During a test on the warp engine, Trip is seriously injured and falls into a coma. His heroic actions do save the ship from a breach, but Enterprise sustains damage and is left drifting in a dangerous polaric field. Phlox is concerned that Trip may not survive, and poses one potentially controversial alternative: using one of his creatures, a Lyssarrian Desert Larvae, Phlox could clone Trip with a simbiot, then use its neural tissue for a transplant. The simbiot would have Trip's genetic make-up, but it would grow old and die in a span of 15 days. Archer is uneasy about this plan, but he eventually decides that he has no choice: he must complete his mission and he needs Trip to do so.
Star Trek: Enterprise, a prequel set before the original series, follows the crew of Earth's first warp five starship. Lead by Jonathan Archer and his crew, the series follows their adventures as they explore never before seen parts of the galaxy, setting foot on new worlds and meeting new races, as well as some familiar ones.