Caverns (Star Trek: TOS story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Caverns
Author(s):	Libby Jones
Date(s):	1983
Length:
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):
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Caverns is a gen Star Trek: TOS story by Libby Jones.

It was published in Galactic Discourse #4.

Reactions and Reviews

Descending to mediocrity, we run into a couple of super-twangulated hurt stories [ in Galactic Discourse ]...

The other h/c piece is "Caverns" by Libby Jones. Though clear in style and faultless in theme--a friend is more precious than rubies, or in this case, Gethindan jewels--the plot is fairly dumb. Spock is sent to an ice planet alone, three days later Kirk goes after him alone but laden with premonitions, and finds Spock injured (naturally). Kirk does not immediately send the dying man up to the orbiting Enterprise although there is no stated reason not to. Instead, they hang around for five days in the freezing cold, until Kirk finally drags Spock forty miles back through snow and ice to the beam-down point. He has a communicator; he just doesn't bother to use it. What good there may be in a story gets overlooked when the events in it, and by implication the people in it, are so plainly stupid.

Spock is the hurtee and Kirk dishes out the comfort. I'm partial to that arrangement. The story is well written and well developed, and is also a nice balance of h/c. Some of the stories I've read lately are full of HURT and have very little comfort. I guess some people prefer it that way but violence and gore have never been much of a turn on for me.