In the Beginning (Star Trek: TOS story)
| K/S Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | In the Beginning |
| Author(s): | Jenna Sinclair |
| Date(s): | 1996 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | slash |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | In the Beginning, Side by Side Collection on AO3 |
Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
In the Beginning is a Kirk/Spock story by Jenna Sinclair.
It was published in the print zine KaleidoScope #5 and subsequently online in Side by Side #17.
Summary
"A shuttlecraft with Kirk, Spock & a small girl is forced down by a alien who learns of love."
Reactions and Reviews
A finely interwoven mixture of mythology and real time events. Not exactly my cup of tea but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the author’s skill. [1]
Beautiful and very unusual in the style, this story by one of fandom's finest writers, tells a tale of Kirk and Spock as seen by an evil alien being when they crash land on its planet. Sounds a bit complicated, and at times it's just a bit confusing as to who (Was it the alien telling the story?) or whom (was it the evil alien being?) or when (Present time? Past time?), but let all that go and enjoy a lovely, emotional story filled with Kirk and Spock's cosmic love. I especially liked the cosmic part because I've always seen their love as transcendent of the ordinary and this story definitely takes me there. As wonderful as I found the surrounding story—that is, told as a myth by a being of an alien race, in a strange way, I found that manner of story-telling almost unnecessary. Just the part concerning Kirk and Spock was all I needed. I am one of those readers that never tires of K/S story scenarios, no matter how often they are used. The shuttlecraft crashing story is one that has been oft used, but each author is unique in their vision. I sometimes hear "Oh, it's been done before", but I don't care that it's been done before because chances are I haven't read it and even if I have, I want to read it again. I bring this up because I got the feeling that Jenna wrote the story this way to make it different from the "It's been done before" shuttlecraft crashing stories. But I sure wouldn't mind just Kirk and Spock crash-landing—that's the most important part of any K/S story, anyway. And there's lots of K/S to feast on in this story, as well. Beautiful emotions and things said between them such as when Kirk refuses the pain-killing medication so the little girl can have it. An ending, that despite the natural life span and passage of time, still upset me! (I know, I know—it's a myth. [2]
I've always liked legends and this tale of the evil Eye/Spawn of the Dragon and the trouble he causes aboard a shuttlecraft make this a lovely poignant story. This is somewhat different than anything I've seen this author write before, but it really is the sort of story from which legends are made. [3]
If I had to describe this story in one word, that word would be "different". A story of death and birth and rebirth in a circular progression told in a folk tale narrative interspersed with "real time" scenes that flowed smoothly from one to the next right up to the last line. Although the tone is somber, I couldn't feel saddened by either the events or the outcome. [4]
It seems irresistible to write Kirk and Spock as legends or myths, for good and obvious reasons. I've read a handful of these stories over the years, and this is a wonderful one because we get a closer view of Kirk and Spock than how it would usually be in a mythic tale told and retold through the aeons. We don't learn until the end exactly who thesepeople are who have Kirk and Spock as characters in their myths, but this is their creation story. The story is unusually written, where we're reading the tale-teller's words and then slipping into what seems like a real- time view of what's going on between Kirk and Spock. This makes it a nicely satisfying K/S story on a more immediate level than it would otherwise be. One thing I don't care for are the one-line paragraphs of ... ... ... to indicate a pause in the conversation.
The story involves a pathetically lost being, a cast- out, and what it learns from observing Kirk and Spock. It also involves a little human girl but, of course, the best parts are between Kirk and Spock. Not just the scenes of them, but what the tale-teller feels, what the myth tells, about who they are.
Here's a lovely line, in the tale-teller's perception of the love that finally was allowed expression between Kirk and Spock. She (I think the tale-teller is a she) says they are blessed, this pair. "To be a taker, and learn to give, in one mortal lifetime." Lovely.
Kirk and Spock are on a shuttle which crashes on a planet, and they and the three other passengers are injured. A simple story-line, but with plenty of room for beautiful, intense stuff between Kirk and Spock.
I especially appreciate the passages of spare, to- the-point, dialogue-only. These have a fine, quiet power, and are what my heart brings away from this story.
And some very touching moments, their feelings as the girl is dying. Finally Spock is going to meld with her to alleviate her pain, but this will leave the injured Kirk without Spock's presence for hours.
Here is a gorgeous line I will not forget. This kind of line is often even better, says even more, than "I love you." Kirk says that Spock should go ahead and do the meld, not to think about him, about leaving him alone. And Spock says, "I always think of you." Oh, sigh, sigh. And we get this line again later as Kirk thinks about Spock having said that. This is so beautiful. The meld is dramatic, and is rich in Vulcan mind- set, expressive of who Spock is and especially, where Kirk fits into his life. This is a part I don't want to say, for those who haven't read the story—it's one of those quintessential K/S things, I think, and a unique look at Vulcan mind-ways. And in connection with this, are more utterly gorgeous passages of feeling...and the moment, that turning point I always love, when there is no longer any denying it between them, when what is said determines who they are to each other from that moment on to the rest of their days.... Oh, love.
And not only the feeling, but done by the writer in dialogue which is perfection, as I mentioned earlier. Both men are so simple and direct in the expression of their feelings, and the dynamics between them, as shown by this dialogue, is revealing also, showing each man as exactly who he is....
No full-on sex, but quite enough in the kiss....
And all this between Kirk and Spock moves the observer in this myth to life-changing realizations, which ties in with these people's creation story (which happens in this case to be the truth).
K/S is bigger than the both of them, isn't it? [5]
It seems with this new name 'Hilary' we see also a new facet of Jenna's writing skills (is there anything she does not perfect?). This is an unusual story. Not the typical Shuttle crash-/adventure-/K&S- love story. This is so much more - a legend, that moved me and made me so sad. All the deaths. Spock and his love (yes, love) for that little girl. The pain and the death of the girl. It depressed me. But in the end there was the LIGHT! I felt like the Dragon: finally understanding! There was no death, but Eternal life. And there was Eternal love for Kirk and Spock. Yes, there was definitely the light and the hope in the end. An unusual story, but one which I will never forget! [6]