1
The fight had ended with the death of Banks. His men, lost without his leadership, had surrendered and were now being led back to Hells Gate by both the Na'vi and the remainder of Evelyns team. Those who had fallen were moved to the perimeter that surrounded the Tree of Souls, their final resting place the most sacred of places for the Na'vi. Evelyn had liked that idea, especially since Damon was one of those who had perished. He had been a good man and soldier and it seemed fitting that he would lye here now.
"My team will escort the prisoners off Pandora and return them to the waiting ship". Evelyn looked up into the clear blue sky, "That is as long as they are still waiting up there".
"Hells Gate will contact them and find out", Jake sighed. "Let's hope they are", he looked down at Evelyn and Miles, "Then you two can finally head home".
"No we won't", Evelyn replied firmly.
Jake shook his head, "Excuse me? I thought you wanted to head back to Earth?".
"Not really", Miles moved closer to Evelyn. "Especially not now monkey boy".
"You must not stay!", Neytiri clenched her fists. "This is not your home".
Evelyns gaze narrowed and she took a step towards Neytiri, "It is now missy". She turned to face Jake, "We can't go back Jake. It's as simple as that".
"Why not?".
Evelyn turned to face Miles and gave him a warm smile, "I'd do anything to protect the man I love from harm". She looked back at Jake, "Even stay here".
"What are you on about?", Jake murmured, his curiosity now peeked.
"If Miles goes back, he's a dead man. SecOps will take him out the first opportunity they get and that's not something I'm about to let happen".
"How do you know that?", Jake knelt down and shifted his gaze between the two people before him.
"Cause she's not stupid", Miles replied confidently. "Evelyn knew the original reason the government wanted to talk with her. They may have tried to hide it, but she's no fool".
"Why should we care?", Neytiri hissed. "You don't deserve to live!".
"For a start, everyone deserves to live", Evelyn replied calmly, "If you want us gone, you will have to do so by force. That would probably mean one of us would get hurt and you really don't want that happening".
She gave Miles a knowing smile and both stood unwaveringly before Neytiri and Jake. I
"Tell me", Jake asked, his voice now trembling with concern.
"Remember the virus", Evelyn sighed.
"The one Banks had", Jake murmured.
"You mean the one I had", Miles sneered.
Jake felt his heart sink and he reached out to Neytiri, tightly gripping her hand in his.
"It's ok Jake. I have the virus now and as it was, there was no need to worry". Evelyn leaned closer to Jake, "You see the virus is inert. It needs a catalyst to become active".
"You never said that", Jake retorted. "You said it was dangerous".
"Oh", Evelyn laughed, "Never trust everything I say Jake. I always keep some of the truth hidden away. It's just better that way sometimes". Jake eyed her cautiously and took in a deep breath. He knew what he had to ask, but dreaded what the answer may be.
"What did you do with the virus?".
"I injected it into myself", Evelyn grinned.
"Why?", Neytiri exclaimed. "What is the thinking in that?".
"She's the catalyst", Jake groaned. "Evelyn is the catalyst that activates the virus". He felt like his world was spinning out of control, that everything was on the verge of collapse.
"Bingo monkey boy!", Miles quipped. "Told you she was smart".
"The thing that I didn't tell you Jake, is that I helped create the virus. It was my decision to make it inert and that my DNA would be the activating agent for it". Evelyn stepped back to Miles' side, "I knew that one day everything here would go south. It was inevitable really. I also knew that SecOps were becoming more and more unimpressed with Miles' tactics. They're a brutal bunch Jake and they wouldn't bother court-marshalling him. They'd just pop him off and make it look like an accident".
She wrapped her arm around Miles' waist, "So I decided that we would need a backup plan, you know, one created for a worst case scenario".
"The virus is carried in your blood then?", Jake asked, his voice almost a whisper.
"Right you are! My blood hits the ground, the virus will spread and", she shrugged, "Well things won't be looking very pretty here for long".
"What does it do?", Neytiri asked gently, her eyes filled with concern.
"It's really very amazing. A remarkable piece of genetic engineering if I do say so myself". Evelyn moved herself in front of Miles, "It makes its way through the various root systems of the plant life and spreads out. At first you won't notice anything and then one day". She clicked her fingers and grinned, "No more network. No more stored memories. No more link to Eywa".
"Like a computer virus", Jake groaned. "It wipes out all the information and severs connections".
"Exactly!". Evelyn leaned against Miles, her smile now broadening. "Of course the entire planet would be thrown into utter turmoil. Animals, plants and the Na'vi, all would suffer catastrophic losses. You wouldn't all be wiped out though. Only the weakest would die and really, that's not such a bad thing. Survival of the fittest and all that".
"Told you she was smart", Miles hissed as he wrapped his arm around his wifes shoulders. "Smart and kick-ass. Couldn't ask for more really".
Slowly Jake rose up to his feet, those normally bright eyes clouded and filled with concern.
"Why not just release it now?".
"Sully", Evelyn seemed almost offended by his question. "My issue has never been with this world or those that call it home. What do you take me for, some kind of monster?". She shook her head, "No, my dear Sully. This was created as a contingency plan. A fail safe for when things went bad and that's how it will remain".
Jake closed his eyes and sighed deeply, "What do you want?".
Evelyns smile broadened and she glanced up at Miles who gave her a quick nod.
"That, Jake Sully, is the question now, isn't it?".