Roxann Dawson came back to the Paramount lot to direct her second Enterprise episode of the season, a John Shiban script that takes place mostly on an alien moon and focuses on the conflict between one of our crewmembers and an alien nemesis.

The title is "Dawn," which refers to the imminent danger Trip Tucker and his adversary face if they don't learn to communicate and cooperate in order to save themselves. Trip is testing upgrades to Shuttlepod One when a soldier from a territorial race fires upon him and forces him into an emergency landing on the night side of a moon orbiting a gas giant. The alien also crash-lands nearby, and the two get locked in a bitter struggle on the surface. They have only a short time before the sun rises and subjects them to extreme, life-threatening heat.

Most of the script takes place on the alien moon (rocky but with vegetation), and even though those scenes are described as "exterior," all that action took place inside a Paramount soundstage, on swing sets lit by the crew to depict night transitioning into a very bright day. The seven-day schedule began Monday, Nov. 4, with a full day on the Bridge with the entire cast sans Connor Trinneer (Trip). Tuesday Connor reported to work to shoot the first night scenes on the moon in and around the damaged shuttlepod. He was joined by Gregg Henry, who plays his foe, an Arkonian named "Zho'Kaan." Wednesday it was back to the ship sets as the other cast members shot their second and last day on this episode. The other guest star, Brad Greenquist, did all his scenes on this day; he played "Khata'n Zshaar," the Arkonian captain who begrudgingly collaborates with Archer to find the missing crewmen.

From Thursday on, it was all Connor and Gregg. But there were some intense fight scenes involved, so director Dawson utilized the services of stuntmen Sean Crowder as "Stunt Trip" and Craig Baxley Jr. as "Stunt Zho'Kaan," under the supervision of stunt coordinator Vince Deadrick, Jr. Thursday she shot more "Night" scenes; then Friday and Monday it became "Pre-dawn"; then the final day, Tuesday, dealt with the climactic "Dawn."

Gregg Henry is a Star Trek movie alumnus — he was Ru'afo's second-in command, "Subahdar Gallatin," in "Star Trek: Insurrection." Greenquist previously played "Demmas" in Star Trek: Voyager's "Warlord" and "Krit" in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Who Mourns for Morn?"

This is Shiban's second Enterprise script since joining the staff as co-executive producer; he previously wrote "Minefield." Dawson directed "Dead Stop" earlier this year, plus "The Andorian Incident" and "Vox Sola" last year.

"Dawn" is the 13th segment shot this season, which means the production year is half over (making it a lucky number!). An airdate for this episode has not yet been set.

Please note: All production information is subject to change.