Memories

Max and several med techs were in the main ambient room busily preparing the newly-arrived avatars. Lucas and Russ were eager to try them out. Blood scans confirmed the avatars were given the vaccination, probably at the RDA labs before being released to the science module. Max, pleased with how healthy and fit these avatars were, expressed his disappointment to Lucas about exposing them to the mutated virus.

"With such little information to go on about this thing, there's no telling when you'll present symptoms."

"We have no choice right now. We have to use them so we can warn Jake and Neytiri," Lucas said. "How long do we have after the symptoms appear?"

"Given current conditions, they actually should function well for quite a few months before it turns severe. Hopefully, Nora will be successful soon in coming up with an antiviral drug."

In another area, Drew and Russ were quick about unloading the shuttle's cargo, which included a lot of equipment Nora anticipated she would need to study the virus. Norm helped Nora delegate research tasks, placing the lab techs into teams that best utilized their skills. While the teams settled into their new duties, she sat down to view the video logs of Grace and Jake, hoping to find something that might help as well as satisfying her curiosity.

Nora opened up Grace's files. Sadness gripped her gut as she watched her sister. The woman was passionate, ahead of her time in the sciences. It showed in the work she did on Pandora and for the Na'vi, gathering knowledge with the hopes that people back on Earth might gain a deeper understanding.

The screen flickered with video edits of the school and some of the students, laughing, playing outside, looking at picture books. Nora's throat tightened. Grace in her avatar was holding up a pencil in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. Tears flooded Nora's eyes. She had forgotten the passion Grace possessed trying to get through to people and she was no less passionate trying to get Na'vi to understand humans. Grace was a few years older than Nora and always the bossier one, always observing, teaching. It reminded her of a happier time when they were kids.

One mild Spring morning, barely dawn, they snuck out of their grandparent's house to climb a tree. The land their grandparents owned was passed down for many generations and every few years, acres were hacked off by the government in order to make way for more roads and buildings. But when Grace and Nora were growing up, it was one of the few places left that still had open grass and a few trees.

Grace started climbing the tallest one, an old Oak. In no time, she was rather high up. She scooted out on a thick branch and looked down at Nora, who was just watching.

"C'mon, you scared of heights, too?" she teased.

"No!" Nora yelled back.

She wiped her sweaty palms on her pant legs and then began to climb. She settled on a branch a little lower than Grace's. Once up, they both took in the birds-eye view of the sights.

"Hey, look!" said Grace.

"Wow!" Nora replied.

As the sun rose, streams of light filtered through the tree branches, passing through the leaves and casting a checkerboard pattern onto the grass below. The combination of the sunshine and the fresh grass created a green so brilliant, so exquisite, it left the two girls speechless.

Grace said in a rather grave tone for a girl her age,"Remember this, Nora."

Grace was old enough to understand what was going on in the environment around her and was keenly aware that nature's shows of beauty were becoming a rare occurrence.

The two sat up in the tree for as long as they could before their Grandad hollered for them to get inside for breakfast. They clambered down and raced back toward the house. Before she went inside, Nora took one last look at the glorious tree. "I won't forget," she uttered to herself.

Hours passed. Fatigue set in. With eyes burning, Nora was about ready to quit when she noticed several entries flagged with high importance. She skipped to one labeled "Eywa/Yi'eanku." In it, Grace was sitting with a group of Na'vi women. One was pregnant and sipping something, a drink of some kind. Grace was describing the proceedings in a hushed tone.

"This is a time-honored tradition that all pregnant Na'vi partake in."

Norm walked by and stopped to watch. "Grace was thrilled to have been asked to witness this."

"What is the drink?" Nora asked.

"It contains nectar that is extracted from the pods of a tree called Yi'eanku. The Na'vi have long believed it protects newborns. Grace ran some tests on it and found traces of antibodies and other proteins."

Nora's jaw dropped. "Norm, diseases on Pandora have long been extinct."

"Yes. The Na'vi believe it is because of this ritual, honoring the mother with child by drinking lifeblood from the Tree of Souls, delivered to them by the Atokirinas, or Woodsprites." As he said this, the significance dawned on him.

"Woodsprites. Eywa. You thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked, excited to see him catch on.

"Absolutely!"

"Do you have a sample?"

Norm laughed. "Yes, yes, we sample everything! Follow me."

They walked into a large room stacked floor to ceiling with marked drawers. Norm reached into one and pulled out a bag containing a pod and a vial.

"It's not easy getting these," he said, holding up the pod, brown in color, about three inches thick, and shaped much like a chrysalis. "The pods grow out of the tree's trunk. Woodsprites dart in and out of these when they are open, in a sense, pollinating the pod. It then closes. A little while later, they sink back into the tree trunk, never to emerge again. So it's crucial to harvest the pods just after they close. Na'vi use hunting knives to gather them, slicing them off the trunk. But you have to be fast. The Prolemuris are attracted to them for food. It's like dessert for them and they actually get quite aggressive over it. They'll kill to get it."

"When do the Woodsprites go to the pods?"

"Frequently, actually. But there aren't too many Yi'eanku trees around."

Nora examined the pod, then the vial. "How many...?"

Anticipating her question, he answered, "It takes several pods to get a reasonable amount of nectar for one pregnant Na'vi woman. That right there is about six."

"Let's see what this does to the virus," Nora said.

They found Max and told them what they wanted to do. "Ah, the Yi'eanku pods. Off to the lab..." he said.

The three of them walk toward the lab, passing by the ambient room window where Lucas and Russ' avatars were. Nora saw three avatars. "Wait," she said and stopped in front of the window. "Three? I thought there were just two."

Max explained. In addition to his and Russ', Lucas had Nora's avatar shipped with them. "That one's yours," he said, pointing to the farthest one.

"You can thank Grace," Norm said, walking away with Max down the corridor. Speechless, Nora stared at the avatar in amazement. Driving was not part of the deal.