Vendetta.

[tm20]

Chapter 5

Dr. Eileen walked Tak and Alan back to where she was collecting samples and recording data. On the way back Tak kept silent as usual while Alan kept silent due to trying to figure out what the hell had just happened. What had just happened was that he was in a three way standoff with two Na’vi warriors, not Avatars, but Na’vi warriors who had drawn their arrows, ready to fire. Unable to stop thinking about his first encounter with the alien race, his heart continued to beat fast. The group reached Dr. Eileens spot and decided to continue their work. Tak moved to another spot, but not too far from where his superior was. Now that he had lost his temper and was unsettled, he couldn’t focus on what he was meant to be doing. He recorded all sorts of data for the Anemonid and took samples as instructed but he was filled with anger. It didn’t make sense to him. He threw his pen and clipboard on to the ground and asked himself some questions.

“Why….. why does this always happen? Why can’t I just be left alone? Why is it that every time I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing, minding my own business, some ****en ******* has to come along and **** things up? **** this ****…..”
Unable to comprehend the hostility of the Na’vi, despite being warned of the aggressive alien race, Tak stared at the ground for a while until realizing that Dr. Eileen was standing behind him. She kneeled down next to him.
“You OK?” she asked. Tak gave her an unamused look. Seeing that he was not in the mood for a chat, she sighed and continued to talk.

“I know it must have been….. unpleasant, for your first encounter with the Na’vi to turn out like it did just then, but it was my fault. I should’ve told you to stay close….. aghhhh, stupid, stupid me. But I really want you to get to know these people better. I know this seems like a lot to ask, but try to not think too badly of the natives OK. I mean, I wouldn’t be too happy either if my home was being mined by a hostile alien race. Well anyway, it was my fault and I apologise. I promise I’ll warn you of anything from now on OK.”

Tak gave his signature no response. But by now Dr. Eileen had told herself that even though he didn’t answer her questions, he was listening to what she was saying. She gave him a slight smile and walked back to her area. And in fact Tak had been listening to what she had to say.

“Don’t think too badly of them? After they tried to kill me? Get the **** out of here lady.” He thought to himself.
After recording the data and collecting the samples the team had come after, Dr. Eileen gathered everyone so they could make their way back to the helicopters. Unaware of what had happened but curious over why Dr. Eileen suddenly ran away, the other 3 scientists asked her what had happened. “Long story, I’ll tell you guys tonight” she replied. The Samsons took off and made their way back to Hell’s Gate as Alpha Centuri A cast a bright orange glow over the Pandoran landscape. The forest was now a bright brown form the rich green mixing with the orange sunlight. The sky went from a beautiful, slightly dark sky blue to a pale and then intense orange as it approached the horizon. Tak stared into the distance and watched as Alpha Centuri A slowly sunk into the horizon.

The team finally reached Hell’s Gate. As the Samsons touched down, a marine approached the landing zone and waited there. When the pilots cut the eingines and the whining sound of the rotors died, the marine ordered that Tak was to go and see Colonel Hilton. The day just seemed to get worse for Tak. Wasting no time, the marine escorted Tak to Colonel Hilton. The others looked confused but went back to unloading their science equipment. The marine took Tak up into the control tower where Colonel Hilton was standing at the 3D hologram map of the many areas of Pandora. The marine approached him and saluted him.

“Sir, as you’ve requested”
“Thankyou sergeant.” He replied. He looked over to Tak.
“Step into my office.” He said as he began to make his way in that direction. Tak followed.
Upon entering his office, Tak looked around. Colonel Hilton’s office was very tidy. On his desk were the usual things like pens, some paper and folders neatly stacked, an RDA mug, and of course, a box of Cuban cigars that had been brought over from earth. On the wall were framed awards and medals of all sorts. Colonel Hilton than began to speak.
“So, Dr. Takumi Ling, you’ve only been here for nearly a week and I’m already starting to hear things about you. I’ve read your profile, you seem like just an ordinary scientist. But I’ve been told otherwise. ” Tak continued to look at the things that were on the desk.

“It’s my understanding, that you got into an altercation with Sergeant Rolf Terry. Well it wasn’t really an altercation was it, since you didn’t say anything. It’s also my understanding that yesterday afternoon, two sergeants were knocked unconscious near the dining hall. Now, I’m not pointing the finger at anyone. Not yet. After all, I’m not the type who makes accusations without any evidence. But I am aware that these two men were with Sergeant Terry at the time of the incident in the dining hall yesterday morning. Like I said, I’m not pointing the finger at anyone, but I will say this. You need to watch yourself.”
Tak then looked into Colonel Hilton’s eyes. The sudden change in his tone had caused Tak to feel like he was being threatened. This he didn’t like at all. For Tak it was simple, make a threat and be ready to back it up with some action. Or else just don’t say anything. He could feel the anger building up inside again but he did his best to not show it. Colonel Hilton didn’t look very intimidating. His dark brown eyes, normal facial features and his not too thick moustache made him seem like the average guy. But looks can be deceiving. Colonel Hilton continued.

“Now, you may think so, but I’m not biased against scientists. I believe in fairness. I’ve already spoken to Sergeant Terry, and he is also aware that he needs to watch himself. But so do you. Anymore reports I get of you stepping out of line, and I guarantee that you will face the consequences. You are dismissed.”

Tak slowly walked out of the office and made his way to the lab. When he arrived, he was approached by the team. “What happened? What’s wrong?” asked Dr. Eileen. Tak closed his eyes and slightly shook his head to signify that nothing was wrong. Dr. Eileen really didn’t want to piss him off any further considering the bad day that he had. She left him alone and so did the others. Tak unpacked his science equipment, turned on the monitor at his desk and began to input the data into the database. He then took out the samples he had collected and stared at it. A lot was going through his mind now but he continued with his work.

[tm20]

Meanwhile, Dr. Eileen was working at her desk. She was correlating the data she had recorded with past data when she noticed that for the past few years, all she had been doing was going back and forth between Hell’s Gate and the natural Pandoran World just to keep an eye on some plants. Plants were interesting, but there was a lot more waiting for her out there. She had already met the Na’vi and even managed to get along quite well with them. But it was inconsistent. She wanted to be with them. No, she wanted to be one of them. She wanted to be surrounded by the natural beauty that Pandora had to offer. She wanted less time in here, and a lot more time out there. Not knowing what to do, but wanting to do something about it, she marched off to the control tower where Tak had just been. As she made her way she thought about what she was going to say.

She reached the main room of the control tower and saw Parker Selfridge discussing something with Colonel Hilton. She walked over to them and interrupted their conversation.
“Ahh, excuse me? Hi, sorry to interrupt but I would like to talk with…. Either you, or you.” Parker looked at Colonel Hilton with a confused look and then to Dr. Eileen. “Go on.” He said. Dr. Eileen continued. “Well, I was just in the lab studying the samples we collected today and.. it seems like we’ve made progress. Well, not us, but the plants….Because of the nearby base the nutrients in the soil has been changing over the years and it’s finally at a stage where the soil is similar to that of earth. I mean, pH levels are similar, nitrogen levels are similar and-”

Selfridge interrupted her “Yeah that’s great but can you just get to the point? I mean, do I look like a damn scientist to you?” After a short pause caused by Selfridge’s rudeness, Dr. Eileen continued. “The plants can pretty much be grown on earth, and possibly be used to detoxify the soil. But they’re not fully ready yet. Look, if I could continue studying these plants then I could most likely modify them so that they can be used back on earth. And of course, that means a bigger pay check for you.”

Selfridge raised one of his eyebrows and looked down at the 3D map, thinking about what she had just said. He then looked back up at her and stared for a while before saying something.
“So, what do you want?” he asked
“If I could move my team over to the FEBA then I could get you some results, some, very, valuable results. If you know what I mean.” She replied. Parker continued to stare at her as he was a bit suspicious about why she was telling him about this money making opportunity. Knowing Grace, he didn’t expect a scientist to let him know of such a thing.
“You’re not lying to me are you?” he asked.

Without any hesitation she replied in a calm manner. “No, of course I’m not” she said, but of course she was. She managed to fool Selfridge and get his approval of moving over to the FEBA. As Dr. Eileen left the room, Selfridge turned to Colonel Hilton. “I guess we can trust her. Besides, the fewer scientists, the fewer problems between them and your guys right?” said Selfridge. Colonel Hilton nodded but didn’t seem to care a lot.

Dr. Eileen returned to the lab and explained the deal she had just made with Selfridge to her team. At first the team seemed hesitant about going ahead with the deal. Dr. Isaac questioned her dare devil of a boss. “Are you sure? You do realize we’re going to have to give them something on a regular basis or else they’re eventually going to work out that we just lied to them so we could escape this place.” said Dr. Isaac. Dr. Eileen took in a deep breath and then answered. “Yeah, I know. But see, ever since first coming to this planet, I’ve only met with Selfridge a few times. He probably won’t even remember that we’re gone in a few weeks time. And besides, he probably likes the fact that there’s going to be fewer scientists around here. Anyway we’re going to be moving over there tomorrow so yeah, just thought I would let you guys know what’s happened. ” The others still seemed unsure about the decision but Tak couldn’t care less.

The next day, the team packed up their stuff, including their clothes and personal items, and moved them into 2 portable shacks. A Samson carried each shack while another carried a solar power generator over to the site. Dr. Eileen was in the same chopper as Tak. She decided to use the flight as an opportunity to try and get Tak to open up more.
“Hey, how you doing.” She asked Tak, who was looking out of the window at the forest and network of rivers below. Dr. Eileen continued with a calm voice, despite Tak not seeming to pay any attention to her.

“I know you’re not really good with, you know, talking to people and stuff. But it would be really good if you could try to, interact a bit more with the rest of us. You’re part of the team and so getting your input on the things we do would be really good. And you know, where we’re going, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of the Na’vi so it would bo good to see you interact with them, even if it’s just a bit.” She paused for a few seconds and ended. “Well, just think about it ok” she said.
Overhearing her and knowing she had finished, Alan asked her a question. “So Doc, this FEBA place, well, what does it even mean?”

“Forward Edge of the Battle Area. For years it’s been an intense war zone because the Na’vi clans have been putting up a hell of a fight. RDA’s been trying to gain control of the area because if they then they can expand their territory in hopes for more mining sites. Greedy bastards. Fortunately, there’s recently been a lot less fighting since Hilton redeployed most of the troops over to where a new mining site is getting started, so the Na’vi are taking it easy I guess. But the fight’s not over. As long as we humans occupy their land, they’re never going to give up.”

The Samsons made their way over to the site with the heavy loads they were carrying. In the distance, one of the very large hometrees could be seen towering over the forest canopy. Dr. Eileen requested to the pilot that they get taken deeper into the forest, further away from the FEBA base. Although the FEBA’s canopy was almost sealed with vegetation, they managed to find a hole in the canopy which was large enough for two Samsons to land in. The first two Samsons lowered the shacks next to each other, deeper into the forest while the last Samson lowered the solar generator into the open sunlight where it could function at maximum capacity. The science team was then let out and they began unpacking inside the shacks.

After an hour of unpacking their clothes, science equipment and setting up their own work spaces, Dr. Dale asked Tak to help him with connecting the cables from the generator to the shacks outside. He followed Dr. Dale to the cables. They got the cables and went outside. The warm sunshine felt good. It had been some time since Tak had been outside in his human form. Being inside the lab and the links for most of the day left him with little free time, which he spent down at the fitness room keeping fit. The sunshine breathed new life into him. Dr. Dale asked him to connect one side of the cable to the generator while he connected the other side to the shacks. Tak then activated the hydraulics for the solar panels to be positioned at the right angle for maximum insolation. He then pulled down the large lever to activate the generator. Inside the shacks, the air filtering system began and the scientists could finally take off their exopacks.

“It’s all good!” said Dr. Dale who then went back into the shacks. Tak decided to stay outside and absorb the sunlight. He stood there for minutes until his peace and quiet was disturbed by a sound that came from some nearby plants. He quickly turned around and looked to see the plants were shaking a bit.
“****, not this **** again.”

[tm20]

Chapter 6

Tak stared at the plants that were shaking. Something was obviously behind it and it was stalking him. He thought for a while as to how he should react. He decided to stay calm and continue to stare at the plants and at the gaps in between that weren’t covered by the thick growth of green. He looked away and turned to the shack to see what the others were doing inside, then turned back to look at the plants. That’s when he caught a glimpse of a pair of golden eyes looking back at him. The eyes were darker than the usual Na’vi eyes as the plants cast a shadow over them. The pair of eyes quickly disappeared and the plants shook vigorously as the thing, which was most likely a Na’vi, ran away. The fact that Tak was being stalked annoyed him so much that he decided to chase after it.

He rammed himself through the plants and chased the stalker who had already got a good head start. Tak ran as fast as he could and was catching up. He could soon see the shaking plants ahead as the stalker pushed them out of the way. Suddenly it yelled. Hearing the shriek, Tak knew it was definitely a Na’vi. He made his way through the last set of plants to see the Na’vi who had tripped, lying on the ground and desperately trying to get back up. But knowing it was useless in trying to escape, the Na’vi turned around and looked at Tak. It was a child, and it was very scared. Tak didn’t know what to think so he stared back at the child. The two stared at each other until Tak realized that he could calm down as the child posed no threat to him. He took a deep breath and exhaled while closing his eyes to show a sign of relief. Relieved that it wasn’t the same group of Na’vi he had run into previously, he walked back to the shacks.

It was in the middle of the day when Alpha Centuri was at its highest point in the sky, sending down a shower of warm sunlight onto the shacks below. After eating lunch the team decided to not do any work and relax outside for the day. After all, everybody loves the sunshine. However Tak decided to stay inside. As people travelling to Pandora were allowed to bring some personal items, Tak decided to sacrifice some of the more important things in order to bring the only thing that mattered to him: his electric guitar along with his small amp. He plugged the amp into one of the power sockets in the shack then plugged in his guitar into the amp. He then tuned his guitar and sat down on one of the lower bunk beds and started to play some blues. The soulful notes of his guitar echoed though both of the shacks. He closed his eyes and worked his fingers across the neck of the guitar.

Meanwhile, back outside, Dr. Eileen noticed that Tak wasn’t with the rest of them. She decided to go inside and see what he was up to. She opened the first door and waited for the Pandoran air to be filtered out. When she opened the second door she was hit by the amazing blues coming from the amp. She followed the sound and tracked down Tak to see him sitting on one of the beds. She walked over and stood in front of him, seeing the master performing live. Once Tak had finished one of the songs, he opened his eyes and saw Dr. Eileen standing in front of her.

“I didn’t know you brought that with you, not to mention that you’re that good. Blues fan eh?” She waited for an answer. Just when she thought he wouldn’t reply, Tak finally said something.
“Yeah, one of the many genres I like” Hearing Tak finally reply put a small smile on Dr. Eileen’s face. She continued with their conversation.

“So tell me, because I really am curious, why are you so….. quiet?” There was a moment of silence until she decided to re ask her question. “I mean, you know. Obviously you don’t say much. I just want to know why.” Tak thought about the question for a while then finally let out an answer.
“I don’t know, that’s just me… I guess”

Dr. Eileen could easily detect the lack of thought in his answer. “Well, there must be a reason why you don’t talk a lot. Maybe it’s because you don’t trust people? Or maybe something happened in the past? If something is bothering you than you can talk to me about it OK? I will listen.” Tak closed his eyes and placed his face into one of his hands while resting it on his knee. He then continued “I’ve always been like this”
“So how did it start?”
“I don’t know, probably from when I was little. I would always hear my parents arguing. That just made me not want to talk to them. And at school I didn’t talk to anyone else either.”
“I see” said Dr. Eileen in a sympathetic way. She was getting a feeling that Tak had a rough time during his childhood. “So how was school for you?” she asked.
“Well……..it was alright, I guess.” He said. Dr. Eileen was glad that he was talking a lot more than usual, but she wanted to know more. She asked him to explain further.

“I enjoyed most of my subjects during primary and high school. Maths and science were the best. English was pretty boring, but sometimes it was ok. History was… I guess it was ok. PE, I hated PE.” Surprised, Dr. Eileen asked why.
“Oh, really? Why? Everyone loves PE” she said. Tak shook his head and explained why. “My PE teacher was a ****en dick. Everyone loved him. I guess he thought it would be fun to pick on the quiet kid. I always skipped PE and just went somewhere quiet and read my magazines”
“He didn’t get angry?”
“He did and eventually I had to go to a class, so that day he decided to confront me about skipping PE. He then grabbed me by my shirt and so I removed his grip and threw him on the ground. I also decided to follow him to his home after school and I stood outside staring at his house. l guess he got scared because although I was suspended, after that he didn’t say anything about me skipping his classes. ”
“Wow, you really………… stood up for yourself ha?” She now understood why he stood up to Sergeant Terry in the dining hall days ago. “So…. how did you find school apart from the things you learned?” she asked.

“I hated it. I hated everyone. Most people always said things about me and always judged me but they didn’t even get to know me. Some people did, but that’s only because they wanted me to help them with their maths or science work. I did because I thought they were a friend but turns out they were just another ****ing ******* using someone to their advantage. Well, it only happened a few times.”
“I guess you learned not to trust the wrong people eh?”
“No not really, but one of the guys who got me to pretty much do his maths homework really annoyed me. I just looked at his face and felt like beating the **** out of him. So I did, I think he got brain damage or something. Yeah… well after that no one asked for my help.”

Not knowing what to say Dr. Eileen paused for a while and asked him about his time during university. Tak gave a brief answer. “Same ****, different people” Dr. Eileen thought of everything she had just learned about Tak. She now understood why he was who he was. Although she still had a lot to learn about him, she knew that it was about time he met the clan. She went back outside and called for Dr. Isaac’s assistance. She then returned to tak.

[tm20]

“Come on, let’s go” She said. Not knowing what was going on, Tak followed her and they both got into the links. Dr. Isaac prepared the links and they were soon in their Avatars that were lying back at Hell’s Gate. Dr. Eileen requested one of the helicopter pilots to take them back to their shacks. Once they landed, she took Tak on about a 20 minute walk through the thic forest. On the way Tak saw all sorts of plants, small animals and insects. The place was warm and humid. They followed a river which was very shallow and wide. Aquatic plants were growing from the river bed. Small fish could be seen swimming between the plants. The river, the explosion of plants and creatures and the thick forest canopy above made this place seem unreal. They departed from the river and went into the vegetation. The two finally reached an area where there seemed to be less plants. Na’vi could be seen collecting leaves and fruits from trees while children played with each other. Other Na’vi could be see carrying the animals they had hunted. In the background the base of a very large hometree could be seen. The two entered the area and were soon greeted by children who ran towards them. Dr. Eileen stopped to greet them with a smile. A few of the Na’vi stopped their activities to look at the familiar face, and the new one. The two of them continued to the base of the hometree. A Na’vi wearing a simple head garment made from feathers and an animal bone with all sorts of decorations in his braids and the usual Na’vi attire approached Dr. Eileen.

“Oel Ngati Kameie” said Dr. Eileen.
“It is good to see you Gillian” said the Na’vi. “It’s good to see you too Olo’eyktan” said Dr. Eileen. He then turned to Tak. “Ah, a new face I see.” Dr. Eileen then introduced the two to each other.
“Olo’eyktan, this is Tak. He is new here and has been assigned to my team. Tak, this is Olo’eyktan. He is the leader of the Takahayo clan.”
Tak didn’t know what to say so he just slightly bowed his head to the Olo’eyktan. Then the Olo’eyktan and Dr. Eileen began to talk in Na’vi.
“I assume he knows our language, just like the rest of your kind?” said the Olo’eyktan.
“Yes he does. But I have not heard him speak it yet” replied Dr. Eileen.
The Olo’eyktan then turned to Tak and looked at him for a few seconds before turning back to Dr. Eileen. “He is different from the others. Your people are very interesting to learn about. Maybe this one will be the same.”
Dr. Eileen laughed a bit “Yes, he is quiet. But a good worker”
The Olo’eyktan smiled a little and then continued to speak.” Please, show him around the place.”

Dr. Eileen took Tak on a tour of the Takahayo clan’s home. She showed him the various parts of the hometree from the ground, the various duties of the people within the clan and some of the plants and animals that happened to be nearby. The children who were playing came rushing back, eager to talk to Dr. Eileen and the new Dreamwalker who was with her. They were yelling out their questions to Dr. Eileen.

“What are you doing here?! Can you play with us?! Who’s the new person?! When can we go back to the school?! Can he play with us?!” Overwhelmed by the amount of questions, Dr. Eileen couldn’t help but laugh and smile at the children. Tak found children to be very annoying back on earth. The children here weren’t too different, but were not as bad. He decided to walk away and sit on a log that was overgrown with moss and fungi. He looked over to Dr. Eileen who was playing with the children. They were chasing each other. Some of them were wearing masks. Tak then noticed a child standing not too far from him. The child was staring at him. It was a small boy. Tak instantly recognized him as the Na’vi who he had chased earlier in the day. However the boy didn’t recognize him. Just like before, the two stared at each other. The little boy then suddenly ran away. Dr. Eileen noticed that Tak was sitting alone on the log. She jogged over to him.

“What’s wrong? Don’t want to join us? I could use a rest you know, these kids are a handful!”
Tak shook his head and waved his hand to signify a no thanks. Dr. Eileen then sat down next to him. Watching the children play happily, she then began to talk. “You know, sometimes I ask myself why us humans decide to trade this for the lives we live now. I guess we’ll never know. Do you?” She looked over to Tak to which he replied by shaking his head to say no. That’s when three Na’vi men walked past but stopped as they seemed to realize something. Dr. Eileen looked at them then stood up.

“Oh, hey.” She said. “Tak, this is Aketuan, Bakteyo and Tsuwokan. You met them yesterday, but…. I thought I would properly introduce you to them.” Tak looked up from where he was sitting and then looked back down. Tsuwokan did the same then walked away.
“Well this is akward…….” Said Dr. Eileen. She then began to talk to the other two Na’vi men in Na’vi.
“Sorry about yesterday, I should have told him not to go too far. It is my fault. Hopefully you can forgive him Aketuan.” She said
“Yes, I understand. But Tsuwokan is not happy.” Replied Aketuan.
“Yes I know, I am very sorry. And to you as well Bakteyo, it was my fault. Please do forgive my friend here. He was just trying to do his work. He does not mean any hostility towards you and your people. I thought it would be good to introduce him to your people. I did not want him to think badly of you and your people after what happened yesterday.”
Bakteyo looked at Tak and then back at Dr. Eileen. “Let’s hope that does not happen again.” He said.

Dr. Eileen continued to speak with the two Na’vi. Not interested in listening, Tak walked away. He found another river nearby, but it was smaller. There were hardly any large plants, just grass. He sat down by the river and stared at the water as it flowed. He then noticed someone to his right. It was the small boy who had run away from him earlier sitting down as well. For the third time of the day the two of them stared at each other for a little while before going back to watching the calm river flow.

[Human No More]

Sorry I didn't get a chance to read this before now...

Great story, I'm really liking it, I want moar

[tm20]

i didn't fix the typos in the lat chapter -_- FFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUU

I'll start chapter 7 now since it's quite a boring saturday morning

*OK fixed, and thanks for reading my story There's another person on AF who's reading it as well. So looks like I'm writing this for a total of 2 people XD and to also develop my writing skills which aren't that great

[tm20]

Chapter 7

The next day the team decided to continue their work on the Anemonids in the area. However, because the shacks only had three links, only Dr. Eileen and two other scientists could go. Dr. Isaac ran to the second link while the remaining two scientists fought each other for the last one. Dr. Dale and Dr. Brent finally settled it with a game of scissors, paper, rock which ended in Dr. Dale getting the last link. Accepting his defeat, Dr. Brent setup the links and the three woke up in their Avatars. They opened their eyes and felt discomfort as they had slept on the ground for the night. Alan was waiting to escort them. Stretching their muscles, they walked to the river and washed their faces and picked some fruits from plants and ate them. Feeling refreshed, they walked to the area they had been to the day before and continued their research.

Back at the shack, Tak was observing samples under the microscope and recording his observations. One benefit of his anti social behaviour was that he got a lot of work done. Since arriving on Pandora, he had already made a very good impression on Dr. Eileen in terms of his work. Tak was very autistic like in the sense that he would continue working until he finished it all or until someone told him to stop. His concentration couldn’t be broken by anything. This continued from the morning, through lunch while he ate his sandwich, until afternoon when he had finally finished observing all the samples, recording his observations with drawings and pages of notes and inputting data into databases on the computer. With nothing to do, he went to his bed where his personal items were stowed underneath and took out his drawing book. He liked to draw in his free time whenever he wasn’t playing his guitar or reading magazines. Not knowing what to draw, he stared at the blank page. The lucky individuals got out from their links and discussed the great time they had while making their way to the food cabinet for some lunch. Everyone then sat at the table in the shack with all the accommodative things while Tak was still staring at the blank page in the shack with all the scientific equipment. Noticing his absence from the group, Dr. Eileen walked to the “lab” and saw Tak sitting at his desk.

“What are you doing?” she asked.
“Nothing” replied Tak.
Dr. Eileen still wanted him to talk more and socialise with the rest of the science team and with the people. She decided to first learn more about him though and decided to continue with her questions
“So tell me more about yourself.” Tak didn’t know where to begin. His silence along with his confused look showed this so Dr. Eileen decided to be more specific.

“Where are you from? You’re accent doesn’t sound American to me.”
“I was born in Australia. My mother is Japanese and my father is Cantonese. About 30 years ago RDA started to buy a lot of the companies in Asia and both my parents lost their jobs because they weren’t needed so they moved to Australia where there was still an opportunity for employment. They both ended up working for the financial department of the RDA where they met.”
“I see, so RDA pretty much forced them out of their homes ha?” Tak nodded slowly.
“So you grew up there? In Australia?” she asked. Tak nodded again and elaborated.
“Yeah I grew up in Sydney which was where the head RDA office for Australia was established. Hard to imagine that Sydney once used to be a nice place.”
Not knowing a lot about Sydney, Dr. Eileen asked what she meant by this. “What do you mean?”
“Back in the 21st century Sydney was clean. It wasn’t overrun by factories and rubbish and pollution. It started to rapidly expand about 130 years ago because of the rising population. Many refugees came from the war torn Asian countries. The growing population lead to rapid urban development and the Sydney basin’s forests were soon cleared to make way for houses, factories and business districts. The homes along the coasts and around Sydney harbour were all destroyed for sea ports. Casinos, clubs and hotels also began to increase in numbers as Sydney grew as an industrial city. Humans pretty much ****ed the whole country up, Sydney was one of the most affected cities.”

Slightly shocked at what she had just heard, Dr. Eileen spoke.
“Wow, I never knew that. I’m not surprised that RDA came because eventually they’re going to take over the world. But I just didn’t know Sydney changed so quickly. I’m sure it was a beautiful place once, just like the rest of the country…… So what was it like growing up Sydney?”
Tak closed his sketch book and answered the question. “Not very interesting, just like the rest of the ****ty planet. I didn’t go outside a lot when I was little because there was nothing to do. It was all warehouses and factories around my neighbourhood.”
“What was living at home like?”
“Pretty ****. Every day I would go to school, come back, do my homework then listen to my parents argue at dinner then return to my room and just do stuff until I was tired. Just the same **** every day.” His explanation of his dull life back on earth was emphasised by his dull, emotionless voice. He spoke like a person who just didn’t give a **** about anything.

After he had answered her questions, Dr. Eileen thought about how much he had spoken to her compared to a few days ago and was surprised. He was making progress. Dr. Eileen decided to return to the table with the other and finish her lunch. After she left, Tak looked out the window and thought about what earth had become. Then all sorts of negative thoughts towards humans began to arise. Just when a new Tak was beginning to develop, the old misanthropic Tak was slowly crawling back. However before anymore negativity could fill his mind, Dr. Eileen returned to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s go.” She said. Again, Tak wasn’t sure where she was going to take him. Back to the Takahayo clan maybe? He would soon find out. Dr. Eileen called for the help of Dr. Isaac to setup the links. Tak hopped into one while Dr. Eileen hopped into the other. They closed the lids and went through the rainbow tunnel which brought them to their Avatars. Dr. Eileen had just been in hers so she was quick to get up whereas Tak hadn’t been in his since the day before. Like the others, he woke up feeling very stiff and uncomfortable. He managed to get up onto his feet and stretch. He then followed Dr. Eileen along the nearby river and again, through some thick growth of plants to the Takahayo hometree.

Dr. Eileen was again greeted by children happy to see her. But this time she smiled at him before leaving him on his own to go and play with the children. Tak really didn’t know why he was here, but it was better than being stuck inside a shack. He walked around the place while being stared at by the locals who were not familiar with him. He hated people staring at him but he did his best to ignore it. After a while of ignoring the stares, he felt like he was not welcome. Not wanting to attract any more bad attention, he walked to the same river he had sat by the day before. And not to his surprise he saw the same little boy sitting at the same place. He looked lonely as he had his head down. He also had a mask next to him on the ground. As soon as Tak sat down, the boy noticed his presence and ran away but forgot his mask. Tak crawled over to the mask and picked it up to have a look at it. It was made from wood and had a strap on the back that was made from plant fibres. It was well crafted and had tribal patterns carved into it. It looked very cool. He sat there examining this amazing piece of art for quite a while.

[tm20]

Dr. Eileen had decided to look for Tak and soon found him sitting by the river. She sat down next to him. “How’s it going?” she asked. Tak didn’t reply as he was still looking at the mask. Dr. Eileen then also looked at it. “Wow, that’s beautiful. Looks a bit small for you though. The children love to play games wearing these masks. They’re meant to represent the many warriors that exist in a tribe. I’m not too sure what this one’s meant to be. Maybe a Thanator rider?”

Tak then stood up and walked back to where the children were playing. He spotted the boy who had left his mask watching the other children play from a distance. He seemed upset as he couldn’t find his mask and therefore not being able to join in on the fun. Tak walked over to the boy. Hearing his footsteps, the boy turned around to see a giant towering over him. Tak then slowly handed him his mask. The boy hesitated but eventually took it out of his big blue hands. He looked at the mask, holding it with both hands then looked up at Tak. The boy stared in awe. This dreamwalker was different. He was taller, more muscular and just looked so cool. The boy then looked back down to his mask and smiled. He was happy to have it back. The boy ran away with joy but instead of joining the other children in their game, he ran back into the hometree and up the central spiral core. Dr. Eileen was watching the whole thing from a distance. And she was very happy. He had finally connected with one of the people. This was a good start. She walked over to Tak and smiled at him for what he had just done. “That was kind of you.” She said. As Tak was facing Dr. Eileen, he could see in the distance that Tsuwokan was staring at him. Tsuwokan then stopped staring at him and walked away as if he was disgusted. For the rest of their time there, Dr. Eileen explained to Tak the Na’vi way of life while showing him the many daily activities that were going on around them.

When Dr. Eileen and Tak returned to the shacks, they saw that their Avatar beds and some tents had been dropped off. Dr. Dale came outside with an exopack.
“They arrived! No more sleeping on the hard ground eh?.” said Dr. Eileen happily.
“Yep, and since you guys are in your Avatars, and there’s no way we can set up these Avatar sized tents, we thought we’d leave it up to you two to set them up.” replied Dr. Dale. Just as Dr. Eileen was about to say something Dr. Dale interrupted her.
“OK THANKS!” he said, and ran back into the shacks. With no choice, Dr. Eileen and Tak began to position the beds and setup the tents over them. They weren’t very big but they were large enough to shelter the beds from any bugs and possible predators, not that they would provide much protection. Once everything had been set up, the two carried the other three Avatars by their arms and legs onto their beds then finally jumped onto their own beds and called it a day.

From that day it became a daily routine. Alan would escort Dr. Eileen and two scientists to go out and collect data from plants in different areas and bring back samples while Tak stayed in the shacks and continued research on the samples while also doing all sorts of work on the computer. After lunch, Dr. Eileen would take Tak to the Takahayo hometree so he could try and socialize with the people. He wasn’t making any progress with anyone except with the boy who he returned the mask to. The two would draw pictures in the dirt with sticks, make Pandoran animals with twigs, leaves and plant fibres, try and catch insects and observe them and climb trees to try and pick the delicious fruits that grew from them. Even though Tak was a hard worker and at times a serious person, he was still a child. Over the years, college and work had kept the inner child locked up but now the inner child was free. Despite his friendliness to at least one of the Na’vi, Tsuwokan still didn’t like his presence at all. He would feel anger and uncertainty at the sight of Tak. After all, how could he trust this dreamwalker who tried to kill him previously when he was the one who trespassed on Takahayo land? Although Tsuwokan didn’t trust Tak, the rest of the people didn’t seem to mind him.

It had been a week since Tak began to get along with the little boy. One afternoon when Tak entered the Takahayo clan’s area, the little boy spotted him. He immediately ran up the hometree and came back down with something in his hand. He ran towards Tak and gave him something. Tak accepted the gift with both hands. He was amazed. It was a mask, and it looked very cool. It covered the whole face. The eyes looked angry. It had very smooth carvings across the cheek and mouth areas. The area over the nose had been slightly pushed outwards to make way for Tak’s nose while the area over the mouth had vertical slits which mimicked the fangs of the Na’vi. The strap was made not from plant fibres, but from some sort of animal skin that was stretchy. The mask looked very aggressive. And being made from the unique Pandoran wood, it was quite flexible. Tak was overwhelmed. He hadn’t received a gift in a very long time from anyone. He put it on and it fitted perfectly. The boy smiled as his creation came to life. It looked so perfect on Tak. He took off the mask and looked at the boy. And for the first time in a very long time he gave an emotion driven smile. The two hadn’t said a word to each other since meeting, yet they managed to create a friendship. Dr. Eileen couldn’t believe what she was seeing, but she was extremely happy for Tak.

The boy was also in for a suprise as Tak had brought along his sketch book and some pencils. The two sat down on the moss covered log and Tak opened the sketch book which looked like a notepad in his big blue Avatar hands. He then took out a pencil from his pocket and started to scribble. The boy was fascinated by this as his eyes widened and a smile grew on his face. Tak gave him a pencil and they began to draw all sorts of things around them. Dr. Eileen walked over to the Olo’eyktan and looked over to Tak and the boy.

“Amazing isn’t it. Just over a week ago he wasn’t talking to anyone.” Dr. Eileen and the Olo’eyktan watched as Tak and the little boy drew things in the sketch book. But their fun didn’t last long. Suddenly a hunter came running from the distance. As he was running he was calling for the Olo’eyktan in Na’vi.
“Olo’eyktan! Olo’eyktan! It is very bad!” The hunter rested his hands on his knees while trying to catch his breath. “What is it?” asked the Olo’eyktan.
“It is very bad! The skypeople, they have captured the others! They are going to kill them!”

[tm20]

Chapter 8

People began to worry as they discussed the situation with each other. Soon all the people within the area were showing signs of panic. The Olo’eyktan tried to calm everyone down but it didn’t seem to work. Tsuwokan then walked to the Olo’eyktan and yelled out loud.

“SILENCE! Olo’eyktan wishes to speak.” He said. He then bowed his head to the Olo’eyktan as a sign for continuing to speak.
“Thank you Tsuwokan. Now everybody, calm down. As far as we know they have been captured, not killed. However we do not have a lot of time. We will have to go and rescue them, it is a dangerous task but it is a risk we must take.” Tsuwokan then stepped forward and called for people to join him.
“Anyone who wishes to join me, step forward.” he said.
Dr. Eileen felt uncomfortable with this idea and began to talk quietly with the Olo’eyktan.

“Olo’eyktan, please do not let this happen. More of your people will die. I am a dreamwalker, I can reason with them. Please, let me do this. Enough of your people have died already.”
The Olo’eyktan looked at her. His facial expression showed that he was thinking about what she had just said. He then closed his eyes and sighed. “Olo’eyktan please, let me do this” said Dr. Eileen. After a moment of further thinking, the Olo’eyktan walked over to Tsuwokan and placed his hand on his shoulder. With a calm voice, he told him to not go ahead with the plan. Tsuwokan turned around and looked angry. He then looked at Dr. Eileen. He knew what had been said.

“YOU! You do not make decisions! Go away!” said Tsuwokan. He was slightly being held back by the Olo’eyktan. Dr. Eileen didn’t reply. She didn’t have to. After what happened two years ago she couldn’t let anymore of the Takahayo people die. It would only bring back the grief. The Olo’eyktan gently pushed Tsuwokan back and looked him in the eye. “I understand how you feel” he said in a soft voice. He then continued in a louder voice. “You will go and rescue the people, but Dr. Eileen will lead the way.” He then turned to Dr. Eileen. “Please be careful, Gillian” he said. Dr. Eileen nodded and began to make her way out of the area. Tsuwokan and a few warriors, including Bakteyo and Aketuan, followed her lead. As she was jogging, Dr. Eileen tried to look for Tak but he was nowhere to be seen.

Tak had already made it more than half way back to the shacks. Once he got there, he went to his tent and got his back pack. He emptied the bag and filled it with medical supplies. He also put the mask in. After finding his hunting knife, he then ran back to the river and followed it as if he was going back to hometree. Instead of diverging from the river, he continued to follow it a bit further and then made his way into the thick growth. Judging by the direction that the hunter had come from, he headed in that direction in search for the captured Na’vi group. As he ran through the forest he started to question himself about his actions in his mind.

“You stupid mother****er, do you know what you’re getting yourself into? Nope, but I guess I’m about to find out. Dumb ****! You’re already on a warning from the colonel! What are you going to do if he finds out about what you’re about to do? Good question, what am I about to do?”

After running for quite some time, he noticed that there were a few medium sized animals. He had seen a few Hexapedes and Tapiruses. The Na’vi did hunt these for food. Was he near? He sure was. Walking a few more steps to come up to a thick wall of plants, he peeped through the gaps to see four Na’vi hunters lying on the ground. They looked like they were in pain as they tried to get up on to their feet. He also heard some talking and laughter. Four RDA soldiers were circling them as they tortured the Na’vi. One of the Na’vi looked up at one of the soldiers and gave him a death stare. He was then hit in the head by the stock of the gun. The soldiers laughed.

“HAHAHAHAHA, stupid mother****en blue monkeys! God damn I love this job!” said one of the soldiers. He kneeled down beside the Na’vi. “I think I’m going to kill you now.” he said. Tak had to do something quick. He opened his bag and took out his mask. He looked at it. The mask looked back at him. He felt like it was trying to tell him something. Was he given this mask for a reason? Who knows, but he knew what had to be done. He took off his shirt and kept his black singlet on. He then picked up some dirt from the ground and rubbed it around his eyes and on his arms to darken the area. He put on the mask and got out his knife. Not knowing how this was going to end, he shook one of the plants. The soldiers heard it.

“What the **** was that?” said the soldier kneeling down. He ordered another to go and check it out. Tak was waiting to the side with his knife. The soldier’s gun poked through the plants, and so did the soldier. He quickly turned to the left and the right. Too late. Tak grabbed his gun, pulled him forward and jammed the knife deep into the soldier’s throat. The soldier didn’t even have time to yell. Tak finished him off by pulling out the knife and repeatedly stabbed him in the throat. More blood poured out with every stab. He picked up the gun and held it like it was a toy. The other soldiers were getting very suspicious as they hadn’t heard a reply. They all decided to hold their positions. Tak took aim at one soldier. He then pulled the trigger. A clean headshot. He quickly ran to another section of the wall as the soldiers opened fire.

“****! Where the **** did that come from?!” yelled a soldier. The remaining two were now circling with their guns, trying to look for the killer. Tak took aim again at another soldier. Slowly exhaling, he pulled the trigger. Another clean headshot. He then ran to a tree and hid behind the trunk. The last soldier opened fire on the whole wall of plants. His frustration and fear was building up.

“****EN SHOW YOURSELF!” he yelled. The birds in the canopy flew away from his yell. As they did, they caused the branches above to make noise. The soldier was easily distracted by this and aimed his gun in the air. Tak took this short moment to aim and fire at the soldier. He hit the soldier, but it wasn’t a headshot. The bullet entered the soldier’s neck and exited through the other side. The soldier dropped his gun to seal both wounds with his hands. He collapsed to the ground and gasped as he was slowly dying. Tak walked over to the soldier and switched his gun to automatic. He stood over the extremely scared soldier and pointed the gun in his face. He emptied the clip as blood and glass from the exopack flew everywhere. The soldier was unrecognizable as all that remained was a shredded pile of skin, flesh and bone drenched in blood. The hunters were scared even though this stranger had saved them. Tak walked around to every Na’vi and inspected their injuries. They had all been shot but it was nothing serious. He bandaged their wounds and helped them sit up. The last Na’vi he bandaged was saying something to him in Na’vi.

“She went that way. Please…..help her” he said, pointing in a direction. Tak put the roll of bandage in his pocket, picked up the clips of ammo from the ground and ran in the pointed direction. He ran until he saw a large, arched tree trunk that formed a natural bridge. He also saw three dead bodies. Human bodies. Two of them had arrows sticking out of them while the other was covered in blood.

[tm20]

It was an open area so he had to be careful. He crept up to the trunk and looked to the side to see a female Na’vi lying on the ground. She was crawling to try and get something. An RDA soldier followed her slowly. He kicked her and she painfully screamed. She rolled over onto her back as she stared at the soldier. Tak walked up the arched tree trunk. The soldier pointed the barrel of his gun to the Na’vi female’s face. She continued to stare back at him until something else caught her attention. A large figure was standing on the tree trunk and was looking down. Just as the soldier was about to execute her, Tak jumped down and stood behind him. The soldier heard him land and turned around quickly. Tak grabbed his gun and kicked him hard, sending him flying a few meters. He then walked over to the soldier and stepped on his face, breaking the exopack and his skull. Tak left his foot there for a while before making his way back to the injured Na’vi female. She was badly wounded with multiple gun shots to the leg, waist and back. Tak kneeled down beside her and took out the roll of bandage. As he did, the Na’vi grabbed her knife and tried to stab him but Tak grabbed her by the wrist and stopped her. She continued to try but gave up as her strength was running out. She lay there, staring into Tak’s eyes. Partly blinded by the little sunlight which got through the canopy, all she could see was a pair of eyes behind a mask. His gold eyes were heavily shadowed but stood out from the dirt on his face. Tak bandaged her and picked her up. He carried her in his arms while making his way back to the other Na’vi. On the way the female Na’vi had passed out due to all her energy been used in fighting the RDA soldiers and the amount of blood she had lossed.

Tak finally reached the area where the others had been waiting. However Dr. Eileen and the others had got there before he had. Not wanting to be caught, he left the Na’vi in an open area for her to be found by the others. He then ran away back to the shacks. On the way he stopped by the river to wash the dirt off his face and arms and the blood off his hands. He put his shirt back on and continued back to the shacks. Dr. Eileen noticed the Na’vi had already been bandaged. She asked one of the hunters who helped them. “I do not know. I did not see his face, but he saved us all.” replied the hunter. She then walked around to the others and made sure they were not in need of serious medical attention. She then inspected the dead human bodies. Two of them head a gunshot wound to the head. She walked over to the third body. She was extremely disturbed by what she saw. The heavily disfigured face, or rather what was left of it, made her a bit sick to her stomach. She closed her eyes and walked away.

When Tak got back to the shacks, he went inside his tent and emptied his bag. He returned the medical supplied to where he found them and put the mask inside the box under his bed. He then packed his bag with the scientific equipment in an attempt to hide all evidence of what he had just done. Lying on his bed with his eyes closed, waiting to awake in his human body, Tak thought about what he was going to say to Dr. Eileen if he was questioned. He woke up inside the link. He pushed open the lid to see Dr. Brent standing by the link.

“How was it?” he asked.
“Something happened” replied Tak.
“What do you mean, what happened?” asked Dr. Brent.
Tak shrugged his shoulders and walked to his bunk bed.

Back at hometree, Dr. Eileen and the others were carrying the injured hunters up the spiral core to the first level so they could be treated. She helped to treat the wounded. While doing so she asked more questions about what had happened. All of them told her the same thing, an anonymous Na’vi, obviously a dreamwalker because of the clothing, had killed the soldiers, bandaged their wounds and set off to search for the last member of the hunting group. After treating the injured, Dr. Eileen returned to the shacks. When she woke up from her link she was asked by the others about what had happened. “I’ll explain later, where’s Tak?” she asked. After being told he was lying on his bed, she walked over to him to ask a few questions.

“Hey, where did you go to?” she said.
“…… here…..” replied Tak in a calm manner.
“Oh ok…. I just don’t understand why you left.”
“I heard what happened, so I thought I would run back here to get some medical supplies, but when I got back to hometree you had left, so I decided to return here”
Tak’s extremely calm manner was very convincing. Dr. Eileen didn’t suspect he had anything to do with the rescuing of the hunters, or the murder of the soldiers.
“That was thoughtful of you. But we really had to go, well anyway, luckily we found them. They were ok. Some stranger helped them and bandaged their wounds.” she said. Tak didn’t reply and continued to read notes he had made on his research.

Later that night during dinner Dr. Eileen explained what had happened to everyone. After dinner Tak decided to return to his bed and play his guitar while the others continued to discuss what Dr. Eileen had told them. Dr. Eileen decided to return to hometree to see how the injured were doing. She entered hometree and was greeted by a few people.

“How are they doing?” she asked. “They are resting.” replied a Na’vi. Dr. Eileen made her way to where the injured were resting. They were asleep from the plants and herbs they had taken, a side effect of the medicine that accelerates healing. However one of the hunters was still not asleep. Dr. Eileen walked over to see it was the badly wounded female that Tak had saved. She hadn’t talked to her yet as she was unconscious when she was found. Dr. Eileen sat down next to her.

“Hey, are you ok?” she asked. The female Na’vi nodded slowly with a small smile.
“What happened?” asked Dr. Eileen.
“We were attacked. I escaped but they chased me. I killed three of them but I was hurt. I was going to die. But then he came and saved me.” Replied the female Na’vi in a soft voice.
“Who?” asked Dr. Eileen.
Not knowing who it was but feeling very thankful and lucky to be alive, the female Na’vi gave Dr. Eileen another small smile before closing her eyes to get some rest.

[Txum_kali'weya]

wow... i don't read this enough...

[tm20]

Originally Posted by Txum_kali'weya

wow... i don't read this enough...

thankyou however my exams start next week so i must study, the next chapter will have to wait.

[tm20]

ok, i thought i wouldn't be posting this until atleast next week but i mamanged to find time to finish it so here it is...

Chapter 9

When Tak woke up the next day, he stayed in his bed thinking about the crazy **** he had got himself into. Looking at the top of the bunk bed, he began to question himself just like when he was running to help the Na’vi. “What the **** have you done Tak?” he said to himself in his mind. But this time he didn’t know how to answer his own question. Not only did he betray his own race, but he had killed five people. But this probably wasn’t the first time he had killed someone. All those fights he got into back on earth always ended in a bloody mess. And by the way he would finish off his opponents, some of them probably died. Tak never started a fight, but he would always end one. But in the western suburbs of Sydney where crime rates were extremely high, a dead body was nothing special. Police did a poor job at solving homicides as they saw it as a big help in reducing overpopulation. And besides, it’s the western suburbs, so who gives a ****.

While laying in his bed, Dr. Eileen walked past him and saw that his eyes were open. She walked back to him and sat on his bed next to him. “Hey, you’re finally awake.” she said. Still thinking about what happened the day before, she decided to question Tak more as his answers seemed very brief.
“So, about yesterday... where did you go to after we left you behind?” Tak answered her question, again with short answers.
“Here” he said.
“Well I was talking to Dr. Dale before and he said you got back not too long before me. Did you go somewhere?”
“Yeah, I went for a walk.”
Dr. Eileen was now a bit suspicious. If he had gone for a walk then why didn’t he tell her so the day before? And if he got back not too long before she had then could he have been the one who murdered the soldiers? Not wanting to lose his trust, Dr. Eileen decided to stop asking questions.
“Oh ok, how was it?” she asked, trying to change the topic.
“It was nice, I like this place a lot” replied Tak. Dr. Eileen smiled after hearing the first positive comment from him. “Well, time to get up!” she said, and walked back to her desk. Tak stared at the top of the bunk bed for another minute before getting out of bed.

It was just before noon while everyone was working at their desks. The scientists were continuing with their research while Alan read through some of the outdated science magazines. The sound of rotors could be heard coming from outside. Everyone but Tak went to look out the window. A soldier hopped out of the Samson and walked towards the shacks. He then entered the first door and knocked. After being let in he called for everyone to gather.
“Alright people listen up, Colonel Hilton has called for an urgent meeting with everyone so I need you to make your way to the chopper. You will be transported to the FEBA base where the meeting will be broadcasted. Do not waste my time! Let’s go!”

Without questioning the soldier, everyone got an exopack and made their way outside to the Samson. They got on and took off, heading for the FEBA base. The team kept quiet on the trip as they knew what this was about but risked getting into trouble as they did not report it. Dr. Eileen tried to act like she knew absolutely nothing and asked the soldier what this was all about.
“So why is the colonel calling a meeting?” she asked.
“10 dead bodies were found this morning in the FEBA. Not too far from where you’re posted at. We thought it was just another fight between us and the monkeys until we recovered bullets in three of them. The colonel suspects there’s a traitor working for the blue skins.” he replied.

The team arrived at the FEBA base. They entered the main building and made their way to the hall. It was full of soldiers, mechanics and the base staff. After finding a place to sit, the meeting began to broadcast from Hell’s Gate. Colonel Hilton appeared on the large screen and he began to talk.

“This morning, ten dead bodies were found deep in the forward edge of the battle area. Although no bodies of the natives were recovered from the site, we do believe it was an attack by them. However, after close examination, three of the bodies were found to have gunshot wounds. THIS, was not done by the natives. It was done by one of us.” Colonel Hilton paused for a brief moment before he continued. “I want you to, take a good look, at the people around you. One or more of them, could be the traitor. These people have decided to turn their backs on us, and on the entire human race, in order to help the natives that we fight so very hard every day, in order to survive.” Colonel Hilton was furious. However this didn’t show as he did an excellent job keeping his composure. “I urge every single one of you to keep your eyes and ears open for any suspicious individuals or groups. If you see or hear anything that you suspect is linked to what we are dealing with, report it STRAIGHT AWAY.” His voice and tone was very dominating. It made innocent people question themselves to the point where they would go insane and admit to their false crimes. “And finally, to whoever you are, you’ve made a BIG mistake. It’s only a matter of time before I find you. And when I do, I’m going to make you wish you had never stepped foot on this place. You are a traitor and you will be punished.”

Colonel Hilton walked out of the camera to end the meeting. Back at the FEBA base everyone was walking out of the hall. On their way to the exit, Dr. Eileen and Tak were stopped by soldiers.
“Dr. Eileen, I need you to come with me back to Hell’s Gate. Colonel Hilton has requested to meet you. Dr. Ling, you are required to undertake mandatory weapons training. Our records show you haven’t begun this so you’ll need to proceed to the firing range to do so.” Tak followed another soldier to the firing range while Dr. Eileen was taken to the chopper waiting outside. The rest of the team were left behind. “So what do we do?” asked Dr. Isaac. The others shrugged. Tak was taken to the firing range. It was located outside and had targets lined up behind a small man made hill. Tak was explained on how to handle a pistol. The supervisor explained the components of the gun, how to hold it, aim with it, load it, shoot it and what to do once finished, but Tak wasn’t listening. He already knew all of this. Getting a gun back on earth was too easy. Every Saturday after judo practice Tak would return home and get his gun to go shoot some rounds at an abandoned warehouse. It was a large empty building that was perfect for a shooting range. He would practice on anything he could find, the most common things been beer bottles and aluminium cans. He taught himself everything through watching movies, documentaries and videos on the internet and putting this to practice. The occasional FPS helped as well as it improved his hand eye coordination. Although he was no expert shooter, headshots from a few metres away was nothing hard. Tak took aim and fired at the target that was set 25m away. After firing two clips of rounds, the targets were brought in. Not bad for a “first timer”. The targets were then set to move. He emptied a clip on the target as it moved from side to side. Again, it was brought back in. The holes were scattered around the target with a few around the middle.

Tak took out the clip and placed it on the bench. He signed the log book to record his minutes of weapons training and returned to the hall. The others were gone. He walked around the base until he reached the small leisure room where he spotted the team working out. Dr. Isaac was running on a tread mill while Dr. Dale was helping Dr. Brent at one of the bench presses. Alan had no trouble with the bench press, as he could be seen doing 85kg with ease. Dr. Isaac hopped off the treadmill as she spotted Tak.

“Hey, how was the training? It’s not too hard right?” she said. Tak shook his head to signify a no.
“Dr. Eileen had to return to Hell’s Gate so we thought we’d all get some exercise done.”
Tak wanted to leave as he hated being in a place full of aggressive, macho, military pricks. “How much longer are you staying?” he asked. “Well I can leave any time, but these guys may want to stay a little longer” she replied. Tak hadn’t exercised in his human body since leaving Hell’s Gate. He knew he had to keep up his strength and stamina or else the low Pandoran gravity would and scientist’s lifestyle would reduce him to a useless, weak, unfit piece of ****. That’s when he came up with an incredibly stupid yet brilliant idea.

[tm20]

“Can’t you do this back at the shacks?” he asked Dr. Isaac.
“Yeah we could, if we had all this stuff” she said sarcastically.
“Well why don’t we bring back over to the shacks?” he said. Dr. Isaac game him a look that obviously said “Are you serious?”. Tak called the other two who felt extremely pumped as they had finished their sets on the bench press.
“Hey, you want to help me get some of this stuff on to the helicopter?” he said. Dr. Dale and Dr. Brent had never done anything rebellious during their time on Pandora. Feeling adventurous and wanting to get back at the marines who belittled scientists, the two agreed without even thinking about it. The three began to take dumbbells and bench press weights to the helicopter. Dr. Isaac tried to convince them it was a bad idea.
“Hey guys, guys, hey listen! This is such a bad idea, you’re going to get caught.” she said, but no one was listening to her. “Stop stealing the stuff! You’re going to get us all into trouble! Guys! Gu- Oh **** it, what the hell” After giving up, she decided to join in and took some light dumbbells. Alan noticed what was going on and stopped them.

“Hey! What the **** are you all doing?! You can’t just take this stuff!” he said. Feeling awesome, Dr. Dale replied. “Really? Says who?” Dr. Brent backed him up “Yeah, says who? HAHAHA! Look, he’s scared!” The two of them carried on while Alan stared in slight shock. He couldn’t believe it, scientists were stealing from marines! Tak then returned and saw Alan’s face.
“You going to help us or not?” he asked. Alan caved into the peer pressure and looked around to see if anyone was around. He then took the bench press bar and returned to help Tak with the bench. “Alan, you dumbass. What are you doing...” he said to himself. After loading the helicopter with the equipment, they team hopped on and returned to the shacks.

Back at Hell’s Gate, Dr. Eileen was been questioned about the murder of the soldiers. Standing in Colonel Hilton’s office, she felt a bit nervous and intimidated by the colonel.
“I thought I’d ask you some questions since your location is the closest to where the incident happened yesterday. Did you know about it?” he asked, directly looking into Dr. Eileen’s eyes. She did her best to keep calm and maintain eye contact.
“No, not at all.” she replied.
“What were you doing yesterday during the afternoon?”
“I went out in my Avatar with two other scientists to continue research on the plants.”
“And where exactly are these plants?”
“Ahh, I would say within a 100m radius. Maybe a bit more.”
“I see, so you wouldn’t have heard anything then. What was the rest of the group doing?”
“They were in the shack.”
Colonel Hilton re asked his question.
“I didn’t ask where they were, I asked what they were doing.”
“Well I don’t know what they were doing, all I know is they were inside.”
“Then that’s all you had to say.”
Dr. Eileen was getting more intimidated by his interrogation. However she managed to keep calm, not showing any signs of breaking under the pressure. Colonel Hilton then proceeded to ask her about the research.
“So have you found anything new? You do remember that you moved out there specifically to get us valuable results as you said, yes?”
“Yes I do remember and yes we have been gaining new information. I’ll send a report to the main lab as soon as I get back.”

Colonel Hilton looked out the window of his office and down at the large open area full of gunships and ground staff. As he did, he thought about whether Dr. Eileen could be a possible suspect. He concluded that she wasn’t but gave her a warning.
“I understand that you have developed close relations with the natives of the area you’re currently located at over the past few years. It’s good that you’ve managed to make peace with the people, but you try anything fancy and you will face the consequences. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes colonel” replied Dr. Eileen, feeling extremely intimidated and a little angry. Colonel Hilton turned to face her. “Good, I’m glad you understand. You are dismissed” he said and Dr. Eileen made her way outside and to the Samson that waited to take her back to the shacks.

The Samson made its way through the opening in the forest canopy and landed. As Dr. Eileen hopped out she saw that Dr. Dale, Dr. Brent and Tak were outside the shacks and had setup their own little gym. She approached Dr. Dale.
“Where the hell did you guys get all this stuff?” she asked. “We stole it from the base.” He replied with a smile. He then asked her a question.
“What did the Colonel want?”
“He just asked me if I knew anything about what happened yesterday, I told him I didn’t.”
“Did he buy it?”
“Sure did!”

The two high fived each other and went back inside. Dr. Brent also went back inside. Tak stayed as he wasn’t done exercising. After completing he went inside to get a drink of water and returned back out to sit on the bench. Alan then came outside and walked towards him. He brought a chair and sat next to Tak.
“Hey, I need to talk to you about something.” He said.
“ok” replied Tak.
“Ok, so..... I’m really ****en confused right now. I don’t know who I am anymore.” Tak was listening but thought this was going to be a long speech about some sentimental crap which he wasn’t interested in. Alan continued.

“Ever since getting here, on this planet, I feel like I’ve been changing. You know, cause, I mean look around you! How could this, this natural beauty not make you feel something? You know, something special? I don’t really know how to explain it but anyway, like, I’m a ****en soldier right? It should be in my blood to shoot anything that moves right? Yet I don’t because I’m blown away by this world. It’s like I was meant to be something else you know? Like I was me-“
“What the **** is your point?” interrupted Tak. After a pause Alan continued.
“Ok, ok. You know how last night doc was telling us about what happened? Well, you know, me being a soldier, I feel like it’s my responsibility to go and report her to the Colonel. But, you know. I just don’t want to. I mean, she’s really nice and everything. And although there’s no ****en way I can become a scientist, it’s too late for that ****, I just know that I can learn so much from her. You know? I want to be part of this, whole thing. But I’m a soldier and I know that..... ****! I don’t know, I don’t know what to do. I should report her but.... I don’t know. I mean why did she even tell us? She said it right in front of me!”

Alan’s mixed feelings had put him in between the two opposite sides. Tak then gave him a little push in order to help him make his decision.
“Well why did you come here then?” he ased.
“To escape earth, and to protect the people. I mean us, not them” he replied.
There was a moment of silence as Alan thought hard about who he really was. He then made his decision.
“**** it, I’m going to report this to the Colonel.” He said.
“Is that so?” replied Tak.
“Yeah, I mean, I can’t let this build up. I’m going insane. I’m going to have to report this.” As Alan stood up to return to the shacks, Tak stood up as well and replied to Alan.
“Sorry but I can’t let you do that.”

[tm20]

Chapter 10

Alan looked at Tak with a suspicious face. Tak was hiding something from him, and from everyone else. The two of them stood in front of each other, not saying a word. Alan didn’t know what to do as the words that had just come out of Tak seemed hostile and came as a surprise. He thought for a while before finally deciding to run inside the shacks in attempts to lock Tak outside. The plan: keep Tak outside, take control of the others inside and call for backup. Alan ran to the door but Tak chased after him and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and sleeve and pulled him away, throwing him down the stairs and to the ground. Alan landed hard and Tak jumped down. Alan grabbed him by the ankle and tried to pull him towards the ground but Tak resisted. With his free leg, he planted his foot into Alan’s stomach which made made him curl into a ball while holding his stomach in pain. He then kicked him hard and dropped to the ground and got behind him. He worked his right arm around his neck and grabbed onto his left hand. Applying pressure to the blood vessel on the side of the neck, Tak strangled Alan who tried to get himself free from Tak’s strong grip. It was no use. His face was becoming red and he felt like his eyes were going to explode. He then lost consciousness. Tak kept the pressure on for a bit more to make sure that he was really unconscious. After letting go, he got up and dragged Alan up the staris and to the door. He opened the door and dragged Alan inside, closed the door and waited for the air to be filtered out before proceeding into the shacks. He dragged Alan to his bed and then went to the research area and looked through the desks for something to tie Alan’s hands and feet together. The others saw Tak doing so and wondered what he was looking for.

“What are you looking for?” asked Dr. Eileen.
Tak didn’t reply. He didn’t find anything so he took the bed sheet from Alan’s bed and ripped it into long strips and used them to tie Alan’s hands and feet. Dr. Eileen wasn’t sure what Tak was up to so she went to him and saw Tak tying Alan up.
“Wooow, wait. What are you doing?” she asked.
“He ****en knows now because you told him last night.” replied Tak. He then continued to tie Alan as he mumbled “****en idiot”, referring to Dr. Eileen.
“What? Are you talking about?” asked Dr. Eileen, obviously confused about what was going on.
Tak finished tying up Alan and faced her. “Last night you told everyone about what happened yesterday, well maybe you FORGOT that Alan was there as well. And he now knows that you knew what happened. And he was going to ****ing snitch to the colonel but I stopped him.” replied Tak. He wasn’t as angry as he had been before, but he wasn’t in a good mood.
“Oh, oh ****. Ooooh ****, ****. I didn’t realize. I mean, I didn’t even stop to..... think that he would....”

Dissapointed in her own carelessness, she sighed and sat on the bed, placing her face into her hands. “What have I gotten us into.... ****. Stupid, stupid me.” She said.
“Yeah, well just be careful next time”
There was a moment of silence while Dr. Eileen thought about how careless she had been and while Tak thought about what to do next. Dr. Eileen broke the silence.
“So what now?” she asked.
Tak was still thinking about what to do. It took him a while to answer the question. “Only one thing to do.” he said while looking at the ground.
“What’s that?” asked Dr. Eileen.
“We need to get rid of him. I’ll take him out into the forest and kill him, then I’ll try and hide the body. Maybe some of the animals will find him tasty.” he said.

Dr. Eileen was shocked at his solution. However she didn’t have a better idea so she kept quiet. Tak asked Dr. Eileen to setup the link. He got into the link and before the lid shut, he asked her to drag Alan to the door. Tak linked to his Avatar and woke up in his tent and grabbed his knife. He walked to the door and waited for Alan to arrive. It took a while as Alan was heavy for Dr. Eileen but she managed to get him to the door. Tak opened the door and got Alan. He put the unconscious body onto his shoulder and walked off into the distance. As he walked, he began to question himself as usual. “Wow, you’ve really got into this haven’t you? Maybe you should quit research and kill soldiers full time? Yeah, sounds good. Then maybe you’ll become friends with the Na’vi. ****, maybe even that one Na’vi who ****en hates you will start to like you.” he said to himself. Ignoring himself, he continued to walk. Alan then woke up. Upon opening his eyes, Alan noticed that he was above the ground and he was moving. It took him a while to realize he was being carried. He looked around to see he was being carried by a clothed Na’vi through the forest. He panicked and struggled to let himself free. This annoyed Tak so he threw him to the ground.

“Shut the **** up!” yelled Tak. Alan turned around to face the Avatar. He was a lot bigger and looked a bit scary. Everywhere around Alan looked the same so running back to the shacks was impossible.
“What do you want from me....” asked Alan with a sign of fear in his voice.
“I’m going to ****ing kill you.” replied Tak.
“And then what? People are going to realize that I’m gone. You can’t keep a secret forever.”
“Maybe, but I’m still going to kill you.”

Tak pulled out his knife. The sight of the shiny blade made Alan’s hairs on his arm stick up. He was shaking with fear but there was nothing he could do. He then asked Tak a question.
“It was you ha? You killed those soldiers yesterday?...... Why?”
“About ****en time genius. I was wondering when someone would figure it out.” replied Tak sarcastically.

“You realize what you’re doing?! You just turned your back on the entire ****ing human race! Your own kind! What the ****’s wrong with you?!”
“What’s wrong with me? Mother****er what’s wrong with you? You don’t see anything wrong with what’s going on here? On this moon? You think it’s for us to invade the home of another race and take what we want without permission and kill anything that gets in our way? Wow, you really are the ****en typical person. Consumed by your own ignorance, too ****en stupid to think foryourself. Think about where we come from. Pretty ****ed up right? Do you think life is meant to be that way? Do you think we should be living such a lifestyle? In such an environment? In such a degraded society? I bet you never even stopped to think about it, ****en ignorant piece of ****. Atleast I know what I’m fighting for, you don’t. That’s the difference between me and you.”

“And why would you want to fight for them?! Please explain to me because I sure as hell can’t ****en figure out why someone would want to do so!”
“Look at how they live. They respect the environment, they respect all the living things, they respect each other. That’s how us humans were supposed to be until we ****ed up somewhere along the timeline. The Na’vi live a beautiful life and I envy that. I may not get along with them but they have something that I don’t. The closest I’ll ever get to having such a thing is to fight for its survival. It’s just too bad that you don’t see what I see. I’m done talking to you, ****en retard. I’m going to kill you.”

Alan sat on the ground, thinking about what Tak had just said. Tak’s words were seriously screwing with his mind. Everything he said was so antagonizing and completely against the human race yet it was so true. Alan had never stopped to think about the world he called home. It was far from beautiful. And here he was, on another world which he was fascinated with but ironically he wasn’t willing to fight for. He was scared to do so. The uncertainty of who he really was came back. It was as if his conscience was giving him a second chance. Alan closed his eyes and lightly hit his head with his fist, trying to force out a decision. Tak approached him with the knife tightly gripped in his hand. Tak then picked him up by the collar and drew his knife back, ready to drive the blade into his neck. As Tak was about to do so, Alan spat out the words.