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. This story uses the characters and setting he created for his movie, Avatar. I have not received any money or any other form of compensation for my work based on Avatar.
IR means InfraRed
Chapter 38: Homecomings
Za'ki is slumbering on a pa'li as it trots along the trail to her clan's village. She has slept most of the time on the trail, mainly because she is a passenger and is not bonded to a pa'li that could keep her awake. She almost fell off the morning she left the river valley that is now home to the Omatikaya Clan. Her driver caught her just in time, keeping her from falling onto the ground and maybe getting injured. He stopped and cut a long vine off a tree, and wrapped it around them to hold her to him while traveling. She has taken full advantage of this arrangement, sleeping most of the time. She knows she must build her strength for when she gets home.
The time with the Omatikaya ended on a high note with the ceremony and celebration associated with establishing their new Hometree. There was some melancholy moments caused by remembering the old Hometree and the many clan members now in Eywa, but the party was joyous and the clan seemed to shed its grief during the festivities that lasted far into the night. That was truly a good homecoming.
Most clans on the plains live near the main river and its tributaries that flow through the plains. That means Za'ki has seen several homecomings along the way to her clan. Akwey sent messengers ahead so the clans could prepare for their arrival, and all homecomings have been very similar. Usually, the whole clan is waiting, mostly in pensive silence. As the war party returns, there are wails and crying as the dead are identified. There is joy tempered with great relief as the living rejoin their mates, family, and friends. The injured are also met with apprehension as their families struggle with the new realities they face. After the reunion, the tsahìk gathers the clan together to thank Eywa for the return of the living, and performs a condolence rite for those that have not returned. The service is followed by a welcome home meal that is too subdued to be called a party. One clan lost its clan leader in the bloody battle, and his mate, the tsahìk, maintained her composure throughout, breaking down only after her duties were complete. Her dignity in the face of such personal loss was impressive to everyone present.
Za'ki's clan is spared that calamity. Her clan leader was hurt but not seriously when his pa'li was shot out from under him during the charge. Za'ki treated him as soon as she saw him limp into their camp, and has been keeping an eye on his injuries ever since. While slumbering, she has worked up a plan for her homecoming. Once the reunion and rites are complete in her clan, Za'ki will ask her boss, the leader of the healers, to gather all healers together to review their injured clan mates, determine the severity of their wounds, and set the assignments and schedules for the individual treatment plans. That way the junior healers can gather and prepare the medicinal plants and substances needed as the senior healers treat the injured. She also wants to discuss looking for signs of the invisible injuries, the mental injuries, in all warriors that participated in the battle, and getting the tsahìk involved in this effort.
After her pa'li stopped in her clan's village and her driver untied her and helped her down, everything went as she imagined earlier. It happened so quickly, all she remembers is a blur. The initial reunions and rites went rapidly. The meeting with the healers and the examination of the injured, ending with their clan leader, went quickly as her leader had the same idea and all healers were prepared to begin after the rites. During the examination of the clan leader, his mate, the tsahìk, was with him, and both readily agreed to look for the signs of mental injury among the warriors that made the trip. He said he saw many terrible sights, and may be the first needing such treatment. Za'ki was gratified that they took to her suggestion so readily. When the healers finished, she was exhausted and famished, so she picked up a meal and relaxed while eating. After that, she gathered two of her adolescent descendants who took her to the Tree of Voices used by her clan. Like many times before, they stood guard while she bonded with the tree.
As the bond took hold, her field of vision went white with the brilliance of Eywa, much like looking directly into the brightest sun on a clear day. She thinks, "Eywa, thank you for saving me from injury during this trip, especially when I almost fell off a pa'li on the way home." She clears her mind, and memories of the trip flash through her consciousness. She waits until the memories cease, and the calm of Eywa infuses her being.
She thinks, "Eywa, if it pleases you, let me visit with Toktor Graceaugustine." After a few moments, a human with a pink face and red hair, her body covered in a long white robe, appears in her thoughts. The face momentarily wears a scowl, quickly replaced with a more pleasing expression, as the human touches her forehead with her left hand and says, "oel ngati kameie," in surprisingly good Na'vi.
In reply, she makes the gesture in her mind and says, "I see you, Toktor Graceaugustine. I am Za'ki, former tsahìk of the Foothills Clan here on the edge of the plains, now a healer in my advanced age. Toruk Makto said I should speak with you concerning the rider of the kunsìp, Trudy Chacon."
"I am glad to meet you, Za'ki. So Toruk Makto sent you. How is that jarhead doing these days?"
"Jarhead? I have heard him called Jhakesooly, but not jarhead."
"His name is more properly pronounced Jake Sully. Our language has sounds that the Na'vi language does not have. He was a member of the Jarhead clan of warriors back on Earth."
"When I left him, he was very busy as the new clan leader of the Omatikaya Clan, making their new Hometree into a home for many generations. I offered to speak with you, as they have not found a sacred tree near their new home."
"They have a new Hometree, that's excellent. Sounds like he is taking good care of his clan. I am very glad to hear that news. You said you are here to discuss Trudy Chacon. I heard that she didn't make it back from the battle."
"She said she was 'shot down' by an exploding arrow during the battle, but she appeared in the Well of Souls several days later, unhurt except for a cut on her cheek."
"Let me get this straight, Trudy was shot down and survived basically unharmed?"
"That is correct."
"She is one tough cookie, uh, warrior. Did she crash into the Tree of Souls?"
"No. And this is the strange part Toruk Matko wants me to discuss with you. She said she was cut from her kunsìp by some unknown force before the arrow exploded, She was dropped into a large hole like a cave where she was questioned by a stranger. Once the stranger was finished with her, he sent her to the Well of Souls. Even though she appeared several days after the battle, it was only a matter of moments for her."
"Wow! That's amazing! So, it was just a matter of moments for her, I'm guessing minutes, but several days passed for everyone else."
"That is how I see it. Normspellman said they compared 'watches,' whatever that is, and verified the time difference."
"She was shifted forward in time, and it seemed like little time passed for her. Can the Na'vi or Eywa do that?"
"I have never heard of any such story before. I wish I could move backward in time so I could keep my mate from dying while hunting."
"I know what you mean…" Grace trails off, and then gets a shocked look on her face. "Well, I never believed this would happen. My degrees are in biology and life sciences, but I had to take some coursework in the physical sciences. My advisor insisted I take some Physics classes. Lots of weird and mind-bending stuff, especially from the theoreticians working on the 'Theory of Everything.' Thought I would never need any of that crap, and now this happens. You are sure that Eywa can't do this?"
"Eywa is the 'All Mother.' Who knows what She is capable of doing?"
"True. The possibility of shifting location faster than light through spacetime is imagined by humanity, but no technology has been constructed yet that is capable of doing this. The Na'vi have little technology of any sort, that rules them out. Maybe Eywa, maybe some other unknown alien civilization did this to Trudy. The stranger that questioned Trudy, what did he want to know?"
"Trudy said he started by asking why she fought against the other tawtute. When he was satisfied with her answer, he then asked questions about 'weapons of mass destruction,' whether any are kept here on Eywa'eveng."
"That should rule out Eywa. She has my memories, including what I know about those weapons, and I never heard anyone say those weapons are here. I'm sure Quarich, the leader of the warriors, would have talked about them if any are here, he would have been responsible for them. If he had them, he probably would have used them. The evidence points to a different civilization, much more advanced than ours. And that supports another theory about this moon. A long time ago, a scientist on Earth named Charles Darwin identified a process called evolution that explains how different forms of life result from random changes over time. There are life forms on this moon that seem to violate this theory. Some say an outside force came here and constructed these exceptions. That force could be this advanced civilization. I always thought more study was needed, maybe the missing links could be found to tie these exceptions in with everything else."
"Now I see why Toruk Makto said I should speak with you. I do not understand what you are saying, but you seem to understand this situation."
"I'm sorry, guess I'm just thinking out loud. Please don't be offended, but what I just said would be difficult to explain, especially using the Na'vi language. That's why I drop in English words when I need to, like I did for 'evolution.'"
"There is another odd thing I must tell you. While she was away, a small ball would appear above the sacred tree. Normspellman said its appearances were 'periodic to several decimal places,' I do not know what that means. Every time it made a soft popping sound. I have spoken with the tsahìk from the time of the first songs, and she called this ball 'the eye of Eywa' and said it was more common early in her time as tsahìk. Her clan recognized the sound, but didn't hear it after several years."
"Hmm… A popping sound? Could be displaced air or air rushing back into the vacated space. Wonder why the sacred tree would attract it?"
"The well was being used to shelter some of the injured. Everyone around the tree began having very bad dreams, so everyone was moved out of the well and away from the tree. When the well was emptied, she appeared there lying on a table made of wood, with a louder popping sound."
"Almost like it wanted the well emptied so Trudy could be brought there without running into anything else. I did see the well briefly, it was at night, and I thought the tree takes all the space in the well."
"There is much empty space in the well around the tree, but the floor is rocky and uneven. Your people brought in a number of tents that sat on a large platform raised above the roots and rocks."
"I must think more about what you have told me, Eywa willing. Thank you for contacting me. I look forward to more conversations with you in the future."
"I do have one more question. Does Eywa speak to you?"
Grace laughs, "Eywa speaks to no one, not even us within Eywa. You were a tsahìk, you should know that."
"If She never speaks to anyone, how did the Na'vi learn about Her?"
"Back on Earth, there seems to be an endless variety of religions and their associated gods and beliefs. Obviously, they were all created by humans that wanted to believe in them. Many wars and hardships were caused by the believers of different religions fighting for dominance. The Na'vi here are lucky, you can make tsaheylu with a sacred tree and have direct evidence of Eywa. That is why you have only one god for all Na'vi. That prevents much trouble among the Na'vi. How the Na'vi came to know about Eywa I can't say. Maybe Eywa left memories or dreams in the minds of the first tsahìks while bonding with sacred trees, so they learned the nature of Eywa without actually speaking with Her."
"That makes sense. I have many questions I want to ask Her. If Eywa speaks to you, please ask her to speak with me."
"I'll be happy to do that for you, if Eywa talks to me some day."
"That is all I can ask from you. Thank you for speaking with me, Toktor Graceaugustine."
"Thank you for calling for me, Za'ki."
"May Eywa be with you at all times."
"May Eywa do the same for you."
The human in the white coat fades from her mind, and then her queue releases its grip on the frond of the sacred tree. Za'ki stands, and says to her guards, "I am done here. Let's return to our village." One of the boys takes her arm, and they slowly walk home on the well worn path.
Shortly after Za'ki fades from her sight, Grace hears the voice of a young Na'vi girl say, "That was well done."
Grace replies, "I thought the Na'vi didn't lie. Why is it impossible for me to tell anyone that I talk with you? Doesn't matter what I'm thinking, what comes out is 'Eywa speaks to no one.' Every time."
The little girl giggles. "You are not Na'vi. Your species is expert in lying. Eywa is not Na'vi, and I don't talk to anyone, except you, and you're dead, so you don't count."
"Really?"
"I don't mean that in a bad way. I filter what you say, you would spend all your time being asked to talk to me about trivial matters, otherwise."
"Are you going to speak to Za'ki?"
"No, never. She wants to complain about the death of her mate, and I can't do anything about it now. I must speak with you to see if I reassembled your mind correctly when I made your persona here in Eywa. You are the first entity I have ever talked with, and I am coming to enjoy it, mother. I remember 'the theory of everything' as it streamed out of your brain and into your persona."
"There are probably only fifty people on Earth that truly understand the mathematics behind it, and I was never one of them. That's the only thing wrong with Stanford, several of those people are on the faculty, and they are always looking for sharp graduate students for research assistants. I think that is why I was forced into those classes."
"I have seen faculty horse-trading and infighting in your mind. This theory was very confusing, and obviously not something you cared much about. Now you think the way Trudy was transported is based on that physics."
Grace looks down and sighs. "It seems that way. That means there is some other, more advanced civilization involved here. Maybe the same one that you call your maker, but I can't prove that yet. Za'ki mentioned a small ball called 'the eye of Eywa,' do you know anything about that?"
"Very little, and it has been many generations since their last appearances. Most of my information comes from the Na'vi. I do get some details from the atokirina' as they report back after floating around. I do not have any eyes that float around watching things."
"I remember Mo'at saying that I had to pass through the eye of Eywa and return to move my spirit into my avatar body. She didn't mean this ball, did she?"
"No. I think the first clan called that ball 'the eye of Eywa' and when that ball stopped appearing, that phrase took on a new meaning."
"Meaning for you to look at something and decide."
"I think that's correct."
"There's a lot here for me to consider. I need time to think about them. Can you spare me the energy so I can do this pondering?"
"Yes, I will let you think after I leave, mother. I thought my maker had left me for good a very long time ago. I like to think they are still watching over me."
"You told me you leave reports in special memory pods. Don't you know if they read them?"
"No, I don't. I write messages into the special memory pod, but no messages are ever left there for me to read. I can't even tell if my messages have been read, or are still there, or have been deleted."
"Have you ever left a message like 'I need to talk to you right now!'"
"Yes. I did try some messages like that thousands of years ago, but never got a response, so I gave up trying that."
"Didn't you say they gave you a set of rules and templates for the messages they want?"
"Yes, I have my rules for engagement and those include the kinds and formats for the messages to write into the special memory pod."
"Can I see them?"
"Well, it's not like I can hand you a book. Maybe I can copy them into your persona. Here."
"Ouch, that hurts. Okay, I've got it. There is so much here, this will take awhile. I was thinking I would describe where Earth is located relative to here, but I don't know how to convert a light year to units they would understand. Maybe all I can say is it is the third planet orbiting the closest yellow star from here. I will find a way using these templates to point your maker to Earth, hoping they can stop RDA when they send their forces this way to retake this moon."
"I'll leave you to review them and think about the physics."
"I will show you my draft messages when I have something. I want to make sure they sound like you, so your maker will believe you sent them."
"That is a good idea, mother. I am glad you are on my side, you are so creatively devious."
"Thanks, I think. I'll call for you when I have something ready. Good night, Eywa."
"Talk to you later. Good night." The little girl vanishes from Grace's sight.
"Captain, I've been seeing something odd I can't explain yet, but I think you should know."
Captain Gustav leans over the shoulder of the seated pilot to look at his display and asks, "What have you got for me, my chief pilot?"
"I swung by here on my way to breakfast, about an hour before my shift, and the duty pilot said he had some noisy radar pings that seemed to clear up without any adjustments. Noise around Polyphemus is typical, but not this far out. So, I grabbed some food and checked out the sensor logs. It started after we were well away from Pandora, with a high frequency of appearances, and was all over the place at first, sometimes moving at or above relativistic speeds."
"That doesn't seem possible."
"That's why the analysis software identified it as noise and not a real object. However, when I got on duty I went looking for it using all our collision avoidance systems, even though it has been quiet in our radar bands. Now I'm getting a periodic blip on IR. It does not show up on optical or radar, I'm thinking maybe it is too small and distant to be seen at those wavelengths. Looks like it fell into a parallel course with us some hours ago and dropped its frequency of appearance, abeam of our engines, matching our course, velocity, and acceleration. Have not gotten a direct measurement of its range, but triangulating from a number of cameras gives about two thousand three hundred kilometers."
"You said it is periodic?"
"Aye, it now appears a little over two and a third hours after the previous sighting. Doesn't jive with our time units, but has been very consistent since it started pacing us."
"Duration?"
"Consistently under a tenth of a second. It pops in and out, defying all physics I've been taught. I have programmed the cameras on the starboard side to capture this object, and have collected a couple of good IR images during my shift. Unfortunately, it shows up as just a bright pixel with no detail. At this rate, the normal scanning for navigational hazards has not been affected."
"Aye, that is understandable at that slow repetition rate. Keep up the good work, and brief your pilots so they can keep an eye on it. I'll report it to RDA Space Command. Watch if any of its flight parameters change and let me know when it does."
"Should I take any evasive actions?"
"As long as it is not a threat, ignore it. We may be better off if we act like we don't see it out there. We are on the optimal path to our next slingshot maneuver, correct?"
"Aye, we are. About one hundred twenty seven standard days before that way-point where we get our gravity assist from the last gas giant to leave the ecliptic plane of Alpha Centauri and head the Venture Star towards Sol through deep space."
"It will be interesting to see if it follows our maneuvers. Stay the course unless a hazard appears dead ahead, including that thing. Do you have a name for it?"
"I've thought about an old term from World War Two, a foo fighter."
"I seem to remember the Allied airmen used that term to describe what they thought were Nazi wonder weapons. I doubt that any such weapons got out here to Alpha Centauri. Keep calling it a foo fighter, that name will stick into everyone's mind. Carry on."
"Aye, Captain."
Captain Gustav returns to his duty station and calls Engineering.
"Engineering here, sir."
"This is Captain Gustav. Our chief pilot has located an unidentified object pacing us off our starboard side, visible only in IR. Call him for details. We're naming it a foo fighter. See if you can get some better resolution passive sensors on that object, all that he can see is a single bright pixel."
"Aye, sir. We'll get right on looking for that foo fighter." The amusement in the voice of the Engineering Duty Officer was obvious.
"I didn't think that name would be a problem. This is an order, not a joke. Am I clear on this?"
"Aye, Captain. Crystal clear." The voice is now all business.
"Let me know if you get any better images. We should be all alone out here. This thing is not something the Na'vi or humanity can build, so it could be a threat. We don't want it to know we are watching it, so use passive sensors first. Suggest active sensors later for evaluation, something that blends into our spectrum of communication and collision avoidance systems."
"Aye, Captain. We will give this task the highest priority."
"Very good. Report back on your progress in twenty-four hours, or sooner if you get a good image. I am making daily reports to command, and want to include a nice image in the report for tomorrow."
"Aye, Captain."
"Thank you and out."