The Bigot

You may be looking for Bigot! Brother! Bondmate!.

Fanfiction
Title:	The Bigot
Author(s):	Deborah Cummins
Date(s):	1988
Length:
Genre(s):	gen
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):
External Links:
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The Bigot is a Star Trek: TOS story by Deborah Cummins.

It was published in the print zine Vault of Tomorrow #13.

Reactions and Reviews

I was four years into my obsession with Kirk and Spock and while I had by then discovered K/S, the Vault of Tomorrow series helped open the door to that obsession. It‘s been years since I read them, but the quality of the zines and the stories they contain has not diminished.

Having been alerted to the fact that there were a number of Debbie Cummins‘ stories in the older zines, I began to seek them out and in the process read a good bit of the other content as well. Among the very best were, as expected, Debbie‘s stories, and at the top of the list so far is this reflection on the inhumanities of man. I don‘t know how Debbie conjures up and so vividly masters her villains, but she does an amazing job of letting us see the very dark side of mankind. We all know the meaning of the word bigot. We all believe that Spock has been the target of such misguided individuals since his childhood, but never have we seen more clearly how that kind of cruelty is administered or the pain it causes. Spock is forced to work side-by-side with one of the Federation‘s prominent scientists in the exploration of a newly discovered interstellar phenomenon. Dr. Morvallis is a known bigot, but according to Starfleet, the only person for the job. I must mention here another of Debbie‘s talents. She has a tremendous imagination regarding plot and in this case the science behind it. I‘m no scientist, so it may all be techo-babble, but it doesn‘t come across that way at all. It seems very genuine and helps tremendously in the momentum of the story. Spock is subjected to slurs from the start, something that Kirk is barely able to tolerate. We see that Spock is hurt by it, but he lets none of those feelings show to the crew or his tormentor. Things worsen when Morvallis deliberately spills a vial of acid onto Spock‘s hand. Kirk is enraged and makes his feelings known in no uncertain terms. When Spock is able to confirm the existence of a gravitational wave, something that has been theorized by Einstein but never proven, Morvallis uses an unauthorized transmitter to let the world in on the discovery, claiming it for his own. The protectiveness and pain that Kirk experiences over this deliberate cruelty to Spock is so well defined by Ms. Cummins. It may not be K/S in the true sense of the word, but there is no doubt as to the strength of Kirk‘s love for Spock.

There is a spectacular climax to the story that is heart-wrenching and holds the reader to the edge of her seat! I was gripping the book so hard my fingers hurt. Debbie has graduated to K/S in more recent years, but believe me these older works are not to be missed! They contain every bit as much drama, suspense and emotion and it‘s clear her skill at writing and characterization were all firmly established.