How would you like to spend the last week of summer at a rock quarry with a bunch of Klingons? That pretty much describes the experience of the Enterprise production team in a very demanding shooting schedule for the sixth episode of Season Two.

The long Labor Day weekend will be a welcome break after five days on location at a rock quarry in Ventura County about an hour northwest of Los Angeles. They were filming "Marauders," an epic tale in the style of an old Western about a colony of deuterium miners being harassed by Klingons, until Captain Archer and crew drop by and help them defend themselves.

The eight-day schedule began on the Paramount lot last Wednesday, the only day that utilized standing ship sets, namely the Bridge, Armory, Sickbay and Ready Room. Thursday was also spent in a soundstage shooting in newly-built sets representing the interior of the colonists' Quonset-style huts (portable metal shelters with round roofs). Friday was a relatively light day, with shots inside a Shuttlepod and a new swing set created this season, the Ship's Gym.

Monday began the heavy schedule on location, with cast and crew warned to be prepared for extremes of temperature with sunscreen and plenty of water. Fortunately, the weather in Southern California this week was pretty mild. The exterior of the colony structures had been constructed on the rock quarry site, along with "deuterium pumps" and the outside of the Shuttlepod. It was a very large cast that included not only the guest stars but also a couple of dozen extras and stand-ins (playing the alien colonists). By Tuesday a bunch of Klingons joined the party — one in a speaking role, but the others were stuntmen and extras participating in some very strenuous action scenes in that heavy warrior garb. The makeup people were on hand to make sure our Enterprise crewmen looked appropriately "dirty" and "sweaty" — as if they needed any help.

The guest cast includes several Trek veterans, including Larry Cedar as "Tessic"; he was previously seen in Star Trek: Voyager's "Alliances" and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's "Armageddon Game." Bari Hochwald was doing this location shoot while concurrently starring in a play in West L.A. (see related story); she plays "E'lis," and was previously seen in DS9's "Explorers" and Voyager's "Friendship One." The Klingon "Korok" is played by Robertson Dean, who appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation's "Face of the Enemy."

"Marauders" is directed by Mike Vejar, also a Trek veteran who helmed three first-season Enterprise episodes and numerous segments of TNG, Voyager and DS9 (including another rock-quarry episode, "Rocks and Shoals"). The teleplay was written by David Wilcox from a story by Rick Berman and Brannon Braga.

The second season will premiere September 18. The tentative schedule of Wednesday-night airdates for the episodes produced so far is as follows:

9/18 "Shockwave, Part Two"
9/25 "Carbon Creek"
10/2 "Minefield"
10/9 "Dead Stop"
10/16 "A Night in Sickbay"
10/23 "Marauders"

For more information about the second-season episodes, visit the Synopses and Cast & Crew sections of Production News.

Please note: All production information is subject to change.

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