Stopped from heading to a quiet medical conference, Doctor Bashir is locked down with the crew of Deep Space Nine when internal investigations officer Sloan arrives. Apparently Deep Space Nine has a security breach. Information’s being leaked to the enemy and all leads point to one person: Julian Bashir.
It’s a nice rarity when this era of Star Trek plays out it’s story of the week without a B-Plot and Inquisition does it all quiet nicely. Especially as everything’s played out from the perspective of Bashir as he’s separated from his colleagues which enhances the tense paranoia of whats happening as Sloan probes through evidence that points to the doctor betraying the Federation.
Thematically it’s a story told many times before, even previously told in Star Trek, but with DS9’s tone becoming a little darker by this stage, it worked perfectly here. Sloan’s investigation points to Bashir being the bad guy, which means either Sloan himself is a plant, arriving to frame Bashir, or perhaps everything we’ve seen before had a secret underneath. After all, Bashir’s already been the plot twist a few times. A year prior Bashir was in a Dominion prison camp for several weeks, indicating that a Founder had been treating the crew unaware. And not long after it turned out he’s been hiding his true genetic identity from Starfleet all this time…
Of course, Deep Space Nine has toyed the this kind of idea in the past and if they didn’t dare have Kira be a Cardassian all this time, there’s no way they were going to have Bashir being a Dominion turncoat. But the idea’s played well, even with Weyounn welcoming Bashir on board a Dominion ship for scones and an explanation on how they used his humanity to turn him against the Federation. Betray the uniform, save lives in the bigger picture. A play theme we saw with Bashir before when he pushed for surrendering to save the future of humanity in Statistical Probabilities.
The background and episodes that came before really do make it all work and cast that doubt that Sloan may not be the bad guy here and how it’s played out with even Bashir doubting his own memories knowing they can be altered so easily gave the right amount of doubt and tension throughout.
There are some great themes that Star Trek rarely touched at the time. The Bashir we knew was played out on the screen, filled with morality and a brooding hopeful outlook. Re-examining his actions with a character looking from the outside combined with what we know about Bashir, there’s a dual concept of us not really knowing the inner workings of anyone around us and for Bashir, not trusting his own mind or memory. We also know the kind of war he’d wage and the spy games he’s loved to play. But the end result and who Sloan really was let the themes simmer to giver us a new wedge of lore to break our minds.
It wasn’t an expose of Bashir. It was a simulation designed to test Bashir ahead of being offered a new job in Section 31: A clandestine rogue intelligence agency who can offer Bashir the chance to take that morality into his own hands and break the rules he’s been shackled by before. It was a tease for new stories down the line, an idea that again played on old elements of the show that highlighted why the Maquis formed or how they maintain Earth as a paradise in a chaotic universe.
But much like Bashir’s experience, it leaves you questioning if any of it’s real. Were Section 31 a real thing? Is there really a secret force behind the Federation who operate in the shadows to keep it safe? If they are legit, what about the Federation itself? Does paradise exist because of the strength of their ideals? Or is that all part of the lie that the existence of Section 31 exposes?
All this time we’ve only ever seen Starfleet intelligence and the odd undercover operation with operatives hired at random as long as they were in the main cast. If Section 31 exists, and acts with the same secrecy and cunning as Romulus’ Tal Shiar or Cardassia’s Obsidian Order, then is the Federation really any better than it’s enemies?
Can we turn a blind eye to them and still claim the moral high ground? Or are they only acting in the interests of Starfleet, and not really a part of it as even the likes of Sisko can’t get confirmation that they exist or not.
We’d have some answers to the questions later when we learn that Section 31 does play a part in the war and have an Admiral or two on their side. Over the years the idea of secrecy would be diluted with them showing up in prequel series Enterprise through to their actions during the Dominion War being a core plot element of Picard’s third season. And of course we see them in action on Discovery, operating with their own stealth ships and command structures answering to the Admiralty.
We’ll likely learn a little more about Section 31 in the upcoming Paramount+ feature launching this month, but the introduction and original intent for the division made for a fascinating reveal decades before we got a peek behind the curtain…
About the author
A Fistful of O’Brien
Entering the Star Trek world as an unnamed extra with a few bits of dialogue, O'Brien soon became a fixture on the Enterprise D as it's transporter chief before moving to Deep Space Nine to head up engineering and operations on what was thought to be a backwater outpost before it became one of the most strategically important stations in the quadrant!As the only enlisted or non commissioned officer to feature in the main cast of any Star Trek show to date, O'Brien stands as the only working class hero in the Star Trek universe with a vast and varied career taking from the front lines of the Cardassian war as a soldier, to the front lines of the Dominion War as an engineer, retrofitting DS9, keeping the Defiant from blowing itself apart, and even sniping Dominion troops. All in […]
[Q2&A] Career Track
SFC has always structured it's internal reward and recognition system on the command structure of Starfleet on screen. Newbies are cadets. When they become full members, they become Ensigns. And those eager to take on a leadership role can rank up to Commander or Captain. Even the board of directors are mirrored within the theme as Commodores and Admirals! It's always been the way, but the path of an officer isn't for everyone... Despite the original idea of all star ship personnel being highly trained astronauts, therefore nullifying the need for enlisted crew, the enlisted ranks have existed in some form since the original series. More defined in the film era, particularly under the revision of style and structure in The Wrath of Khan, they have been slightly more prominent since. Most notable of the enlisted members of Starfleet was […]
[Retro Review] Space Seed
By chance, the Enterprise comes across an ancient Earth ship drifting through space. On board they find a whole bunch of people held in suspended animation, wake up the leader of the gang and accidentally unleash one of the most iconic villains of the franchise. Being coy with his identity at first, ship historian Marla McGivers becomes fascinated with a glimpse at the past while Kirk and the rest of the non-historians figure out that he just happens to be one of the most notorious war lords in Earths history... Star Trek, Season 1 , Episode 22 For all the action and adventure of deep space and the idea of using alien make up to mask more down to earth stories, Space Seed gives the first real glimpse of Star Trek's history. Khan is a relic of Earth from long […]
Resistance Is Optional: Choose Your Adventure!
Our trials of bringing the fleet together have been hit and miss with scheduling and dates being a bit slim. So we're opening the floor to the fleet to pick the next date and theme! You can make your selection below on what works best for you ahead of our next fleet event! The final outcome will be shared at Europa on Facebook and in Fleet Alert in the Officers Hub as soon as we have a comfortable number of notes. For more information or to get direct updates on non-Discord online events, you can the subscribe to Twitch channel, visit twitch.tv/sfcq2. Google Meets events are hosted by our google account - you can add sfcquad2@gmail.com to your whitelist to ensure direct notification. Info and invite confirmations may also come from jt@sfcq2.com directly.
Sixty Year Mission…
It's been a really weird year already for the world of Star Trek fans. We started 2026 with a new venture into a strange new future with Starfleet Academy. Then just as the show had won people over, we found out it's the latest in a long list of recent productions to get a cancellation order, is a bit of a weird way to start the 60th anniversary of a legendary franchise. The past few years we've kind of spoiled. Growing up it was exciting to have Deep Space Nine run alongside the Next Generation. In modern times we had multiple shows going at once with Discovery's launch spawning a new world of story telling from revisiting Picard in his post-Starfleet years, to animated comedy with Lower Decks, to finally telling the story of Captain Pike and even a peek […]
[Retro Review] Let This Be Your Last Battlefield
Often shown in highlight reels and quoted in discussions about Star Trek's more forward thinking messages, Let This Be Your Last Battlefield is at it's simplest, a story of the ridiculousness of segregation. En route to a vital mission of mercy, Kirk and his crew end up in the middle of a political minefield. Interrupted in the mission by a stolen Federation shuttle carrying an injured alien, Lokai from the planet Cheron, they're soon further interrupted by Commissioner Bele, an official representing Cheron who announces Lokai as a political traitor and demanding custody. One asylum request later, Kirk's stuck between the two trying to find the right course of action knowing he has orders to follow beyond the situation. The separation between Belle and Lokai is a simple context. And also a strangely charged one looking at it from a […]
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[Retro Review] Space Seed
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Often shown in highlight reels and quoted in discussions about Star Trek's more forward thinking messages, Let This Be Your Last Battlefield is at it's simplest, a story of the ridiculousness of segregation. En route to a vital mission of mercy, Kirk and his crew end up in the middle of a political minefield. Interrupted in the mission by a stolen Federation shuttle carrying an injured alien, Lokai from the planet Cheron, they're soon further interrupted by Commissioner Bele, an official representing Cheron who announces Lokai as a political traitor and demanding custody. One asylum request later, Kirk's stuck between the two trying to find the right course of action knowing he has orders to follow beyond the situation. The separation between Belle and Lokai is a simple context. And also a strangely charged one looking at it from a […]
[Retro Review] The Trouble With Tribbles
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