Jones was a Starfleet communications officer assigned to an agricultural research outpost on Sherman's Planet in the 23rd century. In 2270, he and Jean Czerny were the only survivors of an earthquake there. He sent out a distress call to the USS Enterprise, but it was intercepted by the Klingon starship IKS Klolode II. When they found him in the communications room, they administered lourkain to prepare him for questioning, but he died shortly afterwards. (TOS novel: Pawns and Symbols)