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.
Authors Note: I apologize for the far too long delay since the last update. If you wish to skip this note, jump down to the bolded chapter title below.
I have a love/hate relationship with the Avatar movies. Before the first movie, I injured my back while on vacation, and made it worse by flying home and then flying out for a business trip. I had back surgery as soon as I could get it arranged, and by the time I could sit again, the movie was long gone. I saw it after a wait of about a year on HBO, and later on DVD. I loved that movie, even though the plot was routine (see Fern Gully or Dances with Wolves). For the second movie, you guessed it. My rather fragile health started going downhill after Thanksgiving. I ended up in the hospital for another surgery after the first of this year. By the time I could get out again, the movie was long gone. After a shorter wait, I saw it on Disney+. Hope an Expanded Collectors Edition becomes available someday. Needless to say, I'm not looking forward to the third movie…
During my convalescence, I went surfing through other fan fiction web sites, and discovered the wonderful works by Xenobia. I think her series on Avatar is the best, most engaging, and well crafted Avatar fan fiction ever, if not the longest at almost one million words. It started on this web site, and I remember reading it when it first came out. Unfortunately, she ran out of steam during the build up to the finale. Many people urged her to complete it, but she was done. Someone posted reviews on all her works that threatened to harm her if she did not finish the story. She was so upset, she deleted everything from this site. Eventually, she put this series up on Archive of Our Own, along with an explanation of what caused her to remove it here. Highly recommended, but beware of the adult content that really was not appropriate for this site.
I reread it again, all one million words of it, and that got me thinking. Maybe I should get back to finishing my story. I lost my motivation years ago when the reviews and hits stopped coming. I even tried to provoke reviews by adding a bomb to one chapter. That generated only one review that was too cryptic for me to understand. Recently, a guest reviewer added two lengthy reviews praising my story. A million thanks, (10^6 thanks, in geek speak), I really appreciated it. Reviews Matter! All positive reviews, especially those with constructive criticism, are welcomed. These reviews and Xenobia's unfinished story prompted me to take up writing again. Enjoy!
ASAP means As Soon As Possible
CFO means Chief Financial Officer
CM means Configuration Management
ET means Extra Terrestrial
HR means Human Resources
ISV means Inter-Stellar Vehicle
L2 means Lagrange (Point) 2 at 1.5 gigameters directly behind Earth from the Sun
M&A means Mergers and Acquisitions
PANsat means Pandora Satellite (combined remote sensing, location, and communications functions on each orbital platform that work together in one constellation around Pandora)
PhD means Doctor of Philosophy
QA means Quality Assurance
RDA means Resource Development Administration
UFO means Unidentified Flying Object
XO means eXecutive Officer (usually second in command)
Chapter 39: RDA Changes Direction
The soft chime of the muted proximity alert sounds for the umpteenth time. The chief pilot says, "Captain, we have a dense dust cloud right where we wanted."
Captain Pieter Gustav walks up behind the pilot's station to look over the pilot's shoulder at the screen and says, "Finally! Now we see how smart this foo fighter really is. How much of a course correction is needed?"
"Only a small one, nothing beyond routine. Since we intersected the path of a dirty comet, we've been collecting more particles than normal, but nothing that requires a major course correction. This cloud is much denser. We could fly through it, but by going around, the foo fighter must fly through it."
"And we'll see if it does. Will we need another correction after we pass the cloud?"
"Aye, Captain. That will get us back on the optimal path for the slingshot maneuver to get the Venture Star pointed towards Sol and home."
"Very good. Proceed with the course corrections. Keep our eyes on our traveling companion, but passive sensors only. We don't want to tip our hand."
"Aye, Captain."
"Alert the crew."
The chief pilot hits a button on his console. "Attention, all hands. A small course correction to evade a dust cloud will commence in three minutes. Prepare your stations. Call the pilot if more time is needed. A countdown will be broadcast to initiate the maneuver."
"Keep up the good work, my chief pilot. Carry on."
The vice presidents, some with "executive" or "chief" in their titles, were milling around the refreshments table in the anteroom of the Presidential suite. All are holding drinks and softly speaking among themselves, trying to divine the purpose of this hastily called staff meeting. The Senior Executive Administration Assistant to the President walks out the door to the boardroom, the largest room in the Presidential suite, holding a pad in an orange case. A collective groan goes up from the waiting executives, who begin patting their suit pockets for phones and taking off their smart watches and body monitors. Soon, three armed security guards in uniform walk into the vestibule from the boardroom, one pushing a cart with security sweeping equipment. The commander unlocks a door to a storage closet and opens it. The other guards pull out a full-body security scanning booth and a huge metal cabinet holding many numbered lock boxes, each having a key with a large orange fob emblazoned with a matching number and bar code. Once the lock box cart is in place, the executives begin securing their personal electronic devices and notebooks.
The guard commander speaks up in a loud, commanding voice. "This classified meeting is about to commence. All papers and devices must be locked up except those RDA approved devices and notebooks in orange cases. All attendees must appear on the attendance list, hand over your badge and approved items for inspection, have your orange box keys registered, and be scanned for devices before entering. If you need to take notes during the meeting, approved notebooks and cover sheets are available, just ask. If you need to use the restrooms, do so now before entering the line. Thank you for your attention and understanding." The executives line up in single file facing the aide with the clipboard, and the guards herd them through the security check process and into the boardroom.
Doctor Dmitri is sitting alone at the head of the large conference table made of Pandoran wood embedded in a thick, clear plastic coating. He is using an orange keyboard to display a screen full of dense text on a large wall screen bordered in orange, his notes from his latest trip to RDA headquarters in New York City. He looks up towards the doorway and says, "Come in, come in, take a seat. We'll start as soon as everyone is settled."
As the executives take their seats around the impressive table, Doctor Dmitri scans over his notes one last time. Once everyone is seated, and the door is closed, he begins. "This meeting is set at RDA Most Secret, as you know by the security screening outside. Thank you for coming on such short notice. I don't like unscheduled meetings myself, and avoid calling them if I can. However, I just got back from New York City less than an hour ago, and wanted to pass on what transpired, to get you geared up for the onslaught of new work that resulted from numerous discussions." He pauses and looks around the room and sees all faces looking on with anticipation and some with a touch of dread. "The meetings went well, spoke with the Chairman, the board members leading the Pandoran response efforts, and of course John Winston and those working with him there. Everything I'm about to say is at least RDA Secret, and should not leave this room, except, of course, what you need to work with as you pass assignments down to your reports. Some of it is RDA Most Secret, and I'll point out those topics throughout the meeting. I know the security precautions are difficult, but we have to get back to a more disciplined approach, as scrutiny from Corporate Security is being ratcheted up. This first item is RDA Most Secret. As you all probably know, there has been a UFO office in our space operations, think it is named the Unidentified Spatial Phenomena office, from the very start of RDA. Mister Winston and I have tried to kill it many times, as a cost savings action, but have always been overruled by Corporate. The compliance folks in Legal insist we keep it viable per external laws, but have always refused to fund it from their budget. Just found out the Chairman has a personal interest in that office and looks at everything they release. Now he insists on getting all raw videos and all unpublished reports upon receipt from the Venture Star. I didn't know they had their very own UFO, they named a foo fighter, pacing them. This fact is RDA Most Secret. Captain Gustav is sending daily reports about it, and these reports already have very tight access restrictions. So, Jerry, here are three action items for you. Number three in priority, call a meeting with the heads of that office and Security. Have it in this room, it's the most secure room in this complex, at the Most Secret level. Need at least one cleared person, more is better, to take on tracking the details of this foo fighter from the Venture Star, correlating with anything similar in the past, keeping the Chairman happy by keeping him in the loop, and to contact Captain Gustav directly via the priority FTL channel and assisting him however possible from this distance. The most important point for this action item is keeping this fact under wraps, absolutely no leaks. I have already emailed the head of Security about this on the secure network, she's expecting your secure call. Number two in priority, get someone who is cleared in comms to automatically route the foo fighter intel from the Venture Star directly to the Chairman through a new secure channel. Our head of security will talk to the Corporate head of security to work out the best way and getting the network implemented. Once again, absolutely no leaks. The highest priority call you must make, right after this meeting, is to you wife, to clear your schedules. You two are expected in Corporate next week to attend the board meeting where the Chairman will publicly announce your appointment as the new president of this organization. Contact the travel office at Corporate and they will help you with arrangements. Congratulations, Jerry." Doctor Dmitri starts clapping, and soon everyone in the room is politely clapping and looking happy for Jerry. No one makes it to this level in RDA without developing a strong facade of false facial expressions.
The only person who is genuinely happy is Danny, who pats Jerry on the back and says, "Well done!," as Jerry sits looking rather stunned.
Doctor Dmitri continues, "Officially, I am accepting a new position in Corporate. I travel light, so I don't have much to clean up here. I have my favorite desk and chair in storage to move into my temporary secure office, and we'll share this conference room when I'm here. I am becoming a full-time member of Mister Winston's group but I'll come here as necessary to fulfill my mission. Jerry, you can move into this presidential suite as soon as my secure office is functional. You have impressed the folks at Corporate, and this is very difficult to do. Keep up the good work, and someday Corporate will come calling."
Jerry regains his composure and looks to Doctor Dmitri, saying, "Thank you for your help, getting me ready for this position." He looks around the table and says, "I look forward to continuing to work with all of you in the future, as we have in the past." Looking back to Doctor Dimitri, Jerry asks, "How has your role changed?"
Doctor Dmitri smiles, "Now that I am no longer President, I am tasked with bringing on two new experts to help me plan and implement the Pandoran campaign, one military and one mining. RDA focused in on Pandora when unobtanium was first found holding up the floating mountains, ignoring the other moons of Polyphemus and the other planets and bodies throughout the Alpha Centauri system. The leading theory on the creation of unobtanium says it is unique to Pandora. Everyone now hopes this is wrong."
Doctor Dmitri pauses, looking down at his notes. He looks up again at the expectant faces and continues, "As you know, RDA operates a paramilitary force, Security Operations or SecOps for short, to provide security throughout its far-flung holdings. You see them at our gates every day. As expected, their plan for retaking Pandora is more of the same, more soldiers, more equipment, more firepower. Very expensive and time-consuming to assemble, and no guarantee of success. The board rejected that approach. SecOps cannot explain how a band of stone-age savages could defeat a modern army, so throwing another, larger army out there and expecting success is without merit, maybe even stupid. As you know, Mister Winston took over the scientific research group after its leadership went back to academia. He discovered many closely guarded secrets in that organization. He had the principal investigators of these efforts give briefings to him, me, and selected board members including the Chairman. From that meeting came the basis for a new approach. I can't go into the details, they're still being worked, but what I can say is that this new approach will push out the scheduled departure of the main body of the response. That leads to the current thinking where the response will have two waves. The first is getting prospecting and mining equipment out there ASAP, and look for new sources of unobtanium and other precious materials around Alpha Centauri and later Proxima Centauri. The second wave is sending out SecOps and more mining equipment. The military has been changed from a broad frontal assault force to a more targeted guard and counter-insurgency force. If the first wave comes up empty, the second wave is necessary. Using the military would be the last-ditch effort in my mind, but it satisfies those who think SecOps is the best answer. I argued to keep the second wave in reserve and not send it out if the mining effort proves successful, but I was overruled. The board desires to get the unobtanium production restarted ASAP. If the first wave does pan out, the second wave will return without taking the military out of cryo. Personnel will be paid for their time in cryo and discharged. The hardware will be sold off or repurposed. This will be very expensive, but lower cost than the original SecOps plan that was rejected. The board believes the cost of the planned waves will balance out the world economic fluctuations caused by the disruption of the unobtanium supply, getting our standing with the world's governments back on track. Of course, this could all change if someone comes up with something better."
Doctor Dmitri takes a breath, and continues. "The first wave also includes ore processing, so we can deploy the newest automated smelters now being built in our L2 facility. The ISV being readied now will go to L2 to pick them up when they are ready. Details need to be worked out, since each smelter is bigger than a standard cargo hold. Here is where more work is hitting some of you, Francisco and Danny in particular. Need to get the next two ISVs to return docked, probably in Earth orbit, refurbished, and loaded with mining equipment to be manufactured by outside suppliers. Since the ISV refurbishments usually happen one at a time, handling two at once will mean infrastructure improvements and more personnel. Jerry, once you are officially President, promote someone to replace you as head of operations and get them going on the infrastructure effort. They should decide whether RDA builds what is needed, or contracts it out. Danny will lead the procurement efforts as specified by Francisco's team as directed by Operations. Need control stations, prospecting satellites and rovers, autonomous miners, smelters, and mass launchers to get materials into orbit for processing and loading onto the ISVs. Francisco will lead the engineering effort for specifying and packing those items. Mister Winston and I believe the PANsat design can be updated to take on more prospecting functions, but that is Francisco's call."
"Francisco, a key topic for you is to get your rail gun guys looking at what will be needed to launch raw ore or ingots off of each moon, starting with that dead red moon that looks like it is mostly iron and other metals. L2 will have to ramp up production on the automated smelters, but they cannot build enough in time, so getting raw ore off the moons and to orbiting platforms with the smelters is an option that must be seriously examined, versus landing smelters on each moon and launching ingots. Likewise, how many rail guns with buckets must be ferried out there from here? Does it even make sense to have a central ore processing facility in orbit, like our L2 station? If so, where should it be, in orbit around Polyphemus, or one of its moons, like Pandora, or some Lagrange point like our facility at L2? Need to look at in-flight production if there isn't enough time or cargo capacity, and provisioning for a production capability while en route or orbiting in the Polyphemus system. Implied in all options is upgrading the main engines and vehicle structures on the ISVs to handle as much cargo as possible, and address stresses and possible metal fatigue issues. Flipping a ship is always scary. May also need to bring a second wave of production equipment on a new class of ISVs, so working out the right mix for each wave is necessary. You can see where this is going. Mister Winston and I, along with some of his corporate folks, spent a whole very long afternoon looking at this topic that all started with rail guns, and quickly went down a rabbit hole. Francisco, this topic will be in my email, so maybe pull together a team to take a first cut at this and then look at a complete R&D program to define it and then carry it through. A lot of these topics are dependent on what is found out there years from now, so the primary requirements are generality and flexibility. It will be hard to get your teams to focus on that, since specifying generality and flexibility is always a challenge, and keeping suppliers honest about them is damn near impossible. I know the Mission Planning group has been wanting to improve their simulations of the Alpha Centauri system for years, even though the ISVs get to Pandora with the current software, so expect that to come up. Can't put everything else on hold while they make new models. Everyone must work off the old model until the new ones are ready, and work changed requirements from there."
Once again, Doctor Dmitri pauses, and then continues, "As the remaining ISVs return, they must be refurbished and loaded with military hardware as specified by SecOps. There is also special military resources at Mars that must be orbited and loaded into the new class of ISVs. SecOps will work with Francisco and Danny as needed, as those details are coming later. The board meeting next week is to discuss the most sensitive aspects of the second wave, and those decisions will drive how the second wave is implemented. If one topic is declassified, one critical technology can be enhanced using the existing supply channels. If it remains classified, RDA may acquire some suppliers to keep that technology under wraps. The Corporate M&A group is looking at buying those suppliers now. Danny, you may get called by them to fill in details about these suppliers."
Danny says nothing, but nods and notes this assignment.
Doctor Dmitri continues, "However, the refurbishing tasks must start as soon as each ISV arrives and is unloaded. So, there are many procurement tasks, hence legal and financial tasks, along with engineering and scheduling tasks that must begin today. HR must get ready as they will be slammed with numerous requests for new personnel as your folks identify the new positions needed. Of course, we all must keep our current operations going full steam ahead as we work the Pandoran response. You know who your best people are, get them working on planning the hard problems today. Promote them into new positions if necessary. Start looking into staffing. You know the procedure, work up a list of requirements, make budgets and schedules to match, and get the necessary documentation submitted for approval. The Chairman has lit a fire under his financial folks, who are working around the clock to get the necessary accounts and budgets created for this effort, and distributing initial funding based on inputs from Mister Winston and myself. These inputs are very preliminary, and I'll email them with the minutes of this meeting. Feel free to send me your thoughts, best expressed as hard numbers backed up with lucid, detailed explanations. I'll work those inputs with the Corporate CFO. Once the basic outlines are set, Jerry will take over getting them done. Expect many meetings in the future to work up the hard requirements, plans, budgets, schedules, and staffing. Publicize all critical paths to the affected stakeholders. Get your CM and QA involved and staffed up. My job here is getting the ball rolling, and getting the two experts hired and up to speed to get a new Pandora Master Plan written and approved. I will be traveling from New York City to here, to the L2 facility, and to Mars as needed. Jerry is in charge of the existing operations and overseeing the effort here. This organization must keep the existing and planned operations in this solar system performed to the RDA Master Plan, as well as performing these new tasks for the Pandoran response. More details will be worked out before my extended absences start."
There is a moment of silence while everyone processes these revelations. Danny breaks the silence by asking the obvious question, "So your role sounds huge. Jerry is the president of this organization and is responsible for it. What is your title?"
"I become a full-time assistant to Mister Winston, reporting to him and the board and Chairman as needed."
"Does that make you the new administrator of Pandora?"
"That title has not been reassigned to me or anyone else. What I'm about to say is RDA Most Secret. The current administrator, Parker Selfridge, did not make a report before going into cryo. Rumor has it the crew on Venture Star were ready to space him, but Captain Gustav intervened. Other reports implied Selfridge ignored his subordinates except for the SecOps commander, a Colonel Miles Quaritch, who eventually turned against him and died in the battle. For legal reasons, the Board is not going to name his replacement until he returns, is debriefed, and undergoes a complete physical and psychiatric evaluation. The board is frustrated that Quaritch and his field commanders did not survive to undergo the same treatment. After that, the board will amend the Pandoran policies to prohibit such situations from happening in the future. The board will not consider replacing him yet. There is some talk of forming a governing board made from mining, security, science, diplomatic, and facilities managers. They don't want a repeat of what happened under Selfridge. They are also concerned about the way he was made administrator. There is no one left in Corporate that remembers the selection process, it was so many years ago, and the records in HR are sketchy. One board member said the paperwork was pro forma, meaning someone decided on him without much scrutiny, and HR obliged with minimal paperwork. The retired board members that are still living were contacted, and none remembered much about him, other than he was high energy, very personable, and a scratch golfer. It appears he did an excellent job, other than losing our huge investment on Pandora and severing our unobtanium pipeline. Enough about ancient history. Yes, I have great responsibilities centered on the Pandoran response, but I am not the administrator of Pandora. Obviously, I am not there, am I? Your jobs include quashing all rumors about the naming of the new administrator, because Selfridge remains the administrator for the next five years, at least, until he returns. Corporate knows that the press will descend upon whomever is named administrator, or even appears destined for the job. RDA doesn't need that distraction now. Is that clear?"
Everyone around the table nods their agreement. Danny responds, "Yes, boss. Loud and clear." In their hearts, they know Doctor Dmitri is the leading candidate, if not the de facto administrator.
Doctor Dmitri continues, "Jerry, one topic you must be prepared to discuss in New York City next week is how you intend to tighten up security here. As you know, the Chairman was planning to retire, but stayed on to handle this Pandoran crisis. What really complicated his job was the unauthorized release of raw video showing the attack on the Na'vi village over the new mine site. This following topic is RDA Most Secret. Corporate Security took the time codes off those videos to look for them in the FTL archives. All FTL messages are archived, both incoming and outgoing. The video was encrypted and sent via steganographic techniques. Basically, the encrypted video was woven into the continuous telemetry reports from Hell's Gate. We can't do much, right now, to the person responsible for sending it, but the person or persons on this end must be found and held responsible. Corporate Security says they have checked on and ruled out the known spies that work for us sent secretly by governments. They think this site has spies on the payroll from non-governmental organizations responsible for grabbing and releasing these videos. Your job is to coordinate with Corporate Security to identify these employees. They will handle them after that. Since you are a veteran communications officer, you understand these security issues, and can change the policies and procedures here to tighten up access to all communications. If anyone hears anything, pass it on to Jerry person to person. No emails or calls, they may be intercepted. Mister Winston and I took the hit for the current lax practices here, and even though the Chairman will not mention security in his public presentation on your promotion, you will hear a lot about it in private. Corporate intends to do a security audit here after you get back. That is why I had this meeting held to the prescribed security procedures. Everyone here must do their part to make sure we are secure. Security is hiring more investigators to get more employees cleared. Look at your organizations, clean up the potential messes, and get the necessary personnel cleared."
Jerry says, "Yes sir. I'll get on it, right away."
"I'm sure you will hear much more about this at Corporate. You're from Operations, and you get to clean this up while Corporate Security is breathing down your back. Any more questions?"
Francisco asks, "I may be interested in the mining position. When will that posting come out?"
Doctor Dmitri replies, "Whenever Corporate HR is done with it, and gets board approval. The earliest both positions will be announced is next week during the board meeting. They intend on having a global recruiting competition like they do for Avatar drivers going to Pandora. I told them to not require PhDs, which would let you in, but they have the final say on position requirements and final selections. They also are doing the preliminary screenings, and then I do the rest of the work from there, ending up with two short lists of candidates advancing to interviews at Corporate, including the board and the Chairman."
"That sounds grueling."
"The folks at Corporate say they are betting the organization on this mission to Pandora, and they want only the best people running the effort. Success is the only option."
"That makes perfect sense. Thanks."
"Any more questions?" Doctor Dmitri looks around the room and gets no response. "When I'm here, I'll answer all your questions, you know how to contact me using secure phone and email. If not, call the President's admin. We have a ton of work to do, so let's get at it. Thank you for your attention."
The crowd stands up and files out quickly, leaving Doctor Dmitri alone at his orange keyboard.
The pilot pumps his fist and exclaims, "Gotcha!"
Captain Gustav walks up behind his station and asks, "What have you got, my chief pilot?"
He answers, "Captain, our foo fighter has surprised me again. I thought we lost it after the course correction, but it is now flying beside us on the opposite side of our ship. If it maintained its previous course, it would have flown through the cloud. If it maintained its distance from us, following our course correction, it would have flown into a rock in that cloud. Looks like it sensed the cloud and anticipated our course correction, and somehow moved through us or around us, faster than the speed of light, and now is off our port side."
"Range?"
"Looks about the same as before, far enough away to be almost invisible. It will take me an hour or so to get a better estimate."
"Email me the range when you work it out. Good job tracking that thing. It does appear to have some intelligence flying it."
"Yes, sir. Can't tell yet if it is machine or sentient intelligence. It keeps its distance so we can't get a good look at it, but its propulsion is a total mystery, at least to our science."
"So, science fiction would tell us it is folding space from somewhere else, and popping out near us each time to get a quick look and return."
"Or it could be a multiverse jumping craft doing the same."
"Yes, that could be. No telling without more evidence."
"Regardless, it is beyond our technology. Those ETs are way advanced."
"Hope they don't want to swat us like a bug. Are you picking up any radiation that might help identify it?"
"Nothing, sir. It is as clean as we can measure out here. Once we're at relativistic speeds, it will be buried in the noise of our wake."
"So the only trace is still its heat?"
"And there's not much of that, either. We're lucky to see it at all."
"Do we have anyone in cryo that could help?"
"All the science talent is in the en-route crew, and everyone is talking about our visitor now. I don't know if there is anyone in the passengers we picked up at Hell's Gate. I think most PhDs stayed behind."
"I agree. Our XO has access to all personnel files. I'll ask him to search for anyone that could help. Keep up the good work. I'll commend you in the next daily report back to Earth."
"Thank you, sir."