No Brighter Moment

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	No Brighter Moment
Author(s):	Killashandra
Date(s):	1996
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:	Archive of Our Own
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

No Brighter Moment is a Kirk/Spock story by Killashandra.

interior art by the author

It was published in the print zine T'hy'la #17 (1996) and later, online.

This story was the winner of a 1996 STIFfie Award.

Summary

"Kirk is brainwashed to try and destroy the Enterprise, while McCoy attempts to stop the epidemic raging on board the ship."

Reactions and Reviews

As much as I've heard about how good this story is, I still wasn't prepared for it. The opening bridge scene is so good, it's stunning! It's not just a great action-adventure-battle scene, it's a tremendously effective portrayal of Kirk and the "culture" of the Enterprise bridge crew. Kirk's complicated split-second decisions show his brilliance as a tactician; the way he directs the bridge crew shows his even greater brilliance as a leader He demands and gets the best possible performance from his subordinates; he rewards them with all the credit they are due, and more. Nothing in "Trek" fiction is more exhilarating, inspiring and just plain sexy than our captain doing his job superbly, and that's exactly what he does in this scene. In twenty years in fandom. I've never seen anything that demonstrates as well as this scene why Kirk is the best starship captain in the Fleet.

When I heard that Kirk is a victim of "mind control" by Romulans in this story. I didn't expect to enjoy that part of it. Usually, I hate to see one of our heroes have his mind taken over by some other party and become not-himself. Yet the author managed an astonishing achievement—in this story. Kirk remains Kirk even when he's completely at the mercy of his "conditioning." At the core, he's still struggling to overcome the Romulans' programming and save the Enterprise, no matter what the cost.

In the extraordinary scene on the catwalk. Spock uses the strength of his connection to Kirk to try to pull Kirk back, to overcome the conditioning. Kirk struggles to respond to Spock, but in vain: "He was only one small starship captain, after all. and the thing they had done to him went too deep. He tried to find the way, but the thread slipped from his grasp" And then Kirk does the impossible-an act of incredible courage, amazingly Kirkish, the only thing left that he can do to save the ship. Impossibly, Spock responds in kind. The scene is a triumph of each man's character, of their relationship, of all the values we celebrate in "Star Trek" and K/S. It's transcendent.

In her fidelity to the "Star Trek" values as well as her ability to spin a good science fiction yarn, Killashandra reminds me of Syn Ferguson. Right now, I can't think of any higher praise than that I suspect that before long, this author's work will be the 'gold standard" against which we measure achievement in K/S literature.

I admire an author such as Killashandra who can write totally realistic space and ship technology. However, I'm sorry to say that all the techno-stuff is pretty much lost on me and only intimidates me anyway. The story would have been fine in fact without the techno-stuff. I'm reading it thinking: Okay, okay, so the warp-gravity bubble is fluctuating, so what's going on with Kirk and Spock? And: they're scanning their graviton emissions in the ion storm nimbus, but is Spock thinking about Kirk?

I must apologize because I'm so dense about these things and I don't even really know what "secure from general quarters" means. Don't anyone rush to tell me— I'm just saying that it's the K/S that's important to me. The idea is to incorporate the K/S into all the techno-stuff. And Pm even more intimidated that others found the technology perfectly comprehensible and not in the least bit overwhelming. But after all that the story really gets exciting and wonderfully emotional

When Kirk gets injured, there's some very exciting moments as Spock must emotionally deal with it during a crisis and I loved when he reaches into Kirk's mind to find his T'hy'la.

And some more lovely moments when Spock looks at a sleeping injured Kirk and imagines that he, Spock, is sick because "some medical condition which caused this constriction of the throat and lungs, and filled him with absurd impulses which shamed him to his soul...the hunger to touch himt his hairt his face, to lie down next to him and hold his small form in his arms until the dreams went away...." Gorgeous.

I also loved the whole thing about false memories being put into Kirk's mind—what a terrific idea and how well it was shown—although to be honest, I got quite lost with the Romulan plot business. I accepted Spock going to Vulcan to try to rid himself of his feelings for Kirk and there's a marvelous scene as Kirk comes on board and Spock tries to hide his feelings, "He wanted to touch him, wanted to say. I missed you." When Kirk has a nightmare and Spock immediately goes to McCoy. I appreciated Spock going for help right away when he noticed something wrong with Kirk, But no way, nohow did I buy the "I promised not to tell" business. With Kirk's bizarre behavior, there was no question something was wrong and Spock would never let that go by. let alone McCoy! Boy! Did that take me out of the story.

I'm sorry if I'm giving anything away to those who haven't read this story yet, but I want to comment on some of the scenes. Under the influence of the Romulans, Kirk tries to blow up the Enterprise and Spock stops him. What an exciting scene when Spock holds onto Kirk as he almost fells. I held my breath....

I loved it when Spock realizes he saved Kirk by going deep into his mind: "The bonding link. Deepest, sweetest song of the Vulcan soul" He agonizes over having done such a personal intrusion.

But then—just my own personal pet peeve—McCoy has to tell Kirk that Spock is in love with him. I have such difficulty with the portrayal of McCoy as 'knows all, sees all' and with a Kirk and Spock who are so totally dense and see nothing. I feel the drama of K & S's unspoken love comes forth much stronger when they confront each other. There's certainly nothing wrong with some friendly advice from the doctor, but not when he's used as a plot device so K & S know they love each other Please!

Some really lovely moments at the end when they first kiss and begin to meld. However, here the POVs changed so fast and so furious I had to completely give up trying to figure out who "he* was. And some awkwardness with Kirk having any doubts or misgivings after such a "cosmic" experience.

I really enjoyed the references to the "Phoenix" pro-novels. And boy! Really good hot sex and a neat portrayal of them becoming one during their orgasms.

I look forward to more of this author's work. Here's hoping they'll be exclusively K/S (sorry... I like my K/S straight up, unadulterated and pure with no hidden contaminants.)

Wow! What a way to start your K/S writing career! "No Brighter Moment" is an excellent novella that had me racing to turn pages. The writing is smooth, the characterizations in general are strongly stated, brisk and very accessible, even the minor characters. The pace is steady and at times compelling. It's hard for me to believe that this polished story is the work of a novice writer.

In "No Brighter Moment", it seems that there are certain Romulans who are out to destroy the Federation, or at least wound them enough to force capitulation. But the Enterprise inadvertently stumbles upon the exact planet which not only fuels the Romulans' dastardly plan, but would also provide the literal antidote to it. Somehow, the Enterprise must be removed so the plan can continue with no risk of being thwarted, and the action plot of the story concerns the Romulans' attempts to destroy the ship, whether from within or without.

The best scene of the story is the first one on the Enterprise, when the ship is attacked by five(I think) Romulan ships, one of them a prototype dreadnought with a new weapon that can slice through shields. I was so impressed with this scene. Although I stopped reading the Pocket Book professional "Star Trek" novels at about the mid-fifties, I remember the best ones clearly enough to say that this action scene rivals the best of the pros. The "feel" of the bridge was exquisite, the technology just right, technical without being incomprehensible or overwhelming, (I always knew what was going on if only through context). The minor characters each had a role to play. The maneuvering of the Enterprise was original and equally important, clear. The use of the asteroid seemed inspired, if a bit serendipitous. (How likely was it that three ships were in exactly the arc that Sulu created?) Kirk was so very Kirkian, especially when he asked Bones not to administer a painkiller so he could remain alert.

The second best sequence is in the latter half of the story when the Enterprise crew are coming down, one by one, with a mysterious, fatal illness, McCoy. Chapel and others race to find out what's happening and discover an antidote, I was raptly caught up in the intensity, from the discovery of a crewwoman dead in her quarters to the stopgap "cure" to the conclusion that the plague had been spread deliberately.

I was less happy with the Romulans' plot to destroy the Enterprise through mind-controlling Kirk. I felt that much of this part was unclear. It was not clear to me at first reading that Kirk had overdosed on the amphetamine in an attempt to commit suicide (I had to be told this in the story), nor am I sure whether this was a conscious action on his part. I don't understand why up in the catwalk he decided to throw himself to his death. The ship was due to explode any second anyway, so why bother? Or, if he'd regained his right mind, why not turn and attempt to stop the computer sequence? (However. I'm happy to report that when Kirk DID throw himself over the catwalk. I literally gasped out loud and my entire family asked me what was wrong. I might be confused about it, but that's exciting writing!)

This story is an impressive first effort, and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author. The forward to the zine says there's another story in T'hy'la 18, and that's good. However, there were some problems with NBM that need to be addressed.

First and foremost, the K/S and action aspects of the plot were not integrated very well. The sex scene in the final part could have been the sex scene in any one of hundreds of K/S stories; it did not reflect any of what Kirk and Spock had learned and done from the earlier parts of the story. (Although it was a good sex scene; I especially liked the part on page 173 where Spock forces Kirk to penetrate him.) This problem can be corrected by firmly establishing a theme and carrying it through the entire story.

Part of the discontinuity was caused, I believe, because Kirk's attraction to Spock was not revealed until the very end of the story. I don't think this decision served the author well; it's part of what made it seem as if the gen parts of the story had been written first, with the K/S added later There were numerous sections where it would have been easy to hint at the captain's feelings for his first officer without violating structure.

There were too many loose ends in the story. There were only two sections involving the shadowy Romulan figures First and Second, both in part one. There should have been more or none. It's a simple way to frame the story, possibly give it more unity and depth. The same goes for Ninth, and the secret weapon of the Romulans, and parts two and three detailing Kirk's and Spock's shore leaves. The leaves were crying out for more extended treatment. And the emphasis put on Di'on's death through Kirk and Spock's overly emotional reactions led the reader to expect that her demise would play at least a thematic role later in the story. But it didn't.

There was one part of this story that I simply did not like, and that was the treatment of Spock. Spock was denied a genuine role in the author's precisely created world, because once Kirk collapses on the bridge he becomes incredibly inept He freezes up on the bridge when Kirk is injured, (twice!), he runs away to Vulcan, he decides on page 140 that if Kirk knows of his feelings the Vulcan will lose his friend's trust, he acts like a catatonic school-boy in the briefing room immediately after the leave, he unbelievably allows Kirk another day on the amphetamine when he already knows the man has gone without sleep for two weeks, he sits limply by Kirk's bedside while others handle the aftermath of the virus problem, he forgets he can't fire a phaser in auxiliary control with the altered shield frequency.... This is not the incredibly capable first officer I know!

But this characterization was buried within a well-written, exciting adventure story, and so it was a lot easier to bear than it might have been.

Congratulations to Killashandra on a very, very well-done first K/S story. It's ambitious, mature, well thought-out. I hope we see lots, lots more stories from this author.

I feel a long story such as this carries an obligation: if the writer asks us to follow her so closely for so long, she must deliver. This story delivers. (Hmmm. Maybe the same thing goes for LOC's, so I'd best "deliver" in this one if it's going to be long, yes?)

I was, however, not so taken at first. With pages and pages of a space chase and attacks, lots of tricky maneuvering by others on the bridge crew, plus the author's note referring to pro novels, I felt this was going to be too gen for my tastes. I'm not reading K/S for space battles (or even Romulan conspiracies). In this case, I could do with the space battles kept to the minimum; but as for the Romulan conspiracy, not long into the story I saw this aspect was just rightthe events were integral to Kirk and Spock's drawing together, and also as a base for their character development.

It was apparent right away that this story was going to have some element of mystery to it. Being a mystery connoisseur, I say this is a good one. There's a fine balance between creating mysterious circumstances—keeping us in the dark—and telling the reader just enough to know that something—some action or dialogue—is a clue. It's a poor mystery without clues. Yet neither do we want the clues to shout at us. This author did this really well. We learned what was going on as the Enterprise crew did.

This being newly published, I won't tell the story itself, though it's hard not to; there was a lot I liked and would comment on. As I said, the elements of the mystery were woven together nicely. By the end, I had a large sense, felt I could look back on a big picture, rather than feeling I'd been tied up in a lot of little knots and maybe I'd been untangled but was the worse for wear for it. The plot had depth, but individual elements of people, places and goings-on were mostly kept to a minimum, so it wasn't like a quagmire. It was rich without being messy.

There were places, in some little detail or other regarding side characters, that in another story I might think were just padding—I wouldn't know if this or that detail was integral to the story or not, whether I should pay real attention to it. For instance, I knew that the scene of a crewwoman having a headache was a clue because of a well-placed hint earlier. Good job.

There were some minor imperfections, though. In the mystery aspect, a small thing: At one point, out of the blue, we read that Kirk takes a capsule. We're in Kirk's head right then, so the author could well have said right then or very soon that something was wrong with him (his nightmares). We are told this a long number of paragraphs later. At that moment it was not necessary to keep us in the dark. If the character knew, we should have known.

There were otherwise some small and common flaws, such as the overly long conversation in what was supposed to be only 11 seconds.

I feel we learn too far into the story that this takes place after Spock had been at Gol. I usually want to know from the start if I'm reading the brash young years or the more mature years.

A tight chronology is important to the mystery here, so this matters: There is a two-week period involved, and within this chronology it is made to seem it's only a few hours' hop and skip from Earth to Vulcan and back.

I know writing any story is no easy task, and these little trip-ups no way detracted from my enjoyment of this one; but you know, we can tend to look at each other's writing through a magnifying glassit's part of our pleasure, some of usso, here are a few other little comments: The "tiny chess alcove" between the two bathrooms sounds unpleasantly claustrophobic! I forget where that convention comes from, but I'd drop it. Or just drop the "tiny" part. And I believe the author is using "inexorable" incorrectly. I probably shouldn't say that without giving examples, but now I can't go back and look for them. I don't think inexorable can apply as an adjective to an object-noun, for instance, but only as an adjective to a process-noun. Something like that. And, the poems at the beginning of each part were beautiful, but their sweetness didn't necessarily go with the following scenes.

Probably this would be apparent to no one else, maybe not even the author, but some elements of her style, and a number of moments between Kirk and Spock, remind me of my writing and particularly what I'm writing right now; at times, the same emotional tone and even a lot of the same words to express feelings as in my story-in-progress. I felt the process of her writing; it was uncanny. I could picture her sitting there—I could feel it as if I were doing it—conjuring up and choosing words for the specific feelings going on between them right then.

I believe this author is a young woman (20's), and I find this writing superlative for such a young person. Superlative in any event. The only thing I would encourage a good look at—can you guess?—is POV. Here we had completely mixed POV's, even in the same paragraph. A story has such focus and flow when written through one pair of eyes (and heart and mind) at a time. We were tossed around too much.

I think you would have had to read the novels the author referred to (I had, but don't really remember) or else you'd wonder why Kirk felt so close to Di'on (the Romulan Commander), that they called each other by their first names, etc. A tragic end to a very special character....

This was really fine drama, enhanced by dramatic writing, simple but impactful. For instance, through Spock's eyes when Kirk is injured from the blast aftereffects.

Too many deaths around Kirk, and he is injured himself, so we have a touching grief scene—Spock trying to reach out; Kirk not wanting to burden Spock with his emotions.

Beautiful thoughts/words of how Spock had come to love Kirk, though he thinks his love must surely be madness. He tries detachment on the sands of Vulcan again, and again finds his answer lies elsewhere....

The mystery really steps up when it becomes a matter of murder, and a medical situation also (reminded me of one of those medical episodes on one of the newer "Treks"). And just in time, they figure it all out; but we are still left with Kirk in a dire situation, so there is wonderful Spock angst. And intense one-minute-to-save-the-ship-and-the-galaxy stuff. And Kirk, even in his altered state, will still sacrifice himself for the good of the many.

I enjoyed this feeling I had about the meld: Though it was a serious, life-saving matter, and Spock's angst was well- deserved, I smiled to myself and said, "Whoops!" when Spock kind of accidentally bonded them.

"The bonding link. The deepest, sweetest song of the Vulcan soul." Gorgeous or what?

There was a unique scene I'd not read portrayed in quite this way before: McCoy tells Kirk that almost losing him had made Spock realize how he feels. Kirk says, he'll get over it; I did. It seems he had felt in love with Spock, but Spock had left without saying good-bye, and Kirk will not let himself be hurt again like that.

Finally, at the end, gorgeous drama and tension between Kirk and Spock. Fierce and tender. This author writes divinely l-o-n-g moments. And hot, intense sex with heart-melting mental unity too yet. I dreamed about this one scene for days afterwards, Kirk standing, Spock on his knees....

Very beautiful, long, drawn-out sex; I was welling with emotion, and tears. (No, I don't usually cry in K/S sex scenes, so this was lovely.) Very, very rich; and gorgeous orgasms. Kirk fucking Spock was written so...smoothly; I can't describe it better, but something about it was unique. And the mind-link, too. No brighter moment in the universe—Spock's ecstasy is profound.

However, in the morning, Kirk is distant.... This was such strong emotion I could hardly bear it. And expressed brilliantly—poetic, yet so real.

There is a beautiful line of Spock's, that brings Kirk back to him. However, the entire sentence is written in italics. What did he do, shout it?! I don't think so. There was a generous use of italicized words in dialogue in this story, which is fine, as far as emphasis on a word or two within a line of dialogue; but an entire sentence italicized really means the speaker is raising his voice, does it not?

More gorgeous writing; a dramatic one-line paragraph: Kirk is feeling himself crumble, fall apart, and he realizes it is not pain he feels. "It felt, actually, like flying." Beautiful.

I hope it wasn't inattentive reading on my part (too busy fanning myself), but it seems the fact that Spock had bonded them was not brought up later. We know that Kirk is quite aware of the strong link between them, but Spock never told Kirk they're bonded, I don't think. Or are they?

Anyway, Spock opens his arms and Kirk walks into them.... A wonderful story; I thank you for much pleasure.

I have trouble believing that this story is Killashandra's first attempt. If so, then this is truly a momentous occasion. "No Brighter Moment" is a wonderful yarn filled with lots of action, intrigue and a really neat plot. I like how this girl's mind works.

The space battle scene at the beginning just blew me away. I've written one or two of them myself so I know how hard they can be to put into language everyone can understand, but this new author did a stellar job of it. Very inventive and she didn't get bogged down in techno-babble either. This scene was done as well, if not better than in some pro novels I've read.

The plot is much too intricate to go into here, but the whole thing holds together beautifully and moves along at just the right pace. And the feelings are there, bright, loving moments, buried like little nuggets of gold all through out the story.

There were the usual problems with POV that new writers seem to have trouble with. You get everybody's here, sometimes all in the same paragraph. And way too many "he's" when you don't know exactly who "he" is. But these are merely technical details which can easily be remedied. The story itself is a gem. The only other problem I can see with this impressive first effort is that the love scene at the end appears almost as an after thought. As if it wasn't originally an integral part of the story and the author tacked it on later. This is just a minor quibble on my part and I thought the love scene itself was great.

There is no doubt that this author knows these characters and you can feel the love she has for them come through in her writing. Welcome aboard, Killashandra. I look forward to reading more from you and I fervently hope that you're a faster writer than the rest of us.

The first K/S story ever I read was Turning Point from Killa on the Net, and it made me addicted for ever. I read all her other published stories, on the Net or in printed form, and I stayed impressed and still I think she is one of the best K/S authors.

Now, finally I purchased Th'yl'a 17 and was able to read her first story, No brighter Moment and I am, again impressed.

The timeline is during the second 5 year mission and she uses some characters from the movies and from some pocket books.

It is a thrilling story about a secret weapon used against the Federation and the Enterprise is the only one to prevent a disaster. The story itself is interesting enough, but interwoven in it is the story about Spock who realises more and more that he is in love with his captain and that he can no longer hide or deny his feelings anymore.

I don't want to tell what happened in this novella-sized story. Just that apart from the extremely well portrayed characters of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, there are others, too, who play a very important part in the story, not as a shadow of a crewman, but as living beings.

I just hope that Killa will write more stories. I know she is in another fandom now, but Killa, if you read this, please, please I beg on my knees, in the name of numerous other fans of you, please write a new K/S story, on the Net or in a zine, just go and write, please!

Space adventure. Medical thriller. Love story. This is an outstanding example of a story that has everything. It's so tightly written you could bounce a nickel off it and so full of suspense and drama that you can hardly turn loose of it long enough to turn a page.

There is not always time in my life to read K/S, and I tend to obtain zines in bunches, so it is not uncommon to miss reading one. I missed this one for eight years, but it was worth the wait. I love space battles, at least those in which Kirk and Spock are involved, and this contains a real humdinger. Every snapped command, every shudder of the ship, every near miss can be felt in your bones as the words fly past your eyes. Kirk is at his daring and inventive best. The crew is at their most loyal. And then, as it seems things might be winding down, a horrifying explosion rips right through the command console, taking Kirk with it. Thus begins a numbing saga of strange and seemingly uncoordinated events, all with James T. Kirk at their center. Spock is there, but only as a dedicated officer and friend. His heart, however, is in just as much turmoil as the universe around him. Near tragedy has opened his eyes with shocking suddenness. With first one crisis and then another to deal with on the surface, he is internally struggling with those new-found feelings and their many possible consequences. Returning from Earth, where he faced both debriefing and a personal loss, Kirk appears normal to all but Spock and McCoy. They sense trouble, but cannot define it. And they have little time to contemplate before a plague hits the Enterprise crew with staggering force and frightening probabilities. We are then plunged into the crew's fight to overcome an enemy they cannot see but that is intent on destroying not only their own number, but half the population of the Federation. The struggle that is most intense, and of the greatest interest to the K/S reader, is the one Kirk is fighting internally. Spock's war with his own feelings could never be considered of secondary importance. The final section of "No Brighter Moment" burns with a clear white flame and dazzles the reader with its level of passion and need.

Killashandra, thank you for a purely entertaining epic!

As paragraph after paragraph passes before my eyes, I am reminded of all the reasons I became a Star Trek fan long before K/S was even a dream. This could easily be a stand-alone action-adventure story and I would be just as inclined to not take my eyes from it until finished. I love action. I love just the right amount of techno-babble to put me on the bridge of the Enterprise in the midst of a crisis. It takes me back to seeing the better episodes for the first time: the tension, the excitement, and the suspense. Seeing Kirk once again as a hero of fantasy proportions, always with the right answer to an impossible question, the right maneuver to escape impossible odds.

To see Kirk and Spock in this light, in their duty uniforms and duty personas, working as a single unit to the astonishment of their enemies and their crew, is wonderful! I have a theory that no matter how good were the actors Nimoy and Shatner, had they played the part of a vacuum salesman and a baker, we would not have fallen so swiftly and irrevocably in love with them. It is their strength of character, their courage, their ability to lead and to nurture and in even the most dire of circumstances to inspire those around them that made us realize they were men we could call “hero”. Killa prefaces this entry in the Archive by saying it is her first fan fiction and she alludes it isn’t so good. Well, let me respectfully but adamantly disagree. It is good! When the battle tension temporarily fades, as it must – we have to be able to breathe again – it is replaced by anxiety of another kind. Spock and Kirk must face what lies between them. The time to ignore it or to evade it is past, but resolution is not quick to arrive. An example of the turmoil Spock is enduring as he awaits Kirk’s arrival aboard their docked ship: Spock focused on the report in front of him. The power consumption curves were up, and would require further calibration, and perhaps it would not hurt so much once they could return to the everyday routine of duty— The hurt he is feeling has nothing to do with the condition of the ship or power consumption. It has everything to do with his feelings for James T. Kirk – which he is convinced would be met with horror if revealed. So he must stifle those feelings...and bear his pain alone. I won’t include a quote here that sums up everything because I don’t want to spoil it. Suffice it to say this author can say more in one sentence than most of us could say in an entire chapter. The way she describes Spock’s dawning self-awareness is uncanny. I’ve watched and read some pretty hair-raising suspense tales and as this story progresses, it rivals the best of them. It takes darned good writing to make your mouth go dry and your eyes forget to blink, but when inexplicable things begin to happen on the Enterprise and Spock declares Kirk to be in danger of something worse than death, that will do it! There is also tension of a different magnitude here – the agony of not knowing if your very desperate love will be returned – and both men feel it at some point. Combined with the underlying story, which could easily stand on its own without the K/S element, this is an exceptional read. Not to be missed is the closing scene, which as you might imagine, is filled with as much love as can possibly be conveyed by the written word. Words such as this: “Everything he had ever feared was here in this room, in the strong, protective circle of his arms. Everything he had ever wanted, in the secret, yearning solitude of his heart.”

Sigh.

I have to start off by saying that normally when I sit down to write an LOC, I always tend to pick stories in current zines to review. That’s because I tend to akin my penning an LOC to a movie critic writing a review of a newly released film. They do so to either encourage or discourage the public from viewing it. So I’ve always made that my focal point as well when I sit down to review a story. I want to do what I can to stir up interest in that story, not only so that my fellow K/Srs can enjoy it, as well, but also to encourage as many people as I can to buy the zine.

So technically while this is not a new story, as it was originally published in T’hy’la 17, the author did, in her own words, “edit it quite a bit” before posting to the K/S Archive (an archive, by the way, that she created and maintains, and does a fantastic job doing so). So I figured that kind of makes it a new story, so why not LOC it? After all, this is one brilliant author and that brilliance shines through not only in the original version of this story, but the rewrite, as well. This story takes place after the events of Star Trek: The Motion Picture and all I can say [is it] has everything, and I mean EVERYTHING anyone would want in a story, not just a K/S one. There is mystery, intrigue, angst, drama, tension, and above all else, a love story between two men that leaves no doubt in the reader’s mind that Gol or no Gol, they belong together. I think (although I may be wrong) this is one of the longest, if not the longest, K/S story this author has written. But despite its length and all that goes on between the pages, the reader never gets confused as to what is happening from page to page, and never gets lost in the myriad of events that take place. Instead, this author’s incredible style keeps the reader right on track from beginning to end and when that final page is read, all one wants is even more.

If you’ve never read this story, make it a point to go on the web and do so as soon as you can. Trust me, you will not regret it.

Battles, plagues, conspiracy, mind-melds... this story has it all. The unconsummated Kirk/Spock romance hovers in the background of this nicely-plotted adventure, with each man fearful of revealing himself to the other, until the end of the tale. A fiendish plot to unleash a plague upon the galaxy is underfoot, and it involves first taking out the Enterprise. The ambush (with a nice cameo appearance by the Romulan Commander) fails but gives Kirk a near-death experience, which forces Spock to confront his feelings for his captain. While the ship is being refitted, Kirk visits Iowa for his mother's funeral, and Spock makes another brief attempt to find peace at Gol, but is told again that his answer lies elsewhere. Back on Enterprise, they are sent out to play decoy, but several crewmembers are struck down with a horrific plague. When they finally crack the disease, they learn that Kirk himself is a walking timebomb intended to destroy the ship. When all is resolved, with a little push from McCoy, Kirk and Spock confront their relationship.

If you’re looking for a Star Trek adventure reminiscent of the TOS episodes, this is the place. If you’re looking for romance with one of the most poignant and passionate love scenes imaginable, this is the place. I can hardly believe the author’s disclaimer that this is her first fiction; she certainly owes no apologies.

It so happened I was in the mood for something other than a PWP – I wanted something that would show me how Kirk and Spock acted as the best team in Starfleet with an underlying current of emotion and love. “No Brighter Moment” exceeded all my expectations. There is a gripping, intense space battle that seemed so realistic to me I forgot to breathe. Orders were barked across the bridge, the men and women taking those orders trusted Kirk with their lives at a time when every decision he made was critical to their survival. It was a rousing battle that pulled me into the story and wouldn’t let go. Later, when Kirk became an unwitting tool of the enemy, the suspense continued to build. Overlying all of this intrigue was the almost unbearable love that Spock feels for Kirk and his driving need to protect him from harm – a task that seems almost impossible. My desire for hurt/comfort and angst was rewarded over and over.

By the time the story neared conclusion, there was only one battle remaining: Spock’s conflict with himself and the love he could no longer hide from his captain. There are love scenes and there are love scenes that are so intense you can feel every ounce of passion, hear every gasp and feel each rapturous touch. Killa’s writing skills, her devotion to Kirk and Spock and the buildup she creates from the first pages have combined to assure just such an experience – one no K/S fan should miss.