Day of Vengeance

Zine
Title:	Day of Vengeance
Publisher:	E.J. Press, Kathy Resch
Editor:
Author(s):	Jean Lightfoot and C. Del Rio
Cover Artist(s):
Illustrator(s):	The Southern Cross
Date(s):	March 1984
Medium:	print
Size:
Genre:
Fandom:	Star Trek: TOS
Language:	English
External Links:
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front cover

Day of Vengeance is a slash 101-page Star Trek: TOS novel by and Jean Lightfoot and C. Del Rio.

It is letter-sized and side stapled, with two black and white illustrations by The Southern Cross. One of the illustrations is a large size 10x14 fold out on glossy paper.

Summary

"Khan, having escaped his planet of exile, is determined to have his revenge upon Kirk -- and the capture and torture of Spock is his choice of vengeance."

Gallery

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  Note: Marked for sexual assault/rape; minimized.

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  Note: Marked for sexual assault/rape; minimized.

Reactions and Reviews

1984

DAY OF VENGEANCE is an alternate version of ST: TWOK. It is a K/S novella of 100 pages. On page one, we learn that the Reliant disappeared six months previously. The Enterprise finds a shuttle from the Reliant crashed on an uninhabited planet. The only person to survive the crash is a civilian passenger with long, blonde hair and big, blue eyes no prizes for guessing who he is! The passenger claims to have no memory; McCoy's tests are inconclusive. While ferrying him to Starbase 23, the passenger seduces Kirk and, once they arrive at the Starbase, is instrumental in Spock's being kidnapped by Khan. Khan's subsequent torture of Spock is horrific and graphically described. While I don't go for extreme torture, I found this to be disquietingly realistic and not in the least far-fetched. There are two illos in the zine by The Southern Cross and they are both magnificent! Both are half-tone pencil renderings. The first is of Spock tied to a table in the act of being raped by a snarling Khan. The second is a large foldout again of Spock, his body naked, ensnared by vines and trapped inside his own mind with the vicious eyes of his tormentor watching him. What I liked about this story is that it doesn't let you down. All the people we know are in character and their behaviour is consistent with what we know of them. The development of Kirk and Spock's sexual relationship is a gradual awakening, their sudden coming together is climactic and violent, and at the same time, poignant. I highly recommend DAY OF VENGEANCE.

1989

Unfortunately, the bad must go with the good. I wonder if DAY OF VENGEANCE was an earlier work by Jean Lightfoot as well as being a collaboration. This one had some vivid images but the descriptions of Spock's torture and rape at the hands of Khan didn't really lead to any particular insight or growth of the characters. There were some grim scenes in PRICE OF FREEDOM, but the scenes in PRICE were integral to the plot and character development. In DAY OF VENGEANCE these scenes deteriorated into torture for torture's sake. At any rate, I'm looking forward to more of Jean's work.

1995

Clear, swift, intriguing beginning as the Enterprise takes on board a shuttlecraft crash survivor. This mysterious stranger—a young, blond, muscled-type (and we know where this is leading...!) seemingly has no memory of his life until he was taken aboard the Reliant.

There's a terrific build-up as we discover more clues to his identity. Then there's one of those scenes where you find yourself yelling: "Kiss him! Kiss him!" as the stranger and our captain slowly, urgently acknowledge (and more) their mutual attraction.

The story concerns Khan kidnapping Spock to get revenge on Kirk. This is a good, solid plot and there's lots of mental torture as described in dreams and nightmares. All this was nicely done and quite effective. Joachim's character is clearly defined and expertly portrayed in his dilemma of loyalty to his "Lord" and questioning Khan's revenge. What an interesting character—openly sensual and innately intelligent. In fact, Joachim is a much more interesting character than Khan. And, this is terrible of me, but I was much more interested in the scenes with Joachim, which came alive and were filled with tension, than I was with the scenes between Kirk and Spock.

The remainder of the story concerns itself with Spock's recovery. This is well-written, but for the most part only of mild interest. It's a little predictable, but that's excused because it was written in '84.

At one point. Kirk confesses to Spock that he made love with Joachim without benefit of drugs, but that "somehow he reminded me of you-"- I'm sorry! But what kind of excuse is that? "I fucked someone else, honey, but I thought about you all the time?

Here's something neat and rather different as Kirk and Spock make love: "Spock reached out blindly, carding his fingers through the golden hair, feeling the hardness and shape of the skull, the power of the mind within."

As a stand-alone novel, this is rather weak, and it would be much more effective as a good, long story. Still, for the price, definitely worth getting, which includes a gorgeous fold-out of a Southern Cross art.