THE CHLORIDE ANOMALY
Captains' Log Stardate 71.11.25 1000
The away mission to the water-based world was successful. There were no signs of civilization, but Seven of Nine's scans revealed that there had been life forms on the world, but were now extinct by unknown causes. Finding nothing of interest, except an unusual sharp smell to the air, we restocked our water supply and left.
Captains' Log Stardate 71.11.25 1530
Several crewmembers have reported to the sickbay complaining of greenish hair, sore eyes, upset stomachs and a skin rash. The doctor is uncertain to what they may have been exposed to. He has determined that they are suffering from the classic symptoms of prolonged exposure to chlorine dissolved in water. However, tests run on the water are showing no anomalies. He has isolated them and is conducting further tests. He has also given samples of the water to Seven of Nine to see if she can find anything.
Captains' Log Stardate 71.11.25 1745
Several more crewmembers have reported to sickbay with similar symptoms. Kes is now comparing the crewman's activities over the past 3 days in an effort to determine the cause of sickness.
Captains' Log Stardate 71.11.25 1900
The cause of the crewman's symptoms has been determined and cured. Seven of Nine' tests on the water has revealed trace amounts of an unknown compound that could not be detected by sickbay's sensors. Further scrutinization of the unknown element has revealed that it shares similar characteristics to the properties of chloride, which is created by the dissolving of the earth element chlorine in water. Kes' examination of sickened crewman's logs has determined that they had all been on the away team sent to the water planet's surface and that they had been exposed to the water we obtained from that planet. Seven of Nine's tests of the "chloride anomaly" concluded that exposure to it in small amounts results in harmless effects that disappear a few hours after exposure, but continued exposure can result in death. Engineering has found a way to clear all of Voyager's water of this "chloride anomaly" and the crew can now look forward to drinking safe water.
End Log
A/N: I would like to thank Mr. Britten and his Chemistry 30 seminars for giving this me this idea (no matter how bad it may be), I would also like to thank my friends M and Kemen for encouraging me to write this down, and I would like to thank the creators of Star Trek: Voyager for letting me (unknowingly) play with their concepts.The idea for this story was brought about by my Chemistry teacher Mr. Britten teaching us about chemical reactions, when he mentioned the chlorine anomaly (see next paragraph) I immediately thought of how much that sounded like something from Star Trek and I vowed to write a story entitled that, so here it is. My chlorine anomaly and the chemistry chlorine anomaly however are two vastly different things, if you want to know what the real chloride anomaly is...read on and I apologize in advance if you still don't understand it :(.
In a certain type of reaction, only one compound gains in size while one other loses mass, this is caused by the transfer of electrons. In most reactions, the strongest of each kind (gainer and loser) only react while the other compounds remain neutral, however in when the reaction involves chlorine dissolved in water (chloride) it becomes the post powerful loser, even if by theory it is not.