Space Debris

[Savros 0]

Ensign Savros stood at the science station on the bridge where he had been for some time. His hands moved silently across the switches and toggle levers as he extracted information about Klingon Birds of Prey. Certainly the most current information had come in 2285 when a ship commanded by Captain Kirk appeared in San Francisco bay. Had it not bore whale passengers, the Earth might have been force to relinquish her position as seat of the Federation.

 

He probed the computer to provide more information, but none was forthcoming. It seems that his lack of security clearance was blocking most of his requests. Had it not been for the news reports in 2285, word of the probe's arrival might have been labeled as a freak sun spot that temporarily affected the planet's weather control network. Humans often went to extremes to protect their secrets.

 

He peered into the scanning scope and replayed the scan of the debris. Slowly, he extracted data on the ship fragments. There were significant traces of tritanium and duranium, which are common starship building materials. He also noted tungsten and a strange composition of metals.

 

Moving his head from the scope, Savros flipped a toggled switch, "Computer, identify metal compounds in scan sector W4."

 

The computer acknowledged the command by making small processing sounds. "Metals identified as copper, uranium, einsteinium, surakium, duranium, tritanium and trace amounts of fluorine." The Vulcan raised his left ear with that statement. The radioisotope that had been sprayed onto Klingon ship was found on this segment of debris. This placed this piece of debris at the exterior of the vessel and the concentration meant it was facing forward during the attack.

 

"Computer, compare compound elements and percentages to known composites." Again the computer signaled it was processing.

 

The turbo lift doors slid open and the Chief Medical Officer appeared on the bridge. Ensign Savros momentarily paused from his analysis. To him, Deltans were a fascinating dichotomy of emotion and technical brilliance who also shared telepathic or empathic abilities. He mentally noted that he needed to learn more about Deltans and the doctor would be an interesting subject.

 

The processing noises ended and the computer indicated that the work was complete. Savros inserted a data card into the memory port in anticipation of learning something important. "Computer, identify composite material."

 

"Composite material is Klingon dispersive armor." Savros heard the turbo lift doors close. He decided that the doctor must have left.

 

"Computer, elaborate on the purpose and use of Klingon dispersive armor."

 

"Working…," the computer checked its databanks. "Klingon dispersive armor is a very dense layer of composite material put over the hull of key areas in the ship. It serves to disperse phaser and disruptor fire over a larger section of the hull."

 

Savros returned to the scanning scope. He looked for the additionally traces of Klingon dispersive armor, but found none. Why would the Klingon's only use the dispersive armor in one section of their ship? He thought. Then it occurred to him. The Klingons did not want to merely survive a battle. They wanted to win or go down fighting. If all other systems failed, but they still had engines, they might use the bridge as a ram to strike one last blow at their enemy.

 

The Vulcan transferred his findings onto the memory card and left the bridge. Although additional research might be useful, he now had the information necessary to write his report. A short time later, he arrived in the science lab and began dictating his report. Minutes later, the computer chirped indicating the arrival of a new message. He read through it and decided he needed to alter his report.