XVI: Lost and Found Keys (V)

Of course it was a split second later Norm was able to shrug off the crazy idea and recognize the emergency lights flashing inside the room, as well as picking up the distinct sound of the siren. But by then he had realized the alert was for something far worse… there was incoming ordinance. Again the base shook and Norm had to throw himself at a console to keep his balance, it was here he picked up the distinctive impression of an aircraft on the Hell's Gate Radar. "Sweet Eywa, is somebody firing on us?"

"Yes!" Someone in soldier fatigues shouted from the far side of the room, "From orbit!" Norm could only gape in shock and horror as again the entire base shook. It could only mean one thing. R.D.A.

"What'll we do? What'll we do?" Norm shouted back. The soldier, a woman with blond hair and oddly deep brown skin was busy switching over some of the science stations into tactical stations.

"Minimal collateral damage, west side and hangers one through nine eradica-" she was cut off as the base was again rocked to its foundations.

"What does that mean!" Norm shouted, trying to keep his feet.

"They're destroying our weapon stores!" she answered.

"Well can't we shoot back!" Norm stammered.

"With what, space spears?" she shot back, trying to work some of the controls. Norm was at a loss and more, he was dang near to peeing himself. The base shook again and a wave of helplessness fell over Norm like an ant running from the sun beam of a magnifying glass. He always knew the RDA would return, but he also thought –probably naively- they would try to establish diplomatic negotiations, not wipe out all opposition from orbit!

"This can't be happening." he said more to himself, again the base rumbled ominously and this time another siren was going off.

"Breach! MASK ON!" the woman shouted. Norm knew enough to slap his Exopack back on; luckily everyone had one handy since the venom incident, otherwise some may have been stuck without.

"We gotta evacuate or something! We can't just let them destroy us!" Norm said suddenly, feeling a rise of responsibility in his chest as the now unofficial head of the program.

"Wait! It's alright! I think…" the woman said breathlessly over the console, "I think it's moving out of range!"

Norm and the rest of the people and Na'vi in the room looked at each other warily. But time passed and the building no longer shook. Norm was among the first to stand, he marched over to the soldier girl. "What do you mean out of range? The ship in orbit has passed? They'll just come back!"

"No, I don't think they will." she replied, licking her lips and turning startlingly blue eyes to look at him. Who was this woman?

"What?" Norm said absently.

"Listen, I think it was just a disarming run; I'm not getting any reports of severe casualties and none of the main facilities with dense population were hit. I think they scanned us to see where we, and our weapons were and only fired to destroy our reserves, so we couldn't fight back." she explained, pointing out readings on the monitor Norm couldn't make heads or tails of.

"Who are you?" Norm blurted.

The woman looked taken back a moment, like Norm was pulled a gun on her, "I'm Sun, Juu Sun, former RDA grease monkey and head AMP service engineer." She said as if Norm should have known. "I've been working nonstop for the last- forever, to make the AMP suits less polluting and more mobile for us Avatarless slouches and to expand the base to Na'vi size, but that isn't important right now- what's important is doing damage assessment and fixing the breach!" she huffed pushing past him.

Norm garbled a few words after her noncommittally and then watched in further surprise as two or three Avatars and Na'vi turned to follow her. Apparently they were part of her unit, made obvious when they started asking her for orders. Sun pointed in varying directions and Norm could just make out her saying, "-make sure the drivers got their masks on, and then join us as section five, we have to fix the breach before the filters are overwhelmed!" Like a well oiled machine they split apart at dead runs.

Norm then remember his own duty, "Guys, is anybody hurt?" he turned. Everyone, including Max, gave a role call/sound off/head count. No one had been injured, but that was only in the immediate vicinity. Norm moved to the glass and checked on Neytiri with the Stranger and her guard. Neytiri was crying, holding onto the Stranger who continued to stare like a dead man. The Na'vi guard, consisting of three warriors, was equally unharmed but Norm could see their hands shaking. Norm called through the monitor, "Everyone alright?" Neytiri nodded, holding back an apparent sob. Norm frowned, but then turned his attention to the second section. Jake and Yawne were lying on their respective tables looking around on their elbows with the same huge grin and chuckling like oompah-loompahs. They'd passed through the attack completely unharmed and unfazed. Norm half smiled at their easy grins and turned back to the serious matter at hand.

He went back to Neytiri, "Neytiri, we just got hit by sky people from orbit, uh, a very long way off. You should get back to Hometree to make sure they haven't stuck there."

It was a measure of Neytiri's emotional state that she didn't think of what Norm had before he did, Neytiri nodded, unable now to hold back the sob as she began moving to push the strange off of her. There was an awkward moment of her pulling his hands from around her… then the stranger somehow spiraled away from her in a impossible kind of flip. The guards didn't react aside from drawing arrows, but they were lethargic, not notching them. The stranger sank into the corner, wrapping his arms and tail around his knees. Norm watched in fascination as Neytiri wiped her eyes, tried to pull herself together, and then sobbed again. Norm was as puzzled as the rest of the faces watching from the other side of the glass, but Neytiri and her guard moved in single file out of the room pausing only to slightly reach out to the Stranger… and then move on.

Norm speechlessly watched them close the door, leaving the Stranger completely alone as he began to rock himself. Norm shook his head, turning his attention back to the read outs. He saw comm. link channels to various stations and bent down to the microphone, "Um, all stations, report?" he tried. A bustle of voices followed, some from humans, some from Na'vi, they were confused mostly- asking what happened more than reporting who was hurt or what needed to be done. Norm held out his hands, though of course they couldn't see him. "Wait guys, calm down, we just had a strafing run from orbit, I think it's the RDA, but! They aren't trying to destroy us, just disarm us, so, nobody panic. We've got a breach in the compound so everyone put on your masks, well, except for you know, the Na'vi, but uh. Is anybody hurt? Does anybody need any help?" Norm finished. Again the voices came in, this time one at a time; the humans trying to sound professional and the Na'vi just sounding calmly matter of fact. "One at a time guys!" Norm sighed.

From this Norm learned only a handful had been hurt, a few broken bones, bruises, but no one was seriously injured. The worst of it was currently being worked on by Sun and her crew; Norm couldn't just sit back and relax though. "Okay guys, let's, let's get this place cleaned up. Somebody get the lights back and make sure we didn't lose any data. And whoever's working on that anti-venom, get back to it. It's top priority. I'm going too, I'm going to check on the other sections in person." Norm nodded to Max, putting him in charge while he moved off to try and get a better handle on the emergency situation.

…

Norm made his way down the long corridors of Hell's Gate, pausing every now and again to move aside as a Na'vi ran past at a crouch or a human drove a forklift with various boxes. Norm was intuitively drawn to the scene of the repair, following all the coming and going members of Sun's team. Norm stopped a passing Na'vi only to ask exactly where Sun was and he pointed him to a little further on, then continued on his way. Sun was sitting on the floor, tinkering with some kind of welding torch. Norm approached carefully. "Sun?" he squeaked, then cleared his throat. "Uh, Sun?"

Sun whipped her head up, her eyes scanned Norm, then flew back to her work. "Yeah?" she said tersely.

"Uh I uh, I just, um. I mean…" Norm wiped his hands on his pant legs.

Sun didn't look up again, "What!"

"I…" Norm felt foolish as a Na'vi ran up to Sun and spoke in rapid fire Na'vi, Sun didn't look up for him either as she answered in Na'vi and he sped away again. Norm swallowed hard and stood a little straighter, "Status?"

Sun looked up this time, narrowing her eyes, then her bound-high pony tail bounced as she snapped back to her work, "Breach repairs are going to take at least another half hour, I've got three on the filter stores but they'll need to be washed before we get everyone back on regular integration. I've sent scouts to the outer labs where they reported the stronger casualties, and they've set up a triage center." She then snapped a piece into place with a satisfied grunt, "It's all handled so you can stop trying to play general and get Jake back on his feet, we'll need him to organize the Na'vi!"

Norm was slightly hurt, and reacted as if hit. "I just…"

Sun looked back up at him as she stood drawing the line attached to the welding torch with her, "I know, sorry to be curt Sir, but their isn't time to wonder where you should be. You need to be leading the science team, I can't make heads or tails of chemical compositions from alien evolved super humans, that's your area. Mine is here, keeping everyone alive. We've got it, sir, you can go." she politely waited for Norm to make any kind of recognizing gesture, but Norm could only stare at her in utter awe. When it finally dawned on him she was waiting, patiently though there really was no time, he nearly jumped.

"Oh, I, r-right." he nodded, and half heartedly saluted. Sun gave him a curt nod and then took off at a sprint towards an obvious opening where Pandora atmosphere was pouring in. Norm watched her go and then slapped himself o the forehead. "Saluting? What a jerk…" he said to himself as he turned and went off into a jog.

…

When Norm got back to the science team Max was hunched over a monitor with another person. They were in low murmur mode as Norm approached, Max lifted his head as Norm came nearer. "Everything alright?"

Norm nodded with a lame smile, "Yeah uh, there's a triage center for the wounded and the breach shouldn't take more than half and hour to fix, we'll need to wash the filters first though before uh, everything's…. Integrated." he made a general circular motion with his hand.

Max smiled approvingly, "Wow, impressive."

Norm shrugged, "It was mostly Sun's doing, I just… SO! Where are we on the anti-venom?" Norm quickly changed the subject, leaning in to look at the monitor.

Max didn't seem to notice or allowed the change, either way he said, "Well funny you should mention that, because we got the idea that we should have been treating this stuff like a spitting cobra all along."

Norm narrowed his eyes at the chemical read out, "How do you mean?"

Max grinned, "Well, how do you make Snake anti-venom?"

Norm blinked, "You take some of it's venom and put it in a horse which makes anti-venom and you jus- wait, I get where you're going, you mean- like, how most snakes aren't immune to other snakes of the same types' venom? "

Max nodded, more impressed, "Right! Like a mongoose only has a tolerance, not immunity, we began to wonder if this guy had an immunity to his own venom. We mixed it with some of his blood and guess what came out?"

Norm smiled, "Anti-venom."

Max nodded, "Exactly, we took a closer look at the gland scans and it turns out every time he spits, it's followed by a second secretion into his mouth- which he reflexively swallows, anti-venom!"

Norm licked his lips, "Can we synthesize it?"

Max looked thoughtful, "Ehh, we've tried and no luck so far, but his body produces it naturally."

Norm wiped his chin, "So, okay, all we need to do is uh, milk this anti-venom from him?"

Max gave Norm an awkward look, "Yeeaaaahhh, that's what we're kinda stuck on." he said sheepishly.

Norm nodded and stood authoritatively, "No problem, we'll go in, sedate, and extract. I'm sure a couple of avatars could get in there."

Max shrugged, "Tried it. Every Avatar or Na'vi for that matter, even covered in bio suits starts to break down, and they can't bring themselves to stick him with a needle…"

Norm looked at Max nearly cross-eyed, "Why on earth not?"

Max gave Norm a wide look, "because they say is 'raining'."

Norm screwed up his face, "It's a rain forest, of course it rains."

Max shook his head, "No, I mean, in the room. They get the sensation of rain. Actually rain on their skin, and the longer they stay in there, the more it feels like… like snow." Max said a bit mystically.

Norm looked at Max skeptically, "Ooookay, I'll do it then." Max looked slightly surprised, "Look, we need Jake back as fast as possible, if our team can't get its act together we may all be in danger; I'm head of the team so it's my responsibility where my men fail." Norm said stoically. Max gave Norm a mixed look, but Norm didn't feel silly saying it. Norm nodded and with Exo-pack on went to the smaller door made for people to enter and exit the room. Norm gave Max one last look, Max was a bit hesitant, but Norm remained firm and nodded to him so Max did the same.

"Alright guys, Norm's going in. Let's get ready." And Norm entered.

Practically the second his skin met the air inside the room, Norm expected to feel a jolt of electricity and a torrent of falling rain… but he just felt stupid as nothing happened. The Stranger was still curled up in the corner with his dead stare, breathing through his nose and rocking himself. Norm felt sorry for the thing- er, guy, and made his approach gentle and slow. As he rounded the medical bed he found a hypodermic needle on the ground, and what looked like drops of water. Norm bent down very slowly and picked up the needle. When his fingers met the cold surface of the syringe and his hand lifted the needle, that was when Norm felt it… rain. It was, the most uncanny thing. Norm caught himself looking up for drips, then down at his hand where he felt the drops hit. There were no drops. Norm reached up and touched his hair which he knew must have been soaked by now, but his fingers met dry ruffled hair. Norm crouched in complete mystery as he experienced the odd sensation.

There was no explanation for it he could figure, not easily anyway, but there it was. Right there on his skin. Norm looked at the Stranger, who wasn't looking at anything, and then he looked to the needle. Maybe he was afraid of it? Norm slowly brought the needle around, hiding it from sight in a non-threatening manner. "How are you today?" he said calmly, waiting. "How are you today?" he tried again. The sensation didn't let up, in fact, it grew heavier. Norm noted, with his years of experience, the sensation of rain was becoming stronger over time, an exponential feeling. Without warning however, Norm could have sworn he heard the soft whimpers of his pet dog… the one he lost as a child… Norm shook his head, trying to clear the aural illusion; there was no way he could be hearing that sound, his dog was long dead and it was one of the most tragic moments in his life, why it came to him now he couldn't understand… but he remembered his suffering sobs, the whimper, the whining as he lay in the middle of the street… the passing car hadn't even stopped- Norm felt the cold hitting his skin.

With a start Norm was back in the room with the Stranger, the heavy rain falling away as the cold flakes fell upon him, the Strangers tail was wrapped around Norms wrist, his hand. Norm looked down at the comforting gentle squeeze of the appendage, then slowly looked up at the stranger who eyes were burning into him. It felt like Norm had a fever, a fire scorching him through those eyes. Norm felt the hair stand up on the back of his neck, he felt his skin prickle. The Stranger was looking not at him, but into his very soul. Without thinking Norm brought the needle around and stabbed it into the Strangers tail. A prick of red blood welled at the entry point, and the tail stiffened… but the Stranger made no other reaction. As Norm injected the plunger, he set himself for being thrown across the room, or even his arm ripped off… but the Strange didn't react. Again Norm was surprised by his lack of action; until, he realized the snow no longer fell.

Norm stared in silent anticipation. The Strange stared into him, and then, slowly his tail began to constrict around Norms hand. Tighter, tighter, Norm felt the bones in his hand begin to creak. The sensation had changed, now, now his skin felt hot… Norm began to physically sweat. Tighter and tighter, Norm felt hot, like he couldn't breath, the air was stifling, his hand was locked- the Stranger staring, Norm only just began to feel the odd sensation of his flesh beginning to burn. Then; the Strangers eyelids drifted, dropping, fighting, and his head went slack. Norm gasped in harsh gulps of air as the sensation slowly left him. Nerve wracking-ly he unwound the nearly forearm thick tail from his hand and scrambled back, coughing what he could have sworn was the taste of smoke. "Norm? You alright?" Max's voice asked over the comm.

Norm took a few deep breaths, strangely reminded of when his avatar had been shot and killed. Then nodded with his eyes squeezed shut, "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. I'm fine. How are the readings?"

"Well, he ripped most of the leads off when he jumped, but the few still on him say he going under nicely. He's not out though, so be careful." Max answered.

Norm wished he could wipe his face, but the mask prevented his hand, which Norm suddenly noticed… wasn't sweating at all. Norm clutched his fingers, "Max, I want to do a brain scan on me asap, I just felt the weirdest feeling." Max didn't answer, but Norm could hear the murmur behind the glass as Max set it up. He also heard a mumble from the other side of the room.

Norm eyes flew to the Stranger again; he was talking to himself in a barely audible voice that was almost, like singing? "So light… in his way… like an apparition, he had me crying out…"

Norm puzzled at the strange words, but the Stranger didn't continue, his head lulled forward and his tail slowly dragged back away from Norm. Norm slowly stood at this, pressing himself against the wall, once again checking his skin over as more doctors slowly filed in after him. There was no sensation, burning or otherwise, but he couldn't shake the memory of the feeling. It was powerful, and he had felt it. He knew he did; but he couldn't believe it. He didn't want to believe it- yet his scientific training told him the reality of what he felt and perceived. His memories and the sensation had to originate from the Stranger somehow, they had to be a product of further chemical contact, perhaps from skin to skin? But that didn't explain the odd, connection, made with eye contact. Eye contact, skin contact, Norm's head was swimming; the implications were beyond his scope and for the first time he felt a real thrill rising in him, but he couldn't tell if it was fear or excitement yet.

"You okay Norm?" It was Max, standing beside him with a worried expression through his Exopack, he had his hand on Norm's shoulder and Norm hadn't felt it.

Norm licked his lips again, "Yeah, I'm good. I'm good." Norm smiled, a lame forced smile, but he knew his team was counting on him and so did Max. "Okay let's, get that anti-venom and, get Jake back on his feet." Norm had to clear his throat his voice was so choked. It was so real, like he woke up in wonderland, everything was terrifying, new and nothing made sense.