Jim squinted as the bright light hit his eyes, coughing as a warm breeze brought sand and a sulfurous smell into his nostrils; he tried not to gag as he surveyed the landscape.
It looked like a huge scrapyard, piles of metal and components left in heaps, various fluids staining the sandy floor. The sky was a burnt yellow, he could see dust storms in the distance with crackles of lightening. He brought his sleeve up to cover his mouth "What is this place?"
"I have yet to find any indications of civilization, they appear to have a hive mind. We should leave"
"How long?"
"Barely 6 minutes"
They rounded a pile of waste material, a phaser blast sending them back into cover, Jim returned fire.
"It appears they have located the shuttlecraft" Spock said as he too returned fire.
"Oh really?" There was a screech as Jim's bolt hit its target. He fired again which distracted another allowing Spock to take it out. "We must hurry"
Spock ran to the shuttle keying in the entry sequence, it was one of the small 2-man shuttles, no warp drive just impulse, no weapons. "This is the one you chose?"
Spock looked at him while the rear hatch opened "It was the one with the least automatic computer functions, if I had taken one of the others it would have been affected by the same control virus as our main computer."
Jim stepped in, "wow", he looked around at the mess, consoles were half open, cabling hanging down, circuit boards left lying where they had been yanked out.
Spock paused "It was necessary to disconnect the shuttle's computer in an expedient manner"
Jim headed for the main seat in front of the console but at Spock's glare he redirected to the passenger seat.
Spock sat in the pilot's seat typing in a few commands, the shuttle shuddering to life, it lifted off withstanding a few phaser blasts from the surface, apparently the inertial dampers were also computer controlled so offline as well, he was lucky he didn't get travel sick, that reminded him "How did you get Bones to stay behind, I would've thought he'd be first in line to help rescue me"
"The doctor did not raise much resistance"
Another phaser hit "Was he unconscious?" it was meant as a joke but Spock paused glancing briefly up at him then back down. Was that guilt he saw?
"Bones was unconscious?"
The shuttle shuddered again "The Doctor was unconscious when I removed myself from his presence"
Jim studied him, Spock was being shifty, then he realised "You didn't?" at Spock's look "You did! Oh I am so not defending you when we get back on board. You do realise he is going to make your life a living hell"
"I am aware of the irascible nature of the good doctor"
When they got back Jim was going to settle down with popcorn for that fight, maybe he could sell tickets, the shuttle shuddered again, the console sparking. Spock winced as he pressed a few controls "Brace yourself, their systems will overload in 3…2…1"
The shuttle gave a violet shake as a bright flare shot up from the surface, Spock pressed the controls but they were not responding "I believe the engines may have been damaged by the detonation from the surface"
The ship rocked again as they cleared the atmosphere, as Jim looked out the side window he could see a small yellow planet appear as the cloak dropped he smiled at Spock "Good work" but Spock looked worried "I only have control of two manoeuvring thrusters and no way to slow the shuttle's inertia"
"Well that's not too bad we'll just float along 'til the Enterprise can pick us up"
Spock's eyes widened, then he glanced pointedly out the main window.
Jim felt his heart sink as he could see the Enterprise coming up directly ahead of them and from the fact the nacelles weren't lit; she obviously didn't have the power to move out of the way. "Ok then..."