Bargains (Star Trek: TOS story)

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	Bargains
Author(s):	T’Other
Date(s):	1990
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
External Links:
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Bargains is a Kirk/Spock story by T’Other.

It was published in the print zine T'hy'la #12.

Summary

"This story is just a conversation, but using a great premise that I hope someone will write a novella about some day."

Reactions and Reviews

This two page story examines a subject that is too often neglected in our fiction, I believe, and that is the consequences that Kirk will have to pay for his actions to retrieve Spock from Genesis. Here he is denied a promotion that Spock believes he deserves, that of head of an Exploratory Task Force.

The tale is told in all dialogue, succinctly, but the characters are so sharply drawn nevertheless. Spock is upset for Kirk and tells him so, Kirk attempts to soothe him and explains that he always knew there would be a price to pay. They are both concerned that McCoy will beam down to the starbase and tell off higher ranking officers, so Kirk sends Spock on an errand to calm him down. He says, “Convince him that not doing it would be for my greater good. That usually works.” And Spock replies, “T’hy’la your reputation as one of the Fleet’s foremost strategists is not unfounded.”

This story is just a conversation, but using a great premise that I hope someone will write a novella about some day.

This small page and a half story proves once again a piece doesn‘t have to be long to be effective. Told only through dialog, it is the tale of the consequences that Jim Kirk must face when he rescues Spock from the Genesis planet. Though he has saved earth from the whale probe, Starfleet Command still regards him as a maverick, a loose cannon, and given the leadership of an expeditionary force to explore uncharted space to another.

Yes, Kirk wanted the job, but at the same time he knows that given the same set of circumstances he would follow the exact same course. After all his bondmate is alive and with him, and that is worth everything.

Kirk and Spock are so clearly and concisely portrayed that the reader can hear their voices in her head. Really nicely done.