Outcast (Star Trek story)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Outcast
Author(s):	Charlotte Frost
Date(s):	1990
Length:	31 fanzine pages
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Outcast is a Kirk/Spock story by Charlotte Frost.

It was published in the print zine Counterpoint #3 (06/1990).

Summary

"Spock is helped by an unknown outcast on the planet heʼs stranded on when the natives try to kill him."

Reactions and Reviews

In my early days of discovering K/S, I quickly learned that any story by Charlotte Frost promised to be filled with immense levels of feeling. She writes with such sensitivity and emotion and somehow releases in me those same sensations. She deals especially well with Spock's sense of being different in this story, touching on it in a way that is very rare. She does so by comparing his loneliness and sense of non-acceptance with that of an alien being who saves Spock's life on an unforgiving planet.

Spock is fleeing for his life as the story opens, his skin pierced with poison darts from natives who saw his shuttle crash and who were pursuing him to the death. When his legs will no longer carry him, Spock falls in despair, not for the fact that death is imminent but because he must now die at the hands of bigots who wish to torture and maim him simply because he is not like them. Destron's natives are known for their distrust and revulsion for outsiders and Spock falls victim to self-pity described in a way that wrenches my heart; "Here, on this world that all Federation members knew to avoid, his life was going to end as it had begun; amongst bigotry, hatred, and intolerance. He experienced bitterness with the realization that he had come full circle." Recalling the last ten months and his growing closeness with James T. Kirk, the desolate Vulcan even manages to convince himself that Kirk will quickly recover from losing him and will go on with his life untouched. A hand grabbing and dragging him to safety interrupts his remorse. Quickly succumbing to the paralytic action of the darts, he only dimly realizes there may be one person on this godforsaken planet whose purpose is not to destroy him.

The encounter with Chasa, who slowly and reluctantly reveals he also would be killed if the other inhabitants found him, is so touching and sad, more so because we realize he has been ostracized and fears for his life simply because he is different somehow in appearance from the others. His mother loved him, cared for him, and since her death he has known no other's voice or touch but has struggled alone in the wilderness, doing what he can to help small animals survive the same poison darts that now threaten Spock's life. Seeing through Chasa's eyes the pain of being an outcast, we also realize the mechanism that makes Spock so doubtful of the love and friendship that is offered him by the crew and by his beloved captain. When you've been humiliated and hated for simply being who you are, a condition over which you have no control, you can never completely overcome the deeply ingrained self-doubt.

Every paragraph of this story is filled with love. Love that is blossoming between Kirk and Spock, yes, but also with the love and compassion Spock and Kirk both feel for other beings, no matter the color of their skin, the shape of their body or the number of fingers on their hands. As we know would happen, Kirk comes to Spock's rescue and it really doesn't matter how he learned that the shuttle crashed, all that matters is the devotion in his voice when he whispers that beloved name. "Spock." Spock hears it and we all feel it. This is such a beautiful little story, every page suffused with the sort of love, devotion and acceptance that possibly only exists in the imagination of such gifted writers as Ms. Frost. And being much of an introvert myself, I found great understanding and truth in the wisdom Kirk offers his friend after their world begins to fall back into place. He forgives Spock the doubts he admits having about Kirk's loyalty with these words; "Don't forget that I was brought up in a different environment than you. I grew up learning to reach out to live; you learned to reach in. When your survival is threatened, you always will."

We reach.