Degra and two Reptillian soldiers are looking at a hologram of the weapon. Degra reports that the prototype is nearly complete, however, the Xindi need a lot of kemocite in order to test it. One soldier says he will notify Gralik, then asks Degra how long until the weapon is tested, and he replies it will be a few weeks. Meanwhile, Archer, T'Pol, and Malcolm discuss the planet Tarquin led them to — it seemingly has no defenses, but produces energy readings. Archer wonders if there is a weapons complex and decides to check out the planet and hide the Enterprise behind a moon just in case there is one and they get into a shuttlepod with Hayes.
When they land, they do indeed find a complex, and go there, where they discover three Xindi of a species they've never seen before, the Arboreals. Archer reports to T'Pol, who offers to dispatch an assault team, but Archer isn't ready to "send in the troops" and tells her to keep the com line silent until 0400 while he and the others sneak into the compound. They enter, then Malcolm finds some radiolytic compound in a control room. They hear voices and hide, while Gralik comes in with two coworkers, who talk, revealing to the humans that the compound is called kemocite and they need to increase production by 60%. They leave, and Gralik becomes suspicious when he notices a canister has been moved, but brushes it off. Archer beams a canister back and asks T'Pol to analyse it, while Malcolm and Hayes wonder what to do with it. They want to blow it up, but Archer decides that before doing anything, they should wait until they know where it's being taken.
Gralik arrives home, when Archer, Malcolm, and Hayes burst in and Archer, pointing his phase-pistol at Gralik, tells him to sit down. Archer has Malcolm and Hayes keep watch, then asks Gralik about kemocite, then about Degra. Gralik says that kemocite is used for many things but refuses to give info on Degra. Archer says that Degra is using kemocite to build the weapon that will destroy Earth and asks where it is, but Gralik claims ignorance. Archer doesn't believe him and points the phase-pistol at his chest, demanding answers.
T'Pol completes her analysis and concludes, along with Trip, that the isotope is the same one that was used in the initial Xindi attack. Trip also wants to take apart a rifle that has a "quantum imprint" on it, so Archer lets him. Malcolm wants to destroy the complex, but Archer is against the idea, since he feels doing so would confirm Xindi's fears about humanity. When Malcolm reminds him of the seven million deaths, Archer decides to destroy the complex after all but tells Hayes to put down blast suppressors to avoid destroying the settlement.
Archer gets the fragment of the probe from T'Pol and Trip and then shows it to Gralik, asking him to explain it. Gralik can't, so Archer brings up the seven million people who were killed. Gralik asks why Archer is trying to prove he's a "mass murderer" and says that the fragment is just a "twisted piece of metal". Archer pins Gralik against the wall, but he maintains that he knows nothing about Earth or the probe. Archer, starting to believe Gralik, lets go. Trip, meanwhile, calls Phlox to the armory, having found worms inside the weapon that help to make it go.
Gralik explains that Degra asked for kemocite, which Gralik agreed to give him since Degra offered a large payment, but he never stopped to think about what the kemocite would be used for. He goes on, explaining that Degra is a Primate, who usually tell the truth, so he believed Degra when he said it was going to be used for research, and that there used to be another type of Xindi, the Avians, who went extinct in a war.
Hayes tells Archer that the blast suppressors are in place and there seems to be an increase in activity around the compound, then T'Pol contacts Archer, warning them that the Reptillians are approaching. They arrive, with Degra and another Primate, while Phlox analyses the worm-powered rifle in sickbay. He has determined that the worms are resistant to many pathogens, that delta radiation kills them (but generating enough to make all the weapons useless would be dangerous) and that omicron radiation makes them reproduce abundantly.
Gralik explains to Archer that the Xindi-Reptillians have arrived three days early to collect their shipment. Gralik, wanting to prevent another attack, decides to talk to them to get more information, despite Archer's concerns that it's too risky. Two of Gralik's colleagues arrive to tell them that the Reptillians and Degra have arrived, but Archer and Degra hide. Meanwhile, Trip plans to test the Xindi rifle.
A Reptillian enters the compound and he and Degra exchange insults, then the Arboreals tell Degra that they can't find Gralik. They decide to search for him, but the Reptillians decide to search by themselves. Archer, Malcolm, Hayes, and Gralik walk through a forest and are attacked by weapons called Seekers, which, Gralik explains, are used by Reptillians and offers them a cave to hide in.
Trip tries the rifle, and initially, nothing happens, but then its power begins to increase and he can't shut it down, so he beams it outside and it explodes. T'Pol asks Archer and the others to come back, but Archer wants to stay and "tie up loose ends". As they hide in the cave (which Gralik explains is lined with an ore that would hide them from scans) Archer and Gralik agree to trust each other, and Archer says that they will give the kemocite but it "won't be what they ordered".
Gralik goes home (despite Malcolm and Hayes not being too sure about it) and the Reptillians and Degra are gone, so Gralik asks his coworkers to do another refinement test. Archer receives a canister like the ones from the compound, which T'Pol and Hoshi modified the radiolytic signature of so they could track it.
Then, the Reptillian and Degra burst into Gralik's workplace and demand to know where he's been, but Gralik says it's "personal". The Reptillian asks about the destroyed Seeker, so Gralik pretends he was hunting scarabs and the Seeker scared them. The Reptillian asks why the shipment isn't ready and Gralik claims to be testing it, so Degra tells him to hurry up.
Archer, working with Malcolm and Hayes, replaces one of the Xindi's canisters with the one from Enterprise, while Gralik stalls Degra by asking what the shipment is for. Thus, the Xindi ship leaves, with Hoshi tracking it, and Archer and Gralik drink to "trust". Archer is a bit worried that Degra will come after Gralik, but Gralik says he can deal with Degra, and tells Archer to remember not all Xindi are the enemy.
Tropes in this episode include:
- Aborted Arc: Phlox's research about the Xindi rifle never comes up again.
- Attack Drone: The Reptilians use these, called seekers, to root out the away team. Like their rifles, they're also shown to be biomechanical in nature when tentacles burst out of the one Archer shot down.
- Cassandra Truth: Gralik doesn't know about the Xindi attack on Earth, but it takes Archer a while to realise he isn't lying.
- Continuity Nod: The Arboreals are manufacturing kemocite, which is what Quark was busted for smuggling in "Little Green Men." After the Xindi crisis, it should be no surprise that it would be highly regulated in the 24th Century.
- Deadpan Snarker: Gralik has quite a few."Ah, Captain Archer. I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me."
- Just Following Orders: Gralik and his colony are only fulfilling a shipment of kemocite that was ordered from them. He does come around, though.
- Living Weapon: Reptilian rifles have wormlike creatures inside them that serve as the power cell and help modulate the yield and quickly grow back if removed, which also prevents their Self-Destruct Mechanism from being easily disabled.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Once Gralik learns the extent of what Degra did with his kemocite, he's horrified and promises to help Archer get some information.Gralik: Seven. Million. People. If I'd chosen my clients more carefully, that tragedy might not have happened.
- My Species Doth Protest Too Much: Degra apparently lied about what the kemocite would be used for, despite being a Xindi-Primate, who usually tell the truth.
- Nice Guy: Gralik is very gracious, even when several armed men break into his home and begin questioning him.
- Not So Stoic: When the Reptilian officer pesters Gralik about the shipment not being ready, the Arboreal snaps and raises his voice.Gralik: Forty two years. That's how long I've been running this facility, and never once have I allowed a single gram of kemocite to leave the premises unless it was perfectly calibrated! I take pride in my work, but if you're so eager to get underway then go ahead, take your shipment. But if it doesn't meet your requirements don't expect me to produce another HUNDRED kilograms overnight, because we do have other clients besides you!
- Only in It for the Money: The Arboreals never questioned why Degra requested such large amounts of highly-refined kemocite because the payment was enormous.
- Racial Remnant: Gralik gives Archer some backstory about the Xindi. There was once a sixth species, the Avians. Due to their fractured nature, the Xindi ended up destroying their homeworld at the end of a bloody civil war. Only the Avians failed to get away.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Degra's Reptilian aide is annoyed that the Arboreals haven't fulfilled their shipment yet. Degra, however, cuts them some slack by noting they did arrive early. Gralik even notes to Archer that the Primates are known for being the fairest and most reasonable of the Xindi.
- Too Dumb to Live: Trip tries to justify testing the Xindi rifle now because they can't find a dead moon to test it on. Rather than beam down to the dead moon Enterprise is hiding behind, he accidentally triggers a self-destruct mechanism.
- Will Not Tell a Lie: Apparently Xindi-Primates usually tell the truth, but are still capable of lying.
