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Section 31 is a covert secret police organization in the Star Trek universe, within Starfleet Intelligence, which deals with threats to the security of the United Federation of Planets. It was apparently formed by a provision in a little-known part of the Starfleet charter, Section 31, from which they derive their name. It might be compared to the Romulan Tal Shiar or Cardassian Obsidian Order, but operates much more clandestinely and effectively (and, unlike those organizations, does not interfere in the day-to-day lives of most Federation citizens).
They defy the principles of the Federation in order to protect them, which is one of the reasons why Section 31 is not officially sanctioned by Starfleet, and even its very existence is not acknowledged openly.
Section 31 deputy director Luther Sloan unsuccessfully tried to recruit Julian Bashir on repeated occasions during the Dominion War.
During the Dominion War, among other questionable actions, they engineered a genocidal virus to exterminate the Founders of the Dominion. They also meddled with Romulan internal politics and were said to have had an agent on the Klingon High Council.
The introduction of Section 31 is considered one of the most controversial additions to Star Trek lore, with many fans of the opinion that its existence goes against the vision of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. However, the film Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, produced while Roddenberry was still alive, revealed that Starfleet was capable of Section 31-style tactics even during the time of Captain Kirk.
Very little of Section 31's history has been revealed in on-screen canon. In the Star Trek Expanded Universe a series of novels were published profiling Section 31 operations with regards to James T. Kirk, Jean-Luc Picard, and the crews of Deep Space Nine and Voyager.
It is now known that Section 31 had at least some of its origins during the events of Star Trek: Enterprise. Reportedly Section 31 will be involved in an upcoming two-part story involving the Klingons and detailing why their visual appearance changes. The NX-01's security officer, Malcolm Reed, is also somehow involved (though the details have not yet been revealed). Fanon conjectures regarding Enterprise and Section 31 have also served to help rectify alleged continuity problems within the Trek universe, the most recent being the suggestion that Section 31 was responsible for covering up the discovery of several Borg drones in 2153 (two centuries before official first contact), an idea supported by the revelation made in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "The Raven" that Starfleet was aware of the Borg's existence years before the "first contact" detailed in Star Trek: The Next Generation. Similarly, some believe Section 31 is also responsible for the cover-up of the Temporal Cold War although its resolution at the start of Enterprise's fourth season appears to render this speculation moot.
External links
- "Section 31" (http://www.memory-alpha.org/en/index.php/Section_31) at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek WikiWiki
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