The genesis of a new series: the novelization of the first-ever episode of ENTERPRISE tells the pioneering story of Captain Jonathan Archer and his crew on their first exploration of space. It is the twenty-second century, and the dawn of man's greatest adventure. Under the watchful eye of the Vulcans, Earth has been preparing its flagship, the groundbreaking starship Enterprise NX-01, for her inaugural voyage into interstellar space. When a mysterious alien fugitive - a Klingon - is almost killed in Broken Bow, Montana, the Vulcans argue that mankind is not ready to meet other races and the launch should be postponed. But Captain Jonathan Archer refuses to be deterred. Determined to take the Enterprise to the stars he musters his crew and readies his ship to take the stranger home. Archer is given the assignment - on condition that a Vulcan officer accompanies his crew. It should have been a quick and easy mission...but when the Klingon is abducted by a snatch squad of deadly Suliban, the Enterprise is pulled into a conflict that reaches not only across whole star systems but centuries as well.