Chapter 12: In Which Some Things Are Settled And Some Are Not

"But first," Jake said, "I'd just like to know a couple things."

"Shoot." Jerryhandelman said.

"So where exactly are we?" Jake said.

"In the basement of the main physics building at Washington University, where I teach."

"And we're safe here?"

"Yes, absolutely." Jerryhandelman went to a box at the side of the room, opened it and removed several items. Neytiri recognized them. They were human weapons, guns. He gave the weapons to a number of people in the room and kept the last one for himself.

"There, my trusty WASP revolver at my side, I feel better now." he said. He took out some other weapons, bigger guns. "These were designed to kill Na'vi"

Neytiri recoiled at that. "They were used to kill our people?"

"Yes, but they've never actually been used for that purpose. If we have to use them, they will be used against any human who tries to hurt you or Jake. I figure that would be appropriate, guns designed to kill Na'vi being used to turn bad humans into piles of hamburger."

"So, we are safe here?" Jake persisted.

"Absolutely 100 percent, Jake. This is about the safest place you could be on this planet." He waved around the room. "The people here are all part of the Resistance, and they are all loyal to me personally. They're my people. There is a small army of people in this building and we're here for one purpose. Right now, our job is to protect you and the other Na'vi here and I swear to you, we will do just that. If anyone tries to hurt you, Neytiri, or any other Na'vi, they have to get past us first. We will shoot first and ask questions later. We are here to protect you and that is exactly what we'll do."

"Damn straight, boss!" one of the people with Jerryhandelman exclaimed, holding up her gun.

"And this building is secure?"

"Yes, again, absolutely. Jake, I can assure you, no one can get in or out of this building without my knowledge. A mouse couldn't get in here without me knowing about it. I designed the security system for this building and along the way, put in a few of my own little 'back doors' in the system and in this building, literally. Most of the people you see here now and pretty much the next few days all came in through the tunnel system under the campus and did it right under the noses of the rent-a-cop security people upstairs."

"There are people guarding this building?" Jake asked.

"There are a couple rent-a-cops out in front of the building, yes, but mostly the security inside the building is cameras, and those are pretty easy to fool, especially if you know what you're doing."

He walked over to a big, flat, thing coming out from an angle to one of the walls.

"Here, let me show you." Jake and some of the others came over and watched. "This console is one of the consoles that gives me access to the security system. See that monitor over there?" He pointed to a big screen on the wall." Jake nodded.

"Now, let me show you what that camera is showing to the main security complex on campus, if they bother to look." he pointed to a camera mounted on the wall.

"Watch the screen." he said, and it showed a picture of a room very much like this one. In fact it was this very room, Neytiri realized with a start. The difference was that it showed no people at all in the room when she could very clearly see there were a fair number of people in this room. In fact it was crowded, to not put too fine a point on it. The picture also showed no chamber or any of its workings. Jerryhandelman did something and the view changed. It now showed the room as it actually existed, people, chamber and all.

"Nobody here but us revolutionaries." Scottbellovin said, smiling.

"That's how I cover my tracks," Jerryhandelman said, "the rent-a-cops look at their monitors in the security center and see the first view, while I can see the real view because I am the one who designed the system. The system has a bunch of algorithms I designed and built in to it that let me control who sees what and when and exactly what they see. Believe me, this building really is secure. I don't do the 'cover my tracks' thing all the time, just at certain times and in certain places in this building when things need to be hidden from view, like the building of the transfer chamber, for instance, and the setting up of your quarters."

"So that is where we're going next?" Neytiri asked him.

"Yup. It is upstairs, a couple levels above us, right next to another one of my labs. That's where we're going next."

He turned to another one of the people with him.

"Dan, we got the back door covered, everyone on the ball tonight?"

"Yes we are, boss." this 'Dan' said, " we got the back door covered and the tunnel entrances sealed up. Nobody gets in or out tonight. So much for the 'security alert' the University issued the other day. The campus security upstairs, out front, and at the back door don't seem to be taking it very seriously at all."

"Good for us. Tell everyone to be ready, game time is tomorrow night. I will have a full briefing for you and the rest of the team sometime tomorrow, not sure when, probably around 1700 hours, after I am done with that lecture in advanced networking theory."

"No prob, boss. Sleep well tonight and we'll catch you on the flip side." 'Dan' said, smiling.

"And with that, now we get you guys to your sleeping quarters," Jerryhandelman said, "so follow me."

They followed him down the hallway, a very tight hallway, and into a stairwell. It was tight quarters going up the stairwell, but they managed.

They emerged on another hallway. "It's down here." Jerryhandelman said.

They all followed him and some ways down the hallway, he stopped at a set of big doors.

"Here we are." he said.

"So this is home for the next few days or so?" Jake asked.

"Yup, we need to get in there, get you guys settled in, and you get to cool your heels for a day or so until the action begins. Right now, I need to get something out of that other room," he pointed to a door across the hall.

Neytiri translated that to the other Na'vi who didn't speak English. One of the Olo'eyktans then started pushing on the big doors to get them to open, and another one started helping him. This was the room they had to get into, or so Jerryhandelman had said.

He heard the commotion and came over. "Uh, guys," he said, motioning them to step aside.

He then went to a little flat 'control panel' like the one near the transfer chamber, only this one was smaller. He did something with it, put his thumb on a flat part of it, and pushed some buttons on it.

The doors opened with a 'click' sound.

"You're in." he said.

They stepped into the room and looked around. It was a spacious, large room. There were a series of large mattresses arrayed around the room, mostly to one side of it. "That is where you'll be sleeping," Jerryhandelman said, "I know you guys are accustomed to hammocks, but this is the best we could come up with on short notice. These air mattresses should give you a good night's sleep. You guys weren't supposed to be here until next week, but we can made do, I think." He pointed to a smaller, human-sized mattress off to one side of the room. "Norm, you'll have to sleep on that. Everyone else who will be here for the operation already has sleeping arrangements in various nooks and crannies and we don't have any other place to put you up. I figure you wouldn't mind sleeping in the same room with the Na'vi and it will be easier in the long run."

Norm shrugged noncommittally, "Whatever you say, Jerry. I'm game."

"The air beds are fine," Jake said, "we pick out our own?"

"Yup. Each couple chooses their own." Jerryhandelman responded. "I have to see about something in the next room." he answered.

Before he could get much further, a door at the side of this big room opened up and a human stepped out of it.

"Jerry, you're here!" the man said.

"Yes, I am here, Tarik. You got my cat?" he asked.

"Yes, she's in your cubbyhole right now, probably wondering where her Food Guy is."

"He's right here," Jerryhandelman muttered.

He walked to the door 'Tarik' had just opened and came out a moment later, holding a small, furry animal.

"So, you work with Jerry?" Jake asked this 'Tarik' as Jerryhandelman came up to them.

"Yes," Tarik said, in Na'vi, "and if it weren't for me, this moron wouldn't be able to find his shoes every morning, he's that clueless." he continued, in Na'vi.

"I heard that!" Jerryhandelman muttered, looking at Tarik askance.

"You speak our language?" Neytiri and some of the others wanted to know, surprised at this development.

"Uh, yes, and I thought Jerry didn't speak Na'vi."

"That was before I went to Pandora and had Eywa take me into her so we can save the world together." Jerryhandelman said, snickering. "She gave me an 'upgrade' to my mind when I came out."

"Our Great Mother gave him the ability to understand our speech." Neytiri said, watching Jerryhandelman.

"Uh, that's nice, you know I was just joking, boss." Tarik said, still a little unsure if his comments had been taken out of turn.

"Whatever, but don't say something like that again," Jerryhandelman muttered.

"Do others of the Sky People speak our language here?" Tahni wanted to know.

"Yes." Tarik said after a moment. "There are many humans who speak your language." He turned to Jerryhandelman. "I gotta head back to my place. See you tomorrow?"

"Yeah, figure around 1900 hours is when the festivities should begin."

And with that, 'Tarik' left the room.

"So is that an apartment?" Jake asked, pointing to the open doorway.

"Well no, not really, just a little hole-in-the-wall cubbyhole I put in so I could have a place to crash out when some of my experiments ran late and I didn't want to drive home in the middle of the night. It's got all the comforts of home." he said.

Neytiri looked into the room, as did others. "This is your living place?" she asked.

"Well no, just a little place I use to sleep now and then when I am here late at night, like right now. My real home is some number of kilometers from here. But this little cubbyhole has a bed, a small closet for a change of clothes, a shower, a little kitchenette to cook up a quick meal, and a place to put my guitar, or one of them, at least, and one of my keyboards. Sometimes I come down here to get away from everything and hide for a while. I like to come down here and play my guitar now and then. It helps me to clear my mind, to relax now and then and get away from everything."

Jake looked around the room. "Your own little getaway, eh? I would have thought you might have had something like this in your office."

"My office is three flights of stairs above this level. It has its own private bathroom, with a shower and a little room where I have a cot if I need to get a little shuteye, but I use this little hole-in-the-wall a lot more for that sort of thing than my office."

"It's your own little man cave, eh?" Normspellman said.

"And you use this place to crash out too?" Jake surmised.

"Yeah, that and once and a while, I'll hit it off with one of my students and we'll come down here to get busy, if you know what I mean." Jerryhandelman said, smiling.

Jake looked at him. "You're telling me you've scored?" he said, looking at Jerry very strangly.

"Scored? What does that mean?" Neytiri asked, mystified.

"Uh, it means I have had a number of sexual encounters with a few human women in this room right here," Jerryhandelman said, obviously a little embarrassed.

"You, the uber-geek have scored?" Jake said, not believing what he was hearing.

"Yes, Jake, a few times, some of these grad student chicks are hot and I'm considered a rock star in the physics world, so yes, I have gotten laid a few times with former students." he continued, his pride obviously wounded.

Jake turned to Neytiri, "He's being sarcastic." he said, smiling.

"I am not! Jake Sully. I have actually had a few relationships and yes, I have even had sex on more than one occasion. What, you don't believe me?"

Jake turned around. "Whatever." he said, still smiling.

"You have no mate?" Neytiri asked him. "No children of your own?

"Uh, no, on both counts. I came close a few years ago with one of my students. We started getting hot and heavy for each other and we started shacking up together, but it didn't work out, probably because she was still my student when we started living together."

"'Shacking up' means living together as a mated couple." Neytiri asked him.

"Uh, yeah, something like that, anyway it didn't work out, but I got a cat out of the deal at any rate." he said, holding up the little furry animal in his arms.

"See," he said, "to some of us, the Na'vi look like cats, so we called you the Cat People of Pandora."

Neytiri could see very little resemblance to herself or any other Na'vi in this little creature he was holding. She picked it up and looked at it. It easily fit inside both her hands.

"This animal is yours?" she said. The little animal looked at her and began making a low, rhythmic grumbling sound, oddly soothing in its own way.

"Well, more like, she deigns to associate herself with me because I am her Food Guy." he answered.

"Food Guy, that's pretty good." Jake said laughing.

"Well, she knows that when I show up, that means only one thing. Hence the name, 'Food Guy' for me."

"Food Guy?" Neytiri asked, mystified.

"I feed her, so she thinks of me as her Food Guy." Jerryhandelman said.

"So," Jake looked around, "we get settled in here and then await the next phase?"

"Yes," Jerryhandelman said, "and if you look at the other end of the room, see those curtains?"

They all looked to where he was pointing.

"The curtains on the left are for going to the bathroom, we roughed in a place for you guys to uh, you know, answer the call of Nature with some privacy and the curtains on the right are where you can take showers and wash up, if you need to." He pointed around the room. "There are also curtains you can put around your beds, if you want a little privacy."

"Sounds like a plan." Jake said. He turned to Neytiri. "Let's take a bed."

Everyone found a bed and got settled in.

"One more thing." Jerryhandelman said, "I am about to go into that room and get some much needed rest, but before I do that I want to give you something."

He looked around and found a box sitting by the wall of the big room they were in. "Aha, Tarik came through."

He opened the box and began handing out its contents.

"These are protein packs made from algal concentrates. We humans eat this stuff and it keeps us alive. It might not taste good, but it will keep you all alive until you're ready to meet with the Earth leaders and start negotiating the peace treaty."

"Ugh," Jake made a face, "the one thing I didn't like about living here was this crap."

"Hey, it will keep you alive." Jerryhandelman muttered.

Neytiri opened one of the packages and put the stuff in her mouth. It tasted bland, but edible.

"Thank you Jerryhandelman for your hospitality and your generosity." she said. Others echoed that sentiment.

"That reminds me, Neytiri, I have something to show you." Jerryhandelman said mysteriously and before she could answer, he went into his little room and emerged a few moments later, holding a flat, square box of some sort.

"Remember the chess game I showed you back on your world?"

She nodded to him.

"Well, here's a chess set I had made especially for myself. It's based on people from your clan. When we were first getting to understand your clan and your people, I had the idea that it would be cool to have a chess set with Na'vi characters, so I had this made a few years ago."

He opened the box up and showed her what was inside. It was a board, similar to the one he and Normspellman had used on Pandora and later on, Normspellman had used to teach her the basics of this game the Geeks played. Except it was a much bigger board and the pieces were larger.

She gasped in recognition. The 'King' piece was a miniature version of her father, Eytukan, right down to the Olo'eyktan's mantle around his neck. The 'Queen' piece was her mother, in miniature form. The 'Knight' was Tsu'tey, and the various other pieces were based on members of her clan.

"This is your chess set?" she asked him in wonderment.

"Yes, it's the one Norm would have gotten had I not returned from becoming one with your deity. I've had many sets in my time, and I used to play chess with Jake's brother right here, in this very room, with a different set than this one, but this set is my favorite."

"Perhaps I might play with this set someday." she said a little wistfully.

"I hear Norm taught you to play." he said.

"Yup." Norm said, "and Neytiri is a pretty good player, actually."

She smiled at him for a moment, then looked back at the set again. "This reminds me of my father, it makes me sad in a way, but it is done very well. I thank you for showing me this, Jerryhandelman."

"You're most welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to hit the sack." Jerryhandelman said.

"You will be back?" Neytiri asked.

"Yes, of course I will, I'll be in that room right there, sleeping. See you all in the morning."

"Funny," Jake said, "We only just woke up a few hours ago and I feel tired already, like I want to get some sleep."

Neytiri and some of the others agreed.

"That's a side effect of the jump through the transfer gate. You come out feeling tired. I don't know why that is but it is." Jerryhandelman said, as he headed to his little room.

"Hm, in any case, it's time to get some sleep." Jake answered.

And with that, everyone else settled in for the evening.

Neytiri and Jake found one of the beds and claimed it as their own.

"Just like home," Jake said, smiling at her, "except here we're the aliens." he finished.

She smiled back at him as they lay down for the evening. "But, my Jake, this is the world you came from, remember? This was your home."

"Yeah, but I'm just visiting. It will be great to get this over with so we can go home for good."

"Agreed," she said, already drifting off to sleep, "let us trust Eywa that Jerryhandelman can do this for us ..."