Stardate 1739.12: As the Enterprise is in spacedock and Captain Christopher Pike is on home leave in Montana, his communicator repeatedly beeps but he doesn't answer the calls. Pike is out for a ride on his horse when a shuttle with Admiral April appears. The admiral tells him that Una Chin-Riley, Pike's Number One, has gone missing on a first contact mission. Pike contacts Spock on Vulcan, who says goodbye to his fiancée T'Pring and returns to the Enterprise. Lieutenant La'an Noonien-Singh acts as the ship's temporary first officer. She is the sole survivor of an incident with a mysterious species known as the Gorn. The Enterprise leaves spacedock and heads for Kiley 279, the last known position of Una's ship, the Archer. As his ship as gone to warp, Pike retreats to his quarters. He is plagued by the vision of the accident that will leave him paralyzed. The Archer is still in orbit of Kiley 279, but no one is aboard. Noonien-Singh recommends to raise the shields. A bit later, several plasma torpedoes hit the ship but inflict only minor damage thanks to the shields. Overall, considering the low technology level of the planet, the warp signature received from there is implausible. Spock concludes that one of the warring factions of Kiley 279 has not built a warp drive, but a warp bomb. Pike, Spock and La'an proceed to sickbay, where they are greeted by Dr. M'Benga. Nurse Chapel has prepared injections that would temporarily alter their appearances to look like the inhabitants of Kiley 279. They materialize outside a complex where the bomb is being built and assume the identities of two scientists. The scientists themselves are beamed up to extract extra DNA to stabilize Spock's disguise. They are being kept sedated, but one of them wakes up and runs away. Using the emergency medical transporter, Chapel finally manages to catch up with him when he reaches the bridge together with Uhura, who managed to calm him down. Pike, Spock and La'an take an elevator down to the area where Una and her two crewmates are being held. Una says that the wormhole opened for the Discovery caught the attention of the planet's inhabitants. They then reverse-engineered the technology of the warp drive. As the six Starfleet officers are on their way back to the surface, Spock's appearance reverts to normal, which alerts the aliens. A brawl ensues, but they make it to the elevator. Pike decides not to beam up but to speak to the leaders of the planet. After meeting with Pike, the government and the rebels enter talks for the first time in a century. Pike beams down again and illustrates what is bound to happen if the planetary conflict continues, with footage of Earth's World War III. In the following, the people of Kiley 279 change their minds and work on the common goal to go out into space instead of fighting each other to death.

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