Riding the high that the Star Trek franchise enjoyed during the mid 90s, a fourth spin-off to the original show was ordered. Brannon Braga and Rick Berman teamed up to create a prequel halfway between the 21st century seen in Star Trek: First Contact and the beginning of Kirk’s voyage seen in “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” After the Vulcans notice humanity’s first warp flight, they leave a delegation on Earth to guide humanity’s first steps into deep space. However, not everyone is a fan of the Vulcans, as some grumble the aliens are deliberately withholding information and keeping humanity back.
The warp program was started by Zefram Cochrane to develop space vessels with faster-than-light engines. By 2151 they had a prototype vessel that had a Warp 5 engine. Earth is united and war, disease, and hunger are considered “wiped out” by some humans. Earth certainly looks far removed from the World War Three fallout we saw in First Contact. But the Vulcans still deem humanity unworthy for deep space travel because of their volatile nature. Everything changes when a Klingon crash lands in Oklahoma. Despite knowing very little about the species, Admiral Forrest decides to launch Enterprise ahead of schedule so they can return the Klingon to his home planet.
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