167:[1,#b]
         DEEP SPACE: "THE SEARCH" - REV. 07/11/94 - ACT ONE          9.

7    CONTINUED:

					KIRA
			I thought Starfleet didn't believe 
			in warships.

					SISKO
			Desperate times breed desperate 
			measures.  Five years ago, Starfleet 
			began exploring the possibility of 
			building a new class of starship.  
			This ship would have no families, no 
			science labs, no luxuries of any 
			kind... it was designed for one 
			purpose only -- to fight and defeat 
			the Borg.
				(beat)
			The Defiant was the prototype... the 
			first ship in what would've been a 
			new Federation battle fleet.

					DAX
			So what happened?

					SISKO
			The Borg threat became less urgent. 
			Also, some design flaws cropped up 
			during the ship's shakedown cruise, 
			so Starfleet decided to abandon the 
			project.

					O'BRIEN
			What sort of... design flaws?

					SISKO
			You'll have complete access to the 
			ship evaluation reports, but to put 
			it simply... it's overgunned and 
			overpowered for a ship its size.  
			During battle drills, it nearly tore 
			itself apart when the engines were 
			tested at full capacity.

					KIRA
				(incredulous)
			And this is the ship Starfleet 
			sent us to fight off an attack by 
			the Dominion?