Chapter 20: The interloper

Jessica, the daughter of Dr. Nitschke, had just been dropped off by a Samson transport aircraft, which now passed them overhead. With her were Dr. Clemens, Dr. Morrison, and Dr. Singh. All were driving their Avatars.

They had been brought to a special place, at least according to the doctors. A chunk of the jungle, five kilometers away from Hell's Gate, had been fenced-in and fortified. The area was being used as a place of refuge for various Na'vi families closely associated with Sem'yethu, who had been driven from their land by Ne'swonim and his warriors. At least, that was how it was being told to Jessica.

She wondered about what was really going on. Her father also never told her the full truth, so she figured she might find out some real facts for herself if she paid attention. Her father had agreed to let her go on this expedition as proof he wasn't trying to constrain her experiences driving her Avatar. So, this would be a real chance for her to explore the rich and interesting environments which Pandora had to offer. Unfortunately, they were still located inside the fences here.

The four of them were equipped to make long jungle treks, with suitable shoes, comfortable clothes, and backpacks filled with supplies. Morrison even carried a special science backpack. Jessica found it all a bit overdone. Maybe it would take them thirty minutes to walk from one end to the other in this enclosed area. That wouldn't be much of a hike. Another unfortunate thing was that her father had only allowed her to go on the condition she would be wearing her shoes at all times while outside. She had reluctantly agreed, after having convinced herself that she would be making a relatively small sacrifice for a somewhat larger gain.

That gain would be largest if she could somehow manage to go beyond the fence without being seen. In order for this to happen, the first step would be for her to escape from the science bozos.

They had landed in a large grassy clearing which was surrounded by thicker vegetation and divided by a small stream of water. Several plants with bulbous and tubular structures adorned the clearing. At this side of the stream and across of it, there were various temporary Na'vi settlements, consisting only of simple structures needed for daily life; nothing too fancy or special.

As they were walking past the nearest encampment, Jessica paid close attention to the Na'vi that were nearby. Elynin was the only other Na'vi she had seen before now. In this camp, there were mostly older grandpas and grandmas, as well as young infants. She looked around, but there really weren't any young adults, nor any children her own age, for that matter.

The young seemed to be fine, but the elders did not look very welcoming. In fact, some of them even looked downright angry.

"Alright." Dr. Singh said suddenly. "We have a lot of work to do. Each of you, meet up with the appointed Na'vi leaders for these groups. Clemens, you're taking Jess with you."

All she got in reply from Clemens was a look of indignation and confusion. He even stopped in his tracks momentarily.

"Why me?" he whispered to himself. Jessica guessed that no one was supposed to have heard that, but with these ears she could hear practically anything. She smirked to herself as she walked past him.

So, it would be just Clemens she had to give the slip; certainly not bad. It was almost as if Singh was encouraging her to do a little exploring of her own. Once Clemens would be preoccupied with interacting with the community leader, it would be a piece of cake.

For now, Jessica decided to play the part of a well-behaved girl to give him a false sense of security.

As Clemens hurried to take the lead again and steer her to the correct group of Na'vi, he lowered his head a bit towards her and gave a nod into a certain direction.

"Right there, that is Sem'yethu himself. Looks like he's decided to pay his people a visit. How righteous of him." he said, likely in an attempt to have at least some kind of conversation topic. "Would you like to meet him?"

Jessica looked over to a group of warriors who were dismounting from their banshees, having only just landed. She guessed he was referring to the one now strutting about like he owned the very ground he walked on. A peacock was nothing in comparison. He even had as many feathers as one, which were adorning his shoulders. Or maybe those things were leaves. In any case she didn't much care.

"Yes, how righteous… but no thanks. He looks like he has better things to do." Jessica answered, doing her best to sound bored instead of sarcastic.

"I'm sure he does." Clemens said in return. "Ah, there is our customer." he continued as he spotted the community leader, who turned out to be an elderly Na'vi woman sitting on the ground just outside a simple shelter near a camp fire. She didn't have many teeth left, but at least she had a somewhat friendly expression on her face.

Clemens then reached into those years of training he had had regarding the Na'vi language and their culture. He appeared to be very formal, even coming across as somewhat stiff. Though Elynin had been teaching Jessica the Na'vi language, she could only partially understand Clemens' formal speech. She couldn't understand the elder woman at all since she mumbled her words and seemed to have an accent of some kind.

The woman appeared to want something from Clemens, seemingly something physical. Clemens, rigid as he was, declined politely multiple times and kept his distance. The woman laughed somewhat lecherously, before Clemens nervously changed the subject. He suddenly and very clearly introduced Jessica to the woman. She knew this was her cue.

"I see you." Jessica said somewhat neutrally, whilst making the obligatory gesture that went with the greeting. The old Na'vi woman then beckoned for her to come closer.

She was rather reluctant to do so. Clemens hadn't wanted to come any closer either, so why should she? The good doctor then unexpectedly pushed her forward, however. She realized it would be cowardly to back away now, so she bravely walked on until she was within reach of the woman.

The elder Na'vi changed her sitting posture to one where she was leaning forward, before she grabbed Jessica's wrists and abruptly pulled her down into a crouching position. The woman proceeded to thoroughly inspect Jessica's hands, tail, queue, hair and finally her face. She even pulled Jessica's jaw open to inspect the inside of her mouth. No doubt was she jealous of her perfect teeth.

Jessica hoped the old woman had washed her hands before handling her, although somehow, she doubted that. She tried not to look too annoyed or disgusted, but was sure she had failed at that. The woman finished off by pulling her hard on one cheek, before letting out a chuckle.

When the woman had let her go and said something to the other elders, causing them all to laugh out loud, Jessica turned to Clemens.

"Alright, you win this round. Next time, you're getting the thorough inspection." she said, sincerely irritated and rubbing her sore cheek.

"It's not so bad. They just think you look wonderful, just like a newborn baby, but already halfway towards being an adult." Clemens elaborated.

"Don't. Baby. Me." she replied gruffly.

Before she could even think about her plan to sneak away, another, slightly younger Na'vi woman suddenly walked up and basically shoved an infant into her arms. Jessica had no clue how to even hold a young child like that and was somewhat worried she would drop the poor thing accidently. Meanwhile, the elderly women chuckled in the background.

Soon, Jessica understood that it wasn't a big problem for her to hold the little guy when she slightly shifted her grip. She looked at him, concluding that it was a boy of probably a few years old. She smiled broadly as she realized it was actually kind of neat to be holding a real Na'vi infant, who was also pretty cute. The boy responded by pulling roughly on her braided hair.

"Ouch!" Jessica called out. "You're not some poor thing; you're just a regular little rascal, aren't you?" She proceeded to stick her tongue out at the infant, who giggled in response. Next, she made several funny faces to entertain the kid further.

At a certain point, he called her tsmuke, which was a word she recognized. He was calling her 'sister'. She gently hugged him in response. Unfortunately, the woman soon took him back into her arms.

Jessica actually felt somewhat sad and a little jealous when she had to let him go. She wanted to hold him longer and play with him some more. She had never had a younger brother. She had never had any siblings whatsoever. Her mother had been killed by the eco-union shortly after giving birth to her.

She then pulled Clemens' shirt to get his attention before asking him uncharacteristically tamely: "Did they say what his name is? Can you ask them? Please?"

Clemens sighed, but proceeded to do so. Some words were exchanged while Jessica waited anxiously.

"He is called Savok, I think." Clemens then said to her.

"Savok…" she said, contemplating. "We're going to visit this group a lot, right? So, I'll be able to see him every time?"

"I am. You are not. This is just a one-time excursion for you." Clemens said simply, but his choice of words made him sound unnecessarily harsh. What he didn't say, but what Jessica imagined to be hearing, was: "Those are your father's orders."

Regardless of whether he would admit it or not, in Jessica's view he definitely was one of her father's henchmen.

Jessica remained silent after that. She supposed she could try asking if he could get them to allow her to hold Savok again. However, Clemens was playing the ambassador now, really getting into his story. Jessica initially waited to see what would happen next.

After a minute or two, she made her decision. She took several steps back. He didn't seem to notice. She slowly walked towards the side until she was sure he couldn't see her anymore in the corner of his eye. Then she hightailed it out of there.

Now that she was free to go wherever she wanted, she ironically didn't really know what to do. She had to avoid the other Avatars for sure. Also, she thought it was probably best not to come anywhere near the SD troopers who were guarding the various gates.

She decided to walk closely along the fence, taking care to only do so when she wasn't near a sentry post. Every hundred meters or so, there was a machinegun mounted on the fence, facing the jungle. Some of them were automated, some were manned by the SD.

There wasn't any possibility to go through the fence at any point; the metal bars were simply spaced too closely together. So, she made do with pressing her face against the fence every once in a while, to witness what was on the other side. It wasn't very exciting; there was just more regular jungle. Sometimes there was a funny-looking plant shaped like a pineapple or a balloon. On one occasion, she saw a hexapede leaping into the bushes. This was possibly the most exciting thing that happened.

As boredom and disappointment set in, she pressed up against the fence one more time, and suddenly came face to face with a creature looking like death itself. She yelped and stumbled backwards onto the moss.

Jessica quickly realized that she had been wrong. It was just a Na'vi wearing black and grey paint on the face and the chest. In fact, the Na'vi was only a boy. She got back up, causing the boy to start retreating into the jungle.

"Hey, wait! Don't go! You just startled me with that weird paint." She said as she pressed her face against the fence and put her arms through to reach out. He ignored her.

Jessica coughed before trying again, but in Na'vi this time: "Boy, wait!"

The boy looked back over his shoulder and hesitated momentarily. Jessica took advantage of this.

"Are you left? No, hold on, silly. Are you lost?" she said, struggling to find the right words.

"Not as lost as you." the boy then answered. "You must have come from far away. You look weird."

Jessica frowned as she realized he was actually the one who dared calling her weird.

"Hey, I'm not the one with a skull painted on my face, bud!" she replied annoyedly. Unfortunately, she could not fully express the same thing in her limited Na'vi vocabulary. Instead, she simply told him: "Your paint is weird."

The boy didn't appear to like that at all. He looked agitated as he moved back towards the fence. When it seemed like he was going to come near her, Jessica pulled her arms back through and made sure she was out of his reach.

"It is the way of Halokten." he told her fiercely. He then rested his hand on a skull that was attached to the strap of his loincloth. Jessica recognized it to be a human skull, probably a real one.

"The way of… what?" she asked confusedly and concernedly. She knew there could be any number of ways this boy could have acquired a human skull without actually having killed anybody. Knowing what had happened to the RDA, it was no surprise that there would be some human remains lying around. This one looked old and dried, so maybe it had indeed belonged to an RDA employee?

"Halokten." The boy said curtly. "You would not understand. Especially a foreign person like yourself. Go back to your people, boy."

"I am NOT a boy!" Jessica yelled back at him, feeling quite insulted. She then approached the fence and pressed her face against the bars again. "I am a girl. I have long braided hair, see?"

As she said it, she realized that for a Na'vi, this detail didn't mean much, as both males and females were known to wear their hair long. When he started walking off, seemingly not believing that she was a girl, or maybe due to his general lack of interest in her, Jessica made a split-second decision. She started climbing up the fence in order to meet him on the other side and follow him if needed. She was desperate to get answers to her burning questions, such as who he was, why he was there and what was going on with his unusual behavior.

The first part of the climb went really well. Then she reached the top, and was subsequently blocked by the barbed wire. Looking for a solution, she noticed there was a tree nearby on this side of the fence. Maybe she could make the jump? If she moved several meters along the fence, it would only be a short distance to cross. She promptly moved into position, braced herself, and leapt at the branch.

She managed to wrap her lanky arms and legs around it and held on. Though she couldn't see it at the moment, the Na'vi boy had stopped to witness her climb, actually being somewhat impressed by her skill.

Jessica could now climb higher along the branch, which stuck out over the fence and the barbed wire. In no time she was at the other side. The next problem was getting down from here. The grating of the fence was too far away. If she would let herself drop too close, there was a chance of falling into the barbed wire, which she deemed unacceptable.

The only other way forward was to climb further along this branch until she could drop down onto a lower branch of one of the trees on the other side. As she climbed, the branch got thinner and thinner and started bending due to her weight. Once it started creaking, she let herself drop, and caught onto the lower branch with both hands. However, she had misjudged the force the drop would exert. The branch snapped soon thereafter, sending her falling to the ground.

She landed on her stomach with a dull thud, knocking the breath out of her. Despite this, she soon sat up and realized she wasn't really hurt, just a little painful. Her heart was still pounding, though. It had been a close one.

"Why do I get myself into these stupid situations?" she muttered to herself, before she saw the boy standing over her, ready to help her up. She took both his hands and was swiftly returned to her feet.

"Acceptable, but not good enough." he commented in honesty. "Perhaps you can learn from me. I am called Namuk."

"My name is Jess." she replied with a slight smile, content for the moment that he was showing some semblance of normalcy.

"… Tes?" he tried to reproduce.

"Jess." she said again, with a little less patience this time.

"Tjess." he responded, looking convinced he was pronouncing it right.

"No. Jess." she reiterated, while putting her hands on her hips.

"Jess." he said finally, looking relieved when he realized he got it right. "That is a difficult name."

Jessica couldn't maintain her surly expression for long after he said this. She burst into laughter. Perhaps it wasn't entirely fair towards him, as she was aware the Na'vi language did not contain the j sound. Still, it was pretty funny that someone who was all tough with wearing a skull on his belt thought that a simple name with a j in it was so difficult.

"Do not make fun of me." Namuk said in a tone that indicated an earnest warning.

"Sorry…maybe… we can both… learn from each other? Namuk?" Jessica answered, purposefully disarming. Namuk seemed to agree.

Now that they were standing close to each other without a barrier in between them, Namuk let his eyes run amok, inspecting every bit of her. He didn't appear to be able to decide what to ask her first, until he became entranced by her hands. She had five fingers compared to his four.

He lightly pulled her right hand closer to his face and studied it momentarily, curling her fingers towards the palm of her hand one at a time. Jessica was surprised by how gently he touched her despite initially having come across as some barbarian or ruffian. She decided to let him satisfy his curiosity. Maybe it would help her gain his trust, so that she could find out more about him later on?

"Amazing… I have never seen a Na'vi with five fingers before. Do all your people have that many fingers?" he said, full of wonder.

"Yes, we do." Jessica answered truthfully.

"And what about your feet? Do you have five toes as well?" Namuk asked curiously. He believed the answer was right in front of him, so he looked down.

Unfortunately for him, her feet were obscured, but he found something else that intrigued him instead: "What are those things you are wearing? They look painful."

"We protect our feet like that. We call them shoes." she elaborated calmly.

"Protect? But that is like covering your eyes when trying to aim an arrow. How can you be sure you have aimed properly? How would you even train your eyes to recognize the target? I would not call this protection… Strange…" he said earnestly.

Jessica thought for a moment on that, needing time to process the all those words, as well as figuring out what he actually meant. His comparison made a lot of sense, though, and she certainly agreed.

"I know, we are a little odd that way. But maybe… you want… to try them yourself? To learn?" she suggested.

"Only once, to try." Namuk said reluctantly.

Jessica then sat down onto the moss and undid her shoelaces.

"Here, just pull on it." she said after extending her left leg to him. Namuk looked at her shoe suspiciously for a few seconds, before taking hold of it and pulling. It came off after minimal effort, exposing her bare foot with the expected five toes.

Jessica pulled the other one off herself, and watched as Namuk further inspected her shoe inside and out, likely trying to figure out what kind of material it was made of.

"Just do not smell it." Jessica said, intended as a lighthearted joke. However, what she was implying passed right by Namuk, who did so anyway and had no discernable reaction to it.

She then put her right shoe onto the ground in front of her and looked up at him expectantly.

Only when she coughed impatiently, was Namuk broken out of his single-minded focus on the alien object he was holding.

"Let me help you." she said as she took the shoe from his hands, positioned it onto the ground, and held it in place for him to step into. His feet were not much bigger than hers, and obviously had only four toes like any regular Na'vi.

He finally stepped into the first one with some hesitation and then into the second one. As he subsequently tried walking around, Jessica couldn't restrain herself. She dropped onto the jungle floor in a fit of laughter as he walked around awkwardly like a cat with bags around his paws.

Soon, Namuk had enough of it and ejected them off his feet. "I said, do not make fun of me!" he called out to her in anger.

"Again, sorry." Jessica said to disarm the situation, noting to herself that he certainly seemed to have a short fuse. "You can… make fun of me if you want. For wearing them."

"Can you even walk without them?" Namuk then countered. "Show me."

Jessica stood up and did so gladly and elegantly, being happy to be freed from them. On the other hand, she didn't really know what exactly was out there beyond the fence. It was a bit scary not knowing what she could be stepping on whilst unprotected. She supposed it was fine if she would only put her feet down where he had walked.

"Can you walk all day long like that?" he then asked, not being as impressed as she had hoped he would be.

"Why? Are you going to make me?" she countered boldly, being surprised that she could actually find the right words to express herself. "It would be painful after some time, I guess."

This time, Namuk was the one who had to chuckle. "I could capture you and make you walk behind my pa'li all day." he said haughtily.

Jessica supposed he could, but she was going to put up a fight if he tried. She remained silent in anticipation.

"It would not be appropriate, though." he then admitted somewhat more mildly. "Besides, I think you are cute for having feet as tender as those of a baby."

Jessica became a bit shy when she heard him calling her cute. She wanted to say something witty, but it just didn't come to her.

Something else did reveal itself, though; a roaring noise in the distance. Namuk was slightly startled by it, as was Jessica. The latter quickly realized what it sounded like: not a Pandoran creature, rather a human-made engine. In fact, there was more than one of them.

"There is that noise again… Those… things are nearby, like in the morning." Namuk said to her warily. "It is the Sky People... You came from over there. How can you stay here with them while they drove you from your home?"

It was at this point that Jessica knew for certain Namuk had no idea she was a human driving an Avatar body. It appeared he simply thought she was a strange Na'vi who was living here. She decided to improvise.

"We were… driven from our home by Ne'swonim's people. The Sky People are helping us. That is what these…metal things are for. For protection." she said, pretending to be one of the fugitives. However, she realized she hadn't even found out yet whether Ne'swonim had actually had anything to do with it, like everybody had been telling her.

"Then he really cannot be trusted, just like Olo'eyktan Mayran is always telling us." Namuk replied, sounding convinced that she was telling the truth. "I want to take a closer look at the Sky People's things, their tools. Want to come with me?"

"Come where?" Jessica asked, reluctant about actively seeking out human activity with this Na'vi boy.

"To where they are riding. They are all riding in circles, passing the same path again and again. I do not know why. They started this morning. It is like a ritual of some kind." Namuk told her with curiosity in his voice.

Jessica believed that if she would not go with him now, she would probably never have another chance to meet him again. She still hadn't gotten answers to her questions. Therefore, she agreed, and soon found herself walking alongside Namuk, too preoccupied to even think about retrieving her shoes. They found his direhorse, a juvenile specimen, standing behind the wide trunk of a large tree, feeding on the sap of nearby flowery plants.

Namuk stroked the creature's snout briefly, connected his queue and swiftly hopped onto its back as if he had already done so a thousand times. At least Jessica was no stranger to riding along on horseback, so she too managed to climb up with relative ease. Namuk even offered his hand to help her up, which she accepted.

They rode several minutes, with Jessica holding on tightly to Namuk's shoulders for support. It appeared Namuk was in a hurry, with the direhorse even going into gallop a few times. She wished he would slow down a bit, but also didn't like what came next.

Namuk mentally commanded his mount to slow down suddenly when they came across a long and wide patch of clearly disturbed jungle floor. Some trees had obviously been removed with a purpose; their remains still lying at the edges of the patch. But it was more than a patch; it was a trail and it led all the way back to the Sky People's main base. Namuk knew a thing or two about trails by now. He could even see the last of the vehicles slowly disappearing around a corner up ahead. They would be coming back again, and he intended to be ready for them this time.