Chapter One- Arriving

My eyes opened as I took a deep breath. I stared at the steel ceiling not even inches from my face. You would think one would feel refreshed and ready to go, but that wasn't really true. I felt sick and sluggish. The small bed I was laying on started to move; soon I was exposed to the large cryo vault. Hundreds of cyro capsules opened like the drawers they put the dead in at the morgue. Medical technicians bounced around in the zero-gravity tending to their patients. They were a mix of military and scientists. My body hovered over my drawer slash bed thingy. I would have been floating away do to the lack of gravity if it wasn't for the straps that held me down to the bed. A med tech floated to me smiling.

"Rise and shine, hun. We are finally here." He said with a grin. To my left I heard a hoarse whisper.

"Are we there?" It was a man, he seemed to be in his early twenties. The med tech who had spoken to me grinned.

"Were there, Sunshine."

People all around me began to pull themselves from their capsules. I unfastened the straps and pulled myself up. The man next to me got out at the same time. He gave me a goofy grin as he floated a little.

"Jake Sully, nice to meet you." He smiled to me holding his hand out to me. I smiled and took his hand shaking it.

"Ashlyn Peters, it is a pleasure to meet you Jake." He smiled. Before he could say anything else a voice came a crossed a loud speaker,

"People, you have been in cryo for five years, nine months and twenty two days. You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you feel nausea, please use the sacks provided for your convenience. The staff thanks you in advance." The voice ended and I looked to Jake, we both rolled our eyes .

He pushed away from his capsule and glided towards the lockers a crossed the aisle. That's when I noticed his legs. He was paralyzed. I felt pity overwhelm me. I couldn't help it. I was an emotional person when it came to these things. He looked so strong, he must be a soldier…Rather was a soldier. I pushed away from my capsule over to the lockers and searched for my name. Quickly finding it I used the key that had been given to me on the necklace around my neck. I retrieved my backpack and duffle bag.

After grabbing my stuff I floated toward the shuttle that had windows. It would be taking us down to the moon. I saw the giant gas planet Polyphemus, it was known to be ringed by dozens of moons, Including Pandora. I stared in awe. It was a beautiful sight.

We were ordered to strap in for our decent to Pandora. I was so excited. This was a rare occasion I would be one of the youngest to step foot on this planet. I was only nineteen. I knew we had made it into Pandora's atmosphere when my butt actually touched the bench.

We were flying over massive cliffs and towering mesas carpeted in rainforests. Great scarves of clouds swirled around the mesa tops. The landscape looked untouched and beautiful. It was vast and forbidding. All the trees looked alien, they were too cyan. I smiled thinking to myself; truthfully, we were the aliens not this land. Looking back out the window a flock of winged creatures passed next to the shuttle. They were huge, a mixture of a dragon and a dinosaur if you asked me.

Soon the forest began to thin and I felt pain strike my heart as an open-pit mine came into view. A lifeless crater like a cookie cutter had taken a chunk out of the world.

I heard soldiers joking about the hole and the scientist's comments of horror. Excavators and trucks roamed the area. They looked to be at least three stories high. Soon we came a crossed the human colony.

I sat back done seeing all of the destruction humanity had already inflicted on the land. The crew chief stomped down the aisle.

"Exopacks on!" He yelled.

I strapped mine to my face and looked around. Jake seemed to be having a bit of difficulty, but I didn't want to offer help. He seemed like he would be one to be offended by the offer of help. The exopacks we wore were lightweight filtration systems. We needed these because Pandora's air was toxic to the humans. I was snapped from my thoughts when the crew chief began speaking again.

"Remember people, you lose your mask you're unconscious in twenty seconds and you're dead in four minutes. Let's nobody be dead today, it looks bad on my report." The crew chief stopped by Jake long enough to bark,

"Exopack on, let's go!"

I couldn't help but to giggle when Jake stuck his tounge at the crew chief. He gave me his goofy grin from before. I knew I was going to see more of that smile.

Everyone was queued up in the aisles, with their duffle bags ready. I could feel the tension. Everyone stood straight, well almost everyone. Jake was slouched in his wheel chair. The cargo ramp opened with a hydraulic whine.

"Go directly into the base! Do not stop! Go straight inside!" the crew chief yelled.

I didn't run or walk fast. I took my regular normal pace. There was no rush in my mind. One of the large machinery passed by the tires reminded me of the old World War II tanks. I grimaced as I saw the arrows prodding out of the rubber. They looked as big as me. Apparently the relations with the indigidous were not on friendly terms. Not too far away there were some soldiers lounging around. I heard a whistle and I turned to see one wink at me. He pointed to me and rocked his hips. I narrowed my eyes turning away and heard the laughing. Men infuriated me so much, how could they publicly be idiots? Didn't they care about how others saw them? I let my nerves relax as I let my eyes wonder over the vast open fenced area.

"Look at all the new meat." I heard one say. I knew they had seen Jake when I heard the surprise and jocular tone in the man's voice,

"Check it out, man. Meals on wheels." The first man looked over in Jake's direction as I hovered near the door.

"Man, that's just wrong." I heard the first man say. I rolled my eyes. Jake rolled up near them and I grinned.

"What are you two limpdicks starin' at?" I heard Jake say and I just laughed moving closer to the door.

"Seen many men leave in wheel chairs, never seen one come in one." The man said getting up and leaving. I was still laughing at Jake's comment as I entered the station.