Ssarsun's Argument
| Star Trek TOS Fanfiction | |
|---|---|
| Title: | Ssarsun's Argument |
| Author(s): | Jacqueline Lichtenberg |
| Date(s): | 1973 |
| Length: | |
| Genre: | gen |
| Fandom: | Star Trek: The Original Series |
| External Links: | |
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Ssarsun's Argument is a Star Trek: TOS story by Jacqueline Lichtenberg.
It was published in and Babel #4 (1973) (where it had this introduction by the editor: "a sensuous Schillian love story by "J" (if that doesn't make you want this zine, nothing will.)") and Kraith Collected #2 (1974)
The character, Ssarsun, a Schillian (man proportioned lizard), was originally introduced in Spock's Affirmation. Ssarsun, who is appointed Spock's bodyguard when the Vulcan becomes 'Katayikh' (the leader of his clan) at Sarek's presumed death.
Author Forewords
From the author's foreword in Kraith Collected #2:
It is a milestone in that it marks the first of the "Kraith for grups" stories. Being privy to the events to come, I'll give you a hint -- watch "Spock" carefully. He shows up again in a very important context.") The story includes a detailed, sensitively-worded description of exactly how the highly emotional, tri-gendered reptilian Schillian people have sex.)
From the author's foreword in Babel #4:
"Saarsun's Argument" takes place in the KRAITH SERIES between Kraith I, Spock's Affirmation and Kraith II, Spock's Mission. The load character in this story, Ssarsun, was an important subordinate character in Kraith I where we first met him. He is a Schillian, one of the newer members of the United Federation of Planets.The Schillians are trisexual, reptillian-like amphibians who are fully telepathic. Their normal mental state includes a constant telepathic contact with another telepath. Deprived of this sensory input they suffer hallucinations and eventually insanity and death. They are humanoid in appearance, scalely-skinned, thick-necked, with webbed fingers (vestigial really), and 'gill-slits' located at the join of the neck and shoulders. The underwater breathing apparatus is termed 'gill' only by vague analogy. They retain a small amount of the mildly saline seawater in their lungs to moisten the 'gill' apparatus while living on dryland.
Periodic immersion in good breathing water is a must for the preservation of their health. The Schillians are noted for a firey temper and unbridled emotional display. They are apt to become violently offended by any mention of sexual-identity and gender-identity, and all three sexes prefer to be called 'he' as a matter of formality.
Kraith I was the story of the consequences of the theft of an important Vulcan artifact the Kraith. The KRAITH Series continues to explore outgoing ripples of those consequences. "SSarsun's Argument" is only the beginning of one line of exploration in the Kraith universe. With the help of writers interested in Kraith, there should be more stories developing Ssarsun and the Schillians in the future.
Reactions and Reviews
The other story in KCII is a shorter one called "Ssarsun's Argument." Ssarsun, as you may recall, is a Schillian -- a man-proportioned lizard, a trisexual being to whom a telepathic contact is necessary for the retention of his sanity. He was Spock's bodyguard in Spock's Affirmation, and is Vulcan trained. His argument is that he should be allowed to transfer from Security to Command although at the time true telepaths are not allowed to command Federation vessels. I liked Ssarsun even in KCI -- he was the only one with a sense of humour. In this story, he is drawn into a mating trio, much against his well, with two other Schillians, and you can't imagine how erotic trisexual telepathic lizards can be until you have read this story. A transfer into another universe occurs and as Ssarsun deals with the crisis so efficiently, it seems he will get his wish, to train for command. Incidentally, in this story we get a glimpse of the Spock who later appears in our our Variations on a Theme. [1]
References
- ^ from Communicator #6