Corner Characters Part Two: Traitors and Renegades

CONTINUING ANALYSIS OF THE MINOR CHARACTERS

FROM "STAR TREK: DEEP SPACE NINE" by Bennett Campbell Ferguson

 Above: Kenneth Marshall as Lt. Commander Michael Eddington

EDDINGTON Like all “Star Trek” shows, “DS9” focused on Starfleet, an organization that focuses both on the exploration and defense of space.  But the Starfleet officers of this show were not like their predecessors.  Many made horrifying mistakes, some were downright amoral, and a few were even traitors.  Among these was the eager security officer known as Lieutenant Commander Michael Eddington.

            Initially, Eddington seemed like a model officer.  He was a by-the-book man, unwilling to break the law when the circumstances invited it, and in possession of a receding hairline and pale visage that rendered him pleasantly milquetoast.  Little did we know that in between sucking up to his superiors, he was secretly working for the Maquis, a renegade terrorist group fighting against the Cardassians.

            It was not until almost two years after his initial appearance on the show that Eddington’s treachery was revealed and it was soon after that he became truly interesting.  It turned out that he was not a serious freedom fighter, but a man swept up in the tragic romance of fighting for a lost cause.  A avid reader of Victor Hugo’s Les Misérable, he fancied himself to be a tragic figure like Jean Valljean.  He was a noble hero, raging against the establishment, breaking the law for the good of the many with as much gumption as he could muster.

            Towards the end of his time on the show, Eddington received a harsh taste of reality when he was forced to surrender himself to the show’s protagonist, Captain Sisko.  Yet Eddington’s spirits were unhampered—even when he lost, he kept his demented spirits up.  Just watch him blabber about his lucky coin with a loon on it to Sisko.  As he crows about what he calls his “lucky loony,” he is revealed to be a man so joyfully, dementedly passionate that you can’t help but root for him, even if he is living in a dream.

SLOAN Throughout “DS9,” a number of secret espionage organizations appeared as villains, notably devious factions like the Obsidian Order and the Tal Shi’ar.  But whereas those organizations belonged to enemy governments, the elusive Section 31 was another matter—a ruthlessly inhumane cabal sanctioned by Starfleet itself.  For the most part, Section 31’s operatives remained unseen but there was one who often visited the crew of Deep Space Nine.  His name was Luther Sloan.

            Clad in a spotless leather uniform and armed with a dangerous smile, Sloan was the consummate villain.  He had almost no morals; in fact, he even condoned genocide.  But what was even more fascinating was the brilliance he displayed in manipulating others, especially DS9’s heroic doctor, Julian Bashir.  When they first met, Sloan believed Bashir might be a double agent passing military secrets to the Dominion.  Once this proved false Sloan asked Bashir to join Section 31—an offer he accepted in the hope of destroying the organization from within.  But we soon learned that Sloan never really trusted Bashir; he simply needed a hapless, honest young man to serve as a pawn in his game.

            Ultimately, Sloan wore many guises.  In carrying out covert missions, he invented many cover stories for himself.  Once he posed as a grieving father out to avenge the death of his son; another time, he appeared as the deranged protégée, seeking justice for his murdered mentor.  But these comic book-style covers were there only to hide the real truth—that Sloan’s only true goal was to protect Starfleet, even if it meant killing billions.  Of course, he was not wholly unsympathetic.  In one of the last episodes in the series, Bashir converses with a dying Sloan, who tells him, “You are proof that ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency.”  But if Sloan really believed that, it was buried deep with the darkest shadows of his cruel conscience.