Chapter Seventeen

After being released from Sickbay and getting into a fight with Spock, Jim found himself stranded in a familiar wasteland. Marooned for telling the Captain he was an idiot, left to die of hypothermia on the wastes of Hoth unless something decided to eat him first. The Federation called this particular frozen hell Delta Vega, the Alliance called it home. For now, at least. Jim got his bearings, recorded a log-entry, and set off for Echo Base. It was the safest place to go, and he had the feeling someone was already waiting for him in the relative safety of the base.

Leia Organa leaned over a radar-station, hoping that the massive burst of signal-activity in the area hadn't already brought the Empire to their doorstep. Just over an hour ago, they had watched, horror-stricken, as the neighboring ally world of Vulcan had consumed itself, taking with it innumerable lives. Scans had detected Federation ships in the area, and a massive enemy ship that had no interest at all in the Alliance. As it was, they sheltered untold refugees from the ships, and several Vulcans as well. Another Federation ship had passed close through the system, she was hoping they weren't leading the Empire straight here. Leia jumped nearly a foot when a hand landed on her shoulder. She thought it was Han Solo, or her brother, Luke Skywalker, and turned to give them a piece of her mind for sneaking up on her like that. But it wasn't Han, and it wasn't Luke. Leia stood in utter shock and stared for so long, the man who'd taken her by surprise actually smiled.

"Surprise ya, little sister?"

"James!" she threw her arms around her brother, thrilled to see him, "What are you doing here?"

"Same thing the rest of your refugees are doing. I saw a few of our officers and tons of Vulcans."

"Oh, wait until Han and Luke find out you're here!" James just smirked and hugged her tightly. Something was wrong, though, his whole frame trembled. He went to get out of his gear, returning a short time later in Alliance cold-weather gear, and told her all of what had happened. Vulcan was gone, and the ship they'd detected going out of the system was the Enterprise. He was the ship's First Officer in place of it's usual First Officer, who was Captain since their commissioned Captain was being held hostage by a ship of Romulan crusaders bent on destroying the Federation by any means necessary.

"Oh, James."

"None of us are safe now, Leia. All we can do is survive." He looked so old, so wise when he said that, Leia felt so sorry for him. She knew he didn't want her pity and would come for comfort when he wanted it, not when she thought he needed it.

Wandering Echo Base, Jim stumbled across Han Solo arguing with a deck officer.

"What's going on here?"

"Luke hasn't checked in, at either entrance or by radio." Han looked at Jim, his frustration gnawing at Jim.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, sir, we've checked with all of our wardens."

"And that storm's not getting better." Jim turned from them.

"Commander Skywalker, sir, where are you going?"

"My brother's out there, I'm not leaving him out there to freeze to death!" Jim snarled.

"I'm coming with you, kid, you're no good to us or the Federation dead!" Han grabbed his stuff and followed Jim. They mounted a pair of Taun-Tauns and rode out into the blizzard to find Luke. Jim found him first and cursed his bad luck when his Taun-Taun just fell over and died of sheer cold. Dropping to his knees beside his brother, he tired to keep Luke coherent.

"Luke! Focus, brother, stay with me!" he grit his teeth against the cold, "I really don't want to die here!"

"J-Jim…Dagobah…" Luke tossed his head, "Yoda…Jedi…"

"Oh, this is bad." Jim yanked off a glove with his teeth and dragged Luke over to his Taun-Taun, digging out a thermal-blanket and throwing it over his brother while he tried to set up a tent. Han arrived and helped him get the tent erected, using their Taun-Tauns for a windbreak. It was a long, cold, bizarre night.

The next morning, when they were evacuating the base ahead of an Imperial ground-assault, Jim caught up with Spock Prime and got back to the Enterprise. He had a few extras this time, an odd fellow named Montgomery Scott, who was supposedly one of Starfleet's finest engineers. Or would be, if Spock Prime was right. His father also accompanied them. When they touched down on the Enterprise, Jim had to save Scott from the water-turbine, and try to outwit Security at the same time. It didn't take long for Security to corner them, and even less time for Security to realize they were arresting a Starfleet Admiral. Of course, Jim's generous use of the Force didn't make it easy on them either. He disarmed Richard Kadinski of his pistol one-handed.

"As much as you hate my guts, Kadinski, it's gonna look really bad on your record if it gets out you arrested Admiral Skywalker's son."

"You're trespassing, wormie!"

"No I'm not." Jim rolled his eyes, "Kadinski, I'm an officer of Starfleet and the Rebel Alliance, an officer in the direct chain of command aboard the Enterprise. My father is an Admiral of the same." Uncertain and unarmed, Kadinski had Jim and Scott taken into custody but left Jim's father well enough alone.

"I'll be up shortly to tell Spock kicking you off for talking sense into him was a really stupid thing to do."

"I'm looking forward to that, actually. I don't think he took me seriously the first time." Jim just smiled. He was interested to see how things had gone while he'd been stranded on Hoth with the Alliance. Off to the bridge, then, to see what Spock would do when he showed up again.