New Beginnings (001 episode)

Fleet Admiral Tom Garrison, stationed aboard Starbase 001, receives word from Starfleet Command that they are shutting down the Utopia Planitia Shipyards. He's furious, not only because shutting them down would leave them vulnerable to an attack by the Alliance, a strong power consisting of the Romulans, Cardassians, Breen, Tholians, and others, but also because he was never consulted before a decision was made. He attempts to contact Starfleet Command to express his displeasure, but nobody will take his calls.

Meanwhile, the new CO of Starbase 001, Captain David Major, arrives on the station. His new crew begins to arrive as well, except for his science officer, Lt. T'Kila, a Vulcan, and chief of security, Lt. Commander K'Rak, a Klingon. They were both aboard the scout ship USS Domtar en route to the starbase when the ship disappeared near Alliance territory.

Admiral Garrison orders Captain Major to take his new crew out on the USS Pollux, the starship assigned to Starbase 001, to search for the Domtar. Arriving at it's last known position they find it adrift in space, and they also find evidence of a cloaked Romulan warbird nearby. A brief firefight breaks out between the Pollux and Romulan ship, but the Romulans quickly withdraw. The Chief Engineer, a Romulan defector named Commander Tanik, admits that Romulans would often perform biological and chemical experiments on Starfleet crews. An away team is sent to the Domtar.

Meanwhile, back on the starbase, Ambassador Michael Larkin, head of the Federation Diplomatic Corps, admits to Garrison he knows about Utopia Planitia and offers to help. Fleet Captain Drayson Hardgrove, a Strategic Intelligence Officer who Tom has worked with in the past, shows up and drops off a data rod. Admiral Miasha Jenco, the most senior admiral in Starfleet and a personal friend of Garrison's, contacts him. He tells Tom he did everything he could to prevent the closing of Utopia Planitia, but that it's out of his hands.

Back on the Domtar, the away team finds the ship barely functioning on minimal power. They also find Romulans aboard the ship. Bloody fights break out between the away team and Romulans, and the surviving crew of the Domtar and the Romulans. All of the starfleet officers are beamed back to the Pollux just as the Romulan Warbird reappears. Another firefight breaks out, but the warbird again withdraws and the Pollux returns to Starbase 001. In the debriefing, it is noted that the Captain of the Domtar was unaccounted for - he wasn't among the survivors and his body wasn't found on the Domtar. Major wants to take the Pollux back to find out what happened to the Captain, but Garrison orders him to stay, not wanting to risk losing another ship.

Garrison goes to Larkin and asks for his help to carry out a plan to save Utopia Planitia. He tells Larkin that he has a data rod which shows a meeting among top Starfleet officials, a meeting where it is revealed that San Francisco Shipyards, the only other large shipyard facility, will be out of comission for 18 months for a computer upgrade. This will leave the Federation with no active shipyards for almost two years, making them vulnerable to an Alliance attack. He tells Larkin what he plans to do is illegal, and Larkin agrees to help.

Larkin takes a shuttle to Alliance Space, where he meets with a Cardassian named Gul Telle. He gives Telle the data rod, but when he tries to leave his shuttle is attacked. He sends a distress signal to Starbase 001 just before he is transported onto a Cardassian ship, where he becomes a prisoner of the Alliance.

On Starbase 001, Admiral Jenco contacts Garrison to tell him they have picked up a transmission on official Alliance channels showing the Alliance knows about San Fransisco Shipyards being shut down for upgrades. Since they now know how vulnerable the Federation really would be after Utopia Planitia shuts down, Jenco reveals that it will stay open after all. He accuses Garrison of being behind the information link, and then admits that he's the one who allowed the data rod to fall into Garrison's hands. He knew Garrison would do something like this, and he figured it was the only way to save the Federation. Garrison was furious his friend would set him up like that instead of asking him for help, and the conversation ends on a bitter note.

The episode concludes with a mysterious figure entering a Systems Room and deleting all traces of an incoming distress signal from Ambassador Larkin.

Links
Episode 1 - "New Beginnings"