Sure Thing

Star Trek TOS Fanfiction
Title:	Sure Thing
Author(s):	Karla Kelly
Date(s):	1994
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:
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Sure Thing is a Kirk/Spock/Uhura story by Karla Kelly.

It was published in the print zine KaleidoScope #2.

Reactions and Reviews

An unusual short story in which a casino owner, a nightclub singer and a Vulcan find an intriguing method of overcoming the dangers of pon farr.

This story was done in a really cool style—strong, tough, savvy, in first person lounge singer at a starbase casino. Oh boy, another of KK's K/S/U stories.

JTK is the Boss. Very intense vibes between the boss and the Vulcan. This is a pon farr situation, where it is posited that male-pairings are physically dangerous. I didn't really understand part of what was going on: if it is that without the bond, these pairings are dangerous, or what. It seems a mutually-desired female with them helps diffuse the dangerous intensity. (You wish.) So Uhura acts as a conduit between them, as it were.

Some beautiful poetic lines: "Behind him, the stars burned in sympathy."

Karla's got the choreography of three-way sex down pat. And even though it's definitely just Kirk and Spock for each other, I never get the feeling that Uhura is being "used." She is so strong, her feelings self-contained; she gets what she wants and helps them at the same time.

This is the best story that I have read by Karla Kelly. In an alternate universe in which Kirk owns a night club where Uhura is a singer, there is a beautiful Kirk/Spock/Uhura menage encounter. The prose style is exquisite, the characterization is absolutely right on, the sex is erotic, while the plot makes you sit up and take notice without sacrificing a bit of believeability. Karla has attained a new level of skill. Imagine managing such artistry in only a few pages!

What a wonderful surprise from the very first line as I was drawn into this dark, smoky, moody world of the late-night casino and lounge. Excellent beginning with an atmospheric scene with lines like: "Three o'clock in the morning is reserved for either love or regret on every planet, in every galaxy."

We meet the singer who performs there and who is revealed later in what is a very nice touch of mystery. Told through her eyes, we watch as "Boss", one J. T. Kirk, meets with the mysterious Vulcan who walks into the bar at three in the morning. Neat Raymond Chandler-esque dialogue...

There's excitement as the woman watches them emotionally spar with each other. So simply and directly written, it pulled me right into this strong and visceral world, such as when the singer speaks of the two men's desire: "I smelled it in the raw scent of musk from their bodies, tasted it on my tongue, felt it caress my skin as it filled the lounge, leaving me wet and wanting."

So much to savor in this fabulous story - the sex is very exciting and the tension never lets up. Really, really neat.

This time, the author's signature short length was very effective and everything was said in the sparest of words, yet without sacrificing any richness or depth. Only because the story was so damn good, would I even think of quibbling with the poor choice of a title. But, you can't have everything, even if this story does come pretty close.

This is another story that I reviewed back in ‘95 and this one bears repeating for two very good reasons. One is that it’s one of my personal favorites of Karla Kelly’s work and is a must-read. Two is that we in fandom have not heard hide nor hair from this terrific author in a long time. We know she’s reading this and my ulterior motive is to lure her back into writing again. We used to count on seeing a Karla Kelly story in almost every zine, and I’m not asking for that, but I would love and adore to read a new story of hers someday soon.

Okay, that being said—this story is unique and exciting. From the very first line I was drawn into this dark, smoky, moody world of the late-night casino and lounge. Excellent beginning with an atmospheric scene: “Three o’clock in the morning is reserved for either love or regret on every planet, in every galaxy.” We meet the unidentified singer who performs there and as seen through her eyes, we watch as “Boss”, one J. T. Kirk, meets with the mysterious Vulcan who walks into the bar at three in the morning. Neat Raymond Chandler-esque dialogue like: “Vulcans don’t gamble.... They don’t like risk.” Some thing flared in the dark eyes, then was gone.“Some things are too important to risk.” “And some things are too important not to take a chance on.”

The mysterious woman watches them emotionally spar with each other. Written so simply and directly, it pulled me right into this strong and visceral world. This is gorgeous when the singer speaks of the two men’s desire: “I smelled it in the raw scent of musk from their bodies, tasted it on my tongue, felt it caress my skin as it filled the lounge, leaving me wet and wanting.”

This author’s stories have almost always been of a short length and here it works very well as everything is said with the sparest of words without sacrificing the richness or depth.

One of my personal favorites of Karla Kelly’s many short stories. I miss her writing so much and only wish the K/S muse would get to her again.

This story is unique and exciting. Very Raymond Chandler-esque in flavor with wonderful dialogue and lines like: “Three o’clock in the morning is reserved for either love or regret on every planet, in every galaxy.” We meet the unidentified singer who performs at a smoky lounge nightclub and we watch through her eyes as “Boss”, one J. T. Kirk, meets the mysterious stranger who walks into the bar at three in the morning.

So cool!