The date is April 4, 2063, and things are about to get very interesting at an abandoned missile complex in central Montana.  It is here that scientist Zefram Cochrane has been working with engineer Lily Sloane on a new kind of rocket.  His "warp" ship, the Phoenix, is built atop the boosters of a nuclear weapon, but the modifications Cochrane has made to it will enable the spacecraft to travel faster than the speed of light.  However, an unexpected variable may cause the Phoenix to miss its launch date: the complex is attacked by a Borg shpere from the future... and Zefram Cochrane is caught in the crossfire!

Despite the destruction to the complex around him, Cochrane escapes the damage from the Borg attacks.  The grizzled scientist also misses the arrival of an away team from the U.S.S. Enterprise-E, a starship that has come back in time to stop the Borg.  Cochrane seems unsurprised to find newcomers among the refugees in the camp, and he proceeds to get uproariously drunk with the Entrerprise's counselor, Deanna Troi.

As the Enterprise's engineers work quickly to repair the damage done to the Phoenix, Cochrane learns the truth from Commander William Riker, Troi, and Commander Geordi La Forge.  The scientist finds it impossible to believe that he will be the father of future space travel, and seems genuinely unnerved that everyone from the Enterprise treats him like a visionary hero.  When he finds out that a stature will be erected in his honor -- in the far future -- he attampts to leave the complex, but La Forge and Riker track him down.  It is imperative for the future that he launch the Phoenix.

Aboard his ship, Cochrane makes a confession to Riker: he built the Phoenix to make money, not to explore space.  But once the launch procedds, with Riker and La Forge strapped in behind him in th cockpit, Cochrane discovers the grandeur and beauty of space.  His first warp trip a success, Cochrane returns to his compound on Earth, where that evening he receives some other-worldly visitors: the crew of a Vulcan survey ship, whose detection of the Phoenix's warp signature has inspired them to make first contact with the people of Earth.  Offering the Vulcans drinks and loud rock music, Cochrane is dazzled by the concept that he has gone into the breech of space and made contact with real aliens; he has assured humanity's destiny among the stars.