Space | Wednesday FT

On the bridge a strategy session was in full swing. Having no particular plan of his own other than to catch up to the homicidal Romulan called Nero and somehow stop him, Jim was willing to listen to suggestions no matter how outrageous or who their source. Had a coterie of the Enterprise's maintenance crew come before him with an idea, he would have listened to it with as much respect as he gave the thoughts of Chekov and the rest of the ship's tactical team.

But first they had to find some way to resolve the small matter of the distance separating them from the Narada.

"Can we catch up?" Jim finally asked the question that could not be avoided.

( Sulu had already run the simulation... )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from the ST novelization. Almost done!]

Space | Wednesday FT

It turned out that Scott's physics were far more accurate than his suppositions. Jim and Spock materialized right where the engineer said they should, in the center of the Narada's rambling, multicompartmented cargo bay.

It was not, however, empty.

Half a dozen crew reacted with surprise as the two Starfleet officers appeared in their midst, so close that there was barely time to react. Arriving mentally ready for combat, human and Vulcan lit into their foes with a deadly combination of speed, skill, and desperation. Unlike the Romulans, they had nowhere to go if they went down.

Fortunately, only one of the cargo bay workers was armed. Singling him out, Jim engaged him immediately. Mindful of the difficulty he'd had with hand-to-hand combat atop the drill platform in Vulcan's atmosphere, he made sure to go on the offensive immediately and not let up. Being general crew, this Romulan proved easier to get a hand on than the more highly trained specialist Jim had tackled high above Vulcan. That left Spock to deal with all the remaining Romulans.

( It was difficult to tell, but it was possible that he was pleased. )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from the ST novelization. All done except the epilogue!]