In the Artic Circle on Earth, an exploratory team is sent to investigate wreckage that has been discovered half-buried in the snow. When the team realizes that they’ve stumbled across the ruins of an alien spaceship, they set up a research base right then and there to better examine it. In addition to the wreckage of a ship that was sphere-shaped, they also find several bodies of cyborgs, humanoid creatures with cybernetic parts who have been perfectly preserved in the ice for a hundred years. The mechanical parts on the humanoids are very advanced, technology-wise, and, as the team lay the bodies out on examination tables, they discover that these parts are beginning to regenerate themselves--basically, the alien technology is fixing itself. Ignoring a suggestion to place the bodies back in cold storage, for fear that refreezing them might cause further damage, the commander decides to just leave the bodies where they are with an armed guard. After all, what harm can they do, since they’re already dead?

When contact with the exploratory team is lost, Admiral Forest leads a team to the Artic Circle, where he finds them, along with the alien technology and the bodies, missing. He contacts the crew of the Enterprise and tells them to be on the alert for the exploratory team’s transport ship, which left Earth at an unusual rate of speed. Once Archer and company catch up with the transport, they find that it’s been through an extreme make-over, receiving larger engines and superior weapons that give the Enterprise a run for its money. Yet their problems are just beginning when Archer and his crew rescue the surviving crewmembers of a freighter and bring them aboard Enterprise for medical treatment. Dr. Phlox discovers that the freighter crew have been altered; there are cybernetic implants growing within them. Although Archer places a security guard in sick bay, Phlox really doesn’t think these cybernetic-enhanced beings pose any threat to the Enterprise.

A direct sequel to Star Trek: First Contact, "Regeneration" deals with the crash landing of the Borg sphere ship after it was shot out of Earth’s orbit by Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s U.S.S. Enterprise. "Regeneration" is marvelous in that it finally restores the Borg to their former creepy/cool glory with an escalating level of suspense that builds from the very first scene in the Artic. The fact that the Enterprise crew are not seen until after a full ten minutes into the show even adds to the power of the episode. Until then, we are treated to a mini-horror movie that shows the Borg coming to life amidst the unsuspecting researchers, with it’s snowy Artic setting recalling The Thing. And even when the Enterprise crew finally gets called to arms, the storyline is intelligently handled; while they’re not dealing with a full-blown assault by a Borg cube, the Borg in this episode are still formidable, and pretty scary. With just one episode, Star Trek: Enterprise does what several seasons of Borg-themed Voyager shows could not do: treat the Borg with the respect they deserve while delivering a rip-roaring, creepily good story.