Pandora: The Final Solution

I gratefully acknowledge one of the foremost creative geniuses of our times, James Cameron, for conceiving the lush moon Pandora and the "noble savages," the Na'vi, that inhabit it. I have not received any money for my work based on Avatar. If I could get paid by the hour for these stories, I would retire and spend all my time dancing and writing in comfort.

This chapter contains all original characters and situations, set on Earth immediately after the end of the movie. It is the obvious approach to dealing with the Pandoran uprising, with less than obvious consequences.

Chapter 20: Doctor Dmitri Mendeleev

Dmitri is so frustrated, he could just scream. Fortunately for those around him, he can hardly whimper, let alone cause a ruckus.

He is sitting alone in a treatment room in his dentist's office. While the anesthetic is numbing his mouth, his dentist is in a different room working on another patient . He had loudly complained of the pain during previous dental work by other dentists. This dentist has given Dmitri the maximum quantity of anesthetic that is legally defensible, but only after extracting a promise to remain here until released. Although the injections are all in his gums, his tongue, lips, and cheeks have also gone numb. Now he has received a text from JW's secretary about the emergency staff meeting, and here he sits, unable to speak, in no position to do anything else for at least a couple of hours. He texts back a reply, saying he cannot leave now but will check in at JW's office when his dentist gives him permission to leave.

He thinks back to his childhood in Russia. He can barely remember his parents, and certainly has no memories of their dental problems. Both were in the Russian Navy, his father an engineer and mother a buyer in finance, stationed at various ports to work construction projects. With the rising sea levels, rebuilding ports became lifetime careers. Their last posting was to Saint Petersburg to raise the port facilities and improve the dams protecting the historic old city from a catastrophic inundation. Maybe they didn't go to dentists and simply endured their problems without complaint. Maybe the military kept them in excellent health, and that is why he has no memories of their dental problems. Or maybe his teeth are as good as his parents, and the problem lies with American dentistry. There are dental offices everywhere, all the major retail chains have them, and they are depressingly similar. Every time he visits one, he is handed a treatment plan with thousands of dollars of work to bring his mouth up to the minimum standard set by the U. S. government, followed by the hard sell to sign a financing contract to do the work. His current dentist is semi-retired, and is one of the last independent professionals in the area. He also is not much of a salesman. That makes him one of the few dentists Dmitri is willing to use. Of course, being trustworthy does not mean Dmitri will treat him better than anyone else. He has found that Americans don't like conflict, so treating them badly motivates them to give him what he wants. Big corporations are always striving for customer engagement, with the customer always being right, at least until their computers reject you as a risk to their bottom line. Independent professionals are much more pliant.

Dmitri's upbringing in Russia was very difficult. While inspecting a new coffer dam, a crane toppled over, killing his father and several nearby workers. Dmitri still remembers that day, his pregnant mother wailing so loudly at the news and then passing out. Shortly after, an ambulance crew carried her out on a stretcher, the first of many separations. For weeks, she was in and out of the hospital, and Dmitri and his sister floated among the families of their parents' friends around base. Finally came the day when they were told that his mother had joined his father, and they were on their own now. Both were packed off to local state run orphanages.

After a series of tests, it was determined that Dmitri was a very smart little boy. During the cold and dark days of the Russian winter, his mother taught him the rudiments of reading and numbers, telling him he must be smart like his father to make it in this world. Because of his scores, they changed his surname to that of the greatest chemist of Russia, the scientist who invented the periodic table of the elements. When he became old enough to understand it, Dmitri liked the name change. However, he hated the fact that his namesake was not given the Nobel prize because of his political views. Dmitri was determined to never be slighted, in any way, by anybody.

His true genius did not become evident until much later. Life in the orphanage was tough. He had to develop skills to survive that his parents never taught him. He wasn't very big, so physical fighting was rarely successful, but mental fighting became his forte. He had a way of talking that worked his will with both fellow orphans and the staff. But there were limits to what Dmitri could accomplish, and that motivated him. He needed to keep on the good side of everyone so he could get scholarships to top-name schools, and escape being a ward of the state, unemployable or stuck in dead end jobs or in the military like his parents. However, there were some daunting obstacles to overcome.

Like all government institutions, the staff were poorly paid, and many held other jobs to supplement their income. One staffer, dubbed Ivan the Terrible by the orphans, made money on the side by selling pictures and videos of the naked orphans in the showers. Dmitri did not understand this when he was younger, but some of his friends were very unhappy with Ivan. Some orphans were asked to pose or do other things, and would be punished if they refused. When one older friend disappeared, rumored because of resisting Ivan's demands, Dmitri realized he could end up in the same situation someday. He had to take action, but not be blamed if it didn't work out.

All staff had to report their working time each day, using the same computers the orphans used. Dmitri knew that each unit had a keylogger to track usage, so he had a fellow orphan show him how to bypass the security software and use the computer without leaving a trace. Since Ivan used the same workstation every day, it was a simple matter of getting the password out of the keylogger to access Ivan's account. In order to hide his tracks further, Dmitri did the same to the shift supervisor. Dmitri waited until he could "borrow" Ivan's phone during a fight among the orphans. He uploaded all offending files to Ivan's account, sent them to the supervisor, and blind copied the files to many local news and police addresses. He next logged into the supervisor's account and sent a reply back to Ivan, saying these pics were acceptable, but were not as good as usual, and to never use work computers again, also blind copying it. The next day, the orphanage was raided, with local news cameras following the police throughout the facility. The computers were confiscated and analyzed. Although they showed signs of tampering, nothing was out of order on the day the emails were sent, "proving" they were authentic. The files were still in Ivan's phone and work account, sealing his fate. The supervisor claimed innocence, but once the duration of Ivan's crimes was determined, no one believed this could have happened without his complicity. Both were convicted of child abuse and distributing child pornography, and were sentenced severely as public servants gone bad. Dmitri never breathed a word of his involvement to anyone, and saw how acting invisibly behind the scenes can lead to success, a lesson that he never forgot.

Of course, he was one of the victims interviewed by the press. His famous name meant that he got plenty of attention. The publicity helped his sister find him, and they started a sporadic relationship. When a reporter published his words on how he hoped this event would not hurt his chances to get a college scholarship, benefactors from around the world chipped in to help him, and soon he was studying engineering and management at the Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics. There was enough money that he could also fund his sister to study nursing. He didn't make many friends at school, he was younger and often was antagonistic and hyper competitive, and that alienated the other students. He always made top marks in all classes, and used his honors as a springboard into graduate school at MIT in the United States. Besides getting top marks there, he paid attention to his relationships with the staff and graduate students, using all his skills to get funding from RDA for his dissertation, and landing a position with the R&D group in New Mexico after graduating.

He quickly rose through the ranks, but always had to fight those who thought he was too dangerous to be given real power. His best move was hiring an exceptionally sharp new grad, John Winston, who was much smoother and more engaging. He helped JW at every turn, and when JW surpassed him on the fast track, JW returned the favor. They were an unbeatable pair. The only foreseeable problem is that JW is being promoted to corporate headquarters in New York City, splitting up their cozy relationship. Dmitri is working hard to either replace him or go with him.

Dmitri convinces the dentist to let him leave in a taxi once the procedure is complete but before he is over the effects of the anesthetic. He'll find a ride back here to recover his company car, but he has to get to work as soon as possible. He has no idea what could be happening, he picked this day for his dental appointment because it was a quiet day, schedule-wise. He feels a little light-headed, and stumbles past security and through the halls to his office. He sits down to recover, and after a few minutes of rest, decides to read his email, in the hope that the emergency issue has caused a storm. No such luck. If anything, there is less email than normal, nothing out of the ordinary. Maybe this issue is too hot to appear in email. Dmitri decides to visit JW in person. He just hopes that he is not as shaky during this trip through the halls to the presidential suite.

The normally quiet hallway to JW's office is a beehive of activity today. He follows three servers from the executive cafeteria that are pushing service carts into the anteroom. That room is rearranged to hold a food service line across from JW's secretary. By the door into the spare offices for visitors stands JW with the chief security officer and the chief information officer. As soon as JW sees him, he calls to Dmitri over the commotion.

"Doctor Dmitri, I didn't expect you so soon, but I'm glad you're here. As you can see, I have the security and IT brain trust here overseeing the installation of secure workstations throughout the suite. You will have a new one in your office later today."

Dmitri nods, and then mumbles "That bad?"

"Yes, but we can't talk about it here."

The CIO says "Mister Winston, your workstation is ready. Let's go into your office and I'll walk you through the login sequence. You will use your badge, index finger, and new pass phrase."

JW replies, "Come on, Dmitri. I've got something you have got to see on my new toy, once they show me how to use it."

Both men are seated in front of JW's new workstation. As the video ends, JW turns to Dmitri. "Your niece is out there?"

Dmitri slurs "Yeth, Ivanna Petrakov is my nieth."

JW smiles "Don't try to talk. Your mouth isn't working yet. Just listen for now."

Dmitri nods and clearly answers "Da."

They both laugh.

"That's about all the Russian I understand. We'll talk about your niece when you get your voice back. That captain sounds like a devious guy. Maybe using your niece as an unwitting spy won't work, but it is an interesting idea."

Dmitri smiles and nods in agreement. They hear a knock on the door. JW yells out "It's OK, come in."

The door opens. His admin sticks her head in and says "The visitors are on approach now. They should be here in about an hour."

"Thank you. Please alert the staff and the kitchen."

"Yes, Mister Winston." She closes the door.

JW gets very serious. "The Chairman and a plane full of corporate staffers will be here soon. They're coming on the daily shuttle from RDA headquarters, trying to hide their tracks. They didn't say why they're flying out here, but the first emergency message from the Venture Star hinted of trouble on Pandora. The Chairman must have thought it was serious enough to come out here to talk about it. Since so many are coming to us, it looks like they don't have a clue, and are dumping this on us to clean up. Except for the chairman, they're all lawyers and accountants, politicians that don't know how to handle real-world problems this tough, or off-world problems, either."

Dmitri smiles, he shares JW's assessment of headquarters.

"Now this video has arrived. We need to come up with options in response."

Dmitri nods in agreement, his face matching JW's seriousness.

"The obvious solution is to send SecOps out there with a larger and better force. That'll cost a fortune. But first, we'll have to find out how they failed, and make sure they don't fail again. Obviously, we need a first-rate CO, not a nut job like Quaritch. Seems to me there must be a better way."

Dmitri nods again.

"Think about it. See if you can come up with other ideas on taking back Pandora, or maybe just getting unobtainium out of there. I think somebody did a study on boosting the floating mountains into orbit, one by one, extracting the useful ores, and dropping the rest back into the ocean. Throwing the rocks down onto the surface at the Na'vi might be acceptable now, at least to the RDA executives. There's evidence that unobtainium is on other moons of Polyphemus. Could get the budget to explore the whole system now. That'll cost another fortune. It's time to resurrect those ideas, if working out in the open on Pandora is too dangerous."

Dmitri nods as a far away look comes over his face. He stares up at the ceiling.

"There isn't much time to get ready."

Dmitri doesn't move a muscle.

"I don't know how much good we can do, but this situation will give us the chance to shine in front of our bosses and competition."

Dmitri sits up and looks into JW's eyes, answering "Yeth, agree. Muth get chairman alone. Thound out limiths in private."

"You devil. I was thinking the same thing. Get some coffee, if you can drink now. The food will be here soon. Got to get your voice back before showtime."

JW stands and pats Dmitri on the shoulder blade. Both smile at each other. Dmitri stands, and JW opens the door so they can walk out to the food service line together. The gladiators prepare themselves for the coming battle.