Sight Unseen (Star Trek: TOS story)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Sight Unseen
Author(s):	Kathy Stanis
Date(s):	1995
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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Sight Unseen is a Kirk/Spock story by Kathy Stanis.

It was published in the print zine Within the Mirror #10.

art in the zine by Chris Soto

art in the zine by Kathy Stanis

Summary

"After Spock loses his sight while fighting the creatures on Deneva, his blindness enables him and Kirk to let down their guards and discover the love they both share."

Reactions and Reviews

Although I am not normally partial to Mirror stories, I found this one to be well-written and interesting. It's based on one of my favorite episodes. Operation: Annihilate, and there are enough differences between film and word toieau the reader onward through the story.

This author is simply getting better and better with every story. There were some aspects of the writing that leaped out at me as examples of how well she understood her characters, how deeply she had thought about who they truly were. And only Kathy can convey this information in language so exquisite that I found myself breathlessly turning pages, not to find out what happened, because that was pretty much a given (and one of the dangers when basing a story on an episode), but for the sheer pleasure of coming upon another one of her poetic gems.

One example is on page 33, when Kirk thinks that he wants "to be bound and gagged by Vulcan touches and Vulcan kisses." This is poetry as the mirror Kirk would express it, tied to metaphors of violence and subjugation as he's lived with them. It's positively brilliant.

Another example of great characterization elegantly expressed is on page 12, when the author writes that Kirk wonders if, by insisting that he be the one to help the blinded Spock, he's gotten himself into "...some foolish, awkward situation that called for levels of subtlety he generally did not bother with."

The author also manages to convey the slow, uncertain unraveling of the suspicion and mistrust that had formerly linked the two men by showing, not telling. She uses swiftly changing emotions, such as when Kirk gets angry in the middle of tender thoughts when Spock asks him to be "useful" by dialing up hot water from the dispenser, when Kirk yells at Spock about "needing" on page 20, and when the captain later wonders if Spock might just be pretending to be blind. This skillful characterization is continued all the way through the end of the story to when Kirk is about to be penetrated by Spock for the first time, when Spock asks him if he will resist, and Kirk replies, "I might." Two words, and yet they convey that this mirror Kirk is still the man he always was and always will be, that the tension is still within his relationship with Spock even at this level.

Although I ran across some problems with inconsistency and lack of clarity here and there, (the primary one being exactly where Spock's guards were when he was attacked in Sickbay), there's really only one significant problem with this story. And unfortunately, that takes place during its climax.

The true climax of this story is when Spock regains his eyesight. The author had used a wonderful image throughout this tale of a special place where Kirk and Spock met between their eyes, and how bereft Kirk felt without this, his only place of communion with Spock. The first mention of it is on page 7. "He realized there was a... place he was learning to recognize, between their eyes. There was warmth there, something he didn't feel anyplace else. He could almost think it was a place where there was no guile, no struggle, no pain. And there was more - something his whole body responded to." In a way, the sexual relationship was started in an effort to replace this space between their eyes that the blinded Spock can no longer give.

Spock regains his eyesight as he is penetrating Kirk, and it is truly the rebuilding of their special place that completes the theme of this story. Since we have been privy to Kirk's feelings on the subject (wonderfully, the entire story is written from Kirk's POV), we needed to feel the re-establishment of the visual link along with Kirk. But at no time does the author give us that chance. The only sentence truly devoted to this climactic event slips into the omniscient POV instead of Kirk's. We're told "The place between their eyes... it was electric - a pulsing dance echoing their bodies' joining, wild and unrestrained now, carnal heights and soul depths." And that's about it for the moment of reconnection. Whenever you use omniscient POV, that is, like you're a third person standing above and beyond the action, you lose intimacy. And this particular point in the story was crying out for intimacy, especially since the author had set this up so well earlier in the story.

But that's the only real problem I found with this very entertaining, well-written story that I definitely enjoyed. If there are more like this one, maybe I'll have to start reading Mirror stories more regularly.

I love stories where the episodes are set in the mirror universe and Ms. Stanis has not disappointed me with this version of "Operation Annihilate." This is a moving look of how Mirror Kirk responds when he realizes his Spock has been blinded by McCoy's effort to free him from the grasp of the parasitic creatures.

Kirk's anger at how vulnerable he'll be without the Vulcan's support slowly changes to despair as he realizes, that in all probability, he will lose Spock entirely. Blinded, Spock will no longer be able to function as first office and will be forced to return to Vulcan.

When Spock is almost assassinated in Sickbay, Kirk decides to move him into his own quarters and care for him himself, I'll leave it to your overactive imaginations to guess what happens next....oh, shit, you guessed.

The wording is exquisite..one line in particular left me feeling all soft and fuzzy. "Kirk couldn't look at the doctor; he was too preoccupied with feeling something he didn't have a name for... a feeling like a bruise on his head, almost too tender to even look at." Oh, Yes..

When we first meet mirror Kirk, he is sharp and feisty, still fighting the intrusive feelings he's having for Spock. These moments are terrific. After Spock is blinded. Kirk holds Spock briefly. He remembers this later as he watches the Vulcan in bed: "He wanted to touch Spock again." That's so simple and so direct and all that needs to be said. Lines like that hold enormous power in their simplicity.

Kirk and McCoy's relationship is also expertly drawn. This, after all, is the mirror McCoy (Not the real McCoy. Sorry, I always wanted to say that.) complete with too much drinking, lots of sarcasm and much un-doctorly behavior. But as they both face Spock's problem, they gain a grudging respect for each other.

When McCoy and Kirk wait for Spock to come out of the chamber, the doctor asks:" 'Have you ever known anyone who prays?'" That is another example of this writer's skillful use of the fewest words to say the most. I loved the acidic dialogue. Kirk: "Yeah, well, are you any closer to a goddamn cure for this thing? Or can you stay sober long enough?" McCoy: "Fuck you, Captain. Just get down here."

Kirk is such a good balance of naughty and nice. And you just know this captain has fought for everything he's gotten, but still wants so badly to let go with Spock. The tension between Kirk and Spock just sizzles with unspoken desires. Their words say one thing, but their bodies say another. Yes sir. Another great mirror-Kirkism: "Kirk always imagined the mind-meld to be something like virtual sex." That's my guy.

A number of very effective moments painted a rich and complete picture of these characters and the world they live in. Such as when Kirk wakes up after having passed out on the couch: "Kirk didn't open his eyes. Maybe Spock would keep saying his name, closer and closer to his ear. Maybe Spock would have to touch him." Just the small action of opening his eyes relates his dangerous and tenuous position as captain. He is wary, crafty, suspicious and unused to love. And that was quite a scene when Kirk jerked off while Spock kissed him. Wow! The only minor difficulty was Spock's rather easy remark right afterwards. "Do you do that every morning?" I think they might not be so casual about what they just did.

This author has a wonderful skill at utilizing supporting characters without letting them get in the way of Kirk and Spock. As an example, Uhura's brief appearance spoke volumes. In just the space of a short scene of her speaking from the monitor screen, we learn about her and how Kirk and Spock feel about her. I especially liked the intriguing and mysterious reference to her "life-partners" as in plural and her "purely aesthetic" appreciation of their good -looks.

Talk about a carpet-thrashing moment: "...unfastened the fly and pulled the fabric open, freeing the verdant penis. It was immense." You bet.

Then, in the shower (one of my favorite places) Kirk gives "his Vulcan the best blow-job ever". This includes a great comment of what power and submission really mean—that Spock is all the more powerful for his ability to yield.

And I adore the verb "to bed" as in: " 'Jim, do you think I have not always wanted to bed you?'"

Dialogue like " 'Will you resist?' 'I might.' " send me into paroxysms. On the carpet.