Chekov and Sulu's stations chirped various alerts, and the viewscreen recolored the magnetic field paths in warning red and orange on both the neutron star and the facility. A new set of twisting lines began to coil around the station, turning faster with each passing second, and in response the neutron star's field's were building up.
Spock stepped closer to the helm, frowning at the results. "Is it a starquake?"
Sulu made frantic adjustments to the long range sensor array. "No, it's coming from the station."
"The station? Has there been word from the captain or Mr. Scott?"
Chekov's eyes widened at one of the readouts. "Commander!"
The viewscreen's display of the facility began to distort around it, lensing the view of space beyond into a warped circle. A brief warning of 'Singularity Detected' flashed across Chekov and Sulu's stations, and the facility vanished, leaving a small shock wave in its wake as space closed around it. A heartbeat later, a new circular distortion appeared close to the perimeter set by the Waterbourne, and the station popped back into view. The sensors tracked the new orbit as it formed a safe distance from the magnetar, and the star's surface stress dropped several orders of magnitude.
Even Spock needed a moment to find his voice. "Captain," he said. The entire bridge waited, motionless, until Scott's voice broke over the audio system.
"We're here Commander. The captain and the rest of them have the computer system all sorted out." Spock heard more than one person exhale, and saw Chekov slump in his chair.
"What is the status of the structure's stability?"
Kirk's voice broke in. "The Inhabitants think they'll have enough time in this orbit to repair it, then move it somewhere safer long-term."
"The Inhabitants intend to keep the facility?"
"They do."
Arkoryx's nerve bundles writhed. Spock tried not to feel too satisfied with that outcome (though not very hard).
"Have any of you sustained injuries?"
"Nothing that can't wait. We'll transport back as soon as we can get everything finalized."
Spock thought it sounded like the truth, and when Dr. Tracy didn't break in with any conflicting reports he decided that this time it was. "We will be waiting, Captain."
Scott turned to Carol, looking possessed. "Please please please tell me you got readings on that," he said, eyes wide.
"I-yes, the probes should have, and I've had several streams saving to the tablets from the station this whole time."
"Yes, you're brilliant!" He seemed to realize that everyone not the captain was staring at him, and worked to calm himself, straightening out his uniform and smoothing his hair. "Ah, well, it's just I've never been through a controlled, stable wormhole before and, it would be a hell of a thing to look into. Is all."
Carol smiled at him, suddenly weak with relief. "Yes. Yes it would."
Tracy moved from the seat she'd been sitting in to kneel down near the captain. He was coated in a fine sheen of sweat and paler than usual, and when he opened his eyes he didn't seem to be able to focus on anything.
"I can't believe that actually worked," he said, voice shaking. Tracy ran her tricorder over him, looked at the results, then set it aside.
"You're a little shocky, Captain, so I want you to stay still. I've got a few things that should help stabilize you."
"Okay." He gave her a sideways look. "They're all shots, aren't they."
"If you want fewer shots you'll have to stop doing this kind of thing."
"You doctors are all the same." He winced as she administered them but otherwise held still. "Always wanting to poke people with sharp things."
Gaila made no effort to hide her smug smile. Carol couldn't tell if the captain noticed it.
"Pretty great job, to be honest." When Tracy was done she put her kit aside. "Give that about five minutes, then unhook yourself from the system."
"Got it. Thanks."
She patted him on the shoulder and took up her tricorder for another scan. Oureka moved closer and spoke to the captain in a voice too low for Carol to overhear.
When Tracy's scan was done, she nodded at him, and he leaned back and shut his eyes. Carol looked up at large, overhead display and watched as the entire connection reconfigured itself back to the discrete components she and Gaila had started with.
Unraveling the connection back to its looser state almost seemed to happen of its own accord. One moment, they were confirming the stability of the station and its operations and organizing the duties for the sub-AIs; the next, he was collapsing back into himself while something integral yanked free and drifted away. He reached out to stop it, begging it not to leave him on instinct, and for a moment he felt it return the sentiment. Then he remembered this was what was necessary and what they all wanted, and let it slip through his fingers.
He startled and found himself on the foam pad again, blinking away sweat and tears from his eyes. His uniform felt sticky and damp, and he wanted nothing more than to go somewhere quiet and dark. Oureka and Dr. Tracy were kneeling next to him, going over readings on their tablets. Tracy peered at him.
"All disconnected?"
"Mostly." He ran a hand over his face and tried to ignore the empty space where the integration had been.
Tracy didn't look convinced, but she nodded at Oureka, who made three precise taps on her tablet. The last threads of the facility's system disappeared, leaving him on the Pilots' channel. It was subdued compared to the station's sprawling systems, no matter that the endless stream of the Pilots' activity was still there. The Inhabitants were still present as well, though quiet as they concentrated on their new work managing the facility.
Jim started to lever himself up, wincing against how weak and stiff his muscles felt. Tracy and Oureka hovered nearby, ready to catch him, and when he managed a handful of steps without collapsing they pulled back.
With a last look around them at the computer control room, Jim said, "Let's get the hell out of here."