Ella sat on her bed, sick to her stomach. The strain of the last twelve years was finally taking toll on her. If what Porter had told her was true, then Jake was in serious shit.

"Kidnapped?" she'd chocked out. He'd looked at her seriously.

"Yes," he said. "We think he may have been brainwashed…those damn savages have this magic man- Shaman woman, or whatever- but he thinks that he's one of them now."

Ella had fallen back in her seat. She was still staring at Porter in disbelief. "Start at the beginning. When the hell did this happen?"

Porter sighed. "I can tell you everything I know, everything I've found out since the crew got back- but I wasn't there myself. My uncle was, though- I found this out through one of his colleagues."

"But not from him?"

Porter's face had turned stony. "No. He was killed by one of the natives in cold blood. He was trying to save your brother, and they killed him."

Ella had felt a twinge of sympathy. Porter continued. "He was all I had…he'd promised to get me shipped out there once they made peace with the natives, but it never happened. Those- those animals- rebelled. All we were trying to do was make peace. Unfortunately, your brother got caught in the middle."

"How?" she'd demanded. Porter had sighed. "Jake was assigned to get the natives on his side, to convince them that it was okay to work along side us- they called us "Sky People" and we were hated- possible because we had more threatening technology. We told them that we would not use it unless they threatened us, and we'd have to use our machinery defensively, which is what we did. Thanks to your brother, they managed to somehow take down our entire fleet. Yeah, we were beaten by a bunch of damn savages with sticks."

"Jake wouldn't do that." Ella shot back. "He's loyal to- to us-"

"He was loyal, but they probably gave him some of their filthy voo-doo juice and it addled his brain." Porter scowled. "He killed the woman in charge of the operation- Grace Augustine."

Ella's jaw had dropped. Grace Augustine. When Jake had left for Pandora, Ella had tried to get her hands on every book about the planet she could. Grace Augustine's book was one of the better ones. "No!" she whispered. "That can't be- my brother-" Ella had buried her hands in her tangled hair, on the verge of sobbing.

"Ella," Porter said, his voice suddenly softening. He had reached across the coffee table and touched her hand. "I can understand that this is difficult for you-"

"Isn't there something you can do?" she gasped. "Can't you just- go get him?"

"We could…but unfortunately, they've stolen some of our machinery and forced us off of the planet. We can't go anywhere near that section of the galaxy without getting shot."

Ella shook her head, still staring at her knees. "God damn it…"

"There is one way…" Ella's head snapped up. "What?"

Porter had looked straight at her. "We could try to go near them…they're holding some of our best scientists' prisoner- if they contact us before they blow our ship up-" Ella gulped. "-if we had a legitimate reason to land on the planet…not just for peace settlements…" his gaze was becoming so intense Ella felt every fiber inside of her go weak.

"What are you saying?"

"Ella," he said somberly. "We know how much you care about your brother. I could see it in your eyes when I told you his tragic fate…the fear, the need to protect, the love…I could see it all. If you could- go there, talk to him, make him realize…"

Ella sat up. "I'll do it."

Porter blinked in apparent surprise. "You will?"

"Yes, I damn will." She snapped. "My brother's in trouble, I'm going after him."

Porter's mouth was slightly opened, but he caught himself with a smooth grin. "Excellent. We leave tomorrow." He stood up and turned back to his men.

"Porter-" he turned. "You'll keep this to your word- nobody gets hurt. No weaponry, no backstabbing- right?"

Ella swore she saw a glint in his eye. "Sure thing," he replied smoothly. "We'll pick you up tomorrow. Eight o'clock sharp. Breakfast provided."

He turned and left, a swagger in his step. Ella remained in the booth. Her star charts were still sitting in front of her. Nearly knocking over her coffee she yanked the map up and held it to her face, scanning the Milky Way galaxy.

Her fingers traced the path that the ship would take to the gas giant Polyphemus. Her eyes fell upon the small moon- Pandora. Judging by the map, it was about 4.5 light-years away.

Having studied the planet for years, Ella knew much about its inhabitants. She'd suspected the Na'vi to be a peaceful species, but Porter had surprised her. Gone were the feelings of foreboding toward Porter; replaced by fear for her brother, her need to save Jake. He was in trouble- she knew that he'd do the same for her without batting an eyelash. These were dangerous creatures that had to be stopped.

She had swallowed, wondering what she'd gotten herself into.

She was still wondering that as she sat on her bed, staring at her favorite picture of her brothers and herself. It had been taken nearly a month before Tommy was killed. Tommy, tall and lean, his glasses slightly lopsided, was standing behind Jake's wheelchair. Her brothers were sporting identical, easy-going grins, contrasting slightly with her wide mouth that she'd always called frog-like. She sniffed.

Ella climbed off of the bed and looked straight in the mirror. Her hair still held a red tinge from her teenage years- her constant dye job of shocking red. She'd been into the style back then. Her eyes were a different color, but she had the same shape as Jake and Tommy had.

She wished that Porter had filled her in on exactly what had happened up there. How the hell could Jake have been so stupid to get himself drugged up by aliens? He was always the fighter- the take-charge blockhead who wasn't afraid of a fight. Tommy had been the peacemaker- the diplomat who wanted to go to Pandora in the first place.

Ella turned away from the mirror to face her computer. She had an incoming video message. Frowning, she opened it.

Porter was sitting on the other end of his screen, in the same clothes she'd met him in. His fingers were pressed together as his intense gaze struck Ella through the screen.

"Good evening," Porter said smoothly. "I'm sending you an iBook on the Na'vi language- those are the natives. It's very difficult, and we'll be requiring you to speak the language. We must both be fluent by the time we get to Pandora."

"Why?" Ella asked suspiciously.

"It's all apart of the plan," Porter said smoothly. "We need to know the language like we know ours. Have you any experience in foreign languages?"

"I studied linguistics after getting my astro-physics degree."

"Good. Good." Ella had the impression that Porter had already known this. "Make sure you pack. Get extra clothes that will easily stretch- we can't provide your Avatar with any."

"Wait- my what?"

"I didn't mention? We'll be needing your DNA. Part of the plan to get your brother back. I'll explain it fully when we get onboard. Phase one involves infiltrating their home."

"As long as no one gets hurt, fine." Ella snapped. She didn't feel very comfortable going into the homes of these creatures that were so dangerous.

"Good night, Ella." Porter said smoothly.

"Likewise, Porter."

His smooth smile was seriously getting annoying. "Please, call me Nicholas."

"Yeah right," Ella muttered as the screen went blank. Clicking out of the video chat, she saw that the e-mail that she'd read earlier was still up. She scrolled up through the hundreds of messages to her very first one, written when she was twelve.

HI JAKE!

I know you're not on Pandora yet- I don't even know if you left yet, but I MISS YOU SOSOSOSOSO MUCH. Not that Eli's not wonderful or anything but I really miss you! I can't wait til your mission's over :-)

Eli and I went to Tommy's apartment today and we took out some of his stuff. I've been wearing his favorite shirt to bed- do you think he'd mind? I doubt it. I really miss him. But I'm trying to not be sad, I know you told me to not be sad. I'm trying, I really am!

I saw this special on the History channel about this thing they had once upon a time called an iPod- it's kinda like a G-O without holograms. What. A. Nightmare. When you get back can we go back on the Tron ride? After you get your surgery, I mean. I can't believe you'll be able to walk again! Didn't I tell you? DIDN'T I?

Anyway…I can't wait til you come home! I miss you and I love you big bro!

Lots & LOTS of love

Ellie !

Tommy once said that life comes at you like a speeding monorail and when it hits you, you realize how fast it can change. He justified that by turning up in the city morgue with a knife wound in his chest. Jake also justified that by coming home from Venezuela with a wheelchair instead of rum cake. And Ella experienced it today. It was hard to believe that she was just sitting at her computer that morning, wondering what had become of her brother, when this st range man walked into her life to tell her that he was in trouble.

I'll find you Jake. I'll save you. I promise.

So you guys should know what's going on, right? ;) Next chapter coming soon!

-V