Sulu would do it for the thrills. 
Which officer would have joined Section 31?
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I personally think it made more sense to have a new Bajoran, instead of Ro, but it would have been nice to have her appear again in the show at least as a special guest.
^^ I'd have to agree, I think Picard's furious with Ro primarily, but yes, I'm sure he'd also have been thinking that he should have seen it coming. Not like the warning signs weren't there.
Personally, I'd have preferred Ro to Kira. Never my favourite character on DS9, largely down to Visitor not quite being able to pull off feisty and determined without also being irritating, especially in the earlier seasons. She did get a lot better as the series went along to be fair, but I'd still have preferred Ro/Forbes.
Personally, I'd have preferred Ro to Kira. Never my favourite character on DS9, largely down to Visitor not quite being able to pull off feisty and determined without also being irritating, especially in the earlier seasons. She did get a lot better as the series went along to be fair, but I'd still have preferred Ro/Forbes.
I think you're looking at it from the wrong direction. None of the relevant political actors -- the Maquis, the Federation, or Section 31 -- are truly averse to a little subversion and subterfuge. We've seen all three engage in such acts.
Rather, the issue with Section 31 is their unaccountability -- their unrestrained, unopposed power, with no checks on them or authority over them from the Federation government. The Maquis are extreme nationalists, but that doesn't mean they believe in the unchecked power to do whatever anyone wants; their goal is to establish their own government independent of the Federation and Cardassians -- to create their own law, but not to set themselves above the law.
Obviously, there are some people in the Maquis, like Suder, who are just violent psychopaths. But for most, the issue is principled nationalism, not pure power-grab.
And yet the DS9 crew is the one that set out to bring Section 31 down. Why? Because, while they'll compromise their principles on occasion in the name of the greater good, they don't believe in doing that as a matter of course. And, further, they don't believe in an unaccountable institution being allowed to do whatever it wants, setting itself above the rule of law.
The novel line has featured a number of Vulcan agents of Section 31, most notably a woman named L'Haan in the novels A Time to Kill and A Time to Heal by David Mack.
No. But I do think they've probably installed programs into every starship to let them know what's going on in all of them -- and on every starbase, too. Remote surveilance.
They've actually shown this in the post-finale DS9 books. In the books she has returned to Bajor and been sent by them to replace Odo (because they couldn't find anywhere else to put her) and I belive she does run into Picard in one of the first two books when the DS9 crew is working with the Ent.-E. I know latter in the series at least, he's willing to support her.
I actually just got finished rereading the DS9 Relaunch and it's obvious that these authors have a deep, abiding love not only for DS9 itself, but all of Trek in general.
That being said, I did love "Abyss," the Section 31 novel mainly because Section 31 was treated extremely carefully in the book. There's no question that Section 31 itself is a bad idea and has been a bad idea from the beginning, but if there was some accountability involved, it could easily turn into a very good thing.
That being said, I did love "Abyss," the Section 31 novel mainly because Section 31 was treated extremely carefully in the book. There's no question that Section 31 itself is a bad idea and has been a bad idea from the beginning, but if there was some accountability involved, it could easily turn into a very good thing.
Well, no, because several other novels have also featured Section 31 and handled them well that weren't co-written by David Weddle. Section 31: Abyss handled Section 31 so well because it was written by two good writers, Weddle and Jeffrey Lang, as have other novels; the fact that Weddle also wrote for the TV show does not determine the writing quality. The fact that he and Lang are good writers determines the writing quality.
Interesting question.
And I'm not sure I can think of anyone, for certain.
However, I think the officers who ended up joining the Maquis are your best bet, and here's why:
It has already been illustrated that those officers were capable of being 'corrupted'. The cause of that 'corruption' is less important here than the mindset which says "Well, it's okay to betray my uniform if I know it's for a really, really good cause!"
The mindset is of an individual who, for good or bad, values his own moral judgments above those of his superior officers. The chain of command is all well and good...UNTIL such an individual is faced with a difficult moral dilemma where the chain of command is telling him to do one thing...while his own conscience is telling him to do another.
The Maquis officers had already illustrated that mindset, in joining the Maquis. The rest of the Starfleet officers - Sisko included, realized that many of the goals of the Maquis were more or less just - it was their method of operating outside the law and (in the Starfleet officers' case) outside the chain of command which stuck in their 'Regular Army' craw.
The exact same mindset would be required for a member of Section 31: the sort of individual who was quite capable of putting himself above the law when it was, in his own estimation, required for the greater good.
And I'm not sure I can think of anyone, for certain.
However, I think the officers who ended up joining the Maquis are your best bet, and here's why:
It has already been illustrated that those officers were capable of being 'corrupted'. The cause of that 'corruption' is less important here than the mindset which says "Well, it's okay to betray my uniform if I know it's for a really, really good cause!"
The mindset is of an individual who, for good or bad, values his own moral judgments above those of his superior officers. The chain of command is all well and good...UNTIL such an individual is faced with a difficult moral dilemma where the chain of command is telling him to do one thing...while his own conscience is telling him to do another.
The Maquis officers had already illustrated that mindset, in joining the Maquis. The rest of the Starfleet officers - Sisko included, realized that many of the goals of the Maquis were more or less just - it was their method of operating outside the law and (in the Starfleet officers' case) outside the chain of command which stuck in their 'Regular Army' craw.
The exact same mindset would be required for a member of Section 31: the sort of individual who was quite capable of putting himself above the law when it was, in his own estimation, required for the greater good.
I don't think that people who joined the Maquis were necessarily "corrupted." They just happened to believe that different things were more important. While I know this is hardly the best example, I don't see Chakotay or Torres chomping at the bit to join Section 31.
Eddington, on the other hand? The thing is, with Eddington, I can clearly see two completely opposite scenarios with both being completely in character for him. He'd join 31 and help the Maquis causes. Or he'd be appalled that "paradise" has some teeth and call Sisko on the hypocrisy.
As for Starfleet Intelligence, I thought their record was about as spotty as the Eagles' record this year.
Eddington, on the other hand? The thing is, with Eddington, I can clearly see two completely opposite scenarios with both being completely in character for him. He'd join 31 and help the Maquis causes. Or he'd be appalled that "paradise" has some teeth and call Sisko on the hypocrisy.
As for Starfleet Intelligence, I thought their record was about as spotty as the Eagles' record this year.
No, they haven't, and here's why: You're still holding on to this notion that the Federation and Starfleet represent "purity" and that anything that deviates from the UFP and SF represent "corruption." But the whole point of the Maquis is that they believe that the Federation and Starfleet are themselves corrupt. They believe that the Federation betrayed them by turning over their worlds to the Cardassians and by refusing to protect them. To their minds, the Federation is the one that has been corrupted, and they are the ones who are upholding morality. The goal of the Maquis, I'd remind you, is not to defy the rule of law or to act without accountability; the goal of the Maquis is the creation of a new interstellar state that will respect the rights of its citizens that the Federation violated.
1) Not all Maquis were former Starfleet officers. In fact, most were never part of Starfleet.
2) A Maquis would argue that Starfleet betrayed them.
3) Arguing that a former Starfleet Maquis would be more likely to join Section 31 -- which is, itself, an extreme nationalist pro-Federation organization, as opposed to the Maquis, who are extreme pro-colonist nationalists -- is a bit like arguing the same about Redcoats who joined the Minutemen.
Again, it is a fundamentally different situation than the Section 31 issue. One is an independence movement, and the other is a governmental conspiracy.
You mean like every time Trek's main characters have faced a similar dilemma? And keep in mind that a lack of blind obediance does not automatically lend itself to violations of the law. Indeed, an unwillingness to carry out illegal orders is one of the things that seem to have characterized the Maquis, while a willingness to carry out illegal orders seems to characterize Section 31.
But the Maquis weren't out to operate outside the law. They were out to create their own independent state. That's a very fundamentally different thing.
Actually, the mindset of Section 31 reguires a willingness to put himself above the law at all times, because Section 31 refuses to ever become accountable for any reason. Picard, Kirk, Sisko, Janeway, Archer -- all of them acted outside the bounds of the law when they felt it was required for the greater good, but they all became accountable to the law afterwords. The Maquis have more in common with them than with Section 31.
Disagree. That would involve monitoring thousands of starships and actively duping millions. Considering even starship captains seem unaware of the fact, Section 31 would not take the risk of someone, out of the thousands of ships and stations, stumbling on their stuff in the computers.
They are likely involved at a macro level, having agents at the top level (medical, engineering, tactical etc) of Starfleet and Federation government. When Bashir faked a cure, they only found about it when Starfleet Medical did. Actively monitoring billions, even though latent programs, would be impossible to hide.
