Starfleet Intelligence was a branch of Starfleet responsible for gathering and analyzing information concerning neighboring powers in the galaxy, and for carrying out covert investigations regarding possible threats to Earth and, later, the Federation.
Organization
Starfleet Intelligence employed agents for their field operations, who were authorized to perform undercover investigations. Starfleet Intelligence agents (or "S.I. agents") reported to Division Heads, who oversaw their agents' missions. (ENT: "Terra Prime")
History
22nd century
In 2154, Starfleet Intelligence was able to find out that the Klingons had a genetic research facility on Qu'Vat colony. (ENT: "Divergence")
In 2155, S.I. agent Gannet Brooks, posing as a reporter, reconnected with Travis Mayweather, whom she had previously been engaged in a relationship with, in an attempt to gather intelligence on the xenophobic terrorist group Terra Prime. When Lieutenant Reed discovered that Gannet had reprogrammed her universal translator to secretly eavesdrop on the conversations of the Coalition of Planets delegates, the crew of Enterprise began to suspect that she herself was a spy for Terra Prime, and placed her in the brig. Gannet later confided in Mayweather that she worked for Starfleet Intelligence, telling him that she could not reveal her identity lest the actual Terra Prime operative find out. Mayweather, however, did not believe her, until it was revealed that Ensign Masaro was the real spy. (ENT: "Demons", "Terra Prime")
23rd century
In 2268, Starfleet Intelligence reported that Romulans were now using Klingon starship designs. They also enlisted Captain James T. Kirk to steal a prototype for an advanced Romulan cloaking device. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")
Late-24th century
In 2369, Starfleet Intelligence believed that the Cardassian Union was developing a new form of metagenic weapon that could be used to wipe out all life on a planet, but leave the infrastructure intact, ripe for occupation. (TNG: "Chain of Command, Part I")
In 2370, Starfleet Intelligence provided the USS Enterprise-D with information concerning Arctus Baran's raider, which was conducting attacks against numerous archaeological sites in the Federation. (TNG: "Gambit, Part I")
Rear Admiral Erik Pressman served with Starfleet Intelligence. He was involved in a cover-up concerning the secret development of a Federation-designed interphase cloaking device, in violation of the Treaty of Algeron. This cover-up went back twelve years to the destruction of the USS Pegasus in 2358. Starfleet Intelligence ordered documents concerning the investigation into the Pegasus's destruction sealed. It was not realized until 2370 that the Pegasus was serving as a testbed for the prototype cloaking device. Admiral Pressman strongly implied that there were several important people in the Intelligence organization who were involved in the cloaking device project, including the Chief of Starfleet Intelligence herself. (TNG: "The Pegasus")
In the same year Starfleet Intelligence picked up alarming reports from the Romulan Star Empire. Because of this report, Vice Admiral Nakamura initiated a fleet-wide yellow alert and informed Captain Picard through a priority one message. (TNG: "All Good Things...")
Late in 2370, Benjamin Sisko had Starfleet Intelligence bring in suspected Maquis members for questioning to find out who could have been the recipient of a delivery of photon torpedo warheads stolen from Deep Space 9. (DS9: "Tribunal")
In 2371, Starfleet Intelligence prepared forged transit documents so that the USS Defiant could travel to Cardassia to rescue Major Kira Nerys. (DS9: "Second Skin")
In 2372, Intelligence believed that the Maquis were planning to hijack a shipment of industrial replicators that were bound for the war-ravaged Cardassian Union. It turned out that this information was accurate, but Intelligence failed to discover that there was a traitor working aboard Deep Space 9 – Michael Eddington. Eddington managed to make away with the entire shipment. (DS9: "For the Cause")
In early 2373, Intelligence discovered that Gowron had relocated Klingon military headquarters to Ty'Gokor. (DS9: "Apocalypse Rising")
Some time later that year, Starfleet Intelligence made some progress in breaking Maquis communication codes. (DS9: "For the Uniform")
Another time later, Odo had Captain Sisko arrange a conference with Starfleet Intelligence via subspace. (DS9: "A Simple Investigation") A short time later, Sisko told Kira that Intelligence would be extremely pleased about the information on Cardassian politics when she performed the shri-tal with Tekeny Ghemor. (DS9: "Ties of Blood and Water")
Miles O'Brien with his contact from Starfleet Intelligence during a covert mission on Farius Prime in 2374.
Later that year, Sisko contacted Starfleet Intelligence to get confirmation that the Romulans had signed a non-aggression pact with the Dominion. (DS9: "Call to Arms")
In 2375, Chakotay and Tuvok entered a restricted area of Terrasphere 8, Species 8472's recreation of San Francisco. Ensign Gentry stopped and told them that all unauthorized personnel in the area had to be debriefed by Starfleet Intelligence under the orders of Admiral Bullock. Later, Bullock claimed that the reason why their Federation database contained no mention of Species 8472 was classified by Starfleet Intelligence. (VOY: "In the Flesh")
In an alternate timeline, Intelligence discovered a Borg temporal transmitter in the wreckage of a Borg cube in the Beta Quadrant sometime between 2375 and 2390. (VOY: "Timeless")
Dominion War
During the Dominion War, Starfleet Intelligence was more powerful than ever, and played an important role in gathering information about the Dominion's operations and infrastructure. One of its biggest coups was the location of a Dominion sensor array in early 2374, which the Dominion had been using to observe allied operations across five sectors of space. (DS9: "Behind the Lines")
During the breaking of the war, Starfleet Intelligence had a number of prominent agents. The chairman of the Romulan Tal Shiar Koval transferred valuable military intelligence and Glinn Lasaran from the Cardassian Union also served as an important agent. (DS9: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges") (DS9: "Change of Heart")
One branch of Starfleet Intelligence was the Department of Internal Affairs, which was charged with keeping track of Starfleet operations to ensure that no security leaks occurred. In 2374, Luther Sloan posed as an agent of Internal Affairs while he was testing Julian Bashir in a fake holodeck scenario. (DS9: "Inquisition")
Also in 2374, Vice Admiral Fujisaki served as the Deputy Chief of Starfleet Intelligence, but died of "food poisoning" according to Sloan. (DS9: "Inter Arma Enim Silent Leges")
An undercover operation using Miles O'Brien infiltrating the Orion Syndicate discovered it was colluding with the Dominion to arrange an assassination of a Klingon ambassador to damage the Federation-Klingon alliance. Starfleet Intelligence subsequently warned the Klingons and the attack was repulsed. (DS9: "Honor Among Thieves")
One of Intelligence's greatest failures during the war was the neglect of the Dominion's buildup in the Kalandra sector, from which the enemy launched a fleet to invade Betazed. The Dominion managed to capture the entire planet in under ten hours, because of the lack of warning. It would be one of the most humiliating defeats of the war. (DS9: "In the Pale Moonlight")
Positions
- Chief
- Deputy Chief
- Division Head
- Intelligence officer
Officers
- Rear Admiral Erik Pressman
- Vice Admiral Fujisaki
See also
Template:Branches of Starfleet
Appendices
Background
Ronald D. Moore commented that "There was a time when you couldn't even mention Starfleet Intelligence on the show – and I kept sneaking it into scripts – and finally people sort of stopped caring." (Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion)
Apocrypha
According to several novels, including The Lost Era series of novels, Uhura was recruited for Starfleet Intelligence shortly after the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, eventually rising to the rank of Admiral and serving as head of Intelligence.