Enterprise helps the cargo ship Fortunate after a Nausicaan attack, but its acting captain is secretly holding a Nausicaan prisoner and plotting revenge.
The Earth cargo freighter Fortunate is attacked by Nausicaan raiders, and Enterprise arrives to help. Mayweather, who grew up on a similar freighter, understands the independent culture of the boomers who crew these ships better than the Starfleet officers do.
It emerges that the acting captain, Matthew Ryan, has captured a Nausicaan and is torturing him for information, planning a strike against the raiders. Archer tries to defuse the situation, and Mayweather goes aboard to persuade Ryan to stand down before the confrontation becomes a disaster. The episode explores the resentment some boomers feel toward Starfleet. It was directed by LeVar Burton and written by James Duff.