Enterprise

Season Two

Shockwave (Part 2)

While Silik and his Suliban soldiers board Enterprise to search for Captain Archer, Archer and Daniels find themselves trapped in an altered 31st Century where some catastrophe has occured. Daniels realizes that by pulling Archer from the past, he has doomed the future he was trying to save. Meanwhile, Silik tortures T'Pol to get information on Archer's whereabouts. Tucker and the rest of the command crew, having been contacted by Archer with a makeshift temporal communicator fabricated by Daniels, set in motion a plan to bring Archer back to this proper time. The plan is eventually successful, and the Enterprise escapes from the Suliban. But later, the Vulcans threaten to force Starfleet to recall the Enterprise because of the troubles it has caused during the first year of its exploratory mission. But when T'Pol speaks out in support of Enterprise's mission, Starfleet votes to let the mission continue. T'Pol's action helps to further cement the bond between herself and Archer.

Carbon Creek

On the first anniversary of T'Pol's asignment to Enterprise, she tells Captain Archer and Tucker the real story of first contact between humans and Vulcans -- not Zephram Cochrane's meeting with a Vulcan crew on April 5, 2023. . .

In October 1957, a Vulcan survey ship in Earth orbit to observe the recently launched Sputnik satellite has a malfunction and crashes near the mining town of Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. Over the next three months, the three survivors (of the crew of four), including T'Pol's great grandmother, melded into the small town's community while waiting to be rescued. During this time, one of the Vulcan men becomes engaged in learning about humanity and convices the other two to help him rescue miners trapped by a cave-in. Eventually, he decides to remain on Earth when the rescue ship arrives. . .

On completing her story, T'Pol leaves Archer and Tucker wondering whether or not the story is true.

Minefield

When the Enterprise approaches a nearby uninhabited planet to explore, the ship strikes a mine and is heavily damaged. With 17 crew injured, including Hoshi, Enterprise finds itself in the middle of a cloaked minefield. With a mine coming to rest on Enterprise's primary hull, Lt. Reed goes EVA to try to disarm it. Suddenly, a Romulan warbird decloaks nearby and warns Enterprise away from the system. Meanwhile, a spike emerges from the mine that Reed is working on and penetrates his leg, pinning him to the hull. Archer then also goes EVA to try to help Reed and to finish disarming the mine. But the effort is ultimately successful and, with the Romulans getting to fire on Enterprise, Archer must decide whether to jettison the hull plating that the mine and Reed are attached to, in order to save the ship, even if it means sacrificing Reed. But Archer comes up with an unusual solution that saves both Enterprise and Lt. Reed. [Note: Although this episode goes contrary to Star Trek original series canon, in which Captain Kirk's Enterprise is supposedly the first to encounter the Romulans, it should be noted that in this episode, the Romulans themselves are never seen. Thus Kirk's crew are still the first humans to set eyes on Romulan people.]

Dead Stop

Enterprise stops at an alien space station to repair damage suffered in the Romulan minefield. They find a highly advanced, but automated station run by a super computer. While the repairs begin, Archer, T'Pol, and Tucker visit the station and are amazed to find its highly advanced technology, which even includes a replicator that can perfectly reproduce Earth foods -- apparently having taken the details from Enterprise's database. As repairs progress at an amazing rate, Archer can't get over the feeling that things are just too good to be true. Unknown to anyone else, Mayweather gets a call from Archer to meet him in the shuttle bay -- an area of the ship declared off-limits while repairs are being made. Mayweather goes to the shuttle bay to find it empty. Shortly after, Mayweather's dead body is found, but Dr. Phlox's autopsy reveals that this isn't Mayweather, but a skillfully crafted replica. Archer and T'Pol break into the station's computer core and discover that Mayweather and a number of alien beings are being used as the power source and "brains" of the station's supercomputer. They detach Mayweather and begin to carry him back to Enterprise, but the station tries to retaliate. But, using the warp plasma intended to be Enterprise's payment for the repairs, the Enterprise crew blast their way out of the station and to safety, leaving the station a burning hulk.

A Night in Sickbay

Returning from an unsuccessful away mission to try to obtain replacement plasma injectors from an alien race with a very strict code of conduct, Archer learns that his dog, Porthos, has picked up a potentially deadly virus. Archer appears to be very agitated, both about Porthos' condition and the unsuccessful away mission -- which resulted because the aliens were insulted that Porthos urinated on a sacred tree on the planet. He's restless and can't sleep, and decides to sleep in sickbay to be near his pet. As Dr. Phlox begins to treat Porthos and go about his normal routine, Archer is awakened by every little sound. He goes to the ship's gym to workout, and finds T'Pol also there working out. Their conversation turns to the away mission and Archer's apparent refusal to try to make amends with the aliens by apologizing. When Archer returns to sickbay, still in a very agitated state of mind, Dr. Phlox suggests that maybe he's sufferring from sexual tension built up from the many months in space. Archer refuses to accept this possibility until he has a very vivid and intimate dream about himself and T'Pol. Meanwhile, Porthos' condition grows so bad that Dr. Phlox eventually has to operate, replacing the dog's pituitary gland with that of a chameleon. Eventually, Archer confronts his feelings about T'Pol and agrees to perform a ritual apology ceremony demanded by the aliens in return for giving Enterprise the plasma injector they need. On returning from the planet, he's relieved to find that Porthos is recoverying nicely from surgery and is ready to return to the Captain's quarters.

Marauders

Enterprise stops at an alien outpost to trade for some deuterium needed for the ship. The miners are reluctant to trade, but finally agree to provide the deuterium in exchange for power cells and medical supplies. Soon, a klingon ship arrive in orbit on what appears to be a regular run to demand delivery of a quota of deuterium in return for the safety of the colonists. Archer, T'Pol, and Trip hide out until the Klingons are gone, then decides to intervene on behalf of the colonists. The Enterprise crew give the colonists some training in hand-to-hand combat and on the use of phase weapons while, on the planet, Archer sets in motion a plan to trick the Klingons into a situation where they can be easily controlled. When the Klingons return a few days later, they are met by an apparently empty encampment. But little by little the colonists and Enterprise crew maneuver the Klingons into the middle of the deuterium drilling fields, where they are trapped by a ring of flaming deuterium. The colonists, their confidence enhanced by the fact that the Klingons are still unaware that the colonists have been aided by the Enterprise, warn the Klingons away for good.

The Seventh

After T'Pol receives a call from the Vulcan command, she asks Captain Archer and Travis Mayweather to accompany her on a mission to capture a Vulcan agent-turned-fugitive. He is the sole remaining fugitive from a secret mission that T'Pol was involved in many years beofre. The man is easily captured on a remote planet, but he claims that he has not been smuggling dangerous biotoxins, as charged by Vulcan command. But T'Pol doesn't believe his story and becomes agitated as she begins to get flashback memories to her earlier mission, during which she was chasing this man and another fugitive through the tropical forest on Risa. In these memories, which have been repressed for years, T'Pol killed the other fugitive. T'Pol is guilt-ridden because she is uncertain whether the man she killed was guilty of the crimes he was charged with. Now, she is uncertain about the guilt of her present captive and doesn't want to make what she believes could be another tragic mistake. But when the man manages to escape to his transport ship, his innocence comes into doubt. Eventually, the man attempts to take T'Pol hostage as part of his escape plans, but Archer and Mayweather outsmart him and, in the process, discover a stash of biotoxins hidden aboard his transport. In the end, T'Pol makes the right decision of turning the man over to the Vulcan authorities.

The Communicator

When an away team returns from an undercover observation mission on a pre-warp planet, Lt. Reed's communicator turns up missing. Reed and Captain Archer return to the planet to retrieve the communicator, but are apprehended by local authorities and held as spies for an enemy faction. During interrogation, it is discovered that Reed and Archer may be from a different species. Also, the authorities now have not only the missing communicator, but a phase pistol and tricorder as well. To avoid further contamination of the local culture, they tell the authorities that they are genetically engineered soldiers for the opposition. Hoping to gain knowledge on their "enhanced" abilities, the authorities decide to execute Archer and Reed so that their remains can be examined. Meanwhile, T'Pol and the rest of the Enterprise crew set in motion a rescue plan that involved using the cloaked Suliban ship that they had earlier captured. The rescue team arrives just as the hangman's nooses are being placed around Archer's and Reed's necks. Later, back on Enterprise, Archer is glad to have escaped with his life and recovery of the missing communicator. But T'Pol points out that their having been apprehended on the planet still has contaminated the planet's culture because now the local authorities believe that their opposition faction has high-level technology and genetically engineered warriors.

Singularity

The Enterprise is approaching a trinary star system that includes a black hole. One by one, crew members begin to act strangely -- becoming more testy with each other and becoming obsessed with the details of their current tasks. T'Pol discovers that the star system is emitting a peculiar type of radiation that is causing the crew's strange behavior. She, however, does not appear to be affected. As the crew continues to obsess more and more on their activities -- Tucker on designing a new captain's chair, Reed with new security protocols, Hoshi with getting a family recipe down "just right," and Archer with a preface for a book about his father -- T'Pol begins to worry about their safety and soon discovers that the radiation from the nearby star system is the cause. However, it would take days to get far enough away to save the crew. The only option is to somehow get Captain Archer to focus on a few important piloting tasks while she plots a trajectory between the three stars and through the black hole's debris field to slingshot the Enterprise out of there. With almost the entire crew unconscious, T'Pol and Archer manage the seemingly impossible and warp away to safety.

Vanishing Point

When Tucker and Hoshi are caught in a dangerous magnetic storm while exploring ancient ruins on an alien planet, they're transported back to the Enterprise. But Hoshi is convinced that something went wrong during the transport and has affected her molecules. She goes to Dr. Phlox, who can't find anything wrong. But strange things begin to happen to her, like seemingly being ignored by some of her crew members -- as if she wasn't there -- and seeing what appears to be parts of her body momentarily appearing to be transparent. Meanwhile, Tucker and Mayweather, who returned to the planet, are held hostage by inhabitants of the planet, and Hoshi is unable to translate their language. Eventually, Hoshi actually does become invisible, as Captain Archer and the rest of the crew search in vain for her. She tries unsuccessfully to contact them and let them know that something during transport affected her. Things eventually come to a crisis situation when Hoshi sees two aliens from the planet aboard Enterprise planting bombs in critical areas of the ship. She's unsuccessful in getting the crew's attention and follows the two aliens onto a transporter. But when she emerges on the other side, Hoshi finds herself aboard the Enterprise, with the crew being able to see her. Apparently, everything that she experienced was just her runaway imagination during an 8-second delay in transport while she was stuck in the transporter's memory buffer.

Precious Cargo

An alien cargo ship docks with Enterprise to have a malfunctioning stasis chamber repaired. The two alien crew members claim that they're transporting a woman to her home planet in stasis because of their ship's limited supplies of food and oxygen. But when the woman awakens while Tucker is working on the stasis chamber, it soon becomes obvious that she's really a prisoner. One of the aliens escapes in their ship with Tucker and the woman - another world's "First Monarch" - still aboard. Enterprise, with the other alien being held in detention, try to track the fleeing cargo ship. Meanwhile, Tucker and the woman get away in an escape pod and head toward a nearby planetary system. On Enterprise, Archer and T'Pol con their prisoner into helping track his comrade-in-crime. Enterprise eventually finds Tucker and the woman on a jungle planet, safe if somewhat worn from their ordeal.

The Catwalk

Three alien men contact Enterprise warning of an approaching ion storm and requesting shelter aboard the ship. They're allowed aboard, but the only part of the ship that is shielded enough to be safe for the crew is a series of craw spaces (catwalks) in the warp nacelles. Bridge controls are re-routed to computer consoles in the catwalks and the crew, including Porthos and Dr. Phlox's lab animals, are crowded into these spaces for the duration of the storm. Soon after, a small vessel docks with the apparently abandoned Enterprise, and its crew of aliens (same species as the three men picked up earlier by Enterprise) board Enterprise and try to start up its warp drive and lay claim to the ship. Archer, T'Pol, and Reed don environmental suits and twart the aliens' plans by guiding Enterprise into an especially danger eddy in the storm that scares the aliens away in their craft. After Enterprise emerges from the storm, the three "guests" aboard Enterprise also are allowed to depart, and the crew returns to normal operations.

Dawn

While testing upgrades to Shuttlepod One, Tucker is fired upon by a small alien craft, and he's forced down on one of 62 moons of a nearby gas giant planet. The alien craft is also damaged in the exchange of fire and forced down on the moon. Soon, Tucker and the alien pilot are stalking each other on the surface, each trying to repair communications equipment so they can call for help. When the two adversaries realize that they need each other's help, an uneasy truce slowly develops between them, made harder by the lack of a universal communicator to allow them to easily talk with each other. Things are further complicated when the sun begins to rise, making the moon's surface deadly hot for Tucker and the alien. But they cooperate enough to set up a jury-rigged transceiver, and Tucker manages to send a signal that Enterprise tracks to locate them before the heat kills them.

Stigma

When the Enterprise stops at a planet so that Dr. Phlox can attend an interplanetary medical conference, the Doctor uses the opportunity to discretely try to get information from the Vulcan delegation concerning a rare disease that T'Pol has contracted. The Vulcans, however, are not willing to help because the disease is one spread only through mind melds, which in this time are frowned upon by the majority of Vulcan society. To make matters worse, the head of the Vulcan delegation decides to have T'Pol recalled to Vulcan because of the stigma attached to the disease. T'Pol, for her part, is unwilling to reveal that she contracted the disease when a mind meld was forced on her by a Vulcan cult member who had visited the Enterprise about a year earlier. With the eventual intervention of Captain Archer and the youngest member of the Vulcan delegation, who is himself secretly a member of the minority group who can perform mind melds, the truth comes out and T'Pol is allowed to remain aboard the Enterprise. While all of this has been transpiring, Tucker finds himself fending off the secual advances of one of Dr. Phlox's three wives, who is also attending the conference.

Cease Fire

The Andorians request Captain Archer's help to try negotiate a cease fire with the Vulcans in a dispute that has raged on a border planet for over a century. Archer and T'Pol shuttle down to the planet. After a initial meeting between the Enterprise duo and the Andorians, the Vulcan ambassador reluctantly agrees to descend to the planet to meet with the Andorian commander. However, the shuttlepod is fire upon by unknown forces and brought down in Andorian-held territory. As Archer, T'Pol, and the Vulcan ambassador try to make their way to the designated meeting place, they come under fire from Andorians, and the Vulcan is wounded. Archer manages to sneak up behind and disable the two rebel Andorians. One of the rebels turns out to be the lieutenant of the Andorian commander, who disagrees with trying to negotiate with the Vulcans. But committed to a peaceful resolution, the Andorian commander and the Vulcan ambassador agree to discuss a cease fire. With Archer's mediation, a cease fire is eventually achieved, resulting in Archer's status being raised ever so slightly in the eyes of the Vulcan ambassador.

Future Tense

The Enterprise finds a small derelict vessel, with a human corpse inside, adrift about 100 LYs from Earth -- much farther than any previously known human voyage. A Suliban ship soon arrives and claims the vessel as salvage. When Archer refuses to turn the vessel over, the Sulibans try to steal it -- unsuccessfully. Meanwhile, Dr. Phlox finds that the corpse was a descendant of several inter-species ancestors. Archer and T'Pol access Daniel's 31st Century database and find that the vessel is from 900 years in the future and is powered by some type of temporal drive. Tucker and Reed are meanwhile carefully examining the vessel and find some strange things about it, including that it's interior space is much greater than its external measurements. Soon a Tholian ship arrives on the scene and also claims the vessel as salvage, but Enterprise evades it. Although T'Pol warns that the ship's temporal radition may be dangerous to the crew, Archer wants to use it to try to gain an upper hand in the on-going temporal war, and instead makes arrangements to turn the vessel over to a nearby Vulcan ship. The Suliban later return in force, and Enterprise makes a run for the Vulcan ship. When they arrive, they find that a group of Tholian ships have disabled the Vulcans. A fire fight then breaks out between the Suliban and Tholians, with Enterprise caught in the middle. By now, Tucker and Reed have managed to activate a beacon that they had found inside the derelict vessel. Meanwhile, the Tholians have destroyed all of the Suliban ships and set their sights on Enterprise. Archer releases the derelict ship, but before the Tholians can make a getaway, the derelict vessel and the human corpse disappear -- apparently transported away to the future.

Canamar

Shuttlepod One is found adrift, with evidence of weapons damage and no lifesigns. We later find that Captain Archer and Tucker are among a group of prisoners being transported to an alien prison planet known as Canamar. They have been wrongfully charged with smuggling while visiting the aliens' homeworld. On Enterprise, T'Pol manages to straighten things out with the authorities on the planet, but before Enterprise can catch up with the prison transport, two of the prisoners launch an escape plan and recruit Archer and Tucker to help them pilot their now-runaway vessel. Through delaying tactics and some trickery, Archer and Tucker manage to slow down the escapees just enough for Enterprise to arrive and rescue them and the other prisoners, many of whom may have been wrongfully charged -- just as Archer and Tucker were.

The Crossing

A huge alien ship overtakes the Enterprise and swallows the ship. Inside are hundres of non-corporeal beings. Archer, Tucker, and Reed take a shuttlepod and go outside in EVA suits. One of the beings enters Tucker's body, displacing his spirit for a few moments. When Tucker is back to himself, he says he had an out-of-body where is was back on Earth. Back on the Enterprise, Tucker is again taken over by one of the beings and, when confronted by Archer, the alien (speaking through Tucker's body) tells him that they are just explorers who mean the Enterprise crew no harm. However, later Reed is also taken over by one of the aliens and makes sexual advances on T'Pol. As the rash of crew takeovers increases, the rest of the crew takes refuge in the nacelle catwalk, which is shielded enough to keep out the aliens. Eventually, T'Pol learns that the aliens are actually taking over the Enterprise crew in order to save themselves from perishing aboard their dying ship. Archer, T'Pol, and Dr. Phlox come with a plan to flood the Enterprise's decks with CO2 to knock out the possessed crew members, but the possessed Tucker makes a last ditch effort to stop the plan.

Judgment

Captain archer is captured by Klingons and brought to trial for conspiring against the Klingon Empire. Phlox is allowed to make a "house call" to him in prison, and he informs Archer that T'Pol and Starfleet are trying diplomatic channels to get him released. Later, as the trial begins, the prosecution brings a member of the Duras clan to testify against Archer, saying that the Enterprise opened fire on his ship without provocation. Archer's advocate, named Kolos, at first does not make a defense argument, resigned to the realities of the existing Klingon "justice" system. But Archer challenges him to stand up for true justice. Invoking ancient laws from the time of Kahless, Kolos persuades the magistrate to let Archer testify on his own behalf. Based on Archer's testimony and Kolos' recital of prior instances where Archer has assisted the Empire, the magistrate agrees not to impose the death penalty on Archer. However, the magistrate still sentences Archer to life on the Rura Pente prison planet. When Kolos objects, he's sentenced to one year on Rura Pente for his outburst. Meanwhile, on the Enterprise, T'Pol hatches a plan to rescue Archer by briding Klingon prison officials. Kolos, however, refuses to leave with Archer and living in exile, instead promising to live out his sentence and work for justice in the Klingon system.

Horizon

At Starfleet's direction, Enterprise detours to study an interesting solar system. Travis Mayweather takes the opportunity to ask for some leave time to visit his family's cargo ship, which is in the vicinity of where Enterprise is headed. Shortly after, Mayweather gets the bad news that his father has died. As he reflects with Captain Archer about his relationship with his father, saying that his father wasn't happy about his having left to join Starfleet, Archer tells him that his father had written a letter of recommendation that was a main factor in Archer picking him to be Enterprise's helmsman. When Mayweather is dropped off at Horizon, his family's ship, he has a bittersweet reunion with his mother and other former shipmates. But it's soon obvious that his older brother still holds some resentment over Mayweather having left, and discourages Mayweather's attempts to upgrade the ship's systems. Soon, they find themselves under attack from small alien crafts that have been harassing other cargo ships in the areas and stealing their cargo. Again, Mayweather's brother refuses his attempts to help. Eventually, a larger ship and suffers heavy damage. Mayweather's brother is then forced to accept his help, which includes the tactic of separating the cargo modules to make the ship more maneuverable and also tapping the weapons systems into the warp core. They manage to disable the attacking ship and make it away in safety. This episode finally earns Mayweather his brother's respect. When Enterprise arrives to pick up Mayweather, he departs on good terms with his mother, brother, and other shipmates, promising to visit more frequently.

The Breach

Hoshi stops by sickbay to give Dr. Phlox a message - only to witness him feeding a tribble to one of his lab animals. Later, Phlox asks Captain Archer, on behalf of his people's government to divert the Enterprise to rescue a team of Denobian scientists from underground caverns on a planet that is under dispute. The controlling government has given the Enterprise just three days to complete the search for the scientists before miltary troops are sent into the caverns. The away team consists of Tucker, Reed, and Mayweather. Meanwhile, Enterprise assists a ship of refugees from the planet that has had a radiation leak aboard. One of the injured refugees is of a race that has had a long history of hostilities with the Denobians. The man doesn't want Dr. Phlox to treat him and, against Archer's order to treat the man anyway, Phlox refuges to attend to him without his consent. Archer speaks to the two individually to try to reach some understanding between them to look past their races' troubled history, but with little success. Later, Phlox tries to reach out to the man, but he continues to lash out against Phlox and his people. Eventually, though, Phlox manages to reach him with stories about his children, and the man allows Phlox to treat him. Meanwhile on the planet, the away team runs into some trouble and Mayweather suffers a broken leg when the three fell down a ravine. Tucker and Reed continue their search without Mayweather and eventually find the Denobian scientists. They at first refuse to leave their geological excavation, until the planet's military starts to bomb the caverns, making them all rush out to safety. Archer intervenes long enough to get everyone safely onto the Enterprise.

Cogenitor

Enterprise is studying a hyper-giant star when they ancounter an alien ship that is also studying the star. The friendly aliens dock with Enterprise, and Captain Archer joins the alien captain on an expedition to explore the star's atmosphere in a specially-designed survey craft. They hit it off as if they were long-time buddies. Meanwhile back on Enterprise, Tucker makes friends with the alien's chief engineer and his wife, and gets a tour of their ship's high-tech engine room. Tucker also becomes interested in an individual of a third sex who is aboard the alien ship to help the engineer and his wife conceive a child, which is customary for their species. Tucker's interest is in how this individual, known as a congenitor, is treated as a non-intity, doesn't even have a name, and isn't given the opportunity to become educated. Despite T'Pol's warnings not to interfere in the aliens' culture, Tucker sneaks off to meet with the congenitor with the intent of teaching her to read and encouraging her to gain an education. His attempts are wildly successful, and the congenitor soon develops a sense of identity and a desire to better herself. When the congenitor later asks for asylum aboard Enterprise, Archer chews our Tucker for interfering and makes the hard decision to refuse the cogenitor's asylum request. Shortly after the two ships depart on their separate ways, Archer receives a call from the alien captain, informing him that the cogenitor has committed suicide. Tucker is left with the knowledge that his meddling has cost the cogenitor her life.

Regeneration

A trio of scientists explore wreckage discovered in Earth's Arctic regions and discover the frozen bodies of two Borg drones. They thaw out the drones and soon the nanoprobes regenerate enough of the drones' systems that they awaken, assimilate the three scientists, and make off in their transport ship. Starfleet orders Enterprise to pursue the transport ship and try to recover the three scientists. Shortly after, Enterprise receives a distress call from a ship under attack. They chase off the attacker, which happens to be the now-modified transport, and recover the last two survivors from the ship that was under attack. But the two survivors have already been infected by the Borg nanoprobes and soon awaken, attack Dr. Phlox, and make off into engineering corridors aboard Enterprise and begin to make modification to some systems. Left with no resort, Captain Archer has the out hatch in the engineering corridor blown in order to get rid of the two saboteurs. Enterprise eventually catches up with the now heavily-modified transport and is disabled by the Borgs' attack. Archer and Reed transport over to the transport, and just barely manage to activate an explosive device in a critical power conduit before they're overpowered by the Borg drones. Meanwhile, Tucker has managed to disable the modifications to Enterprise made by the earlier saboteurs and Enterprise destroys the transport. During all of this, Dr. Phlox has been fighting a takeover of his body by nanoprobes, and subjects himself to intense radiation in order to kill the nanoprobes. Later he warns Archer that while his was infected, he was connected to some kind of hive mind and learned that the drones in the transport had transmitted a subspace signal before the transport was attacked -- the coordinates to Earth's location.

[Editor's Note: This episode might at first appear to be contrary to the history of human contact with the Borg as depicted in the series "Star Trek: The Next Generation," the movie "Star Trek: First Contact," and the series "Star Trek: Voyager." However, what it actually does is set up an interesting time travel paradox that falls completely within the bounds of what has been depicted before. Remember that in ST:TNG, Captain Picard and the Enterprise-D were the first humans to be transported to the Delta Quadrant and face the Borg -- thanks to Q's interference. In ST:First Contact, Picard and the Enterprise-E traveled back to the 21st Century to stop a likewise time traveling Borg sphere set on attacking a primitive Earth. What this episode of "Enterprise" does is add an unexpected twist where, 100 years later, two survivors from the Borg sphere attacked by Picard and the Enterprise-E are found and reactivated. This sets up an alternate timeline in which Captain Archer and the first Enterprise are chronologically the first to encounter the Borg. However, at this point, the Borg are only known to be "cybernetic humanoids." Little else is known about them and their culture -- that all still waits to be learned by Picard and the crew of the Enterprise-D. Many fans will probably dislike this attempt to tweak "Trek History," but I absolutely enjoy these types of time paradox stories, which have always been a common part of the Star Trek universe.]

First Flight

Captain Archer gets a message from Admiral Forrester, telling him that an old Starfleet comrade names A.G. Robinson has died in an accident while climbing Mt. McKinley. Later, Archer and T'Pol take a shuttlepod to investigate a possible dark matter nebula picked up on long-range sensors. Enroute, Archer recounts to T'Pol the "off the record" story of how he and Robinson competed for the honor of the first flight to break the Warp 2 barrier. . .

Archer was called to then-Commodore Forrester's office to get the bad news that Robinson was selected to make the first flight. On that flight, Robinson reached Warp 2 in the NX-A prototype but, in pushing the envelope further, ran into trouble and the NX-A was destroyed near Jupiter. Robinson was lucky to survive. Archer met Trip Tucker while investigating the aftermath, but Forrester again had to give Archer bad news. Starfleet has agreed with the Vulcans' recommendation to suspend the NX project indefinitely until more computer simulations can be run. Archer has a vested interest in the NX project, because the warp drive was developed by his now-deceased father. Archer blames Robinson for the cancellation of the project and the two come to blows in a popular pub near Starfleet Headquarters. Eventually though, Archer and Robinson begin to form a friendship and they conspire with Tucker to make modifications to the NX-B prototype's warp drive and make an unauthorized test flight. This time Robinson and Archer go together, with Archer in the pilot's seat. They are successful in reaching Warp 2.5, proving that the NX warp drive is a successful design. Upon returning to Earth, they are chewed out and grounded by Forrester. Eventually the NX project was continued with a successful Warp 3 flight being made by another pilot. Archer was later returned to flight status and was given command of Enterprise NX-01, with Robinson fully expecting to be given command of the NX-02 starship once she was completed. Unfortunately, Robinson never will get that opportunity now.

Bounty

A small Tellarite ship hails the Enterprise and offers to be a guide for the Enterprise crew, which is investigating an uninhabited planet as a possible location for some shore leave. But this is just a trick by the Tellarite to capture Archer to turn him over to the Klingons for the large bounty they are offering for Archer's capture. Meanwhile, T'Pol and Dr. Phlox return from the surface of the planet and find that they have been infected by a rather stubborn virus. As they go through decontamination, T'Pol begins to exhibit strange behavior, which she confides to Phlox is a premature onset of pon'far. As Phlox tries to ward off T'Pol's sexual advances and at the same time treat her condition, he becomes more and more frustrated in his attempts. Finally, he has to enlist the aid of Reed and a security team in EVA suits to subdue T'Pol Eventually she and Phlox are cured of the virus. Meanwhile, Archer is being held prisoner on the small Tellarite ship, which has managed to evade the Enterprise. When the ship is attacked by another bounty hunter trying to gain possession of Archer, he convinces the Tellarite to let him help in fighting off the attacker. Both vessels are damaged and forced to land on a nearby planet for repairs. Archer is able to gain the respect of the Tellarite and, when the Klingons arrive on the scene to claim their prize, Archer and the Tellarite manage to outwit the Klingons, with the Tellarite getting his ransom but Archer also gaining his freedom with the help of the Enterprise, which arrives in the nick of time.

The Expanse

A spherical spacecraft enters Earth orbit and fires a devastating beam that cuts a 4,000 mile long canyon down the middle of Florida, across Cuba, and into Venezuela, with over 7 million casualties -- including Trip Tucker's sister. Meanwhile, on Qo'noS, the Klingon council sends Duras on a mission to capture Captain Archer and bring him to justice. As Enterprise nears Earth, having been recalled by Starfleet, eight Suliban ship intercept Enterprise and kidnap Archer. Aboard the main Suliban ship, Silik has Archer meet with his contact from the future. The mystery man tells Archer that the attack on Earth was perpetrated by a species that lives in an unexplored region of space called the Delphic Expanse. He tells Archer that this species received information from the future about their destruction at the hand of humans, and are now preparing to make a pre-emptive strike against Earth. The Suliban leave and Enterprise arrives at Earth, but is immediately attacked by Duras's Bird of Prey. Duras is chased away by other Starfleet ships that come to Enterprise's defense. Archer informs Starfleet of the information he obtained from the Suliban, but the Vulcans refuse to accept that Archer has been in contact with someone from the future because of their belief that time travel is impossible. However, Starfleet decides to send Enterprise on a special mission into the Delphic Expanse to find the species that attacked Earth and to stop their further attack plans. T'Pol, however, finds herself in a difficult position because she has been ordered by the Vulcan High Command to return to Vulcan, but she wants to stay aboard Enterprise. As Enterprise departs Earth to drop T'Pol off at Vulcan, the ship again comes under attack by Duras. But with her weapons upgraded to include photonic torpedoes, Duras's Bird of Prey is no match for Enterprise. Enroute to Vulcan, T'Pol speaks with Archer and tells him about her desire to stay aboard Enterprise and that would resign her Vulcan commission to be able to do so. Archer decides to change course direct to the Delphic Expanse. As they arrive at the outer fringes of this mysterious area of space, Enterprise once again is attacked by Duras, this time with two other Birds of Prey. Archer enters the Expanse and Duras continues to pursue, but without the other two Birds of Prey, whose captains are afraid to enter the Expanse. Severely damaged by Duras, Archer has Mayweather execute a tricky maneuver that gets Enterprise behind the Klingon ship and destroys it with photonic torpedoes. Enterprise then proceeds into the heart of the Delphic Expanse to face the unknown.