Copenhagen, Denmark 9:30 pm 2155
It was a dark and stormy evening in the city with flashes of lightning adding temporary illumination to the dreary scenery. Internal lights from the many houses shone through the darkness like fireflies and reflected beautifully off the water. Though this beauty was lost to the man who stood in the window of a dark house. This man was lost in his mind, still processing the information that had been thrown at him a few days ago, in fact a certain conversation with his superiors was replaying itself for the hundredth time in his head.
The RDA is finished, one such superior had said, They'll never recover from this, especially now that the media has taken over the story.
There are plenty of competitors willing to take over their contract, the man had countered, As long as the mining equipment was undamaged, operations can resume.
Another superior had interjected here And so it will, but will the Na'vi just allow us to after what Quaritch pulled?
The man had sighed and massaged his eyelids with his forefinger and thumb Quaritch was a fool, we warned Selfridge about hiring him as head of security. This time we'll choose.
What about Sully? one asked skeptically, It says he took over the Omaticaya clan, will he agree to allow mining to continue?
After the war he fought, I very much doubt it, the man had smiled as he already had a plan ready, but I'm dealing with that now. Send me a list of mining corporations you think will be an adequate replacement for the RDA. I should have a new head of security picked out by next Tuesday, within a month I can have an ISV full of personnel ready to embark.
The man's thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door and he smiled to himself, Right on time, he thought.
"It's open," the man said aloud without turning towards the door as it creaked open, "enjoying the weather, Huntley? "
The one who had entered, also a man, stood at a non-intimidating five foot four inches tall and had a slim build with little muscle definition. He wore a combination of white chino pants, white sports jacked, and a pale blue t-shirt underneath. His dark brown and flowing hair was kept at a medium length, and his goatee was neatly trimmed, he looked to be in his early forties. To the unsuspecting he looked like an average Joe but, to those who knew him, he was very dangerous. Perfect for the CIA.
Huntley brushed the rain off his jacket as he strode into the room and sat, uninvited, at a chair opposite a desk where the man worked "It's just peachy out there," he grumbled, then was all business, "What's the mission, Siver?"
Siver wasn't anything special either, he was only five foot seven but was heavier set than his companion. His hair was graying and thinning, his face cleanly shaved, also he looked to be in his fifties. He dressed himself in blue jeans and a yellow polo shirt.
Siver turned from the window and tossed a data pad across the desk to the agent "ISV Eternity is nearing the half way point on its journey to Pandora," he explained as Huntley examined the pad, "we can still maintain a live video feed from it, although the lag is… substantial. In two days the men operating the Eternity are going to wake up your two men, you're to give them their new assignment,"
Huntley finished reading then handed the pad back to Siver, "Am I allowed to ask 'why'?"
"Mining needs to resume as soon as possible, but Sully will never allow us to set foot on Pandora, not after the mess Quaritch made," Siver explained "Eternity is only a supply ship, the only people headed planet side are a handful of scientists and your guys. It'll take us six years to get another platoon of soldiers and workers out there but it'll do no good if they're met with resistance. No, your men are the only option,"
Huntley sighed, "Their original mis-"
"I know," Siver interrupted, holding up a placating hand, "but their new assignment has been approved. That's all I can say,"
"Fine, they won't be happy about this. This completely undermines their whole purpose of going out there" Huntley stated as he stood and made for the door but stopped before entering "They will be expecting an increase in pay to compensate for the change,"
"They'll get it," Siver simply answered and then Huntley was gone.
2.1 light-years out from Earth, aboard the ISV Eternity
"Bringing C twelve and C thirteen out of cryo," a tech personnel announced then keyed in the command on his terminal. Another techie floated over as the pod slid out into the open, the two occupants were awake but disoriented.
"We there?" asked the younger one as the techie checked the man's vitals.
"Sorry," he replied with a sympathetic smile "We're only half way but we had a priority one message come in. It seems your boss has something to say,"
The young man frowned in thought. He and his friend had had over a month's worth of debriefing before being shot out into space, what could Huntley have possibly forgotten? His name was Roland Reed and he stood at a decent height of six feet one inch, his light brown hair was cut short and his goatee was a bit longer than normal. He was muscular but wasn't considered beefy, both arms were adorned with many tattoos of varying colors. A short scar formed at the middle of his left eyebrow and ran up into his hairline. But the one feature that stuck out the most were his bright emerald eyes. All in all he was considered very handsome. His shirt was a plain white tee and his cargo pants were light brown. Roland was a mercenary, a young one at that being only twenty seven, hired by the CIA to run as security for the scientists on Pandora, the agency even managed to grow him an avatar of his own. After the news of what happened at Dr. Augustine's school hit Earth, the CIA decided to send out people to make sure an incident like that didn't happen again. So that's how he ended up being shoved aboard the Eternity along with his good buddy.
"I think I'm gonna be sick," the older of the two groaned.
Jeremy Vetterman was his name and he was only five feet eight inches tall, his jet black hair was kept buzzed off and hidden under a white stetson most of the time, his face was showing signs of stubble but he normally kept it cleanly shaved. He wasn't nearly as muscular as Roland but still deceptively strong. He had let his waist grow over the past couple years but he could still tussle with the best. Vetterman was never a man for tattoos but his left bicep had a long jagged scar running from his shoulder socket to his elbow pit, another smaller scar ran along his left cheek. His pale blue eyes were a stark contrast to Roland's but in his younger days he was considered handsome as well, not that he was THAT old as he was only thirty nine. Jeremy enjoyed the classier lifestyle of clothing, wearing a blue collared button up shirt tucked into dress blue jeans. Like Roland, Jeremy's assignment was security as well but he wasn't offered an avatar, he was to remain on base.
Roland chuckled "Oh, god, please don't. I really don't want to know what that looks like in zero G,"
The one who had pulled them out of cry indicated to follow him, "This way, gentleman. Agent Huntley is already on. The connection is weak and at the worst moments the lag can take up to thirty seconds," they stopped next to a door, which the techie opened, "When you're done kill the link and we'll put you back under,"
The two mercenary friends entered the small comms room where only one screen was active, displaying their CIA contact. The two held onto railings to keep them steady and from floating off screen.
"Morning," Huntley said after a moment, "How's cryo treating you?"
"Like shit," Jeremy grumbled, still looking a little pale, "What's this all about?"
They waited in silence for the connection to catch up "The RDA are gone, kicked off Pandora," the agent explained, lighting up a cigarette while he spoke and getting a look of longing from Vetterman, "I'll send you two the full story later but for now all you need to know is that the natives staged a coup, lead by one of the Avatar drivers,"
Roland couldn't help the sudden bark of laughter erupting from his lips, "You mean a bunch of indigenous aliens with bows and arrows were able to defeat the colonel and his war machines?"
"Apparently," Huntley replied after a brief pause, "How they managed to isn't important at the moment. Soon another ISV will be launching with the RDA's replacement but they want the resistance dealt with by the time they reach Pandora,"
Jeremy snorted at that, "If an army couldn't stand up to them, how are the two us supposed to?" he asked.
"The Avatar driver I mentioned took over as leader of the clan the RDA interacted with. With him out of the way, the clan will be leaderless and therefore easier to deal with when the replacements arrive," the agent reached off screen and keyed a command that replaced the video feed with a profile, "This is Jake Sully, former marine. While serving in the Venezuela war, I'm sure you remember that conflict, Vetterman, he took a piece of shrapnel to the spine. As a result his human body is paralyzed from the waist down,"
"I take it we're killing him?" Roland assumed, "Should be easy, not like he can run away,"
Jeremy tittered at that but when the joke reached Huntley he frowned "He has an Avatar body that was trained by the Na'vi. He is to be considered a threat. You guessed it though, Reed, you are going to assassinate Sully. Or his human form at least. If you feel like tangling with his Avatar be my guest,"
"Are we going to be staying after killing him then?" asked Jeremy, as far as the two knew they were going to be stationed out there for at least six years.
"No, once you've killed the targets, you're to return to the Eternity immediately," Huntley explained.
"Wait, targets?" Roland inquired, putting an emphasis on the plural term.
"Ah, yes, the other two," once again the feed changed and this time two profiles displayed on the monitor, "Dr. Max Patel and Norm Spellman. It has been reported that these two also betrayed the human race and helped undermine the RDA by rallying the other scientists to their cause,"
"Then they're all traitors," Jeremy snarled, "Why not just wait and let the replacements kill then all when the next ISV arrives?"
"Dr. Patel and Spellman are sorta like the ringleaders, if we kill them then the rebellion dies with them," the agent explained as his face appeared back on, "The others will be punished but they are still useful, and we don't any more mining delays, we need to get operations running smoothly again. I have a lot to do back here so if you have any questions?" he asked, then once the shakes of their heads registered he reached to kill the link, "Good, I've been told your pay has been doubled, by the way," then he was gone.
Jeremy whistled, "Doubled? Fuck, I didn't plan on being able to retire when we got back home," he statd with a full blow grin.
Roland was just as surprised but a thoughtful frown appeared on his face, "Me neither. I forgot to ask about my Avatar, but if we're leaving almost immediately I guess it doesn't matter,"
As the two settled back into their pods they let their thoughts wonder and on different paths. Jeremy was practically drooling over the thought of money and it was even the more sweeter that he wouldn't be spending six years out there, he hadn't liked the idea in the first place, but the amount of money offered helped persuade him. Roland, however, was slightly disappointed. He wasn't too keen about returning to the overpopulated and nearly dead Earth. He had been looking forward to going out to Pandora, to see what a real jungle looked like, not the few square miles that were left of the Amazon. Maybe he could negotiate into being allowed to stay, after all the Avatars were stupidly expensive and could only be used by one person. As he felt the effects of cryo taking over his last thoughts were of the Na'vi, he had wanted to meet one while on his tour out here, they looked so interesting.
Two years seven months later, Hell's Gate, Pandora
Dr. Max Patel sprinted through the halls, looking for Norm. His frantic pace had attracted the attention of a few other scientist, who shouted inquires at him as he passed. The paunchy man finally found his friend in the linkroom about to go under.
"Norm!" Max shouted breathlessly, "wait!"
Norm sat up from the link bed and trotted over to his Max with a look of concern, "Max, what's wrong?"
The doctor's explanation came between puffs of air, "Preston...he just… said… the com...puters picked...up a signal,"
"Slow down, Max," Norm ordered, "what kinda signal?"
The doctor let his breathing get under control before continuing, "We've been monitoring for any traffic around Pandora's orbit since we sent the RDA off," he explained then handed a data pad to his colleague, "we knew they'd be back but not this soon,"
Spellman felt his gut wrench at the news and his heart plummeted as he read the data pad, "The Venture Star couldn't have reached Earth already," he declared, part of his mind in denial.
"No but messages can still be sent to Earth, even from here," Max explained, "It takes a few days, but I guarantee you the RDA notified Earth as soon as possible. This ISV likely doesn't know about what happened, in fact Preston has been in contact with it, it's only carrying supplies, a few Avatar drivers, and a load of scientists,"
Norm went silent, aware that everyone in the room had been listening in and now murmurs of dismay were spreading around, "We need those supplies," he said finally, "I think we can persuade the drivers and other scientists to join us, if not we out number them. Give them permission to land, but only to offload the supplies and personnel. The pilots are to remain on board the shuttle,"
Max nodded and ran off to convey the orders and Norm went to lie back down in the link bed. Before closing his eyes to join his avatar he had one last thought,
Jake is gonna be pissed.
