'Dawn' Synopsis

Enterprise enters a new star system and begins to make surveys of the area in accordance with their exploratory mandate. Trip is sent out in a shuttlecraft to begin the examination of the area, which includes a planet ringed by multitudes of small moons. While exploring the rings, the engineer's shuttlecraft is fired on by an unknown alien vessel, and in the ensuing altercation both ships disappear from sensors. The Enterprise crew fears Trip has crash-landed on one of the moons, and the alien aggressor could be nearby.

Enterprise is soon contacted by Khata'n Zshaar, a representative of the Arkonian Tribunal. T'Pol tells Archer that she knows of the species' reputation, and advises caution. In a viewscreen conversation, Zshaar informs Archer that Enterprise has violated their territory, and he has orders to destroy any trespassers.

Archer refuses to leave, and tells Zshaar what happened to Trip. While Zshaar stays silent, his expressions betray the fact that the alien pilot who fired at the shuttlecraft - and is now also missing - was Arkonian. Zshaar refuses to help, and claims that he is being drawn into a Vulcan plot after spotting T'Pol on the bridge. Archer pleads with Zshaar to join forces with Enterprise so they can pool their resources and rescue their men together. Before signing off, Zshaar warns that "if they are indeed near each other...your man is dead already."

Zshaar begins somewhat begrudgingly to work with Archer, and comes aboard the NX-01. Enterprise has received a distress call with a Starfleet signature, but it appears the carrier wave was generated using Arkonian technology, and they weren't able to respond or find out where it was sent from. Archer suggests Zshaar allow T'Pol onboard the Arkonian ship so she can recalibrate their technology to receive Starfleet signals and find the origin of the distress call. While Zshaar hesitates, Archer reminds the alien commander that Trip and the Arkonian pilot seemed to have learned to work together to send the signal - so why can't they?

While the script extracts do not deal extensively with the scenes between Trip and the Arkonian pilot, Sha'Khana, they do seem to reveal the origin of the episode's title. The moon they are stranded on is unbearably hot during the day - one scene describes the dawn and the effect of the onrush of heat on the stranded men, as they lie beneath a overhang in order to shield themselves as much as possible.

Trip and Sha'Khana are eventually rescued through the combined efforts of the Enterprise crew and the Arkonians. Zshaar gratefully thanks Archer and T'Pol for their help before leaving to give his report to the Arkonian government. "You've opened my eyes, Captain," he says. Despite some teething troubles, Earth's first contact has gone very well, and T'Pol tells Archer that their cooperation with the Arkonian military is a "historic moment."