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.

ASAP means As Soon As Possible

HVAC means Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning

org chart means organization chart

PR means Public Relations

RDA means Resources Development Administration

Chapter 41: Quiet Times on Pandora

Neytiri walks out of New Hometree onto the main plaza overlooking the river, holding two bows and several arrows. She scans over the downstream area, looking for Jake, but he is nowhere in sight. She turns back towards the sentry, Wrrtll, and asks, "Have you seen our clan leader?"

He replies, "I saw him walking on the upstream trail. My guess is that he is sitting on the boulders up there again, in the shade away from the waterfall. He goes there often." He grins. "Is he in trouble again?"

She smiles back. "No, I just haven't seen him for some time, and was wondering where he went. His left his bow and arrows inside, so I know he hasn't gone far."

"He seems to have a lot on his mind recently, especially since we got back from the weddings. I want to thank you again for taking Maytse and myself along. I have always wanted to see a wedding since Mother Grace showed us pictures in her class."

"I remember those pictures, and never thought I'd see one, let alone being asked to participate in one. I'm glad for the experience, it gives me more insight into humans."

"It makes me think our way is lacking something."

"We have the celebration afterwards. We don't have the special clothing or rituals. They are missing the spiritual aspects, and I think that is more important than the clothes or rituals."

"They may be confused because they have so many gods."

"We have one god, Eywa, and we can always feel Her around us when we open up to her."

"I see your point. I will ask Normspellman about it when I see him again."

"He promised to come to us when he can get away again, after he gets back from his time away with Trudy. He said they were flying a new metal box to the floating mountains to add to the metal boxes Jake, Grace, and Norm worked from. They were taking Ivanna and Izzy along with them to spend their time apart up there. He and Jake have much to discuss. I better get going. I'll try the upstream trail."

"I'm sure you'll find him on the boulders off the waterfall." He runs down the hill towards the river to look around New Hometree. "I can see him up there." He points to Jake, and then runs back to Neytiri. "I'm giving the assigned sentry here a quick break, so I'll be walking the outer perimeter soon and may run into you up there."

"Thank you, Wrrtll." Neytiri trots around New Hometree and runs onto the upstream path.

Neytiri sees the waterfall ahead, but Jake is not sitting on the sunny boulders around it. She follows the bend where the trail veers away from the bank and up the escarpment. On top, the sentry is standing in the shade between two bushes, her back to the waterfall, and silently points across the trail at Jake. He is sitting on a boulder in the shade, looking out over the valley around and beyond New Hometree. Neytiri nods her thanks to the sentry, and climbs up the boulders.

Jake turns his head towards her and smiles. He says, "You found me. How do you feel?"

She replies, "'I am fine."

"Should you even be up here on these rocks?"

"Jake, I'm not to that point yet. I can't even feel our baby yet."

"I just worry about you. We both want this to work out."

"It is in Eywa's hands, so stop worrying. Here, you left these behind." She hands his bow and arrows to him. "Wrrtll said you spend a lot of time up here. Is there something troubling you?"

"I come up here to think. I feel like a pretender. The great Toruk Makto is expected to have all the answers. Here I am, a jarhead who let his commanders do all the thinking. Now I have to run this moon, and I don't know what to do next!" He turns his head back towards New Hometree.

She looks down at the valley towards New Hometree. "Did you enjoy the wedding ceremony?"

"I did have a good time, seeing everyone again. But I am troubled by all the people I don't know. Did I do the right thing by bringing them back?"

"You heard what Max said. Norm explained how the chosen humans did not have the skills to keep themselves alive. They needed those people to keep them safe and well. And, those who returned here may have died because they couldn't fit in the machine that took the rest back to Earth."

"Yeah, I know. I just wonder what happens when RDA returns in force. There are so many strangers there with our friends, and I don't know if they are friend or foe."

"As long as they remain apart from us, they won't get to know us. We must find a way to help them understand us. Maybe then they will not fight against us when the time comes."

"They have no reason to see us. I saw their kind when I was a warrior on Earth. They want to stay invisible, keep out of trouble, get their job done just well enough to get by, and get out before things go bad."

"You should talk to Norm about it. Who is their leader?"

"A woman named Maggie Zillman. She presided at the weddings. Her leader decided to return to Earth, and she was his deputy, so she got the job. Think she was last off the shuttle. Never got to talk to her much, but she did a good job with the wedding ceremony."

"She seems very capable. Talk to Norm about this, and have him ask Maggie how to increase our mutual understanding. I think the local flowers and food at the wedding was a good start, now we need to do more."

"That's a good idea. I'm sure some of them want to see more of Pandora, including us Na'vi. Maybe setting up some tours would be good. It's just the people who don't want to be reached that I worry about."

"I worry that they do not know Eywa, and how much She means to The People."

"You heard the wedding ceremony. They have so many gods, one more may not matter to them. You are right, though. I don't think they are a very spiritual bunch. I didn't know SecOps had chaplains here. We must find a way to make them understand Eywa and us."

"Do you know how they were chosen to return?"

"All I heard was that they all volunteered after the leadership from here met on the Venture Star to pick the returnees. Exactly why they wanted to return, don't think that was an issue."

"Good, it is decided. Talk to Norm about what can be done, and get this leader Maggie involved. What else is troubling you, my love?"

Jake takes a deep breath and then spills out, "I'm still trying to come up with a way to keep the others clans interested in keeping RDA off Pandora. We know the next spaceship is coming in less than a year, and there are at least two more coming after that, each a year apart. I think the clans that helped us before will help us with these arrivals. I see two problems after that. One, there may be a gap of many years until the next arrival. Clans change, clan leaders change, how can we keep everyone organized and ready for that far off arrival, that probably will be bigger than any other one? Two, RDA has a huge investment, many structures and machines, in what they call Hell's Gate, but they may land somewhere else, maybe somewhere uninhabited, like an ocean, or desert, or island. That means we will have to find a way to patrol everywhere, and be ready to converge on any point, at any time. Every clan must participate. If even a single clan sits out, they could be the first one attacked, and nobody else would know about it, and make it almost impossible to dislodge the attackers after the word does get out. I slept through most of my history classes, but even I learned how hard it is to get many countries, clans, to work together and stay together long term. Especially in the face of a potential problem, not immediate but much further out."

"You should say these words to the clan leaders at the conclave. See what ideas they may have. You should also say these same words to Norm and Trudy when you see them again. I do not have a good way to do this, but I do know about clans. The clan leader and Tsahík are the primary leaders in each clan, and handle the daily decisions. The longer term decisions are handled by the elders with their participation."

"I worry about that. The elders are just those that have lived the longest, they may not understand a long term threat."

"Let me tell you a story about about my father. When I was a child, there was one elder, an old hunter, who had to stop hunting because his knees kept him from climbing and running and carrying heavy loads. He wanted nothing to do with clan relations, I think you would call it politics. He rarely showed up to meetings with the other elders. He spent his time doing two things. If he could get someone to take him fishing, he would go fishing with a pole and bone hook he made himself. Once he got his hook in the water, he would usually take a nap. If no one would take him out fishing, he would carve wooden pa'li and ikran and hide them in Hometree. These carvings were very crude and unfinished, but they were recognizable and valued by the children who found them. Sometimes, someone else would take one of his carvings and finish it. I remember a tool maker who did that, and she always made his carvings beautiful by adding the missing details. This elder spent more time napping than carving or fishing, but he made many such toys for the children. He went to Eywa many years ago, but his carvings were found long after his death. When my father had a tough decision, he would take this elder fishing. He would describe the situation in general terms, he could never use names or he'd get no response, and that elder usually gave him sound advice, before he fell asleep. Yes, Eywa takes many fine people before they can become elders, but you will be surprised at the talents you will find among the elders that maybe weren't so distinguished before they aged into being elders. Start with our elders. Tell them those words you told me. Tell them to think about it and discuss it among themselves and give you advice when they are ready. Also ask them how you can approach other clans to keep their cooperation, how to keep them involved for many years. Seek out the elders who avoid meetings. Once you get some experience with our elders, you should travel to our neighboring clans, and ask their elders for advice. Make sure each clan leader is willing and able to help you first, and have that leader introduce you to their clan's elders."

"Those are good ideas. I just worry about those elders who have lost sons and daughters in the fighting so far. Parents, especially, will be against any more fighting."

"That's true, but explain to them our experiences. The sky people destroyed our Tree of Voices and our Hometree, killing many Omatikaya. If we don't fight them sooner, we will have to fight them later when much more blood must be shed."

"Am I up to this? Can I do this?"

"I know you didn't want any of this, but, as you say, here we are. I know you will grow into this, you have become Toruk Makto, clan leader, and the leader of the greatest collection of warriors that anyone can remember. You were a skawng when I saved you, and look how far you have come. Do not stop now."

"What did I do to deserve a woman like you?"

"You just were yourself. Keep being yourself, and you'll find the way. I think I see some warriors looking up here now."

"I better get to my personal combat training. Their looking for their instructor. I can't wait for Izzy get his avatar and join us, he would be a great help for these classes."

"You just have to train these warriors, and then they can help you."

"You're right again. Let's go." Jake stands up and hops down the rocks to the trail, with Neytiri just behind him. They both sling their bows over their shoulders and take off running. As they run down the trail, Neytiri grabs his tail, and both break into laughter, without slowing down. Jake is back to his old self again.

Maggie walks out of the bathroom on her way to the conference center, where the bulk of the conference rooms are located in this building. As she turns the corner, she sees the back of her assistant Jozef rounding the corner at the other end of the hallway. Maggie thinks, "That's odd, there's nothing back there except for the back stairs. Wonder where he's going?" She walks into her first Monday morning meeting, and sees the correct number of attendees are already present. As she flips through her paper notebook, she says, "I see a lot of new faces around the table. I know a number of the previous group leaders returned to Earth, and some current group leaders may have sent replacements today. We have to cover a lot this morning, so I'll skip introductions. Please have you or your group leader send me a new org chart with titles and contact info for everyone, and we'll review that at a separate meeting later this week. Make sure all of your reports are on it. Use the org chart tool in our drawing software, so I can collate them and send it them back to Earth in my next report. Send my the link to your org chart in an email by the time that meeting starts, so I can display them."

She pauses briefly. "I hope everyone had a good time at the wedding celebration Saturday night. How was it?"

"You introduction was way too long, but the ceremony itself was very nice."

"My intro was something I wanted in the record. I knew it was long, but it was a quick way to spread the word about our name change and the new wedding service. I'm hoping that service is a good framework going forward. How was the food?"

"Seriously, it was surprisingly good. Never thought our cooks had it in them."

"I, too, thought the food was excellent. I know our daily fare suffers from material and manpower shortfalls, but this proves our staff can produce tasty meals. Okay, let's go down the list, as will be usual in the weeks ahead. Power?"

"Power is nominal. Just the usual fluctuations caused by known issues. Now that we've been in this reduced mode for awhile, we have our new baselines established, and Saturday night was the biggest load since our return from the Venture Star. Did have one question, though. You mentioned three new construction efforts to clean up our effluents. How will that impact the new power annex to house the generators in route from Earth now?"

Maggie gives a quick nervous chuckle, and then says, "You caught that. As you know, our Na'vi guests flew in and saw the usual smoke and smelled the usual chemical odors from our systems. It's worse for them because their senses are so much better and different from ours, not counting the attenuations caused by our exomasks. At the rehearsal, they mentioned their displeasure, and Norm and Trudy looked to me and said it is time to clean up our act. Since the Na'vi are now in charge, in the overall sense, I told them I'd get it going. I knew that every system here is built from plans sent from Earth. As a PR tactic, these designs always have the full complement of the latest environmental remediation systems, to prove RDA is not polluting Pandora. Our former administrators always insisted that we build the minimum essential parts first, to get them online as soon as possible. Once the essential minimum is operational, they usually directed our efforts onto other projects, leaving the remediation systems for later. You know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and expediency picks the path. So, I looked up those systems, and saw they all had designs waiting for implementation. I made that announcement based on having those designs on file. Yes, I know, there must be much more work before construction can start. The chemical plant was laid out to hold the existing systems, and getting the clean up equipment in there is going to be a bitch. Max took Jake and his wife out to the Na'vi clinic, and showed them the work we did to that hanger to accommodate our Avatar and human medical staff and their Na'vi patients. At the reception, they thanked us for the clinic, the bunkhouse renovation and expansion, and the announcement on cleaning up our facilities. I'm guessing they'll be stopping by in the future, so we keep working to make them happy. Kind of like exchanging one boss for another, except for wildly different bottom lines. The power annex is my highest priority construction project, ahead of the remediation systems. So, let's jump to construction, since that came up. How's the tarmac cleanup?"

"We're done moving ore from the tarmac to the ore yard. I just wish Selfridge didn't mandate all dump trucks coming back from the mine must be full of ore before Quaritch conscripted the miners for his army. Over 500 tons per truck, and it all got dumped out there when Sully ordered that 'ring of steel' for the shuttle landing zone. It made a nice berm for the Na'vi to hide behind, but who knows how many billions were lying out there in that dirt and rocks. I'm just glad they didn't torch the Valkyrie."

"Me, too." Many others laugh or echo these sentiments.

"We had to flush the tarmac storm drains out after we got the ore up, and pump the outflow back to the ore yard for separation. There's a huge amount of ore waiting for processing, piles upon piles, the biggest I've ever seen."

"Any more?"

"We got the command center structure and power repaired, life support reset and cleaned out, and Izzy is handling the rest. The break rooms and bathrooms are done in the hanger for the Na'vi clinic. Have a new request from Doctor Max Patel to move the empty Avatar gestation tanks out of storage and wired up for reuse in the Science building, and we'll do it once we figure out if the current breaker box is sufficient, or if new a box and supply lines must be installed. Although they all look alike, each tank has its own electronics, and there are so many generations of them, each has a wildly different load. The power annex has its reinforcing steel for its foundation going in now through next week, and should be ready for concrete in two weeks, depending on weather. The construction crews that are not iron workers are building the Avatar bunkhouses at the same time. With the new mine abandoned, our schedules are shot to hell, and we need our new priorities to make an updated master plan. We're doing what we can, including helping to change signs."

"Send me an email asking for the priorities, but for now, any repairs come first, including getting Doctor Patel's power up and move completed, the sealing of unused hangers and buildings like the SecOps barracks, and then work the power annex, the new waste water treatment plant, and more to follow. Get your engineers planning the power annex, waste water treatment plant, solid waste recycling, and the chemical plant scrubbers, in that order."

"Will do."

"If Jake asks about those items, I want to have plans and design drawings available. Send me the links to the plans as they are developed."

"I understand, we'll get it all done ASAP."

"Keep up the good work, you sound very busy. Life support?"

"Water is nominal and dialed back to match the new head count. We did have a major air intake motor go out early Saturday morning. The backup took over, and the faulty motor has been swapped out and now is in the repair shop. With the major reduction in the population here and the closing of buildings, we have to drain pipes, shut ducts, and rebalance the HVAC systems over the next couple of weeks."

"How's your spares?"

"The shop folks have stopped weapons work, so they have more time for us. The motor will be repaired and in spares storage later this week. Otherwise, we're in good shape."

"Okay, that's good. Let's move on to food production. Thank your staff for a wonderful feast at the celebration. Keep up the good work."

"Thank you, ma'am. I'll spread the word. We did hold back some artificial meats and vegetables for the feast, but we're going back to our normal quotas now based on our new head count."

"Since there are fewer mouths to feed, you should up bump up production quotas a bit so you can increase the quality of your daily fare. We have to keep everyone happy, and the feast shows what your people are capable of serving up when you have better quality and more plentiful ingredients."

"Yes, ma'am, I'll see to bumping up the quotas and updating the menus going forward. We are still limited by manpower, but I'll see what can be done."

"We all appreciate that. We have to keep morale up, in spite of our limited numbers, so innovate where you can to improve everyone's attitude."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Also let me know if you need more more equipment or support from other departments. My hope is that you have plenty of spare capacity now, but don't be afraid to ask for help. We all have to eat."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Unobtanium production?"

"We have enough in the ore yard to keep processing running full-bore for weeks. The system was put on standby during the troubles, and we have since restarted it, so production is going as usual now, once the downstream processing plants, chemical and solids, were restarted."

"That's good. Have your people estimate how long it will take to process the ore in the yard now. Also, count up the inventory of boules awaiting shipment. I haven't been asked for these numbers, but I know it's just a matter of time."

"Selfridge wanted daily reports, and hourly reports during maintenance stoppages. Do you still want those?"

"Let's continue with daily reports for now, to keep the metrics looking normal after the shutdown. The maintenance stoppages can be reported weekly. I don't think the new leadership has thought about it yet, but I'll keep you informed."

"Thanks."

"Since it was just mentioned, chemical production?"

"We have all systems back on line and operating nominally. I concur with your assessment that adding the remediation systems into the chemical plant will be extremely difficult. We may have to shut down some systems and physically relocate them to make room. Adding those systems leads to another problem. Lots of metals will be needed to make the necessary pipes, tanks, et cetera. I'm not certain there is sufficient metals available here to build those new items. Selfridge had the unobtanium production optimized at the expense of separating out the metals from the ore. There is a tailings yard out there where the tailings have been piled up for later processing, but that requires the same processing plant used for unobtanium."

"You're saying that the current unobtanium processing reduces the metals output?"

"That's correct."

"So what if a complete processing of the ore is performed? Does that slow down unobtanium output?"

"Yes, by quite a bit. Selfridge didn't care about the metals, none of them are as precious as unobtanium. All that mattered was meeting his unobtanium quota. With him gone and the raw ore supply limited, maybe we should go back to a more complete processing."

"That makes sense, but don't change anything yet. We need to look at the numbers. Look back to when complete processing was done, and compare and contrast that with today's processing. Also, dust off the remediation designs, and look at our current footprint. What makes sense to clean up first? Pick some of the smokiest and stinkiest processes first, then pick the easiest to add, and work up a rough bill of materials. Guess that means we should go to solids processing. How is that going?"

"Metals are nominal for the current ore processing rate."

"How soon will we run short?"

"I can't say for certain. Much metals, mainly steel and aluminum, went into weapons. Now that's over, we should get our supplies on hand back to normal."

"Is there enough steel to make the power annex?"

"I don't know. The people that knew that didn't return. I'm the new group leader, and just don't know about the raw metals situation."

"Okay. I'm sure there is a bill of materials listing the steelwork items needed. Talk to Manufacturing to determine how much metals they need to build those items. Write it all down, and compare to your current stocks in storage and daily production rates. I need to know this so that Construction can schedule their work. They don't work if they don't have the materials. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am. I come from the nonmetals side, and know that situation better, but I need to work the numbers up there, too. I think we're good with the cement, for now, but I know there is a problem with concrete. The miners pile up the overburden rock suitable for our processing around the perimeter, including the aggregate needed in concrete. When necessary, we call up the miners and ask for truckfulls as needed. Since we have no miners, we need some way to go to the mine, find and load up the rock, and haul it back here."

"This sounds like a difficult problem. I'll talk to the brain trust, and see what can be done. May need to bring Jake Sully in on this one, too, because the Na"vi don't want any activity in the mine. I'm guessing he has people watching us, in case the Venture Star loops back and attacks. Be sure to look at the cement and follow that same process to work up the numbers for everything else. If your group doesn't have the skills, ask for help from the group leaders in Manufacturing and Construction. If there are any issues, let me know ASAP." She writes notes in her notebook.

"Will do. One other thing. Since most aircraft didn't make it back, I'm assuming they went down in flames, and can't be repaired. If there was some way to gather up the wreckage and get it back here, we could recycle it for the metals. Ditto for the AMP suits."

"That's a good idea. We'll definitely will need Jake's help to keep our recovery teams safe out in the jungle. His people will know where the crash sites are, and maybe be happy to help us clean them up. That's a wonderful idea." She pauses to write more notes. "Manufacturing. How's your stock of raw metals?"

"Well, between medical supplies, aircraft parts, and weapons, we're pretty depleted. Think we're low on most metals."

"Continue with the stop on production of weapons for now. I suspect Jake Sully will show up someday asking for weapons that can be handled by Na'vi, so don't recycle the tooling and assembly and testing jigs. Also, Trudy and I want to get the existing aircraft here repaired and flightworthy again. Guess we could use an inventory of the current materials and products in the warehouses, and try to project our new needs to bounce off it. Our main priority now is steel, for use in the power annex."

"Steel was going into weapons and aircraft engines. I'll get the inventory going, but don't have a clue what our future needs might be."

"You have a production coordinator, right?"

"That's my old job. Don't have a replacement yet."

"Oh, do you one in mind?"

"Not yet."

"Well, I'd say pick someone you think can handle the job. Have them oversee counting the inventory, and get them started on reviewing the existing requisitions. Cull out the weapons and airplane parts, and make an overall bill of materials for the reqs that are left. Do that today, so you can send me your new org chart ASAP."

"Will do. One other thing, along those lines. We get status reports from all in-bound ISVs. These reports include a list of items they need when they turn around here. The Venture Star took many items for their return, including things like head strings, we had in stock. It is our job to correlate those lists, and produce everything needed before the next docking here. Since the troubles, as people here have called Quaritch's war, our comms are out, and we're not getting reports from any vehicle, in either direction."

"Really, that explains why I haven't seen anything from headquarters. Well, Izzy is on his honeymoon. Trudy flew out a new module out to site 26 and took Norm, Izzy, and Ivanna out there for their joint honeymoons. They'll be back next week. I'll ask Izzy the very next time I see him."

"When those status reports arrive, someone will have to review them and see what they're requesting, and write the necessary reqs."

"That makes sense, I'll make a note about that topic." Maggie looks down at her notebook, and writes in the new task. "Looking down my checklist, looks like Administration is left. What's your status?"

"Pretty messed up. I have to file forms on those that died, left for home, or are changing assignments here. Can't get far because my link to Earth isn't working. I have been working the forms as best I can, and I'll submit the batch when the link is restored. Also, your new org charts will help a lot. No one thought to make a list of the people that left here, or returned, so I don't have a good accounting of who died or who went home. If the org charts are complete, that should give me what I need to determine who is working here now."

"I see some problems, I don't have groups for the medical staff or the research staff or security, since they are under Max, Norm, and Trudy. I also don't know how to count Jake Sully. After the trouble these folks had with Selfridge and Quaritch, I don't think they'll want to be groups under me. I'll ask them for complete org charts to help you. They will not be back until next week, so they can't help you until after the group leader meeting." Maggie writes some notes in her notebook.

"I remember the Venture Star scanning my badge when I arrived up there, and they scanned me again when we left to return here. I wanted to ask them for their list, but I can't get off Pandora through the comms."

"I remember being scanned twice, like you. I think all comms off Pandora were cut when the command center was torn up. It sustained pretty serious damage, inside and out. There is comm equipment and servers for the command center in the annex above the command center, and I don't know if it escaped damage. I'll ask Trudy and Izzy when they return. Izzy was working in the command center to make it operational again, and I don't think it is up completely." She writes some more notes.

"Anything else?" No one says anything. "In that case, the main takeaway is for all group leaders to make complete org charts of everyone under them, and be prepared to discuss them at the special group leader meeting. Details about org chart requirements, place, and time to appear in the appointment that is forthcoming. Thank you all for attending."

Jozef stops on the top step and listens. No sound is heard in the back stairwell. He steps up onto the top landing, and looks through the window in one door and sees no one on the roof. He looks through the window in the security door and sees no movement. He opens the one remaining door into the fire equipment locker. He crouches down and reaches under the reel of fire hose to pull out a toolbox. He opens it, and sees the keycard stuffed in a corner. He pulls it out and puts the toolbox back. He unwinds the chain around the card, and puts the key on the other end into the lock on the security door. He turns it a quarter turn, and a small indicator starts blinking red. He runs the keycard through the reader by the door and the indicator turns yellow. He turns the key the rest of the way and the indicator turns green. He pulls open the door and removes the key. He props the door open and rewinds the chain around the card and key. Going back to the fire equipment locker, he puts the keycard back where he found it and closes that door. He walks through the equipment room, lined with breaker boxes, control panels, and air handlers. At the other end, he encounters another security door. He pulls a keycard purloined years ago out of his wallet, and uses it to unlock and open this door. He goes into the dark room, pulls the door shut behind him, and takes out a small flashlight. He thinks, "Well, Izzy, what have you done in here?" He walks past the racks holding servers and comm gear, and sees everything is in order. At the end, he goes around behind the racks and sees a lowboy rack on casters with a laptop sitting on it, and a number of cables connecting it to a comm rack. "So this is your new toy! This backup cart looks ancient, but it must be doing the job." He looks at the widows on the laptop, and sees several were left logged in as root. "Izzy, you're slipping! Must have been interrupted, and never got back to clean up." Jozef opens another window from a root window, and gets to work. "Looks like he cloned the comm software to the backup SAN so the file tree looks like the normal operational tree." He does more typing. "Live telemetry data is being allowed into the backup servers, but the firewall bars everything else trying to access the normal servers. Good job, Izzy! RDA should be locked out completely and we should look normal from the outside." He takes a removable memory stick out of his pocket and plugs into the side of the laptop, and copies his files into the outbound queue on the backup system. "That should keep my people back on Earth happy. Time to go. I should fix it up so I can get back in again." He looks at the password file, and sees the customer support engineering account is still there with its default password into root. "Hope Izzy doesn't remember to delete this when he gets back here again. I'm done." Jozef closes the window, unplugs his memory stick, and heads out. He gets down to his office without being seen before Maggie returns from her meeting.

When Maggie gets back to her office, she sees Josef at his desk, filling in another of the complicated forms so beloved by the RDA bean counters back on Earth. She says, "I saw you heading towards the back stairs. I didn't think there is anything that way but the stairs. Is there a secret speakeasy back there or something?"

Josef laughs, and answers, "No such luck. I just go back there to do my break exercises."

"Oh?"

"Something the SecOps folks taught me in the gym. I go to the restroom first if I need to, and then take the stairs to the bottom floor. From there, I jog up the stairs, all the way up to the top landing. I stop and rest a moment, stare out the window in the door to the roof to see the sunshine, and then take the steps back down normally. I use the back stairwell, since it has little traffic, and I usually don't see anyone else on it, so I can keep my rhythm all the way up. It's always harder going up than down, so it's a good quick timeout during the day."

"Do that often?"

"I try to do it at least once per day. I usually do more, six a day is my max."

"Does it work?"

"I think so. It's quick enough, and it makes a good break from these boring reports. By the way, the reports I sent to Earth are still stuck in the outbound queue. Any idea when that will get fixed?"

"That came up in my meeting. I've heard that the link to Earth was cut to keep RDA out of our system. If we want to get paid, the necessary reports must go out. I plan to bring it up when the other leaders get back from their honeymoons. Just keep preparing our reports and sending them off as usual. Izzy will have to get them out when he gets back, and get the housekeeping traffic back to normal."

"Things will get real ugly if our accounts go to zero, and no one can buy drinks or other goodies any more."

"You are so right about that. I have to keep that from happening. Carry on with those reports. I've got to look at my email and see what hornet's nests I poked in the meeting."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll keep at it with these exciting forms." They both laugh, and Maggie goes into her office.