Avatar is the property of people who aren't me. This work of fiction is not authorized by those people.
A/N – This story is the continuation of my previous work, "The Endeavors of Art."
Jake's warriors had performed well above his expectations. They had achieved total surprise over the SecOps soldiers at Hell's Gate, annihilating all but a few of the invasion force in a short battle. It was a stunning reversal from the rout the Na'vi had suffered years before.
The few SecOps who survived were under guard by Norm and the former avatar drivers, and would be exiled back to their home soon enough.
In the years leading up to the Resource Development Administration's return to Pandora, Norm made sure the Omaticaya were supplied with a respectable arsenal of human weaponry. The losses they had sustained half a generation earlier in the battle against the army of long-dead Colonel Quaritch had convinced the Na'vi people that, in their next engagement, they needed more than traditional weapons and the hope of Eywa's intervention if they were going to survive.
What had surprised Jake, however, was that RDA had not come back to Pandora with an armada of ships. They had sent one of their own executives with a team of specialists. Abe Scheller – "The Irritating One," T'ngyute, as Neytiri had named him after their first encounter – had been given the job of pacifying the Na'vi in order to pave the way for RDA's second attempt to exploit Pandora's natural riches.
To accomplish his mission, he outwardly promised peace and reparations for the Na'vi. At points, he appeared to make bona fide attempts to achieve them. However, he had been conducting his real work behind the scenes, sowing mistrust and discord among Norm and his colleagues in order to break the flow of information getting back to Jake.
On top of that, he sent a former Special Forces soldier to infiltrate the Omaticaya through a new kind of avatar. The new avatar had its driver's consciousness downloaded, thus requiring no external support. That infiltrator, Devon Angler, had nearly succeeded in putting an end to Jake's reign as olo'eyktan, had he not made the mistake of becoming too deeply assuming the identity of a true Na'vi.
Devon had tried to secure the unquestioned trust of the people by mating with a beloved acolyte, Mehi'a. When they formed their tsaheylu, however, she saw him as he really was. He killed her for the discovery. Unfortunately for him, she was able to give her consciousness up to Eywa before she died, allowing others to discover Devon's deception.
He was hunted down and executed, his body discarded in the jungle for the animals to feast upon.
Abe and the rest of his team might have likewise been executed, had Norm not intervened and insisted that human justice prevail. Their crime, he argued, was to have chosen the wrong side of the fight for Earth's preservation.
Jake had done all he could to try and forget about Earth, everything he could do to submit himself to Eywa and live among the people as one of them; but the fact remained that he was born a human. He had been one of the Sky People. Back in that life, he had been just as ready to help RDA to in order to satisfy his own needs. The people had given him the chance to atone for the pain his deceptions had brought down on them, and he was unable to take that opportunity away from Abe and his people.
Whether or not they had made the most of that opportunity was still up in the air.
Jake had spared their lives only after Abe had agreed to keep RDA's mercenaries contained, and it was a bargain which had infuriated Parker Selfridge. Abe had brought him out of his exile in order to give him the chance to correct the mistakes he had made during his tenure as Hell's Gate's administrator. Instead, he managed to notify RDA's leadership about Abe's deal with Jake, and in so doing put into motion the Second Great Massacre of the Sky People as it would be remembered in future songs.
Parker, along with a number of defectors from Abe's team, had paid a heavy price for his decision. In his attempt to escape the slaughter, he was shot out of the sky by a contingent of warriors at Neytiri's command; and when he emerged only slightly wounded from the wreckage, she made sure that the last thing to pass through his mind was her arrow.
In addition to ordering an assault on the people, RDA's leadership disowned Abe. However, if they had assumed that he would simply return to Earth and submit to their punishment – which assumed that they had not arranged for a more expedient form of termination – they were wrong.
In the months that he had been on Pandora, Abe had demonstrated to Jake an uncanny ability to think several steps ahead of his opponents – even though Jake had to concede that, for many people, it was not difficult to think far ahead of him, specifically.
But as he stood amidst the carnage of the day's battle with Norm and Neytiri – who was in fact sitting, given her advanced stage of pregnancy – Abe managed to surprise him once again by demonstrating just how much thought he had already given to the consequences of betraying his former bosses.
Abe went on at length, and in detail, about his plans for exacting revenge on RDA – as much for himself as for all of them. Jake was as taken aback by the scope of Abe's planning as much as he was by how calm Abe appeared in describing it.
Jake half-expected Abe, at any moment, to play the part of a movie villain who would smile in awe of his own genius as they laid out their master plans. Instead, Abe plodded along like a teacher giving a lesson to a class – and a boring teacher at that.
The plan he described was as intricate as it was dangerous, leading Jake to conclude at the end of the demonstration, "You're insane."
After going so long without a hint of emotion, Abe smirked and replied, "Thank you."
"No, that wasn't a compliment," Jake emphasized. "I mean that you obviously went crazy in that holding cell. You're one-hundred percent bonkers."
Abe's grin faded. "Do you or do you not agree that the only way to ensure the safety of this planet – of your people – is to get rid of RDA at its source?"
"Of course I do," Jake said with a scoff. "But you would need an army to do it – an actual army – and they practically control the actual Army!"
"Jake's right," Norm said. "You can't just walk in and take down the largest quasi-government on Earth."
"Yet that didn't stop you and Jake's brother from trying," Abe replied.
Shortly before the battle against Quaritch, Norm had detailed for Jake the plans he had made with his brother, Tom, whose death was the reason for Jake being on Pandora in the first place. They had intended to use their positions in the avatar program to gather evidence of RDA's atrocities to be used as evidence in the court of public opinion.
Jake was still eager to see that his brother's intentions were fulfilled.
Norm snorted. "Yeah, and it wouldn't have worked out, now would it have?"
"No, it wouldn't have," Abe said casually.
In laying out his own plan, Abe had described for them how similar plots had been hatched and foiled several times in RDA's history – and, before he left Earth, many at his direction. If Norm and Tom had carried on as planned, it likely would have been Abe, in his former role as RDA's dreaded Chief of Asset Management and Information Security, who would have taken them down – if not agents of the many world governments who conspired with RDA to sustain its monopoly on Pandora.
"So why will it be any different this time around?"
"Because while RDA has plenty of experience dealing with disgruntled employees, it's not accustomed to having senior executives come back from the dead."
Jake frowned and said, "That's not all that convincing."
"The Trojans didn't see the horse coming," Abe replied. "The British didn't see Washington bearing down on Trenton, New York didn't see the planes, and nobody saw Turkey's march on Iran. Surprise attacks have a very nasty way of being effective."
"Nine-Eleven's debatable," Norm said. Jake and Abe exchanged a stunned look before turning to Norm, silently asking for him to provide further explanation. "What?" he said, scoffing. "You guys think we've been told everything?"
Abe stared at Norm in quiet contemplation for a moment, but it only amounted to a sigh and slow shake of his head before he continued. "Nobody knows RDA's weaknesses better than I do. Short of Chairman Savage finding Jesus, RDA isn't going to give up. The fight has to be brought to them."
"Why should we trust you to do it?" Neytiri asked, making no attempt to mask the hostility behind her question. "You have not said you care for the people, only for yourself."
Abe took a deep breath, crossed his arms and replied, "Honestly, Neytiri, I'm not my daughter. I don't care much for your people." He nodded towards a group of Jake's warriors who were occupying themselves by divesting the SecOps corpses of their more precious, worldly possessions. "I haven't been given a whole lot of reasons to."
"What you see is because of your deceptions," Neytiri continued, making every opportunity to bear her teeth as the consonants allowed. "If you had taken a different path, perhaps you would see the people for who they are, not who you imagine."
"The road less traveled doesn't exist," he said. Neytiri, like Jake, did not get the reference, and Abe did not take the time to explain it. He only sighed and said, "You can trust me because it benefits both of us to have RDA come crashing down, even if our reasons are different."
She hissed and looked at Jake. "I am not convinced," she said flatly. "Send him home with the rest. We will ready ourselves for the next battle."
Though Neytiri was no longer engaged with him, Abe still spoke to her. "That's why I've offered one of you to come with me to make sure the job gets done."
Jake let out a short laugh and said emphatically, "I'm definitely not going back to Earth. I'm not leaving my people and my kid."
He saw Abe clench his teeth. "Leaving your kid would be inconvenient."
Jake felt a rare pang of remorse for Abe. The overwhelming majority of people sent to Pandora had few direct relations back on Earth. It helped with their psychological adjustment. Abe, however, had left behind his wife and daughter, the latter he had invoked often.
"I figured as much," Abe coolly replied. "I meant 'you' as in 'you, Na'vi.'"
"The people will not go," Neytiri said. "It is your people who travel between worlds, but our love for Eywa, and Eywa's love for us, will keep us here."
"How were you planning to get one of them to Earth anyway?" Norm asked. He added with a crooked smile, "I mean, I'm sure you have it all planned out, of course."
"The chances of successfully transferring Devon's consciousness to his avatar body and back with our equipment were one in sixteen, if that," Abe replied. "His best chance was to have his consciousness restored on Earth. But since we're no longer taking back his Na'vi body, our ship's cryobay has a spare, Na'vi-ready chamber."
Neytiri protested again. "This is not our way," she said. "Too many of the people have given up their energy in the fight to save our world. We will not send one to die for yours."
"Our worlds are linked, now," Abe said. "If you want to ensure the safety of this world and your people, one of you has to come back to ours to testify about what's happened here."
"We have tons of evidence already," Norm replied. "We don't need to bring the Na'vi back to prove any of this."
Abe chuckled. "A moment ago you were ready to sell us on the false flag of Nine-Eleven, and now you're willing to buy that all of RDA's skeptics will be convinced that one of their executives went rogue and, of his own accord, staged an attack to dismantle their Pandora operations? Who's to say all your evidence isn't manufactured like the rest of RDA's propaganda?"
"Who's to say that the Na'vi you bring back isn't just an actor in an avatar's body?" Norm replied pointedly. "Maybe you've just found another Special Forces guy who knows how to play the part."
"I think even the deepest skeptics will know the real thing when they see it."
Neytiri still did not look convinced, but Jake was starting to understand the point – uncomfortable though he was with it. The people could not possibly conceive of a place like Earth, and he was sure that they would not want anything to do with it if given the choice. However, there was always the chance of a too curious minority.
Jake sighed after he thought about Abe's suggestion. He looked at Neytiri and said, "We should let the people decide this."
Her eyes went wide at his suggestion. "You can't be serious!" she exclaimed. "It is a sacrifice for no good."
"If someone is willing to sacrifice in order to guarantee that the people live in peace, we shouldn't deny them the chance because we think it's too dangerous."
Neytiri shook her head. "They won't go," she said.
"Then T'ngyute will just have to come up with another plan," he replied. "We won't force the people to accept this, but we should give them the choice."
"It's getting late," Abe said. "I'll leave it to you guys to figure out who, if anybody, will come back with me." He looked at Norm and said, "In the meantime, the Kansas City Shuffle needs a body."
Norm was nervous. Over the last few months, he had stood guard over Abe while he provided bogus status updates to RDA's Chairman of the Board, James Savage, but he never pictured himself giving such a briefing.
"Relax," Abe said from the opposite side of the desk as he typed out a script for the conversation. "The more confident you are, then the more likely Savage will believe what you're saying. That's lying one-oh-one."
"What if SecOps has already checked in?" Norm asked. "Their ship is still up there with a crew, and they have superluminal capability."
"Superluminal communication is only good for sending small packets of information," Abe replied without looking up from his work. "We're talking in real time, which they can't do. Even if the Event Horizon has sent something ahead of us about the battle, we'll be able to provide whatever filler we want."
"I guess."
"We're fine." A moment later, Abe handed Norm his tablet. "Stick to this script."
Norm took a minute to scroll through the questions and answers Abe had drafted. "You really think it's going to go like this?"
Abe nodded. "The Chairman doesn't have a knack for asking probative questions. That's what I got paid to do. It also helps that I've worked with him for a few years. If the conversation strays, then keep in mind that you're 'the new guy,' so feel free to say you don't have an answer."
"Okay," Norm replied. "I hope you're right." More to the point, Norm hoped – could only hope – that Abe was not stabbing him in the back. He knew he was taking a gamble, but he was not in a position to do much else. "So, who am I playing again?"
"You're whoever he was," Abe said casually as he handed Norm a bloodied pair of dog tags. "I saw sergeant's chevrons on his shirt when I pulled the tags, so you should be okay if they check the name."
Norm checked the name of the deceased.
GOLDBERG, JACOB L
8813442155 RDASEC
O NEG
NORELPREF
"I wonder where he was from," Norm said. "He came all the way out here from there just to get killed."
Abe shrugged. "If this all had played out differently, he'd be alive. It didn't, and he's not."
Norm was shocked by the response. "That's callous."
"It's reality." Abe crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "I figured you would have cared more about all the Na'vi lives that were likely saved by his dying."
Norm shook his head and said, "That's not a numbers game I want to play. The whole thing is pretty pointless."
"This isn't the time for bleeding hearts," Abe replied sternly. "We're in a survival situation. People won't stop dying if we all throw our hands up because we're too afraid to make sacrifices."
"It's easy to say that when you're the guy making the decisions. What about the poor fucks like Jacob?"
Once again, Abe merely shrugged. "There are twenty billion people, Norm. They can't all be special."
He must have taken note of Norm's look of incredulity, because he took a breath and added, "One of the guys lying out on that tarmac getting butchered by the Na'vi is named Dick Talbott. He was on the security detail for my office back in San Francisco. I saw him every evening for two years. He was thirty-eight, divorced twice and originally from Richmond, Virginia.
"Dick, like Jacob, chose to join SecOps. He chose to sign up for this mission. He knew people had died before him, and that he could just as well be killed. Those aren't choices we made for him.
"If Parker hadn't tipped our hand, then Dick, Jacob and their comrades would be under Na'vi guard, sitting around and waiting to go home. Instead, he died. What are you going to do about it?"
"I'm not disputing that," Norm replied. "I'm saying that you could do a little more than just think of him as cannon fodder."
"I did. If it were up to me, he'd still be alive," Abe said. The two stared at each other for a moment. Norm tried to discern if Abe actually placed value on Jacob's life, or if he was running through another, well rehearsed script.
He could not find the answer.
Exasperated, Norm shook his head and said, "Whatever. When am I supposed to call in?"
"My guess is that they're holding it open, so you might as well try now."
Norm activated the communications terminal and entered the access codes Abe had provided earlier. After an agonizingly long delay, long enough for Norm's stomach to tie itself in a myriad of knots, the terminal signaled a successful connection.
"Gray, is that you?" a voice boomed from the terminal.
Norm had only heard James Savage's voice once, back when he joined RDA and had to sit through an orientation video. The orientation had gone on for so long that there was no way he would ever forget that voice. "No, sir, this is, um, Sergeant Jacob Goldberg."
"Where's Gray?"
"He's dead, sir." Abe pointed at the script. "Somehow the Na'vi learned we were here, and they ambushed us while we were unloading supplies. He didn't make it out."
There was a moment of silence. "Of course they knew you were coming. Parker's message to Gray said as much."
Norm looked at Abe with wide eyes, worried that their cover was already blown. Once again, Abe simply pointed at the script. Sure enough, he had anticipated the response. "I don't know anything about that, sir. I'm not important enough to be told those kinds of things."
"I guess not," Savage mused. "Where is Parker? Or Abe for that matter? Were you at least told about them?"
Savage had jumped ahead in the script. "Uh, yeah. Sir. We had the ship unloaded and were escorting the high priorities out, but the hostiles went for the ship first. The high priorities were killed."
"Parker wasn't supposed to be grouped in with Abe. I gave him a pass."
"No sir, but he was out there to observe." Norm editorialized, "He took an arrow to the head."
"That's unfortunate," Savage replied, his tone far from mournful. "Gray said he was planning an attack on the Na'vi base. What do you know about that?"
He was back on script. "It was a cakewalk. Apparently they sent all their fighters out to attack us, so their home was undefended. But they haven't come back yet, so I don't know all the details."
"That's fine," he replied. "As long as those monkeys get the message that we're back, and that their place is out of our way."
"I think they've gotten that loud and clear, sir."
Savage did not take the time to offer congratulations. "It sounds like your people got beat up," he said.
"Yes sir, but we can hold our own."
"I'm sure you can, Sergeant," Savage replied. "If you can hold on for another five years, however, you'll have plenty of reinforcements to 'spread the good word,' as they used to say."
Norm paused to scroll through the script, but he could not find an equivalent. "Five years? I thought the mining crew was just a month away."
"They are," Savage said. "After I read the defense plan Abe and his people sent up, however, I got the sense that they were going soft on the locals. About five months ago I launched the rest of the fleet." He paused. "We're going to put that world down, Sergeant. If they wanted to keep it, they should have evolved the means to stop us. There's going to be no more of this pussyfooting around."
Norm took a moment to digest what he had been told, and he looked at Abe for a reaction. He was seemingly stoic. He took a deep breath and replied, "Yes sir."
"So what are you doing about the prisoners who aren't dead?"
"Our Valkyries are down, so we're going to have to wait for the miners to show up with their shuttles before we can get them off world."
"All right. We'll be sure to have a nice welcome home ceremony for them," he said with a chuckle. "Do you have anything else to report?"
He was about to end the call when Abe insistently pointed at the script. Norm scrolled to the bottom. "Um, those science guys have a lot of information here. What are we supposed to do with it?"
"Get it together and stream it to me," another voice said.
"Who is this?"
"Doctor Thomas Walsh, Chief of Research and Development."
Norm knew the name, but not the voice. Doctor Augustine had mentioned him a few times during their work – and never flatteringly. But then, she rarely spoke flatteringly of anyone.
"Um, okay. It's a lot, though…"
"Then next time, Sergeant," Doctor Walsh interrupted. "We can wait. We've waited long enough."
"Okay." Abe indicated the script again, so Norm continued, "Um, Doctor, did you go to MIT?"
"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" he replied abruptly.
Norm looked at Abe with brows raised, quietly asking the same question. Abe just nodded. "Do you remember Gerald Wheaton?"
There was a pause. "We were roommates for a year."
"He's my uncle. Your name sounded familiar. He mentioned you at our last family reunion."
"Is that so?"
Again, Norm looked to Abe for an explanation, but again he just nodded at the script. "Yeah. Um, I was wondering if you still talk to him, if you could let him know to tell my folks that I'm okay. Mom worries."
"I won't go out of my way to do it," he replied, "but sure."
"Is there anything of relevance to us that you want to report on, Sergeant?" Savage interjected. "Or can we save a few million dollars and shut down the wormhole?"
"Yes sir, sorry."
"Call back in a month after the miners arrive. Earth out."
Norm took a moment to make sure that the connection was closed, and then he asked Abe, "What was that all about?"
"Tom is my wife's father-in-law from her first marriage," he said. "He hates his son, but loves my wife. If I'm going to be dead to the world, I don't want to be dead to her."
Norm cocked his head and asked, "And you just happened to have a coded phrase on hand in the event you faked your death?"
"My job isn't always about analyzing field reports and briefing executives," Abe replied. "So yes, I have couriers for these kinds of messages."
"Well, I'm glad your wife gets to know you're okay," Norm said with a snort, in his mind wishing that she had rather been put through the torment of believing Abe had died. "But if you didn't hear it, they've already launched their army! We're too late to do anything."
Abe shook his head and said, "We'll just have to take the Cybele back. It's faster than the ISVs by a good eight months. We got here earlier than you expected, right? There's still a window to stop them." Norm was skeptical, but he did not respond. Abe continued, "We have to get our team put together in the meantime. Who on your side do you think would come back?"
"Nobody," Norm said candidly and without hesitation. "This is their home, now, and their kids' home. They won't leave it."
"Well, give them tonight to celebrate victory," Abe replied, "and then tell it to them plainly: If we fail, their kids won't be growing up anywhere. Maybe that will be enough to change their minds."
Tseyo was more than pleased with his war prizes. After the battle had ended, he had taken to the field and recovered the masks of those Sky People he had struck down. He cleaned the last of the blood away, and then hung them on his rack next to the other prized possessions and trinkets that he had collected in his life.
Far below his hammock, on Kelutral's floor,the tribe's victory celebration carried on into its second night. They had only paused during the day to bury their dead – and they were sure olo'eyktan would return soon with other fallen comrades to bury – but the mourning was tempered, as their sacrifice had been noble. The Sky People's attempt to launch a surprise attack on their home was a complete failure, thanks in no small part to their leader's insistence on training a warrior band to use the Sky People's weapons against them.
Tseyo had been among the doubters when Jakesully introduced the alien machines to the clan. The weapons of their ancestors, and Eywa's intervention, had been enough to turn back the Sky People once before. However, unlike that battle, this time there was no great loss of warriors. As a result, the Omaticaya would not have to wait a generation or longer for their numbers to replenish or, as was the case with him and his sister, make provisions to take special care of orphans.
His father was killed when their ancestral home was destroyed by the Sky People, and his mother had died on the long trek to find a new home. Whereas other orphaned children allowed themselves to be adopted by the friendly and sympathetic clans they encountered along the Wandering to find a new home, he and his sister, Mehi'a, had chosen to stay with the Omaticaya.
Unfortunately, she too would be taken from him by the Sky People – a deceiver, Mu'kuti, who came into their clan to gain their friendship, only so he could betray them all. They might not have known about this plot had Mehi'a not given herself to Mu'kuti, bonded with him and learned his true identity, and then lived just long enough to impart what she knew to Eywa.
Even though her death had served a purpose, and Tseyo knew that her energy was now part of a greater existence, he would still catch himself in grief. Tonight, however, he did his best to set grief aside and revel in the people's jubilation.
Tseyo climbed down from his hammock to join the rest of the clan. Drums pounded and flutes sang along with dancing spirits. Terracotta bowls were gathered in a pile and carried the pungent, unmistakable odor of tìngasunilzyu. He grabbed a bowl at random and sought out one of the many gourds containing the intoxicating brew.
He did not have to search far.
As he filled his bowl, a hand came down firmly on his shoulder. He turned and saw Khutxo, who grinned at him and said, "May I share a drink with you, brother?"
Khutxo was one of Tseyo's least favorite people. He and some of his close friends had isolated themselves from the tribe shortly after Jakesully's ascension to olo'eyktan. They would perform duties as expected in service of the tribe, but they never embraced Jakesully's authority.
Khutxo had plotted with the deceiver to bring down Jakesully's rule; and although he maintained he was unaware of Mu'kuti's true existence as one of the Sky People, he had been sent into a brief exile as a punishment for the conspiracy.
When Khutxo was allowed back to the tribe ahead of the final battle, he pledged himself to olo'eyktan's command, but Tseyo had his doubts. Tonight, however, was not a night for grudges, so he nodded and replied, "Of course, brother."
Tseyo poured half of his bowl into Khutxo's – which itself was nearly full – and after Khutxo gave his bowl a slight stir, poured a share back into his, after which and the two drank their fill. Khutxo wiped his lips and said, "I think that's the finest we've had in a long time."
"Eywa ripened the fruit to celebrate our victory," Tseyo replied. "I was too young to remember how it tasted the last time."
"I recall it was about the same," Khutxo said.
Tseyo grinned and replied, "Then you must not have had enough of it."
Khutxo laughed. "There were so many drinking after that battle, there wasn't enough for everyone to become forgetful." He put a hand on Tseyo's shoulder. "Brother, we've had our disagreements, and I want to make amends."
"Khutxo, you don't…"
"I insist," he interrupted. He let his bowl fall to the ground, and then reached into a pouch on his belt. From it he pulled a ring that was polished more brilliantly than Tseyo had ever seen. "This was on my kill," he said. "I would like you to have it."
Tseyo took the ring carefully, afraid he might somehow spoil its beauty. It was gold, a metal sometimes collected by accident in fishermen's nets at the river, but never refined to this kind of purity or so artfully shaped and polished. "I can't accept this," he said. "This is better given as a gift to your mate."
Khutxo waved him off, taking Tseyo's bowl and refilling it for him. "Fyatia has many gifts of mine," he said. "And now that she carries our child, she would rather I bring her hides and weaves." He returned Tseyo's bowl and put his arm around his shoulder, walking him towards the main gathering. "You, however, I understand are neither mated nor courting. Am I right?"
He let out a short, nervous laugh and said, "You are right."
Khutxo's hand gripped his shoulder more firmly, "This is unacceptable for a warrior of your standing. Tseyo, Eywa's Vanquisher of Demons, should have a mate."
He did not respond, choosing instead to drink from his bowl.
Khutxo laughed. "Don't be shy, friend. Which of our many, fine women would you want to have share your hammock?"
Tseyo knew whom he would choose, but he never dared to say her name, much less approach her. He found her in conversation with her sisters near the main fire and nodded in her direction. Khutxo followed his gaze and chuckled. "Ah," he said as he grinned. "Naw'ngié is a fine choice, friend."
"She's also a much more proven warrior than I am," he replied. Even though Naw'ngié was not too much older than Tseyo, she had shown great skill as a hunter from an early age – so much so that Jakesully had named her to lead the kunpongu, the select group of warriors trained to become proficient in the Sky People's weaponry. Tseyo knew more than a few males who had their eyes on her, and were she ever so inclined, she could have her choice of any.
"Maybe," Khutxo replied with a nod. "But you are not without your own merits. However, a woman like Naw'ngié respects courage more than anything else. So if you don't have the courage to approach her—," his voice trailed off and he held his hand out, palm-up.
Tseyo thought about this as he consumed the rest of his drink. "I need to refill my bowl." Khutxo smiled.
Abe sat on the edge of his desk and waited for his team's reaction. They had been stung by Scott and Miguel's defection to Parker's side, and now they were in the same boat as Abe: Considered traitors and a liability by RDA. He had hoped that would be enough to keep them on his side.
"You're insane," Amy said.
He chuckled at the military strategist and replied, "So I've been told."
"You actually want us to believe that we – just us – can take the fight to RDA, a corporation that is practically a country in its own right, and come out on top?"
"We have more allies than you think…" he began to say.
Amy interrupted him. "I'd rather go it alone than partner up with a bunch of hippies," she said. "A bunch of hippies who, by the way, haven't brought down RDA in decades of fighting them."
"That's because they're going about it wrong," he replied. "Fighting RDA in court is a losing proposition. Staging protests and throwing stink bombs is a waste of time. Few of them have bothered to take the time to get inside RDA to break it down from within."
"If I'm not mistaken," Matthew, the team's xenobotanist and medical advisor, replied, "wouldn't that mean you'd be bad at your job?"
"If they were successful, yes," he said with a half smile. Abe's primary role in RDA was to root out infiltrators and close up potential security breaches. It was a job he managed to excel in. "But given that I am good at my job…"
"Former job," Dawn corrected, giving him a moment's pause. The xenolinguist and computer engineer had been responsible for encouraging Abe's agent inside Jake's tribe to pursue a romantic relationship with one of the Na'vi, the result of which had been the downfall of the entire operation. He knew she could not have foreseen the consequences of her advice, but he still had not come around to forgiving her.
"…former job, thank you, I know how they could have succeeded. We can avoid their mistakes."
Matthew shook his head and said, "By the time we get back to Earth, RDA's going to have another AMIS Chief. Who's been running the show in your absence?"
"A guy named John Tucker," he replied. "He's good, but not as good as I am. I didn't want him to show me up and take my job permanently."
"Well, by the time you get back, John will have had eleven years to get good at his job. That or he'll have screwed it up and given RDA reason to hire someone who's really good, maybe even better than you."
Abe nodded. "Probably, yes."
"And that's not a factor in your planning?"
"It is," he replied. "But I'm expecting that the element of surprise will mitigate it."
"Boss, I'm still hung up on why exactly we're being asked to sacrifice ourselves for the Na'vi," Kim said. "A few months ago, they were ready to tie us up and cut our throats. Can't we let them rot?"
Kim had come to Pandora to help restore Hell's Gate to operational status. Now, it would become a monument to the time that humanity dared to challenge Pandora. "It's not about the Na'vi," he replied. "It's never been about the Na'vi. Our job, fired or not, is to ensure the survival of humanity. Until a few months ago, I had been under the assumption that Pandora was essential to that survival – and maybe it used to be.
"Kim, you were sitting there when Parker admitted RDA had conspired with the Interplanetary Commerce Administration to suppress pandorium supplies, were you not?"
"Yeah, and I was also sitting there when you said you'd keep quiet about it."
He nodded again. "I did, but that's no excuse to let wave after wave of people be sent like lambs to the slaughter to keep it quiet."
"People were dying before we got here," Jose, another xenolinguist, said. "I don't see what's changed."
"I was sent here to keep people from dying," Abe said. "The hard truth is that it's more expensive to keep replacing soldiers, at least up here, than it is to keep them based for five years. It's beyond expensive to wipe out the Na'vi, especially if the only purpose in doing so is to satisfy the ego of one man."
His team exchanged looks that indicated he had not entirely won them over. Eventually Amy asked, "If it weren't expensive – in terms of lives or resources – to wipe out the Na'vi to save humanity, would you do it?"
Abe took a moment to consider the question. He then took a deep breath and said, "I'm a father. I'll put my girl's future over everything else."
"Even our lives?" Matthew asked.
He snorted and said, "Especially yours, Doctor."
Matthew chuckled and flipped him his middle finger, breaking the tension that had settled over the room. Abe and his team allowed themselves to laugh for a few moments, but then Abe regained his composure and said, "I'm not going to force any of you to participate in this, even if I could. I know the risks, and I've tried to be as open about them with you as I can. If you want to opt out, say so, and you'll go home on the Event Horizon."
"Can't we stay here?" Jose asked.
Abe shook his head. "Our last job before Jake lets us off the hook is to turn back the miners, hopefully without another massacre, and then he and his warriors will make sure we're on our way back to Earth." He paused. "We've been exiled."
Jose frowned and said, "Well, that sucks." He took a deep breath and added, "I didn't join up with Parker because I'm not a backstabber. Same goes for RDA. If my job's over, then it's over. I'd just better not be walked into a jail cell when I get back to Earth."
Abe nodded. "That's fair – and, hopefully, you won't be. Anyone else?"
Kim raised her hand. "I never came here to do any favors for the monkeys. That's not changing."
"That's also fair," he replied. "Colonel? Doctor? Dawn?"
The three looked at each other from their respective chairs, and then Matthew said with a shrug, "Aw Hell, why the fuck not? We're with you."
Abe smiled and said, "Eloquently put, Doctor." He sighed and concluded, "Well, all right, that's all I had. We're officially disbanded, but I'll be calling on you as I need you." As they left his office, he nodded at Amy and asked, "Can you stick around for a moment, Colonel?"
"What do you need?"
He waited a moment until the last of the others were comfortably out of earshot, and then he closed the door. "What's your relationship with Norm at this point?"
She let out a short laugh and asked, "How long have you known?"
"Since about when Parker called him your boyfriend and you told him to fuck off," he replied as he took a seat next to her.
Amy raised her eyebrows and grinned. "It really took you that long?"
He shrugged. "I probably could have guessed sooner, but I was more concerned with your getting information from him than getting too close." She looked down and took a deep breath, prompting him to ask, "Did it actually become more than that?"
"It was, yes."
"What's changed?"
Amy looked at him like he had asked the dumbest possible question. "Maybe you missed it, but he handed us over for execution and then imprisoned us."
"He also flew in and saved us," Abe offered. "And if I have to choose between execution and imprisonment, I'll take the latter each time."
"Yeah, well, that's not setting the foundation for a healthy relationship, is it?"
He chuckled. "Stranger things have happened."
She did not respond directly, instead asking, "Why are you interested in my relationship with Norm all of a sudden? We're over."
"Maybe I'm just a sucker for workplace romances," he said with a grin. When she did not respond to his attempt to be light hearted, he sighed and said, "I never told you to go Jane Bond and sleep with him to get information, you found something to like in him on your own. Just because everything else fell apart doesn't mean your relationship ought to follow suit."
"That's not the most convincing argument," she replied.
"Secondary to that, then, is that Norm's onboard with this mission. Can I at least expect that you won't let the end of your relationship get in the way of the task at hand?"
Amy snorted and said, "What makes you think that won't just make me drop out?"
"Because you're a professional," he replied. "You're not the type to let petty shit get in the way of your goals."
She nodded and said, "I can't make any promises. We fought just as much as we f— as much as we did anything else, but I'll make the effort."
"That's as much as I'll ask," he replied. She nodded again, and then stood to leave. Before she was gone, though, he said, "Just one more thing to add."
"Yes?"
"Norm's not my favorite person," he said with a short laugh, "but speaking as one man on behalf of another, he's been through Hell. He's been stranded for twelve years, his best friend is happily married while his only female companions are either all spoken for literal aliens who weren't showing him much love, and he's just been asked for a third time to put his life on the line. If he's a little schizophrenic when it comes to relationships, there's good reason for it."
She scoffed at him and said, "I'll keep that in mind."
Even though their victory was still fresh, the clan's revelry had become much more tempered in the days that followed. Jake and the others had brought back the warriors who had fallen at Hell's Gate, and they were given their final respects. Now was the time for more serious discussions.
Jake and Neytiri held counsel with the clan's leaders in to describe Abe's plan to prevent future attacks from Earth. Nakllte, Jake's warrior general, was the first to weigh in. "This is a good plan," he said. "They have struck at us twice, and it's time we sent them our own message."
Mo'at, Neytiri's mother and the clan's former tsahik, who was still highly revered among the people for her deep connection to Eywa, nodded in agreement. "We cannot wait for them to come back. If the Sky People want to carry our struggle on their shoulders, we should support them."
Jake sighed and said, "There is one thing about T'ngyute's plan that I haven't mentioned." He looked over to Neytiri, who just shook her head. "He wants one of the people to go back with him."
The council was silent for an uncomfortably long time. The silence was broken when Nakllte said flatly, "He's crazy."
"I tried to tell him that."
"Why would we ever send one of the people to fight in their home? Their problems are their own to solve. Our fights are here."
"Their problems are the reason for our problems," Jake said. "The Sky People think taking our home is the way to solve their problems. As long as they believe that they can use this world for their own ends, there won't be any peace here. We will always be fighting them."
"But why, Jakesully, would one of the people have to go to make the Sky People see the pain they bring us?" Mo'at asked. "The sacrifice is too great to ask."
"There are many back on Earth who don't like what happens here," Jake said, "but the ones responsible for the destruction we've faced have convinced most that they are doing no harm. One of our people has to bear witness to what's happened here to break the deception."
Khutxo, one of Jake's chief rivals since he became olo'eyktan, had joined the council of Jake's advisors in order to keep the warriors still loyal to him from splintering the clan. To Jake's surprise, Khutxo nodded and said, "I understand what you're saying, Jakesully, and I agree. Their home is dead, and so they want to steal the energy from here to revive their home. Am I right?"
Jake nodded, "You are, Khutxo."
"Then one of us should send them the message to stop their folly, and that we will always fight back."
"Whoever goes will be gone for a very long time," Neytiri said. "It is cruel to ask a person to leave for so long."
"What if this is another of T'ngyute's tricks?" Nakllte asked. "What if he just wants to take one of our people back to your Earth to turn that person into a uniltìrantokx? He could infiltrate the clan again and do terrible things."
Jake smiled at Nakllte's interpretation of how avatars were created, but he appreciated the warrior's mistrust of Abe. He replied, "I can promise that won't happen, friend. That's not how it works."
"Maybe the person won't become a dreamwalker," Neytiri offered, "but what if that person begins to see things as the Sky People do? The clan could never accept such a person back home. The Sky People may be defeated, but at the cost of a person's life with the people."
Jake had little reason to be amused at that comment. He shook his head and said, "I can also promise, Neytiri, that no person born here would fall in love with Earth."
"That's not what I meant, Jake," she replied. "Away from their home, this person will be away from Eywa and the energy here. There will only be the Sky People's ways, and that could corrupt a person's sight."
He took a moment to digest what she was saying, but again he shook his head and replied, "No. If the people rejected the Sky People's ways here, they won't find anything redeeming on Earth."
Neytiri frowned, but she did not put forward any additional arguments. She and Jake had spoken about this aspect of Abe's plan extensively on their way back from Hell's Gate, and they had exhausted each other with their differing conclusions. So instead of going at Jake directly, Neytiri turned to Mo'at and asked, "What do you think, mother?"
Mo'at did not respond right away, and nobody would dare show her disrespect by interrupting her thoughtful silence. After a while, she took a deep breath and said, "My daughter is right. It would be very painful for someone to be separated from Eywa for so long, and so far away."
Neytiri turned to Jake and, almost imperceptibly, grinned at him. Jake recalled memories from his childhood, moments when he or Tom would gain the upper hand in an argument by a successful appeal to either their mother or father. Tom was smart enough to usually do this before, or at least better than, Jake. In response, Jake, just as faintly, narrowed his eyes in disgust at Neytiri's underhandedness.
She noticed his reaction, and her grin became more perceptible.
But Mo'at, much like Jake's mother, was just as careful to not pit one child against another. "Jakesully, you are also right." Neytiri's grin faded. "We must protect our home by removing the danger entirely. A hunter who is stalked by palulukan cannot wait to be attacked. He must take action."
"One hunter is very rarely enough to bring down palulukan," Khutxo added. "It takes many warriors with many weapons. T'ngyute is one weapon, your Norm is one weapon, and the people are yet another."
Nakllte took a deep breath and said, almost mournfully, "Olo'eyktan, it sounds like you have made up your mind."
Jake nodded. "I have."
"And you, Khutxo?"
"I have."
He looked at Mo'at, "Respected mother?"
"I have."
Jake understood that Nakllte was counting the votes, and Nakllte frowned on discovering that he and Neytiri were the minority. He took another deep breath and asked, "How will we choose the person who will go with the Sky People?"