She suggests destroying the vessel . Archer dislikes this option , saying he is tired of the Temporal Cold War interfering in his century , and it ' s time they took a more active role in it . T ' Pol does not fully believe that this war really exists , but even so she comments that they should not become involved . Archer replies that they ' ve been involved since they left spacedock . He also remembers that Daniels told him that there were other factions in this conflict , and wonders if the Tholians are working with one of them . T ' Pol thinks that Archer ' s curiosity is placing " Enterprise " in an unnecessary danger , but he has already made his decision , saying that this situation is an important opportunity to gather information . She leaves the ready room but advises Archer to put the ship on tactical alert . Archer enters engineering to see what Tucker has learned about the device . Tucker says that it is not a black box or some kind of data - storage matrix , but that it started to generate a subspace signature working like an emergency signal . T ' Pol informs them that there are several Suliban vessels approaching . On the bridge , T ' Pol alerts them that the ships will be within weapons range soon . Archer orders the ship to go to maximum warp , but the Suliban match speed . With less than three minutes to the rendezvous with " Tal ' Kir " , the captain tries to contact the Vulcans , but Sato gets no response . Instead , the Suliban hail " Enterprise " and tell them to prepare to be boarded . Archer tells them that there is a Vulcan combat cruiser nearby and that if they do not stop bothering " Enterprise " , they will have one more enemy . The Suliban commanding officer doesn ' t believe that the Vulcans would defend an Earth vessel and starts to fire , trying to blast the launch bay doors . " Enterprise " drops out of warp near the rendezvous point , where they see the " Tal ' Kir " almost destroyed by Tholian vessels , which see " Enterprise " as it approaches . Act Four . " Enterprise " tries to escape the Tholian ships , but they all fire together disabling the warp engines , weapons , and hull plating . The cell ships drop out of warp and start a firefight with the other aliens . Archer asks Tucker about the warp engines and is told that it will take a few hours to fix them all ; the weapons have also been rendered inoperable by scrambled power relay s . Archer orders Tucker to bring the mysterious device online , believing its subspace signature could bring the future vessel ' s builders to help " Enterprise " . T ' Pol thinks that even if the captain is right , it is unlikely that aid will arrive in time . He asks Reed to get a torpedo and send it to the launch bay where he is going . Once there , Archer and Reed try to remove a warhead from the torpedo to destroy the future craft . T ' Pol informs the captain that the Suliban are losing the battle , with more than half of their ships already destroyed , and that there is not much time left . When they finally remove the warhead , time repeats itself just as it did with Tucker and Reed earlier , and he tries to remove it once again . Although time repeats itself in the launch bay , it does not outside , where all the Suliban ships are defeated , and the Tholians hail T ' Pol asking once more for the vessel . She tries to delay them , but their ships dock with " Enterprise " . Security teams go there as the Tholians try to blast the doors . Meanwhile , Tucker manages to get the future device online . Despite the time loops , Archer puts the warhead onto the ship and opens the launch bay doors , dropping it into open space . A Tholian ship locks onto it with a tractor beam . Reed tries to detonate the warhead , but the Tholians quickly neutralize it . In engineering , the future device disappears in front of Tucker , along with the corpse in sickbay , and the vessel itself . The Tholian ships withdraw , causing Archer to wonder why they didn ' t continue the fight . With the battle ended , Archer asks about the " Tal ' Kir " s status . Their warp engine is damaged , but the life support is stable , and he prepares a to help the Vulcans . The captain still doesn ' t believe what happened . Tucker , T ' Pol , and Archer are dining , and Tucker says that he wishes he had had more time to explore the future ship , wondering how many rooms could be down in the ship . It appears everything was sent back to the 31st century , but T ' Pol says there is no evidence to support that view . Tucker replies that there is no evidence to contradict it either , but he still does not understand how quickly everything disappeared , since the device was online for less than a minute . Archer says that time is irrelevant to these people as , if it were from the future , whoever sent it had plenty of time to locate the signal and then travel back to any point in time to retrieve it . Tucker leaves and , alone with T ' Pol , the captain says that he will make contact with the Vulcan High Command to apologize for the trouble to " Tal ' Kir " and thank them for the help . T ' Pol thinks that the gesture will be appreciated and , before leaving , she says that the High Command asked her to prepare a report about this incident with his permission . Archer gives it , and wonders what the High Command will make of Vulcans and Humans exchanging chromosomes some day . T ' Pol dryly says they ' re probably more likely to believe in time travel . Memorable quotes . " " There ' s no windows . I ' m not sure whether this end ' s the bow or the stern . " " " " Apparently , you ' re not the first Humans out this far . " " " " Whoever this is , he ' s rewritten our history books . " " " " How did this thing make it into deep space without an engine ? " " " " A hundred light years from Earth , you might have solved the greatest missing person case of the century ! " " " " It ' s unlikely we could reproduce . . . Humans and Vulcans . " " " " If a Human and a Vulcan did have a child , I wonder if he ' d have pointed ears ? " " " " I ' m tired of these factions interfering with our century . " " " " GIVE US THE VESSEL ! " " " " What did he say ? " " " " I don ' t know , but I don ' t think he was paying you a compliment . " " " " When I was young , I always wanted to build a time machine . . . see the future . " " " " You ' re probably the kind of person who jumps to the end of a book before you read it . " " " " I wonder if they ' ll [ The Vulcan Science Directorate ] believe that Humans and Vulcans will be . . . swapping chromosomes one day ? " " " " They ' re more likely to believe in time travel . " " " " If I have a chance to see the past , I ' d jump at it . " " " " I found another nucleotide sequence in the pilot ' s genome ! It appears to be Rigelian . That corpse is FULL of surprises ! " " Links and references . References . 1588 ; 2003 ; 31st century ; antimatter injector ; B ' Saari ; biomatter ; black box ; ; cargo hauler ; cloaking device ; chromosome ; ; Cochrane family ; Cochrane ' s ship ; combat ship ; ; ; Daniels ' database ; data storage matrix ; Denobulan s ; ; Earth Cargo Authority ; EM radiation ; emergency beacon ; engineer ; England ; escape pod ; exhaust port ; first contact ; genetic analysis ; genetic profile ; gesture ; great - grandparent ; herbivore ; hitchhiking ; hologram ; hyperspanner ; interspecies database ; kilometer ; Klingon Bird - of - Prey ; Krenim warship ; logic ; metallurgical analysis ; micro - caliper ; microcellular scan ; micro - transmitter ; missing person ; Milky Way Galaxy ; non - humanoid species ; ; nucleotide sequence ; ; organic circuitry ; plasma exhaust port ; power grid ; power module ; power relay ; propulsion system ; Reed family ; Rigelian ; Silik ; Spacedock ; Spanish Armada ; spanner ; spatial geometry ; stealth ship ; " Stegosaurus " ; subspace signature ; Suliban ; Suliban Cabal ; Suliban cell ship ( cylindrical ) ; Suliban cell ship ( spherical ) ; Suliban freighter ; ; " Tal ' Kir " ; Temporal Cold War ; temporal displacement drive ; temporal radiation ; ; Tholian s ; Tholian Assembly ; Tholian language ; ; thruster quad ; time travel ; ; tractor beam ; Vega colony ; Vulcan ; Vulcan combat cruiser ; Vulcan High Command ; Vulcan Science Directorate ; Vulcan transport ; warp reactor ; warp ship ; xenophobic Daniels ' database . abortion ; Aeroshuttle ; Africa ; AIDS ; ; ; ; ; ; Iraq ; ; " Mir " ; ; ; retrofitted dorsal carrier ; space shuttle orbiter ; State of the Union Address ; ; ; Time travel pod ;