#aurelan kirk

[bluecrowsfly]

thinking about in The Final Frontier when Sybok dies and Jim is trying to comfort Spock about it and he's like "I know what it's like to lose a brother, I lost you...." and it's like yeah sure but you did also lose your actual brother. Sam Kirk is dead. He's not alive anymore. Your big brother Sam Kirk and his wife Aurelan Kirk are not alive anymore. You were there. Stop being gay and remember your brother idiot.

[your-name-is-jim]

I think about this a lot.

[anghraine]

I was enabled by @veliseraptor, tagging me in WIP Wednesday too! So I actually got back to the K/S f/f AU and wrote another bit of side-story that's been percolating through my head, if in a ... very tangential to the main fic way. It's centered on Aurelan's early romance with Sam and, well, foreboding.

Aurelan Trent was twenty-four when she met Sam Kirk. She and her newly-minted PhD in biochemistry had only been posted on Starbase 201 for a few months, but she already knew the ropes far better than the mild young man introduced to her as George Kirk. She wouldn’t have thought him a day over twenty; it turned out he was twenty-three, just a few months younger than Aurelan, and finishing his thesis in biology. They had no grand story to their friendship. Her team had requested more researchers with a pure biology background, and Starfleet sent several including Kirk, the closest to her in age, now working in the same laboratory. After long hours of analyzing genetic sequencing and some deeply strange RNA samples, it seemed natural for Aurelan to direct him to a small cafe where she usually took lunch—the coffee was far superior to the Starfleet cafeteria’s. He’d hovered a little awkwardly not far from her table, clearly not certain if her encouragement extended to sharing the long break with him.  She’d seen enough to respect him as a colleague, and found him pleasant and likable otherwise, in a slightly shy way she found charming. And there was no denying that he gave her something much more pleasant to look at than sixty-eight-year-old Dr. Hyde, despite a desperate attempt at facial hair that completely failed to obscure the light mobile prettiness of his features or the softness of his face. He was blond, too—his hair the kind of dark blond that could look either ashen or bright gold depending on the light—and it really did the mustache no favors. Personally, she thought that just made him more adorable.  Within two months, he had become the closest of her work friends and defended his thesis. The older, mustier scientists found nothing in extraordinary in this, and she guessed they’d forgotten what was it was like to be young and unsure if they’d ever contribute anything meaningful to their field. Aurelan took him out for dinner. Nothing happened except that when she toasted him as Dr. Kirk, he not only flushed but said under the general cacophony of applause, “You can call me Sam, you know.” “Sam?” said Aurelan, tossing back a gulp of brandy of uncertain provenance. “I thought your name was George.”

Kirk—Sam—smiled down at her, clearly a little hazy. “George Samuel. My father’s name is George. He’s a Starfleet biologist, too.”

Aurelan didn’t think much about it, except the flutter of gratification in her belly that, even several drinks in, she knew she couldn’t attribute to alcohol. He wasn’t quite drunk, and afterwards, he looked pleased whenever she called him Sam instead of Kirk or Dr. Kirk; he’d privately admitted the latter always made him feel like looking for his father.

Within four months, he was her closest friend on the base, and her early attraction and camaraderie had softened into something quieter but deeper that she didn’t consider love but didn’t feel friendship fully encompassed, either. They hadn’t even dated, technically. They just spent more and more lunches together, talking about work and hobbies and their families.

Aurelan found herself telling Sam about her strained relationship with her mother back on Earth, something she rarely admitted to anyone. Instead of vague platitudes about the importance of family and life on Earth and how she’d regret not reconciling with her parents someday, Sam just encouraged her to talk and listened, asking a few neutral questions.

“You seem happier now,” he remarked, which was the strongest thing he said in the whole conversation. “I mean, than you sound in how you talk about yourself on Earth.”

“I am,” said Aurelan fiercely. She stirred more cream into her coffee, staring at the swirl of liquid as it lightened to a creamy pale brown. “My mother’s not a bad person! Just miserable to live with. She couldn’t … any compliment, anything supportive, it always had some poison pill attached, you know? I don’t think she knows how to be happy for someone else without it being somehow about her. I’m not sure she could even grieve for someone else, really.”

Sam nodded, though she guessed that he didn’t actually know. He’d already told her he was a Starfleet brat: his mother in the security division, his father in science. The elder Dr. Kirk headed a Starfleet science team on Tarsus IV not altogether different from theirs, though of course Aurelan and Sam were just junior researchers; his father’s team had gone to the colony five years earlier, sent on a long-term study of some highly unpredictable flora found nowhere else. Sam’s mother was posted to the small security garrison there.

“Their samples must be incredibly intriguing,” she said. “I’ve never heard of chlorophyll that reacted with—” Aurelan broke off, already laughing. “But you’d know more about it than me. Anyway, I’m sure it’s been fascinating.”

He nodded eagerly, taking out a slightly battered PADD from the bag he always kept at his side

“Yes! Look, here’s a picture my sister sent me, a species she accidentally helped the team discover when she wandered off one day. Apparently the genus is related more closely to lilium than you’d expect so far from Earth, it’s kind of incredible that you’d get that near a genetic relationship even with such different properties and—”

Aurelan took the PADD carefully in her hands and studied the flowers. Parts of the picture were unfocused and peculiarly angled—she’d guess his sister was more interested in the aesthetic of the flowers, and perhaps the picture altogether, than capturing the scale of the stamens or odd purplish petals. Still, she’d caught the unusual colors and atypical ridges along the leaves.

“It is,” Aurelan agreed, taking off her glasses to lean closer to the PADD, eyes narrowing. She’d meant to get eye surgery for years, but always had something better to do with the time. “Wow, if they’d found this on Earth I’d definitely be planning to double check that it wasn’t some niche species of lilium. Or at least within Lilieae ... and it’s indigenous to Tarsus IV?”

“Apparently so,” said Sam brightly.

She let his explanation cycle back through her head, handing the PADD back to him.

“So how old is your sister, anyway? Younger than you, I’m guessing.”

“Oh, she’s only thirteen,” he said, slipping the PADD back in his bag and tilting his chair slightly backwards. Aurelan almost winced and he rocked the chair back forwards, his smile turning apologetic. “I was ten when she was born. Fourteen when our parents went back to hopping between posts on colonies and starbases until Dad got the Tarsus IV position. Starfleet was hoping for a ten-year longitudinal study and promised Mom a post in the security garrison to sweeten the offer, and family housing and everything so the scientists could bring their children.”

He had a gentle manner at almost any time, but Aurelan couldn’t miss the wistful affection of his smile, his eyes soft as he looked at his empty hands. Before she could say anything, he added,

“They were thrilled to get something that stable while Jess was growing up. Groundside, long-term, and Dad was genuinely fascinated on the professional side, so it was ideal.” His mouth pulled to the side. “I’d already headed off to the Academy by then, but Jess barely remembers Earth at all.”

“You miss them, don’t you?” she asked.

Sam glanced up, his expression turning sheepish. “Yeah. It’s a great opportunity, and if it wasn’t this, it’d be something else. I see them over video every month at least and Jess is always writing and sending pictures. My father even has a research assistant who’s really close to them, keeps an eye on her, though she swears she doesn’t need it any more.” He laughed under his breath. “I’d have done more than complain when I was thirteen, but she’s a better kid than I was. It’s just …” He rubbed at the side of his hand. “Seeing them all get older on video isn’t the same. My parents have a few lines they didn’t used to around their eyes, more grey. And Jess was just a little girl the last time I saw her in person, but now she looks so different. I write back as much as I can, but ...”

He looked a little lost.

“It’s not the same,” Aurelan finished. “Sam, that’s all right. Your parents sound like good people and I get the feeling your sister is a sweet girl. Of course you miss your family and want to be there for Jess.”

He relaxed at the time, clearly relieved she understood. Later, the exchange seemed impossibly innocent. Certainly, neither of them imagined that they would have to be there for Jessica Kirk, just weeks later—or the reason why.

[startrekvsfaceapp]

[thekoshertribble]

Women of Star Trek blog entry #18: “Operation: Annihilate!” Yeoman Zahra

Before Whoopi Goldberg, there was Maurishka Taliaferro. 

Most Trekkies know the story: Whoopi was inspired by Lt. Uhura as a child, and became a great Star Trek fan. When she heard that a second Star Trek series was going to be filmed, Whoopi Goldberg approached Gene Roddenberry for a role on his show, and after some convincing, she became Guinan, the hostess of Ten-Forward. The rest is history.

But Whoopi is not the first black female celebrity to be featured in Star Trek (nor would she be the last!) Twenty years before, a young celebrity model named Maurishka Taliaferro took interest in a brand new sci-fi series called Star Trek, so much so that she wanted to appear on it!  And that is how we got Yeoman Zahra in Operation: Annihilate! 

Sadly, we don’t learn very much about her character. She’s in several scenes throughout the episode, and she’s part of the landing party to Deneva, but she has very few lines, and she’s not even mentioned by name, only rank. (We learn her name from the credits.) But as I mentioned before in my entry on Charlene Masters in the Alternative Factor, the appearance of people of color, especially women of color, on the Original Series, is still significant given historical context. Clearly, Maurishka saw something in this series that Whoopi Goldberg saw as a child - a vision of a future where people were not judged by gender or race, but by their character - and both women wanted to be part of that vision. 

So while there’s unfortunately not much to discuss about Yeoman Zahra, I wanted to tell the story behind the woman who played her, especially since it’s Black History Month! Maurishka has a Memory Alpha page and an IMDB page, which I used as sources for this post, but sadly there wasn’t all that much I could find about her. If anyone else knows more, please leave a comment! I would like to know more about her and how she got a role on the Original Series.

BONUS ROUND!! (airhorn noises)

No, we’re not quite done yet! There’s one more woman who features in this episode who requires an honorable mention:  Aurelan Kirk.

Kirk’s sister-in-law appears briefly in the first act. She, like the rest of the planet, has become infected by the “horrible things” from another galaxy. Her husband is killed resisting them, and while on board the Enterprise, she just lives long enough to give Kirk some exposition. She dies screaming in his arms. I know it’s supposed to be a sad scene, but since we didn’t really get to know her - or the relationships between her, her husband Sam and Jim Kirk - it lacks the emotional punch we’re supposed to feel. Kind of disappointing, really. 

Once again, thank you for reading! 

Up next: Amok Time

[trekkele]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

Series: Part 3 of Keep the Lights On. Summary:

"Jimmy shoved a fist into his mouth and stared, big blue eyes and scrunched up nose. Maybe Sam didn’t like him much, but he was pretty good at this big brother thing after all.

And Jimmy wasn’t awful, after all."

There are days where Sam is shocked they made it this far. Then there are days where he knows the universe never stood a chance.

Sequel to Laugh Lines, featuring my favorite boys being bros.

Literally. It’s Sam and Jim.

[anghraine]

Thanks to @veliseraptor for the WIP Wednesday tag! It's my mother's birthday and I was busy, but I wanted to spend each day in October making progress on the f/f K/S AU, so I appreciated the prompting, even if I'm squeaking it in during the last minutes of the day :)

This bit is a direct sequel to the Sam/Aurelan backstory here.

Two weeks later, almost to the day, Sam was unexpectedly called away from the cells he was studying at his microscope. Apparently one of the higher-ups wanted to speak to him, someone above Dr. Daley, the head of the entire biology team. He got to his feet, quietly closing his communicator. “Do you mind finishing my analysis, Aurelan?” he asked. “I don’t know what this is about. It might be awhile.” “Of course not,” she said automatically, but frowned as she looked up, watching him bite his lip as he returned the communicator to its position at his hip. “You’re not in trouble, are you? I know you said you didn’t—” “I hope not,” said Sam. “I really don’t have a clue, though. I’ll let you know as soon as it’s over.”

That turned out to be the first, and one of the only, times that he didn’t keep his word. He was gone for over an hour, and apparently returned only to gather his PADD and personal bag while Aurelan was gone at lunch. He hadn’t even left a note.

She generally didn’t bother other scientists preoccupied with their work, but she pestered Dr. Li about Sam’s disappearance until he told her to do her job or take leave herself. Nobody knew what Kirk had done wrong, if anything, and if anyone did know, they weren’t talking.

Not even Sam, Aurelan thought, tapping her nail against the side of the microscopic. But he’d only asked one thing of her—finishing the analysis they’d been working on for the last week.

She set aside her own work and quietly finished Sam’s study of the cellular walls of a local pseudo-gastropod. Convergent evolution had always fascinated them both, the way that even in the stars, one could find kinship without deliberation or shared origins. They’d spent hours talking about the species in question, which bore a very distinct phenotypical resemblance to Terran snails despite emerging on the moon of a gas giant three times the size of Jupiter, though of course snails themselves were remarkably diverse and varied.

But today, alone, she found it difficult to concentrate on the cells of invertebrates. Only forcing herself back to work allowed her to finish Sam’s work with her usual competence.

She slowly packed and walked home, no longer accustomed to spending the first half of the mile-long walk alone. They often chatted after work, even standing in place for awhile before going their separate ways. It felt odd, now, to walk alone, though she had done it for months before his arrival.

If he was being called on the carpet for some professional failure, that shouldn’t come from any higher than Dr. Li, or at most Dr. Daley, unless it was truly monumental. She couldn’t imagine it.

She’d been home for nearly two hours, stirring an uninspiring dinner on the stove, when her PADD finally chimed at her. Maybe she’d assigned a personalized sound to Sam after they talked about their families. Chimes fit him, somehow.

Aurelan scrambled for the PADD, hoping it wouldn’t reveal some form of discommendation. But it had to be something big.

The message came from his officially-assigned ID (Lieutenant George S. Kirk, PhD, science division | biology) and was very short.

Hi Aurelan,

Sorry for the late notice. Starfleet gave me the week off. There was an accident in the labs on Tarsus IV, apparently the whole team is lost and communications are down. They’re not 100% sure what happened but very sure my father died. I needed to go clear my head. I’ll try to meet up with you sometime this week.

Sorry again, but I’m sure you understand.

Sam

[sinkingorswimming]

...Inspired by true events.

Sam Kirk wakes up at 7:30 in the morning the day after his wedding to his phone blowing up like the world is fucking screeching to a halt. His doorbell is also ringing and he doesn’t understand why the hell people can’t just like...let them be.

There is a vague noise coming from Aurelan that sort of sounds like “not putting on clothes you get it” but as if it was one really long word. So Sam fortifies himself, pulls on a pair of sweatpants, and answers their apartment door. 

On the other side is Leonard McCoy, Aurelan’s oldest friend. He was in her wedding party as a...well, he can’t really be called a bridesmaid, but he’s like a brother to her and she loves him dearly. Leonard is still wearing his suit from the night before, though the tie is gone, the shirt is unbuttoned, and the pocket square is more like pocket balled up wad of Kleenex.

They stare at each other.

“Hi,” Leonard says after a few minutes. “Um. Jim’s out of coffee.”

Sam’s younger brother and best man lives one floor up from him and Aurelan. Why would Leonard know Jim is out of coffee? 

“Sure...” Sam says as he runs to the kitchen and grabs the open bag of Sumatra. He hands it to the bridesman. “Anything else?”

“No,”Leonard says. “Pretend this didn’t happen and return to consummating your nuptials. Have a nice day.”

He goes, and Sam stares after him before closing the door. Then Sam retreats to his bedroom, and pulls up his phone. The notifications are primarily friends from around the world hitting him up on Twitter shouting Mazel Tov at him and requesting video of him stepping on the glass, when one Tweet in particular catches his eye.

It’s actually an Instagram photo sent from Jim’s account having used the hashtag for their wedding. He opens the link and reads the caption.

“#thekirksbehitching off to bless the marriage by bedding a bridesmaid ;)”

Except the picture is Jim making out with Leonard. And Sam and Aurelan left before their friends did at the reception, but he does now remember Jim and Leonard sitting next to each other at the table and chatting a bunch.

He can’t help it. He cracks up laughing.

Aurelan groans, grabs his pillow and places it over her entire head, which considering how thick her braids are says a lot. “Stop. Stop. Stahp.”

“Your boy and mine are sleeping together,” Sam says. He climbs back into bed with her, pulling the pillow off and rubbing her shoulder. 

Aurelan makes a weird sound. “It’s too early to deal with this. Tell me again at two pm.”

Sam snorts. He cuddles up to her, and they go back to sleep.

Eighteen months later there’s another wedding at the Kirk family’s temple, and this time Sam is the best man and Aurelan is the best woman. And both of them can’t stop smiling the whole ceremony.