 Enterprise is en route, to the Berengaria system, one of the supposed places for a starbase, when an hostile Orion ship approaches. Its captain, Harrad-Sar, agrees to stand down weapons and he has a proposal for captain Archer. Harrad-Sar wants Starfleet to cooperate in a mining operation. He claims he found a source of magnesite, enough to build a thousand warp drives. To improve relations with the Orion Syndicate, Archer decides to agree with the proposal. Harrad-Sar insists on transporting three slave girls to Enterprise as part of the deal. While Archer tries to convince them they are not slaves anymore, the crew seem to be affected by their arrival. The men seem entranced and preoccupied, getting sloppy with their work, the women develop headaches. Meanwhile Trip and T Pol discuss their relationship. Trip feels compelled to tell the truth about him having dreams about her.