Chrysalis (Star Trek: TOS story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Chrysalis
Author(s):	Kay Wells
Date(s):	1995
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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Chrysalis is a Kirk/Spock story by Kay Wells.

It was published in the print zine First Time #41.

Summary

"Crash landing on a water world, Spock forces Kirk to let him drown when their escape pod is trapped underwater, with the idea that Kirk will be able to revive him once they reach the surface."

Reactions and Reviews

1995

This is a well-crafted story that details Kirk and Spock's crash landing onto a water world.

What should have packed an emotional punch, instead ended up like a dissertation on the effects of drowning. From the time of their swift and terrible descent in an escaoe pod to their plunge into water, the reader is treated to lots of scientific facts that only serve to distance us from the emotional impact this potentially exciting story could have had.

Did we really need to know, for instance, the temperature in the polar regions versus the equatorial zone? Of course, there is a difference between presenting facts that directly involve the characters' situation and presenting facts that are just...facts.

Also, they are for the most part, presented in a distant narrative style that waters down, as it were, the emotional involvement.

But, the biggest culprit scene was Kirk's attempt at reviving Spock. What could have been an exciting, dramatic, scary scene filled with Kirk's desperate profession of love, was instead a CPR lesson. I found myself thinking of how I should try to remember this information in case I ever had to perform CPR, I guess the problem is that it's CPR on a Vulcan. I also learned that it's best not to take one's shoes off during swimming and some other tidbits of survival training.

But, to be fair, there is some wonderful emotional life. During their discussion as to what to do once in the water, the feelings between them are electric. Also, Kirk's struggle to save himself and Spock from a watery death is edge-of-your-seat stuff. So scattered among the "just-the-facts, ma'am" style were some intense emotions, but I was left with what could have been.

What an oddly fascinating story. A unique scenario—not your everyday danger/rescue situation. A last-moments-life story, but it didn't feel like a huge stretch of the imagination for the sake of drama, as it could have. All the seemingly realistic detail makes me wonder how an "average" person might know so intimately about such a gruesome situation; or else she just really knows how to research an unusual thing and express it accurately. I appreciate how the author maroons Kirk and Spock without a contrived scenario. In fact, nothing is said about the Enterprise or why they are away from it, where they were going or anything like that. All of that might well have been superfluous and even distracting in this story, which was such a cohesive whole. Flawless writing, for the most part, as usual for Ms. Wells, Clean, nothing extraneous, Except, even though the story is apparently purposely in two POV's, it's so predominantly a Kirk story that sometimes when we are brought inside Spock's head for a moment, it is almost jarring.

Their shuttle is about too crash on a water world—power gone, only one survival pod. At this point, lovely hints of strong feelings between them, thus far unexpressed, I love all the excellently thought out details, so clearly drawn, of the pod, the maneuvering, their physical proximity, the emotional dynamics, the seemingly hopeless situation and how they deal with It. Some heart-clutching moments, those they think might be nearly their last. I absolutely love when Kirk says, "Do you know how much I love you?" Spock says, 'I know." Sigh...

I won't spell out the gruesome details, but just say that Kirk, the stronger swimmer, has to get them to what terra firma is available (a long, long, arduous, heroic swim) and then revive Spock.

Torturous, heart-wrenching, absolutely awful, agonizing life/death situation, their last breaths,... But strength and intent and will, against all odds, and love, bring them from the brink.

A nice ending to ease out of such a harrowing story. Days on the rescue ship, just for each other. I appreciated the sweet, loving, quick (as in no control) first sex.

1999

This story begins with a pretty standard “there’s nothing more we can do” scene in an out-of-control shuttlecraft and ends with a pretty standard (and not very detailed!) sex scene. Everything in between, though, is powerful and intense, and Wells creates the most claustrophobic atmosphere I’ve ever encountered, a perfect match to her plot. She creates some stunning and memorable K/S moments as well.

From the first we see the strong ties between Kirk and Spock; neither will get in the one-man rescue pod without the other. The tiny pod that gives the story its literal title resembles a chrysalis, a nice metaphor for what is already developing between the men and will emerge by the story’s end. As the pod lands in water, trapping them, they spare one moment to acknowledge all that remains unsaid, unexplored, unborn between them: “Knowing this would be the only kiss they ever shared, Kirk attempted to make it everything—sweet and gentle, loving, hot and passionate, and full of promises that most likely would never be fulfilled.” There’s no time—or room!—for more than this kiss; survival demands their attention and energy as they abandon the pod. The tension increases from here in some amazingly vivid and original scenes. Parts remind me more of a traumatic birth than an opening chrysalis— but I don’t want to give away the details. And if the ending is not well developed, it is emotionally satisfying nonetheless.

This story never fails to make me conscious of drawing each breath—and grateful for it!

2001

There are many great moments in this—moments of tension, fear, acceptance and loss. Perhaps it is the author's design to allow us to see the crippling nature of their fear of losing each other that brings Kirk and Spock's intellect down a notch or two. This is illustrated by their quick acceptance that there is nothing at all they can do to save themselves, followed by the almost secondary recollection that there is an escape pod aboard their ailing shuttle. That's a bit like forgetting you have a spare tire. But desperation does affect one's thought processes.

These men are desperate, neither one for the potential of his own death, but the inconceivable likelihood of losing the other. They simply cannot see beyond their unreasoning panic. It doesn't surface to full intensity, but it is most certainly there.

The close quarters of the pod are effectively utilized to maintain a closeness that neither man has formerly allowed himself.

Tense moments abound after the two reach the watery world below, culminating in Spock's decision to allow himself to drown to save Kirk when their oxygen supply dwindles. He does it on the premise that Kirk can revive him when he reaches land, knowing full well this is an empty hope. This detail may seem familiar if you've seen The Abyss, but is not less compelling when it's our Vulcan who strangles while Kirk watches helplessly. Kirk's grief is palpable when he feels Spock's death throes, unable to do anything but wait for the last convulsive breath.

Certainly this is one of the most horrifying devices I've seen to bring these two souls together. Despite its shortcomings, the tale is overall both suspenseful and tragic.

2013

Kirk and Spock have crash-landed their shuttle on a deserted water covered planet. They are trapped, firmly wedged beneath a rocky outcrop under the surface and must swim for their lives. The problem is there is only enough air for one of them to survive. Spock’s solution? He will allow himself to drown in the hope that Kirk can revive him later. Nail-biting anxiety and seat-of–your-pants action.