The Hidden

Fanfiction
Title:	The Hidden
Author(s):	Katherine Cooke
Date(s):	2004
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
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The Hidden is a Kirk/Spock story by Katherine Cooke.

"My All" by Virginia Sky for The Hidden

It was published in the print zine Beyond Dreams #7.

The Becoming Real Series

• Deflectors Down
• Starbase Eighteen
• The Hidden
• Chimera

Summary

"Relieved of his command when his bond to Sybok is discovered, Kirk goes to Vulcan with Spock on the chance that the bond can be broken."

Author's Summary

On Vulcan, Spock must explain to his lover that Sybok is his brother and that Spock is Hov’ek of Vulcan, Surak’s heir. Shocked by this news, and told the bond with Sybok cannot be removed, Kirk decides he must confront his enemy alone. At Gol, they discover Sybok and the Orions have been plundering the sacred lands for minerals to be used in warfare. The conspiracy is unmasked, and Spock and Kirk are reconciled. They are recognised as T’hy’la by T’Pau in a ceremony where they exchange vows, despite the unbroken bond with Sybok. But as The Hidden ends, the lovers are betrayed and captured by Sybok....

Some Shared Vocab

"Could I just clarify that the Underliers are not my invention, though? I stole them from Diane Duane's novel 'Spock's World,' as noted at the end of the story. I wish I had thought them up myself."

Reactions and Reviews

The latest installment of Ms. Cooke's series is what's known as a 'blockbuster'. Full of the excitement she is so proficient at creating and sustaining till the very last page, The Hidden is an extraordinary mixture of passion, elegance and intelligence. It's a cinch to leave you breathless as it gets to the heart of the matters that have been plaguing Kirk and Spock, and me, through all the parts that have gone before. I could almost see it as a teleplay before me while I eagerly read along.

This entry throws Kirk and Spock into a cauldron of social unrest, long-ago 'chickens-that-have-come-home- to-roost' and danger, always danger. I'm not sure I liked this planet Vulcan, its intrigues and the vicious but subtle infighting of tribal hierarchies. It reminded me too much of our own problems with Iraq, its tribes and rebellions. Yet, as Spock said and thought when he and Jim first landed on the planet, he wanted to show his lover his home, the place that produced him, the Vulcan Spock. And so I hopped on board for the ride and believe me it was a wild one. Along the way I surely learned one hell of a lot about the hardscrabble planet and its people in a vision of political and social upheaval I'd never encountered there before. Didn't our power-couple-of-the-century have enough misery, trying to get Kirk released from the bond Sybok had forced on Kirk years ago? These were my concerns as I waded in; and as I did in other stories in this zine, I longed for a Standard/Vulcan dictionary to help me through. I needed all the help I could get because this is a hard- hitting story and one has to apply oneself to keep up.

[much, much snipped from this 5-page, double-columned review]

In a small epilogue, T'Pira gets her son back. It does nothing to make up (to me) for what has gone before. This episode of Ms. Cooke's series ends with the dreaded words, "To be concluded".

It is devoutly to be wished that this is true. I've been taken through hell and heaven, then dropped back into hell again. I also devoutly pray that I'll be around for this promised conclusion! What matters, though, is that you read it. You can't get the full scope of the drama—and I do mean drama—without drinking in every detail, every nuance of love, life, danger, suspense, all the emotions released by Kate's evocative prose. Don't skip any of it or you'll be lost!

I absolutely loved this story, which is a sequel to Starbase Eighteen. It starts with Kirk and Spock traveling to Vulcan, to consult a healer there in an attempt to break Kirk’s forced bonding with Sybok (Kirk at this point is unaware of his relationship with Spock). As well as being a lovely exploration of their relationship, this story also has a wonderful background which delves into Vulcan history, religion, philosophy and politics.

I particularly enjoyed the early part where Spock takes Kirk on an exploration of his home planet while they are waiting for an appointment to see the healer, especially when Kirk gets very impatient with what he considers to be Spock’s unnecessary “mother henning” and it turns out to be Spock who gets into trouble not Kirk at all! This leads to some wonderful scenes, as Kirk has to make a very difficult decision to leave the seriously injured Spock to go and get help, which means crossing Vulcan’s Forge all alone, something which Spock is very worried about. Their concern for each other here is beautifully written, as is Spock’s gradually deteriorating condition and his conviction that Kirk is dead. It was also a nice touch that we get to see how Kirk gets some rather unusual help in crossing the desert, and Spock’s reactions to this. While they are recuperating in a small town, they get involved in the increasing civil unrest engulfing Vulcan as a result of a water shortage and all the resulting political turmoil. As a result of this, Spock is forced to make a fateful choice between the good of the whole planet and his own personal happiness, which is very hard for him to do, not to mention the problems he encounters trying to convey this to Kirk, who is unaware of Spock’s position in Vulcan society and his responsibilities to his home planet and how these conflict with his duties to Starfleet and Kirk himself. It was also nice to see both his parents being supportive of their son, they both believe Kirk and Spock should be together and both try to assist Spock in keeping his relationship with Kirk intact in the face of his overwhelming duty to Vulcan as Hov’ek. Kirk is keeping secrets of his own as well, which leads to a confrontation in the ancient fortress of Gol where the full scale of the plot is revealed, along with the horrors of what has been taking place there. I love this particular characterisation of Kirk, his determination to go off alone and confront his enemy in order to protect Spock is right on the mark, as is Spock’s agony as he struggles over what he knows he should do and what his heart tells him he wants to do as he struggles to choose between personal happiness with Jim and Starfleet and duty to his home planet. The way in which this is tied into the bigger picture on Vulcan and what Sybok is doing is very well drawn, and the way in which the author ties everything up very satisfactorily at the end.

This is an excellent story which works on several levels, not just in terms of Kirk and Spock’s relationship, although of course this features prominently. The wonderful way in which the author has set the scene and the descriptions of Vulcan fit in perfectly, especially a lovely interlude when Spock takes Kirk to a small garden which was a sanctuary for him as a child. The wonderful interlude in the moonlight garden, with its pool of water and fountain where they share a few precious minutes alone together is a lyrically written and tender interlude in a tale which has plenty of action and angst. The tenderness of this interlude is in marked contrast to Kirk’s return visit to the same garden a few days later when he discovers that the garden has been vandalised by agitators and the pool destroyed, just another example of the growing unrest sweeping the planet, something which completely destroys Kirk’s image of Vulcan as a place of calm and serenity. Altogether this is a highly enjoyable read and well recommended.

This story is the longest of the four. The upheaval on Starbase Eighteen is spreading throughout the galaxy and even to Vulcan, that most serene and peaceful of planets. In fact, Vulcan is headed for what looks to be civil war.

As Spock shows Kirk about his city, the author presents many aspects of Vulcan life that are truly innovative and so culturally ―right‖ for this society. My favorite is the tradition that all citizens, no matter their age or position, volunteer part of their day to projects that will enrich the quality of life for all. Lovely. This author has a positive knack for creating a world that in its many aspects is perfectly consistent with the Vulcan way. Spock finally reveals to Kirk that Sybok is his half- brother and that he is Hov‘ek, future leader, to his people. The lovers learn that T‘Lar and the masters at Seleya cannot remove the forced bond, and Kirk and Spock are devastated by the news. Now there is only one hope left: T‘Sai and the adepts at Gol. While waiting for an audience with T‘Sai, Kirk and Spock go hiking near Vulcan‘s Forge. An accident forces Kirk to attempt to cross this most inhospitable of Vulcan‘s deserts. This sequence kept me at the edge of my seat! Tension is maintained throughout and I was delighted to remake the acquaintance of an A‘Kweth. (This was an invention of a pro writer. Is it Diane Duane, author of Spock‘s World?)

Through the help of a friend, Kirk uncovers a conspiracy involving Sybok to plunder sacred lands and decides to take the renegade Vulcan on by himself thinking to spare Spock from danger. Meanwhile Spock agrees to bond with another so that Kirk will be freed from Sybok‘s bond.

"The Hidden" is the third story in a four part series. This story is over fifty pages long, making it one of three long stories in the zine. I really hate reading serial stories. And I always have. I much prefer just reading one long novel, but there's nothing I can do about it in this case since I decided I would just go ahead and read this third part. I don't recall reading the first two stories from the brief summary given at the start. (But my memory sucks big time.) The names of the stories and zines they were in are listed in the beginning forward to the zine.

I have now just finished this story (I wrote the beginning paragraph before I really got started too far) and am mad that I decided to read it. I really hate being left up in the air with a "to be concluded." If I had realized that this third part was so obviously unfinished on its own, I never would have started it. I can only hope that I will remember this third part when I read the conclusion to come, but with my terrible memory that is unlikely. I honestly don't recommend this story unless you like to be tantalized after over fifty pages of reading. Frankly, I was alternately bored and fascinated by the story. There is a lot going on, but to me it did get tedious at times. Sometimes I couldn't wait to get to the next paragraph to find out what was going to happen next, and at other times I seriously considered flipping a few pages just to get to something more interesting. It is definitely a story which a lot of work and effort was put into, that I have to admit and admire. It's an ambitious project, that's for sure. I only read five stories in this zine Beyond Dreams 7 (the other two I decided not to read for other reasons) and this would be number five on my list of stories I liked with number one being my favorite. Perhaps since I finished reading after one AM and "The Hidden" was the last story I read, I didn't give the story a fair chance. That is entirely possible that I was too tired to give it a real chance.

I decided not to read one story because it was written in first person which I really hate. And I just wasn't in the mood to suffer through it. Sometimes I can do it and sometimes I cannot. And the other story seemed like it might be an attempt at humor, and I frankly wasn't into humorous stories when I read this zine which I did read in one day. Or night, I should say. I did read the first two paragraphs of the latter story, went "ugh," and flipped the pages to find something else to read.... And possibly this story MIGHT be a lot more interesting and better if I had read it along with the conclusion which is happening sometime in the future. I cannot overemphasize how much I disliked the "to be continued" nature of this story. I can take a serial if every section seems somewhat complete in itself. But this one is definitely not complete. It is left on a cliffhanger type of ending. And after all those pages, I was frankly severely irked (and "irked" is putting it mildly) to be left up there on that cliff.