In the late 23rd century, it's the beginning of a new era as the Starship Enterprise -B is launched without James T. Kirk in command, but, the captain is along for the maiden voyage when a distress call from a group of El-Aurian refugees trapped in a mysterious energy ribbon presses the ill-prepared Enterprise into a deadly rescue mission that seemingly claims the life of Kirk. Seventy-eight years later, one of the El-Aurian survivors leads the crew of the Enterprise -D into a deadly confrontation with the Duras sisters as he plots to re-enter the paradise of the ribbon that nearly destroyed him years prior. A bottle of Dom Prignon cracks against the hull of the new USS Enterprise at the starship 's christening. On the drydock facility, people applaud the christening. On the Enterprise bridge , three guests of honor and first crew of the original Enterprise , James T. Kirk , Montgomery Scott , and Pavel Chekov , emerge from the turbolift and are immediately surrounded by reporters. Their frantic questioning is interrupted by Enterprise Captain John Harriman who says there'll be time for that later and welcomes the new arrivals to the bridge. He then tells Kirk how he's pleased to have a group of living legends aboard and how he read about their exploits when he was in grade school. After a rather awkward moment, Kirk asks if they can look around and Harriman obliges. Kirk is asked by a reporter about how he feels for