>You mean there's actually a reason the Defiant is the only Starfleet
>ship with a cloaking device? That explains a bit. I've always wondered
>why it is that everyone else in the Star Trek universe has the
>ability to appear out of nowhere and surprise the crap out of their
>victims. I figured it was just an annoying plothole.

There are dozens of cloaking devices - they have to be improved fairly often once the opposition figures out a way to cirumvent them. Spock said that the advantages of employing one were fairly transitory when they were first introduced back in TOS.

drakensisthered

SHE'S the 'Pirate Killer,' 'Klingon Spooker,' 'Big Trouble in a Little Package,' 'She Who Must be Avoided,' and 'Go Around the Other Side of the Nebula.' I'm the dumb blonde comic relief.