Night of Honor

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Night of Honor
Author(s):	Sarah B. Leonard
Date(s):	1989
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Night of Honor is a Kirk/Spock story by Sarah B. Leonard.

art by Chris Soto for "Night of Honor"

It was published in the print zine First Time #22.

Summary

"Spock trades himself for Kirk and McCoy as Talʼs prisoner and is tortured for his part in the death of the female commander."

Reactions and Reviews

Night of Honor is a violent, long story that nevertheless works for me. There really aren’t very many excessively violent stories in K/S, in my opinion, so this one stands out for its flagrant use of it. The faint-hearted shouldn’t read this one. Kirk and McCoy are captured by Commander Tal from the episode The Enterprise Incident. (I never could figure out why the generic title.) Spock receives an ultimatum: exchange himself for the two hostages or they will die. He willingly goes and turns himself over to Tal’s fury. The female Romulan commander has killed herself and all Tal has left is his plan for revenge on the Vulcan. Before the exchange is completed, Tal brings the hostages and Spock face to face. In a somewhat awkward and not-explained scene, the Romulan instructs Spock to kiss Kirk good-bye. Spock puts all his love and longing into that one moment, for he is convinced that he will never see Kirk again. But he willingly exchanges his life for his captain’s...and McCoy’s too. Kirk and McCoy leave on a crippled shuttlecraft and there follows some fairly horrific torture and rape scenes that aren’t too pleasant as Tal vents his rage. Tal’s sub-commander, Catorr, is at first a part of the degradation, but as time wears on he asks Spock questions that Tal either will not or can not, and he sees a secret in Spock’s eyes.

I found the characterization of Catorr to be pretty believable. He doesn’t turn into a sympathetic character, he doesn’t turn soft, he continues to torment and hurt Spock even as you can tell the wheels are turning in his head as he considers another way. He is, after all, a Romulan and Tal’s subordinate, and he doesn’t think twice about the pain he is inflicting. I thought the author’s use of Romulan honor—of any honor—was extremely effective. The female Romulan commander kills herself to restore her honor, which according to Tal was taken from her by Spock. Tal’s twisted sense of honor demands that he degrade Spock. Spock’s honor requires that he willingly substitute himself for the man he loves, and it is his ultimate honor—I’d rather call it integrity—that endures under torture that so impresses Catorr. Catorr begins to see that there is an honorable way out of the dilemma in which he finds himself.

This is definitely a Spock story! I can see this quiet, stoic, loving Spock, of such tremendous integrity and pure emotion that he would impress even his enemies. If I’ve got a complaint, it’s that the story is a bit too short and more time should have elapsed to let Catorr consider and carry through his plan. And I guess another problem is the ending. Kirk and Spock finally coming together happens too quickly in many ways: for the pace of the story, for Spock’s recovery. But the next to last line in the story is dynamite and extremely effective, and I finished Night of Honor with great satisfaction. This is a good one.