Mirror Allegiance

Fanfiction
Title:	Mirror Allegiance
Author(s):	Flora Poste
Date(s):	1986, 1987
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Mirror Allegiance is a Kirk/Spock story by Flora Poste. It has art by Suzan Lovett.

It was published in Nome #9 and #10, and Mirror Universe Alternates.

Summary

part 1: "M/U: Kirk contemplates leaving Vulcan after Spock is unable to convince the Conculium of Kirkʼs sincerity to join them."

part 2: "M/U: Kirk is unable to give his trust to Spock until Spock offers him a mindmeld."

Prequel

A prequel to this series is Brotherʼs Keeper by D. T. Steiner in Rigel #3.

Series, in Chronological Order of Their Internal Time Line

• Mirror Antagonists (44 pages) (also in Nome #8) (published in May 1985)
• Mirror Amnesty (10 pages) (also in Maine(ly) Trek #4) (published in 1986)
• Mirror Awakening (14 pages) (also in Maine(ly) Trek #4) (published in 1986)
• The Chess Match, "a related poem" (12 pages) (also in Nome #6) (published in May 1983)
• Mirror Antecedents (62 pages) (also in Nome #8) (published in May 1985)
• Mirror Allegiance, part 1 (114 pages) (also in Nome #9) (published in May 1986)
• Mirror Allegiance, part 2 (105 pages) (also in Nome #10) (published in July 1987)
• Mirror Afterthoughts (22 pages) (also in Nome #7) (published in May 1984)

Reactions and Reviews

"Mirror Allegiance" - l'm in love with this series. O f course, I would have liked for this to be much longer, but its length is understandable in light of Flora's other responsibilities. But I do hope very much that this tale doesn't drag on and on the way Elwyn Conway's epic has.

I was looking forward to reading this installment more than anything else in NOME 10, and I wasn't disappointed. Beautiful scene when K and S finally turn to each other. The awkward sex scene was probably more realistic than most of us would like to think. There were some mechanical problems, in that it was sometimes difficult to determine if 'he,' 'his' etc., was referring to Kirk or Spock. Also, some paragraphs would begin with dialogue and I wasn't always sure who was speaking without reading further or returning to prior paragraphs. But a great series and a wonderful installment. Keep them coming!

One fan examined "Mirror Allegiance" and the other stories in Nome #10 as an example of the way 1980s fanfiction represents K/S as a gay relationship (or not). See Reactions and Reviews: Issue #10 for the full LOC:

...Michele's other story, Ampersand, echoes the theme. Although not primarily K/S, it is made clear that Spock cannot begin to understand Jim without detailed reference to McCoy and particularly Uhura (with whom at one stage he wishes to spend the night). "Sea Change" approaches the dilemma more easily, but even here the intervention of a female is needed, albeit of Gracie, the whale! Barbara is, however, more comfortable with her characters; Kirk and Spock were lovers before Genesis. Flora Poste's "Mirror Allegiance" is A/U and therefore not subject to quite the same criteria, but Kirk and Spock still agonize desperately over the simple fact of sex, this in a universe of extreme sophistication. Still, we don't have the he's-heterosexual-he-can't-possibly tangle....

Illustrations

There are several illustrations by Suzan Lovett published in Nome #10 for this story. Two of them feature a cat named "Sheba," who acts as a symbol of spirit and the expression of emotion.

"I thought you said you haven't been reading my mind?" There was an edge to the question, as all his doubts reasserted themselves. "I have not," Spock assured him. "Yet I have nonetheless been aware of your emotions."

"Meaning?"

"I suppose one might call it essentially the same thing as that sense of rapport which you previously acknowledged-" Spock gestured toward the cat-"in Sheba's case."

Kirk looked down at her again. She made a small, polite sound, and pressed a lazy forepaw against his knee. "I don't understand."

"There were only a very few crew members aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise whose innate telepathic potential had not been totally stifled by cultural prohibitions," Spock explained. "My own training on Vulcan nurtured both the capacity for telepathy and an... empathic responsiveness as well. I ask you to take this as a given, Jim. I can sense the emotions of others, when those emotions are of sufficient strength."

• 

  art by Suzan Lovett -- " I was very impressed by the illustrations (in NOME 10), especially Suzan Lovett's work, and the one of Kirk and Spock lying together in particular."

• 

  art by Suzan Lovett