They're closing fast, bearing 285.

Question

In the movie "Star Trek Into Darkness", a female crew member of a shuttle being chased by a hostile aircraft says "They're closing fast, bearing 285."
What exactly does she mean by that?
The line starts at 0:24 but viewing the entire clip may be necessary to understand the context. It's one minute long.

Khoff · Accepted Answer

"They're closing fast" means they are getting closer and closer and will quickly catch up with us.  "Bearing 285" is some way of indicating their position or perhaps the direction they are travelling.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks!
Some follow-up questions:
(1) If she meant that the enemy aircraft were "getting closer and closer and will quickly catch up with us", why didn't she say "They're closing in fast" instead? Can you leave out the preposition "in" in this context?
(2) The verb "bear" means "to go or turn in the direction mentioned". If they are chasing us as in the clip, is it really relevant to those being chased where the chaser are headed? I mean, the chaser are literally chasing those being chased, and it's not like the chaser is heading towards a fixed direction such as 285. So I'm not sure whether "bearing 285" indicates the direction they are travelling.
If it indicates their position, it makes sense, but I don't know how you could indicate their position by "bearing 285" when the verb "bear" means "to go or turn in the direction mentioned".

Anonymous · Answer

Would anyone please answer my follow-up questions?

Clive · Answer

'Closing' is often used like this in a quasi-military or navigational context.
In addition, futuristic programs like Star Trek often have people speaking in a terse, clipped, abbreviated manner,
.eg They often say 'Understood' instead of 'I understand/That is understood'. It seems to add a sense of drama.

'Bearing 285' here refers to the direction 'from the Enterprise'. Think of it as the direction to which you must look.

Anonymous · Answer

Thanks, Clive.
No offense but I'm not convinced yet.

If the situation requires the speaker to speak in a terse manner, why didn't she simply say "They're getting faster" instead? Using "Understood." is not uncommon in even normal spoken English, but is it common in everyday spoken English to simply drop "in" after "close" when you actually mean "close in"? If it were common, most dictionaries would indicate that you could drop "in" from "close in". But I have not found one dictionary that says so.

Regarding 'bearing 285', I think that your interpretation makes sense. But your interpretation does not go well with the definition of "bear" (to go or turn in the direction mentioned). So there must be some other definition of "bear" that fits this context. Am I right?

Mister Micawber · Answer

AnonymousNo offense but I'm not convinced yet.

I second Clive's and jhoff''s explanations. It is clear that you are not so familiar with this kind of dialogue.

Anonymous · Answer

A bearing is an angle, measured clockwise from the north direction.

They're closing fast, bearing 285.

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