James Cameron owns Avatar, not me.
Chapter 6: Fading Hope
Date: June 2nd, 2163
Location: Site 17 (Camp Augustine), Pandora, Alpha Centauri A system
Max finished the quiet prayer, stepping back away from the recently turned soil, keeping his head down, already trying to forget the small cross bearing the words 'Cindy Daniels, Avatar Team Member'. She wasn't the first of them to die on this world, but her death hit harder than the others had. She had always been their life, keeping their spirits up as best she could. Always with a kind word for Norm when his self-confidence began to fail, always ready with a glass of water after Nathan came back in from working on their Samson. The nantang hadn't cared about that, it had just cared that she was an easy meal, armed only with a lightweight pistol. They'd barely managed to recover enough of her to warrant burying, and the sight of her mangled body would be one that Max knew would haunt his nightmares for years to come.
His gaze found the other three graves next to hers, each bearing the name of the one buried beneath. Mike had been the first one to die. He'd been out hunting with Cindy and Norm when a Lenay'ga had struck, the stinger burying itself instantly in his chest. He probably hadn't even known it when he died. Nicole had been next, a year later. She'd gone out to get some more water to help cook with and had simply not returned. They'd searched for days, but hadn't found anything more than her pistol, half the clip empty and smeared with blood.
Max sighed and shook his head, Heiko and Nicole had been extremely close, and it hadn't come as much of a surprise when the depressed man had simply vanished one day, never to be seen again. They had waited a week before digging the symbolic grave.
Bruce shook his head, muttering quietly to himself and quickly moved back inside. Katrina dried her eyes before moving off with Walsh to start getting dinner ready.
"Only half of us left now." Norm spoke up quietly.
"Ya." Max replied.
The two remained there, gazing at the graves for a short while, simply listening to the forest around them, the soft clanks of metal as dinner was prepared.
Norm spoke up again, "Only half of us left now. Only a few more years till more humans come."
He nodded, turning slowly to head inside, Norm instinctively following him, "Yeah. If our luck holds.. we just might make it until then."
The two moved up into their shack, cycling the airlock and removing their exopacks. Max moved over to his computer terminal and sat heavily, gazing at the screen. Norm simply collapsed into his bed, staring at the ceiling of their fragile home.
It was Max's turn to break the silence, "I think we can make it Norm." he was speaking more for Norm's benefit than for his own. "If the rest of the team can keep up the rate at which they drop off food, and we keep our power use limited, I think we can last out at least five more years. Someone should be here by then."
"And then what?" Norm asked, not looking at him, "What if it's just the RDA again? Ready to make all their mistakes yet again? What if they just want to use us as scapegoats?"
He sighed and leaned back in his chair, "We've got years of research here Norm, it has to be worth something. At least we'll have something to negotiate with. Like those bacteria than Katherine is working on to try and allow us to breathe here, or everything on how Eywa functions that you've put together."
This time it was Norm who sighed, "Would be easier to work on that project if Jake and Neytiri would let me get samples from the Tree of Souls or their new Tree of Voices."
Even as he spoke the other three came through the airlock, Bruce and Walsh carrying a container of hexapede stew. Bruce snorted as he heard Norm speak, "Samples from there? Hell man, friend or no they'd probably try to kill you if you even went close. Hell, they did shoot at me and Walsh when we accidentally got too close that one time."
Norm shook his head, "Tell me about it. I don't even think I've spoken to Jake in what, over a year now?"
Max leaned forward, ladling some of the stew into a small bowl. "A year and.." he did some mental math, scratching his beard as he did so, "... aaand a half, give or take."
Bruce took a sip of the stew before speaking, "Seems like we only talk to the rest of the team these days, and only when they drop off food. Kiya was telling me when she dropped off this hexapede that the clan is starting to put pressure on them to act more Na'vi and less like tawtute."
Everyone gazed into their bowls for a moment before Norm spoke up, "That would be bad.. to say the least. It's a pain to hunt on our own, and even with only half of us left what we grow here isn't enough to feed us."
"Especially with Jake not letting us cut down trees to clear more land, or even to try and build a wall or something with." Max chimed in, shaking his head, "Must have argued with him for hours on that, never seen him so angry. Only being able to use dead wood is a problem, especially if we intend to make crossbows."
"Tha ain no choice in tha matter." Walsh spoke up through a mouth of stew, swallowing, "Sorry, there ain't no choice in the matter. We've only got six pistols and one rifle between us, and ammunition is low as it is, we've scavenged all we can from Hell's Gate and it sure ain't gonna keep us fed for a few more years."
Max sighed and rubbed his temples, "I'll try calling him tomorrow, assuming the radio there is still working. If it isn't Walsh and I can head over to the edge of their lands and hope we run into someone polite."
That being decided, the small group of humans resumed eating their meal, quietly talking of minor things, attempting to avoid any thoughts of the future, or of the four, small crosses outside their shack.
Next up is Chapter 7: Dasvidaniya, Rodina
Another short chapter from Max and the avatar team, one more short chapter like this before Max gets chapters as long as Selfridge's.
Two more chapters (the expedition leaving, and max meeting with jake) and the first act of this story will be complete. After that, we'll be seeing what's going to go down when 7 fully loaded ISV's arrive in Pandoran orbit.
Reviews appreciated!
Review Responses:
bigoldfrog: glad to know you enjoyed it!
robby cartwright: glad to see you're enjoying the Patel & co chapters. Jake will be present in person in their next appearance.
mind tellar: remember, this is a human-centric and primarily pro-human story. Who committed crimes and whose truths are indeed true are relative to the various perspectives of the characters. I don't know if I'll go any further into repercussions on Earth, but that could be a far-off idea for a sequel or a spin-off. I'll think about it.