Summary
The show opens with Captain Archer, T'Pol and Commander
Tucker studying sensor readings which Archer and Tucker
believe indicate a dark matter nebula. T'Pol is skeptical,
but Archer orders Trip to prepare a set of metrion particle
charges that can illuminate dark matter, making it easier
to directly detect.
A message from Admiral Forrest informs Archer that Captain
A.G. Robinson died while climbing Mount McKinley, and the
news hits Archer hard. He decides to solo pilot the shuttlepod
into the suspected nebula to deploy the charges. Trip voices
disbelief that someone like Robinson would die in a climbing
incident after all the close calls in test flights. Archer
wanted to go alone, but T'Pol insists on accompanying him,
citing the scientific nature of the mission and Starfleet
regulations.
T'Pol asks about Archer's message from Admiral Forrest.
Archer tells her that he and Robinson were commanders on
the NX test program together. Then-Commodore Forrest named
A.G. the pilot for the warp two test flight with Archer
serving as backup. Following the announcement, Archer sulked
and drank at the 602, because no one ever remembers the
person that does something second.
Robinson arrived at the bar and Archer congratulated him.
A.G. told Archer that the reason Archer didn't win the
position wasn't because of a lack of piloting talent, but
because Archer was too focused on winning. He had cut himself
off from everything and everyone else in his life. What
Starfleet was looking for was not just a great pilot, but
a great captain.
The Vulcans were on hand for the test flight, and all
went well at first, with Robinson successfully breaking
the warp two barrier. Things started to go wrong as the
ship approached warp 2.2. Despite Archer's insistence that
Robinson throttle back, Robinson pushed on to hit warp
2.2. At that point, the warp field collapsed, the ship
dropped out of warp and broke up.
Back in the "present," Archer launches the first
two charges, which yield nothing.
Robinson had managed to deploy the escape pod and escaped
relatively unharmed. The same could not be said of the
program. The Vulcans insisted that the engine design, Archer's
father's design, was unsound. A lieutenant engineer, Tucker,
insisted that the design was sound, but it would take some
time to get the intermix formula correct. The Vulcans agreed
that more time was needed, but because the program was
moving too fast and taking too many risks. A.G. defended
the risks as necessary.
At the 602, Archer and Tucker share a drink. Commodore
Forrest joins them just long enough to inform them that
Starfleet has taken the Vulcan's advice, and the NX test
program has been put on indefinite hold. They intend to
develop a new engine from scratch. Later, Robinson comes
to the bar. Archer accuses A.G. of helping the Vulcans
bury the program by blaming the engine design. Robinson
insists that Archer is too emotionally involved with the
engine design, and that Archer's father's design was faulty.
At this Archer and Robinson get into a fist fight, but
it's broken up before, as T'Pol notes, anyone can "win."
The shuttlepod experiences fluctuations in the EPS grid,
something Trip had predicted. T'Pol is still skeptical,
but notes that if Tucker is right, it could be dangerous.
Archer mentions that Robinson always claimed that you could
never get anywhere if you were afraid to take risks. T'Pol
wonders why Archer holds Robinson in such high regard if
he almost destroyed the program. Archer replies that Robinson
was also the one that got it back on track.
As Robinson was cleaning out his locker, Archer refused
to give up. He admitted that he'd not been objective about
the engine design, but that the telemetry bears out Trip's
suspicions. The problem was in the intermix, and it could
be corrected given a chance. The two eventually agree that
the only way to prove that the engine can work is to make
another test flight with the second prototype, something
Starfleet won't allow. Archer doesn't like the idea, but
Robinson tells him he'll never get to deep space by playing
things safe, and that when Starfleet chooses a captain
for the first warp five ship, he'll be on his own, having
to make his own decisions.
T'Pol doesn't recall any record of the second test flight.
Archer says Starfleet didn't make it widely known. She's
surprised that Archer had to be talked into the flight,
but he replies that he was more "by the book" then.
Despite increasing particle densities, the second set of
metrion charges also failed to find any dark matter.
Archer and Robinson were onboard for the NX-beta's test
flight. Trip rigged the facility sensors to show the NX-beta
as still in its hangar, and would monitor the telemetry
from the hangar. Once off the ground, Robinson turned the
controls over to Archer, stating it was his turn. The flight
went smoothly again up to warp two. Starfleet discovered
what was happening, and Forrest ordered the two to return.
They refused. As the ship neared warp 2.2 it again experienced
problems, but Robinson tried to compensate. Just as security
found Trip, Archer reported that they'd reached warp 2.5
and were holding steady. Forrest grudgingly congratulated
them and ordered them back to Earth.
When the two returned, they faced a livid Commodore Forrest
and the Vulcans. The two had been reckless and the Vulcans
again insisted that they were trying to move too fast and
were not yet ready. Robinson replied that if they listened
to the Vulcans, they'd never get into space. These ships
weren't made for intra-system test flights, they were made
so that humans could explore. The engine worked, and they
were ready now.
Archer told T'Pol that they had managed to avoid a court
martial, and over a year of simulations had gotten the
Vulcans to admit that the engine might work. Eight months
later, the NX-delta broke warp three, and five years later
the Enterprise's keel had been laid. The final two charges
hit pay dirt, lighting up a huge area of dark matter. Marveling
at the sight, Archer said that this was the reason they
wanted to get out into space.
Archer had beaten out Robinson for the captaincy of the
NX-01, and there was a celebration at the 602. Robinson
congratulated Archer on his captaincy, and looked forward
to competing for the captaincy of the NX-02.
In the final scene T'Pol suggests that Archer name the
newly discovered dark matter nebula the "Robinson
Nebula."
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