To Protect and to Serve (Star Trek: TOS story)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	To Protect and to Serve
Author(s):	Alexis Fegan Black
Date(s):	1987
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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To Protect and to Serve is a Kirk/Spock story by Alexis Fegan Black.

It was published in the print zine Charisma #1 and also in Speed of Light... & other K/S stories.

Summary

"A/U: Captain Spock is given a gift from his crew to see him through pon farr, a hazel-eyed human who seems too self-possessed to be a slave."

Reactions and Reviews

Spock is captain of the Enterprise and is fast approaching Pon Farr. He goes to a rainy, moody planet in search of a slave to service his needs. Upon entering his hotel room, he finds a "present" from his loyal crew, chained to the bed in an exotic manner and wearing ancient Vulcan warrior slave get-up. Oh boy. This was, ahem, vivid.

There also was a small mention of the speed of light which tied in the overall theme of this anthology.

AFB is really masterful at the angst of internal dialogue, whether it be Spock or Kirk. Here, as Spock fights with his logical nature in the wake of Pon Farr, all the turmoil and emotions come into play. Such strong writing that is direct and moves the reader along with Spock.

Insightful writing and a neat surprise ending makes this one of many excellent AFB works.

There are a few other alternate universe stories around with this same idea. Spock is captain of the Enterprise in a different reality, he is entering pon farr, and he doesn't know what to do as he has no bondmate and he cannot imagine coupling with a member of his crew. In this story, he goes to the slave market of a planet the ship orbits. He is aware that the senior officers know what is happening and that they are very concerned for the "best captain in the fleet."

But Captain Spock does not find what he is looking for among the slaves, and he returns to his dirtside room thinking that he will be dead before morning. But when he walks through that door, he finds a beautiful human male chained to the bed. A gift from his crew to their beleaguered leader.

When Spock awakens after a night of passion that purges him of the flames of his Time, he is alone. He desperately wants to find his golden slave, but he realizes he'll never find him on the teeming streets of the planet. So he beams back aboard the Enterprise, only to find that his new first officer is aboard. Can you possibly guess who it is?

I really enjoy this particular scenario, but I think in this instance ifs a bit overdone. I would have edited about four or five pages total from this one, just to hone the excessive emotionalism. I like the story anyway.

[part of a longer review]: This story and this author are well-regarded, but tbh TP&S really annoys me for several reasons. How this plot works is crystal-clear from the beginning–though maybe it was surprising in its time, and what I find predictable is actually the result of my having been exposed to those ideas, adapted from this and other contemporary stuff. I like Black’s interest in cataloging emotional states. This aspect of the story is often unusual and insightful. Though for all the build-up, the actual SEX in this one isn’t very physically rendered? That’s sort of–delicately handled. This doesn’t feel much like erotica when it comes to the sex. And of course prep and lube are absent. Of course they are.