The Breach ( episode ) While " Enterprise " rescues three Denobulan scientists from a planet under a new xenophobic government , Dr . Phlox must treat a patient with racist views against his people . Summary . Teaser . While Ensign Hoshi Sato is visiting Doctor Phlox in sickbay , he hands a tribble to her to hold for a moment , then takes it away from her and feeds the tribble , much to Hoshi ' s dismay , to one of his other animals , though Phlox is oblivious to her distress . Sato leaves him a PADD she brought with her , an urgent transmission from the Denobulan Science Academy , which she intended to deliver to him . Once she leaves , Phlox reads the message and his facial expression grows grave . Act One . Phlox , Captain Archer , Commander , Lieutenant Malcolm Reed and Ensign Travis Mayweather discuss the news in the situation room aboard . The Denobulan Science Academy has asked " Enterprise " to find three of their geologist s in the cave s of , as that planet has a new government which has just declared that all off - worlders must leave the planet within three days . Captain Archer sends Tucker , Reed and Mayweather on the mission to retrieve the Denobulan scientist s . Since Mayweather has some caving experience , Archer asks him to get some gear together . He sends Reed and Tucker with him to comprise the away team . They have three days to find the scientists , or the Xantoran authorities will capture any off - worlders . Archer says if they don ' t find them within 36 hours , they must head back to the ship . On the ground , Mayweather leads the team to the nearest cave entrance from the scientists ' camp site . Despite Reed ' s lack of finding any life signs , they continue and , at one point , rappel down . Meanwhile , " Enterprise " overhears a communication between an alien transport ship and the Xantoras government . They are having critical problems with a reactor leak , but the Xantorans won ' t allow them to land . Archer decides to assist . Phlox manages the multiple patients coming from the ship , though one of the wounded individuals gives him pause . While Archer comes to get an update , he is surprised to find that this patient refuses treatment from Phlox . Act Two . Phlox explains to Archer outside sickbay . The patient is Antaran , the traditional enemy of the Denobulan s with which they fought several wars . There was a lot of " bad blood " despite the last conflict happening 300 years ago . Phlox is adamant about respecting his wishes instead of simply sedating him to treat him . Archer , with the viewpoint of the Hippocratic Oath , orders him to treat the patient , but Phlox refuses , acting under Denobulan medical ethics , must respect the patient ' s wishes . Archer intends to talk to the Antaran , Hudak , to make him aware of his situation and hoping he will allow Phlox to operate . Even if Phlox is able to overcome his first impression , the Antaran refuses to receive medical care from him , even at the expense of his life . Hudak encourages Archer to read about the history for his own context , noting that the Denobula ' s military tactics resulted in 20 million Antaran casualties . Archer does look up the information and then talks to Phlox . Phlox says the situation is complicated , due to the fact that Antarans are raised to fear and hate the Denobulans , and symmetrically , the Denobulans are raised to believe that Antarans are evil . Archer orders him to at least try to change the Antaran ' s mind by proving he is not what his people believe . The away team seems to be making progress when finding some Denobulan equipment containing rock samples on their way down . Eventually , they reach the bottom of their descent and make their way through another tunnel , following interesting geological features for the best chance of finding the scientists . Then , in a cavern with a small ledge , the three make their way carefully along the wall . Reed , in front , loses his balance and the other two follow , being tied together . All three slide several meters toward a very deep hole . Reed and Tucker slide off the edge , but Mayweather catches a crevice with his leg , breaking it but stopping their fall . Act Three . Mayweather is in immense pain as he supports the other two while they try to swing to the wall to get a hold of it and fasten themselves . Tucker , in the middle , barely makes it to the wall and fastens himself when Mayweather lets go of the rope . When they regroup , Tucker confirms the leg is broken with torn ligament s . Mayweather cannot keep up with them , so he stays behind . Back on the " Enterprise " , Phlox goes to monitor the unconscious Antaran . The Antaran wakes and is immediately suspicious of Phlox . Phlox tries to make small talk , but Hudak relentlessly turns his comments against him , accusing him of some motive . Hudak suspects Phlox will kill him , but Phlox denies it and has had enough , going to other side of sickbay . Hudak provokes him , asking if he taught his children to hate Antarans like he was taught as a child . Phlox finally snaps , stating Hudak ' s people are the reason for the continued hostility , not his . Phlox leaves to go to the mess hall to cool down , and soon encounters T ' Pol . He initially turns her away from his table , but then stops himself , asking about the repairs . She asks about the patient , which forces him to say he ' s dying to prove a point . He can understand his patient ' s point of view , through the way he was raised . Phlox did everything possible to prevent his children from having the education he had about Antarrans , to make them embrace other cultures . It becomes clearer why he is so upset by the irrational behavior of his patient . T ' Pol compliments Phlox on his choice of parenting , but Phlox needs to leave . Tucker and Reed must press on , and , after crawling through a particularly tight passage , eventually find the scientists and explain the situation with the Xantorans . However , despite the fact that it was the Denobulan Science Academy that made the order to recall them , the three Denobulans refuse to leave and go about their business . Act Four . Tucker and Reed are emphatic about not leaving without them , as they will be held responsible for not retrieving them . The three , however , are not concerned about the situation on the surface , saying that the government changes often and the situation will probably resolve itself by the time they are done . Also , the Denobulan Science Academy would accept the risk given what they ' ve already achieved . They do admit that Tucker and Reed can be satisfied that they warned them , though . Tucker will not accept this , saying they ' ve risked their lives to get to them , and has to threaten to tie them up and drag them before they finally decide to go . Phlox talks to Hudak again about starting the procedure , and Hudak denies it again . Phlox decides to engage him , then , continuing their discussion earlier . He tells him about his own nightmares through his grandmother ' s stories about Antarans and the opposite way he raised his children , teaching them to judge for themselves . He also reveals that a rift formed with his youngest son , Mettus , who had been seduced by certain Denobulan groups that held on to those " archaic " beliefs . He then challenges Hudak to do the same and accept the treatment to set an example for his children . After some reflection , Hudak finally does , and calls Phlox to say he believes Phlox ' sincerity and accepts treatment . Tucker and Reed follow the scientists through the tight passage earlier , Tucker threatening to shoot again when one of the scientists pauses for another rock sample . Then , the cave rumbles and that gets everyone moving fast . They get to the rope again , and Reed suspects it is weapon s fire . Indeed , the " Enterprise " detects the shooting and Archer hails the governor for answers , since they still have 90 minutes before his deadline . It appears neither his crew nor the Denobulans are the target . The old regime wants to fight back , not accepting the new government . Archer threatens the governor to stop firing or " Enterprise " will fire on his patrols . The governor relents , relieving Tucker and Reed to finish their climbing . Interestingly , the Denobulans can climb the particularly flat wall with great ease on their own with no gear . They retrieve Mayweather and reach the shuttle , with the loss of only a few more samples . They get back to " Enterprise " with a patrol ship on their tail . Archer escorts Hudak to the transport , remarking the unfortunate circumstance that cut off his research . He tells Hudak that the three geologists they came to rescue are also on the transport , and asks if it ' s a problem . Hudak seems to have made clear progress in his perception of the Denobulans , as he is willing to share the same transport if they are . Archer has already talked with them , and they agreed . Late in sickbay , Phlox realizes that indifference to hatred also had its part to play in the continuation of the myths about the Antarans , and , he decides to try once more to reach his son by writing him a letter containing his recent experience . Memorable quotes . " " All it ' s capable of doing , really , is eating and breeding . The problem is they breed " quite " prodigiously . " " " " The last cave I was in had handrails . . . a gift shop , and a snack bar . " " " " Pitons ? " " " " All here . " " " " Ration packs ? " " " " A week ' s worth . " " " " Flex cable ? " " " " Hmm . Five hundred meters . " " " " Waste disposal units . " " " " What are these for ? " " " " We take out " everything " we bring in . " " " " What have you got ? " " " " Nothing but three Humans , one of which is not entirely convinced we ' re going in the right direction . " " " " Ah , make that two . " " " " Isn ' t there a beginners ' cliff we can start on ? " " " " We ' re already behind schedule , ensign . We can ' t have you slowing us down . Thanks for getting us this far . " " " " You ' ll be alright . " " " " Respectfully , sir , it ' s not me that I ' m worried about ! " " " " I have tried to treat you with respect , but I refuse to listen to these insults . " You ' re " the reason we haven ' t been able to put the past behind us . You ' ve kept this hatred alive . No Denobulan would want to be in the same room as you . " " " " If you don ' t start moving in five seconds , I ' m gonna take my phase - pistol and shoot you in the ass ! " " Links and references . References . ankle ; Antaran ; aragonite ; bedside manner ; botyroidal flowstone ; calcite ; childhood ; Denobulan ; Denobulan - Antaran wars ; Denobulan Science Academy ; Denobula ; dermalin gel ; Earth ; flex - cable ; gift shop ; governor ; handrail ; hemostatic scan ; Hippocrates ; imaging chamber ; inaprovaline ; intra - cellular regeneration ; Iota Geminorum IV ; irons ; kilometer ; ligament ; medical book ; medical ethics ; Mettus ; osmotic eel ; outlawed ; piton s ; propaganda ; ration pack s ; rock climbing ; scalpel ; ; Shuttlepod 2 ; snack bar ; speaker ; speleothem s ; spelunking ; tractosite s ; tribble ; warp reactor ; waste disposal unit s ; Xantoras ; Xantoras ( planet ) ; Xantoras military ; Xantoras patrol ship ; xenomythology