STTC Mission Log 7 JOURNEY THROUGH THE BAZAAR Section 31

JOURNEY THROUGH THE BAZAAR
Section 31
by Edward H. Bart IV

        “You wished to see me, sir?”
        Major Raven, the half-Betazoid, half-Bajoran, walked towards Captain Johnson’s desk in his ready room. The captain smiled and gestured for the silver-haired man to sit.
        Raven carefully sat down, tucking in the folds of his garment so they did not splay out on the arms of his seat. He clasped his hands together and looked at the younger man seated across from him.
        “You’re aware of the special investigation that I’m having Chief Bogarde conduct?” asked Johnson.
        Raven nodded. “He’s investigating Major Ironsides’s activities, correct?”
        “Correct. He’s also investigating the possibility of more like him. Saboteurs, unauthorized intelligence operatives, and the such. Tell me, have you heard of a group called Section 31?”
        Raven shook his head. “Should I have?”
        “If you did, then they wouldn’t be as good as the stories make them out to be.”
        “Stories?” Raven frowned slightly, his deeply lined forehead showing it.
        Johnson shrugged. “Ghost stories. Tricks of the light. Almost every civilization that functions with a large governmental body produces stories of a ‘shadow government’ functioning in secrecy. Starfleet is no different.”
        “And that’s what Section 31 is?”
        Johnson scratched at his scalp, rubbing his bristly crew cut. “They’re our Obsidian Order, our Tal’Shiar, our... whatever the hell the Klingons have.”
        “I don’t think they have one,” Raven mused. “They’re not much for maneuvers in the darkness.”
        “Well, you get my point,” Johnson waved his hand.
        “And you believe Max Ironsides was an operative for Section 31?”
        “Section 31 doesn’t exist.”
        “You just said...”
        Johnson grinned ruefully. “I know what I said. Starfleet Intelligence revealed to me last week that Ironsides had been working as a covert operative for them. He stepped outside his mandates on Tau’Tsugu and as such, falls under SI’s jurisdiction. Even if he were alive, which doesn’t seem likely considering his lifesigns went to nil just before the Rubicon went off our sensors, I can’t touch him.”
        “But you do not agree with that assessment.”
        “No, sir, I don’t.”
        “I have a question,” Raven narrowed his eyes.
        “Shoot.”
        “If Section 31 is so secret, how come you know of it? How come there are stories propagated about it?”
        “Second question first,” Johnson held up a finger. “I’m sure a covert organization doesn’t mind a free propaganda machine. It increases their mystique and invincibility. The stories aren’t widespread, but they paint a picture of a cutting edge organization poised behind the scenes, accomplishing everything and leaving behind no witnesses or footprints. It gives one pause for thought. It becomes easy to attribute unexplained but favorable results to a secret benefactor.”
        “As for the first question?”
        “I’ve done my share of work for Starfleet Intelligence. At one point, I had the penultimate security clearance. You hear things at the top. Also, I think I locked horns with one of their agents about ten years or so ago. It was the smuggling case I shared with Calhoun. The mission’s still classified.”
        “Don’t worry. I won’t say anything.”
        Johnson shrugged. “Then again, I might be giving them too much credit. Like I said earlier, I could be attributing things to the idea of Section 31.”
        “You usually get to the point around now, Thomas.”
        “Right,” Johnson said. “I want you to conduct your own investigation, independent of Chief Bogarde’s investigation. Security personnel may be compromised, but I know I can trust you.”
        “Is Leo to be aware of this investigation?”
        “No.”
        Raven nodded slowly. “I see. I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
        Johnson’s mouth tightened in anger. “My first officer has been doing God knows what behind my back. My. Right. Hand. Man. I saw him everyday. And I had no idea. None. Now I have a crew of over 1,200 personnel. Any number of them could be compromising my mission to the Borderlands. Do you know how it feels when you discover you no longer can trust in your crew?”
        “No.”
        “It’s a kick in the guts,” Johnson said.
        “Very eloquent,” Raven raised an eyebrow.
        “I’m not kidding,” Johnson shook his head. “It’s a painful feeling. A captain that can’t fully trust his crew isn’t much of a captain at all. I don’t like that feeling.”
        He looked Raven squarely into the eyes. “I want to trust my crew. I need you to help me regain my trust. You have the experience and the special talents that make you perfect for this investigation.”
        A twinkle played in Raven’s eye and he smiled ever so slightly. “What if I am also an operative for this Section 31?”
        Johnson held a neutral expression and looked at Raven calmly. “I’ll kill you.”
        Raven blinked. “You’re not joking.”
        “I take this violation of my ship and crew very personally,” Johnson said. “Every person on this ship answers to me. If you find anyone that doesn’t answer to me... then they’ll answer to you.”
        “I understand.”
        The door chimed. Johnson looked up. “Come in.”
        The door slid open and a lieutenant commander stepped in.

        The small figures of Johnson and Raven flickered on on Agent 82156’s miniature PADD device. The PADD was not much bigger than her palm. In fact, it was designed for her hand specifications. She could walk with it palmed in her hand, much as a magician could hold a coin hidden in his palm.
        Being an agent for Section 31 required adeptness in sleight of hand matters. Agent 82156 had many years of experience under her belt. She also had the added motivation to avoid a repeat of her penal colony experiences, which is where she would be sent to if Captain Johnson ever discovered her true job assignment on the U.S.S. Courageous.
        The Stellar Cartography worklab was manned only by her and one other crewman. She sat at her station, ostensibly reviewing sensor data. However, her attention was focused to her cupped hand, which was shielded from the sight of her fellow crewman. She could hear the low volume well enough, but the other man, a human, could hear nothing above the normal background noise of the lab.
        The captain called for another subordinate to enter the room. The figure of Raven stood up, moving to leave. The agent recognized the new arrival as Lieutenant Commander Batsoah, head of the Cartography department.
        The agent’s head snapped up, hearing her colleague walk towards her station. She met his eyes while she thumbed her PADD feed off and slipped it into a hidden pocket in her thigh. The young human nodded casually at her as he continued to the other side of the worklab. She would have to review the surveillance record later to discover what the captain would say to Batsoah’s report. She already knew what he would be telling the captain.
        She turned her focus to her “work” in the lab, while thinking over the conversation between Captain Johnson and Major Raven. She expected the conversation that she had just eavesdropped on.
        It was interesting but not altogether surprising that the captain chose not to place complete confidence in the Chief of Security. After all, Bogarde had served in the Marines under Major Ironsides. The major’s loyalty had turned out to be suspect, so naturally Bogarde’s loyalty might be suspect as well.
        Ironically, Bogarde’s loyalty shouldn’t be suspect at all. Aside from his gambling addiction, Bogarde was a very good chief of security for Johnson. She understood Johnson’s dilemma though. On a ship of 1,260 crewmembers, it was difficult to judge who to trust.
        She and Ironsides had been assured that they were the only operatives aboard the Courageous, but she knew better than to accept her superior’s word blindly. It didn’t matter though. She knew that if she needed to know about any others, her handler would have told her. So she didn’t waste any of her time wondering if there were others. She had herself to be concerned with.
        She quickly suppressed a flare of anger at Ironsides. The major had taken her only avenue of escape from the ship in case her cover was blown. He also had exposed the existence of a small-scale Quantum Slipstream Drive configured for shuttlecraft. Capping off the debacle was the fact that the retrieval starship would probably find the corpse of Ironsides at the helm. She didn’t understand why Ironsides elected to board the shuttlecraft when he could have simply surrendered and received medical treatment and imprisonment, leaving the Rubicon in reserve for her. The major’s fatal escape only made the whole thing a colossal waste.
        Ironsides was human, the agent reminded herself. Their alien decision-making processes didn’t necessarily lead to the conclusions other would arrive at. She gave herself yet another reminder. She was the alien to Section 31. The majority of operatives were human. This fact was understandable since Section 31 was born out of Starfleet, an Earth organization. In addition to that, its agenda lent itself to a xenophobic mindset.
        Agent 82156 could sum up Section 31’s initial philosophy as, “Everyone is out to get Earth.” When Earth joined the Federation, that philosophy transmuted to “Everyone is out to get the Federation.” The human-centric arrogance irritated her, but she knew that her own species were guilty of arrogance as well. It was partly because of that arrogance she was working for Section 31. She remembered her first meeting with the man that would eventually become her handler.
        She explained her reasoning to him, and he laughed. She asked what he found so funny. He said, “You took ten minutes to explain something that could be summed up in one sentence.”
        She asked him what that sentence was. He replied, “It’s an old joke and as most jokes go, they have a basis in truth. It goes something like, ‘Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean there isn’t somebody out to get you.’ It’s a little bit of elliptical thinking but I’m sure you get what I mean.”
        She did understand what he meant. The problem at hand was someone indeed was out to get her. Out of all the personnel aboard the Courageous, Raven stood the best chance at discovering her. Unfortunately for her, Raven’s Betazoid telepathic abilities were not diluted by his Bajoran father.
        Different combinations produced varying levels of telepathic skill. Betazoid-Human combinations produced lesser abilities, and combinations with some other non-telepathic species diminished the Betazoid abilities even further. Combinations with other telepathic species sometimes amplified telepathic abilities, sometimes not. Section 31 had an team devoted to genetic studies which tracked results of such genetic inter-mixing.
        She mentally reviewed the data she had studied on Raven. The negative effect was that Raven had been born without the natural biological controls that full Betazoids were born with. It was more difficult for him to use his powers, and his natural control was not as finely attuned as full-blooded Betazoids. On some occasions, Raven had lost control over his telepathic abilities, often to devastating results. Raven combated this by adhering to a strict belief system, the Bajoran faith, which regimented his mind and spirit. The Vulcans used somewhat the same methods, with their religion of Logic, the agent mused to herself.
        Raven was also doubly dangerous in the fact that he had extensive experience in covert operations. He had in fact worked with Major Ironsides on several occasions when he worked with Starfleet Marines in the past. The major had a keener insight than most security personnel in methods a secret operative such as herself would use. He was more well versed in what to look for.
        She wasn’t worried about being discovered telepathically. Due to the nature of Raven’s abilities, he kept a strict rein on his thought reception. He was also a very private man and extended this by a deep, abiding respect for other persons’ privacy. It would take a direct order from the captain before Raven began telepathically investigating crewmembers without their knowledge.
        The agent was well trained by Section 31 so that any casual encounter with Raven would not betray any of her innermost thoughts, nor would it betray any real sign of mental shielding. Ironsides, for example, had cultivated an habit of getting songs “stuck in his head” so Raven would not think it strange if he mentally noticed Ironsides repeating song lyrics. Ironsides had told her, “Sometimes the simpler, the better.”
        She utilized more sophisticated thought shielding strategies though. After failing her first telepathic interrogation, she was all the more determined that no one else would violate her mind. Not if she could help it. Being a long-term guest of a penal colony provided her plenty of time to hone her mental shields. Her recruiter told her that her mental protection was very impressive, almost on par to the training Section 31 provided. She readily accepted any further training Section 31 provided. Her handler said she could give Tam Elbrun a run for his money. She doubted very much that Raven would discover her telepathically, not unless he pushed very hard.
        So she had to make sure he didn’t have any cause to push very hard. Agent 82156 looked over her options.
        “Lieutenant?”
        She looked up to see her younger colleague standing in front of her. “Yes?”
        “End of shift is coming up soon. I’m going to knock off early, if that’s allright with you?”
        “That’s fine,” she replied. “We’ll be working on a reduced schedule now that we’re docked with the commerce station. I believe you’ll be on the second shore leave rotation.”
        “That’s right,” the young crewman nodded.
        “Enjoy your shore leave.”
        “You too,” he smiled, out of habit. He turned and left, leaving the agent alone in the cartography worklab.
        She returned to her mental review of her situation. Her analysis of the situation matched her gut instinct. The only conclusion she could reach was that she needed to suspend nearly all operations and lie low for the next few months. Unless, of course, something came up that required her to take action.
        She pulled out her covert PADD and began composing a message to transmit to her handler.

        Agent 82156 sitrep. High potential of discovery due to actions of Agent 21250. Data gathering and surveillance suspended indefinitely. Personal observations reduced but still in effect. Unless situation warrants, expect no reports until further notice. End sitrep.

        As soon as she went to a safe terminal, she would transmit the message. Once she sent the message, her next task would be to retrieve all her wiretaps and nano-bugs, including the one in the captain’s ready room. She doubted Security would be able to detect Section 31’s devices but if there were no bugs, there was no threat of their discovery.
        She had already taken care of Ironsides’s more sensitive personal effects. She did that as soon as she had learned of the major’s attempted escape. She allowed herself to have another brief flare of anger at Ironsides. She cooled herself and made an ironic realization. Ironsides had taken both of the escape routes available to both of them. One was the modified Runabout Rubicon. The other was death.
        That was the only avenue of escape that remained for her. That might have bothered her if she wasn’t already dead inside.