- On the first anniversary of her assignment to Enterprise, T'Pol tells Archer and Trip about the first contact between humans and Vulcans, which involves three Vulcans becoming stranded in the town of Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania in 1957.
- Celebrating T'Pol's one year anniversary as a member of the Enterprise's crew, Archer and Trip have dinner with her. Over dinner she tells them of the true first contact between Humans and Vulcans. It appears that her great-grandmother and a the crew of a scout ship crashed on Earth...in 1957.—timdalton007
- Captain Archer and Trip are having a celebration party for T'Pol, who has finished her first year on Enterprise. Archer wants to know why T'Pol traveled to the small Pennsylvania town Carbon Creek during her stay on Earth. T'Pol tells the story of her grandmother T'Mir. 1957, the Vulcans T'Mir, Mestral, Stron and their captain are studying Earth from orbit. But suddenly there is a problem with the impulse manifold and their ship crashes on the surface. The captain dies instantly and T'Mir assumes command. It's unclear if a distress call was really sent and, when after two weeks rations are running out, the three Vulcans are forced to make contact with the inhabitants of Carbon Creek. With no help coming from the skies, T'Mir, Mestral and Stron slowly integrate into the community, each in their own way.—Arnoud Tiele (imdb@tiele.nl)
- Captain Archer, Commander Tucker and Sub-Commander T'Pol are having dinner to celebrate the first anniversary of T'Pol's assignment aboard Enterprise. During conversation, Archer asks why T'Pol traveled to Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania, before she joined Enterprise. T'Pol reveals that, contrary to human belief that the first contact between humans and Vulcans occurred in the mid-2060s, it actually occurred a century earlier. Tucker and Archer react incredulously to this claim, so T'Pol offers to tell them her great-grandmother's story.
T'Mir is a member of a four-Vulcan crew studying Earth from orbit in 1957, when they witness the launch of Sputnik, the planet's first artificial satellite. A mishap with their impulse manifold forces the craft to crash-land in Pennsylvania. The captain (David Selburg) is killed and T'Mir, as second-in-command, takes charge. A distress signal is sent, but after more than two weeks no reply is received. From fear of starvation (Their emergency rations were over within a week and they had already gone 5 days without food), Mestral (J. Paul Boehmer) and T'Mir enter the nearby town of Carbon Creek, Pennsylvania. Over the next few months the Vulcans successfully integrate themselves with the townsfolk (They steal some clothes to blend in and Mestral starts by playing pool to earn some money and buy some food) (eventually they find steady work as waitress or as plumbers, while they waited for their rescue to arrive), renting an apartment from Maggie (Ann Cusack), a tavern owner. Mestral likes the humans, while T'Mir thinks that the species is on the brink of self-annihilation (the humans just tested the first atomic bomb and now has the capability of destroying itself). Mestral believes humans have great empathy and compassion. Mestral starts dating Maggie, hiding it from T'Mir..Maggie is a barkeep and is trying to earn money to put her son through college. T'Mir prohibits Mestral from meeting Maggie.
One day there is a firedamp explosion in the mine; Mestral helps rescue a dozen trapped miners by covertly blasting through a rock wall with a phaser. T'Mir was against interfering, but Mestral goes ahead nonetheless. Eventually, a Vulcan vessel signals that it will arrive to retrieve the crew (The distress signal was picked by a Tellarite freighter, who took some time to forward it to the Vulcan High command). Before leaving, T'Mir learns a human lesson in compassion. Maggie tells T'Mir how she is struggling to come up with the money for her son's college. He is bright, but will have to skip this yr, with no guarantee that he would get in next yr. T'Mir travels by train to Pittsburgh where she "sells" the rights to Velcro. The money she receives is more than enough to pay for the college education of Maggie's son. As the Vulcan ship nears, Mestral announces that he intends to stay on Earth and observe the great advances he knows lie ahead. T'Mir reluctantly agrees, and tells the rescuers that Mestral had died along with the captain. T'Pol leaves Archer and Tucker unsure whether or not to believe the story. In her quarters she reveals she still has T'Mir's 1950s-era handbag.
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