In Check (Star Trek: TOS story by Margaret Draper)

Star Trek TOS Fanfiction
Title:	In Check
Author(s):	Margaret Draper
Date(s):	1978
Length:
Genre:	gen
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

In Check is a gen Star Trek: TOS story by Margaret Draper.

It was published in Alnitah #7.

Reactions and Reviews

Kirk, Spock, Uhura and McCoy are zapped away from shore leave and subjected to studies which end with Kirk forcing Spock into an emotional reaction to prevent their tormentors from killing him. On return to their own dimension, Spock is catatonic. A Vulcan healer rescues him, but the rift between Kirk and Spock is only healed after Kirk loses it on the bridge and Spock covers for him. Heavy on the angst, and both Kirk and Spock seem rather out of character. Nothing very novel in the old lab-rat premise.

Two pieces of serious fanfic within [this zine] are 'In Check' and 'No Other Love.' The first explores what happens when aliens experiment with Spock, and Kirk must force him into an emotional crisis.

'In Check,' perhaps the best story in this issue -- in it, the landing party is subjected to an experiment by alien intelligences. It has beautiful illos by Mick Eason.

The best of these is Margaret Draper's "In Check", a well-written story that takes place early in the Enterprise's history. Most K/S stories are blatantly emotional and more than a little melodramatic. While "In Check" is basically a hurt/comfort story, it is better done than most and the fact that it was Kirk who caused the original hurt gives it an interesting twist. There were a couple of places that could have used a little more detail or explanation. First, it's not quite clear what was stopping Spock from helping Kirk. I would have liked to see a little more overt motivation behind his original refusal and a longer, more explicit struggle — on his part rather than Kirk's — before he broke. It just seems a bit sudden as it stands. Likewise the scene between Spock and Soril and the final scene between Kirk and Spock. Surely Spock would have taken a little more persuading? He'd been so wooden on the previous page but at just one word of explanation on Kirk's part, he has "a ghost of a smile deep in his eyes." Somehow I think Spock might be a little more wary of trusting Kirk again.