The Balance of Life
Part One - Discovery
Chapter 3 - Part 3--- Aftermath
Author's Note:
Correction: I have been incorrectly referring to the 'Well of Souls' as the 'Tree of Souls'. I will correct this in earlier postings sometime in the future.
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"Buck, if there aren't any cracks in the lab walls we may be able to get normal atmosphere restored in the lab," Gary said turning his attention away from Norm and Karen after discussing arrangements for Andy's body. "The main door to the lab can be turned into a mini internal airlock. A built-in precaution should any of the avatars or drivers become infected with something contagious. I'll activate that on my way back to the Ops Center. If either of the airlock doors to the training area can be sealed I should be able to have the air recycled within an hour."
"If the doors aren't sprung out of their frames I should have both closed and sealed by the time you get to Ops," Buck answered. Giving Abby's shoulders a comforting squeeze he started for the door to the prep area.
"I want to check on Susan. See how she's doing," Norm told Karen after Gary and Zoe left for the Ops Center.
"Good, so do I."
Leaving the others they quickly made their way to the prep area where then found Susan sitting up on one of the gurneys. The clone was laying on the other gurney, covered up to his neck with a sheet, a restraining strap across his chest.
"How's the patient?" Karen asked looking at Max.
"Which one?"
"Well, I meant Susan, but I guess you could fill us in on both," Karen answered, gesturing to the clone.
"I'm fine," Susan replied irritably before Max could answer. "If these two would just back off and give me a little breathing room I'd be perfect."
"Well you sound like yourself, but your face looks a little pale."
"She may have a mild concussion," Ron added, looking frustrated and concerned at the same time. "She should have an MRI."
"I don't need an MRI. I just need to get back to work."
"Just sit there for a few more minutes," Max told her before turning back to Karen and Norm.
"As to the clone, he's breathing and all of his vital signs are normal. He appears to be in some sort of induced coma. I need to do some further testing. There are several large data files about him that I have to go through. We really don't have any precedent here. It's not like an avatar that is essentially inert until his driver links up. For now he doesn't seem to be in any immediate danger. When I know something I'll let everyone else know."
"Both doors on the outside airlock are sealed," Buck announced after entering the room and closing the inside door. "The outer door is a little stiff to open or close, but it will seal."
"Let's hope that there aren't any other leaks. It will make using the pods much easier," Norm responded.
"I'll give Gary a call, let him know to start recycling the air," Buck added as he left the room.
"Susan, if you feel up to it, see if you can stand," Max said turning his attention back to her.
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Zoe Fischer had been on Pandora for just over three months. Never once during her entire training program had she imagined anything even remotely like what had actually happened to her once she reached Pandora. The first month at Hell's Gate she had lived in a perpetual state of awe and bewilderment. Everything was new. It was nothing like training. By the end of the second month she was starting to feel comfortable with her daily routine. She had made a few female friends on the administrative staff. At the end of the third month she, along with a sizeable number of the other support staff, came face to face with what was going on outside the walls of their compound. The destruction of Hometree was the most horrific scene she had ever witnessed. Never in her entire life had she felt so ashamed to be part of anything capable of such an unspeakable act. If she had not watched the destruction in real time on the monitors in the Ops Center she would not have believed what the RDA had done to the Na'vi.
The next few days were a nightmare from which she could not wake. When Quaritch left with his air and ground forces to destroy the Well of Souls, she just wanted to find some deep dark hole to crawl into. She couldn't face anyone, least of all herself. She felt so guilty every time she looked around her. Just thinking about the number of Na'vi that must have died was enough to tie her stomach in knots. She desperately wanted to do something to right the terrible wrong that had been done. When Jake, Neytiri and some other Na'vi warriors came to Hell's Gate, after Quaritch had been defeated, she realized that the best way for her to personally repay the Na'vi was to stay and help in whatever way she could. Her knowledge of what was stockpiled and where it was stored would be important to the other humans who remained on Pandora.
At the time Zoe didn't figure that her expertise in geology or volcanoes would be of much use to anyone. Now, it looked like it might be extremely useful. Walking with Gary back to the Ops Center she felt a little tingle run up and down her spine. She had never been particularly comfortable around men in a one on one situation. She was thirty-three years old, had never had a serious boyfriend let alone a lover. At five-ten she wasn't short by any means, but next to Gary's six-six she felt small. His physical dominance added to her general unease.
Zoe told herself not to be intimidated, or nervous. In all the time she had been here Gary had never paid any real attention to her. He had been polite when they met in the hall or the cafeteria. He hadn't flirted with her or made any moves in her direction. Thinking back she didn't recall seeing him with any woman in a personal sort of way. Maybe he didn't care for women, on an intimate personal level. 'Now you're being ridiculous,' Zoe scolded herself as they entered the Ops Center. It was a little spooky with all of the window shutters closed. Just the glow of the command consoles giving off light.
"I think I'll open a few of the shutters," Garry said as he walked towards the main console. "I like to see out as much as possible. It's dark for half the day, so we might as well enjoy the view while we can."
Zoe hadn't said ten words to him the entire time they spent walking from the lab to the Ops Center. Not being completely oblivious to people's feelings and emotions Gary guessed that she was uncomfortable being alone with him. Not wanting her to be nervous around him he tried to keep their conversations as light as possible. When she had hesitated on entering the center he decided opening the shutters might make her more at ease. Sensing some of the tension drain out of her as the room brightened told him he had made the right choice.
"I'm going to check on our link to the communications satellite while you start your geological survey. We'll leave the comm-link channel open in case anyone needs to reach us."
"It should take about an hour to get a full scan of the continent," Zoe informed him as she sat down at the console she regularly worked at. "That is assuming the quake hasn't damaged any of the computer systems."
"The quick diagnostic checks I ran just after the quake showed only minor disruptions in the network. We should be ok."
Gary returned the tentative smile Zoe sent him just before she turned her full attention to the console's heads up display. While he ran a full set of communication diagnostics he watched her work. She was a pretty woman. Her shoulder length brown hair showcased an oval face with thick eyebrows and dark blue eyes. She was on the thin side but not without noticeable feminine curves. He had noticed her almost from day one. Since she didn't seem inclined to make conversation he had not pressed her to do so. He had been shocked when he had been asked his opinion on her remaining on Pandora. Like many of the admin and science staff she had been visibly devastated when the Na'vi's home had been destroyed. If he had been asked to guess, he would have figured she would be Earth bound on the first available shuttle. As it turned out her knowledge of geology would be extremely useful. Things could get very dicey if they were hit with another quake.
Several warning indicators had Gary focusing his attention on his diagnostic test results. The recycling of the air in the lab was about twenty-five percent complete. So far it looked as if the lab was sealed from the outside. Concentrating his attention on his monitors he didn't notice the speculative looks Zoe cast his way more than once while she was waiting for the surface, sub-terrain and thermal images to come back from the geosynchronous satellite positioned directly above Hell's Gate.
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While Jake as moving from group to group he mentally kept track of who Neytiri had talked with so he didn't cover the same clan members a second time. When he noticed her talking with Mo'at he wondered why she looked so serious. Her body seemed tense to him now that he was getting better at reading her body language. When he heard Ralu's laugh he looked around to where a dozen young children were playing something akin to foosball. They looked almost normal, except when one would glance in the direction of the adults. The somber mood in the gathering area was like a dark cloud overhead blocking out the sunshine.
The fact that he had discovered Norm's avatar was safe and unharmed lifted some of the darkness that had been hanging over his head since returning to the gathering area after the earthquake. It was one less thing for him to worry about.
Just as he was about to go to Neytiri, as she and her mother appeared to have concluded their conversation, Tey'bar and his hunting party returned. A hush fell over the area as all activity stopped and everyone turned their attention to the hunters. It appeared that all the hunters had returned but he wasn't absolutely sure. Deciding Neytiri could wait Jake quickly made his way to where Tey'bar had dismounted from his direhorse.
'I see you," Jake intoned when he reached Tey'bar.
"I see you," Tey'bar responded. He looked a little stressed but didn't appear to be hurt.
"Many Omatikaya were hurt, several were killed, when the ground shook causing several of the stone arches to collapse. We have tended to all our brother and sisters except those buried beneath stones too large to move. Where were you when the ground shook?"
"We were deep in the forest. The trees swayed heavily but none fell over. After it was over the animals were confused, as if they not know which way to run. We were able to kill several hexapede's before they regained their normal senses. With the others we killed before the ground shook we have enough meat to feed the clan for three or four days. We gathered enough fruit for two days as it does not last longer after being picked."
"I'm happy none of you were hurt. Go and find your families. Get some rest. Some of the others will take care of the food you have brought back with you."
Neytiri reached Jake's side just after Tey'bar sent the rest of his hunting party off to find their families.
"I see you," she said warmly to Tey'bar when he turned back to Jake and her.
"I see you, Neytiri. Has anyone heard from Ell'a'u?"
"No we haven't," Jake answered. "Since they were all on their ikran's they should not have been endangered by the ground shaking."
"Ell'a'u is smart. She and the rest of her search party should return soon," Neytiri added, trying to ease the worry that showed clearly on Tey'bar's face. "Go, find your family. I'm sure they have been worried about you as well."
"He is not going to settle until Ell'a'u returns," Neytiri said after Tey'bar had left in search of his family. "I think the two will choose each other as life-mates."
"Yes, I get that feeling as well. Are you alright?" Jake asked, searching Neytiri's face for any signs of distress. "You seemed to be tense when you were speaking with your mother."
"I had some questions about Ralu that I wanted to ask. We can talk of this later." Neytiri said knowing Jake would ask what the questions were about. She wanted to save that for later when they could talk privately.
"All right. I'm going to help prepare the kills Tey'bar's hunters brought back. Some of the meat should be cooked now. Many of the clan are hungry. Having food in their bellies should help them feel better. They are going to need their strength. Moving to a new home, especially with the injured, is not going to be easy."
"I will see that the cooking fires are ready."
"Neytiri…I love you," Jake said as she turned to go.
"I love you too," Neytiri replied when she turned back. After gently brushing her lips against his, she briefly touched her forehead to his before walking off in the direction of the cooking fires.
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Zoe stared at the images on her heads-up display, barely able to believe what they were showing her. "This is impossible," she mumbled.
"What's impossible?"
Zoe was visibly startled by the sound of Gary's voice coming from directly behind her. She hadn't realized he was standing that close to her.
"Take it easy. I didn't mean to spook you," Gary said soothingly as he placed his hands gently on her shaking shoulders.
At his touch she felt her muscles under his hands go rigid. His touch was light and as his fingers began to massage the tension out of her shoulders she felt that tension move to somewhere deep inside her. The ache that was slowly building was desire, but she didn't recognize it.
"Jesus. If I wasn't looking at it I wouldn't have believed it possible," Gary said, his hands still massaging her shoulders as he looked at the images on her displays.
"This continent has been split into three pieces centered at what used to be the open pit mine." When Gary leaned in to get a closer look at the images she felt her pulse quicken. His hands where still gently rubbing her shoulders, which by now had gone completely lax.
"Can you overly the image with a grid scale? The area that used to be the mine looks considerably larger than I remember it. It's hard to tell now that the whole area is covered with water."
"How's that?" Zoe asked after zooming in on what used to be the mine.
"Good…That's what I thought. The surface area of the water is at least ten times larger than that of the mine. Does the analysis give any estimate on the depth of the water where the mine used to be?"
"Five thousand meters, plus or minus fifteen hundred meters," Zoe answered after consulting one of the fact tables on a side display.
"That's not possible. The mine was barely three hundred meters at its deepest point. What's the average diameter of this new body of water?"
"About twenty thousand meters, just a little over twelve miles."
"From the relative scale it looks like the breaks between the three sections of the continent are between two and three miles wide."
"Yes and the distance is increasing," Zoe added after bringing up a graph showing the separation of the sections over the past hour.
"Do you have any data of the depths of Pandora's oceans?"
"It's here somewhere, give me a second."
"Maximum recorded depth is seven thousand two hundred meters. Average depth is about five thousand."
"Well that's it then. This continent has split into three distinct sub continents."
"From all the data I am getting back from the satellite I would have to agree."
"Looks as if the RDA is out a couple of excavators, and a fleet of ore trucks. They won't be doing any mining here for quite some time."
"Those excavators are now at the bottom of the ocean floor. Even if they could salvage them from that depth the excavators or ore trucks would be useless after being in the corrosive water."
"It will be at least six years before new mining equipment could arrive from Earth. Assuming they knew about it right now."
"Do you think the RDA might just abandon mining here?" Zoe asked glancing over her shoulder to look at Gary's face.
The minute his deep brown eye's locked onto hers she felt the world around her fade away. She could tell that he was staring at her mouth. It made her lips tingle. Involuntarily she brushed the tip of her tongue over them.
When Zoe ran her tongue over her lips, Gary swallowed hard, twice. Suddenly she was totally female and he wanted her. Removing his hands from her shoulders he shoved them in his pockets before he framed her face with them and captured those inviting lips with his own. Breaking through the sexual haze he struggled to remember the last question she had asked.
"I honestly don't know what the RDA is going to do when they find out what a shambles their mining operation is in," Gary answered, keeping his eyes locked with Zoe's while his hands stayed lodged in his pockets. "Two significant factors are in play here. One, the RDA probably needs to continue mining unobtanium to survive economically. Two, can the RDA take this big a financial hit and still survive. The reality is they are not going to get any more shipments of unobtanium for a minimum of six years after the Venture Star arrives back on Earth. More likely it will be seven or eight years."
"Hopefully the star ships that arrive here over the next five years will just turn around and go back to Earth. Without any means on mining unobtanium there would be no reason to leave anyone here on Pandora."
"If they did, those people would probably just go crazy with nothing to do."
"Is that what's going to happen to us?" Zoe asked, trying to figure out what to do about the feelings he had awakened in her.
"I hope not, Zoe. Honestly, I just don't know what is in store for all of us."
"Thank you for being honest with me. I prefer that to being placated with false assurances."
"We should gather up as much detail on what's happened as we can. Then we can explain it to the others all at once."
"All right, that sounds like a good idea. It will take me about twenty minutes to summarize the data and images. I'll copy everything to a VPC when I'm done."
"That will give me enough time to check on how far along the lab is on purifying its air and finish the rest of my diagnostics."
A quick check of the lab's air monitors showed Gary that the lab would be usable without the need for exopacks shortly. From the data provided by the other air monitors located throughout the complex, a simulation routine estimated the location of five probable breaches to outside air within the complex. Three were improperly sealed doors and two were cracks surrounding the intake pipe for the geothermal generator. Patching the cracks would have to be done on both the inside and outside walls to be certain that it held properly. The avatars should be to apply the outside patch in a little less than an hour. All in all, the quake had done very little damage to the complex. The refinery and retaining wall were another matter entirely.
True to her word, twenty minutes later Zoe was standing in front of Gary's console, a PVC held against her breasts.
"Ready when you are," she said as she watched him close down his diagnostic routines.
"We won't need these damn exopacks in the lab. The rest of the complex should be back to normal air in five or six hours. Assuming the simulation routine nailed the locations of the breaches correctly."
"That's good news. At least we won't have to sleep in them."
"True, but keep one close by. We don't know if we will get another quake or another leak will spring up somewhere."
"Not to worry. I keep one with me at all times."
"Same here," Gary replied. "We tend to forget just how hostile and deadly Pandora can be. Even though it looks beautiful, almost normal, something as simple as breathing the air can kill you."
"True, very true," Zoe replied with a small sigh.
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