Carbon Creek ( episode ) T ' Pol tells Archer and Tucker a story about her great - grandmother and two other Vulcans , who crash landed in a small Pennsylvania town in the year 1957 . Summary . Teaser . Jonathan Archer , , and T ' Pol are informally celebrating T ' Pol ' s official one - year anniversary on board the . Despite T ' Pol insisting that she is only carrying out her duties and that a toast or a celebration are not needed , Archer tells her that it is indeed a special occasion considering that the previous record for a Vulcan serving on a Human ship was just two weeks . T ' Pol corrects him , stating it was only ten days . Archer goes on to tell her that he has been filling out her annual crew evaluation . He points out that in her record he noted that while she was stationed in Sausalito , she took a five - day leave to visit an old mining town in Pennsylvania called Carbon Creek . T ' Pol tells him that she went there for personal reasons . Both Archer and Tucker wonder what kind of personal business T ' Pol could possibly have in Pennsylvania . She tells them that she went to Carbon Creek because she wanted to visit the site of First Contact between Humans and Vulcans . This comes to quite a surprise to Archer and Tucker , who both insist that first contact took place in Montana in 2063 , over a century later . Act One . Encouraged by her dinner companions , T ' Pol begins the story of the first Vulcan - Human contact that took place in 1957 in Carbon Creek : A is performing a survey from Earth orbit after the recent " Sputnik I " launch by Humans . Unfortunately , after three weeks of surveying , they experience impulse manifold problems and are forced into an emergency crash landing on Earth , or more precisely , near the small town of Carbon Creek in Pennsylvania . Their captain dies in the crash , leaving T ' Mir ( T ' Pol ' s second foremother , which she explains is her mother ' s mother ' s mother ) in command of the two other surviving Vulcans . Their subspace transceiver is damaged in the crash and so they have no way of knowing if their distress signal has even been transmitted . To make matters worse , their emergency ration s are used up within a week . After five days without food , their situation grows so desperate they decide to investigate all their options and pay a visit to the town nearby . Mestral and T ' Mir disguise themselves by stealing clothes from a backyard clothesline and agree to limit their interaction to Humans as much as possible so as to not contaminate their culture . They wander around town , somewhat confused as to all the things they observe , until they find a restaurant and bar where they learn they can acquire food . As soon as they enter , though , they draw looks from many there . Act Two . They have no currency to pay for the food , but this problem is resolved when Mestral decides to accept a challenged wager , from , on a game of pool . If Billy wins , T ' Mir must have a drink with him ; if Mestral wins , he wins a quarter per ball . T ' Mir protests , but Mestral assures her that this is simply a game based on geometry , and wouldn ' t even present a challenge to a Vulcan child . Finally , T ' Mir relents . After a rough beginning to the game , Mestral rallies back to win . While T ' Pol is telling her story , a much - amused Tucker can ' t help but question it . He states that two Vulcans thrown into a bar , hustling for a game of pool , and then walking out with an armload of TV dinners seems more like an old episode of " The Twilight Zone " . While he and Archer have a good laugh over this , T ' Pol continues with her story . The three Vulcans , realizing that they cannot go on relying on gambling , begin taking whatever employment they can find while they wait for a rescue vessel to arrive . However , as the weeks pass , it seems less likely that their distress call had been received . Coming to terms with their situation , the three build a life for themselves . T ' Mir takes a job at the bar that they visited earlier , which is run by a woman named Maggie . Stron has taken on a job as a plumber , using Vulcan technology when no one else is looking . Mestral takes a job in the local coal mine where Billy works , becomes very interested in and fond of Human culture and technology , and makes new friends . He even becomes romantically interested in Maggie , much to the dismay of T ' Mir , who refuses to engage in a more meaningful relationship with Humans . Stron , on the other hand , is very unhappy about his situation , complaining about the trivial nonsense of Humans he is exposed to every day , such as being compared to one of the three Stooges ; as a warp field engineer , he finds the situation intolerable . T ' Mir states that if they remain there they will die , because Earth seems to be on the brink of self - annihilation . Mestral , however , doesn ' t believe her , saying that if she spent a little more time observing Human behavior she might not have such a pessimistic view of them . He states that , despite their weaknesses , Humans possess great potential , such as empathy and compassion . Furthermore , he becomes more reluctant to take orders from T ' Mir , leaving the house in broad daylight to get a waveform discriminator from the ship to enhance the television antenna . T ' Mir follows him at a distance to find him waiting for Maggie picking him up in an automobile . Act Three . Mestral returns with Maggie , having been at a baseball game . Sitting in the car , they talk for a bit . Maggie is curious about Mestral ' s hat he always wears , but apologizes when it seems to be a sore topic . Mestral asks about Maggie ' s husband , but it turns out he left her . Mestral , not picking up the clue that the conversation is over , sits for awhile and Maggie misinterprets it to invite a kiss . It surprises Mestral , but he assures her it was " very " pleasant . He does leave when Maggie notices T ' Mir staring at a distance . He explains where he was to T ' Mir , and she confronts him . She even orders him to not see her again , but he states that it was about time they realized that their mission is over and that no one will come to their rescue . T ' Mir is slightly struck by this and , even if T ' Mir is not willing to make deeper contact with the Humans , her opinion changes when she has a conversation with Maggie ' s son , , who shows interest in meditation and astronomy and has a desire to learn . Jack is one of the few Humans T ' Mir doesn ' t find repulsive and crude . Later , when an accident in the coal mine traps twenty people , Mestral wants to use a particle weapon to free the trapped men . Stron and T ' Mir are both reluctant to help save the miners because they fear being exposed . After an argument , Mestral states that they are his friends and he intends to help them . He warns them not to stop him . Act Four . T ' Mir eventually decides to help Mestral . While he returns to the mine , T ' Mir guides him to an unoccupied area . Crawling through an abandoned shaft , he eventually gets to a small blocking of rock and blasts through it , saving the miners and becoming a hero . They were successful in hiding any evidence of their technology . Three months later , a Vulcan survey ship finally contacts them , saying their distress call made it to through a . The three are taken by surprise at this new development , yet know that the time has come to finally say goodbye . When T ' Mir says goodbye to Jack , he tells her that he cannot go to college after all , because he and Maggie can ' t afford the tuition . T ' Mir decides to salvage the crashed Vulcan ship and finds a large patch of Velcro , something advanced and yet benign to Human technology , and sells it to Big Creek Manufacturing and Sales Co . in downtown Pittsburgh in order to be able to anonymously help out Jack with his college tuition . Mestral , however , has decided that he doesn ' t want to return to Vulcan , not wanting to let the chance slip by to study an emerging species at the verge of countless social and technological advancements . T ' Mir at first protests , but soon accepts ( and respects ) Mestral ' s decisions , telling Captain Tellus from the Vulcan rescue ship that Mestral had died in the crash together with the captain and that their bodies were cremated . Back on the " Enterprise " in the present , Archer and Tucker are speechless at what they are hearing , for this new information shakes to the core their long - held beliefs about first contact with Vulcans . T ' Pol says that the event is very well documented in the Vulcan archives , but maintains the ambiguity by saying that she just told them " a story " like they had asked her to . They laugh this off . Later in her quarters however , T ' Pol takes out and unwraps what is revealed to be T ' Mir ' s vintage 1950 ' s purse , holding it up in reminiscence of her great - grandmother ' s story and time on Earth . Memorable quotes . " " Every school kid knows that Zefram Cochrane met the Vulcans in Bozeman , Montana on April 5th , 2063 . I ' ve been there . There ' s a statue . " " " " T ' Mir was your great - grandmother ? I ' d be the last person to question your math , but . . . aren ' t you missing a few generations ? Sputnik was two hundred years ago . " " " " Don ' t forget how long Vulcans live . " " " Rig - ght . . . ( Tucker turns to face T ' Pol ) " Just how old are you ? " ( he turns to face Archer ) " It ' s gotta be in her record . . . " " " " Trip – that ' s classified information . " " " " Some type of combat , no doubt . " " " " I believe it may be an entertainment . " " " " Currency ? " " " " Yes . The paper appears to have value . " " " " What can I get you ? " " " " Do you have anything that doesn ' t require currency ? " " " " You folks married ? " " " " No , we ' re . . . business associates . " " " " The game is based on simple geometry . It wouldn ' t challenge a Vulcan child . " " " " Cryogenics . . . do you suppose they ' ve experimented with protein replicators ? " " " " Why didn ' t you ask the merchant ? You seemed eager to engage everybody else in conversation . " " " " Two Vulcans stroll into a bar , hustle a few games of pool and walk out with an armload of TV dinners . Sounds like an old episode of " The Twilight Zone " ! " " " " I ' d hate to see Humanity destroy itself . " " " " That makes two of us . " " " " Oh , God . " " " " Please , I – I was simply surprised . It was – very pleasant . " " " " " Pleasant " ? " " " " Wasn ' t than an appropriate response ? " " " " Well , it ' s been a while since I kissed a man but still I was hoping it ' d be a little bit more than " pleasant " . " " " " I did say " very " pleasant . " " " " You sit for hours each day in front of this idiotic device . . . " " " " I ' m doing research . " " " " I need to go now . " I Love Lucy " is on tonight . " " " " It ' s unfortunate that you ' ll be leaving these people without experiencing one thing they have to offer . " " " " Such as ? Alcohol ? Frozen fishsticks ? The constant threat of nuclear annihilation ? " " " " They revel in violence . They devote what little technology they have to devising ways of killing each other . " " " " Do you realize you ' ve just rewritten our history books ? ! " " " " A footnote , at best . " " " " Footnote ! ? This is like discovering that Neil Armstrong wasn ' t the first man to walk on the moon ! " " " " Perhaps he wasn ' t . " " ( Tucker groans . ) Links and references . References . alcohol ; alien s ; apple ; ; annual crew evaluation ; astronomy ; atomic bomb ; baking powder ; baseball ; bean ; beef roast ; Big Creek Manufacturing and Sales Co . ; blinds ; Bozeman ; Buddhist monks ; candy machine ; Carbon Creek ; Carlsbad Caverns ; chewing gum ; Clabber Girl ; clothesline ; ; college board ; county ; crash landing ; cremation ; Crest Forest Fire District ; Crosley ; cryogenics ; deer ; distress call ; Dix ; Dodge Half - Ton Pickup Truck ; doubleheader ; Doylestown ; " D ' Vahl " ; ; Earth ; egg ; ; emergency ration s ; " fakir s " ; First Contact ; fishstick s ; Fladung Bottling Works ; footnote ; Garrett , Mrs . ; Garrett ' s son ; Gavin ; geology ; geometry ; green bean s ; handkerchief ; " I Love Lucy " ; impulse manifold ; India ; Johnnies Market ; ketchup ; kilometer ; logic ; loitering ; Madeline ' s Cafe ; Maggie ' s husband ; Mars ; mate ; mechanical engineering ; meter ; Moe ; Montana ; movie ; mustard ; napkin ; napkin holder ; neon sign ; New Mexico ; nuclear device ; Nyals family remedies ; orbit ; particle weapon ; Pennsylvania ; Pepsi - Cola ; Phoenix ; Pine Tree ; Pittsburgh ; pool ; President of the United States ; patty melt ; pork ; protein replicator ; pretzel ; quartz ; radio ; satellite ; sauerkraut ; Sausalito ; scouring powder ; soda machine ; " Sputnik I " ; statistical scan ; State Highway 138 ; subspace transceiver ; sweeping ; T ' Les ; ; Tellarite ; Tellus ; television ; ; ' ; Tibet ; Tim ; tip ; tip jar ; toast ; train ; tuition ; TV dinner ; ' ; undertaker ; vacuum cleaner ; Velcro ; vinegar ; Virginia ; Vulcan ; ; Vulcan High Command ; Vulcan particle weapon ; Vulcan Science Directorate ; Vulcan Space Council ; ; warp field engineer ; waveform discriminator ; Wedgewood ; White Sands ; ; window box ; Yellowstone Park ; Zefram Cochrane ' s statue