1
Parker sighed, running his hand through his hair as he watched the Doctor examining the returned SecOps troops. "And you say they just came out of no-where?", he asked, nervously glancing over his shoulder down the hall. Any minute now that man is going to storm down there and kick my scrawny ass. "Yes Selfridge", Evelyn hissed as she lowered her shirt, covering the massive bruise that had appeared on her side. "Those blue skinned monkeys have a habit of doing that", she narrowed her gaze and tentatively slipped down from the examination bed.
Parker turned back to face the Major, her green eyes filled with anger as she turned to face the rest of her team.
"You weren't in their territory", Miles said as he strode into the room, pushing past Parker as he entered. "So why the hell did they attack?", he gently lifted Evelyns shirt, his fist clenching as he saw the massive blue mark on her side. "Maybe I stood on some sacred bug or rock. Or I looked at some spiritual bird, who the hell knows!", Evelyn retorted angrily. "What I do know is that it was an unprovoked attack".
"Colonel, whatever their reason there is one thing that is clear sir", one of the SecOps soldiers pipped up, striding over to Evelyn. "If it wasn't for the Major here, we'd be toast", he placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled broadly. "There were five of those savages and three of them seemed to go for the Major", he closed his eyes and sighed. "Sir, I have never seen anyone take on three Na'vi and I am certain I never will again", the young man flicked his eyes open and looked over at Miles, his full attention still on Evelyn. "She pulled out that sword and just flew at them. I honestly don't think they were expecting that and the group decided fairly quickly to back the hell off".
Miles stared at Evelyn, his blue eyes filled with warmth and concern at the near miss she and the others had encountered. "I take it none of you have been seriously injured?", Miles asked, turning to face the three others troops in the room. All of them looked up and gave him a thumbs up, smiling broadly as the Doctors finished their treatment. "Good", Miles said coolly, turning slowly to face Parker, who was still standing in the doorway. "And have the indigenous indicated why they attacked us?", he hissed, setting those cool blue eyes on Parker.
Parker shifted, clearly uncomfortable in such close proximity to Miles, "We received word from Eytukan that they attacked without any orders. It seems some of the Na'vi have decided to rebel against us", he laughed nervously. "They think that we are inflicting nothing but misery on their world". Miles leaned in closer towards Parker, making the small man even more nervous. "They do this again Selfridge, I will show them the true meaning of misery. You can count on that!".
2
Two Months Later
Evelyn sat in the massive tree, gazing up at the gathering storm clouds above. Those dense plums gathered quickly overhead and while she knew the storm would not last long, Evelyn also realised that the deluge of rain would make it impossible for any extraction. She turned towards Graces' Avatar and sighed, "Looks like we are camping out here tonight Doc". Grace smiled nervously, clearly not enthused about the prospect of spending the night in the jungle. "It could be worse", she said softly, "We could be on the ground".
'Stuck in a tree all night with the most irritating person on this planet. Lucky, lucky me', Evelyn thought, turning away from Grace as she pressed the communicator around her throat. "Hells Gate this is SecOp2, come in", she released the transmit button and leaned against the broad trunk behind her as she awaited a reply. "SecOp2, this is Hells Gate. What can we do for you?", a womans voice replied and Evelyn felt a pang of disappointment that it wasn't Miles' dulcet tone she was hearing. "Hells Gate, there is a nasty storm heading our way and there is no way anyone can reach us before it hits. Looks like we will be camping out for the night. Over".
"SecOp2, what the hell do you mean, camping out for the night?!", Miles' voice rang out over the coms and, despite his somewhat annoyed tone, Evelyn found herself smiling. "Colonel Sir, the storm is right over us and it looks like it's got a heavy dump of water in it. It's safer for everyone if the Doc and I just stay up in this big ass tree for the night". Evelyn turned towards Grace and gave her a wry smile, "Can you just imagine what he's saying right now Doc? I bet he's pissed!".
"Understood Major. Will send out a retrieval unit at first light for you. Keep safe and", Miles paused, "If the old hag gets annoying just push her out of the tree".