Jim Kirk was relieved that he had not been sucked out into space as he leaned back on the console behind him. That had been a hard fight with Krall…Balthazar Edison. He had some bruises from that fight and he was starting to feel them now that he was still.
"You guys got any idea how to land this thing besides crashing?" Bones asked from his perch up above them as he was still flying the swarm ship.
Jim and Spock looked up at him. "I'm not kidding!" Bones declared. "Spock can tell you, the last time, I crashed!"
"Well, it can't be that hard," Jim said.
"Don't tell me that! I'm a doctor, not a pilot!"
"Doctor, you have done quite well at piloting this ship," Spock said.
"Who's ever heard of sitting like this to pilot a ship anyway? What's the idea?"
Jim stood up. "Well, I don't know anything about this ship," he said.
"You're still a pilot," Bones replied. "Now, tell me how to land this thing!"
"Just when I thought it was over."
Jim was not sure how he could help Bones. "You just have to set it down easily," he said.
"Jim, this thing only goes one speed that I have found, and that's fast!" Bones replied.
Jim got into the other seat. "I guess they don't think they need a co-pilot."
"Not only that, but the language on this thing is alien."
"Now, wait, you stopped to get me so that's how you land. You just stop and…let it down."
"Alright, but if we crash again…"
"Stop thinking about crashing. Think about landing…softly."
Bones took the ship back around through the city, causing Jim to cringe at the closeness they came to the buildings. "You could land on the water," he suggested.
"I don't have any desire to get wet," Bones said. "If I ever get out of this thing, don't ask me to pilot another ship. It's like flying in a sardine can. Can't move to either side or up or down either."
Bones came to the landing dock where most ships were. "Just take it easy, Bones," Jim said. "Stop over the landing dock and just set it down."
"And then what?" Bones asked.
"Shut it down!"
Bones got over the dock and stopped the ship. "Now, tell me how to make it go down," he said.
"Uh…well."
"The lever in front of you to your right, I believe is the right one," Spock said. "Push that lever down…slowly."
Bones took hold of the lever and pushed it down and the ship definitely dropped. "Oh! I think that was it!" he said. He pushed the lever down slower and finally they touched down on the deck, none too gently.
Jim grimaced. "You're sure not a pilot," he said.
"I think that's just what I said."
"Shut this thing down and let's get out of here."
Bones figured out how to shut the ship down, and they climbed out. Jim was glad he was standing on the ground again. He felt exhausted. He had been floating around in the top of Yorktown, and almost sucked into space. Bones walked over to him. "You alright?" he asked as he looked at his bruised and bloodied face. "I'm sure I can get some better medical equipment in this snowglobe."
"I'm sure you can, Bones," Jim replied.
"Why anyone wants to live in a bubble, I'll never know."
"It's not a bubble."
"It…never mind."
They started toward the building they were at. "I think I'm gonna sleep a week," Bones said. "I feel like I've been awake forever."
"Forever is quite an exaggeration, Doctor," Spock replied. "We have been awake for approximately…"
"Please don't give me details. Let's get to the medical bay. I think all three of us could use a good head examination. The next time we end up on an alien ship, will one of you please not let me jump in the pilot's seat."
"I cannot think of a worse scenario than having you as a pilot. If you must go on like this, you are a terrible student when someone tells you to evade."
"How exactly do you evade when you're in the middle of a swarm?"
"You evade any way that is possible."
"That's easy for you to say. You were just yelling instructions."
"I was not yelling."
"Oh, well excuse me." Bones looked at Jim. "You should have heard him. He actually raised his voice."
"I did no such thing."
"You guys, we all survived," Jim said. "Let's just leave it at that and hope we don't get into anything like this again."
"I would be glad to never get into anything such as this again," Spock declared. "However, as we have two more years on this mission, I believe it is likely that we will run into more trouble."
"You can probably just bet on that," Bones said.
They got into a turbo lift after they found out where the medical bay was. They were soon at the right level and went down to the medical bay which was like any other. Jim thought Bones could make himself at home anywhere that there was medical equipment. He was soon lying on a medical bed and Bones was patching him up once again. "Who's gonna patch you up?" he asked.
"I don't need patching," Bones replied.
"What about that bonk on the head? You were knocked out, weren't you?"
"Yeah, but…"
"No buts. What would you say if it was me?"
"Are you ordering me?"
"Yeah. And finish patching Spock up too."
"You just lay still. You're gonna have a black eye for a while, it looks like."
"Doesn't matter. You can't always fix everything, Bones."
"We're going for a drink after this. I think we deserve one."
