This story is written for entertainment purposes only. All copyrights belong to their respective owners.

Keep in mind that English is not my first language and so I do not claim to have written an error free text. Also, if there are any inconsistencies in this story, let me know and I will correct them.

Chapter 7: The cathedral

Night was approaching. The green jungle was gradually starting to show its bright night colors. A lone direhorse with two Na'vi mounted on its back was slowing its pace. One of the Na'vi was the young hunter Tsa'kan. He was wielding a bow, and had his eyes focused on something in the distance. His younger brother Namuk was sitting behind him. Namuk had placed his arms tightly around Tsa'kan's waist. Carefully, perhaps even fearfully, he was peeking from under his brother's left arm.

"What is it? Do you see anything?" Namuk asked out loud, disrupting the steady background sounds from the surrounding jungle and giving away their position.

"Quiet, you moron. They will hear us coming." Tsa'kan whispered carefully. He felt like he could cringe. He realized that perhaps it had been foolish to bring his brother along.

After a short while, he mentally told his mount to come to a halt, which it promptly did. Up ahead, the jungle had been ravaged. One did not need to have the skill of reading tracks to be able to tell this; it was that obvious. Branches had been broken and there even appeared to be some fire damage.

"No way, is that a palulukan? Hold on, is it dead?" Namuk started again loudly. His last sentence was a little less loud, as he realized the creature had been gravely injured and was not moving at all.

"We will be dead too, if you do not shut up." Tsa'kan warned him, still whispering.

Namuk lowered his voice to a whisper, but did not stop speaking. "What could have killed him? I thought they could not be killed."

Tsa'kan looked around carefully. His forehead had become sweaty. He could not see any predator nearby, only several more dead animals. If something had killed this palulukan, it had to be pretty powerful. There was only one logical explanation for it that he could think of.

"The Sky People Selyat said she fought; they must have done this. They must be horrible indeed..." Tsa'kan whispered, sounding worried. "Namuk, I want you to ride back to our village. I will search for Elynin myself."

"No. I am not going anywhere. She is my sister too." Namuk answered indignantly, but still in a hushed tone.

"Don't you see? It is dangerous here. How would you help Elynin if you get hurt? You are a child. You do not know how to fight. And I cannot fight for two. Not yet." Tsa'kan said in an attempt to make his brother see his reason.

"I would know how to by now, if you would teach me faster." Namuk protested. "But I will not leave. I am not scared." he said, with a shiver in his voice.

"Is that so? A good hunter must think as both predator and prey. Being scared is a part of that. A good hunter knows when he is being hunted himself." Tsa'kan said in another attempt to convince his brother to leave.

"Are we being hunted?" Namuk whispered, still shivering. His ears were now almost completely lowered against his head. "What if I leave? Will they come after me? No way am I going out there by myself. I will stay right here."

Tsa'kan closed his eyes momentarily and sighed to himself. It hadn't quite worked out the way he had intended. He saw no choice but to resign himself to the situation.

"You can stay, but you should take my throwing axe, just in case. I do not know yet what is out there." Tsa'kan replied, still sounding somewhat worried. Namuk silently took the axe from the side of the saddle.

Next, Tsa'kan mentally commanded his mount to ride forward again, but slowly. Soon, the direhorse was walking past the dead body of the magnificent dark purple-skinned, panther-like creature. Tsa'kan could now see the severity of its wounds; it was no wonder it had died. Judging from the state of the body, he determined that it had been dead for at least a day, probably even longer.

This estimate made it unlikely that the killers were still around. Then again, he couldn't be sure of that, if they were indeed dealing with Sky People. It was difficult to predict their actions, or so he had heard at least. They might still be lurking about. Back when the Sky People had been here in large numbers, Tsa'kan had been too young to be a hunter or warrior, so he had no experience in dealing with them directly.

He then noticed more damage to the jungle up ahead, and directed his mount there. After dismounting and disconnecting his queue, he studied his surroundings more closely. This damage was more subtle. Small branches had been broken. Also, two reasonably straight lines could be seen on the ground. The jungle floor had been disturbed. Tsa'kan concluded that those were not the kind of tracks made by any animal he knew. He was now almost certain they were following the tracks of the Sky People.

"What is it?" Namuk inquired curiously, but not without sounding frightened.

"Be quiet. I need to think." Tsa'kan answered dismissively.

He resumed control of his mount, and then directed the direhorse along the tracks through the jungle. It was not long before he recognized his surroundings. They were getting very close to Elynin's altar. Judging by the direction the tracks were moving towards, the Sky People seemed to have gone to her in a relatively straight path. It was highly likely they had found her. When he concluded this for himself, he felt dread come over him. The situation seemed to be as he had feared.

Not long after, they reached the site of the altar. Both Na'vi promptly dismounted. Tsa'kan wanted to listen to his surroundings first, but Namuk decided to take the initiative.

"Elynin! Are you here?" Namuk yelled out loud, having apparently already forgotten that he was supposed to remain silent.

Tsa'kan shushed him by quickly grabbing his brother's wrist. "When I prayed to Eywa for a little brother, I should have asked for one more quiet and with more sense than you." he whispered, sounding quite irritated.

This remark made Namuk briefly think about their parents. It also jolted him back to reality. "Sorry, sorry, I will stay silent from now on." Namuk said, as he lowered his head in embarrassment, finally realizing that not only was he not helping his brother, but that he was actually being a nuisance.

The next several minutes, Tsa'kan carefully crept around the site of the altar, trying to figure out if anyone was there, without presenting anyone with an obvious target. Namuk stayed close by the entire time. Tsa'kan had to admit to himself that his brother could indeed be stealthy, as long as he wasn't talking.

After a while, both of them realized that there was no one here anymore. Tsa'kan walked over to Elynin's altar and carefully ran his fingers over the tops of the stone jars. She had been here recently; he just knew it. But now she was gone. He had seen no evidence of a struggle.

All of a sudden, he noticed a strange object lying on the ground. He knelt to pick it up. It was a cylindrical metal thing. When he sniffed it, he quickly pulled his face away and let the object fall back on the ground. Whatever it was, it was foul. It must have been made by the Sky People.

Tsa'kan now broke the silence with disappointment in his voice. "Brother, I am sorry. She is not here anymore. I think they have taken her."

"Taken her where? You can track them, can't you? You must. Please?" Namuk said, while he grabbed Tsa'kan's arm with both his hands, and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I can and I will, but we cannot stay out here all night. We will have to continue the search in the morning." Tsa'kan said calmly, while kneeling down to face his brother, and giving him a soft pat on the head.

Both remained silent for a while, disappointed that they hadn't found their sister, and scared of what might have happened to her. Namuk turned around to look at the night sky that was only partially visible through the jungle canopy.

"Maybe the Blue Mother or one of her children knows where she went? They see everything." Namuk said, suddenly sounding full of hope.

"They might see and they might know, but they are not going to tell us. They cannot speak. Only Eywa can speak to us, and she sees everything as well, maybe even clearer than them." Tsa'kan replied steadily. He was not speaking out of first-hand experience of course; he was merely recalling what the elders and Elynin had taught him.

Despite being told by his brother that the spheres were not going to tell them anything, Namuk kept staring at the sky, at the large blue one and the smaller grey ones. For a moment, he wondered to himself what it was like up there. What would those gigantic round creatures eat up there? How did they hunt? There were probably a hundred questions he wanted to ask.

Unknown to Namuk or any other Na'vi, one of the smaller grey spheres was playing host to several visitors at the moment. The grey sphere was in actuality one of the other moons of the planet Polyphemus. This particular moon had a grey and cratered surface, much like the Earth's moon. The moon's landscape was a dusty wasteland, without any water or air whatsoever. Nothing except perhaps the most toughened microorganisms could survive on the surface. Unlike some other similar moons of this type, it also did not have a subsurface ocean.

Several hours ago, a space station had been delivered by another interstellar vessel, known as the TISV Worker. This interstellar spacecraft was a refurbished RDA ISV, having been modified to tow large orbital cargos. Like the TISV Scouter that had arrived several days earlier, it had been painted black. Aside from the space station, it carried no other cargo of significance; it did not even carry any vehicles that could enter Pandora's atmosphere.

The space station was now in orbit around the barren moon. It was a large complex which, from a distance, looked somewhat like a dark grey castle with tall gothic spires. There were five spires in total, and these were dispersed over all five corners of the pentagonal shaped station. The Tempest used the designations "M-7" for the moon and "CHD-1" for the station. However, the latter was also known by an appropriate nickname: the Cathedral.

Aside from its five spires, the Cathedral had some other noteworthy features. It had several cylinders attached to what appeared to be the bottom of the castle structure. In reality, though, there was no real bottom in the space station. The cylinders rotated to emulate gravity, but the rest of the complex operated in zero-g.

The TISV Scouter had released one of its shuttles; the same one that had traveled to Pandora a few days earlier. This shuttle was making its way to the Cathedral, whilst carrying the UNOB-1 cone, as a part of phase two of Lockwood's mission.

Inside the station, in a room located in one of the revolving cylinders, the highest ranking member of the SD was standing near a large window. She had her arms crossed, and was staring out into space, seemingly in deep thought.

The supreme group leader was a tall woman with a trained physique. Her short hair had an unnatural dark red color due to the dye that had been applied to it. She had a scar on her forehead, which reached from her hairline down to the top of her right eye socket. Her right eyebrow was therefore split into two sections due to the scar tissue. Nevertheless, both of her green eyes were perfectly intact.

She was wearing the standard grey service uniform of an SD officer, but without a peaked cap. Quite a number of small and brightly colored rectangles decorated the left side of her chest. Both the left and the right collar patches of her jacket displayed the same rank insignia: A white skull in the middle of a black patch, surrounded by a white wreath in the shape of a horseshoe. It was not a traditional wreath, however, as this one was depicted as having been woven out of bones.

In the far left of the room, a metal door now slid open. A moment later, one of Lockwood's platoon members stepped into the room. She was a small woman with dark eyes and spiky black hair that did not reach further than her shoulders. It was Yijun, who had been ordered by Lockwood to replace him in his absence.

She had exchanged her field camouflage uniform for a regular grey service uniform much like the one the supreme group leader was wearing. Yijun did wear the uniform complete with a peaked cap, though. It seemed to be a brand new cap: grey on top with a silver braided cord below a black band, displaying both an emblem of the Tempest and an emblem of a skull with crossbones. Her right collar patch displayed the white letters "SD", while the one on her left displayed three white dots arranged in a diagonal line.

After stepping into the room, she immediately performed the Tempest salute, and spoke two words: "Hominum summa."

The supreme group leader only moved her eyes. "I was expecting someone quite a bit more… bald. But you are just as bold, no doubt." she said dryly.

Yijun answered in a neutral voice, devoid of any emotion. She spoke her words in a rapid pace. "Supreme group leader Vassileva, the package is aboard the station. Assault unit leader Lockwood was prevented from completing his mission. He appointed me as mission commander in his stead."

"No matter. I have… no need for that man anymore. You are the mountain sniper, are you not?" Vassileva answered quite nonchalantly and in a far more relaxed manner than Yijun.

Yijun was slightly surprised by her quick dismissal of Lockwood and her sudden personal interest in her. Nevertheless, she maintained her composure. "Ma'am, I am junior assault leader Yijun Liao, formerly assigned to the 3rd SD mountain regiment."

"I do have need for a replacement officer." Vassileva continued. "You can call yourself senior assault leader from now on. And if the package does what it is supposed to after being processed, you can expect another promotion."

Yijun felt very much honored by receiving not just one but potentially two promotions in rank. She could not hide the excitement in her voice. "Thank you, ma'am. May our great Leader Wilhelmus guide us to everlasting victory!"

Vassileva was somewhat less enthusiastic. "Yes, yes… I'm sure he will. But he should know guiding is not the only ingredient for achieving success. Some of us have to do actual work; you and I are no strangers to that."

Yijun, who would never think of speaking negatively of the Leader, was again surprised by the implications of Vassileva's words. She did not want to start an argument with the highest ranking member of their paramilitary organization, so she decided to answer in agreement. "…of course, ma'am." she said cautiously.

At that moment, a beeping sound could be heard coming from Vassileva. She dismissively tapped her wrist display several times, causing the beeping to stop. Yijun wondered to herself what it was about, but her thoughts were quickly interrupted as the supreme group leader resumed speaking.

"Right now, I have a hundred people working on this station, and that number is just those focusing on the planning and logistics of the coming operation. It will be the largest space expedition ever carried out in the history of humanity." she said, sounding quite proud.

Yijun felt that this sense of pride was something they had in common. This realization made her open up a bit more. "I have seen it in my dreams many times, supreme group leader. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen; the miracle weapon most of all." she said enthusiastically.

"And now you can see it for real, my dear. Let us meet here again in several days. I will send you a notice when the time is there. We can watch together, if you like." Vassileva said, with a suppressed smile, as she turned sideways to look at Yijun. This was the first time she made direct eye contact with her.

"I would be most honored, ma'am." Yijun announced proudly. A second later, Vassileva's wrist display resumed its beeping. It was just as quickly dismissed again. Yijun looked silently at the device for a moment, which Vassileva noticed.

"Don't worry about that. Some 'wise' men apparently forget to document the existence of an entire planet. I am letting them sweat for their mistake." she said as nonchalantly as ever.

Elsewhere aboard the space station, a group of uniformed scientists and commanding SD officers had gathered inside a grey and white conference room. All except one were seated at a round table.

The standing scientist, Dr. Manisha Singh, held a short speech. "My comrades, I believe all of you are aware of the recent discovery of Cosmos-34877. In order to quell rumors, here is what I can tell you about it. This apparently rogue planet entered the Alpha Centauri A star system from interstellar space sometime between the departure of the RDA and the arrival of TISV Scouter. This planet, or 'Shadow' as we call it, appears to be in the process of being captured in the orbit of the gas giant Polyphemus."

Before she could continue, someone in the room felt the need to interrupt her. "You gave it a name?" brigade leader Charles Hirschel, one of the higher officers, asked cynically.

Dr. Singh took the opportunity to resume her speech. "It seemed quite fitting, sir, because the planet appears to have gone a long time without any sunlight. It must be a harsh world. So far, our orbital probes have gathered enough information to confirm that despite the absence of a steady source of external light and heat, the planet has liquid water oceans."

"So, another Pandora, you are saying?" Hirschel asked, trying to sound just as cynical as before, but failing to masquerade the fact he finally seemed to be hearing something interesting.

"Unfortunately, not quite, sir." Dr. Singh replied. "You see, we have also detected a large amount of hydrocarbons in those oceans. Imagine an oil spill at sea on Earth, except thousands of times as severe. That is the current state of Shadow's oceans. We do not yet know how this came to be. But we do know the continents are barren, with strong winds and acidic rain. The atmosphere is a mixture of nitrogen, argon and methane, with small amounts of oxygen, carbon dioxide and various sulfur compounds. There were also some trace amounts of sulfur mustards found."

Dr. Singh paused for a moment to let the information sink in, before quickly resuming. "But, my comrades, despite the extraordinary situation of us being able to witness the arrival of a new planet in the system, this is not the only reason you have been called together. I think it is time we move on to the transmission from the planet." Dr. Singh said matter-of-factly. This last sentence caused a brief murmur to fill the room, which swiftly died down again.

"The TISV Scouter picked it up first, although the crew did not immediately realize where it had come from. Later, its origin was traced to the surface of the planet. After that, they had their signals specialist analyze it. Repeating patterns were quickly found, but the complete message was only decoded an hour ago." she revealed.

Dr. Singh finally seemed to have everyone's complete attention, as no one was tempted to ask her another question. Therefore, she continued in a steady pace. "It turned out that the message contained visual information encoded in an analog scanline format; much like our broadcast television system on Earth two hundred years ago."

She then made a quick hand gesture to one of her assistants, who darkened the room and activated the beamer. An eerie image appeared on the screen. The image area was oval, without any discernable corners like a human produced image normally had. The background was greyish and mostly contained seemingly random noise. Most noteworthy were the two black circles and a black curved line. It looked like an inverted smiley face, with eyes near the bottom of its face.

"I don't know what would be more disturbing: the idea of another intelligent species out there, or the fact that they would send us smiley faces." brigade leader Hirschel reacted. "And why is it upside down?"

"Sir, it might not be a smiley face at all." Dr. Singh countered. "At this point, it is unclear to us what we are dealing with. We are considering a wide variety of scenarios. We are even considering the scenario of an old probe or landing craft of human origin. Another species of aliens is certainly not on the top of our list of probable causes. In any case, I recommend sending our own landers down to investigate."

"Regardless, I say we consult the Leader on the matter, before we deviate from our primary objective." Hirschel insisted stubbornly. He then turned to face his adjutant. "Find out when Wilhelmus is scheduled to arrive. Now."