Section 31


 * See also Star Trek: Section 31.''

Section 31 is an officially nonexistent and uncondoned rogue agency within the Federation Starfleet that claims to operate in the name of the security of the United Federation of Planets. Little information is available about the activities of the organization, but one of its operatives has claimed that Section 31 deals with threats to the Federation that others do not even realize exist, while others claim that it is an organization dedicated to its own power lust. In the 22nd century, an ancestral organization within the United Earth Starfleet acted covertly in the interests of United Earth. Section 31's actions are autonomous and not controlled by Starfleet Command or the Federation government.

Aliases
As a rogue agency, Section 31 seems to lack an official name. It is most commonly known as "Section 31," though several agents have indicated that this is not its true name; others have referred to it simply as the Organization or as the Bureau. It is also known colloquially as "Thirty-One." Its true name, if any, is unknown.

Organization
According to Luther Sloan, Section 31 lacks a specific headquarters, with key pieces of information being entrusted to individual agents whose knowledge of the Organization's structure remain limited. This suggests a cell-like structure often favored by terrorist groups such as the Bajoran Resistance or by intelligence agencies such as the Cardassian Union's Obsidian Order. (DS9 episode: "Extreme Measures")

Section 31 is known to have maintained several secure facilities to enable its operations. In the bowels of the Federation Embassy on Qo'noS, Section 31 operated a facility in a sub-basement located beneath Starfleet Intelligence's operations center in the Embassy's basement from which it was able to spy on much of the Empire. The only way into the Thirty-One sub-basement was through special access through a single turboshaft. Klingon Imperial Intelligence was aware of Thirty-One and the sub-basement for many years before Federation Ambassador to the Klingon Empire Worf, Son of Mogh, used the information from I.I. to enter the facility, exposing I.I.'s knowledge of the Organization's operations. Shortly thereafter, the sub-basement was completely abandoned.

Section 31 also operated at least one other secure facility from which it was capable of monitoring internal and external communications from the office of the Federation President, Tezwa, and Starfleet ships. (TNG A Time to... novel: A Time to Kill.)

Agents of Section 31 have often been observed wearing an imposing black leather uniform of a design that appears to have been continuous from the mid-22nd Century on.

Origins
Section 31 seems to take its name -- and justify its actions -- from Article 14, Section 31 of the United Earth Starfleet Charter, which allowed certain rules of conduct to be "bent" during times of extraordinary crisis. The Federation Starfleet Charter later incorporated an article -- also a thirty-first section -- allowing for the creation of an independent branch of Starfleet Intelligence that held non-specific discretionary power over non-specific matters. (ENT episode: "Divergence"; TOS novel: Section 31: Cloak)

22nd Century
Malcolm Reed of the United Earth ship Enterprise NX-01 served as an operative of Section 31's ancestral United Earth Starfleet agency early in his career under a man named Harris. Despite Reed's resignation from the "bureau," Harris would later attempt to coerce Reed into returning to the organization's service in 2154, ordering him to obstruct an investigation into the abduction of the Denobulan chief medical officer of the NX-01, Phlox, whom the organization allowed to be kidnapped and delivered to the Klingon Empire in order to cure a disease that threatened the extinction of the Klingon species. Reed was later found out, but Capt. Jonathan Archer remained unable to act against the Organization, of which he still knew very little. (ENT episodes: "Affliction", "Divergence")

In early 2155, the bureau agreed to provide intelligence on the terrorist agency known as Terra Prime to Reed and the NX-01 crew when Terra Prime hijacked the Vereron Array in an attempt to destroy the United Earth Starfleet Command Complex and drive all non-Humans out of the Sol system. Agent Harris made it clear to Reed that this information would come at a price to be exacted later on. (ENT episodes: "Demons", "Terra Prime")


 * When the United Federation of Planets was founded in 2161 and the Federation Starfleet was established, it can be presumed that the agency that later became known as Section 31 either transferred its supposed loyalties from United Earth to the UFP in general, or was founded as an off-shoot of its United Earth predecessor -- and, possibly, any Vulcan, Andorian, or Tellarite counterparts.

23rd Century
In the early 2260s, Section 31 recruited twenty-year Starfleet security officer Peter Lawrence into their ranks. Lawrence, who had been dreading the thought of retirement or a desk job, jumped at the chance to continue to serve. Working for Section 31, Lawrence found that he had a talent for investigative matters, but became uncomfortable with the secrecy and paranoia that fueled every action of the agency.

Lawrence left Section 31 after he investigated attorney Samuel T. Cogley at their behest. The Organization believed that Cogley had an agenda that ran counter to theirs, and Lawrence was assigned to discover this agenda. Cogley had no agenda, simply a firm conviction that all beings were entitled to the best possible defense in a court of law. Lawrence, believing Cogley to be the single most honorable man that he had ever met, resigned from Starfleet to work for Cogley, and left Section 31 behind.

Section 31 attempted coerce Lawrence back into their service without success. How Lawrence managed to survive the encounter with both life and reputation intact is unknown. (TOS novel: The Case of the Colonist's Corpse)

The Omega Molecule and the Lantaru Disaster
In 2268, Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise was assigned by Rear Admiral Cartwright to retrieve a Romulan cloaking device at all costs. A mission that was successful. (TOS episode: "The Enterprise Incident")

Several months later, evidence linking the "liberated" cloaking device to the destruction of the USS Sphinx with all hands was uncovered by the crew of the Enterprise. Inquiries to Cartwright proved a dead-end, and Captain Kirk decided to investigate further, uncovering both the existence of Thirty-One itself and of a cabal of rogue scientists supported by the Organization that was trying to create a stable Omega Molecule. The scientists' unsuccessful attempt at creating a stable Omega Molecule resulted in the destruction of the subspace layer for several cubic lightyears, rendering warp travel impossible throughout the Lantaru Sector. This event led Starfleet to impose the Omega Directive, barring all Omega research.

Two months later on a remote planet, Kirk met with captains Phil Watterson and Nick Silver, and commodores Aaron Stone and Jose Mendez to inform them of his discoveries and suspicions. They formed a secret cabal whose purpose was to oppose Section 31 wherever it reared its head. The Kirk Cabal took in new members in the years that followed, and still existed in 2376 when Commander Elias Vaughn recruited Dr. Julian Bashir into its ranks. (TOS novel: Section 31: Cloak; DS9 novel: Section 31: Abyss)

In 2293, Admiral Cartwright was part of a conspiracy to assassinate Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, Son of Toq, and Federation President Ra-ghoratreii in collusion with Klingon General Chang, Romulan Ambassador Nanclus, Federation Starfleet Colonel West, Lieutenant Valeris, Yeomens Burke and Samno, and the commandant of Rura Penthe and a prisioner there named Martia. The conspiracy's goal was to undermine the peace process and ignite a war between the Empire and the Federation that each side's members in the conspiracy believed their nation destined to win. Given Cartwright's prior history with Section 31, it can be speculated this was also a Section 31 operation. In later years, Section 31 would prove to have few qualms over assassinating a Federation President. (movie: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)

The Tzenkethi
During the conflict with the Tzenkethi Coalilition, Section 31 gave the location of the USS Leonov to the Tzenkethi when they discovered that the Leonov was about to recieve orders to attack a civilian target based on bad intelligence. The Leonov was destroyed, and over half of her crew lost. Section 31 believed that the loss of the Leonov was justified if it kept the Tzenkethi from escalating the conflict.

The agent that leaked the information to the Tzenkethi was eventually tracked down by the Leonov's former second officer, William Ross. The agent told Ross his side of the story, and in Section 31's belief that what they had done was for the good of the Federation. Ross made the decision not to turn the man over to the authorities, and Ross would work with Section 31 at various points in his career.(Star Trek: Corps of Engineers e-book The Future Begins)

Chiaros IV
In early 2373, Section 31 agents Ambassador Aubin Tabor and Starfleet Lieutenant Cortin Zweller were given the task of making sure that the people of the world of Chiaros voted to join the Romulan Star Empire rather than the United Federation of Planets. Chiaros was the only inhabited planet in the vast expanse of space known as the Geminus Gulf. Section 31 felt that the Federation would waste too much time and resources defending a strategically worthless planet, so they agreed to give the planet to Romulus in exchange for a list of Tal Shiar spies working inside the Federation.

What Section 31 didn't realize was that the Romulans had discovered a sub-space singularity, a potential source of tremendous energy, near the Chiaros system - an energy source that Section 31 had literally handed to the Romulans. Starfleet Vice-Admiral Marta Batanides, a major leader in Starfleet Intelligence, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, and Lieutenant Sean Hawk (both of the USS Enterprise) discovered Thirty-One's existence, the details of its plan, and the existence of the sub-space singularity. Batanides and Picard allowed Zweller to complete his mission, but took him into custody thereafter. Following the completion of Zweller's mission, Picard, Commander Data, and Lieutenant Sean Hawk embarked on a successful mission in a stolen scout ship to destroy the singularity, and rob the Romulans of their prize.

Zweller was cleared of all charges and released on the order of Admiral Connaught Rossa, despite the objections of Batanides and Picard. Batanides swore to use all of the resources at her disposal to bring down Section 31. (TNG novel: Section 31: Rogue)

The USS Voyager
In 2371, Section 31 agent Luther Sloan assigned operative Roberta Luke to the sciences division of the USS Voyager before her mission to the Badlands in order to gain intelligence on the Maquis. Luke was onboard when Voyager was transported to the Delta Quadrant by the Nacene known as the Caretaker. Luke maintained her cover and kept a log of events for her superiors in the Organization.

When Captain Kathryn Janeway took in the disconnected Borg drone known as Seven of Nine as a member of the crew in early 2374, Luke decided to take action. Believing Seven's presense to be a tremendous mistake on Janeway's part, Luke reprogramed one of the ship's spare Bio-neural gel packs with instructions for the ship's computer to kill Seven and make it appear to be an accident.

She nearly finished programming the pack, but was killed before she could install it. Eighteen months later, ship's chief engineer B'Elanna Torres swapped out a defective pack with Luke's tainted one, and the ship's computer commenced with its attempts to kill the former Borg drone.

When the re-programming was discovered, Seven recognized the coding as one used only by the covert agency. Seven had gained knowledge of Section 31 when she was in the Collective and an operative of the agency had been assimilated, granting all of his knowledge to the Borg Collective. The reprogramming was reversed when the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram, known as the Doctor, developed a bio-neural "vaccine" that re-programmed the ship's computer to resume it's normal function. (VOY novel: Section 31: Shadow)

Julian Bashir
In 2374, Agent Sloan attempted to recruit Dr. Julian Bashir, the genetically enhanced chief medical officer of Starbase Deep Space 9, into the ranks of the Organization. He had Bashir abducted prior to a trip to attend a medical confrence and transported aboard the holodeck of an unknown Intrepid-class starship, which then recreated his life on DS9. Posing within the holoprogram as the Deputy Director of Starfleet Internal Affairs, Sloan tested Bashir's loyalty to the Federation by accusing him to treason, arguing Bashir to be a Dominion sleeper agent. When Bashir proved that his loyalty to the Federation was above reproach, Sloan revealed the truth of Thirty-One to the doctor.

Bashir was horrified to learn of the existence of an organization within Starfleet that made their own agenda and answered to nobody, and refused Sloan's offer. Despite Bashir's refusal, Sloan continued to consider Bashir as an asset. Bashir, meanwhile, reported his experience to his commanding officer, Captain Benjamin Sisko, and to the rest of the station's senior staff (including two members of the allied Republic of Bajor's Militia, Kira Nerys and Odo). Sisko ordered Bashir to infiltrate Thirty-One the next time he had the chance in order to attempt to bring it down. (DS9 episode: "Inquisition")

In 2375, Agent Sloan contacted Bashir for a mission during an upcoming conference on Romulus between the Federation and Romulan Star Empire. Sloan manipulated Bashir into believing that he intended to assassinate Koval, Chair of the Tal Shiar, the feared Romulan secret police. Bashir, acting on this belief, convinced Romulan Senator Kimara Cretak to access Koval's personal database in order to discover who would be acting to aide Sloan; Cretak was then arrested and tried before the Romulan Continuing Committee, and found guilty of treason. During the trial, Bashir was also interrogated, and Koval and Sloan conspired to provide false evidence to the Committee that Thirty-One did not exist and had been created by Sloan to manipulate Bashir. In actuality, the goal of Section 31 was to ruin Senator Cretak's career and install Koval, who had become a mole for them, onto the Continuing Committee in Cretak's place. Their plan succeeded. (DS9 episode: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges")

In 2375, Dr. Bashir deduced that Section 31 had engineered a virus that threatened to wipe out the entire species of the shape-shifting Founders. Bashir, along with DS9's Chief of Operations Miles O'Brien, set a trap for Sloan in order to find a cure for the virus. Sloan chose suicide over capture, and Bashir was forced to resort to extreme measures to get the information directly from Sloan's brain before he died. (DS9 episodes: "Inquisition", "Inter Arma Silent Leges", "Extreme Measures")

The Son'a
In mid-2375, Section 31, in the form of Admiral Matthew Dougherty, worked with the race called the Son'a on a project on world located within the area of space known as the Briar Patch, despite the fact that the Son'a had been supplying Ketracel white to the Dominion. Section 31 was attempting to forcibly relocate the local population of Bak'u from the world in order to transform the it into a source of regenerative energy.

The operation was brought to a halt by Jean-Luc Picard and the Enterprise-E. Admiral Dougherty, who was killed by his Son'a "allies," took the fall and was branded as a rogue. Section 31 was never implicated; however, the cloaking-capable ship with a holographic interior, known as the Holoship, created to facilitate the plot came into the hands of the Kirk Cabal. (movie: Star Trek: Insurrection)


 * Section 31 connection revealed in Abyss.

Sindorin
In April of 2376, Bashir was again contacted by Section 31, this time in form of a man named Cole. Cole informed Bashir of a failed Section 31 operation on the world of Sindorin in the Badlands designed to breed a new strain of Jem'Hadar soldiers that would be loyal to the Organization. The project went awry when Section 31's chief scientist on the project, a genetically enhanced doctor named Ethan Locken, betrayed his benefactors and used the project for his own plans of conquest. Cole believed that Bashir, due to his genetically enhanced nature, was the best choice to bring Locken in. Bashir accepted the assignment.

Bashir, along with Lieutenants Ezri Dax and Ro Laren and the Jem'Hadar observer, Taran'atar, journeyed to Sindorin and confronted Locken and his loyal Jem'Hadar. In the end, Locken's own flawed Jem'Hadar turned against him, killing him. It was also discovered that Section 31, in an attempt to drive Locken to the heights of desperation and rage it felt would be necessary for him to agree to join the Organization, had intentionally leaked information to the Dominion during the war, arranging for the New Bejing Massacre that claimed thousands of civilian lives.

Upon returning to the station, Commander Elias Vaughn, who had long struggled against Section 31 during his lengthy Starfleet career, recruited Bashir into the elite, secret cabal created by Captain Kirk to bring down Section 31. (S31 novel: Cloak)

Min Zife and Tezwa
In 2379, Section 31's chief agent on Qo'noS, Vasily Zeitsev, assisted Ambassador Worf in obtaining command codes for the Klingon fleet threatening to invade Tezwa.

Tezwa had become a flashpoint of galactic events when the mad Tezwan leader Kinchawn attacked the Klingon Empire with Nadion pulse cannons obtained illegally through the office of Federation President Min Zife.

Zife had assigned Jean-Luc Picard of the USS Enterprise to bring the planet under Federation jurisdiction in order to hide the origins of the cannons from the Klingons, not informing Picard or Starfleet of the cannons' origins. Picard asked Ambassador Worf to obtain the fleets comand codes, and in order to prevent war with the Klingon Empire. Zeitsev, not correcting the ambassador's mistaken belief that he was a high-ranking officer in Starfleet Intelligence, assisted Worf in obtaining them. Unbeknownst to all involved, Zeitsev and his colleages at the Organization had every intention of remotely triggering a number of high-yield bombs capable of destroying the entire planet if Picard's crew failed in their mission. (TNG A Time to... novel: A Time to Kill)

Section 31 then intervened when Koll Azernal, Zife's chief of staff, attempted to plant evidence framing the Tholian Assembly for the cannons' origins, alerting Starfleet to the deception and ordering a sleeper agent to kill the crew of an Orion Syndicate merchantman. Zife's actions had brought the Federation to the brink of war with the Klingons, and Section 31 felt that Zife could not be allowed to ever speak of the events of Tezwa.

Section 31 contacted Admiral William Ross, and detailed their plans for Zife and his staff. Ross had come to an agreement with Captain Picard, Federation Ambassador to Tezwa Lagan Serra, and Admirals Alynna Nechayev, Mamoru Nakamura, Owen Paris, and Edward Jellico, to force Zife, Azernal, and Federation Secretary of Military Intelligence Nelina Quafina (who had facilitated the cannons' transporation) out of office prior to his contact with Thirty-One; the plan was simply to have the trio placed in protective custody, but the Organization had other plans for them.

Ross, Nechayev, and Nakamura, using their authority over Starfleet Security (the agency charged with protecting the President and the Palais de la Concorde), forced Zife, Azernal, and Quafina to join them in the Palais de la Concorde Monet Room and had the building cleared of security personnell. There, the admirals confronted Zife and forced them to resign. Upon agreeing, a Vulcan Section 31 agent named L'Haan entered the Monet Room with three other operatives; claiming to be Starfleet officers who would transport the President to protective custody, L'Haan was instantly recognized as an agent of the Bureau by the admirals, Azernal, and Quafina; only President Zife, it seems, had never heared of the rogue organization. L'Haan had Zife read a prepared statement announcing his resignation on live telecommunications from the Presidential Office.

After reading the speech, L'Haan and her agents quietly executed President Zife, Azernal, and Quafina so that they could never reveal the truth about their actions at Tezwa. (TNG A Time to... novel: A Time to Heal)

In spite of Starfleet's attempts to keep the assassinations under wraps, rumors of the president's murder got around, particularly within the Orion Syndicate. When reporter Ozla Grav of Seeker discovered Zife's murder, however, the truth had been spun: Ross was given the blame for the president's death. Ross agreed to retire from Starfleet and life in the Federation government as part of President Nanietta Bacco's deal with Grav to keep the information from being published in order to prevent a war with the Klingon Empire. Ross did not inform President Bacco or anyone else of the true identity of President Zife's assassins, believing that the Organization would kill Bacco just as ruthlessly as it had Zife if she were to discover the truth. (novel: Articles of the Federation.)

Known Agents
Known and suspected members of Section 31, both current and former, include the following: