He kept very still as he opened one eye. He saw that he was in some kind of ice cavern. It had a generator and other machinery in it. He could also see C-3PO standing beside a girl who wore a parka with a fur-lined hood, and also a man with a dark beard and thinning hair. The man wore a broad scarf around his neck and a gray tunic that was unmistakably an Imperial-issue officer’s uniform. Luke guessed that the girl was near his own age. He kept his eye open and remained motionless as he listened to the man speak.
“You disobeyed me, Frija,” the man said, “and jeopardized our safety! Fortunately, my experience as Imperial governor endows me with enough wisdom and resolve for both of us.”
An Imperial governor? Luke wondered how and why the man had come to be so far from Imperial space.
The man drew a sleek blaster pistol from a holster at his belt, aimed the weapon at C-3PO, and said, “Droid, dump your injured master outside in the storm. Then report back for dismantling.”
Before C-3PO could respond, the girl said, “Father, I won’t let you harm this droid or his master! They’ve crashed on Hoth as we did. They’re no threat!”
Hoth. Luke had never heard the planet’s name before.
The girl moved closer to her father, placing her gloved hand on his wrist to make him lower the blaster. “I need the company of someone my own age! Someone young. . . attractive. . .”
“You’re talking nonsense, Frija!” the man said as he yanked his wrist away, holding tight to the blaster. “Our survival depends on remaining alone! Trust me to eliminate this problem as an Imperial governor should!”
“Father, please!” Frija said. “I wasn’t meant to be isolated and alone as we are here. I need friends.. . companionship. . .“
“I know what’s best, Frija,” the man said as he swung the blaster in Luke’s direction. “Our safety cannot be imperiled for the sake of some half-frozen young fool!”
Luke had heard and seen enough. He swung his left leg up over the creature’s back and then flung himself at the armed man. Luke caught the man around the neck and shoulders, but the man moved with surprising speed, bending fast to flip Luke onto the floor.
Luke gasped as he hit the floor. He realized he was still weak. As he began to push himself up, his attacker leveled the blaster at him.
“Your efforts gained you one thing, my overeager young troublemaker,” the man said. “Death by blaster instead of being left to slowly freeze in Hoth’s night storms.”
But before the man could fire, Luke’s arm swung up from his side with dazzling swiftness as his own weapon ignited. The blaster shattered in the man’s grip.
The man looked dazed as his gaze traveled from his now-empty hand to Luke’s weapon. “W-what?”
“A lightsaber,” Luke said. “Weapon of the Jedi Knights. Funny. . . I’d think you were the right age to remember them.” Keeping the lightsaber activated and his eyes fixed on the man’s stunned face, Luke said, “Threepio, find their communicator and signal for help.”
“You’ll find that impossible, my young hero,” the man said with a scowl. “You’re stranded on Hoth.”
“Pay no attention, Threepio. Just find their communicator. A few quick bleeps on our emergency signal frequency will bring help without alerting the Empire.”
As Threepio tottered off toward a clustered array of technological equipment, the man glared at Luke and said, “Young fool. There’s no danger of alerting anyone.”
A moment later, C-3PO stepped away from the equipment and said, “I’ve found their communicator sir. Only, it’s as hopelessly damaged as the one on our wrecked ship!”
Still facing the man, Luke said, “All your other equipment is okay. I think you’ve deliberately isolated yourself on Hoth.”
The man sneered. “And you’ve joined us against my will.”
Frija had pulled back her hood to reveal her face. Luke noticed that she had incredibly beautiful eyes, an icy blue that was strangely appropriate for their cold surroundings. He was surprised that she was so pretty, especially in contrast to her foul-tempered father. He deactivated his lightsaber but continued to watch the older man cautiously.
Looking at her father, Frija said, “He could have killed you and didn’t. That proves he’s not dangerous.”
“His mere arrival has turned you against me, child,” the man said sadly. “I deserted the Empire to save us, and letting mere loneliness attract you to this young fool is going to ruin that!” He threw an angry, defiant gaze at Luke.
Luke had noticed an enclosed cabin with a heavy metal door. He gestured to it and said, “Lock him up, Threepio. I’ve got an idea.. . .“
* * *
The next morning, the skies were clear as Luke and Frija left the cavernous hideout. They were mounted on a pair of tauntauns, reptomammals that were native to Hoth. Luke rode the same tauntaun that had carried him to the cave from his crashed ship. Frija bad readily agreed to guide him back to his ship, although he had yet to explain the reason for their journey and why he had brought two empty saddle packs.
As the icy winds whipped at them, Luke said, “What were you doing away from your, uh, home when you found me and Threepio?”
“I was just out riding,” Frija said. “I do that sometimes, just to get away for a while. Where you come from, did you ever just go riding?”
Luke recalled his old landspeeder as he squinted at the bright landscape. “Yeah, only it was warmer outside. A lot warmer.” He smiled. “Frija, I’ll never be able to fully thank you for saving me.”
“I’m afraid I almost didn’t. When I found your ship, I snuck up to it and looked through the window. I saw you lying on the floor. Your droid was trying to revive you. Naturally, I wanted to help, but then I thought of my father, and how he would react. And then. . . I climbed back on my tauntaun and I started to ride away.”
“But you came back,” Luke said. “Why?”
Frija’s tauntaun made a grumbling sound, and she patted the side of the beast’s neck. “Because I’m not my father,” she said. “I couldn’t let you die. I just couldn’t.”
Luke smiled at her. “You’re very brave.”
“That’s kind of you to say,” Frija said sadly. “But I’d be a liar if I said I didn’t have a selfish interest in keeping you alive. Last night, I thought you were still unconscious up until you jumped off the tauntaun to stop my father, but. . . I guess you were awake, and you heard me, what I said about. . . needing someone young and attractive? To keep me company?”
Luke blushed. “Yeah,” he said. “I did hear you say that.”
“But I didn’t mean that I needed just anyone,” Frija said hastily. “I mean, I’m really, really glad I found you.”
“Me too,” Luke said, liking the girl more and more.
“There’s your ship,” Frija said, pointing to a distant gray spot in a wide white valley below their position. A fresh dusting of snow rested on the crashed vessel, which lay at an angle near a rocky outcropping.
As they rode down a hill toward the wreckage, Luke said, “Why didn’t your father seek refuge with the Rebel Alliance, Frija?”
“He hates both sides.”
Luke looked at Frija, expecting her to explain, but she didn’t. Although he was curious about the reasons for her father’s actions, he didn’t want to upset Frija with too many questions.
A moment later, Frija interrupted the silence. “I’m sorry about our communicator, Luke. My father smashed it when we first arrived here.”
Luke shook his head. “He’s sure serious about isolating the two of you from the Empire and the Rebellion. But I think I’ve got a solution to the problem, especially since Threepio locked him away where he can’t interfere.”
As their tauntauns arrived at the crash site, Frija said, “Luke, I’m willing to defy my father to help you, except. . . what can we do here?”
“Yeah, my ship’s communicator is as useless as yours,” Luke said. “However, between the two, I bet we can cannibalize enough parts for a work
ing model.”
They dismounted the tauntauns and entered the ship. Once inside, Frija huddled beside Luke while he began disassembling the components he needed. Despite the freezing temperature, Luke could feel the warmth of Frija’s breath against the side of his face.
It didn’t take long for Luke to gather the necessary components. When he was finished, he said, “That does it, Frija. With the parts we’ve salvaged from this wreck’s communicator, combined with the damaged one back at your cave, I’m sure I’ll be signaling the Rebel Alliance in no time.”
“It’s wonderful working with you, Luke,” Frija said. “Actually sharing some purpose. . . instead of just existing in isolation day after day as my father insists I do.”
Frija helped carry the parts out to the tauntauns and load them into the saddle packs Luke had brought. “You don’t know how happy I’ve been today,” she said, “sharing your company, doing meaningful work.”
“Hoth is a great place for hiding from the Empire, Frija,” he said as he secured the packs, “but for a young girl like you to be isolated here is —“
A man’s voice interrupted, “Her father’s business! Which you’ve interfered with for the last time!”
Luke and Frija turned fast to see the renegade Imperial governor staring down at them from a top nearby outcropping. The governor held a blaster rifle.
Luke had no idea how the governor had escaped from the base. He hoped that C-3PO was undamaged.
“Father, leave us alone!” Frija cried. “I’m happy helping Luke!”
“He’ll soon bring his Rebel friends swarming, Frija, and the Imperials won’t be far behind. The war I deserted the Empire to save us from will be right here on Hoth! You’ll thank me for this later, child.”
The governor aimed his rifle at Luke, who standing within arm’s reach of Frija. At the same moment the governor squeezed the trigger, Frija threw her body against Luke’s and shouted, “No!”
The energy beam crashed into the ground near the feet of the two tumbling figures, and the explosive noise echoed through the valley. Luke rolled quickly to his feet and pulled Frija up from the snow.
“Frija! You almost took that blast meant for me!”
“I won’t let him hurt you, Luke!” Frija said. “He won’t dare shoot again if I’m right beside you!”
“I can’t take that chance,” Luke said. He pointed to the tauntauns. “Get out of here, Frija. I don’t know where the governor got that blaster, but it’s me he wants, not you. I can handle him.”
Frija hesitated for just a moment. Then she grabbed the reins for Luke’s tauntaun and jumped up onto the back of her own.
The governor said, “I’ve weapons hidden in every compartment of our ice cave, Skywalker. That’s how I blasted my way out of confinement! I knew the day would come when Rebels or Imperials would threaten our safety here.” He took aim and fired again.
Luke leaped aside as the next energy beam slammed into the icy ground. As the governor prepared to fire once more, Luke looked at Frija and the tauntauns, who hadn’t budged. “He’s berserk!” Luke said. “Get those communicator parts to Threepio! I’ll draw your father’s fire!”
Hearing this, the governor said, “Communicator parts!”
Frija dug her boots into her tauntaun’s sides while she tugged the reins for the other tauntaun. Just as the beasts began moving away from Luke and the wrecked ship, another blaster shot rang out.
The blast caught Frija in the back. She fell from mount and collapsed against the snow.
Luke gasped.
The governor lowered his rifle. “Frija!” he cried. “No! I wanted to hit the pack with the communicator parts!”
Luke was outraged. He was already running for the governor as he drew and ignited his lightsaber. The governor heard the lightsaber’s energized hum and turned to see Luke’s approach. Glaring at the governor, Luke said bitterly, “You wanted to keep her cut off on this planet so badly you killed her!”
“It’s your fault my daughter turned against me!” the governor snapped. “It’s your fault I had to shoot her. . . and now you’ll die for it!” He raised his rifle.
Luke had no choice but to swing his lightsaber. Its blade met the rifle’s barrel just as the governor squeezed the trigger. The rifle jerked as it backfired a split second before the lightsaber swept through the sleeve of the governor’s tunic and across the back of his right hand.
The governor collapsed in the snow and lay motionless.
Luke stood over the governor’s body. He hadn’t meant to cut the man down, only disable his rifle. Luke was amazed that he had somehow avoided the rifle’s blast, but he was even more stunned by what he saw through the torn fabric across the governor’s chest.
Wires?
Luke bent down beside the lifeless form. The governor’s open wound exposed not only wires but other mechanical components. Luke noticed that a layer of synthetic flesh had peeled away from the back of the governor’s right hand to reveal bare metal fingers and joints.
He’s... an elaborate sort of droid!
“Luke?”
It was Frija, calling weakly from where she’d fallen. Both tauntauns remained standing a short distance from her.
Leaving the governor’s body, Luke ran through the snow until he arrived at the girl’s side. As he knelt down next to her, he saw that one of her hands was also an exposed tangle of wires and robotic metal fingers.
Frija was trying to push herself up from the ground. Luke’s eyes met her ice blue gaze. At first he wasn’t sure what to say. Then he saw her lower lip tremble.
“Frija,” he said. “I never meant for anything to happen to you or your father.”
“Don’t blame yourself, Luke!” Frija said. “We’re both mechanical. . . created by Imperial technicians.” She coughed exhaling steam into the frigid air.
Luke eased his arm under her back to elevate her head and shoulders. As he held her close against him, she continued, “We were designed to be decoys. . . programmed to imitate the real governor and his daughter so they could flee a Rebel attack.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Perhaps we were programmed too perfectly. My father’s survival instincts were so strong he had us escape instead.” She coughed again. “The Empire designed my father and me to be targets for the That’s why he hated both sides.”
Luke shook his head. “If I hadn’t crashed here, Frija, the two of you would be living safely and happily.”
“No,” Frija said. “Merely existing. And we weren’t created to last long.” She raised her hand and pressed her robotic fingers against the sleeve of Luke’s jacket.
Luke reached for her hand and held it in his own.
“You brought purpose and enjoyment to the time I had,” Frija said. “Don’t regret what happened here, Luke. I thank you for it.”
She coughed again, and Luke felt her hand slack.
“Rebuild the communicator,” Frija said, “and summon your friends. I’m sorry my father fought so against you. . . but I’m glad you came to Hoth.”
“For the chance to have known you, Frija, so am I... so am I.”
Frija closed her eyes, and her head tilted back.
Luke just sat there for a moment, holding Frija. He almost didn’t notice the snowflakes that had begun to fall from the darkening sky. And then he heard C-3PO calling to him.
Although C-3PO had been unable to prevent the governor from escaping the cave, he had followed the tracks through the snow until he arrived at the crash site. Greatly relieved to find Luke unharmed, he listened with interest as Luke told him that Frija and her father had been mechanical beings, and then explained why her father had been so angered by Luke’s arrival.
When Luke was finished, C-3PO said, “Fortunately, Frija didn’t share her father’s hatreds, sir. She seemed particularly happy with you.”
“Thanks to her, we’ll leave Hoth soon, Threepio,” Luke said. He lifted Frija’s body carefully from the ground.
C-3PO noticed Frija’s exposed rob
otic hand. “Most remarkable,” he said. “I believe the Alliance scientists will be quite interested in learning about this human replica droid.”
“But they won’t,” Luke said. He turned his head so the golden droid wouldn’t see his grief-stricken expression. “I’m going to bury her. And her father.”
* * *
After Luke and C-3PO returned with the tauntauns to the ice cave, Luke had no difficulty patching together a makeshift communicator. He quickly notified the Alliance of his whereabouts and proposed that they relocate their headquarters to the remote ice world. Soon he was reunited with his friends, and the Alliance Corps of Engineers went to work, expanding the original ice cave and creating many larger ones.
Star Wars - A New Hope - The Life of Luke Skywalker Page 8
