Before Janeway and Sisko, before Picard and Kirk... It Is the twenty-seoond century...and the dawn of mankind's boldest adventure. Thanks to the amazing breakthroughs in warp technology, an era of true Interstellar exploration is about to begin, and a whole new universe, full of astounding wonders and unparalleled dangers, has just opened up for humanity. Someone has to lead the way, and that someone is Capt. Jonathan Archer of the first Starship Enterprise™, NX-01. Archer and his crew, including Vulcan SubCommander T'Pol and the enigmatic Dr. Phlox, will face challenges previously unimagined as they truly go where no man has gone before™. But they must also survive first contact with a fearsome extraterrestrial race known only as the Klingons. The thrilling premier of an all-new Star Trek® saga. Plus, as a special bonus, a 32-page look behind the scenes of the hit TV series!

"Time shall unfold what plighted cunning hides..." — William Shakespeare "The Vulcan Science Directorate has concluded that time travel is impossible." — T'Pol The Starship Enterprise™ NX-01 has carried its crew farther into the reaches of space than any human has ever travelled. Commanded by Captain Jonathan Archer, they have charted new stars, explored planets, and made first contact with races previously unknown to even the Vulcans. And while it's true that they have made mistakes along the way, the crew of Enterprise have tried to live up to Starfleet's creed—to boldly go. The Paraagan deep-space colony was just another first contact, unusual only in two aspects: it was a matriarchal society, and the planet's upper atmosphere was filled with a highly volatile gas. But the officers of Enterprise knew how to handle their shuttlepod, and they understood the Paraagan landing protocols. As the shuttlepod descended into the planet's atmosphere, they closed the plasma vents, certain that nothing could escape and ignite the gas. Thirty-six hundred colonists were vaporized in the blast. Every building, every living thing, everything on the surface was destroyed in the fireball. But how could it have happened? Every reading shows that the pod's vents were shut. Nevertheless, it could only have been the Enterprise crew who caused the destruction. Recalled to Earth, Archer knows that the Vulcan High Command has convinced Starfleet of what they have long insisted. Humans are not ready for deep-space exploration. True, it was an accident. But considering the catastrophic loss of life, Starfleet must agree that deep-space exploration must wait just a little longer, perhaps another twenty years...or longer. But these were not the events as history recorded them. No one died. Enterprise was never recalled. This is the startling information offered by the mysterious Crewman Daniels—who claims to be from the thirty-first century and a foot solider in the temporal cold war. With a renewed sense of determination, Archer sets out to prove Enterprise's innocence, armed with the knowledge that if he succeeds, his ship will be safe, his future secure. But time is a swiftly moving river in whose deadly rapids Enterprise and her captain are now caught. Is there anything one very small starship can do against these forces?

High above the planet Earth, an alien probe appears—and in an unspeakably horrific instant, releases a deadly blast that strafes the planet's surface, leaving a miles-wide, smoldering crater of destruction in its wake. Millions die in Florida, Cuba, and Venezuela, their lives blotted out in a blazing millisecond. Just as swiftly, the probe implodes and crashes on the planet surface, but the remnants provide no clue as to its origin. Who are the attackers, and what provoked them? Aboard the Starship Enterprise™, Captain Jonathan Archer learns of the destruction. His ship is called home; it is uncertain whether its mission of space exploration will continue. But before Enterprise reaches Earth, Archer is abruptly kidnaped from the bridge by the time-traveling enemies he has encountered before. He finds himself aboard a Suliban vessel, face-to-face with his old nemesis, Silik, a high-ranking indiviual in a battle known only as the Temporal Cold War. Silik leads him to his master, a mysterious humanoid from the far future. The humanoid claims that the attack on Earth was just a test; and the next attack will destroy Archer's home planet...unless he and the Enterprise crew stop it. To do so, they must enter a region of space called The Expanse - an area so dangerous that no ship has ever emerged from it unscathed. Vulcan crews were driven to bloodthirsty madness, Klingon crews were anatomically inverted, their internal organs exposed outside their bodies...while they still lived. Many vessels were lost, never to be heard from again. Archer faces the greatest crisis of his career: Should he believe Silik's time-traveling master, and expose his ship and crew to the perils of The Expanse, in hopes of saving Earth from destruction? And can he convince Starfleet Command and the Vulcan High Council to let Enterprise go to face her biggest challenge?