ACT THREE

INT. BRIDGE

T'Pol exits the lift onto the bridge, stopping when she finds Lieutenant O'Malley sitting in the Captain's chair.

T'POL
Where is Captain Archer,
Lieutenant O'Malley?

O'MALLEY
I don't know, ma'am. He hasn't
reported this morning. I've been
trying to hail him, but he's not responding.

T'POL
Resume command, Lieutenant. I'm
going to check his quarters. I'll
report if I find anything.

O'MALLEY
Yes, ma'am.

INT. HALL - MOMENTS LATER

T'Pol comes around the bend to find a small crowd outside Archer's quarters. Hoshi is pounding on the door.

HOSHI
Captain Archer?
(beat)
Captain Archer, open the door. Please!

T'POL
What's wrong?

Hoshi looks up at her.

HOSHI
I don't know. I keep hearing him
screaming about something.

T'Pol steps up to the door and enters the security code. Porthos bolts out the door. Hoshi scoops him up in her arms before he gets away and follows T'Pol into Archer's quarters. T'Pol reaches out, turning on the lights. Archer is crouched in the corner, holding his arms. He's muttering incoherently and shivering. T'Pol turns and taps the companel.

T'POL
T'Pol to Doctor Phlox.

PHLOX' COM VOICE

Phlox here.

T'POL
Captain Archer has succumbed to
hallucinations. Report to his
quarters immediately.

T'Pol walks over and crouches down in front of Archer.

T'POL
Captain, can you hear me?

Archer doesn't respond. Reed pushes through the crowd into Archer's quarters, crouching down on Archer's other side.

Hoshi sits down on the bed with Porthos, hugging him to her and talking quietly to him. She hears something hit the floor and looks down, but sees nothing.

The MARBLE rolls along the bed, hits a corner and rolls out the open door unnoticed.

INT. HALL

It rolls down the hall, bouncing over a small bump. Ensign Cutler spots it and crouches to catch it. She looks it over as she walks down the hall.

CUT TO:

INT. SICKBAY

Phlox is making Cutler comfortable. She is ranting about not wanting to fall from some great height. Phlox bumps her hand and hears something clatter to the floor. He turns, spotting the MARBLE rolling away. He catches it and holds it up. Phlox smiles.

PHLOX
Humans and their sentimental bits.

Phlox's smile fades when he sees a separation line along the hemisphere of the MARBLE. He holds it up, looking closer at the marble. He takes a hold of both halves, turning them. His excellent vision sees a tiny needle flash out, prick his skin and disappear inside. Seconds later he finds himself standing over a patient in a surgery room.

INT. SURGICAL ROOM (HALLUCINATION)

Phlox is performing open-heart surgery on a patient. There is a Denobulan nurse assisting him. The door of the room flies open and Phlox looks up. The door is filled with bright light, but no one is standing there.

DENOBULAN NURSE
(panic)
DOCTOR!

Phlox turns his head, seeing he's cut through an artery and the patient is bleeding to death. He begins shouting orders as he works quickly to stop the bleeding.

T'POL (O.C.)
Doctor Phlox.

Phlox continues working feverishly to save the patient.

T'POL (O.C.)
Doctor Phlox, it is a
hallucination. You have not
harmed anyone.

Phlox looks down at the patient under his hands and the blood that has covered everything.

T'POL (O.C.)
Whatever you are seeing, Doctor
Phlox, it is a hallucination. It is not real.

Phlox sits up, finding himself on the Sickbay floor with T'Pol crouched beside him.

INT. SICKBAY

Phlox gets to his feet.

T'POL
What were you hallucinating?

PHLOX
I made a mistake in surgery and
the patient was bleeding to
death. It is perhaps my worst fear.

Phlox suddenly stands, looking around Sickbay.

T'POL
What are you looking for?

PHLOX
A metallic black round item.
Ensign Cutler had it in her hand
when she was brought in and it
dropped out of her hand when I
bumped it. Do you see it?

The two search Sickbay.

T'POL
I do not see the item. Is it important.

PHLOX
I fear it may be very important.

Phlox trots over to a terminal, pulling up a document.

T'POL
Do you need any assistance, Doctor Phlox?

PHLOX
(shakes his head)
No. I have to confirm something.
Thank you Sub-Commander.

T'Pol leaves Sickbay. Phlox quickly scans the screen. Phlox reaches out and taps a companel.

PHLOX
Phlox to Commander Tucker.

TRIP
Tucker here.

PHLOX
Report to Sickbay immediately.

TRIP
I'm on my way.

Phlox grabs a PADD and sets up two chairs at the back of Sickbay. He smiles when Trip walks up to him.

PHLOX
Please, have a seat.

Phlox motions to the chair. Trip sits down.

TRIP
What's wrong?

PHLOX
I need to ask you a couple
questions about your hallucinations.

Trip looks down, his posture tensing.

PHLOX
I need to know what you were doing before the hallucinations started.

Trip is caught off guard.

TRIP
Before they started?

PHLOX
Yes. What were you doing prior to
the onset of the hallucinations?

TRIP
I was on my way to the lab.

PHLOX
Were you doing anything? Talking
to anyone? Thinking about
something in particular? Perhaps
you were carrying something.

Trip thinks about the questions.

TRIP
I had a marble I'd found in
the hall, besides that I can't
think of anything else. Why?

PHLOX
Do you recall what you were doing
with the marble?

Trip leans forward on his legs, looking down.

TRIP
I was tossing it. It reminded me
of a shooter marble.

PHLOX
A shooter marble?

TRIP
(nods)
Yeah. I played marbles a lot as a
kid. We had these big marbles
that we called shooter marbles.
It looked like this one I really
liked. All black with a metallic
shine to it.

MONTAGE – PHLOX INTERVIEWING CREWMEN

Phlox jots notes down and looks up at Hoshi.

PHLOX
And did you notice anything
unusual about this marble?

HOSHI
Other than the color not really.

Phlox jots notes down and returns his gaze to Archer.

PHLOX
Did it do anything unusual? Was
there an odor or make a noise, perhaps?

Archer starts to shake his head but stops. He looks to the side.

ARCHER
Yes. There was. It turned.

Phlox changes screens on the PADD before his next question. He looks up at Cutler sitting across from him in the mess hall.

PHLOX
What turned?

CUTLER
The marble. The two halves turned
and I could have sworn I saw a
needle or something close to it
spring out and prick my skin.

The companel next to Phlox beeps. Phlox jots notes down.

END MONTAGE

INT. SICKBAY

He looks up at Archer.

PHLOX
Captain, you need to ask Hoshi to
alert the crew to this marble
looking device.

ARCHER
You think that's what's causing it?

The companel beeps again.

PHLOX
I have had twelve cases in the
last twenty-six hours, Captain.
Every single one remembers this
marble. Yes. I believe it is.

ARCHER
I'll have her alert the crew.

Phlox waits for Archer to leave before answering the companel.

PHLOX
Phlox here.

NOVAKOVICH'S COM VOICE
Doc, get down to astrometrics
fast! T'Pol's lost it!

Phlox grabs a case and leaves Sickbay at a run.

CUT TO:

INT. ENEMY SHIP (HALLUCINATION)

T'Pol is backing away from alien strangers. She swings her fists at them to ward them off. They move away from her, but do not stop advancing on her.

PHLOX (O.C.)
T'Pol.

T'Pol searches for Phlox's face, but there is no familiar face among those in front of her.

T'POL
Doctor Phlox?

PHLOX (O.C.)
T'Pol, I need you to--

T'Pol can't hear the rest of what he says. It becomes muted and distorted. The faces wave as if standing behind heat waves coming off of sand.

PHLOX (O.C.)
We're going to have to hold her
down. I have to get this in her
neck and she's going to fight.

T'POL
DOCTOR PHLOX!

The aliens attack T'Pol, pinning her to the ground. She savagely fights back, clawing and striking out at all of them. She manages to get lose and gets to her feet. She backs into a wall and spins.

EXT. BARREN LAND (HALLUCINATION)

The land is barren of even brush. It's a wasteland with blowing dirt and sand, high plateaus and deep canyons. The sky is a strange color.

T'POL
HELLO!

There is no reply or echo.

T'POL (V.O.)
You're alone. You're all alone.

Something throws T'Pol to the ground from behind. She turns, finding the aliens again.

INT. ENEMY SHIP (HALLUCINATION)

In an instant T'Pol becomes aggressive, screaming at her attackers in Vulcan. One jabs something against her neck and she loses consciousness.

INT. ASTROMETRICS LAB

Phlox, Ensign NOVAKOVICH and five other crewmen are slowly and painfully move away from an unconscious T'Pol. They are all nursing injuries T'Pol inflicted on them.

PHLOX
Did she have a marble before this happened?

NOVAKOVICH
Yeah. She was scanning it before
she lost it.

PHLOX
Do you know where the scanner is
that she was using?

Novakovich gets up and retrieve a broken scanner, handing it to Phlox.

NOVAKOVICH
It was her first weapon. She
knocked Erin out with it.

PHLOX
That won't be of much use. Can
you assist me in getting her to Sickbay?

Novakovich and Phlox pick up T'Pol and carry her.

INT. HALL

The MARBLE bounces along the baseboard, rolling unnoticed past several crewmen.

HOSHI'S COM VOICE
Attention all crewmen. Be on the
lookout for a metallic black marble.

The MARBLE comes to a vent cover and rolls into it. It begins rolling and rattling along the ventilation system, rolling past several vent covers.

HOSHI'S COM VOICE
The device has caused several
crewmembers to hallucinate.

The MARBLE rolls to the edge of a vent cover and for moment teeters back and forth on the edge. Below the vent Reed is sitting at a monitor doing work.

HOSHI'S COM VOICE
Do not handle this device. Alert
Doctor Phlox immediately.

The MARBLE falls over the edge of the vent.

INT. ARMORY

Reed feels something hit his head. Instinctively he catches the MARBLE and closes his hand around it, feeling the two halves move. A second before the onset of his hallucination he drops the marble into his hip pocket.

CUT TO:

INT. SICKBAY - MOMENTS LATER

Two crewmen run in carrying Reed. Reed is screaming and acting as if he's drowning.

Phlox hurries to restrain Reed. He brushes Reed's pocket and hears something hit the floor. He looks down, seeing the MARBLE rolling across the floor.

PHLOX
(to the two crewmen)
Restrain him.

Phlox grabs a Petri dish and a tong like instrument. He follows the MARBLE across Sickbay. It stops rolling and he crouches down, carefully picking it up and placing it in the petri dish. Phlox carries it to a containment unit and places the marble in it.

Phlox walks to a companel and taps it.

PHLOX
Phlox to Commander Tucker.

TRIP
Trip here.

PHLOX
Commander, can you report to
Sickbay. I've found the device
but I think I'll need your
mechanical abilities to pull it apart.

TRIP
Be there in a jiffy, Doc.

Phlox returns to Reed's side. Reed struggles against the restraints, screaming for someone to help him. Phlox looks up, watching Hoshi and Archer walk in. Hoshi walks up to Reed's bedside, taking his hand and reassures him that everything will be all right. Archer stays out of Phlox's way, but remains close by.

FADE OUT.

END OF ACT THREE