Out of the Airlock

Fanfiction
Title:	Out of the Airlock
Author(s):	Vivian Gates
Date(s):	1985
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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Out of the Airlock is a Kirk/Spock story by Vivian Gates.

It was published in the print zine Matter/Antimatter #5.

Summary

"Kirk and Spock are suited up and thrown out of the shuttle after they are overpowered by the man they rescue."

Reactions and Reviews

Floating outside in the vacuum of space may be an unusual location for Kirk to realize that he's sexually attracted to Spock, but the basic plot outline really amounts to a formula first time. Nevertheless, I really must salute Vivian Gates for being true to Kirk's character. The premise in most K/S is that it's easier to have sex with someone after a highly intimate relationship has been established. This implies a greater vulnerability about sex than about revealing one's deepest feelings. In this story, Kirk says the opposite—that it's easier to be intimate with someone after a sexual relationship has been established. This is far more likely to reflect Kirk's attitude since he is a man who is free and open about his sexuality, but very protective about his inner enotions. I did have one nitpick about the background gaffe. The courier scout ship that finds Kirk and Spock floating should be about the size of a long-range shuttle for two reasons. One is that the smaller the vessel, the faster it is, and a courier would have to be designed for speed. The other reason is that a courier's missions would be top security requiring a maximum of two people. The fewer people who know where a courier is going, the better. The author should have given thought to the military uses of courier scouts before she put one in this story.

I love this story. It's so well written, the story slowly building, but not too slowly. It's Kirk and Spock at their finest.

It starts with Kirk and Spock fighting for their lives. While returning to the Enterprise in a shuttle, they rescue a man who turns out to be quite mad. The fight is short, the man's madness giving him an edge. The next thing he knows, Kirk awakens to find himself in a space suit, drifting alone in space. Scanning his location, he finally finds Spock, who's unconscious. As they drift, Kirk's mind drifts, too, to his relationship with Spock, their friendship and what he feels for his most special friend. What he discovers is that his feelings are deeper, more physical, than he had ever realized. As his oxygen runs out, Kirk's last thoughts are of Spock. The next scene is Spock awakening in a sickbay. They've been rescued by a small scout ship. But Kirk is still unconscious, and the medic fears that there has been some brain damage caused by the lack of oxygen. Spock melds with Kirk and in that meld he comes to realize that the erotic images he's experiencing came from Kirk. But while Spock finds the idea of them together intriguing, both men decide to forget about it, pretend those thoughts had never been.

But neither man can forget. And because they can't, they're no longer really comfortable with each other. A conversation to clear up that discomfort, of course, leads to the inevitable. How could it not? But they must wait. Neither man is at his best, physically (not to mention that they're both wearing medical bracelets that go off when their heartbeats start to rise!) But their love for each other is expressed and they know that what they have, what they will have, is real and true and forever.