Through Erebus and Beyond

Fanfiction
Title:	Through Erebus and Beyond
Author(s):	Shelley Butler
Date(s):	1993
Length:
Genre(s):	slash
Fandom(s):	Star Trek: TOS
Relationship(s):	Kirk/Spock
External Links:
Click here for related articles on Fanlore.

Through Erebus and Beyond is a Kirk/Spock story by Shelley Butler. It was the winner of a STIFfie Award.

It was published in the print zine Within the Mirror #7.

Summary

"Marlena has Kirk sold into slavery after she realizes that it's Spock he now desires."

Reactions and Reviews

1993

This kept taking me to unexpected places.

This is about 40 pages of hot eroticism. It's wonderful if you like a/u S/M K/S slave/master stories. I sure do. The sex is harsh and heavy; the erotic fantasy is wild.

There's also a plot with the sex which is imaginative. I do have two quibbles. More explanation is needed to explain why Kirk thinks he's up for this third auction when it's probably not. There's some time confusion. And why does Raphael die? Poison?

Overall, this story is one of the best I've read and reread recently. And it's going into my file of favorites.

Wow! If you like "em hot and heavy this one's for you! There's a great deal of very vivid writing in this 41 page story, and it's obvious this author has a passionate love for Kirk and Spock. It oozes from the pages!

I did have some problems with it however. 1) As soon as an author tells me he (Dark) wore only four things, and then proceeds to list them as the masks, cloak, boots and who could forget the gold rings worn you know where, I log this in the old memory bank and proceed with the story. Next paragraph tells about the one black glove he also wore. This really took me out of the story.

I know it's a little thing but it is attention to details like these that make or break a story.

2) What killed Raphael? Last we saw he was stunned by Spock then he dies in JoNal's arms.

3) I'm afraid the S/M aspects disturbed me. Hurt/comfort I love, but this went a bit beyond where I was comfortable. By the last torture scene I found myself saying "Enough already."

4) One line about Kirk's wounds being tended to didn't quite prepare the reader for the unleashing of Spock's pon farr passions. After everything Kirk had been through, this seemed just too much.

After having said all that, I cant close this without commenting on the author's imaginative and passionate style. I really "saw" the scenes in extremely vivid detail. Shelley cares about these characters. She cares about writing. She cares about ideas, and thoughts and emotions. And that's why I will continue to read her work and look forward to more.

The eroticism of this story is wonderfully outrageous. I especially loved the sex show that Kirk performed in as a slave. Very steamy stuff! Unfortunately, I don't think the pon-farr aspect was handled well. Spock shouldn't have been able to explain his presence and how Kirk was while he was in plak-tow. In 'Amok Time", Spock barely managed to speak a few words. Coherent sentences should have been impossible when he's in such a condition. Spock also wouldn't be able to act as a gentle and considerate lover toward Kirk if he's in plak-tow. Pon-farr is supposed to have a special urgency that separates it from ordinary sex. Stories, like this one, which portray pon-farr as ordinary sex.seem to be denying Spock's alien nature.

1999

I didn't see how to talk about this story without talking about the storyline, so if you haven't read it, be warned that spoilers follow. I was intrigued immediately by this title. "Erebus," the footnote told me, is a place out of Greek mythology—a place through which souls pass on their way to Hades. Expecting a sweeping drama of mythic proportions, I was anything but disappointed.

I have a terrific fondness for an inspired opening line, and this one certainly qualified: "Marlena loved being the Captain's Woman." As the scene unfolds, we are treated to a unique and not entirely unsympathetic peek into Marlena's thoughts as she performs the service that's required of her. It's obvious that her mind is not on her job, and that though she may love being the Captain's Woman, she isn't particularly enamored of the Captain himself. No wonder! It seems there have been a lot of rumors flying around, about the Captain and his Vulcan first officer. And—salt on the wound—now he's cried out Spock's name in a delicate moment.

Marlena begins to plot. In an unusual (and very erotic) scene, she enlists the help of the one woman on board who can really feel her pain—Christine Chapel. I love the deft touch of dark humor the writer treats us to in these sequences. "'Say Christine,' as if this brilliant idea had just occurred to her, 'why don't you join me? I'm sure you could use a break from your work here. And I could use some company!'

"The spider grinned as the fly said, 'That would be great!'"

In other sequences, the prose sheds purple petals of melodrama. Spock is approaching pon farr (written as PON FARR in his thoughts!) and looks on Kirk as his "ersatz savior, the pretender to the throne of his katra." For my own tastes, I could have done with a bit of editorial rein here and there, but I must admit even in this I was charmed, mainly because the story is so mythic in scope. Overcome by passionate images of Kirk beneath him, unable to continue his duties on the bridge, Spock flees to the safety of his quarters.

Kirk, of course, follows. In a scene that literally made me sweat from tension, Spock tries to warn Kirk away from him. At last, his control cracking, he begs Kirk to leave. I love the way the author makes this a turning point, as Kirk is both terrified, and deeply touched, that his indomitable, unbendable Spock shows him that first glimpse of vulnerability.

Then—holy moly. In an incredibly erotic moment, as Spock has just revealed the words pon farr and Kirk is waiting for an explanation, Spock finds it impossible to focus on the conversation. "Spock saw the sweat glisten on the smooth skin of Kirk's well-defined chest. It made tiny rivulets down into hidden recesses. He imagined the hot lines of sweat running down between Kirk's buttocks, pooling briefly in the tight, puckered hole, then dripping to the delicate skin that covered plump testicles." Overwhelmed, he sweeps Kirk into a ravaging kiss—and Kirk, shocked at his powerlessness, flees.

Unfortunately, he runs straight into the arms of the plotting Moreau, and with a hypo from Christine, Moreau knocks him unconscious. He is sold, rather predictably, into slavery, zapped with a mind-wiping helmet, and taken off to auction. (I did really like his last thought as James Kirk, a fervent, "I know who I am!" Nice.)

That's where predictability ends. Spock, unable to control his fury at having Kirk taken from him, kills Moreau before he can find out where Kirk has gone. Meanwhile, Kirk is sold to an interesting guy named JoNal, who owns the most spectacular night club/resort/theater in the universe. Fun details about the club, which is called "Delight" because, "it was easily translatable into a myriad of languages." I really enjoyed the creative touches, like the unexpected appearance of a Star Trek guest star at the auction, and the unusual characterization of JoNal not as an evil, cruel reprobate, but rather a genteel businessman who takes great pride in his achievements and toasts with a colleague, "Here's to friendship..."

[MUCH snipped from this long review]

...This story pleased me on so many levels, and I was repeatedly struck by unique ideas and insights I've never encountered in fanfic before. It's an extremely imaginative, emotionally honest and passionate tale, with a wonderful sense of classical structure and just consequence. Each character is present for a reason, and each learns something important during the course of the story. Dramatic justice and irony are handled with a wonderfully deft, I suspect intuitive, grace.

This author should let loose with her creative muse as often as possible, because her muse obviously has very good instincts.