The Kelvin Memorial Archive in London hid a secret. Above ground all appeared as you would expect. But below, out of sight of prying eyes was its true purpose – Section 31.

Section 31 was a secret branch of Starfleet. It existed outside of normal Starfleet Intelligence Agencies, dealing with external threats to the security of the Federation. Accountable to no one, they readily broke the rules when dealing with external threats, going so far as pursuing those it identified as a threat by whatever means it saw fit.

Low-level employees at Section 31 were advised that it is a special security operation, run to gather intelligence and to support the Federation in defending itself against possible attack.

It is run by Admiral Alexander Marcus, who has determined that there is a need for Section 31 to expand its realm of influence, and has set in motion plans that will see Starfleet have a darker and more menacing objective than just exploration.

Admiral Marcus watched Section 31's newest recruit as she prepared to go through the security scan.

She sub-consciously pulled at the short skirt of her blue Starfleet uniform, before running a hand through her ponytail. Then as she stepped up to the scanner Marcus could see the way her teeth worried her bottom lip.

'Good,' he thought. 'Uncertain but wanting to make a good impression.' That was what he needed, especially for the job to which he was assigning her.

He knew for one so young, she was just twenty-four, that she was already proving to be the best in her field. She was an exceptional find, not to mention hard working. That was why she had come to his attention. Her other attribute was her uncertainty. With that he was positive that he would be able to easily coerce her to do her job without misplaced concerns over conscience or morality.

As she finally made it through the scanning procedure, the admiral approached her with a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Lt Molly Hooper. Welcome to Section 31."

"Just place them on the tables over there," Molly instructed the nameless orderlies who had brought two more bodies into the morgue.

Six weeks in and she was still getting used to the fact that there were so many people who worked here who appeared not to have names.

When she had made enquires about this. She was simply told it was "a matter of security."

So she had let the matter be.

Molly was by in large hard working and not the type to 'rock the boat.' But she did possess a curious nature, and the longer she worked for Section 31, the more she had become curious to know just what she'd got herself involved with.

Her job was a good case in point. The parameters that she had understood on accepting the position had quickly changed to something else. That wasn't to say that she wasn't performing the job she'd been employed to do. She was.

It was just… Something didn't feel right.

She walked over to the newly brought in bodies. Removing the sheets that covered them, she frowned. "Definitely not right," she muttered.

Admiral Marcus had told her when she started that the corpses she would be looking at would have been experimented on.

"Experimented? In what way experimented?" she'd asked.

Marcus had waved away her concerns.

"Don't worry Lieutenant," he'd responded. "The experiments are being performed on dead bodies."

When she still looked concerned, Marcus continued.

"The bodies have been donated by various prison facilities. They are giving us prisoners who are deceased. They hope that at least in death the prisoners can make a useful contribution to society."

That had reassured Molly a little bit. At least that would mean that her work would not be of an unethical nature.

So she had agreed. And soon after the bodies started arriving.

In the six weeks since she'd come to work for Section 31 she had written countless reports on the effects to the bodies of various pathogens and agents. Many of which had not been seen since the 20th and 21st Century's.

What concerned her most was that what she was dealing with had either been eradicated due to cures being found, or the use of particular agents had been banned, for 300 years or more.

Bubonic Plague
Small Pox
Ebola
Anthrax
Mustard Gas
HIV / AIDS

And the list went on.

The morgue had the prerequisite safety procedures to ensure that none of the contaminates could infect the population, those inside Section 31 and the general public. But even with all these safety measures, Molly was still required, for her own personal safety to wear head to foot protective clothing. And after examining every body had to go through a thorough decontamination procedure.

As time went on, Molly couldn't say in all honesty that she felt comfortable with what she was being asked to do. Nor did she understand the necessity to reintroduce highly dangerous, and in many cases lethal diseases and the like after they had been abolished for over three centuries

When she had tried to talk to Admiral Marcus about her growing concerns, she had been shocked by his response.

"Your job Lieutenant is to do what you are told. No questions asked."

"But Admiral, surely…"

And then the temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees.

"Lt Hooper," Marcus said quietly. "You will return to your work, and do what is required of you."

He paused briefly.

"If you continue to be insubordinate, may I remind you that any cures we may have available for what you are dealing with are in very limited supply…"

It was then that Molly saw Marcus for what he really was.

With no other option she meekly retreated back to the morgue and continued to write the required reports on her findings as to the effects on the bodies that she examined.

As she began her examination of the latest corpses, she knew immediately that something was very different about them.

And her curiosity was telling her she needed to find the answer – and fast.

Even without performing any scans Molly was almost 100% certain that as much as the two corpses appeared human, they actually weren't.

She took blood samples from both, and analysed them.

The results caused as many questions as answers.

They confirmed that the bodies weren't human.

But the results also showed that there had been a mixing of genetically engineered platelets that had been added to the non-human blood. And the altered plasma may have been human.

"What is going on here?' she thought.

She walked over to her desk, sat down and began to search the file that came with the bodies.

As with all the other cadavers, information in the files was next to nothing. But just as she was about to give up, an attachment appeared.

Curious, she opened it.

It read:

Klingon Experiment – Augment Blood

Need to find if possible how to enhance Augment blood taken from Khan Noonien Singh so that it can have the capability to cause damage internally, instead of the current cosmetic affect of making Klingon's appear human.

Investigation into Eugenics Wars is proving difficult with so little information available. Fact known, a virus had been created to decimate the Augments. If this information could be confirmed and more information on the type of virus used, this could prove very useful.

Subject unwilling to give details of what he knows.

Will need to increase pressure to get a result.

Admiral A. Marcus

Molly was stunned.

Stunned, horrified, sickened.

The implications of what she'd just read didn't bare thinking about.

She got up and made her way back over to the bodies.

The Klingon bodies.

As she looked at them she realised that since she had taken the blood samples, a number of disturbing changes had taken place.

Bruises, lacerations, and the unmistakeable sign of multiple broken bones now appeared.

The Klingon's had been alive when they'd been experimented on. The bruises hinted at them being held down firmly.

And then they'd been beaten.

Then murdered.

Section 31 also contained another mystery that kept Molly awake at night.

At least in her dreams.

His name – Commander John Harrison. Section 31's weapon's expert.

He was tall, dark-haired, muscular and extremely handsome. He could have his pick of any of the female employees who were only too willing to fall at his feet.

But he ignored all of them.

A loner, he spent most of his time whether working or in private on his own. The reserved commander rarely worked or spoke with others.

In fact the only person he appeared to interact with was Admiral Marcus. Someone that even Molly could tell he clearly loathed.

Molly had only seen Commander Harrison on a few occasions. And although she felt drawn to him, there was something about him that frightened her.

Which, she reflected sadly was probably for the best. It would be unlikely that anyone like him would ever be interested in someone as plain, shy and ordinary as her.

As Molly prepared to leave for the day, her mind still focussed on what she had discovered, she spotted Commander Harrison heading for the Admiral's office.

He walked in looking determined and confident not even bothering to wait for an invitation to enter.

Admiral Marcus' office was a large, grand affair. But he liked to keep an eagle eye on those around him. So the office had been made so that two thirds of it was made up of triple glazed glass.

And this was how Molly was able to observe the two men.

And it soon became apparent that things were not going as the Commander had anticipated.

Very quickly their conversation became heated. The Admiral remained in his chair at his desk, while the Commander paced agitatedly around the room.

Though Molly couldn't hear what they said, she did catch snippets of their conversation by reading their lips.

"You promised me Admiral… If I did as you… Let them go…"

"I still need you to…"

"No! I have done all that you have asked of me… We had an agreement…"

"… If you want to see them again…"

The rest of what was said was obscured at they both turned away, continuing their argument.

Molly was about to leave when she heard the hiss of the office door as it opened.

Not wanting to be caught observing their private conversation, she stepped back into a shadowed part of the room. From where she stood though she could still see the two men.

Admiral Marcus remained in his office. He sat with a smug, self-satisfied look upon his face.

Clearly he had won that round, in a battle Molly was certain had been going on for sometime.

John Harrison stormed across and out of the room. His face was like thunder. His hands clenched with barely contained fury. The rage and hate that rolled off him was palpable.

But what remained embedded in Molly's memory was the pain, sorrow and despair that she had read in his eyes.