My short fiction “The Mission” is a Star Trek: Deep Space Nine story, appearing in issue #6 of Star Trek Explorer Magazine.
Titan Publishing’s Official Star Trek Magazine is now STAR TREK EXPLORER – THE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE. EXPLORER is the destination for everything Star Trek – filled with in-depth interviews and features taking you behind-the-scenes of all your favorite shows and movies.
The new-look EXPLORER magazine also includes two brand-new exclusive Star Trek short stories, and a bonus 16-page themed supplement bound inside each issue.
AUTHOR’S NOTES
This story was published in February 2023, and follows an unnamed character on space station Deep Space Nine, during the Dominion War.
“The Mission” appeared in the anthology Star Trek Explorer Presents: “The Mission” and Other Stories in 2024.
Spoiler Warning! The notes and annotations below give away story points from “The Mission”.
This story takes place in 2374 during the Dominion War, prior to the events of the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine sixth season episode “Inquisition”.
Luther Sloan is the secretive representative of Section 31, a covert division working within Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets. He is first seen in person in the ST: DS9 episode “Inquisition”, and later in “Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges” and “Extreme Measures”.
The Akaali species first appear in the Star Trek: Enterprise episode “Civilization” and later in the Star Trek: Discovery episode “The Examples”.
Plomeek soup, the meal the operative eats at DS9‘s Replimat, is a Vulcan dish that first appears in the Star Trek original series episode “Amok Time”.
Among the familiar ST:DS9 characters the unnamed operative encounters during this story are Constable Odo, the “plain, simple” spy-turned-tailor Elim Garak and Ferengi bar-owner Quark.
The Tal Shiar, first introduced in the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Face of the Enemy”, are the feared Romulan secret police and intelligence agency.
Imperial Intelligence (also known as II) is the external spy agency of the Klingon Empire, first referenced in John M. Ford’s Star Trek novel The Final Reflection.
The Orion Syndicate are an interstellar organized crime group, whose machinations first appear in in the Star Trek original series episode “Journey to Babel”.
The ‘hijacker program’ discovered by the unnamed operative uses similar technology to the Orion multi-key device as seen in the Star Trek: Lower Decks episode “Hear All, Trust Nothing”.
Garak’s actions in this story prefigures those he undertakes in the ST:DS9 episode “In The Pale Moonlight”, showing the Cardassian’s willingness to take extreme measures in order to keep Deep Space Nine safe.
The ultimate failure of the nameless Section 31 operative in this story sets up the events of the ST:DS9 episode “Inquisition”, where Luther Sloan attempts to recruit Julian Bashir into the clandestine organization.
COVER GALLERY
