USS Malinche (NCC-38997)

The USS Malinche (NCC-38997) was an Excelsior-class Starfleet starship in service during the late 24th century. Captain Sanders was her commanding officer in 2373. 

In the same year, the Malinche patrolled the Demilitarized Zone near the Gamma-7 outpost. Like the USS Defiant, the Malinche was outfitted with a holo-communicator; the two ships were in contact via the holo-communicator when Defiant captain Benjamin Sisko required assistance when dealing with the Maquis. The Malinche and Defiant intercepted a Maquis raider, under the command of traitor Michael Eddington, but Eddington escaped after planting a cascade virus, disabling the Defiant and causing the Malinche to tow the Defiant back to Deep Space 9.

Saunders and the Malinche proceeded to Veloz Prime in an attempt to capture Eddington. The ship was disabled after responding to a distress signal from a booby-trapped Cardassian freighter. A focused particle beam aboard the freighter tore through the Malinche ' s gyro-shielding, allowing three Maquis raiders to disable the ship, damaging the navigational systems and warp core matrix compositor in the process.

The Defiant responded to the Malinche ' s distress call, providing materials for repairs before resuming the search for Eddington.