A Shot in the Dark (Star Trek: TOS story by Kyla Luba)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	A Shot in the Dark
Author(s):	Kyla Luba
Date(s):	1996
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:	on AO3
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A Shot in the Dark is a K/S story by Kyla Luba in the zine Amazing Grace #3.

Summary

"New discoveries and revelations, while hiding in a cave from the animals that chased them there during a landing party, Kirk confesses his love to Spock by talking to him about imagining."

Reactions and Reviews

This story reminds me of a few other dialogue-only K/S stories that were printed in the eighties, especially of one or two by Jenny Starr. That's a big compliment, folks! This is not a story that's intended to be taken too seriously, it's written in a light, breezy style with plenty of humor and as many K/S clichés as you'd care to look for.

The story takes place in another one of those caves that Kirk and Spock seem to find so easily whenever they need one. (Has anyone ever read the little story by, I think, Devery Helm that talks about the Galactic Cave Directory that Kirk carries around with him? Maybe this author found an old copy of that....)

Spock is knocked unconscious trying to protect his captain from a beast, Kirk drags him into the cave, piles rocks up at the entrance, and now they have four hours to fill before the Enterprise folks come looking for them. As anyone could predict, Spock gets cold, and Kirk comes closer. And closer.

There are some wonderful lines I chuckled through....

Yes, this is definitely a fantasy, with the tone of "The Trouble With Tribbles". Occasionally there's a line that's out of rhythm, especially when the author must resort to the dialogue to specifically describe physical actions. I think more could have been implied, for example on page 65, without being specific.

I didn't really get the title or the last-page line to which it refers. What am I missing?

I found more to enjoy with this story the second time I read it, so it wears well. I like reading light-hearted K/S.

This is a first-time cave story. Nothing new here, but it is well executed and has a funny ending, traits which always win my praise.

I really like stories like this that are dialogue exclusively; and this one is done particularly nicely. This is "yet another cave story," and in total darkness yet; and is a very pleasurable and emotional read out of a very simple premise. I appreciate this.

Spock had been injured, and naturally he's cold, and naturally Kirk wants to huddle together for warmth. And naturally, the rescue party won't come looking for them for hours. Naturally, Spock resists at first; but naturally, Kirk wins, and holds Spock to keep him warm.

I'm not saying this "naturally" thing sarcastically; it's just interesting: Each thing that happens here might indeed be predictable, but Kyla did it in such a way that it feels totally fresh.

It starts out quietly, with Kirks face in Spocks soft, silky hair, etc., and goes from there.

Kirk tells a story, to project warmth images. This was done so cleverly. What Kirk is really telling is his fantasy, though he wouldn't call it that outright. But he does tell Spock that this is what he would tell him if they were lazing out in the sun on his farm, lying side-by-side...he would tell Spock these things...and he proceeds to tell him now.

At first Spock keeps interrupting and asking questions like, what kind of trees? What are we wearing? So funny, the repartee. And finally Kirk says, shut up for 15 minutes while I talk. Oh boy.

So sweet, Kirk's opening his heart (melting mine), telling Spock all his feelings. And I could really feel Spock feel all this, while he was not saying a word. A powerful technique, this, having Spock silent and Kirk do all the talking.

Sometimes, however, with only dialogue, I realize it's necessary to have a character say something he really wouldn't say, because the reader has to be advised of some movement or whatever. But this was kept to a minimum.

Then (naturally) Kirk gets around to touching. The darkness adds to the pleasure too. This was built up exquisitely. Wonderfully and quietly shocking; very much a turn-on. And I enjoyed how we got little snippets of episode "missing scenes" throughout these confessions and revelations, too.

Kirk's taking a major risk revealing himself, of course, but you'll see why he feels assured of Spock's reciprocal feelings.

Then, a cute, back-down-to-reality ending. What a delightful story. You could say it's "light," yet their feelings for each other are not treated lightly. We're left with beautiful feelings.

The most light-hearted of the stories. A cute idea that all takes place in the dark of ever ubiquitous, pitch black cave. Totally in dialogue, the story builds nicely into Kirk's seduction of Spock. At that point, it was pretty easy to "see" what is transpiring between them. Of course it was NO SURPRISE when our boys are interrupted precisely at the worst time by the inevitable rescue, but the ending was easy on the emotions and true to the tone of the piece and even to the series. My only problem was with the use of ellipses. I didn't know if they signified silence or shifts in POV or something else sometimes.

I thought this was an amazingly difficult type of story to write. It was entirely in dialogue! Boy, that’s difficult. The location, setting, movements, moods all had to be clearly indicated through dialogue between the two characters. Kyla ( I’m assuming this is a a.k.a. for someone of experience) does this extremely well. In fact, I hardly noticed the lack of narrative. Some of the lines made me laugh. I could really hear and see Kirk and Spock as they sat trapped in the dark trying to pass the time. This was a great idea and I hope some day to be able to equal it.

This story is by one of my favorite authors, writing under a different pen name than she normally uses. It’s a very charming and funny cave story. I remember when I first started reading K/S and I heard the term “cave story” and wasn’t sure what it meant. But then I read a few and figured it out. All cave stories have the same basic theme—Kirk and Spock are in a cave somewhere, for some reason, alone in the dark. In the hands of a good author this can set up all sorts of interesting and intriguing possibilities, such as in this story.

The story is told all in dialogue, which I think must be very hard. This writer is so talented, though, that she has no problems with it. Right off the bat this story made me laugh—Kirk has dragged Spock into a cave after the Vulcan was injured trying to protect Kirk. As Kirk is scolding Spock for disobeying him and risking his life for him, Spock mumbles something which Kirk does not hear, so he orders Spock to tell him. Spock does: “I said, ‘If you were to remain on the ship and allow experienced landing party details handle missions for which they have been purposely trained such as this, perhaps I would not have to risk’....”

Too funny! How many times have we all wondered exactly why does the captain need to be on the very first landing party on every planet? And I love how the story is written. In the zine, sometimes after a line of dialogue there’s a blank space and 3 dots to indicate a pause where neither man is speaking. It’s very effective, and was first used after Spock’s comment here. So right away the author had me hooked. The story continues as Kirk hears Spock’s teeth chattering and uses this as an excuse to hold him—the deservedly popular sharing body warmth ploy! Spock is still cold, though, so Kirk starts to tell him a story trying to convey images of warmth. However, his ever logical first officer keeps interrupting the story, wanting all sorts of explanations. (This is really funny—Kirk is telling a story about being on shore leave and sharing a picnic lunch, and Spock wants to know what kind of trees are they sitting under, what have they eaten, etc., until Kirk makes Spock promise not to say anything for 15 minutes.) Then Kirk starts seducing Spock in the dark. I loved Kirk asking Spock how much time he had left, and Spock's controls deteriorating. The first time Kirk asks Spock how much time is left, he’s just told Spock he loves him and then has run his hands down his back and grabbed his butt! Spock is understandably a tad distracted:

“Uh oh, I’m repeating myself. How much time is left?”

''... “Spock?”

“Ummm.”

“How much time do I have left?”

“...Um...eight point...er...four.”

Then Kirk kisses Spock, which causes him to get even more distracted:

“How much time now?”

“...Jim....”

“How much time?”

“About s-seven minutes.”

“About?”

... Kirk’s caresses get more and more explicit, until finally he’s giving Spock a blow job in the dark!

I found this story very erotic, as Kirk describes what he’s doing to Spock, and his reactions and feelings. The story ends with a funny scene in the transporter room after they are rescued. McCoy is understandably concerned about them, and quite confused when Kirk says he’s fine, but just needs a cold shower saying it was hot down there, since McCoy knows it was actually quite cold on the planet! But McCoy notes that Spock seems to be feeling okay, because “His eyes are positively gleaming.” I laughed out loud when Spock tells Kirk he needs approximately 15 minutes of his time, and McCoy’s last comment is priceless. This story was funny, and erotic and romantic, and definitely worth your time reading it, or rereading it!