Life-Lines (Star Trek: TOS story)

You may be looking for the Star Wars vampire story by Anne Elizabeth Zeek called Life-Line.

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Life-Lines
Author(s):	Pamela Rose and C.J. McNally
Date(s):	1981
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:	Online here
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Life-Lines is a Kirk/Spock story by Pamela Rose and C.J. McNally.

It was published in the print zine Cheap Thrills #1.

Summary

"Kirk and Spock are buried alive by the inhabitants of the planet they were scouting when they are overtaken by a strange gas, a situation made worse by Kirkʼs dawning claustrophobia caused by a childhood trauma."

Reactions and Reviews

This story is a wonderful example of the no-frills, straightforward and satisfying K/S story with which zines were rife in the early 80s. A very satisfying read. Kirk and Spock and company are surveying a new planet for which some of the demands of the Prime Directive have been relaxed, but not all. They run afoul of some poisonous gas on the edge of a lake, and the natives believe that they are dead. So they provide a ritual burial for the two without telling their shipmates.

Kirk and Spock wake up in a small tomb, accompanied by a few items like tapers for lighting and some wine. There is enough air, barely, to breathe, but what bothers Kirk is the darkness (the tapers quickly run out) and the close quarters. A fear from long ago suddenly becomes alive, and he can barely tolerate the circumstances. Of course, Spock is there to help, and in the confusion of darkness, naked bodies, and Kirk's fear, the inevitable happens, along with gaining a semblance of peace for both of them.

Of course, Scotty saves the day, having convinced the natives that the same poisonous gas that might render them dead would only cause a sort of unconsciousness in human and Vulcan, and so shortly after the captain and his first officer relax into afterglow, there is a pounding on the seal to the tomb that tells them they will be rescued soon. Later on the Enterprise, McCoy and Kirk have this exchange: As the captain turned toward the door, McCoy stopped him. "I can tell you one thing; being shut up in a small area with a Vulcan for twenty-odd hours would've had me clawing the walls." Kirk tossed him a mischievous grin. "You'd be surprised. If you have to be buried alive, it's important to have good company."

I recommend this zine. It's available in both branches of the K/S Zine Library.