The Vulcan Hello Line-by-Line

JANUZZI [OC]: Unidentified Klingon vessel, this is the Federation Starship Shenzhou. Please respond.

[Bridge]

JANUZZI: Unidentified Klingon vessel, this is the Federation Starship Shenzhou. Please respond. Is there any chance they can't hear us?

 

WEETON: You're transmitting on every subspace channel there is. Your orders, Commander?

 

(Burnham enters in uniform.)
BURNHAM: Any response?

 

SARU: None. Commander, there is something I'd like to show you. Their hull is covered in hollow, ornamental, metallic pods, thousands of them, tightly interlocked, forming a kind of armor.

 

BURNHAM: Not the most efficient defense.

 

SARU: I suspect its purpose is more symbolic than practical. They contain Klingon biological material in various states of decay. Remote dating is wildly divergent. Some bones date back thousands of years, others only hours old.

 

BURNHAM: Their entire ship is covered with coffins.

 

SARU: Commander, the Captain listens to you. Tell her we must withdraw.

 

Burnham: I'm afraid that's no longer possible.

 

SARU: Your world has food chains. Mine does not. Our species map is binary. We are either predator or prey. My people were hunted, bred, farmed. We are your livestock of old. We were biologically determined for one purpose and one purpose alone. To sense the coming of death. I sense it coming now.

 

[Ready room]

(Reporting to a holographic Admiral.)
GEORGIOU: The Klingon flagship has a stealth mode. It's some kind of cloaking screen, unlike anything we've ever seen, Admiral. There may be more vessels out there than we know. We've reached out with every form of friendship greeting Starfleet has. They're blocking our hails.

 

Admiral: It feels like a setup. Maybe our relay got too close for Klingon comfort, and they destroyed it to lure us out here.

 

GEORGIOU: You remember my First Officer, Michael Burnham?

 

ADMIRAL: Next time, you might try not disturbing the property of a warrior race we've hardly spoken to for a hundred years. Our only choice now is to navigate this situation with as much finesse as possible.

 

BURNHAM: Admiral, if I may. The ideal outcome for any Klingon interaction is battle. They're relentlessly hostile, sir. It's in their nature.

 

ADMIRAL: The Federation and the Klingon Empire have always been on the cold side of war. We've had only fleeting run-ins with them for a century, and now you presume to know their motivation because it is in their nature? Considering your background, I would think you're the last person to make assumptions based on race.

 

BURNHAM: With respect, it would be unwise to confuse race and culture.

 

ADMIRAL: "The Europa and all fleet vessels within range will be at your coordinates in two hours. Hold your position. Do nothing. Absent provocation, understood?"

 

GEORGIOU: Understood, Admiral.

 

Computer: Signal terminated.