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Dedicated to exploring “the diverse sides of the Kirk/Spock relationship.”
[Editorial, #3]

#1 (1975)     #2 (1976)     #3 (1977)     #4 (1977)     #5/6 (1979)    #7 (?)    

"In a Pig's Eye" (p.?) / Beverly Volker

McCoy story

"Phase II" (p.?) - novella / Beverly Volker

"Eulogy" (p.?) / Nancy Kippax

"Not of That Feather" (p.?) / Nancy Kippax

"The Silent Connection" (p.?) / Nancy Kippax

"De Profundis" (p.?) / Connie Faddis

"Death is Only a Parting" (p.?) / Amy Falkowitz

"The Logic of Change" (p.?) / Jean Lorrah

"An Act of Love" (p.?) / Nancy Kippax

"The Logical Choice" (p.?) / Beverly Volker

"Denevan Orbit" (p.?) / Johanna Cantor

"Kert Rats: A Star Trek Fable" (p.?) / Nancy Kippax

"The Third Wheel" (p.?) / Connie Faddis

McCoy story

"Without the Gardener's Craft" (p.?) / Kathleen Penland

"Then to Piece the Broken Chain" (p. 1-22) / Nancy Kippax & Beverly Volker

To appease an ambassador on a taxi run, Kirk turns command over to Spock and becomes navigator. When Spock makes a decision with which Kirk disagrees, the relationship appears doomed until they come to their senses – with a little prodding from McCoy. Theme is strengthening the relationship through trial. Fine illustrations by Alice Jones.

"Abyss" (p. 24-25) / Joanne Powers

Get-‘em. Kirk and Spock are dying; Kirk is yanked back, leaving McCoy to have to tell him about Spock.

"The First Step" (p. 27-39) / Susan Dorsey

McCoy detects trouble between Kirk and Spock; as it turns out, Spock has determined to resign (condemning himself to death in his next pon farr) because of a not-yet-complete bond forming between himself and Kirk, rather than put him through what he perceives as degradation. Kirk convinces him otherwise.

"Nothing Gold Can Stay" (p. 40-53) / Martha J. Bonds

(Title from Frost poem)

Kirk and Spock explore an abandoned edifice in which they are overcome by memories evoking loneliness. Contact appears to help, but eventually, Kirk must knock Spock out to get him to safety. Unclear tie-in to Jim’s nightmares of the Enterprise being destroyed.

"Feu D’Amitie" (p. 56-60) / Nancy Kippax

On an early mission, Kirk and Spock cement their friendship as they are pinned down on a deathly hot planet, waiting for Enterprise to recover them.

* "When the Time Comes" (p. 62-68) / Beverly Volker

Kirk comes down with a fatal case of ectoneuralitis. He elicits Spock’s promise to kill him when he becomes helpless. This and the companion piece may be predictable, but are nicely executed.

"Not Yet Time" (p. 69-75) / Beverly Volker

Companion piece to the previous. McCoy is on to a lead towards a cure for Kirk, but they don’t tell him, afraid of building false hope. Kirk attempts suicide so that Spock won’t have to kill him – then Spock awakes, realizes what is going on, and rushes to tell Kirk about the potential therapy. Kirk puts his knife away.

Writing Contest (Issue #2) Results:

"The Test" (p. 76-80) / Sheila Clark

Kirk and Spock must participate in a manhood ordeal, crossing a valley of fear which they can only overcome by lo.. er, friendship. Not too smarmy, and quite well written.

"The Stars Go Down" (p. 80-82) / Cheryl Rice

Kirk and Spock declare their lo... er, friendship as they wait to die, having sabotaged an alien spaceship to prevent a fleet from invading our universe.

Untitled (p. 82) / Pat Stall

Spoof solution to the contest snippet, Kirk being on Spock’s foot. Brief & cute.

"Born of the Sun" (p. 85-95) / Johanna Cantor

Spock has sponsored a memorial to Edith Keeler on Vulcan, titled “Prophet.” Viewing it, Kirk reminisces over their days with her. Nicely written re-telling of “City” from Kirk’s pov.

"The Spider’s Web" (p. 98-106) / Susan K. James

Kirk and Spock are experimental subjects, respectively, of sensory and logic deprivation, to advanced aliens; to the experimenters’ surprise, they manage to assist one another to recovery.

"Difference Is a Virtue" (p. 109-114) / Marion Dougall

[reprinted from Log Entries (UK) #?]

McCoy and Spock must join forces – literally – to retrieve Kirk from clinical death. Surely it’s been done before, and since, but this is not a bad version of the scenario.

Phase II, Chapter 3: "The Reunion" (p. 115-152) / Beverly Volker & Nancy Kippax

Kirk and Spock became estranged – something to do with a love affair of one or both – 30 years ago; now they meet and reconcile as Enterprise is being decommissioned. There is tension between Spock and his son Stack, now commanding the Encounter with Peter Kirk as his first officer. The premise is interesting enough, but this episode was really pretty dull and a tad smarmy, just all the old crew catching up on the past many years, and some eulogies for the Enterprise.

Filk:

"The Enterprise Song", with music / Bev Volker & Kathy Burns

"You’re My Home, Enterprise" (Country Roads) / Marha J. Bonds

"The Only Other Thing" (p. 2-17) / Ginna LaCroix

Kirk must confront a childhood friend from Tarsus days, who continues to obsess about his family being deemed unworthy and slaughtered before his eyes while Kirk's people were allowed to live, and has become an anti-Federation terrorist. He finally has to kill the man, releasing an emotional storm in which he turns to Spock.

"Born of Ashes" (p. 19-72) / Martha J. Bonds

An omnipotent being - this one Osiris, the Phoenix - tortures Kirk and Spock in order to discover the secrets of their friendship. A surprisingly common theme that doesn't do much for me...

"The Hunger in the Mountain" (p.86-103) / Jennifer Weston

Kirk and Spock are stranded on a supposedly uninhabited planet and Spock is attacked by a large, swift, slime-moldy telepathic creature seeking to absorb him. Kirk joins in the mental battle to rescue him. Illos by Leslie Fish.

"The Real Thing" (p.106-110) / Sharon Schildknecht & Martha J. Bonds

Spoof. Kirk persuades Spock to join him in a fund-raising game show, and is disconcerted when Spock bests him. The game is rife with zine allusions.

"The Rack" (p. 114-169) / J. Emily Vance

Famous get-'em story in which Kirk and Spock are not lovers, but are rumored to be so. After Spock refuses a direct order to abandon a landing party headed by Kirk, and instead follows his own better judgment to successfully rescue them, Starfleet brass hound the men into separation "for the good of the service." Kirk is physically and psychologically weakened from an accident while all this is going on. Lots of angst and hurt/comfort between the two as they wrestle with the situation and eventually capitulate to Starfleet. As Spock is about to leave for his new assignment, he finds Kirk dead of an overdose of sleeping pills - whether accidental or deliberate is uncertain.

[Sequel:"All the King’s Horses, All the King’s Men" in Farthest Star #2.]

"Woe to Him Who Is Alone" (p. 2-29) / Linda White

Klingons have captured one member of a man/ship pair from another galaxy; finding it unmanageable, they send it to a planet where it terrorizes an archaeological team who call in the Enterprise. Trapped in a cave-in, Spock and Kirk establish rapport with the creature, which broadcasts its feelings. Reunited, the man/ship helps them deal with the Klingons and they help repair the man/ship for its return home.

"And Now Silence" (p. 35-39) / Teri White

Kirk visits Spock, who has been institutionalized with brain damage suffered on a mission.

"The Enchanted" (p.42-67) / Martha J. Bonds

Kirk and Spock are invaded by an entity which, not recognizing that they are two beings, keeps pulling them irresistably together, draining life from Spock into Kirk.

"In Your Place" (p.72-95) / Crystal Taylor

Kirk is ordered to participate in an exchange with a Billihallian captain. Along with some gushy breast-beating by Spock and Kirk at their separation (with McCoy attempting to comfort the grieving Vulcan), the story showcases Kirk's style of command, with his reliance on loyalty based on personal relations, in contrast with a more rigidly hierarchical system that does not encourage independent action. Interesting, though, that the ship under Kirk's command gets blown to bits while the Billihallian manages to keep Enterprise safe...

"Fire and Ice" (p.99-106) / Sandra Gent & Virginia Green

Get-'Em with an illo by Leslie Fish. Kirk and Spock are caught in an inferno planetside, and Spock is injured recovering what turns out to be a corpse. When Enterprise finally finds them and beams them aboard, only one form materializes... we never learn which.

"Shadowrider" (p. 108-128) / Susan K. James

When Kirk is injured on a planet seeded by the Providers, the local primitives heal him with a piece of high-tech machinery they don't understand - but it turns him into an ideal local, wiping out his memory. Spock finds him preparing for a wild horse-race to decide the new tribal leader, and plays on Kirk's compassion to try to stay near him until an automatic beam-up will be activated in 7 days. Unfortunately, his attempt at a mind-meld violates a taboo, alienating Kirk. Kirk is nearly killed in the race before Spock reaches him for beam-up.

"Vulcan Lies" (p. 129) / Shirley Passman

Spock soliloquy, denying his pain and wishes upon Kirk's death.

"But Up to Now" (p. 132-143) / Ginna LaCroix

"After the Flame" (p. 150-151) / Sibyl Hancock

"AFter the Challenge" (p.153-155) / Martha J. Bonds

"Thou More Than a Brother" (p. 158-173) / Theresa Wright

"Breathing Space" (p. 176-179) / Carol Frisbie & Susan K. James

"Watch in the Night" (p. 181-201) / Sibyl Hancock

Home is the Hunter [Contact #6] (p.1-137) / Nancy Kippax & Beverly Volker

Very heavy H/C. Caught spying on Anthrania, Kirk and his party are tortured and degraded for ten months before Kirk finally breaks down and gives a confession to save those left of his team. Back in the Federation, he must cope with the physical and psychological aftermath, including debriefing and his sense of betrayal by Starfleet, which failed to retrieve them. Spock attempts to provide a healing shore leave, but Kirk's psychological manifestations worsen and he calls in McCoy. Excellent Big Three characterization and confrontations as McCoy forces Kirk to face ever-worse memories, to Spock's alarm. Very graphic with the torture scenes.