Episode Six: Mudd Castles in the Sky

Starfleet, in desperate need of Zenite-B (a derivative form of Zenite used to enhance their ships phasers), sends the Enterprise to the planet Ardana to negotiate with the Ardanians. Upon arrival the crew meet up with Fenton Mudd, a questionable trader and someone who has had a close relationship with Hoshi last year.

Throughout the episode Hoshi mush fend off against Fenton's romantic advances. Mudd explains that the peaceful Ardanians don't like to refine the normal Zenite (used for medicine) into a form used for weapon enhancement. Archer states that they need it or else they won't be able to win the war with the Romulans. Mudd, who has a good relationship with the Ardanians, agrees to help negotiate (for a percentage, of course).

The Ardanians take the crew to the newly constructed city in the sky, Stratos. There the Ardanians explain that their automated mining process will not refine Zenite into Zenite-B and they will need to actually send people to do that (later to be known as the Troglytes). Mudd seeing a good opportunity tries to sneak into Stratos's engineering area to try to obtain the Ardanians high powered anti-gravity technology, things to not go as planned for Mudd. By the end of the episode Archer and the Ardanians reach an agreement and send in people to start mining. So Archer, because of the war's needs, is responsible for setting up the situation that Kirk has to resolve 100 years later.

This episode is dedicated to Manny Coto