"Don't tell me the odds!" Lieutenant Commander Frevik Targon snarled. His commanding officer was trying to stop him from going out to find her. It wasn't going to happen. He was going to find her or die trying.
"Frevik, don't be a goddamned idiot! I can't afford to lose two people!"
"Dammit, Maneh! She's my responsibility. I sent her out there and I'll be damned if her death will be on my conscience!" With that Frevik leaped onto his giant tauntaun, Gluupor, and sped out of Echo Base.
The Rebel Alliance had long ago defeated the evil Empire despite their massive loss on Hoth. Now the Alliance was set on rebuilding all that'd been destroyed during the civil war. The once lost Echo Base is just one foothold in the galaxy the Alliance hopes to reassert. Criminal activity in the Hoth system had become overwhelming; smugglers and vagabonds came to Hoth seeking the highly valuable lumni-spice.
Frevik's job was to oversee patrols of the Great Fissure-the deep caverns that led to the canyon along Hoth's equator. It was there criminals went in search of lumni-spice. He was always surprised at the number of criminals coming to Hoth considering how fucking cold it was. But then again, the temperature matched the criminal's hearts, he guessed. Often he'd find bodies of people left behind, frozen to death along the fissure. Greed
can
kill.
"Hiyah!" Frevik spurned Gluupor on, racing toward where he'd sent Sub-Lieutenant Maila Solvan nearly twelve hours ago. She was supposed to have reported back in two hours ago and the sun was near setting. Hoth after the sun went down was cruel place. The temperature during broad daylight was barely tolerable, but after the sun set...it was unsurvivable.
He could kick himself for sending Maila out there by herself. He could kick himself harder for not going after her sooner, when they'd lost contact. He hadn't wanted to give himself away; and now she could die because of his fear Commander Maneh would suspect there was something more than professional between him and the beautiful Sub-Lieutenant.
And gods, was she beautiful.
Maila Solvan arrived on Hoth five months after Frevik. She'd been sent there because of her ability to persevere in difficult climates. She'd survived a four month stint on the frozen planet, Khorm, without one complaint.
Immediately sparks ignited between Maila and her commanding officer—Frevik.
He couldn't help himself. He knew he shouldn't lust after a subordinate; especially one under his direct command. But Maila was a bundle of amazing contradictions. She was small yet strong as a bull. She was slight but generated more heat than he did. She was breathtakingly beautiful yet she had inside her skull the most devious and strategic mind he'd ever encountered.
They'd only stolen a few hurried kisses immediately regretted by both. Now, as Frevik raced out to find his missing officer, what he regretted most was not having tasted the whole package, of not taking it when he could. Despite their victory, life in the galaxy wasn't as safe and comfortable they'd like it to be. There were no guarantees any of them would be alive the next day. Now he faced with the possibility of losing her. He didn't want to lose the only woman who'd ever ignited more than just his body.
Frevik kicked Gluuper harder, demanding more from his tauntaun than ever before. His hearbeat was jacked into fifth gear terrified of not finding her. He
had
to find her. Considering the suns rising tomorrow in a world without Maila in it scared him more than facing a Wampa unarmed.
Maila Solvan hugged herself tight against the ledge of ice. Her back was against the wall, her feet braced on the small step she'd managed to land on. God, where were they? She'd fallen into the fissure three hours ago. Two hours after she was supposed to report in. Why hadn't they investigated yet?
She could understand Commander Maneh not noticing her gone. If it didn't affect the bottom line, that bastard didn't blink an eye. But not Frevik. Frevik would have noticed immediately. So where was he?
Maila wrapped her arms around herself tighter.
He'd come. He'd come.
Three hours prior the ground shook from yet another asteroid pelting the planet, probably within one hundred kilometers. It happened often. Hoth was the sixth planet in the Hoth system and a frequent target to large rocks entering the small solar system. Normally the shaking wouldn't have bothered her, but it'd caught her off guard, as she was peering over the entrance to the equatorial canyon, looking for suspicious behavior.
That's when she'd lost her footing and slid down the side of the ice canyon and onto the ledge she currently occupied.
Maila rubbed her hands together, trying to generate some heat. The sun would be going down in less than an hour. The shade was already making her bones ache with cold. If she didn't get back to echo base or in some other protective shelter soon, she'd be a goner.
Hurry, Frevik, her mind screamed.
"Mailaaaa...." a voice on the wind screamed her name.
"Here!" She screamed as loud as she could, the cold making her voice choke.
"Maila!" Frevik's head poked over the side of the cliff.
Maila screamed in recognition, fear and relief jetting through her body at the same time. Relief at him being there; fear of him being in danger because of her.
"Hold on! I'm going to get you out of there!" Frevik walked away and came back with a rope.
Maila tried to grab the rope but her hands were too cold to grip. In the extreme cold extremities lost their strength first.
"I can't, Frevik. I'm too cold."
Frevik dragged the rope back up and made a loop. He tossed it back down and told her to get in it while he hooked the other end to the saddle on his tauntaun.
"Gluuper's gonna move forward and pull you up. Can you manage to hold on?"
Maila nodded, wrapping her body in the loop he'd made, not sure if she could keep a hold, but determined to try. At least she didn't have to pull herself up. She could hold on, dammit.
The tauntaun dragged her up slowly, making it easier for her to stay with the rope. She'd slipped down about twenty feet.
When she slid over the edge Frevik grabbed her and lifted her upright, holding tight in his arms.
"Maila!" He squeezed hard, reassuring himself she was alive.
"Frevik, I'm glad to see you too." Maila pulled away and saw the relief on his face. "But if we don't get moving, we're not going to make it much longer."
Frevik lifted her up onto the tauntaun, her once strong body frail from the exposure. "We won't make it back to the base. But I've got an idea."
Frevik took Maila into a small cavern at the base of the fissure. Once occupied by a wampa ice creature, the cave had been abandoned. It was full of unfortunate mercenaries who'd met their death while hunting for lumni-spice. He brought Maila and Gluuper into a small cutoff room that would protect them from the wind and quickly set up a fire with a small gas machine. The room was pure ice and would encase the heat much like an igloo allowing them to survive the night if they could get the temperatures up fast enough.
Frevik looked to Gluuper. There was always the tauntaun solution if they became desperate. But god he hoped it wouldn't come to that. Frevik didn't think he could handle the smell.
Soon the heat from the fire generator spread enough to stave off the blistering cold of night. It wasn't cozy by any means but if they were smart and shared body heat there was a good chance they'd survive until morning.
"What the hell happened out there?" Frevik asked after he got Maila settled.
"An asteroid struck in the northwestern region sending a shake."
"What's new? This place is a veritable asteroid pimple field."
"Yeah." Maila laughed, her voice beginning to defrost with the meager warmth. "But I was perched over the edge at exactly the wrong moment. God, five more feet to the left and I would've fallen another hundred feet."
"What were you thinking?" Frevik actually sounded mad.
"I was thinking I heard a goddamn transport operating down there!" Maila became defensive. She was a damn good operative and having her actions questioned wasn't something she was used to. Especially from Frevik.
"Yeah, well look where it got you! Almost dead! Next time, you radio in a report before you do anything so goddamn stupid!" Frevik was full out yelling now, angry at almost losing her. Angry at not forcing her to take someone with her, allowing her the choice of surveying by herself. His blue eyes were afire with his anger, a much safer emotion than the despair threatening to take over his heart.
Maila stood up, stretching to her full five feet. She stared straight up at him, still a foot under his six feet but her attitude taking her the rest of the way.
"I've seen you dangle your ass over worse and you're telling me I was being irresponsible? Who the fuck are you to talk?"
