The Enterprise has been exploring our current region of space. Today, we arrived at Gollo Station – a Federation trade station in orbit of Kamica III. Our chief medical officer, Commander Katherine Pulaski, will be disembarking the Enterprise on Friday, and waiting at this station until her transport arrives. From there, she will be taken to her new posting aboard DS3 -- near Cardassian space. A small going-away party is scheduled for tomorrow night in Ten Forward.
In addition to our transfer visit, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend’s civilian ship, the “Saberhawk”, also in port at Gollo Station. Josiah Colton (my friend) is the captain of a unique vessel – one of my favorites, in fact. He purchased it from a salvage yard two years ago, fixed it up, and is currently using it as a shipping and transport vessel on local space lanes.
What I find so interesting about his ship, however, is that no one knows where it came from. It was found, abandoned in space, by a Vulcan transport vessel. It had no markings, no name, and a partially installed computer archive that held no identifying records. There was no evidence of any crew, no battle damage, and no explanation for why it was adrift in space. What is even more baffling, is that there are no records of any ship matching this design constructed anywhere in the Federation. It’s not a Starfleet ship, it’s not a Port Guard ship, and no known civilian shipyard claims to have built it.
This one-of-a-kind ship has a strong military feel to it, yet doesn’t appear to have seen any battle. It could be a prototype for system defense, or, intended for piracy use, we just don’t know. It is 120 meters long, has five decks, warp-9 engines, and Josiah maintains it with a crew of 30.
Many people seem to think that Starfleet ships are the only vessels zipping around the Federation, but the truth is, most of the ships crossing space lanes are civilian transports, cargo vessels, and independently-owned starships – just like the Saberhawk. Starfleet is just one of the many organizations that maintain fleets to compete on those space lanes.
-Lieutenant Sam Archer
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April 15, 2365 -- (Original Devron Timeline)