Fire (Star Trek: TOS story by Charlotte Frost)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Fire
Author(s):	Charlotte Frost
Date(s):	1993
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Fire is a Kirk/Spock story by Charlotte Frost.

It was published in the print zine Way of the Warrior #6.

Summary

"On a medieval planet. Kirk & Spock find that their greatest danger lies in fear of the unknown...and they are the unknown."

The Author Comments

This was a story that I was a bit flustered that it was published in a zine that wasn’t particularly popular, and I thought it was a good story. However, even as I say that, I’m aware that it’s a good story, not necessarily a good K/S story. There is slash, and I think the relationship between Kirk and Spock has an appealing tenderness. But what I’m particularly proud of is the overall plot and how it meshes together. This story came about when the U.S. was preparing for Desert Storm. Only… nobody was sure if there was going to be a war or not. Troops were building up in Kuwait (I think it was), and many of those young members of the army were rather appalled that they might have to actually fight. It had been so many years since America had gone to war, after all. Anyway, the media was all over the place and the tension could be cut with a knife. Was all the build-up for not? When would the first shot be fired? If we went to war, how long would it last? So, while watching the news and feeling the tension, my imagination went to work with the backdrop of an unknown planet. I also did something rather unique – at least for the time (though not necessarily for the ST series, even in the 60's.) The main military general in the story was a woman. Her “sidekick” was also female – a “recorder” who was writing a biography of the general in “real time”, as that was the custom for their culture. What it just now occurs to me is how there’s some similarities to Xena and Gabrielle, though no such series existed at the time. This was my last K/S story and it got very little notice. Ironically, in a recent issue of KS Press, the letterzine of the fandom (that I started the forerunner to, way back in 1989), somebody gave some feedback on it. I actually got out the zine and re-read the story. I still think it’s a decent, solid short story (probably qualifies as a novella by modern standards). And I still think it deserved more appreciation than it ever received in the 13 years since its publication.

Reactions and Reviews

It takes an accomplished author to barely sprinkle K/S throughout a story and make it truly K/S. Ms. Frost does this quite nicely with ―Fire. Stranded on a planet with a society centuries behind their own, Kirk and Spock manage to overcome all the barriers and are accepted by its citizens. The problem lies in the fact that their benefactors are on the brink of war with an enemy they have not seen for 500 years.

Through many small subtleties, we see the love that connects Kirk and Spock as they become involved in the conflicts and culture of the Milan people. For the most part, we know of their love through a few whispered words, a cautious touch now and then, a look that draws them together. With so little to convince us they are lovers, though they freely admit it verbally, one might think this is a story that leaves the reader disappointed and frustrated, but just the opposite happens. Every one of those gentle caresses, those loving looks, those shared smiles, is worth a king‘s ransom.

Ms. Frost does allow them one hour alone together, and they express their love in a most convincing manner! But it is the clear commitment, the unquestionable trust and affection marking their every waking moment that broadcasts how much they love each other and how much that love has changed their lives and their future. This is a fine and entertaining story, with new characters for whom the reader quickly finds sympathy and understanding, while all along basking in the love of Kirk and Spock. Highly recommended.