“First Flight” is episode twenty-four of season two of Star Trek: Enterprise.
Captain Archer, Trip and T’Pol are looking at some readings. T’Pol suggests a phantom reading. Yes, Vulcans have confirmed the existence of dark matter, but never in such dense concentrations. The captain says that’s the point; it could be the first dark matter nebula observed. Though, according to T’Pol, there won’t be much to see. The captain knows of a Vulcan experiment where dark matter was excited with metrion particles. Not to the size, according to T’Pol. Trip thinks he can modify some spatial charges.
Then Hoshi tells the captain that Admiral Forrest is calling. The captain takes it in his ready room. The admiral has bad news. It’s A.G. Robinson. He died in a climbing accident on Mount McKinley.
In the shuttle bay, Trip tells the captain he’s modified six spatial charges and asks the captain if he wants company. No; if the nebula exists, they don’t know what effect it might have on the shuttlepod. Trip thinks that’s a reason for having an engineer. The captain would rather be alone. They mention A.G. After Trip leaves, T’Pol enters the shuttlepod. And stays. It’s a scientific mission, so it’s logical to bring the science officer, and Starfleet regulations prohibit the captain leaving the ship unaccompanied.
In the shuttlepod, T’Pol eventually gets the captain to talk. She knows someone died. Captain A.G. Robinson. Archer wouldn’t be out there without him. T’Pol has never heard of him. After a slightly snippy response, the captain foes into more detail. A.G., Duvall, Gardner and Archer were all in the NX Project, attempting to breach warp 2. They all wanted the first flight and Archer thought he would get it.
Then-commander Archer was summoned to see then-commodore Forrest to be told that A.G. was getting the flight. Archer is the backup. Archer is later drinking at the 602 Club, served by someone called Ruby – who both Trip and Reed mentioned in “Shuttlepod One” – drinking more than usual apparently. Ruby tells him that they’ll need a pilot for the next flight. Archer asks if she knows what Buzz Aldrin said when he set foot on the Moon. She doesn’t. Archer says nobody does, because he was second.
Archer then congratulates A.G., who asks him if he means it. Of course not. A.G. tells Archer that the captain didn’t get it because he tried too hard to be the best pilot and shut everything and everyone else out of his life. But Starfleet doesn’t just want a great pilot; they want a great captain.
T’Pol comments that the captain’s relationship with A.G. seemed adversarial. Yes; they all wanted to fly. T’Pol thinks A.G. had a point about commanding a starship. The captain agrees. She says he seems to have developed the necessary skills. T’Pol assumes the flight was successful. Not exactly.
Archer remained in ground control as A.G. went to warp. After reaching warp 2, the warp field started running into problems. Despite being told to abort, A.G. didn’t, reaching warp 2.2 before the warp field collapsed and the NX-Alpha came out of warp around Jupiter and exploded.
The first two spatial charges do nothing. The captain explains that A.G. made the record books for being the first person to deploy an escape pod at warp. But this nearly derailed the entire program. One of the Vulcans commented that the engine is obviously unsound, but Trip defended it. It will just take a little time to adjust. That was the point; they’re moving too quickly. Trip doesn’t think they need to do it as slowly as the Vulcans.
Trip and Archer are later drinking in the 602 Club when Forrest joins them. The NX Project has been put on hold. Indefinitely. They’re going to build a new engine from scratch.
It’s pretty obvious that this didn’t happen, given they’re out with the same engine. Because Trip, A.G. and Archer essentially decided it’s better to ask forgiveness and permission and to prove that the engine worked. The story is told as the captain and T’Pol travel further into the theoretical nebula.