Summary[]
Hoshi Sato has spent five days trying to decipher the language of a transmission from a newly discovered civilization. She is frustrated because she has never taken so long to learn a language. At Archer's suggestion she attends Movie Night with Mayweather, but is unable to concentrate on the movie and leaves. The transmission from the planet stops, but Enterprise has the short message recorded. Archer gives Sato another twenty-four hours before Enterprise moves on. The next morning, still making no progress, Hoshi discusses the problem with Reed, Tucker and Phlox in the mess hall. The Universal Translator is not helping because the message does not conform to the assumptions about language built into it. As Sato leaves the mess hall she meets Mayweather, who insists that she join him at the sweet spot. Mayweather reminisces about a town on Vega Colony: "Once you're in the city limits, you're not on the road anymore, you're considered a part of the town..." Sato realizes that the word "Not" is the key to the message, and programs new algorithms into the Universal Translator. She translates the message, which begins: "You are not in space. You are in the home of the Shisali, as surely as if your feet touched our soil."
References[]
Characters[]
- Jonathan Archer • Elizabeth Cutler • Dickison • Travis Mayweather • Phlox • Malcolm Reed • Hoshi Sato • T'Pol • Trip Tucker
- Referenced only
- Turner
Starships and vehicles[]
Locations[]
- Unnamed planet
- Referenced only
- Earth (Brazil • Chicago • England • Florida • New York • Ohio) • Risa • Vega colony • Vulcan
Races and cultures[]
Science and classification[]
- artificial gravity • comm panel • communications console • computer • console • console screen • linguistic database • padd • phonetic processor • sensor • spacecraft • starship • turbolift • universal translator • viewscreen
Ranks and titles[]
- captain • ensign • lieutenant • professor • science officer • subcommander
Other references[]
- algorithm • alien • alphabet • Arabic alphabet • battle • breakfast • bridge • century • Chinese language • city • civilization • comedy • communications • Cyrillic alphabet • dance • day • Denobulan language • English language • exolinguistics • Ferris Bueller's Day Off • first contact • food • fork • Geissler variation • generative grammar • German language • grammatical typology • hailing frequency • Hindi alphabet • hour • Japanese language • language • language tree • Latin alphabet • linguist • linguistic algorithm • linguistics • mess hall • moon • movie • Movie Night • parade • phonetic symbol • phrase structure theory • planet • playing card • poker • popular culture • pronoun • quarters • Queen of Hearts • ready room • response token • Romulan language • Rosetta Stone • Russian language • sandwich • scan • science report • semantics • Shisali language • slang • song • species • student • sweet spot • syntax • taxonomy • teacher • telepathy • Terran language • textbook • town • transformational model • translation • translation matrix • transmission • Tuesday • university • urban center • Vulcan language • Vulcan writing • week
Appendices[]
Related media[]
- ENT episode: "Fight or Flight"
- ENT episode: "Vox Sola"
- ENT episode: "Observer Effect"
Background[]
- Although the movie Sato and Mayweather attend is not identified by name, the references to its plot make clear that it is Ferris Bueller's Day OffWP.
Connections[]
| Star Trek: Enterprise collected short stories, novellas and short novels | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strange New Worlds | V ("Remnant" • "A Girl for Every Star" • "Hoshi's Gift") • VI ("Savior" • "Preconceptions" • "Cabin E-14") • VII ("Earthquake Weather") • 8 ("Egg Drop Soup" • "Hero" • "Insanity") • 9 ("Rounding a Corner Already Turned" • "Mother Nature's Little Reminders" • "Mestral") • 10 ("The Dream" • "Universal Chord" • "You Are Not in Space") | |
| Misc. short stories | "Prelude: Discovery" • "Have Beagle, Will Travel: The Legend of Porthos" • "Nobunaga" • "The Offer" • "Control" | |
| Misc. novellas & short novels | "Age of the Empress" • "A Less Perfect Union" | |
| Comics | "The Fragile Beauty of Loyalty" | |
Timeline[]
| published order | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous story: Universal Chord |
Strange New Worlds 10 | Next story: Time Line |
| Previous story: First Star Trek story |
Stories by: Edgar Governo |
Next story: Most recent work |
| chronological order | ||
| Previous Adventure: Yet to be placed |
Memory Beta Chronology | Next Adventure: Yet to be placed |