"An idea"

Doctor Seth
USS Sulu


Through hard work and determination, all of the 
wounded officers from the last round of attacks 
by `the planet killer' had managed to be treated 
by the triage team.   For the first time in the last 
hour, Seth was able to breath and relax a 
moment.

"You look like you could use a break."  Doctor 
Kobichev stated.

Seth glanced over at the Russian CMO and 
nodded.  "Our current crisis appears to be over 
for the time being."

The Doctor nodded, "Aye, but knowing the Sulu, 
it won't be long before we are up to our elbows in 
work again.  If you wanted to take a break, now 
is the time to take it.  You might not get another 
chance later."

"In that case I will make the best use of this time 
Doctor Kobichev."  Seth nodded removing her 
medical smock before exiting sickbay.

Seth walked through the corridors of the USS 
Sulu and thought of the present situation with 
each step.  This `planet killer' machine they were 
trying to stop was reminiscent of a similar device 
that was destroyed a century earlier by the 
Enterprise.  It was a simple device, of limited 
capabilities.  It's primary function according to all 
observed data, was to simply hunt down, destroy 
and digest energy sources like starships and 
planets.   It's construction was simple and on a 
massive scale to offer the `beast' protection from 
outside attacks.  It's sensory range was tunneled 
and omni-directional.  It had a front `maul' section 
that served as both it's primary weapon and 
digestive / fueling station, and apparently served 
as it's focal point for sensory input.  It was 
possible to follow the `planet killer' from behind 
without being detected.  Not that that did much 
good to a starship like the Sulu, as the 
blackened hull of the `beast' was impenetrable 
by any of the phaser or torpedo weapons in the 
Federation's arsenal.    Seth continued walking 
and pondered over the destruction of the first 
encountered `planet killer'  In that instance, a 
Constitution class starship's warp reactors were 
caused to overload while in the digestive track 
`maul' of the `beast' and that had managed to 
destroy the mechanisms from the inside of the 
impenetrable hull.    Seth understood this 
perfectly.  It made sense that this machine was 
constructed with an impenetrable hull, and to do 
so, the builders would have had to of had a way 
inside.  The `maul' section was an obvious 
choice.  Then once activated, the machines own 
anti-proton weapon and energy digestive system 
would prevent anyone from reentering that way to 
disable it.   But what didn't make sense was why 
a full spread of quantum torpedoes, unavailable 
in the century of the Constitution class starship, 
had failed to destroy this `planet killer'.    
Quantum torpedoes, unlike simple photon 
torpedoes or a detonating warp core reactor, 
didn't rely on simple chemical reactions to cause 
it's destructive forces.  As all new cadets learn at 
Starfleet Academy, quantum torpedoes create a 
small rip in quantum space, forming a dense 
area similar to a small black hole.  The resulting 
changes in quantum density of the surrounding 
space literally tears all matter apart in the area of 
effect.   The fact that this `planet killer' had 
managed to survive the forces of such a quantum 
explosion inside it's maul indicated that it was 
not of the same design as the original `planet 
killer' encountered a hundred years earlier by 
Captain Kirk's Enterprise.   If a quantum 
explosion and the resulting gravitational forces 
were not enough to disable the `planet killer', 
then any attempt at destroying it with a similar 
conventional chemical explosion like an over 
loading starship reactor or photo torpedoes, 
even detonated from inside, were sure to fail.

Seth continued to walk as she thought of the 
problem.  All data she had available and that 
they had observed indicated that the Sulu had 
absolutely no chance of destroying the `planet 
killer' given the technology they presently 
possessed.  But that didn't mean they needed to 
fail in their mission of stopping the machine.  It is 
after all, simply a mechanical device.  Non-
sentient.  The crew and Captain of the Sulu still 
had the upper hand in the cosmic evolutionary 
chain of things.  The `planet killer' might be giant, 
and strong, and powerful.  But the crew of the 
Sulu were resourceful and cunning.  If a direct 
assault and confrontation was as unwinnable as 
a humanoid taking on a prehistoric T-Rex in 
hand to hand combat, then maybe there was a 
way to simply `out think' the simplistic machine 
and defeat it without fighting it.

Seth picked up her pace and headed towards 
the nearest turbo-lift.  Once inside she 
commanded, "Bridge."    The lift began to move 
immediately.

Seth straightened her duty uniform and took a 
calming breath.  She'd not yet had the pleasure 
of meeting the Captain in person, but given the 
situation, and knowing what several of her 
patients had related to her, that "all options" were 
being considered, she wanted to give her 
Captain an option that just might render the 
`planet killer' completely harmless without 
sacrificing the ship or it's crew in a suicide 
attempt that's success was uncertain at best 
given the failure of the quantum explosion in the 
earlier attempted.

The turbolift came to a stop when it reached the 
bridge.  The doors opened with a hiss.  Doctor 
Seth carefully stepped out and looked at the 
command crew of the USS Sulu.