Today’s book: Section 31: Cloak

In ST: Deep Space Nine, the Powers That Be at Star Tek World HQ introduced a creepy division within Starfleet named Section 31, which is authorized to do whatever is necessary to achieve UFP policy even though there are laws, rules, and ethics that preclude such action. The folks that do the Trek books decided they wanted in on such a gooey, morally ambiguous group too and have put out a four pack beginning with Cloak, in which Kirk and Spock have to deal with a mad scientist sponsored by Section 31. Interestingly, they tie the scientist into an extremely dangerous molecule called Omega which was first used (as far as I know) in the Star Trek universe in a Voyager episode. We also find out the origins of the group’s name, Section 31 of the Starfleet’s Charter, which refers to “an autonomous investigative agency.” Decent plot, a strong ‘guest star’ role (Jain Suni, also a fleeting love interest for Kirk), but the McCoy subplot gets thrown away with a backstage resolution.