Loading dock forty-seven is packed. Marines and scientists and personnel making their way to the shuttles waiting to take them to the ISV while others are guiding large equipment and supplies to their own personalized shuttles. None of them seem to care about the man in the wheelchair attempting to navigate his way to the shuttle, but she does, and their's something familiar about his that makes her adjust her grip on her bag before sifting through the crowd toward the man.
"I'm going to go out on a limb," She says as she settles at the man's side, "and say you're one of the new drivers."
The man's entire body goes taut before relaxing and it reminds her more of a marine than a scientist. Which is weird because most of the avatar drivers have history as a scientist... In one way or another. And she's thinking about the strangeness of it when he looks up at her.
She suddenly understands why he looks so familiar.
"Suppose so," the man says, "I'm Jake Sully."
"Elena Fierro."
She doesn't tell him she's sorry for his loss. It wouldn't do anything. He's heard it all before and Elena knows that most of the people who've said it to him didn't actually mean anything by it. They didn't know Tom, they didn't know what their relationship was like. Tom Sully was a good man, a great man, kind and considerate but he'd never been particularly close to Elena.
Tom was more Norm's friend then hers and while she can acknowledge his brilliance and mourn his loss there was never really any relationship between the two.
So she keeps her mouth shut and makes her way to the shuttle.
"You a driver too?"
"Yeah, we'll be seeing a lot of each other in the next several years."
"You a scientist then?" Jake asks.
"Yeah, I got my degree in cultural and biological Anthropology." Elena tucks a wayward strand of dark hair behind her ear and slips behind Jake's wheelchair as they near the shuttle doors. "What about you?"
"Tommy was the scientist... I'm just the grunt."
"So basically because your DNA matches his Avatar the RDA wants you to take his place."
"Something like that."
She waits until he's cleared the little gap separating the shuttle from the platform before following him into the vehicle that will take them to the ISV that will carry them to Pandora. They settle toward the back where a handicap slot is waiting.
"Well, it's probably a good thing that you're coming."
Elena doesn't tell Jake that because of the bad blood between the Na'vi and the people of Hell's Gate some of the drivers have lost their avatars in the jungle... She doesn't tell him that there have been more then a few attacks from the Na'vi. Not that she blames them. She'd be angry too if she had to go through the shit they go through on a daily basis.
It's one of the reasons she joined the program.
Getting a degree in Anthropology had seemed like one of the best ways to build bridges between the Na'vi and the humans, understand one species and relate those things to another. It seems like a good idea in theory. Her uncle Max had thought it was a good idea when she'd discussed it with him at the time. Hell, he'd even helped her get through the Avatar Program.
Elena would still be sitting behind a desk if it hadn't been for Max and Dr. Augustine's insistence that she come and Elena's own determination to finish the program as soon as possible.
"Ten minutes to departure." The animated voice of the shuttle's warning system slices through the loud chatter around them.
A quick glance out the small shuttle window tells Elena that most of the people still on the platform will not be joining them on this flight. Which means they'll be taking off soon.
Oh, it shouldn't be too bad.
The program had required all of the people leaving Earth for Pandora to undergo simulations. To makes sure they could handle the stress of leaving Earth's damaged atmosphere as well as that of entering Pandora's healthy one. They're two completely different experiences. Frankly, Elena liked the Pandora simulator better as Earth's atmosphere will cause a difficult transition from the ground to the satellite littered space around the ISV.
Doesn't mean entering Pandora's atmosphere is going to be... Pleasant.
Not after more than five years in Cryo.
"Is it too late to quite?" Jake asks, tone filled with gentle laughter.
"Oh, definitely." Elena replies as she makes sure her seat-belt is secure.
Jake snorts and it's one of the sweetest things Elena has heard seeing as he probably hasn't laughed like that since Tom died.
Privately, Elena hopes the bastard that did it rots in whatever fucked up version of Hell awaits him.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please fasine your seat-belts. The shuttle will be departing in one minute."
There's a collective breath from the occupants of the shuttle, none of them wanting to be there longer then strictly necessary. No one likes the shuttles, no one likes being in one space too long, no one likes waiting. Which is what they've been doing for the past three days. Which is what their bodies will be doing for the next five plus years.
Elena settles back in the seat, fingers curling tight around the bar in front of her as opposed to the arm rests.
Who the fuck uses armrests anyway?
Suddenly there's a sharp rumble and the shuttle is shooting into the air. Elena grunts, body swaying slightly from side to side, eyes clenched tight, breath coming in heavy pants. Beside her Jake swears colorfully but Elena doesn't open her eyes to check if he's ok. If she does she'll end up loosing her lunch.
Another thing no one wants.
But it's over within minutes, the shaking of the shuttle stopping almost instantly when they hit space.
Elena lets out a breath and turns to offer Jake a smile.
In the space beyond the window Elena can see old satellites and other objects from years and years ago littered in the planet's orbit. Thankfully, the shuttle drivers are used to this and have never had a problem weaving in and out of danger. Elena isn't necessarily worried about getting hit but she's sure as hell not at ease. But she's going to be fine, they all are, she just needs to stop thinking about the old junk heap of a satellite that's slowly making it's way toward them.
Instead she just has to focus on the dulled blue-grey of Earth's ocean and the muck brown of their dying land.
"Thought it would be prettier." Jake muttered.
"Might have been a few hundred years ago..." Elena trails off.
"Yeah, maybe."
They lapse into silence, the only sound between them the soft intakes of breath.
Within minutes their shuttle is pulling into the loading bay of the ISV that will transport them to Pandora.
Elena unbuckles when the shuttle stops moving, careful to keep herself from floating off by hanging onto the bars above her head. She takes Jake's bag and watches as he floats up to take hold of the bar before moving to grab hold of his wheelchair.
Then the two of them are off, exiting the shuttle and moving to the loading bay where crew members are calling out names.
"Hey Jake, I'll see you when we enter orbit, yeah?" Elena asks when she hears one of the crew members call.
Jake smiles and nods, "Yeah. See you on the flip side, Fierro."
One last smile and Elena is pulling herself over to the crew member. He checks the photo next to her name before motioning for her to follow him to the cryotube designated for her specifically. Apparently everything is alphabetized on the ISV's, makes it easier for the four crew members who will actually be awake for the next five plus years to keep an eye on everything.
"Alright, this is yours." The man says as he pulls a tube open.
Elena grips onto the side of the tube and swings herself over the lip, with no small amount of help from the lack of gravity, and the crew member helps her buckle in so she doesn't float away.
While she's stuck in the tube the man places a monitor on her which will keep track of her vitals and let the lone medic know if anything goes south during the trip. People have died on this trip, not recently, but in the first trips when the tubes were perfected enough to be considered stable. Elena doesn't want to die like that, choking to death in her sleep when no one can get to her before it's too late.
"Anything you need before you go under?"
"No, thank you."
The man nods once before pushing the tube shut
And in the seconds between wakefulness and sleep Elena thinks she hears the gentle rustle of leaves.
~X~
Someone is whispering her name.
The voice is deep and soft and unfamiliar. Whoever he is, and Elena is fairly certain it is a he, is tracing his fingers up and down the ridge of her spine. It's a pleasant feeling, one that illicit a gentle rumble not so unlike a purr from deep within her chest.
Behind her the man laughs.
A deep rolling chuckle that makes Elena smile even if she isn't sure why she does.
"It's time to wake up." The man whispers into her ear.
"I don't want to." She whispers back.
"No," the man agrees. "But you need too."
~X~
"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty."
Elena jerks awake, vision dancing and spinning and blurring.
For a split moment, one terrifying moment, Elena isn't sure where she is. There are blinking lights and the low thrum of machinery around her and the restraints keeping her in her bed are too confining. Too tight. Too heavy.
"Hey, hey, hey." The man floating above her tries to soothe. "You're safe."
"...Safe..."
"Yeah, we gotta get you on one of the Valkyries so I need you to calm down."
Elena stops straining against the straps keeping her from floating away.
Now that the haze of sleep has left her Elena can look at her situation objectively. She's safe, she's alive, she's arriving on Pandora... Well, she's technically arrived at Pandora. Ok. Ok. She's ok.
"We're here?" She finds herself asking, voice hoarse.
"Yeah," Her medic laughs. "We're here."
After the required scans the medic unstraps her and directs Elena toward the locker where her things are waiting. She doesn't see Jake but he probably hasn't been let out of his tube yet so she doesn't worry too much. No one's died in the tubes in decades. Besides, if he'd died there would have been an alert. As there haven't been an alert no one needs to worry about anything.
She grabs her bag without much thought and slides the strap across her body before kicking off the lockers and floating to the other side of the hall where a series of handles and flashing lights direct Elena to one of the many waiting Valkyries. Getting into a seat is a pain in the ass considering the lack of gravity but she manages to strap herself in and get a better drip on her bag before too many people start showing up.
Jake doesn't get on her Valkyrie. S
So when the ship shudders and separates from the ISV Elena tries not to think too much about it.
There's a sort of burning smell, like ozone, like the moments after lightning touches down in your backyard, as the Valkyrie enters Pandora's atmosphere. Elena smiles as the Valkyrie touches down on the marine at the front of the shuttle instructs them to put on their Oxygen masks. Elena does so without so much as a thought. She's been through the drills.
She knows what she needs to do.
So when it's time to go Elena grabs her bag and exits the Valkyrie alongside the other marines.
Green and blue and colors she's only seen in books meet her eyes the moment she steps off the shuttle. Colors and plants and a blue sky that isn't stained with smog. It's gorgeous. Stunningly so. And Elena can't help but smile as she rushes into the facility.