Sea Change (Star Trek: TOS story)

Fanfiction
Title:	Sea Change
Author(s):	Barbara L.B. Storey
Date(s):	1987
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):
External Links:	on AO3 title page
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Sea Change is a Star Trek: TOS (pre-slashy) story by Barbara L.B. Storey.

It was published in Nome #10.

Summary

"After bringing the whales to their time, Spock helps Gillian understand the whales through a mindmeld, while trying to understand his feelings starting to break free about Kirk."

Author's Comments

In 2017, the author said in an interview:

I didn’t write a lot of stories because I was supposed to be editing and putting them together kind of thing so it was kind of hard to do both of them, but one of the stories that I was most proud of was a story called “Sea Change,” which was in Nome 10, and Caren Parnes and Caro Hedge did art for that.

Reactions and Reviews

1988

I just finished reading Barbara's story in NOME 10 for the fourth or fifth time. What a wonderful way to fill in the blanks. I wish they had filmed some of your ideas too.

I thought that Gillian's coming up short against differences in her own and the twenty-third century was very good. Her learning just exactly who she had hooked up with was a wonderful touch.

The way she handled the relationship between Kirk and Spock was very good. Such a delicate balance between K/S and friendship that even those of us who find K/S distasteful can read this story and enjoy the lovely bond that two people can have when they care about each other. It is such a rare friendship and so very hard to find.

I have copied her story to put in my special book of favorite Trek stories. I know that I'll read it several more times. Trekking can always give me a lift when I'm down. I hope to read more of her stories in the future.

"Sea Change" ... is now firmly a part of THE VOYAGE HOME in my mind's eye. Just the added touch that the movie needed, Barbara's writing style matches the non-emotional trend that seemed evident there. Yet all the while she allows us to see below the surface reactions to the turmoil we knew was seething within the characters' subconscious. A "quickie" story just wouldn't have done here; not one with easy answers. It could not have been possible for Spock to regain his feelings without a struggle. Barbara did it just right! The whole account leads up to the scene in the council chamber and the timeless and touching way that Kirk and Spock exit together. They did that right.

"Sea Change"—A masterpiece. Spock's characterization and way of dealing with his inner conflicts was right on the money. Gillian was a delight, as were the whales, and believable. Loved the thoroughness of the plot. Left me with a very satisfied feeling. Would have loved for there to be a sex scene at the end, but that is a minor complaint. Great story. (Why hasn't Barbara written any other stories all these years? Chain that woman to a typewriter!)

Barbara's "Sea Change" was delightful. I just loved the whales in her story. It's a shame that we don't have, in our own time, the ability to communicate with these magnificent creatures. What wonders they could tell us. Spock was in character in his post-TVH role, and I was happy to see Sarek in the story, as he is one of my favorite people.

But what happened to Gillian? She had a major part in most of the story, then sort of fades away at the end. It would have been interesting to find out how her twentieth-century prejudices (we all have them) held up under the knowledge of Kirk's and Spock's relationship.

SEA CHANGE by Barbara Storey is a well-written approach to a further acquaintance with Gillian Taylor, George and Gracie - all of them well-delineated. It gets a bit long here and there, but covers an interesting interim period of ST4.

1989

The parts of this are all excellent— George and Gracie, Gillian, and especially Spock's search through his mind for his missing past. Since Gillian was a major character, I would have liked another bit from her point of view at the end. And I wished Kirk were more actively involved, but in a story concerned with his deliberate holding back, that may be asking a bit much. Anyway, when I reread it, I don't worry about what I wish were there, but enjoy what is.

1998

Set in the aftermath of STIV, it spins a tale of love and devotion. The gradual reintegration of Spock’s katra brings him many surprises, rewarding because the result is a full integration of his human half. I admire the restraint Kirk forces on himself, letting Spock discover his past, their past and perhaps a chance at getting what he desperately wants: a full bond. Interspersed with Gillian and the whales, it is beautiful. Beautiful."

1999

Probably the best story in the entire collection is Barbara Storey's SEA CHANGE which attempts to deal with the events which must occur after the renegade BOUNTY reaches the Pacific with George and Gracie and before the hearing demoting Kirk. In her story, the author grapples with issues like Gillian's adjustment into the 23rd century and also the whales adjustment. Interestingly. Spock finds his answers about his relationship with Kirk through self-examination engineered by the whales.

2008

Sea Change occurs in the time between the Enterprise command crew‘s return to Earth post- Genesis and their subsequent trial. While the rest are incarcerated, Spock begins working with Gillian Taylor to acclimate the whales to their new home and prepare for Gracie‘s delivery while Kirk frets in confinement, anxious to know his disciplinary ruling and dismayed that Spock still remembers nothing of their special closeness. When Spock had told him ̳rescuing Chekov was the human thing to do‘, Kirk had been sure his Spock was restored to him but Spock is still interacting with him much as he did in the early days of their friendship. When Spock visits for dinner and remarks that his memory of their exploits has been stimulated by reviewing records not available to him on Vulcan, Kirk‘s hope is short-lived but encouraged, he plunges into an unvarnished retelling of anecdotes of their missions together, culminating in a description of Gamma Hydra IV and his anger with Spock when Stocker took command. A troubled Spock requests a full account of the incident and reveals that there may be many elements of their lives together that he had not been permitted to retain, that memory excision by the healers to create a more cohesive whole is both accepted and expected in his culture. True to form, Kirk is both angry that the healers have effectively ruined Spock‘s chances of reconnecting with his most personal history and elated that he finally has the key to finding the person he loves but ultimately, it is Gillian and the whales that are the restorative agents.

The author skillfully reflects Spock‘s journey and his relationships in Gillian and the whales making them natural change agents for him. Reminiscent of a young James T. Kirk, Gillian is portrayed as brash, candid and single-mindedly in pursuit of her chosen profession without hitting a false note with respect to the movie characterization. I suspect her reactions to Spock are similar to the young Kirk‘s as well and the continuing thread of Gillian observing, recognizing but not really understanding the uniqueness of Kirk and Spock, together and apart, is well done.

Only male humpbacks sing and George is alone. There are no others like him. Will be able to build his song without partners? The need to establish, two-way, interspecies communication with the whales parallels Kirk‘s need to reestablish interpersonal communication with Spock and Spock‘s communication with George and Gracie help him reconnect with the experience of love and t‘hy‘la. Subthemes describing Spock‘s past and evolving relationships with his parents and Jim, healer‘s motivations that were meant to be healing not lacking in tolerance, and the role the dolphin nation plays in settling the whales in the their new home produce a rich, multi-layered tale. This is the first work I‘ve read from Barbara Storey. I am actively looking for more.

2021

3.5/5: This wasn't too bad. I didn't really like Gillian's characterisation in this, and I never really enjoyed Character Study fics, but this was well written and overall not too boring.

Reactions and Reviews: Some 1988 Meta on the State of K/S Fiction

In 1988, this story was discussed in several larger reviews. One fan, Jane Carnall wrote two letters of comment to two different zines about this story in the context of Nome. In it she , compared "Sea Change" and the other stories in Nome #10 as examples of the way 1980s fanfiction represented K/S:

This is one of the most interesting issues of the series. It contains six good length stories plus poetry and art. All the writing is of the high standard we have come to expect from Nome, so this review is on the basis of a) personal preference and b) an idea I have about current trends in K/S.

I enjoyed Nome 10 because whether or not I agreed with the themes and characterisation, each story provided something to think about rather than the usual first time 'wallow'.

For example "Sea Change" by Barbara Storey, my favourite in the zine, is a post ST IV story which sets Gillian's adjustments to the 23rd century against Kirk and Spock's relationship. Spock has forgotten his previous life as Kirk's lover. He must make changes before he can return to Kirk. I liked this for the lovely warm pictures of Spock from Gillian's POV.

Michele Arvizu contributes two pieces. The first is not strictly K/S but shows the Series Spock trying to understand 'the grand fallacy' of his existence on the Enterprise and his place among the crew. I felt uncomfortable with this one. To make it work. Kirk must be bumptious and insensitive with Spock, which in the series he isn't - bad-tempered, yes, but quick to apologise. Here he orders Spock to strip (in his quarters at least) so that he can see what he's got! Then he instigates nude wrestling with his discomfited F.O. and afterwards cheerily tells him that he's had his first homosexual experience! Later Kirk openly flirts with a woman while silently mouthing "I love you" over her shoulder at Spock. As Leslie Fish has said, "Not my Jim" - thought-provoking though.

Michele's second is post ST IV. Spock vows things will be easier with Jim this time (they were not lovers in the past), but only after he has sorted out the pon farr business and had sex with Saavik! Again out of character for me but interesting.

"Mirror Allegiance" by Flora Poste finally reaches a sort of conclusion to the saga (although a postscript is promised). Written in her customary meticulous style, this segment seemed rather wordy to me. All the action is retrospective, which is hard to handle with variety. I could feel the author shifting her characters from sofa to fireplace to window to break the monotony. I do like her careful exploration of relationships but I think she has overdone it this time.

Elwyn Conway also reaches a stopping point but as usual, I wish she would give us more of her excellent plotting and minor characters and less saccharine. This time under the influence of the Etife's love and peace hippy style planet nearly everyone pours out feelings for everyone else (as usual, too, no one does anything).

The least satisfactory story for both style and content is "One More Door" by Ellen Morris in which Kirk and Spock produce a daughter by genetic and McCoy's manipulation and Kirk contracts a nasty bug which will probably carry him off - pure soap! It may be unkind to say so but I suspect the author has no experience of impending bereavement or if she has, she can't write it.

The poetry, real poetry not prose-in-chunks-on-a-page, is of very high quality, especially the work by Flora Poste.

As a whole Nome interested me because I think I detect an intriguing reflection of K/S in general in its present form and I think, too, I may have found at least part of an answer to that perennial question, why not more established stories and why so many first-timers. To explain I'll have to take you back to the 70's when K/S was just getting into print.

With Thrust, Companion, and others, writers and readers found they had a phaser on overload in their laps. The idea of K/S was not well received by fandom in general, so that those first zines and their immediate successors were faced with the task of explaining K/S not just to the outside world but to K/Sers themselves. It was special, they said; it was not gay, they said; two heterosexuals who love each other; it was pon farr; it was unique; etc, etc.

Yet as the years passed, instead of readers and writers getting accustomed to the idea - yes, OK, they're lovers, so what happened next? In 1988 they are still flailing with desperate explanations, and Nome 10 is a case in point. Six stories, five writers, and all trying to justify, rationalise, explain in heterosexual terms the K/S premise. Kirk and Spock produce a daughter (born naturally in a tank, 'delivered' by McCoy). Only after sex with Saavik can Spock express his love for Jim. Elwyn Conway states time and again that Kirk isn't homosexual, that the relationship is unique, spiritual, transcendent and blessed by the Etife, her and their guru (very 60's). The ambivalence runs deep.

Even Flora Poste has them agonising at length. Only Barbara Storey seems comfortable, describing them as lovers before her narrative starts. Still Spock has to talk to a female (albeit a well-spoken whale) before he can return to Jim.

In general the relationship is not accepted, not taken for granted and always worried over. Is this part of the 80's backlash? Is this why there are still the endless first timers, because even K/S fans cannot accept what they created? Is it also the reason for the lack of established relationship zines? I can only resort to rhetorical questions.

Kirk and Spock are long term lovers, yes, but their relationship is not complete until they produce a child (by McCoy's genetic manipulation) and this baby is delivered in the most "natural" way possible. The story seems to imply that the relationship cannot be considered as complete in itself but must be ratified in (what is in this century) a heterosexual manner.

Michele Arvizu's "An Easier Time" seems to produce the same answer to the problem. The post-Voyage Home pair have no relationship and, it seems, cannot have one until Spock has had sex and converse with Saavik. Only through her can he learn to accept and later voice his love for Kirk. "He thought of his time with Saavik. She had given all this to him. She had put things in perspective, made him feel unique, special, loved. Given him the courage to speak of love to Jim and the chance to reinvent himself." So again, homosexual love has been somehow verified by heterosexuality.

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.

The story that is the keystone of the argument is Elwyn Conway's continuing saga. Her heroes are heterosexual and she states this firmly and often. For example. Kirk says of himself and Sulu, "He'd never been sexually attracted to any man and wasn't about to make an exception now." Elwyn seems to need to explain and vindicate Kirk and Spock's love time after time. It is spiritual, overpowering, different from that of any other couple, "A love that transcends sex" and finally is blessed and sanctioned by a guru figure, the Etifa.

Having gone carefully through the zine, it seems to me that NOME 10 is quintessential of the 80's. There is no matter of fact approach. (A British writer once defined the ultimate K/S story as, "the red alert goes, Kirk and Spock jump out of bed and get on with the adventure.") There are no established stories (and very few at all in K/S).

Is this the result of the Puritan backlash of AIDS? Is this why there are still so many first time stories? I wait hopefully for your reaction. (By the way, when the infamous Clause 27 of the Local Government Act is passed in Great Britain, which forbids the 'promotion' of homosexuality as a valid lifestyle, the writing of K/S will become technically illegal.)

Finally, I must say that I thought NOME 10 one of the best of the series; well-written, a good variety of stories, and thought provoking.