Pandora: The Final Solution

I gratefully acknowledge one of the foremost creative geniuses of our times, James Cameron, for conceiving the lush moon Pandora and the "noble savages," the Na'vi, that inhabit it. I have not received any money for my work based on Avatar. If I could get paid by the hour for these stories, I would retire and spend all my time dancing and writing in comfort.

This chapter contains all original characters and situations, set on Earth immediately after the end of the movie. It is the obvious approach to dealing with the Pandoran uprising, with less than obvious consequences.

NTE means Not To Exceed

RFP means Request For Proposal

ROM means Rough Order of Magnitude (a type of cost estimate)

Chapter 32: RDA Earthside

Resource Development Administration, Inc.

Corporate Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RDA, Inc., Galactic Headquarters, New York City, August 27, 2154

The Resource Development Administration (NYSE: RDA) is announcing a temporary suspension of its unobtainium mining operations on Pandora until further notice. Captain Pieter Gustav, commander of the Interstellar Vehicle (ISV) Venture Star, has notified RDA via emergency channels that most humans have been evacuated from the surface, many with injuries. The ISV Venture Star is now in a critically overloaded condition, and all efforts are being made by RDA to resolve the associated issues to maximize the number of personnel that can be returned safely to Earth.

Chairman Singh, addressing the RDA board during its regularly scheduled meeting this week, said, "Our hearts and prayers go out to the RDA personnel on board the Venture Star and on Pandora, and their families and friends back here on Earth and its environs. Because of the low data rates and long latency times typical of Faster Than Light (FTL) communications, details are sketchy at this time. Neither the Venture Star nor the RDA Space Operations Center in New Mexico have been able to raise the Command Center on Pandora. Reports from the evacuated survivors agree that at least one Valkyrie shuttle from the Venture Star and numerous other aircraft on Pandora have been destroyed. I refuse to speculate on what has happened, the loss of life, or the extent of damages to the facilities and other RDA assets on Pandora, until a better understanding of this incident is determined. Rest assured that the entire RDA organization is being mobilized to respond to this emergency and investigate this incident."

"Although unobtainium mining and refining operations are on hold for now, I anticipate that the effects of this suspension will not impact Earth for over six years. There are five other ISVs in transit home with full and well documented loads of unobtainium. The Venture Star likely has a substantial load, now estimated at eighty per cent (80%) of nominal, that will be documented before it breaks orbit. There will be a disruption in the unobtainium supply after it returns, of unknown duration. A full and complete investigation of this incident must be completed, and special supply trips made to the Alpha Centuari system to resume production on Pandora and locate other celestial bodies in that system that contain more deposits of unobtainium. RDA management believes there should be little impact to revenues and profitability in the short term, and therefore the previously announced guidance for this fiscal year stands until further notice. I expect that the guidance for out years may be revised to reflect the changing economic and political environments along with the findings of the investigations into this affair and the costs of ameliorating them."

"Also affected are the planned facilities expansions to handle tourism on Pandora. These efforts will be under review until the situation on Pandora stabilizes. The construction materials and furnishings, along with the necessary construction personnel, are in route now. At this time, we cannot project whether existing plans can or should be executed. If not, it is likely that those tourists now en route will be returned as soon as possible, with refunds as defined in their contracts. Out-year guidance will be revised accordingly to reflect the estimated financial impact of the tourism business, depending on whether it is successfully established, delayed, or abandoned."

"I am also announcing the delay of my retirement to my home and personal interests in Kalistan, the museum and university, until a plan of action has been developed to respond to this emergency. Some organizational changes are being made to facilitate this process, starting with the appointment of John Winston, formerly President of the Interstellar Operations, Communications, and Remote Sensing Technologies Enterprise in New Mexico, to Executive Vice President here in New York to lead this team effort. More organizational changes will be announced as they are finalized."

This announcement has forward looking statements that are accurate as of the release date noted above, but are subject to change without notice. Statements that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that reflect RDA's management's current expectations, assumptions, and estimates of future performance and economic conditions; words such as "may," "will," "should," "likely," "guidance," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," and similar expressions are used to identify forward-looking statements. The full text of the necessary legal disclaimers attached to this announcement are available on the RDA web site under Corporate Communications. Additional details and clarifications will be released as more information becomes available. Legal inquiries and lawsuits must be directed to RDA Corporate Legal Counsel at the RDA Galactic Headquarters in New York City, NY, USA.

Jerry walks into the dilapidated diner on Route 70 and plops down on a seat at the bar.

Bob is standing at his griddle, tending a number of meals cooking at once. "Hello, Jerry. Want the usual?"

"Sounds great. It's been one helluva morning, I need comfort food."

"Coming right up. Maggie is getting a fresh pot of coffee now. She'll be right out."

"Good. I could use a cup of liquid brain about now."

Bob slips his vibrating phone out of pocket, whispers, "That's him, bar seat 4," and drops it back in his pocket.

Maggie breezes out, sets down a cup and saucer with one hand, and fills the cup in one smooth motion with the other. "Here you go, sweetie. Enjoy!"

Jerry replies, "You're too good to me, Maggie." He picks up the steaming cup and blows on it.

Bob says, "Saw your boss on TV last night, he's a very impressive specimen, with the turban and sword. He's big enough for any football position, and he'd own the lanes on any basketball court."

Jerry answers, "Yeah, he's a huge guy. Always towers over everyone, including his own security detail. He's making the talk show rounds, even though he hates doing them. He wants to talk about his new museum and university in Kalistan, but gets bombarded constantly about the Pandora situation."

"He may be the richest human ever, but I don't want to change places with him."

"Me neither. The money would be great, but not the troubles."

"I want him to pull out that antique sword he carries and gut some of those commentators the way he dispatched those robbers."

"He's very sharp and very cool. He won't do that. But there are millions of viewers that are rooting for him to use that sword on camera. Everywhere he goes, he has reporters and paparazzi harassing him, and protesters screaming insults at him. He has unbelievable restraint."

"Most commentators are giving him a really hard time. Everybody's blaming RDA for the current financial panic."

"I know, but that's wrong. There are six years of unobtainium in transit now. The Chairman keeps saying that, and it's true, but no one believes him."

"You believe him?"

"Of course, and everyone that works in RDA space operations here knows it's true. There's six ISVs on their return trips from Pandora loaded with unobtainium. Lots of people working here are responsible for getting those ships home safely. No one wants to lose a ship, especially after the disaster on Pandora."

"So, I should buy up RDA stock now while its cheap?"

"Don't ask me about RDA stock. We're not allowed to make recommendations about it one way or another. Besides, Bob, you don't strike me as a stock trader."

"Yeah, if I want to gamble, I'll go to Vegas. Besides, the women there are much finer."

Maggie pipes up, "Boss, now you're getting personal."

They all laugh. Bob replies, "I can't have you serving in the nude. I'd be shut down in a minute, and I don't want you burning something sensitive."

"You better watch out, some of my regulars are lawyers."

They all laugh again. Bob sets a piping hot plate down in front of Jerry. "Here you go. So, I heard the head guy here moved to New York."

As Jerry is cutting up his meal, he laughs. "Mister Winston went to Manhattan, and here I sit, eating a Manhattan. Better him than me. Don't think I could stand those Corporate blood-suckers all day, every day. And I'd miss eating here."

"So, if he moved on, that should let some others move up."

"Yeah, I'm one of those lucky ones that moved up, but now I'm doing things about as exciting as watching paint dry. Spent the whole morning looking at financial spreadsheets, that's why I'm here."

"Surprised you haven't gotten sucked into the Pandora response."

"All in good time. They want to turn me into a zombie first." Jerry laughs again, and then gets serious. "The folks at Corporate are trying to figure how to respond. Once they settle on a plan of action, they'll get us involved to implement the plan. Until then, we just keep everything flying and the money flowing in. We have to keep RDA running while they focus on getting unobtainium production back online again."

"Think RDA will go back to Pandora again?"

"No doubt! Forget the unobtainium, there's still humans left on Pandora. Gotta pick up those wanting to come home."

"Guess I forgot about them."

"Join the crowd. Most of the humans there want to return, just didn't have room on the Venture Star for them. We're still figuring out how to get them back, because the rest of the ISVs heading there don't have much room to spare, especially since we don't know yet if anyone can be dropped off.

"That sounds tough for everyone."

"Yeah, I'm just hoping for no other disasters out there."

"No news is good news."

"Amen. Boring is good. We're in the calm before the storm as it is."

"Just keep coming back, and we'll do what we can to help you get through it."

"I appreciate what you do to keep me happy. Can't go home to eat, my teenagers keep the pantry and fridge bare. Your food is always delicious, beats the cafeteria. I'm glad to have a spot nearby where I can get away for a break."

"And we're glad to have you. I gotta get back to it now, so enjoy."

"Me, too. The spreadsheets and slides are waiting so I can pitch them tomorrow morning. Thanks, Bob."

As Bob turns back to his griddle, his phone vibrates. He flips some food over with one hand, and pulls his phone out with the other. He listens, and answers, "Thanks, boss. Later." He drops the phone into his pocket and starts plating more meals.

The elevator doors are barely open when he hears a female voice say, "Good morning, Doctor Mendeleev. Mister Winston is ready for you now." The security desk in the executive lobby at ground level must have notified her when he cleared their screening. The administrative assistant is holding a door open opposite the elevator. He smiles at her and says, "Good morning."

As he walks towards her, she asks, "Would you like your usual coffee?"

"Why, yes, that would be very nice."

"I'll bring it to you when it is ready."

"Thank you." He walks through the doorway. She closes the door behind him. From its thickness and latching sounds, it must be a blast-proof door. He is standing in a tastefully decorated blast-resistant security scanner derisively called a man-trap. "Wonder which surface can blow out? Probably the floor since the Chairman's office is one floor up." Once the door behind him stops making noises, the door in front of him starts making similar sounds to unlock and open. As he exits the vestibule through the thick door that slows to a halt, he hears a familiar voice, "Doctor Dmitri, come on in."

He steps into the office and stops dead in his tracks. "JW, this is the most stunning office I have ever seen."

"Yeah, it's beyond beautiful. My first trip here after the Chairman dropped in on us, my agenda had this weird one word entry, "Facilities." Turns out RDA has a contract with a local design firm that does executive offices. The Chairman himself set the budget, and he was very generous. Of course, the designer spent every penny to make this. He flew to New Mexico to see my office there, and packed up my personal items for shipping to his shop. He designed this office around them. I even have my own break room and full bathroom through a hidden doorway. I'm embarrassed by this showpiece, it's way too much for me, and I think the other executives here are insanely jealous because of it."

"Enjoy it while you can. Found a place to stay yet?"

"No, we're still in the hotel. That's my wife's department, and she's in her glory, even though she won't admit it. With the current panic, there's a lot more choices, and I think she's looking at every one of them. I'd be happy with the RDA residential towers, but she's not satisfied with the sizes or views."

"They have great security, and you can walk to work."

"Yeah, but the views are awful, just the towers across the street."

"You should rate a place near the top in the Chaiman's tower, that's high enough to see over most neighboring buildings."

"That tower sways most of the time, makes her seasick. She wants to be closer to the ground. She found a nice place near Central Park, but if the city decides to put more domes over the park to restore more greenery, that place will lose its nice views. There are some waterfront places I like, but she thinks they're too drab."

"Good luck, that sounds pretty tough. So where do we sit? This office has so many chairs and sofas."

"This way to my favorite place." JW opens another door in the wall opposite the floor to ceiling windows overlooking New York City, and waves Dmitri into it. They walk through a short tunnel filled with a hissing sound to another door, JW closing both doors behind them. "I hate that sound, it's a security system to mask voices." They emerge into a windowless room, the centerpiece of which is a conference table made with Pandoran wood, hermetically sealed in a thick, clear plastic coating. The walls are covered with huge, beautifully made images of RDA's facilities in space and on asteroids. Hell's Gate is conspicuous by its absence, but its ugliness would detract from the ambiance.

"You got another Pandoran conference table?"

"I told the Chairman I liked looking in on the marquetry artists in New Mexico to see what they were creating. One of my daughters is a budding artist, and I introduced her to that crew, and she even interns with them when they're in crunch mode. I also told him that the only thing I would miss by coming here was that table in my old office, now your office. This conference room was complete, including this table, when he visited, and he changed the floor plan around it to tie it into my office. The design is rather ironic. Do you see it?"

"Looks like a thanator and a great leonopteryx in the center, surrounded by a botanic motif."

"Very good. I think the artists meant the top predators on the ground and in the air stalking each other. We don't even know if one ever attacks the other. If you believe the reports from Pandora, they are the mounts used by the ruling couple to kick us out."

"He's relying on you to fix this problem with the Na'vi."

"He's relying on us. Our offices may be over a thousand miles apart, but we're still a team, ever since you hired me all those years ago. I'll never forget."

"You did turn out better than I could have hoped." They both laugh.

"I'll get you moved to Corporate, as soon as it makes sense, so we can work together again. I miss bouncing ideas off you. There's too many sharks in this tank to have decent discussions."

"I'd like that. So, what's wrong with talking in your office?"

"My office is for show, only. It's not secure enough. The outside windows are nice, but they can't stop spy drones or other kinds of eavesdropping. I assume everything said in there is being recorded by someone outside of RDA. This room is the only secure place I have, so I spend a lot of time in here. What do you have for me, that cannot be trusted to the secure network?"

"I sent you the designs for the expanded cryo holds for the military force solutions, all human, all avatar, and several combinations based on the scenarios developed by SecOps."

JW pushes a hidden button below his keyboard and the lights dim as the pictures disappear and a wall-sized screen comes to life. He unlocks his computer and brings up the drawings that fill the huge screen. "I saw them, and the estimates for each. Did you inflate the estimates, or are these the Engineering estimates?"

"They are the Engineering estimates, after I encouraged them to rethink the numbers to make them more realistic. I insisted on NTE ROMs." They both smile.

"Good job, that should keep them honest, stop them from second guessing us. What makes them so high?"

"It's the usual conundrum of shielding. The proven static design of water in plastic bladders held by ceramic tanks and covered in the usual passive shielding sandwich has been expanded to match the new cargo and SecOps force requirements. The superstructure had to be reworked to handle the increased load. That means more size and weight, mass really, and that takes more power, so bigger engines and larger fuel tanks and anti-matter cells are needed, and that's more size and mass again. The usual rocket problem, upping the payload ups the rocket. We have our internal engineering group working up one set of numbers, and have contracted with four consortia of space hardware contractors and universities with top research groups working up independent designs and estimates. The five sets of numbers are summarized in the slides, and are close enough that all seem reasonable."

"The consortia are the usual politically necessary ones?"

"Yes, four are really too many, but politics demands that we have one each in China, Russia, Europe, and the US."

"We can't play favorites, can we?"

"No, but the winning outside design will get a bonus and lots of publicity. The final design will be put together by our team in New Mexico. They will synthesize the best ideas from all five designs. Fabrication will be done at the L2 facility using materials mined from our operations throughout this solar system. Many specialized systems will be contracted out, as we normally do, so lots of work will be spread over the Earth, centered on the four consortia. It's damned expensive to lift those systems out to L2, but that can't be helped."

"So, what's the critical part that must be hidden?"

"The design of the superstructure. When it was scaled up, it developed some shock and vibration issues. Since our ISVs are pullers and not pushers, the spine is surprisingly flexible and conducts energy from the engines throughout the rest of the ship. The superstructure picks up that energy, and must be designed to dissipate it without fatiguing, and eventually breaking apart. The new designs all work as needed, and just happen to include rail guns."

"Really, I didn't see that."

"That's the big secret. A completely redesigned active shielding system has been built into the new superstructure. You've heard the jokes over the years about raising shields on the ISVs. We've had that technology for a long time, usually replaced during turn-around refurbishment to get the best shields for the next flight. When I saw the preliminary drawings of the new superstructure, I told them to add the active shielding conduits and reanalyze the whole thing. The conduits double as the antennas to radiate the protection field. Took some iterations, but ended up with parallel conduits the whole length. Someone figured out that the active shielding could be extended forward in either flight direction and using the conduits as rails to reposition the field generators from end to end. Halved the weight by using only one movable unit to cover the forward direction, whichever way that might be for boosting or braking. Didn't take much to design the generators to get them out of the way on their end points so the conduits are free of obstructions. Justified it to increase shield power and simplify the Valkyrie flight paths to the mooring masts. That makes the rail gun available at all times except when repositioning the forward generators while flipping the ship."

"No one has caught on to that yet, have they?"

"No, and the funny part is that the power units for the rail guns on the Moon are the basis of the power units for these new field generators. Reusing technology to save costs. Just needed some bypass switches to switch between uses, and the maint bots can use the conduits for power and recharging when the shields aren't in use."

"Let me guess, the rail gun hides in maintenance mode."

"That's right, just put the shields in maintenance mode, drop a payload sled on the conduits, override the failsafe controls, and turn on the power to launch."

"What about the other designs from the consortia?"

"All new designs, including the zero SecOps options, use this new superstructure, so the rail guns are on each new ship. All in the name of systems commonality to minimize design, construction, sparing, and training costs."

"Very devious. I'm impressed, Dmitri."

"Thank you, JW. Just remember that at performance review time." They laugh.

"I think I'll forget to mention the rail guns in my review." Once again, they both laugh.

A chime sounds, and the assistant's voice is heard, "Mister Winston, I have coffee for both of you."

JW answers, "Thanks, that's great." He reaches under his keyboard and pushes more hidden buttons. The wall-sized screen blanks, the lights come up, and another door opens, allowing the assistant to walk in. She hands coffee mugs emblazoned with RDA logos to each man, and sets a matching insulated pot on a side board adjacent to a bowl holding an impressive variety of sweeteners, creamers, and other flavorings. She turns and quickly leaves, closing the door behind her.

"Let's run through the rest of the designs and estimates, so I can discuss them with the board. They want some idea of the costs as soon as possible, so they can plan on how to pay for this expedition." JW pushes the hidden button and the screen reappears as the lights dim.

"Danny, come on in, I need to talk to someone."

"Jerry, I made an appointment with your admin to discuss funding for the RFPs for the new ISVs."

"Yeah, that's good. I'm in need of human interaction, these spreadsheets are making my eyes bleed. I saw your write-up for funding for legal help with a new proposal volume. It has a huge cost, and definitely will be on the chopping block. The corporate bloodsuckers don't like anything new unless it comes from the Chairman."

"That's why I'm here."

"I need to understand what's this about. I'm no lawyer."

"Me neither, but I'm learning. Over the years, the case laws of the Big Four governments have gotten more similar, but intellectual property rights are still murky. The RDA Legal department has a ton of suits going continually to sort out ownership issues with the systems we buy. They keep working on the wording of our contracts to deflect most of it, but we keep getting surprises that suck us in and cost us money. My request is to try a new approach, where we make the bidders tell us the ownership of what they are proposing and what issues they have, what licenses, patents, trade secrets, et cetera, are in play, so we can evaluate the potential legal exposure of each proposal."

"That works?"

"Other organizations have tried, with varying success. My group needs this funding to make a solid attempt, because the costs are so great, the exposure will also be great. And legal help like we need is very expensive, but the total costs are much less than the litigation costs."

"Those are good words, let me write them down."

"I'm willing to attend the budget meetings with you to explain it."

"Thanks, I'll ask if you can come with me when this part of the budget gets reviewed. What I'm finding out is that they discuss this stuff and make up their own targets before the meetings, and then they fight me to keep from changing their numbers. And since I'm the new guy, they pretty much question everything. I've been holding my own, for the most part, but having you there would really help, because it's clear to me that they will cut out your request without a really good argument."

"Yeah, they continually pressure us to cut costs, so I hear their arguments all the time. They always want us to have good relationships with our suppliers, but they don't want to pay the price to keep them happy."

"I know what you mean." They both laugh.

"I should congratulate you for getting the number two slot. Rumor has it the Chairman recommended you."

"Thanks. He didn't tell me that, but I've heard the rumors, too."

"That puts you on track to become president here. You know, it's just a matter of time until JW pulls Dmitri out of here."

"Yeah, but that depends on how the Pandora investigation and response plays out. We all could be on the chopping block if things go south."

"I think you and I are in good shape, regardless. If things do go bad, we just go back to where we were with JW, and some new faces appear in his and Dmitri's old offices. But, I don't think things will go bad with those two. They worked hard to get to the top spots here, they'll do the same at Corporate."

"Especially since the Chairman hand-picked them, guess I can't bet against them."

"So, you will need help to take the number one spot someday, and I'm happy to help you along the way. We have very different experiences, but together cover everything necessary."

"Hmm, you're right. I've been doing space operations from day one, and this administrivia is foreign to me."

"And I've been doing purchasing and other financial work all along, and haven't had much exposure to the space operations that make them necessary."

"Once the board agrees on a response, our direction will be set for some time. But, the president will have to develop the strategy on what to do after that, when the unobtainium starts flowing again. Can you help with that?"

"Sure thing. That's down the road a bit, but it never hurts to think ahead."

"And it seems you're doing that now. Good. Help me understand this request of yours."