Break Thou My Sanctuary

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Break Thou My Sanctuary
Author(s):	Janet Alex
Date(s):	1985
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Break Thou My Sanctuary is a K/S story by Janet Alex (a pseud for Joanna Russ). It is a riff on The Prize.

It was published in the print zines Daring Attempt #2 and Out of Bounds (Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves) and was accompanied by two black and white illustrations by The Southern Cross.

Illustration by The Southern Cross is sometimes referred to as "At The Oasis" or "Break Thou My Sanctuary." Note: Marked as sexually explicit; minimized. Click to see larger version.

Reactions and Reviews

[story]: "Did I say something in the February issue about not wanting to own any under-age K/S? Forget it. I was wrong, I wouldn't miss owning this story if it meant going to jail.

This A/U story on a pre-Reform Vulcan tells the story of Spock, a warrior-scholar, who buys the fifteen year old Kirk as a bed slave, even though he hates slavery. The stoic Spock thinks he can keep their relationship chaste, but his Time is coming . . . . You get the picture.

The story is told from three points of view - a first person Spock addressing Kirk, a first person Kirk addressing Spock and a first person outsider, Sipak, a suitor of Spock's cousin, T'Prit, who addresses us. The POV sifts and multiple outside characters make the story very rich. As I am becoming very fond of the outsider POV, I was particularly intrigued with Sipak's narration.

But the best thing about the story is that despite the pre-Reform setting. Spock is really Spock. He's brilliant, ethical, controlled, dutiful loyal, kind, tormented by his human heritage but committed to Vulcan, and hopelessly in love with Kirk. I found the conflict between Spock's ethical rejection of slavery and his soul's hunger to own Kirk very compelling.

I found Kirk less convincing. He's 15, but sometimes he acts like he's 19 and sometimes like he's 12. (Maybe this is what 15-year olds are like. I haven't spent much time with any since high school.) I think the problem was that in order to let Spock work out his dilemma, the author needed to have Kirk motivated to stay Spock's slave, something I would find difficult to believe of Kirk in almost any universe. But, hey, I can go with the flow, especially if the author is willing to deal with deep moral issues is an intelligent way.

[story]: "This is one of the best K/S stories I have read in the short time since I found the genre, and I just wished it were much longer. It is told by an onlooker, Sipak the Too Generous, a Vulcan who is devotedly in love with T'Fait. He sees Spock purchase a young slave named Kirk on a whim to keep the beautiful boy from falling into the clutches of a brutal master. Though told in the first person, the story viewpoint flashes from Sipak to Spock to Kirk, and each change of point of view rings true. This is hard to do, and Sipak's p.o.v. is especially interesting, because you get to learn a lot about Vulcan civilization and more in this seemingly mirror-universe story. Watching T'Pring, T'Fait and Spock react to each other and to Kirk is fascinating through Sipak's eyes. I liked Sipak very much and for once T'Pring was a pleasant and even likable character. Watching the warrior-scholar Spock fall in love with his new slave was, as he himself would say, fascinating, and the denouement, when Kirk returned to Spock after being freed, had a well-drawn sense of inevitability about it.

[story]:"Another thought-provoking story from a terrific author—she’s the one who often explores the case for Spock’s latent and otherwise homosexuality. Kirk and Spock are at dinner at an Andorian palace. Kirk is seated next to a young woman and Spock next to a handsome male diplomat. Kirk watches while the man’s attention gets more and more focused on Spock and while Spock returns the attention, l loved some of the dialogue like when Kirk overhears: "The development was hasty, but botanically significant." When discussing the flowers in the floral arrangements. Also, the man is touching Spock and Spock doesn't pull away or seem to mind. Kirk's anger builds and when the man wants to leave with Spock, Kirk steps in and prevents it Later there's a confrontation and Kirk asks if Spock realizes the man's ulterior motives and Spock says yes. He had had an affair with this man. Very cool scene! So when Kirk asks: "You've done it before? With him?" and Spock answers: "I have done it before. With him."—it's terrific! Spock goes to the man's apartment and they talk about their first time and the circumstances. Spock wants to make love again and the man readily agrees. (Like there'd be a doubt?) Kirk is alone in his quarters, fantasizing about Spock being with the man and being amazed at his feelings of jealousy. The story ends with no resolution which was both satisfying and very frustrating. Its written so concisely that it feels like every line is important and that nothing is wasted. But I still thought it was too short and really wanted it to be longer.

[art]: If you haven’t seen this fold-out picture of a naked Kirk and Spock drawn in incredibly life-like detail, then you haven’t lived the full K/S life. I am fortunate enough (or crazy enough) to own the original of this masterpiece, but I must say the reproduction in the zine does it justice, although the shading and contrast is not quite as strong as it might be. I’ve heard this picture referred to as “At the Oasis,” but I’m not sure if that’s official or not. It appears the guys are reclining on a blanket on the sand, with palm-like trees behind them and a desert moon above. Besides the absolutely dead-on likeliness of Kirk stretched out on his side, reaching for Spock’s penis, and of Spock half-sitting, half-leaning on Kirk with his arm wrapped around and supporting Jim’s shoulders, there is also the matter of the frals. I’ve never been one of those who was put off by this early fandom invention that enhances Vulcan genitals, I always thought they were intriguing. (For those who might not know, frals are tentacles next to the penis that unfurl during sexual excitement.) In this picture one of them is wrapped around Kirk’s hand, and Kirk’s gaze is absolutely riveted on them. It is inexplicable to me that this K/S treasure isn’t even listed in the Table of Contents of the zine. Perhaps back then the talents of somebody like The Southern Cross were just taken for granted?