in the captain's chair

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!]

There was no one present in the open engineering bay to hear the steady, powerful hum of the ship's engines. Maintenance was busy elsewhere, still battling to repair the last of the serious damage that had been incurred in the fight with the Narada. At the moment no technicians were on hand in the vicinity of central cooling and water distribution, a largely automated corner of the ship that required little attention.

So it was that there was no one present to see the twin vertical columns of lambent particulate matter that swiftly solidified into the shapes of two human beings.

One of those figures stumbled, gasping, to look down at itself in amazement. Jim realized he was intact and breathed out a sigh of relief. His brain and attendant mechanical parts had all survived the impracticable, implausible journey in one piece. As he rose and began to slip out of his cold-weather outer clothing, a quick look around revealed that he was indeed in the engineering section of a starship. While no identification was readily at hand, he had little reason to doubt it was the Enterprise. If the elder Spock had managed the transport, surely he had also succeeded in putting them aboard their target vessel. Engineer Scott would confirm it.

( Where was Engineer Scott? )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from the ST novelization.]

A determined Jim likewise came in rigidly, but the hard touchdown did not disable him or send him tumbling over the side, unlike the unfortunate and foolish Olson. As air pulled him sideways he quickly hit the retract control on his suit. Slits immediately materialized in his chute to virtually eliminate drag just before it retracted cleanly back into its compact storage compartment. As he scrambled to his feet he realized they had caught another break: even at this altitude the air was still and there was virtually no wind.

( A shout in his helmet drew his attention... )

[NFB, NFI. Taken from the Star Trek novelization.]