Spoilers S31: Disavowed by David Mack Review Thread
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But surely we should be united against a common enemy:
THE TREKMACK PEOPLE'S FRONT!!!!
THE TREKMACK PEOPLE'S FRONT!!!!
No exact date was given.
Well, Good That Men Do's framing sequence is set some time in the early 25th Century, and we know Section 31 is exposed and defeated by that point, and that some of Section 31's files have just been released to the public (hence Jake and Nog reviewing the files on Trip). However, the exact time of Section 31's defeat was left vague -- it could have happened in 2386, it could have happened in 2391, it could have happened in 2400, it could have happened in 2418. No idea.
What kinda bugs me....
Sloan himself said there are no files, no archives, no headquarters. I suppose he could have lying to throw Bashir off, because he didn't want Bashir to get close to the truth. And I can't believe that an organisaton like 31 could function with something like a central base of organisation. But still.... how files that can be obtained and used to take down 31.... It seems so odd that that could excists.
Sloan himself said there are no files, no archives, no headquarters. I suppose he could have lying to throw Bashir off, because he didn't want Bashir to get close to the truth. And I can't believe that an organisaton like 31 could function with something like a central base of organisation. But still.... how files that can be obtained and used to take down 31.... It seems so odd that that could excists.
And not even they have seen it yet. I'm still polishing my author's draft before I submit it to them. The manuscript should be delivered by Wednesday if all goes well.
If you are referring to The Midnight Front, you can't have read that yet (unless you're Marco Palmieri or one of Dave's beta readers I guess), as it isn't out yet.
They might not have a central base of operation, but it's impossible that they have no records whatsoever, even if distributed. They need some way of keeping track of information beyond that which can be memorized, there's no way they have no records whatsoever. Even just based on what we saw in the show.
Where is, say, the biographical information on Bashir that Sloan had from? Did Sloan investigate or hack it himself and memorize it; well, what if he dies, or gets captured, or something like that? Is someone else suppsed to just repeat Sloan's work and reassemble the intel? And what if someone not directly connected to Sloan needs to contact Bashir and needs access to information on him? If S31 is as decentralized as all that, then there's no assurance that the other operative could ask Sloan, or even is aware that Bashir has already been contacted, so with no organizational records the only alternative is to again retrieve the information. And every repetition isn't just wasted time, it's another point of failure where an agent could be discovered.
And that's just for a single scenario with a single target. Take this to the logical conclusion, and the only options are either that S31 is a big smokescreen for a minor organization with little to no influence, which later DS9, ENT and the books have long put the lie to, or that they must have some kind of infrastructure for record storage and dissemination, even if a decentralized one. And you can't even just have that information is deleted after it's used, because an intelligence organization in the vein of S31 that doesn't keep Intel for unforeseen future incidents can't function either. You can never really know when a piece of intel is no longer relevant.
Folks, please be careful you don't drift into possible story ideas with your speculations.
I have a plan for all this, really. But if y'all jump the gun, I might have to scrap my plans for Control.
I have a plan for all this, really. But if y'all jump the gun, I might have to scrap my plans for Control.
Too late -- it's already in continuity. And why shouldn't it be? Section 31's eventual, undated, defeat was foreshadowed as far back as the original 2001 Star Trek: Section 31 miniseries.
I think it's pretty clear that Sloan is not a reliable source of information.
We do not know that any files were used to "take down" Section 31. We only know that some time by the early 25th Century, Section 31 has been exposed, its agents brought to justice, and at least some of its secret files released to the public. The manner of Section 31's defeat has not been established.
Ouch, kinda sucks we're now waiting 3 years or so for the follow-up to that story. Means those characters are done in our current storylines, and the new story has a much bigger gap to deal with. So either another timegap/framing story to fill in the time from their POV, or DS9 is going to grind to another halt. Disappointing. Understandable from Mack's perspective, but stinks to have a good story going and have to put it on the back burner for another 3 years...
^ Them's the breaks.
No; that would be Section 86.
I mean, if the rest of the world can wait six years between installments in the Song of Fire and Ice series, we TrekLit fans can wait a few years between Section 31 entries.
Besides, the fact that the Section 31 storyline is on hold doesn't mean Bashir and Sarina can't turn up somewhere else in the meantime. Declassified was clearly setting things up for a new confrontation with Section 31's leaders, but nothing about that requires it to happen in the immediate future.
I mean, if the rest of the world can wait six years between installments in the Song of Fire and Ice series, we TrekLit fans can wait a few years between Section 31 entries.
No one's too happy about that, either
Is what it is, just happy to see that DS9 was finally getting a little attention and momentum again, only to have this good storyline to take a 3 year break. And yes, nothing says they can't move forward and come back to it, but I'd be shocked if Bashir got used before this all cleared up. Never know, though...
