Hey, it's me again! In order for you not to wait too long I give you part 2 of 3 of chapter 6. I hope you enjoy. It was very tough to write.

Chapter 6

A promise to keep… Part 2

When Grace and the colonel arrived at the meeting room Selfridge and two of his RDA accountants were already present, shuffling through notes and having several datapads before them. Next to them were the representatives of the unobtainium miners together with two geologists, whose job it was to assess the area and find bigger deposits of the valuable ore whenever possible. According to their reports of the last months Grace didn't expect too much support from them. Anna Jameson sat at the far end of the table, staring at her pad with presentation sketches and giving the impression of a rather lonely figure. If Quaritch decided to go against his promise and introduced any attack plans, he most likely had the support of most of these people.

With Grace and the colonel now present, the colonel's two commanders-in-chief were still missing as well as Max and some technicians, but according to the clock they had roughly ten minutes left.

Grace seated herself between Jameson and Selfridge on the left side of the table, Quaritch took a seat opposite to her, looking very confident. His expression was unreadable and there was no way of knowing what he was up to. Grace closed her eyes and tried to concentrate.

The battle was about to begin! The invisible battle she was fighting with her opponent without anybody noticing.

When the final attendants had arrived, Selfridge stood up, his palms firm on the table. After the usual introductory words and greetings he made clear that he wanted to hear from everybody what progress had been made since the last meeting. After his short introduction it was the geologist's turn. They explained in great detail their search for new unobtainium sources. It all came down to the fact that the biggest deposit of the valuable mineral in the vicinity was directly under the biggest Na'Vi settlement known. Thus there would be a confrontation sooner or later.

Reaching the mineral underground was still out of discussion, since it would take significantly longer to reach it, and thus was simply too expensive to try. Besides there were serious doubts if the huge tree standing above the deposit wouldn't in any way influence the tunnels and probably cause a cave-in, since the soil was unstable anyway. The question had come up repeatedly since RDA had occupied Pandora, but probable errors in management and false assumptions about the situation here had stopped them from attempting to deep mining and now it was too late without suffering huge losses.

One part of Grace was glad for that development, because it allowed her working with the Na'Vi, although nagging doubts remained if that attempt, had it been tried had spared them antagonizing the natives. She'd probably never know. What had been confirmed now, though, was the fact that the Na'Vi occupied exactly that space RDA wanted. She had already expected something like that, when looking at the mining developments of the last months, but now it was certain. From Selfridge's point of view, the aliens had to go. Either peacefully or forcefully. But soon.

After the geologists had finished their report, the representative of the miners gave a short overview over their progress. Seemingly the unobtainium deposits in the immediate vicinity of Hell's Gate were almost depleted by now, after several years of exploitation. This meant they had to go further into Na'Vi territory with every passing day and of course the natives didn't take lightly to that. The miner reported several incidents of attacks and damage on the machinery. Nothing serious, since the aliens still operated with bow and arrow, but it was a definite signal and woe to the person who dared to leave his or her mining machine! He or she was certain to be killed or at least badly wounded.

Grace sighed. She was torn between two points of view. Of course she could understand the miners in their need for protection and the security for the personnel was one of the key agendas to be discussed, but she could also understand the Na'Vi in their attempts to drive the humans off their planet. The question was who was to be driven off in the end.

She cast a quick glance at Quaritch, who had listened to the reports intently and with great interest. His mien didn't betray what he thought, but from earlier statements he had made and his whole behavior, she knew that he had no love for the Na'Vi. He would not hesitate to opt for the miners every day if he saw them in any real danger and only today Grace realized how little time she had left to make one last attempt to solve this diplomatically.

The situation had become way too complicated; mistakes had been made on both sides. It now took a miracle to solve this without bloodshed.

She was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't immediately realize when it was her turn.

Great, just great! That's a good impression!

When she did she hastily stood up and nodded at everyone, before taking a deep breath.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, I sympathize with your situation and you are quite right if you don't want to risk your lives, if there is a way to avoid getting killed. Let me tell you: I have good news for you. The progress we've made in the past few weeks exceeds our expectations by far."

"Will any of your progress save us from attacks in the future?" one of the miners asked and Grace tried hard not to smile.

Good question, thank you!

"In the long run, yes." she answered. "The work with the new upgrades to our Avatar units went smoother than anticipated. And we are quite positive that we can reestablish diplomatic contact with the Na'Vi soon. Talking with them is still the most economical way, compared to a full-scaled attack."

Money! That was the only way to get them.

She took one of her datapads and connected it with the room's projection screen. It immediately showed the schematics of the new upgrades. Before her presentation, Grace had taken her time to study them superficially. If there were more questions about the details, one of the technicians present would be able to answer them. That's why she had invited them.

"These upgrades have been installed recently to the Avatar units and they are very well worth their money, if I might add that. They basically enhance the experiences one has with the Avatar units and allow for prolonged use. If there are any questions about their mode of operation, I am sure Dr. Willowby and Dr. Michaels are glad to answer them."

The two technicians, one man and one woman nodded in agreement. Indeed several hands were raised and Grace yielded to them while they explained in full detail what the upgrades could and couldn't do. When there were no more questions about the upgrades she stood up again and continued.

"But that's not everything. As Dr. Jameson will tell you in a minute, we have some new findings about the Na'Vi language that could positively influence further negotiations."

"If there will be any…" somebody murmured, but Grace couldn't make out the voice. Whoever he was, he had a point. What use were the best theories if couldn't put them to use? She cleared her throat.

"Believe me, there will be further negotiations. We are well prepared and ready."

That was an exaggeration beyond belief, but she saw no harm in making herself and her team look better than they actually were.

Some people nodded in agreement, others were not convinced and Quaritch didn't give away what he thought.

Dammit, he promised.

Grace sat down and made room for Anna Jameson's presentation. The young woman explained her findings in great detail, but it basically came down to the fact that the Na'vi language had a double layer of semantics, a concept that was hard to grasp, if one didn't know any language that provided such a feature.

Again hands were raised.

"You're not talking in front of a university class, Doctor. What exactly do you mean by "a double layer of semantics"? Put it in plain simple English!" one of the miners demanded.

Jameson smiled politely.

"It simply means that every word has two meanings. One is obvious and the other one is hidden. Take for example the word tree. For us it means "wooden plant with leaves or needles" nothing more. But for the Na'Vi it also means something holy, untouchable. Many words are interwoven with a more metaphysical meaning and sometimes meanings we have no words for."

"And you found this out only now? After more than six years of research? It's not that we discovered the Na'Vi yesterday!" one of Quaritch's commanders-in-chief blurted out.

"A profound linguistic research needs a sound database and our linguistic database of Na'Vi is limited, since our only recordings are from the school sessions Dr. Augustine and her team gave years ago. Apart from the time I needed to prove my theory, I had to develop it in the first place. As far as I know there is no Earth language that exhibits such a feature, so I had nothing I could it compare with. But now I am absolutely sure and I am very confident that knowing about this will strengthen our position in any negotiation we undertake. It is very likely that they were inadvertently insulted by our proposals. We can now ensure that something like that will not happen again."

When Jameson had ended and answered all remaining questions, Grace got up again and finished her presentation.

"As you can see, we weren't idle. Having the ability to stay longer in our Avatar forms and being able avoid any unintended provocations I am quite confident to negotiate a treaty in due time. Bear with us a little longer. You won't regret it."

When there was nothing left to say, Grace took her seat again and exhaled almost inaudibly. She and her team had done what they could. Now the decision was out of her hands. She glanced towards the colonel, who remained passive and thoughtful. From earlier meetings Grace knew that this was now the time for him to make an assessment of the security situation, after having heard all the facts. And indeed Selfridge gave the floor to Quaritch.

In his usual self-confident manner, the colonel stood up and looked around. Maybe Grace imagined it, but she felt that his gaze rested longer on her than on the rest of the participants of today's meeting. When he started speaking there was nothing in his voice that betrayed anything about what was going on between him and her.

"I guess there is no need for me repeating what we all have heard. My job is your security and I fully intend to do this job."

Did he really pause for effect?

Grace was not sure if he did or if she simply thought he did, because she was so anxious to hear is final answer.

"In my opinion the scientists definitely have something going here and I believe there is no harm done in letting them work on this a while longer. The miners will of course receive continued escorts."

Only then Grace realized that she had been holding her breath. She released it.

"But…"

But?

"… I believe it is only reasonable to take some additional precautions since the situation we are dealing with still is of an uncertain outcome. I recommend that a scientific team should begin to work on the development of a chemical weapon against the Na'vi. Something comparable to tear gas, that will actually work on them considering their physiology."

Grace froze.

That treacherous bastard! Of course he would keep his promise, but not without a catch! Not without something he could rub her in the face. In her mind she jumped over the table at his throat – in reality she put on a frozen smile.

One look in Selfridge's face showed her that he had made up his mind. He would follow the colonel's suggestion. Yeah, it made sense, didn't it?

When she left the room after the meeting was over, she tried to conceal how beaten she felt. Quaritch went out with her, but moved slightly faster. When he overtook her he touched her ever so casually. For everybody else, this was just a coincidence, but she knew that it meant more.

She had gotten the message.