Luther Sloan Luther Sloan was a 24th century Human operative of the clandestine intelligence agency Section 31 . Although he and the rest of Section 31 claimed to operate independently of both the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet , performing actions most Federation citizens would abhor and otherwise consider morally questionable , he saw himself as doing what was necessary to protect their interests . In his eyes , to protect what the Federation had worked hard to build , the ends justified the means . So great was his dedication to protecting and preserving the Federation that he was willing to do almost anything , even cutting ties to his family and friends and violating the Prime Directive . Personal life . Sloan wanted to be a medical doctor in his youth , so he was glad to see his son enter Starfleet and accomplish the goal . Unfortunately , his son was killed by the Jem ' Hadar during a Dominion raid on the Seventh Fleet . ( ) According to Koval , Sloan was a member of Starfleet Intelligence and the protégé of Admiral Fujisaki prior to the admiral ' s death . ( ) Sloan once described himself as " a man of secrets " , who had to live in a world of mystery and deceit once he joined Section 31 . His wife Jessica and their children lived on Earth , but Sloan ' s clandestine missions meant he almost never saw them . Luther knew this made the marriage " a living hell " for Jessica , but he was so dedicated to the preservation of the Federation that he saw it as a necessary sacrifice . Despite his determination , Sloan ' s actions often weighed heavily on his conscience . He was unable to sleep at night , though he took comfort in knowing that citizens of the Federation were able to do so . Ultimately , he died wishing he could apologize for cheating his family out of being in his life – and for cheating himself . Because he had spent his life erasing any trace of his actions , it was as if he had never existed . ( ) Interest in Bashir . In 2374 , Sloan attempted to recruit the genetically - engineered chief medical officer of Deep Space 9 into Section 31 ' s ranks , staging an elaborate deception using a holodeck in an attempt to test Bashir ' s loyalties . In this scenario , Sloan posed as Deputy Director of Internal Affairs , claiming that there was a security leak aboard Deep Space 9 . Accusing Bashir of having been recruited as a mole by the Dominion during Bashir ' s incarceration at Internment Camp 371 , Sloan claimed to have a son who was killed by the Dominion , and that he believed that his son ' s death was a direct result of information supplied to the Dominion by Bashir . Bashir eventually realized that he was being deceived , and Sloan was forced to terminate the program . Despite this , Sloan expressed to Bashir that he had passed the test , and Sloan was no longer in doubt of Bashir ' s loyalty . Sloan subsequently offered him a position within Section 31 , citing his genetically - engineered background and fascination with spy stories . Bashir ultimately declined the invitation , stating that he did not believe it was proper for an organization such as Section 31 to have such power , acting autonomously and free of any oversight . Detailing his experience with Sloan to Captain Sisko , Bashir expressed his surprise that Starfleet would have such a department . In an attempt to further investigate Sloan and Section 31 , Sisko ordered Bashir to accept Sloan ' s invitation to join the next time Sloan made contact with him . ( ) Sloan returned the next year to Deep Space 9 to give Bashir his first " assignment " . Although Bashir had refused to join , Sloan claimed that he had been " accepted " into the organization and thus was needed to fulfill his " duties " . Sloan goaded Bashir into joining the operation by appealing to Bashir ' s love of fictional spy dramas and intrigue , stating that he was a man of mystery made for the job he was about to assign him . He instructed him to perform observations of various members of the Romulan government during an upcoming Federation - Romulan conference on Romulus , and in particular Koval , the chairman of the Tal Shiar . At the conference , Sloan posed as Wendell Greer , a representative from the Federation Department of Cartography . Through a complex series of events , Sloan convinced Bashir that he was planning to assassinate Chairman Koval . Sloan hoped that Bashir ' s sense of ethics would force him to try to alert the Romulans to Sloan ' s apparent threat . Bashir approached Senator Cretak , who agreed to break into Koval ' s personal database in an attempt to find evidence that would reveal Sloan ' s threat . Cretak was caught while trying to access the classified files and brought before the Continuing Committee , where she was censured for her improper and possibly treasonous behavior . Ultimately , the entire operation was revealed to be a ruse aimed at getting Koval – a Section 31 mole – elevated to the Continuing Committee . In addition , Admiral William Ross was revealed to be involved in the operation , working alongside Sloan . At the end of the conference , Sloan thanked Bashir for his sense of ethics and for doing " the right thing " , while at the same time pointing out that Section 31 existed precisely to protect people like Bashir . ( ) Morphogenic virus and the Dominion . Several months later , while investigating a cure for the morphogenic virus that had infected Odo along with all the Changeling s in the Great Link , Bashir came to the conclusion that the disease had been engineered by Section 31 as a way to attack the Founder s and end the threat of the Dominion . Bashir and his friend Miles O ' Brien devised an elaborate scheme to lure Sloan to the station with the hopes of forcing him to reveal the cure to the disease . Bashir informed Starfleet Medical that he had devised a cure to the virus , knowing that Section 31 would send an operative to destroy that information in order to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Dominion . ( ) When Sloan boarded Deep Space 9 , Bashir stunned him and attempted to use Romulan mind probe s to extract the information regarding the cure from Sloan ' s mind . Ironically , Bashir and O ' Brien , supported by Captain Sisko , resorted to the same kind of morally questionable practices that they accused Sloan of . During the procedure , Sloan triggered a lethal implant in his brain , committing suicide to prevent Bashir from finding the cure to the morphogenic virus . Bashir managed to prolong Sloan ' s life , but the implant had scrambled the operative ' s neural pathways and brain death was inevitable within an hour . Desperate , Bashir and O ' Brien used a neural interface to link their minds with Sloan ' s in a last - ditch attempt to discover the information . Sloan attempted to distract the intruders with images of his wife , Jessica , his family , and an alter ego who professed to want to reveal the information but somehow was prevented from doing so . Sloan ' s alter ego thanked Bashir for having set him free like that , for having showed him that ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency . He was about to hand Bashir the solution to a cure for the disease when suddenly Sloan ' s other side emerged ; the Section 31 operative and devoted Federation citizen . He shot the alter ego in an attempt to prevent the information from reaching Bashir and before they knew it , Bashir and O ' Brien were finding themselves amid the ethical battle that had ensued inside of Sloan ' s mind . After dragging them through a maze , Bashir was finally able to access the information he needed buried away inside a mental recreation of Sloan ' s office . But , Sloan had one last trap planned for Bashir : with the secret of the cure revealed , Sloan offered to share with Bashir " all " of his secrets – enough information to bring down Section 31 entirely . This was the one thing Sloan knew Bashir could not resist , and the doctor was nearly trapped in Sloan ' s mind as their time grew short . Fortunately , O ' Brien convinced him to leave in time . Although the secret of the cure to the morphogenic virus had been revealed , Sloan took the rest of his secrets about Section 31 to the grave with him . ( ) Memorable quotes . " " How many lives do you suppose you ' ve saved in your medical career ? " " " " What has that got to do with anything ? " " " " Hundreds ? Thousands ? Do you suppose those people give a damn that you lied to Starfleet Medical [ about being genetically enhanced < nowiki > ] < / nowiki > ? I doubt it . We deal with threats to the Federation that jeopardize its very survival . If you knew how many lives " we ' ve " saved , I think you ' d agree that the ends " do " justify the means . " " " " The Federation needs men like you , doctor . Men of conscience . Men of principle . Men who can sleep at night . . . You ' re also the reason Section Thirty - One exists - - someone has to protect men like you from a universe that doesn ' t share your sense of right and wrong . " " " " Doctor , you ' ve been a beacon of light to me . You ' re living proof that ideology is a poor substitute for kindness and decency - - and that at the end of the day , it ' s our actions and not our beliefs that define who we are ; what we are . " " - Sloan Appendices . Questionable information . Much about the man known as Sloan remains unknown , and what is known is shrouded in mystery . If one looks closely , one might discover hints of his real life . For example , while testing Bashir on the holodeck in their first encounter , Sloan claimed that his son , whose name was never revealed , had been in the Seventh Fleet and was killed in a surprise Jem ' Hadar attack . In the simulation , this was indicated to be why Sloan thought Bashir was a Dominion spy ; while the mention of Sloan ' s son may have been a ruse to make the simulation even more believable , it may have been based on Sloan ' s personal life . If the story was true , it may have influenced Sloan ' s decision to interrogate Bashir in the first place . This would also have given Sloan a personal motive to ensure that the morphogenic virus eliminated the Founders . Similarly , Koval ' s story about how Sloan came to work for Section 31 may not be entirely false . In Koval ' s version of events , after using the mind probe on Sloan , he discovered that Sloan had been the protege of Admiral Fujisaki , whose death was officially attributed to food poisoning . Sloan allegedly became convinced that the Tal Shiar murdered Fujisaki , and he created Section 31 as a means by which he could exact revenge . The true nature of the relationship Sloan had with Fujisaki ( if any ) is unknown , but the idea of Sloan creating Section 31 , which has been shown to have existed in the 22nd century is obviously false . The factual basis for information revealed while Bashir and O ' Brien were inside Sloan ' s mind is also unclear . It is likely that Sloan , who was dying at the time , simply used elements of his own life to stall for time ; it is plausible that he never had a wife or the other family ties he described . Among the things that may or may not be true is Sloan ' s claim that he once considered becoming a doctor . Background information . Sloan was played by William Sadler . Martin Sheen was also considered for the role . ( " " ) Sadler commented : " " I thought of [ Sloan ] as an Ollie North character . He does what needs to be done , what he feels needs to be done . He breaks all the rules , all the rules of the Federation , in order to keep the Federation safe , or so he thinks and deeply believes . It ’ s that same argument that went down with the Iran - Contra affair and Ollie North . You do what needs to be done and somebody ’ s got to do it . I remember thinking , ' How freaking cool is it that the Federation , this honorable group , these honorable people for all these years , had this little worm in there who ’ s been changing history for decades ' . " " Sloan and Section 31 epitomize " Deep Space Nine " s vision of a more realistic universe in which " paradise " has started to crumble and where the Federation struggles to maintain its high ideals amid difficult situations . Section 31 , along with its morally questionable actions , is one of the elements that have made DS9 highly controversial among " Star Trek " fans ; the other being the introduction of the Maquis and Sisko ' s infamous speech to major Kira about how easy it is to be " a saint in paradise " . ( ) As Ira Steven Behr said : " " We need to dig deeper and find out what , indeed , life is like in the twenty - fourth century . Is it this paradise , or are there , as said , " Weasels under the coffee table . " Sisko ' s speech in this episode - ( ) - was the beginning of our really starting to question some of the basic tenets of " Star Trek " philosophy . " " ( ) The introduction of a somewhat darker and less optimistic side to the " Trek " universe culminated in the creation of Section 31 . While Sloan appeared to bear the rank of a fleet captain while posing as an officer with Starfleet Internal Affairs , it is possible that he truly did hold this rank . Furthermore , Section 31 may have existed under the umbrella of Internal Affairs , at least , unofficially , especially since Dr . Bashir had concluded that the virus was introduced to Odo by Section 31 when Odo was on Earth , at Starfleet Headquarters . Apocrypha . Sloan appears briefly at the end of the " " novel " Catalyst of Sorrows " . The novel is set in 2360 , although it does not say if he is a member of Section 31 at that point . Sloan also appears in " Hollow Men " , and makes a brief appearance at the beginning of the Section 31 novel " " . His mirror universe counterpart is depicted as a member of the Terran Rebellion on fighting under against the Klingon - Cardassian Alliance in the novella " Saturn ' s Children " and the novels " The Soul Key " and " Rise Like Lions " .