Malosian cargo shuttle

Malosian cargo shuttle schematic

The Malosian cargo shuttle was a craft, supposedly of Malosian origin, used by the crew of Enterprise to trick Degra into revealing information regarding the Xindi superweapon.

Their strategy involved convincing Degra that Earth had been destroyed - after which the Insectoids had turned on and conquered the other Xindi species - and that he and Archer had been placed in the same cell in a prison camp for over three years. Archer told Degra that only through stealing the Malosian cargo shuttle were he and Degra able to escape. The simulated ship could travel at warp speeds and had no weaponry. To fight off an attack from other simulated ships, Archer dropped warp plasma into their intake manifolds.

Interior of the cargo shuttle

The actual ship had been designed by Enterprise's crew, with various officers commenting on the difficulty of creating not only a physical style of the ship but also a language and ship interfaces. The shuttle was placed in a cargo bay on Enterprise, with various systems adding to the simulation. To simulate attacks on the shuttle, it was placed on a hydraulic lift, allowing for mild tremors through to wild jolts. At one point, the crew planned on shaking the shuttle so violently that they felt the need to warn Archer.

While the shuttle did have a window, a large screen was placed over its field of vision that depicted the various 'attacks' by other ships or the stars streaming past while traveling at warp. When Enterprise was under attack, Degra momentarily noticed one of these screens flickering. This, combined with other factors, allowed him to see through the simulation. (ENT: "Stratagem")

The Malosian cargo shuttle was similar in size, if slightly smaller, to a shuttlepod from Enterprise.

It is not known whether the design of the shuttle was based on any pre-existing shuttle type, or if indeed there is a race named "Malosian."