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Chapter 15 - Bluefin

Several large, covered trucks arrived outside the West Sector shops later that day. No logos or identifying marks were evident, and the Forest Preserve District wasn't talking. Passer-by could make out vague shapes that resembled heavy machinery through the grey canvas covering. Several unmarked vans stopped, disgorged their passengers and pulled away.

~~~ * ~~~

Steven disliked General Biology immensely, despite his desire to become a surgeon. It was a deliberate weed-out class, so the fact that it was the most difficult entry-level course on the campus merely served its higher function. Some would go on to say that this was a cynical attempt to keep the University's stellar graduate admissions rates to top medical schools high (95%) by ensuring no one who wouldn't get into one of these prestigious schools would graduate from the University with a degree in Biology. Others argued this was the price of success: ensure only the strong survive.

The only thing more irritating than GenBio was a broken phone. The tumble Steven's iPhone took at Heron Lake Forest Preserve had scrambled its innards. Though solid-state flash memory was notoriously resistant to sudden shocks, other components weren't so sturdy. The screen had been cracked from the top to the bottom, in addition to being scratched almost beyond usability. Upon taking it to the Apple Store, he found out several capacitors had come unsoldered. Of course, the phone was out of warranty, so Steven was phoneless until he figured out what he could afford to buy. He was seriously considering the iPhone 3GS, but was unsure whether he really wanted to spend that much.

Lauren left a voicemail, figuring Steven was in class. She then called Sarah.

Being in the shower, Sarah wasn't going to answer her phone either. Lauren left only a short message, summing up the improvements in Neytiri's condition. She didn't mention her father's oddball actions since she wasn't really entirely sure what he was doing. Lauren knew her father was only doing what he thought was best, but from the onset it appeared to be off-kilter. If he'd done as he'd said, Sam had in fact violated the spirit of if not the letter of several laws. She didn't know how deep his "connections" were, or even in fact what the people he was connected to did. For once, she was going to bury her head in the sand and hope the world didn’t explode in the meantime.

~~~ * ~~~

*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!* Several large 'dozers were moving earth around the old West Sector shops. A quartet of 18-wheelers (or, more accurately 26-wheelers since the trailers had four additional pairs of wheels to hold extra weight) moved large, heavy concrete slabs to the preserve entrance. The slabs interlocked so two formed a base, then two more were stacked on top for a total of three units high. Each unit stood eight feet tall, so the total wall-height was roughly 24 feet. Constructed with Grade 75 fiber-reinforced polymer rebar, the concrete walls were close to impervious to the elements, as well as a stray vehicle that might slam into the gates or wall. The stretch of road near the West Sector entrance was notorious for illegal drag-racing and drunk drivers. Crosses dotted the ditches where a dozen people had been killed in half as many years.

Such fortified construction required a foundation of epic proportions. Thankfully, the ground under the gate area was solid rock, however, a large amount of poured concrete would still be required for the rest of the wall to stand. That is where the three cement mixers came in, beginning to unload their cargo into wooden frames. The gate area would hopefully begin to take shape tonight since the first two (counting horizontally) sets of wall could be placed immediately due to the rock formations surrounding the gate area. Starting the whole project in the fall was risky enough, not to mention the sheer scale of what was being done.

Sam pulled up in his Escalade, hopped out and walked over to the site foreman. Forewoman would be more accurate (and politically correct). Sasha Seals routinely slapped anyone who addressed her as "Foreman Seals." Seals didn't look like she could kill from five paces or bench-press more than most men, as her muscles were compact and did not distort her figure. Her rough demeanor, short-clipped black hair and piercing green eyes caused most people to keep a healthy distance. Sam knew better. Sasha was a bit of a marshmallow (mostly bark and little bite), though if she was legitimately angry those who had made the mistake of irking her had better watch out. At 37, she was five years Lauren's senior. Her father, grandfather and great-grandfather had all been in the construction industry, running the family company. Strickland & Sons (since renamed Strickland Contractors) had been founded in the mid-1870's to do local road-work, though in the modern day Strickland handled everything from roads to commercial and residential buildings.

"Sam! You're late!" she hollered.

"Yes yes, the project got a little out of hand" Sam replied.

"What project? You said…" Before she could finish Sam cut her off. "I said no questions asked."

"I meant you said you'd be here an hour ago" Sasha replied testily. Sam was so paranoid about this, this thing he was having built. Whatever it was, it couldn't be hidden. People would see. But he wouldn't even tell the construction company what it was doing. He'd signed a document certifying the legality of the project but having heard through the grapevine that Sam's acquisition of the land title was in a moral gray zone, she wasn't sure whether she'd be able to live down whatever this project was.

Looking at a huge plot laid out on a picnic table, Sam and Sasha went over the plan. The preserve encompassed 5,000 acres of land--"West Sector Shops" was a bit of a misnomer since there were full picnic and camping facilities (but no lake). 35 miles of trails gave plenty for hikers, horseback riders and bikers to experience. A large open field near the entrance allowed the operation of small remote-control aircraft, and a shooting range had been a huge draw for area Boy Scout troops. This had all been shuttered for years and all facilities short of the main repair bays and office complex were in various states of disrepair.

All of these amenities were to go. This was no longer a Forest Preserve, it was to become the private property of Sam Fisher. So private, in fact, that a twelve-mile-long, 24-foor high fence was going around it so that there would be only one way in or out. The top of the wall was to contain an electrified, barbed-wire fence in addition to sensors in case someone (most likely unconscious from the electrified fence) ended up climbing over the fence and onto the property. Massive floodlights would enable security to quickly track down any trespassers.

Project Bluefin involved relocating the office complex to the "back" of the preserve relative to the entrance, reconstructing a vehicle bay for eight vehicles (instead of 22) near this complex, creation of a Central Security Office with room for forty armed guards who would live "on base" so to speak, cutting the parking lot out entirely and creating some kind of huge forest in the rest of the former preserve. The vehicle bay would also have a refinery for converting biological waste into bio-gas and bio-diesel. A heavily armored underground bunker was to be constructed in the center of the preserve, with enough food, air and electrical power to remain sealed for six months. In terms of security, it would ultimately be heavier than some law enforcement or military installations.

Cost was only of minimal concern. If everything went according to plan, there would be no issue with how much was spent creating the facility.

Chapter 16 - Faith

Sarah picked up her phone and noticed that she had a message. She was already late to the outing she and her friends were going to (Iron Man 2) and dealing with the message would make her later still. Not paying attention to who it was from, she slapped her slider-phone closed and put it in her pocket.

Though she stayed in touch with Steven, she'd lost track of many of the others (such as Allison, Michelle and even the cop, Aaron Mitchell). In addition, she'd experienced what had been termed "Pandora fade" (as opposed to "Post-Avatar Depression") since leaving home. Weeks had passed since she'd left home, and in that short time the lack of constant contact with the other members of Team Neytiri (and Neytiri herself) meant that other items slowly took priority. As a sophomore, Sarah was under pressure to choose a major. She didn't know what she wanted to do. Initially she was going to study philosophy, but decided that wasn't "practical" enough to land a job and thus struck off in a different direction looking for something else to dedicate herself to.

Two weeks later, Steven finally decided to bite the bullet and get a new iPhone. Though the iPhone 3GS was "only" $200 from AT&T with a two-year contract, it was still $200 Steven wasn't planning on spending. Already saddled with thousands of dollars in loans, Steven wasn't happy to see his next work-study paycheck go straight out the door before he even got it.

Despite being the most "hard-core" of the Avatar fans he knew (and even of Team Neytiri), Steven was also suffering from "Pandora fade." Though this was somewhat involuntary as his intense Biology classes were requiring far more time than he would have liked, there was nothing he could do about it if he wanted to "make the grade" to get into a top medical school. Arguably, his "fade" was less than the others but it was there. Out of curiosity, having not heard from Lauren since her last message when he had no phone, he called her cell . Despite it being 9AM in the morning, Steven heard the phone go to voicemail.

"Probably at work" he thought.

Lauren was indeed "working" but not for the Forest Preserve. She was having an intense discussion with her father and Neytiri about the construction of "Sam's fortress" at the old West Sector shops. In the two weeks since Steven had last heard from her, the massive construction project at the old West Sector had proceeded with nary a hitch. The walls around the former preserve were 30% complete. Though such rapid completion of a project this size was rare, if one had the money (and Sam did), construction speed could be purchased. Such speed entailed a hundred or more workers on round-the-clock shifts, at union wages no less. The project was costing close to $60,000 per day just in labor costs. Never mind costs for materials (which had become astronomical due to Sam's insistence on everything being top-grade). The constant construction was irritating the tenants of a nearby apartment complex, but Sam brandished both the necessary permits and a fat checkbook to shut them up.

Lauren was frustrated that Sam wouldn't tell her exactly what was going on. She'd seen the technical drawings and architectural printouts, but wasn't privy to why the facility was being built other than to house Neytiri.

"Seriously, Dad, why are you spending all this money? What's with all the fortifications, secrecy and armed guards? People don't even know Neytiri will be here, but they do know something big is going on! They're already starting to think we're moving Area-51 here. Never mind that we have a real alien!"

Sam decided to finally let his daughter in on something he hadn't even told the construction company. "It's my plan to have Neytiri live here, but also to allow a limited number of people through to 'learn to be Na'vi…"

He didn't even have time to finish his sentence before Lauren exploded. "So you're turning Neytiri into a tourist attraction?" Words could not describe the disgust she was feeling at this point. There was something odd about this facility and she knew "wrong" when she saw it…

Lauren stormed out of the house without even saying goodbye to either Neytiri or her father. Her tires left marks on the driveway as she slammed the gas pedal into the floor.

"Well that didn't work" Sam turned to Neytiri with a defeated look on his face. "That's not what it is at all, she jumped to conclusions…" His voice trailed off.

Neytiri had been part of the discussions about expanding the Team which supposedly existed for her own benefit, and as such was well-aware that many Team members were fearful of someone with power (such as Sam) exploiting Neytiri's existence for their own selfish gain. The purpose of this facility was hardly exploitive, rather it served to (according to Sam) allow her to try to teach these Tawtute to See. Admittedly, there wasn't much to See here on Earth, but surely the destructive habits of humans here could be reigned in! The facility's heavy security revolved not around Sam's desire for control, but fear of what those who could not and did not want to See might do. Everyone from the government to religious fundamentalists and overeager Avatar fans would be wanting to poke their noses in and trying to involve themselves.

How, exactly, Neytiri and others would go about teaching people to See was something that had not yet been discussed.

"We'll figure that out…once the facility is built" Sam had said, brushing aside concerns about the nature of Neytiri's new home. Neytiri wanted to trust this man--he'd sunk so much time and effort into trying to do the best he could for her. Something told her to be wary, however. Though Sam wasn't aware of it, Neytiri had overheard his discussion with Lauren about how he obtained the land on which the facility was built. Among the Na'vi such things never happened. Clean kills came from clean methods. This didn't feel entirely clean. The methods used were certainly suspect. Further, deceit and its harsher cousin, the lie, were completely unknown to the Na'vi until the arrival of the Tawtute and their machines. She'd only learned of these concepts as Grace had explained (or tried to) the events at the schoolhouse. Sylwanin's death was a result of lies, Neytiri was told. Despite the damage Sylwanin and others had done (setting a bulldozer on fire), Grace believed she had talked the RDA administration out of using violence to handle the Na'vi prior to the incident as a "show of good faith." However, when RDA marines stormed the schoolhouse and killed several Na'vi including Sylwanin, Grace realized that either Selfridge's words were nothing but lies ("Guns are messy, we don't want that") or his ability to control the bullheaded Quaritch was non-existent.

Now she was doubting this man, Sam Fisher. He seemed to be trying to help, but Neytiri couldn’t shake Lauren's outburst from her mind. Along with lies, she had also been taught what the word "exploit" meant by a bitter Grace. And if that is what this man intended to do to her, then she would rather die. The fact that her "home" had been constructed with machines resembling those which had wrought such terrible destruction on her homeworld struck her as the worst kind of irony. Here she was, helpless on an alien world, and the only apparent way for her to live was for machines to carve her a sanctuary from the technology-dominated, unnatural lives of the humans. That, and take doses of alien medicine to keep her from withering away. It felt so unnatural, so wrong. But if she were to do good on this world, then she would have to tolerate these things.

Sam had left the house, and his car was gone. She knew that no matter what Sam said, Lauren would never listen to her father. She had to try to do something to try to explain the situation. She reached for the phone. Her big hands made it somewhat difficult, and twice she dialed wrong digits. Eventually, she managed to get Lauren's number right. She wasn't entirely sure how these "phones" worked--she'd seen humans use them and she figured they were for communication, but beyond that she knew nothing. When using a phone, there was always a pause before the person started talking. So she waited while an obnoxious ringing noise played into her ear. It obviously wasn't someone on the other end, so she waited until the noise ended.