Nearly ninety years after Zefram Cochrane's warp flight and first contact, humans have been guided by Vulcans towards developing the first warp five engine. Now that engine has been developed and installed aboard Earth's first warp five starship, Enterprise, commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer, son of the engine's chief designer. When a Klingon shuttlecraft crashlands in Broken Bow, Oklahoma, Enterprise's launch date is moved up in order to take the sole Klingon, Klaang, home to his people. Despite protests from Vulcan Ambassador Soval, Admiral Maxwell Forrest orders Archer to assemble his crew and prepare to leave in three days.