The Greatest Stakes

K/S Fanfiction
Title:	The Greatest Stakes
Author(s):	Janis E. Laine
Date(s):	1989
Length:
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek: The Original Series
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The Greatest Stakes is a K/S story by Janice E. Laine.

It was published in the print zine Scattered Stars #1.

Summary

"Stranded on a backwater planet, Spock plans to win enough to return to Vulcan to hire a bond-surrogate for pon farr until he meets a hazel-eyed human also stranded there."

Reactions and Reviews

This was very well written. In fact, the first three pages could be the introduction to a novel. I have just a few quibbles. I don't think the fight scene in the middle of the sex scene was necessary, nor do I think our two could have just gone back to sex as easily as they did. Also, I want them to take McCoy with them when they leave.

Excellent story! I'm a Western fan anyway, so the image of Spock dressed as an elegant gambler '...ruffled white shirt, string tie...black trousers hugged the Vulcan's muscular thighs...' definitely puts me into heat. The setting reminded me of the delightful pro novel Ishmael. McCoy fit in just fine as a crusty old doctor for the saloon girls. Nice long detailed sex scene. I also like fight scenes as well as sex scenes, so to put a fight in the middle of Kirk's and Spock's sexual encounter was especially exciting to me. High-quality writing.

This is one author I wish would write more stories because she writes so excellently. I particularly admire the way she integrates descriptions smoothly into the narrative so that it is a natural part of the reading without being something separate on its own. I don't care for a/u in general, but this is one story I could get my teeth into because it was so easy to imagine Spock in the role of cool, collected galactic gambler. The other characters, including the minor ones, were brought to life in such a way that they seemed real without threatening to dominate the story. If there was any flaw, it may be that there needed to be a little more background on McCoy to explain his alcoholism. And if I read the symbolism of the black satchel correctly at the end, I would have liked to have been left with more direct hope that his life will also change for the better. (I already know that Kirk's and Spock's will!) So many illos are just faces or bodies, and it always makes a nice break when I come across one that contains some actual detail, as Chris Soto's did in this novella.