Accidental Multiverse Planeswalker

I looked at the news reports about the looming energy crisis, because the Earth's governments were being idiots and depleting both natural and non-renewable resources at a rate that far exceeded the amount available or could be replaced.

I had tried for two years, quite unsuccessfully, to introduce my naquadah generators and other energy generating resources. For some idiotic reason, they had passed laws that stopped me from releasing my technology and from giving it away.

That pissed me off, because I had been here for years and had thought that I was in a world that I could relax in. Nothing had been happening and no real problems had happened since I arrived here. I wrongly thought that I wasn't really needed, considering everyone and their goddamn dog was against getting free energy or letting me introduce terraforming machines.

I had resigned myself to a short visit on a world that had a population that was too stupid to survive, until news of a fantastic new discovery that was going to revolutionize the entire world's energy crisis.

Unobtanium.

I actually laughed at the word when the news first reported it, because it described so many things in fiction and real life. It was a word that told the people that the object or metal or whatever it was, was so rare that it cost a ridiculous amount of money to obtain. The problem was that it would solve everyone's problems, because it was the miracle ore.

I sighed when that aspect came out. It meant that not only would I not gain access to it, because it was so rare and expensive. That meant I couldn't copy it to introduce a bunch of it after I had worked with it for a while, or create enough of it and combine it into a larger form to give to them.

Instead, the government in their infinite stupidity, allowed the creation of a non-government corporation called the Resources and Development Association to mine the ridiculously named mineral from a forest moon called Pandora, that orbited a gas giant called Polyphemous in the Alpha Centauri system. The best part about that was that the atmosphere was toxic to humans and it had a native species called the Na'vi.

They were a ten foot tall humanoid and blue skinned species that worshipped a nature goddess called Eywa. Since the natives were incompatible with humans, genetic engineers worked for years to create a human and Na'vi hybrid that looked like the locals because they wanted to explore the native biosphere and allowed a human to upload their consciousness into their genetic clones.

I read the news report again and sighed, because there was no way I would be allowed to get near any of that unobtanium. I was also persona-non-grata at all of the major universities because of my stance on alternate energy sources. It really didn't work in my favor to be an activist without any support system in place.

So, I had to cheat. I applied for a spot on Dr. Grace Augustine's research crew. I knew I wouldn't qualify for the avatar program itself, mainly because my own powers would preclude me from shunting my consciousness out of my body. I instead tried for a tech position to help with the computers and consciousness transfer protocols.

I had Eye falsify my qualifications and used my knowledge of Ma'Chello's mind and essence transference device that I had used in the Stargate universe to save Gloria from her powers. My experience gave me a pretty unique insight into the mind and its inner workings and I was sure that it would translate easily for the Avatar program.

It took me six months before I actually gained a meeting with Grace and I damn near crapped my pants when I saw that she was a dimensional Ripley clone from the Aliens universe.

Grace must have seen something on my face, because she ignored the question sheet in front of her. “You look like you've seen a ghost.”

“It's more like I've loved you for years and I finally found you again.” I said without thinking.

“Excuse me?” Grace asked and gave me a significant look. “Do I need to call security?”

“No, ma'am.” I said and gave her a military salute, which let her know I was once in the service. “I would appreciate getting to know you on a personal level before I make you scream my name from orgasming so much.”

Grace's significant look didn't change as she glanced at the sheet in front of her. “Why should I entertain you with this interview after you saying something like that?”

“Because I can make it my sole mission to ensure that you're happy, both personally and professionally.” I said and her eyes widened. “I have extensive experience with mind transference technology and my genetic manipulation background could be applied to the Na'vi and human hybrids.”

“I heard a huge 'but' there.” Grace said and finally sat down across from me.

“I have a specialist on call that can manipulate things biologically. She's an expert in biotechnology and she could fix any discrepancies between the humans and their Na'vi avatars by matching the brains on a physical level.”

Grace looked surprised by my admission. “We have been having problems with the up-link code and compatibility issues.”

I had to smile at her admitting that. “I'm willing to sign on for the cost to get me there, as long as I have brief access to any unobtanium ore that is harvested or dug up during the mission.”

“Why?” Grace asked and the concern on her face was unmistakable.

“I'm a fabricator. I'm always interested in new materials and what I can do with them.” I said truthfully.

“You really think the government will let you use any of it as materials for construction?”

“Hell, no!” I said with a laugh. “I can't even get access to any low quality ore here on the planet because it's so regulated.”

“Then why ask for access?”

“Because I can and I like to experiment with new energy sources.” I said and her eyebrows rose. “I honestly don't care about the hazard pay, or the grant shares, or even the royalties for anything discovered while there. I'll sign whatever you want over to you personally and I won't get a single credit for anything.”

Grace sat there and stared at me for several moments. “You really...”

“I want to get to that planet.” I said and she didn't react. “I've been here on Earth long enough and nothing here will benefit from me being here. Believe me, I tried.”

Grace let a crooked smile show on her face. “I've seen a few reports of your efforts.”

I chuckled. “The multiple arrest reports or the dozens of censures from every environmental agency on the planet?”

“Yes.” Grace said and laughed softly.

“The idiots that live here are too entrenched in their ways to even consider alternate sources for energy, except for this miracle ore. Your program, which I still have a hard time believing received approval by the same government that approved mining the place, is the only way left for me to go. I need access to your tech and you need access to my ability to make that tech work.”

Grace picked up the piece of paper and read the questions. “Do I need to ask you these?”

I smiled and handed her a folded piece of paper with all of the answers on them. “I want in and I'm willing to do anything you want me to do to get me there.”

“Including me, considering your statement that you already love me.” Grace said with a huff.

“Loved you for years.” I corrected and she gave me a skeptical look. “I can use one finger and get you off in under three minutes or I can use my tongue and take fifteen, because you won't want me to stop before that.”

Grace laughed and tucked my answer sheet into her pocket. “You've got balls. I'll give you that.”

“How can you say that? You haven't licked them yet.” I joked and she kept laughing.

“All right, you'll get your shot to prove yourself.” Grace said and stood up.

“You mean for the program and not for your ass, right?” I asked, pretty sure of her answer.

Grace gave me a smirk. “Impress me and we'll see.”

I smirked back, because I was right. “Yes, ma'am. Tongue it is.”

Grace laughed and left the meeting room with me right behind her.

Two months later, Grace had four viable Na'vi Avatars and I had her legs wrapped around my neck.

*

“You're kidding me.” Jake said to his identical twin brother Tom.

“No, I'm completely serious.” Tom said and tapped the wheel of the wheelchair his crippled brother sat in. “It's a secret program that the government banned because they didn't want too many able-bodied people around to accept work.”

Jake stared at him. “Now I know you're pulling my leg! The military would never allow that!”

“He said you would say that.” Tom laughed and took out the folder he was given. “Read that and tell me what you believe is going on with it.”

Jake tried to glare at his brother for trying to get him off his ass and to study hard like him. “I don't need to look at it.”

Tom grinned and dropped the folder on his brother's lap. “He said you'd say that, too.”

“Who's he?” Jake asked before he realized that he had just given his brother a huge opening to talk his ear off.

“He's great! Smart, handsome, and he distracts Grace when she gets too obsessed over the Na'vi Avatars!” Tom said with a laugh and proceeded to use up fifteen minutes of his allotted half hour visit time as he told his brother everything about the man that had shown up at the research department at the college one day and then pretty much became a pivotal member without even having access to his own avatar.

“You sound like you're in love with the guy.” Jake said when his brother was done talking.

“Honestly, I wouldn't mind having Grace's huge smile on my face for a while.” Tom joked and Jake groaned. “I meant with a girlfriend, you prude!”

Jake couldn't stop his laugh, because he liked getting his brother riled up. “So, why does he want to meet me?”

“Look in the folder, you idiot.” Tom said and pointed. “I won't even make you read the whole thing.”

Jake growled and opened it, only to see the picture of a large tank filled with a thick blue fluid inside. He flipped the page and his eyes widened as he saw ten case reports where people had entire limbs regrown. He couldn't believe it and kept reading. When he saw the government sanctions and cancelled permit applications, he let out a much different growl.

“I told you.” Tom said and placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. “We were talking the other day about the Avatar compatibility matrixes and I just happened to mention that I had a twin brother. An identical twin brother.”

Jake lifted his head from reading and gave his brother a significant look. “He wants to see me because of you?”

“Technically.” Tom said and Jake's look changed to a glare. “He wants to see if he can fix whatever happened to your spine.”

“I definitely heard a 'but' there.” Jake said with squinted eyes.

“In exchange, if he can actually heal you...”

“Just spit it out!” Jake spat.

Tom laughed. “He wants you to try the upload into the spare Avatar. Because if you can, since you're my twin brother, it would validate the research and will get us both onto the next spaceship going to Pandora next year.”

Jake sucked in a sharp breath. “You're KIDDING me!”

“Not even a little bit. We'll be part of Grace's official government sanctioned observation team. We'll have the chance to visit a new world, see and experience new species of plants and animals...”

“Just say it!” Jake shouted.

Tom couldn't help riling his brother up by dragging things out. “...and a ridiculously high hazard pay.”

“I'm in!” Jake said and tossed the folder at his brother. “Get me over to the college right now.”

Tom nodded and helped his brother out of his tiny apartment and they rode the elevator eighty floors down to the ground floor. A car was waiting for them and it was marked with the college emblem. Jake slid into the backseat and Tom folded the chair to put it beside him and climbed in himself.

*

I sat in the little office that Grace had reluctantly granted me in the limited space she was allowed at the college. That I usually needed the privacy to bend her over the desk had not been a factor. According to her, anyway. I thought that it was the best reason to have a private office, not the worst.

“Well, Mr. Sully and Mr. Sully.” I said and Tom looked pleased and Jake looked surly. “I can give you the good news first...”

“Just get to the point!” Jake spat.

I smirked at Tom for letting me in on his joke and then looked at Jake. “...or the great news.”

“I told you, Jake! You owe me a week's pay! Ha ha!” Tom laughed as he smacked his brother's arm.

“Joke's on you. I don't have a weekly pay.” Jake responded. “Tell me the good news.”

“A day in the bacta tank will have your spine healed and your legs back to working condition.” I said and both Tom and Jake looked surprised. “The great news is that my preliminary scans show that your brains are nearly identical in structure and capacity. Jake should easily be able to pilot the spare Na'vi Avatar and I'm pushing forward with the proof of concept.”

“YES!” Both Tom and Jake shouted at the same time.

“Grace has already booked the appropriate space on the next transport in seven months, so we have that long to get you both up to speed on the Avatar functions and working with a team while inside the avatars.” I said and stood to shake each of their hands. “Congratulations, gentlemen. I can officially welcome you both into the Avatar program.”

*

“I'm not sure why we need a Na'vi soldier.” Norm said as he picked up the scanning device that had been scaled up for the avatars to use. Hitting the buttons accurately was quite difficult at first.

“I've shown you the videos of the smaller wildlife, Norm. Believe me, you'll be grateful to have Jake's expertise when we're being potentially hunted by a Thanator.” Grace said and picked up a sample container to open it. “John, motor functions are on par with predictions from my previous Avatar.”

“Excellent, Grace.” John said over the intercom. “We've got another six hours of simulated atmosphere before it becomes too thin from the Avatars and their exhaled breaths. You've got plenty of time for more exacting procedures.”

Grace nodded and went back to doing simulated scientific research in her Avatar body.

“I hope I'm not using too much of the air with all of the exercising I'm doing in here.” Jake said as he did another set of pull-ups.

“I've allocated extra air contaminates to compensate for the strained movements.” John said. “How do you feel? Are the Avatar muscles working in a similar fashion to what you're used to?”

“It's really close, doc.” Jake said and let the bar go to drop a foot to the ground. He rubbed his biceps and nodded. “Having the extra height and the change in balance with the tail is what throws me off sometimes.”

John chuckled. “You can keep it wrapped around your waist or your thigh for now. We'll dig out the balance equipment for the next session and the four of you will be using them.”

“Ugh, don't remind me.” Norm said and Tom chuckled.

“It's not that bad.” Jake said and picked up a very large simulated automatic rifle. “In fact, these bodies seem like they're built for exercise.”

“The natives live in the natural environment and move around a lot through the trees.” Grace said and opened the large backpack. She carefully took out a few things and placed them on the table. “It takes a while to generate the same hostile environmental conditions as where we will be conducting research.”

Tom picked up a plastic bag that had a zip lock and practised opening it and closing it. Two torn bags were on the table in front of him, so he was having moderate success in the dexterity exercise.

“RRROAAAAR!” A beast's attack sound came from the end of the room through the fake bushes there. Before anyone else moved, Jake had the simulated rifle to his shoulder, knelt, and put six plastic darts right into the stuffed thanator's face.

“AHH!” Norm screamed and ducked under the table. Or tried to. He actually whacked his forehead on the edge and fell backwards to sprawl on the floor at Tom's feet. Tom had been smart and had flipped his table up as a barrier to duck behind. Grace had dropped to the ground in a low crouch and was ready to run.

“Well done, Jake. Very well done.” John's voice said over the intercom.

Jake took several breaths before he spoke. “That scared the hell out of me.”

“No doubt. The damn thing killed three scout teams in full armor before they realized they were under attack, even with the roar as a warning.” Grace said. “That was the actual recording, by the way.”

Jake cursed and stood up. “That thing is real?”

“Cost a pretty penny to get, too.” John said.

“We wanted this to be an accurate test.” Grace said. “Even I didn't know if or when it would appear, or from where.” She glared through the observation window. “You made Norm drop our only working scanner.”

“I think he's unconscious.” Tom said and checked him. “Yes, he's out cold.”

Grace picked the scanner up and sighed. “It's broken.”

“That's okay. I made three more last night while you were asleep.” John said.

“Excuse me? You did what with our limited funds?” Grace asked, pointedly.

John waved with both hands from behind the glass. “It's still okay! I raided the parts storage of the meteorological department!”

Grace opened her mouth to respond, then she barked a laugh. “Serves the arrogant assholes right for stealing my last grant.”

Jake laughed and helped Tom pick Norm up and brought the unconscious Avatar over to the door. They propped him up there, because they still had experiments to conduct.

“Hey, do you think he'll wake up here or back in his own body?” Jake asked offhandedly and his brother Tom and their boss Grace stiffened.

“John! Get the monitoring software tweaked to detect that! Norm could wake at any moment!” Grace shouted.

“On it!” John said and disappeared from sight.

“Are you sure you don't like studying like Tom does?” Grace asked for the twentieth time.

Jake chuckled as he checked his simulated rifle to make sure it could still fire. “Tom's the egghead. I'm just a grunt and I like to keep it that way.”

“Pity.” Grace said and reached out to touch his shoulder. “By all scientific principles, your brain is just as fantastic and brilliant as Tom's.”

“Just because we have the same brains, it doesn't mean we think alike.” Jake said.

“Well said.” John said over the intercom. “I've seen several examples of nearly identical beings having different personalities. They could pretend to be each other for short periods of time; but, that was all. Any longer and people noticed the differences.”

“We're like night and day.” Jake and Tom said at the same time, then looked at each other and laughed.

“I love getting immediate proof.” John said and the computer beeped at him. “Norm just woke up in his normal body.”

“Wonderful! We just proved Jake's theory that when you lose consciousness in the Avatar, there's a chance you'll be shunted back.” Grace said.

“I only said...” Jake started to deny it.

“It's already logged, Jake! You're out of luck if you didn't want to claim credit.” Tom laughed and clapped his brother on the back. “You're really a part of this team now.”

“I'm just a grunt!” Jake exclaimed.

“You are.” John said and gave him a thumbs-up through the observation window. “You're our grunt!”

“Dammit.” Jake groused.

Tom laughed and Grace smiled.

*

It was pretty simple for Eye to alter the crew log on the transit ship and put myself into the monitoring and maintenance crew for the six year trip to Pandora, the moon where the unobtanium was being mined from.

It wasn't that I didn't want to sleep for the trip, I just spent so much time waiting for things to happen in so many worlds, that the quiet was sometimes welcomed. It let me reflect on my previous lives and let me see if I knew anything about what was happening around me.

I had gone through my Halls of Memory and found six movies that used 'unobtanium' as the main material for the plot. Surprisingly, none of them had giant blue creatures with mind-melding hair ponytails. It was quite the odd thing for me, because Darcy and I had spent a lot of time talking and watching movies, reading, and relaxing.

What were the odds that I wouldn't have knowledge about something? I asked myself and then chuckled. I had been to quite a few worlds that I had no clue about and it wasn't a new experience for me. I had been getting spoiled with previous knowledge and I couldn't expect it every time.

I checked the maintenance log and picked up the clipboard. I had a physical check to do and I floated out of the control room towards the main cryogenic bay. I had a lot of cryopods to check and passengers to ensure their safety. It was a small price to pay to make sure nothing happened to Grace.

She still joked about my cheesy pick-up line about loving her for years and I always humored her and said that I just wanted to get into her panties and skip the awkward dating part of the relationship. Grace always laughed and would kiss me for also letting her skip that part, because she didn't have time for it, anyway.

I finished my rounds and put the clipboard back in the control room, then I went to the small cafeteria. “Hey, guys!”

“FOOD!” The guys yelled.

I laughed, because they reminded me of the storm chaser crew from the Twister universe. “You do realize you can cook it for yourselves.” I said and floated over to the kitchen. I slipped my feet into the straps on the floor and started pulling out the things needed for a chicken and rice dish.

“No one can touch your skills.” The ship's captain said. “Believe me, they've tried.”

I nodded and quickly went to work. I had replaced the cooker with one that sped up the cooking time and I had dishes floating over to the waiting crew after only ten minutes. They all praised me between mouthfuls of food and I sat down with them to eat as well. I was very glad that my cooking skills had carried over from the Shield Hero universe, even if the shield itself seemed to be locked within my magic.

Panacea had checked and she could tell that Ost was asleep and wasn't being tortured or caught in a restless void or something. Her abilities were only biological based, however. She couldn't do a thing to unblock the magic. I would have to wait to find a world with a magic system before I could try and get the shield unlocked.

“You're off until tomorrow.” The captain said and floated up from the foothold under the table. “We've got the backup engines to check then.”

“Sir.” I said and saluted.

The captain smiled and floated out of the room.

“Who wants to switch shifts with me tonight?” I asked and half of the crew put their hands up. We all laughed and they played hand games to decide who got more sleep while I did the easy and boring overnight monitoring duty.

*

“Good morning, sleepyhead!” I said as I opened Grace's cryopod.

“J-J-John? Wh-what... what...” Grace stammered.

“Relax, beautiful. I wouldn't let anyone else on this crew touch you with a ten foot pole, even if it was sterilized in deep space.” I joked and she laughed. “Lay there and acclimate to waking up before unstrapping and grabbing your gear.”

Grace nodded as the captain's voice echoed through the large main chamber.

“You have been in cryostasis for five years, nine months, and twenty two days.” The captain shouted. “You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you are feeling nauseous, please use the sacks provided for your convenience. The staff thanks you in advance.” He paused for a minute as more pods were opened. “If you are feeling any other symptoms, stay where you are and an attendant will tend to you.”

I opened Jake's and Tom's pods next and repeated the same jokes with them as I did with Grace, which made Tom laugh and Jake groan. I opened Norm's pod and handed him an already opened sick bag.

“BLUURGHH!”

Norm repeated it twice more and then gave me a forlorn look.

I pulled out a fake needle and he looked surprised. “Nauseous cure. Fixes you right up.” I said and pretended to give it to him as I cast End Effect on him.

“Mana from heaven.” Norm whispered.

“I'll be back to give you a hand. Lay there and grab a fresh bag, just in case.”

Norm nodded and I moved on to the rest of the people that would be coming to the planet's surface with us. We had several computer and maintenance crew with us for the Avatar transfer pods, because even high tech needed maintenance occasionally. The same with the computers.

A day later, everyone praised me for my delicious meals and begged for me to do the same at the base. I couldn't make any promises, so we all loaded up into the gigantic shuttle plane that would take us from space and down to the moon's surface. You wouldn't think a shuttle that big would fly, let alone traverse through an atmosphere on its own power.

“Exopacks on. EXOPACKS ON!” A military man yelled. “Remember crewmen, if you lose that pack, you're unconscious in twenty seconds and you're dead in four minutes.” He said and walked by us. “Let's not have anyone die today. That would look very bad on my report.”

I chuckled and helped Norm put his mask on and set the filter before I turned it on for him.

“Thanks.”

“Any time.” I said and put Grace's on, my own, then checked Tom and Jake. They had it right and I sat back in my seat and closed my eyes while the shuttle came in for a landing. I took several long and deep breaths, because this would be the first time that I had gone off planet without an easy return system already in place.

It would take me a while to find a good spot to install a Stargate where it wouldn't be found and to set up the environmental controls around it to have breathable air from Earth. I had only seen the stargates operate on compatible planets with similar atmosphere and I couldn't take the chance that Pandora's atmosphere might cross the barrier somehow, despite the protections.

“It's all right, John. We're here. You made it.” Grace said and pat my hand.

“I couldn't have done it without you.” I said and opened my eyes to let her see the desire there.

Grace only blushed a little. “I doubt we are going to have a lot of privacy on a base this size.”

I didn't hesitate to respond properly. “You have to give me an office!” I exclaimed and she laughed.

“All right, people! As soon as that rear ramp drops, you are to unass from your seats and go straight across the compound into the base.” The military man said and walked along to make sure everyone had their masks on. He went back to the front and hit the button.

The toxic air flowed in like the heat ripple from a forest fire and felt pretty close to it. You think you know what a tropical forest is going to feel like when you go there, only the reality smacks you in the face when you experience the excessive heat, the moisture, and the oppressive feeling that you are very far away from home.

“Let's go, people! Move, move, move!” The military man said and jogged ahead.

I took Grace's hand and we waited for the military people to leave first, then it was the civilians that could leave. We walked calmly down the loading bay and then down the ramp. I braced myself for what I was about to encounter, a land on an alien planet, and took that last step off of the ramp and onto the tarmac. I gained a colorless land and only jerked slightly at the unexpected result.

“I've got you.” Grace said and put an arm around my waist.

I didn't correct her assumption that I almost stumbled and I put my arm over her shoulders. I had fully expected something like I experienced when I stepped onto Azkaban Island the first time and gained a powerful land. I hadn't realized that all of the man-made construction would have changed the nature of the land we were on.

We entered the base and Norm let out a shaky and nervous breath before sucking in a huge one.

“Please tell me you didn't hold your breath that whole time.” Jake said to him and Norm looked guilty.

Tom laughed and lightly slapped Norm on the back. “Don't worry, Norm. You're going to feel completely different about this place when you're in your Avatar.”

We all stowed our bags and gear in our tiny sleeping quarters and returned to the main concourse and the large cafeteria, because it was the largest gathering area for a meeting, or in this case, a briefing.

“You are not in Kansas anymore.” Colonel Miles Quaritch said and I almost laughed, because that was where I was from. “You are on Pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact. Every second of every day.”

He's really laying it on thick. I thought.

“If there is a hell, you might want to go there for some R&R after a tour on Pandora.” Quaritch continued. “Out beyond that fence, everything that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud, wants to kill you and eat your eyeballs for jujubes.”

Everyone in the room stared at his dramatic words, except me. I was having a hard time not laughing.

“We have an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi. They are fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that will stop your heart in one minute. They have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fibers and they are very hard to kill.” Quaritch said as he walked down the aisle. “As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive... and I will not succeed.”

The audience stared at him in surprise.

“Not with all of you.” Quaritch said and walked back to the front of the room. “In order to survive, you need to cultivate a strong mental aptitude. You have got to obey the rules. Pandora rules.” He said and turned to face us. “The rules are there for a reason. They are not there to bypass, drag ass, or pass gas on.”

A few of the military recruits chuckled.

“Rule number one. Keep your exopack within reach at all times.” Quaritch said. “Failure to comply with rule number one can have fatal consequences, so don't leave home without it.”

Rule number two was to wear the ID issued tags around our necks at all times, so that if anything happened to us, the chaplain would know what religious book to quote from over our mangled remains, if we didn't follow Pandora's rules.

That was it.

I was kind of disappointed there wasn't a long list of things, like always securing the hatch and sealing a room before entering an airlock. You know, life saving important things.

“This is a harsh place, people.” Quaritch said. “It's not a cakewalk; but, the money's good. Let's make sure you stay alive long enough to spend it when you rotate off 60 months from now.”

*

“Rotten son of a bitch!” Grace spat as she stormed into the biometrics lab two days later as the crew and I were decanting the Avatars.

“Going off-monitor.” I said into the microphone.

The techs cleaning up the specimens waved to me in acknowledgement.

I walked over to Grace and took her hand to distract her. She glared at me and opened her mouth to continue to rant, so I scooped her up into my arms and tossed her over my shoulder in a fireman's carry. It made her yell at me for being an idiot and the guys laughed as I carried her out of the main laboratory and into my closet of an office.

Before Grace could berate me some more, I had her stripped off and buried myself deep inside of her to make her moan instead. I worked her over pretty good on my cushioned desk for about half an hour before I stopped and pulled her to my chest and held her tightly.

“I'm starting to like that you do this every time I want to yell and scream at people for being so stupid.” Grace said and I chuckled.

“I told you I would make you happy in both your professional life and your personal one.”

Grace caressed a hand over my chest. “Quaritch finally released the action reports he filed with the company since I returned to Earth.”

“Oh. That can't be good.” I said and she huffed at me.

“That son of a bitch has screwed up this program enough.” Grace said with a sigh. “All of this exists so that we can go out there and build a bridge of trust to these people. They could teach us so much.”

“But.” I prompted.

“Thanks to Quaritch and his... thugs, the Na'vi won't even talk to us anymore.” Grace said, sadly.

I thought about that. “If I recall his briefing correctly, he doesn't hold the Na'vi with high regard.”

Grace shook her head. “I stopped reading the incident reports after I read that they raided the school because there were traces of unobtanium found nearby and they suspected the Na'vi were hiding it from them.”

“Well, damn.” I said and lightly caressed her back. “Where do we go from here?”

“We have three new faces... well, two new and one duplicate.” Grace corrected and I chuckled. “We'll have to downplay Jake's grunt status and conceal his rifle for the first few times we go out there.”

“You don't want to appear threatening.” I deduced.

Grace nodded. “The ones we know best, the Omaticaya Clan, may give us another chance. Maybe we can get them back to the negotiating table before things go tits-up for good.”

I barked a laugh and she smacked my chest.

“No dirty thoughts.” Grace admonished me.

“Hey, don't knock your chest. I think they could definitely be used to get some attention.” I joked and she smacked me again, then she kissed me. “How do we contact them and tell them about your magnificent breasts, anyway?”

Grace shook her head at me and sat up. “We don't. They contact us.” She said and looked down at her chest. “Do you really think...”

I leaned over and sucked one of her nipples into my mouth, then sat up with her. “I've been in love with you for years, remember? I'll do anything for those breasts... I mean you.”

Grace snorted and then laughed. “Grab the wipes and the towel.”

I did so and we cleaned up before we left the office.

“If they see us out there taking our samples and treating the forest with respect, while not trampling everything in sight like Quaritch and his men, they may reach out to us again.” Grace said and we went back to the lab. “Okay, people. We have a lot of work to do to gain the trust of the Na'vi back.”

“Gain it back?” Norm asked. “What happened?”

“Quaritch.” Grace said. Sighs and resigned sounds came from everyone. “I think there's still hope. With our new additions to the Avatar team, we might just get their attention if we go out there and show them something they haven't seen before.”

I couldn't stop my chuckle and coughed to cover it up.

“Quiet, you.” Grace said with a smile. “Get back at the monitor station and let me know how the linkage program is working with the replaced hardware. We need the new Avatars prepped and ready as soon as possible.”

“I'm on it.” I said and did as she asked. When I was out of sight, I took out Eye and connected him to the computers. “Okay, buddy. Do your thing.”

“Beep.” Eye said and we both worked uninterrupted for several hours.

When we gained the full results and fixed all the little problems that had cropped up with a few old and incompatible files referencing the wrong things, I printed the details out and tucked Eye away before I went to find Grace.

She damn near sucked my face off after she read the report.

*

“I really wish you could come with us.” Grace said as she prepped her mind-transference pod.

“I'm not sure why my DNA couldn't be spliced.” I said, truthfully. I only knew that it wasn't possible and not really why. My powers were weird like that. “I can come along and stay in the transport.”

Grace shook her head. “The last thing we need is another squishy and tasty human body along. The two we have to take along are bad enough.”

I chuckled. “You do realize I have a pilot's license and can operate a heavy machine gun.”

Grace smiled. “Yes, I know. What you don't have is a permit from the government to operate on another planet.”

I rolled my eyes. “Like I care what the stupid government requires.”

Grace input the last link command and turned to face me. “You agreed to play nice, remember? No rocking the boat or making waves while part of my program.”

“I tentatively quit.” I joked and she huffed, then she kissed me.

“Rejected.” Grace said and laid down inside the pod. “No fondling me while I'm asleep.”

“It's much, much too late for that order, mistress.” I said with a huge grin as I closed the bio-harness over her and a few people near us laughed softly.

“Why did I agree to let you come?” Grace asked.

“I made you come first, of course.” I said and the laughs around us were louder. “Good luck. I'll be monitoring you closely.”

Grace nodded and I closed the pod for her. It slid into the wall to stop anyone from opening it accidentally and I went over to the main computer console.

“How are the linkages?” I asked Dr. Max Patel, the on-site program's director that monitored the other Avatars.

“All within acceptable limits.” Max said and then pointed to the two nearly identical brain scans on his monitors and it showed the massive electrical activity. “Their brains are gorgeous.”

I chuckled and lightly touched his shoulder. “Open file Sully thirty two and thirty three.”

Max did so on a separate monitor and let out a little sound. “Are those really their preliminary scans?”

“Two virgin pre-Avatar link brains.” I said and pointed to the current scans. “Have fun.”

“I'm running an in-depth comparison right now!” Max said excitedly and pretty much buried his face into his monitors.

I held in my laugh and assumed my own station to watch over Grace and the others as they assumed control over their Avatar bodies. They dressed in adventuring gear that I thought looked hilarious on a ten foot tall Grace and the four of them left the main facility to go over to where the flying transport was waiting for them in the large hangar bay.

The cute little pilot was a Latino woman named Trudy Chacon and she had a spitfire personality. Thanks to the last few years I spent with Grace, I refrained from saying anything to Trudy about what I thought about her and only flirted with her harmlessly when we occasionally crossed paths in the hallways. She took it in stride, as if she expected it, and would flirt right back.

“I don't see Mr. Casanova. Is he not showing up for your first trip out with the new people?” Trudy asked as she powered up the transport.

“He's looking over our shoulders today.” Grace said and used a thumb to indicate the small camera on her backpack.

Trudy chuckled. “He wouldn't be much help if the shit hits the fan out there anyway.”

Both Grace and Jake laughed.

“What's funny?” Trudy's gunner asked.

“John taught Jake a few things and Jake was in the marines for five years.” Tom said and helped Norm climb into the back of the transport. The gunner looked stunned.

“I still can't get that sliding across the floor trick to work right.” Jake said and holstered his weapon on his back before waving Grace in ahead of himself.

“You need more practice using the tail for balance.” Grace said and climbed in. Jake sat beside the gunner and held onto the side of the open hatch.

“Yeah, yeah.” Jake said and waved to Trudy's gunner. “Name's Jake and I'm the grunt of this outfit.”

The bald man nodded. “Lyle Wainfleet, door gunner.”

“Sweet.” Jake said and nodded at the gun. “How's it handle?”

“Like a cheap whore that's drunk off her ass.” Lyle said and Jake grinned.

“As long as you're careful with it, you can still use it!” The pair recited as one and then laughed.

“Great, they've bonded.” Norm said without any enthusiasm.

“Don't knock it.” Grace said and nodded to Trudy. “Having gunners cooperate can save your ass before you know it needs saving.”

“I hear that.” Trudy said and talked to the flight tower for a minute. “We're cleared for flight.”

“Let's go.” Grace said and Jake stayed at the open side hatch with the gunner.

The large fan blades in the wings of the transport spun up to hover speed and they took off at a snail's pace until they were out of the hangar bay. The flying ship picked up speed and flew out across the expanse of the mining operation that Jake and the others finally got to see firsthand.

“The RDA really know how to make a big mess, don't they?” Jake commented.

“We've already reclaimed two of the other dig sites and replanted a lot of things.” Grace said. “The problem is, it has to be constantly maintained by us and won't keep growing on its own.”

“Which is a huge reason why it's so difficult to recreate the environment on Earth.” I said over the open comm. “The primary research effort this time is to examine the plants and their roots in much more detail.”

“John's work in the field of electronic diagnostics has advanced my own work by several years.” Grace said with a fondness that she only had in her voice when speaking about me.

“You still won't let me see your big blue ass naked.” I joked and nearly everyone laughed, even Trudy. Norm was the only holdout and he was pretty reserved, anyway.

“Even combined with my DNA, this body is a different species.” Grace said.

“What happened to that inter-species cooperation you're always going on about?” Jake asked and that made us laugh again.

“Nice one, Jake!” I complimented him.

“Boys.” Grace said with a roll of her eyes and more laughter was had.

*

Two hours later, the group arrived at the second site to start their experimentation and I used the opportunity to take a break and I went to my tiny office that was only ten feet by ten feet. I hadn't had any alone time since arriving on Pandora until now, because of all the work that needed to be done to get everything set up and updated.

I cast an expansion charm and the room increased in size to that of a stadium. “Jesus!” I exclaimed and stared at the huge jump in magic power from the same spell that normally only increased a room to about five times its size. It could only be explained by being on a planet with such an abundant life force.

I was very reluctant to try and access the Force while on a world like that. It was one of the main reasons I had never visited the Dagobah System when I spent all that time with Padme in what I later discovered was called Star Wars. It was definitely an apt description for what happened.

With all of the space I now had, I made the expansion permanent and put up the false walls to make my old office look the same. Behind it, I set up my own lab space for working on things. Bacta tanks, research materials, advanced computers, and everything else I would ever need. I also copied the monitoring station's layout and had Eye put everything to rights as he hooked it into the real one.

“Beep boop.” Eye said, sadly.

“I'm sorry, buddy. I'll have to go outside on some kind of mission for the excuse to send up a Firefly with satellites to place in orbit.” I said.

“Beep beepbeep beep.” Eye responded.

“Wait, what?” I asked and sat down at the monitoring station. “Bring it up for me!”

Eye complied and showed me the list of small backup labs that had been set up in different areas around the large moon and then abandoned when the sites had been attacked by the local wildlife. Only one remained that was still partially viable, Site 26 in the Hallelujah Mountains.

“Eye, you are a genius.” I said and he beeped happily at me as I read the descriptions that it disrupted all forms of electronics, so no one would know if I left there. “You know I appreciate everything you do. That's why I always try to find you new computer systems to infiltrate and pilfer.”

“Boop beep.”

“How is it going?” I asked and one of the monitors changed to show his progress. “Dragon's programs really streamlined things for you, just like she helped me with integrating her programs into the cybernetic and android attachments inside her cloned body.”

“Beep?” Eye asked me.

I sighed at his question and reclined back in the comfortable chair. “You know I'm reluctant to create copies of people I've left behind.”

“Boop.” Eye said, sadly.

“Yes, Serenity and Persephone were considered people, even in the eyes of a galactic civilization.” I said and nodded. “I'll bring Artemis out when we're in the mountains and her shields should stop the interference from wrecking her systems.”

Eye beeped at me for several seconds.

“I'm not sure she would want a normal body after flying through space.”

“Boop.”

I chuckled. “Yes, I'll ask her if she wants to be a hologram, have a full android body, or a real one.”

“Beep beep.” Eye said.

“Right! I need to set up the Stargate and test the dialing device.” I said and stood. “How much better would it have been if we could have cheated and had Artemis fly us here the normal way?”

Eye beeped a dozen times and I laughed.

“You have a lot in common with R2.” I said and marked off a separate area and created a kind of air lock and duplicated the setup at Stargate Command, except the DHD was right beside the Stargate and not in the command room. I also added a dozen Dragon Drones and then dialed the home address.

As soon as the Stargate made the connection, Eye beeped and a Dragon Drone flew into the event horizon. Eye beeped again and I relaxed.

“Thanks, buddy. Send six more drones through and have one dial back.” I said and he did so.

The wormhole closed and a minute later, the Stargate activated again while the computers played the verbal warning of an incoming wormhole. One drone came through and relayed to me with Droidspeak what happened on the other side as the wormhole closed.

“Wonderful, thank you.” I said and it dipped slightly before it flew over to the others and landed. “I still can't believe that the government rejected having you guys as additions to the police force back on Earth and then passed legislation to stop any AIs from acting independently from their creators.”

Eye made a bunch more beeps that rivalled R2's best rant.

“At least they didn't ban you from most academic campuses like they did to me.” I said.

“Beep!” Eye exclaimed.

“Yes, it proves that you are superior.” I said with a laugh and walked back over to the monitoring station. “At least we have a fast exit option if things go bad here.”

“Boop beep.”

“I'll either have to reveal transporter technology or that I can apparate myself and things.” I said and typed on the monitoring station computer as Eye beeped at me again. “I doubt I can get away with disguising Voyager as one of the large shuttles and she's too large for an illusion to work for more than a few seconds.”

Eye beeped once more.

“Artemis will be too small for that and she's a bit too large for a sting ship.” I said and looked at the survey records for unobtanium. “The illusion of one might work; but, I don't have a legal right to pilot one here, even with a license. We have to go with the full stealth option and bypass everything instead.”

With a solid plan in mind, Eye and I worked together to set things up properly. Faked shipping records, a misplaced extra container or two of parts and building materials being delivered at the last minute, and we were in business.

*

“What a great time!” Norm said as he climbed back into the transport. The sun was going down and night operations were forbidden by Quaritch's orders.

Jake, Lyle, and Trudy groaned, because for them it was just a lot of standing around and guarding against local predators. They had a bit of a scare from a pack of wild dogs during the third stop. They ran off as soon as Jake and Lyle shot a single warning shot into the air.

“We gained a lot of data this time.” Grace said with a huge smile on her face as she and the rest entered the transport.

“I've already got the team working on the data from the first site.” I said from the open comm.

“Already? How?” Grace asked.

“The new scanners have up-link codes to the comm.” I said. “It takes a lot longer to send so much data over the limited bandwidth. At least, until I can figure out how to add in some relays.”

Grace chuckled. “If you do figure it out, don't tell the corporation guys. They'll be all over us and will want to use it exclusively for themselves.”

“No doubt.” I said. “You can transfer the data from the other sites into the computers when you get back to base.”

“I hope there's enough room. We have a lot of new and updated data now.” Grace said.

“Please! As if I would ever want to look deficient in your eyes.” I responded.

“I thought you said you wanted to look at my big blue naked ass?” Grace asked and turned her head to grin at the camera on her backpack.

“BURRRRNNN!” Jake, Lyle, Trudy, and Tom shouted as one before they all laughed.

“I felt that all the way back here.” I said in a pained voice and they all kept laughing.

They were pretty far out, so by the time they had reached the compound, most of it had been closed up and secured from the local wildlife and the native population.

Trudy flew them inside the big hangar bay and expertly swung the transport around to land in the exact spot she had taken off from. “All right, we're down. Lyle, secure your station and run the shutdown protocols on the bird.”

“On it.” Lyle said and quickly hopped off where he sat and did a few things to make the heavy machine gun flip up and he slid it backwards and into a hidden compartment behind his seat.

“We need to drop the scanners by the entrance and then get over to the Na'vi barracks for the Avatars.” Grace said and Tom, Jake, and Norm followed her. They dropped off the samples, the scanners, and any other equipment that they needed to have access to in their human bodies.

They went out of the hangar though the door made for them and walked across the compound to a large wooden structure that looked like a huge barracks.

“Jake, weapon storage is over on the right. Tom, Norm, our backpacks can be stored under our beds.” Grace said and went to their assigned bunks. There were a dozen other Avatars there and they looked asleep. “Go ahead and lay down after you stow your gear. When you go to sleep, you'll be back in your normal bodies.”

“I hate the body lag.” Jake said as he took off his armored jacket.

“Body lag?” Grace asked.

“It's like jet lag, except we're switching bodies and not planes.” Jake said.

“Damn, that's a great explanation for the dissociative sensations after a long session.” I said over the still open comm. “Grace, we should add that to the next paper you publish.”

Grace took off her backpack and looked right into the camera. “Why don't you ever want your name on them? You've written more than half of them.”

“We've written them, my giant blue goddess.” I said and she smiled. “Besides, even if everyone knows I'm in your project, they can't take official action against me because my name isn't attached to anything except the consent forms that give you everything.”

“We still think you were crazy to sign everything over like that.” Tom said and stowed his backpack under his bed. “Turning camera and comm off.”

“Logged.” I said. “Like I told Grace years ago when I signed up, I just wanted to get off of Earth and would do anything to do that.”

“Including her.” Jake added and shared a high five with his brother.

“As many times as she lets me.” I said and Grace's blue face went to a darker blue as she blushed.

“John, that is not an appropriate topic of conversation.”

“Why not? You don't think Tom and Jake are still virgins, do you?” I asked.

Both men shook their heads, almost violently.

Grace couldn't help but laugh at them. “I'm stuck with a bunch of rogues.” She said and pointed at the bunks. “Lay down and get to sleep before I ground you!”

“Yes, mom!” Jake and Tom said and saluted. One crisply and the other like a wet noodle.

“I'm saving that video for the archives.” I joked.

“Don't you dare!” Grace growled and both Jake and Tom laughed. “Bed! Now!”

“Ma'am!” They said and laid down. Their bodies went still and Grace looked over to see that Norm had already left.

“John, you can't encourage them like that.” Grace said in a whisper. “I need to be respected and...”

“Grace, you are the hardest ass and biggest bitch in this whole department. They trained with you and they know that.” I said with respect and saw her take a deep breath. “This is your show and we all respect you. Joking lets them burn off some steam and lets them relax, despite the life and death decisions they make every day on a hostile planet.”

Grace sighed. “I just don't want them to treat this whole thing as a joke.”

“They never would and neither would I.” I said and coughed. “In fact, I may have... ah... misplaced an order of equipment and materials before coming to Pandora.”

“Excuse me?” Grace asked with that same growl.

“No, it's nothing bad! I thought it was lost and sent another through. When it was confirmed, that was all the equipment we brought with us for the new up-link computers and pods. I figured the first had disappeared in transit.”

“What actually happened to it?” Grace asked.

“It went through and it was the confirmation that we never received. We also weren't charged for it, since the confirmation had the payment transfer approvals on them.”

“But... but, that means...”

“We have a complete second shipment being delivered to the department in about an hour.” I said and made sure I put as much happiness into my voice as possible. “What do you think we can do with it?”

*

“I can't believe you convinced four other pilots to help us move all this stuff.” Trudy said four days later as she flew the transport up into the Hallelujah Mountains.

“You might be surprised what a rigged card game and a few extra slivers of gold will do for morale.” I said with a smirk on my face.

“You sneaky bastard!” Trudy said with a laugh. “Why wasn't I invited?”

“You would have cheated as well and won, of course. I'm not stupid.”

“HAHA! I would totally clean you out.” Trudy said and banked around a huge pile of dangling vines as she switched the comm to the all pilot channel. “Guys, try to keep up. It's getting tight in here.”

“That's what she said last night!” One of the other pilots said and the others laughed.

“You were using the wrong hole, stupid.” Trudy said back and that made them all laugh. She clicked off and I waited until we levelled out before I spoke.

“You know, if I wasn't bending Grace over my desk at least once a week, I would ask you to be my concubine.” I said to her and she laughed.

“You couldn't afford me, college boy.” Trudy said and added power to the engines to raise the transport up to the next level of the mountains as we neared the landing site. She clicked the comm. “We're coming up on the drop site. Spare fuel tanks are behind the building if you want to top off.”

A chorus of 'sweet' came back to her and she clicked off to bring us in for landing. Almost before I knew it, everything was dropped off and was left in an organized pile in front of the lab site.

“Are you sure you want me to leave you here alone to handle all of this?” Trudy asked.

“That depends on if you changed your mind about me being able to afford you.” I said and held out two slivers of gold that I used to hand to the guards at SG-1 at the top observation outpost.

Trudy grinned at me and took them. “I swear you're a master at flirting.”

“Hey, this tongue can do a lot more than just talk.” I joked and she laughed. “I'll send word for a pick-up once I finish my work and get the transmitter here upgraded.”

“Any guess on how long that'll be?” Trudy asked.

“A week, maybe two.” I said. “I would have snagged Tom to come with me if he wasn't essential to Grace's research.”

Trudy nodded. “Good luck, John.”

“Who needs luck when I'm a super-badass that can breathe the atmosphere without a re-breather?”

Trudy laughed and slapped my arm before she climbed back into her transport and powered it up again. I waved to her as she lifted off and she saluted me before she dove the transport off the edge of the cliff and disappeared from sight. I waited for several minutes before I took off the exopack and took several deep breaths.

“Good god, that's a weird feeling.” I said and took another deep breath. “I'm glad I can cancel the toxic effects, even if I copied the breathing ability from Grace's Na'vi Avatar.”

“Beep!” Eye said.

“Right, let's get to work.” I said and stored all of the equipment before I took Artemis out of storage.

“Oh, this place sucks!” Artemis exclaimed and both Eye and I laughed.

“You have no idea.” I said and walked up her ramp. “Eye, give her the star charts from the ISV Venture Star.”

Eye beeped and Artemis beeped a curse.

“We know.” I said and she sighed. “I asked Eye about taking you here and he gave R2 competition.”

Artemis laughed. “I believe it. These charts are... how in the universe did they even find Pandora again if their space mapping tech is this out of date?”

“Probably because they never thought about going anywhere else except here.” I said and Eye beeped in agreement. “Once they had the destination, they let the computer take over and just ride along and let the program complete the flight.”

“Morons.” Artemis said and closed her ramp. “Are we going to space normally or what?”

“Stealth all the way.” I said and there was a slight hum as Artemis cloaked. “The ship is still in orbit and I don't want you to laugh at it when we get up there.”

Artemis laughed anyway and we took off up through the atmosphere. “It's like flying in pea soup.”

“Eye, send her the relevant government documents to explain things.”

Eye beeped at me and Artemis laughed for about two minutes before we reached orbit.

“I wish to change my morons comment to idiotic ignoramuses.” Artemis said.

“Noted and agreed upon with a majority.” I said and both she and Eye laughed.

It took us about an hour to deposit enough satellites to give us full coverage of Pandora. The stealth satellites were a wonderful piece of technology and made monitoring the entire planet pretty easy. It also let me hide everything from both the RDA and Grace's Avatar program.

“Should we drop an automated factory and have it send out mapping satellites?” I asked.

“No, there's almost no local resources for them to harvest.” Artemis said. “There's an asteroid belt two systems over that could be used, only it's not mineral rich.”

“I can't make them back on Earth, either. They have monitoring systems on both asteroid belts and mining companies already claimed them.” I said. “I could give them a few hundred million tons of iron and nickel and let them work.”

“It's not worth it, considering it's just like you said. Humanity isn't interested in anything except Earth and here.” Artemis said. “Their shortsightedness astounds me.”

“Me, too.” I said and Eye beeped in agreement. “Let's buzz the Venture Star and scare the hell out of the flight crew by setting off the proximity sensors, then we can check out the gas giant. There might be some interesting gases for us to smell there.”

Artemis and Eye beeped laughs and then Artemis did as I asked as Eye tapped into their computers. We laughed at them freaking out over nothing being there, even though there was, and we went to the gas giant to take some samples of the noble gases present. We spent a good three hours just gathering up containers full of different gases, just because we could.

*

A week later, I finished the upgrades at the lab and even added another section for the new pods and fixed the old ones. The old software was horrendous and the hardware needed a lot of tweaking to get the new software to recognize it and run without crashing. Ah, the joys of debugging programs.

“John! JOHN!” Grace's voice yelled over the comm system.

“Grace? I'm here! What's going on?” I asked as the monitors came to life.

Grace's relieved face filled the center screen. “We were out on a specimen hunt today.”

“That's not a 'panic and call me' event.” I said.

Grace huffed. “Of course not. I wouldn't call for something stupid.”

I smiled at her. “Go ahead and explain. I'll save my comments for afterwards.”

“Norm and I discovered an unearthed thick root of one of the larger trees. It was split open and inside was a shocking amount of detailed structures.” Grace said. “The scanners let us detect massive amounts of neural energy, John! Neural energy!”

“Oh, damn.” I whispered and sat back from the screen. “Grace, if that's true...”

“...the trees aren't just part of a biosphere. They are a part of a giant neural network that could span an entire group of trees or even a full grove.”

I shook my head. “No, Grace. You're thinking too small.”

“Too small? What do you...” Grace paused as her eyes widened when she understood.

“The entire forest, my dear scientist.” I said and her breath sped up. “A continent-sized forest.”

“Oh, my god.” Grace whispered. “That... that would mean...”

“All those large mining sites have been cutting into the brain of the forest.” I said and she gasped. “That's why your replanted trees and greenery didn't really take or was accepted into the local biosphere as a part of it.”

“Because it wasn't connected to whatever network that exists between the trees and shrubbery.”

“I'm sorry I'm not there to help you research...” I started to say.

“That's not why I called.” Grace interrupted me. “We were attacked by a group of hammerhead titanotheres.”

“I don't see the problem.” I said. They were like large rhinoceros with feathers for a mane.

“Jake and Lyle easily sent them on their way.” Grace said and I nodded. “It was the thanator that had chased them towards us that was a problem.”

“Oh.” I said. “Oh, crap.”

“Well said.” Grace said, because she knew I understood what that meant. “Norm passed out, like always.”

I couldn't stop my smile, because we had done that test six times in training and he always managed to get knocked out and escaped from his Avatar. I had to admire his skill in doing that, actually.

“Tom picked him up and we ran for the transport that Trudy had idling.” Grace said. “Lyle was on the side gun and barely managed to stop it from coming after us.”

My mind whirled at what she didn't say. “Jake got its attention.”

“He shot it with all the tranquilizer darts in his weapon.” Grace said with a sigh.

“It was about half as effective as we guessed, wasn't it?” I asked and she nodded. “Do you think it was adrenaline or the thanator's neurological equivalent that reduced it?”

“After the readings we've gotten from the newest tree samples, I would say it was a combination of both with a very strong hunting and survival instinct.”

“What happened next?” I prompted.

“With fifteen darts in its ass and twice that many in the face? It was pissed off, of course.” Grace said with a chuckle. “The last we saw of Jake, he was running full bore into the jungle with the thanator right behind him.”

I nodded and took out Eye. I pretended to hit some buttons and Eye showed me the footage of what happened. “I have good news and bad news.”

“We already called off the search because it was getting dark.” Grace said. “What's the good news?”

“He's beaten and bruised; but, he's alive and relatively unhurt after diving off a hundred and fifty foot high waterfall that the thanator chased him off of.” I said and she stared at me like I was crazy.

“That was the good news?” Grace asked.

“The bad news is his armored clothes are mostly trashed, he lost his gun and his provisions, and his backpack was partially eaten by the thanator before it was thrown back up.” I said and Grace's mouth hung open. “He still has the service pistol and the knife strapped to his calf.”

“How do you know all of that?” Tom asked as he leaned into the camera's view.

“I low-jacked you all.” I said and they gave me blank looks. “Grace, I never told you because you would have complained about me polluting the Avatar program.”

“What did you do?” Grace asked me with a deadly voice.

“Eye, send Grace the unlock codes for the tracking program for the cybernetic implants.” I said and he beeped at me.

Grace looked both angry and confused. “What do you mean cybernetic implants?”

“Enter the code and see for yourself.” I said and she gave me a stern look before typing in the code.

Tom, Norm, Max, and Grace gasped at the same time when their monitors changed to a detailed map of the entire planet.

“John, what is this?” Grace asked in a soft voice.

“You don't think I sit on my ass all day and only watch you guys walk around, do you?” I asked and she gave me that stern look again. “I told you what I could do and you've read all of the government sanctions I have against me because of all the technology that I wasn't allowed to release on Earth.”

“Oh, you still went ahead and built... wait, where did you get the money for all of this?” Grace asked.

“Asteroid mining.” I said and her face went blank. “It's a completely broken system that the government installed, by the way. Easily hackable.”

“That's where you're getting the gold to bribe people with!” Tom exclaimed.

“Wait, what?” Grace turned and looked at him.

“How else would he convince the grunts in the hangar bay to fly equipment up to the back-up site?”

Grace rubbed a hand over her face. “John, we are going to have a long talk when you get back to the main base.”

“Why don't you come up here? I've finished everything and added in the updates and new equipment.”

“There's not a lot of room up there for the whole department.” Grace said.

“You don't need everyone up here. This is a satellite lab and everything's connected to there.” I said. “How else do you think we're communicating in real time right now?”

“You... you... what else have you done?” Grace asked.

“I may have smuggled in a few extra parts and things to make myself a small intra-system flyer.”

Eye beeped and Grace sucked in a sharp breath as Eye showed her an image of a Jedi starfighter.

“Trudy is going to fall in love with you if she sees that.” Tom said.

“I'll be doing a fly-over for Jake and I'll air-drop him supplies and things.” I said and Grace covered the camera with a hand. There were several whispers and she moved her hand.

“John, you're not allowed to perform night operations. Quaritch's orders.”

I smiled. “It's a good thing I'm not at the base, then.”

“He's the head of security.” Grace said.

“At the base, yes.” I said and my smile became a grin. “Isn't it funny how that works?”

“John...” Grace started to say.

“When will my permission to visit the unobtanium storage be approved?” I asked and interrupted her, fully knowing the answer.

Grace sighed. “Quaritch restricted access to RDA employees and Parker's reduced that to only company executives.”

“I know. I had the computers hacked the first day we were here.” I said and she didn't look surprised. “What are the odds that access would be cut off just after I arrived here?”

“Someone tipped them off that you signed on to the project to gain access to the materials storage.”

“Bingo!” I said and stood. “I used the equipment excuse to get out of the base and now I am no longer bound by either their rules or their restrictions.”

“Where are you going?” Grace asked.

“I'm giving Jake some support and then I'm going to fly over the base and show off my extremely fast little ship.” I said and leaned towards the camera. “Is there anything near there that needs removing?”

“The mining foreman said they have a large piece of blast resistant rock that they have to drill and blow apart a small piece at a time.” Max said.

“Eye?” I asked and he beeped at me and showed me. “That should make a great example to let me show off. Thanks, Max.”

“Should I tell them?” Max asked.

“Why not? Tell them to find a good observation point. It should be a good show in about fifteen minutes.”

“John, it takes hours to fly from the base to the Hallelujah Mountains.” Grace said.

I barked a laugh. “I'm stopping to talk to Jake first or it would be five minutes.”

“But...”

“Let me just clarify and tell you that it can fly to space unassisted.” I said and she stared at me. “Maybe you should watch, too. John clear.” I clicked off and picked Eye up. “Let's go, buddy.”

“Beep!” Eye said, excitedly.

“Yep, this should be fun!” I said and went outside without an exopack on, created a red Jedi starfighter, and climbed in. “R2, use the navigation beacon in Jake's implant to plot the fastest route and then we're off to the main base to blow some stuff up.”

“Boop beeeeep!” R2 said.

“Sure you can shoot the gigantic rock face a few times first. I'm not greedy.” I said and powered the ship up. “Hell, why not use two of the missiles to soften the thing up first?”

“Booooop beep beep.” R2 said with pleasure.

Eye and I laughed and the ship lifted off. The engines lit up and a sonic boom echoed as we flew out of there at top speed.

“WOOOO HOOOOOO!” I yelled as we slalomed through the floating mountains and both R2 and Eye beeped happily.

*

Jake trudged through the underbrush and regretted losing his weapon before he could switch out the dart clip for the heavy ammo. Of course, losing it was a loose description of what happened, because the thanator had bitten the thing in half and then ate his backback.

*Brzzxt!* Came from the comm and Jake swatted at it.

“Jak...” *Brzzxt!* “Jake, can you hear me?”

“John? How the hell are you talking to me?”

“I'm flying at about Mach 6 and Eye had to compensate for the lag in the signal.” John said. “How are you?”

“Forget about me! How are you flying anything at night? That breaks the first rule of the hangar bay!”

“I didn't take off from there, so it's okay.” John said. “I'll be passing over your location in about two minutes to drop off a care package.”

“Thank fuck.” Jake said. “Please tell me it's a heavy machine gun.”

John laughed. “Better, my friend. I've decided that if the RDA can renege on a contract, I no longer have to follow the base's restrictions on weapon protocols.”

Jake almost felt a shiver go down his spine. “Plasma.”

“Ha! I barely had to hint at it. Well done.” John said. “Food, clothes and weapons. A tent if you want it and rope for when you climb a tree to stay out of reach from the ground predators.”

“Damn, the rope's a great idea. Thanks, John.”

“Incoming.” John said.

Jake looked up at the whistling sound he could now hear. A red dot flew across the sky in only a second and Jake whistled himself. “Jesus! Was that you?”

“No, it was me, John.” John said with a laugh. “Step back in three, two, one.”

Jake stepped back and a large metal crate slammed into the ground right in front of him with a loud booming thud. “You bastard!” He said and laughed. “What if I hadn't stepped back?”

“You would have a huge headache when you woke up back at base and would need a replacement Avatar.” John said. “I knew you would, though. You're our grunt and you follow orders when you know they are actual orders and not suggestions.”

“Yessir.” Jake said and saluted the sky. “How do I open this thing?”

The crate's top popped open and he stared at the inside.

“Damn, John. How the hell did you get all of this past customs?” Jake asked.

“I don't know why everyone seems surprised that bribes actually work.” John responded. “Have fun.”

“I will.” Jake said and pulled off his torn clothing and quickly rubbed the bruise cream over everywhere and then pulled on the crisp uniform.

“There are a few gifts in case the Na'vi notice you, now that I've pretty much told them where you are.”

“Wonderful.” Jake said, sarcastically.

“Trudy and the others should be out to pick you up sometime tomorrow, depending on if they go to the back-up base first or not.” John said. “I'm coming up on my example target. Gotta go.”

“Have fun.” Jake said.

“I will. John out.”

Jake hit the comm badge and pulled out the large plasma rifle that he had only seen as designs on John's computer. He wasn't sure why John let him look around at all that tech stuff when he was off duty, except that John must have thought that he would enjoy seeing different military options. He did. He really, really did.

Jake pet the thing and quickly checked it over, having read the maintenance manual for fun, and slung it over his back. A new backpack was inside the crate and had replacement emergency provisions with backup gear. He slung that over the side of the crate and dug down to pull out the food containers.

“Oh, yeah. That's the stuff.” Jake said and pulled open a container that was filled with different juicy fruits from the local orchards. His mouth watered at the smell alone and he jammed one of the fruit into his mouth and chewed as he pulled out a large container filled with grilled meat strips.

He closed the crate and sat on it to enjoy the food. He hadn't eaten all day and ran his ass off to get away from the thanator. Relief flooded through him as the bruise cream did its work and the food hitting his stomach gave him a feeling of satisfaction.

There was a rustle off to the left in the bushes and Jake had the plasma rifle pointed with one hand and his finger on the trigger. A large leaf moved as a small muzzle poked out.

“Oh, it's one of you.” Jake said and put the gun back over his shoulder. “I don't have to stop you from bothering the docs while they work, so I've got no quarrel with you.”

The muzzle moved out further and the full face of the reddish-colored dog came into view.

“I bet you smelled this, huh?” Jake said and took a foot long piece of meat out of the container to shake it at the dog.

It growled a little and Jake laughed.

“I'm only teasing you a little.” Jake said and tossed the meat over to it.

The dog snapped it out of the air and started chewing.

“Nice catch.” Jake said with appreciation.

A growl came from about five feet to the right of the first dog.

“Yeah, yeah. I know there's a whole pack of you.” Jake said and took out a handful of meat strips. He tossed one piece towards the growl and the bushes moved.

The meat was snatched out of the air and more chewing sounds could be heard.

“Anyone else want some?” Jake asked as he shook the meat and six more dogs poked their noses out of the bushes. “A good sized pack.” He said and tossed a piece of meat to each of them, then started to eat another one himself. The container was full, so he had lots to eat and to share.

“What about fruit? Do you like them?” Jake asked and tore a piece off of one and tossed it near the first dog.

The dog sniffed it, licked it, and gagged.

“Ha ha! I think that was a no.” Jake said and tossed him another piece of meat. “Sorry about that. You won't know you'll like something until you try it.”

Another growl came from a couple of the dogs.

“I'm not holding out. I've got lots here.” Jake said and tossed each of them another strip of meat.

A pair of bright yellow eyes watched him from above as he shared a meal of delicious smelling meat with the nantang, or viperwolves. She didn't understand him at all, because he had acted like a baby as he trampled through the forest, crushing things without care and making a noise so loud that it echoed halfway to Hometree, which was how she had found him.

Neytiri knew that he was one of them, a dreamwalker sent by the Sky People. Only he was also different from the others she had seen and interacted with. He didn't act like he knew anything, and that annoyed her greatly. The Sky People were destroying parts of the eternal forest and had caused so much pain to various clans across the lands, especially hers. They had even killed her sister at the Sky People's school.

She stayed perched on a large branch and kept watch over him and the nantang, if only to stop him from hurting them when he ran out of food to feed them. Except, that didn't happen. The skxawng kept throwing more and more meat to them and they ate their fill. Soon, the nantang were gathered at his feet and were trying to sleep in a huge pile.

“You guys have the right idea.” Jake said and pulled open the box he had sat on and took out a giant sleeping bag. “I don't know where John gets all this stuff.” He said and unrolled it, tucked it next to the crate and beside the dogs, and climbed inside. “It's even cool inside! The man's a damn genius.”

One of the dogs grumbled at him and Jake chuckled and rubbed the thing's ear.

“Yeah, I'll be quiet. I'm going to sleep, too.” Jake said in a whisper and closed his eyes.

Neytiri was shocked, because she had never seen anything like it before. All of the People knew to respect the animals and to keep your distance, unless you wanted to initiate conflict or it was inevitable. If you survived, you prayed to the great goddess Eywa for the animal's sacrifice for giving its life to another.

She laid down and rested her head against the tree branch as she kept an eye on the very strange dreamwalker that had somehow made friends with a pack of nantang. She wasn't very comfortable as she held onto the branch to stop herself from falling, and dozed as she wondered what the dreamwalker was going to do in the morning when the viperwolves woke with hunger.

*

“Now that was fun!” I said as I made one more bombing run at the mining compound and R2 sent another couple of missiles at the target. It was pretty much rubble and we had gone a little bit further into the cliff face than we had intended.

“Beep.” Eye said and showed me what the security cameras recorded.

“Save the video of their faces. That's archive material.” I said and flew back across the base and did a corkscrew flying move and kicked the ship into high speed with the crack of a sonic boom.

“Beep beep?” Eye asked.

“Yes, I am very tempted to stop in and take a look at their stockpile of ore.”

“Boop.”

I laughed. “You are a genius!”

“Beep beep.”

“I'll keep telling you that as much as you want, my friend.” I said and turned on the cloak as I looped back around and flew down to where the machines were processing the raw ore and refined it into a more pure form.

Because it was all automated, Eye set it to go into a temporary diagnostic mode to check for jams. I hopped out of the ship and landed right on top of the storage shed where it gathered the refined ore to combine it into a more manageable form. I reached inside with my bare hand and grabbed one of the compressed ore bricks that was eight inches long, five inches wide, and three inches high.

I gained the image of 'Unobtanium Refined Ore Brick - Stable' and I was in business. For such a small thing, it had a surprisingly high casting cost of one white mana and four colorless mana. It didn't really matter much, because I had a lot of lands and magic producing items and creatures. I could also enlarge the thing and could examine it down to the molecular level in my secret lab.

I jumped back into my ship and Eye started the conveyor machine again as we flew away.

*

A growling sound came from nearby and Jake jumped out of his sleeping bag and levelled the plasma gun towards it. He laughed when he saw it was one of the dogs growling at him and then it sniffed at the sealed meat container.

“You're lucky they're picking me up later today.” Jake said and holstered the gun and opened the container.

The dogs sat up and drool came from their mouths. Jake laughed and fed them each a piece and ate one himself, then saw there was only one piece left. He opened the crate to see if there was anything else and nearly shouted at finding another with a different kind of meat.

“You're really going to love this stuff.” Jake said and shook the container. “What you just had was like beef. This stuff tastes like chicken.”

The dogs gave him confused looks and he grinned at them as he opened the container. The smell of the meat had drool pouring from their mouths.

“I told you.” Jake said and started tossing each a chicken-like cutlet. The dogs tore into them like they had never eaten anything before and he laughed as he ate one himself.

“John to Jake. Good morning.” Jake's comm badge said.

The dogs growled and looked at him.

“It's the guy that cooked these.” Jake said and gave them another piece before he hit the comm badge. “Morning.”

“How did you sleep with all those cozy mutts to cuddle?” John asked with a laugh.

“You've been watching me, huh?” Jake asked and grabbed a piece of fruit.

“It's kind of my self-appointed job.” John said.

“Well, I'm grateful.” Jake said. “When can I expect a pick-up?”

“Grace accepted my offer to move up here in the mountains.”

“I thought you couldn't call out wirelessly? How are we talking?”

“I ran lines down one of the vines and installed a hidden transmitter below the interference field.” John said. “It's quicker than going through the satellites I have in space.”

“Jesus, man! When you break ranks, you break ranks with style!”

“You have no idea.” John said with a chuckle. “Wait until you see the reaction Quaritch and Parker had when they saw my starfighter in action.”

“They're flooding you with requests, aren't they?” Jake asked.

“Like I'm a drive through fast food window serving free meals.” John said and they both laughed. “I can pop by whenever you want a pick-up or I can send Trudy down to you when she finishes getting our little crew up here.”

Jake looked at the happy dogs around him. “Yeah, I can stick around here for a bit. That's not a problem now.”

“Just call if that changes. See you this afternoon.”

“Bye, John. Jake out.” Jake said and tapped the badge. “It looks like we can hang out some more. Would you like that?”

The dogs gave him confused looks again.

Jake chuckled and scratched the nearest dog's head and rubbed its ears. It let out a low whining and one of its middle legs tapped the ground. “Oh, you like that, huh? How about this?” He asked and knelt to dig his fingers into the thing's belly and gave it a rough scratching.

It let out a howl and plopped onto its side and held all six of its legs apart.

“Ha! I'd say that's a yes.” Jake said and attacked the dog's belly again, laughing the whole time.

Neytiri stared at him with her eyes wider than they had ever been before. What the dreamwalker was doing was absolutely shocking. She had never even heard stories of someone taming a nantang like that and it had rolled over and submitted completely! It was amazing and she had to tell her tribe about it!

The problem she now had was that it was daytime. She couldn't move without the dreamwalker seeing her, with him so close below. His new friends might give her away as well. She would have to stay for now and would hope that he would fall asleep or go away somehow.

Jake spent a good half an hour playing with the dogs and making them all kick their legs happily in the air from his scratches and rubs. “I remember John saying he had put gifts in the crate for the Na'vi. I should probably check them out in case any come by.”

Jake patted the closest dog and stood to open the crate. “Gifts, gifts. Where would he...” He rummaged through the clothes and smaller food containers of vegetables before he found a big wooden box. “I think this is it.”

The dogs gathered around to see what was going on, their curiosity piqued after feeling so many weird and new sensations.

“You're eager to see, too?” Jake asked them and set the box on the closed crate. “I wonder what the natives would want from a completely different species.” He said rhetorically and opened the box. He started laughing and took out a ball that fit in his hand. “Toys! He put children's toys in here!”

The dogs saw the bright orange thing in the tall blue thing's hand and stared at it.

“Oho! I think someone else besides the Na'vi might like them.” Jake said and gave the ball a squeeze.

*WhheeHoohh!* It squeaked loudly and the dogs froze completely stiff.

Jake saw this and his laughter tapered off as he looked at the ball. “It's a squeak toy.” He squeezed it again and the dogs jerked as if slapped and froze again. “Well, there's only one thing to do with this.”

Give it to them before they kill you! Neytiri screamed in her mind.

Jake pulled his arm back and the dogs watched as if it was the only thing in the world. “Go get it!” He shouted and threw it as hard as he could.

The entire pack let out a single harsh bark and they took off like a shot into the jungle to chase after the bright orange ball.

“I can't believe that actually worked.” Jake laughed. “I guess dogs are dogs no matter where you go.”

“Quickly! You must flee before they return!” A female voice said from above him.

Only years of training and obedience stopped Jake from shooting as he aimed with the plasma rifle. “Hello, there.” He said and slung the rifle again when he saw it was a native Na'vi. He really had to thank John for teaching him that quickdraw move. It had saved his life already from the thanator.

“Skxawng! They will kill you!” She hissed at him.

“No, they won't.” Jake said and dug inside the box. “Something for a girl... a girl... Ah! Here we go.”

Neytiri stared as the dreamwalker took out a tiny version of her. It was three hands tall and had a spear and the appropriate dress for a warrior.

“Here you go. A gift from Grace and John.” Jake said as he held it out towards her and Neytiri gasped. “You remember Grace?”

Neytiri nodded. “Teacher at school.” She said and her face went angry. “Sky People killed many kids! Killed my sister!”

Jake's smile faded and he let out a sigh. “I read that report. Grace made sure we all knew what happened, so we wouldn't make you angry for not understanding why you're angry.”

“You know?” Neytiri asked and he nodded. “Why did they attack? Why kill?”

“They wanted the special grey rocks the kids were playing with.” Jake said and set the doll down, because he could hear barks and growls coming.

“Why not ask? They just rocks!” Neytiri said angrily.

“They said they tried to trade for them and you didn't want anything.” Jake said and turned towards the approaching sounds.

“Too late to run. When you die, I will pray to Eywa. She will save your soul.” Neytiri said and fell silent.

The dogs poured out of the underbrush and looked like they had been roughed up and had probably been fighting. The lead dog looked a little proud as he stood there with a slightly mangled orange ball in its mouth. He clamped down on it and it let out a half-muffled squeak.

“Ah... yeah, you can probably keep that.” Jake said and the dog bit it again to make it squeak.

“Skxawng.” Neytiri whispered.

Jake ignored her. “It's a good thing there's a bunch of them in the box.” He reached inside and pulled out another orange ball.

The lead dog opened its mouth and let the damaged one drop with a squeak.

“Here you go.” Jake said and lightly tossed it to the dog.

*WhheeHoohh!* It squeaked loudly when he bit it. The other dogs looked a little sad.

“It's okay, you guys. There's more.” Jake said and took out another one. The dogs perked up and he tossed it to the next dog, then did the same for each of them. The squeaks echoed pretty loudly as the dogs settled down and happily chewed on their bright orange balls.

Neytiri was once again shocked. The dreamwalker showed absolutely no fear at all towards the fierce viperwolves and that didn't make any sense to her. He knew nothing and still tamed the creatures.

“I don't think I'll take out a frisbee, since you'll probably tear them up easily.” Jake said and looked back through the box.

It had wood puzzle things, piles of pieces of rope tied in knots, a dozen dolls of both males and females, different balls of all kinds, a few wooden bats, and some other simple toys. There were even miniature versions of the different animals that had been encountered in the forest. He never once questioned why there was so much room inside to hold it all.

“Ah, here's the nasty thing that chased me.” Jake said and took out a toy version of a thanator. It's legs and head moved, too.

“We are now dead because of you!” Neytiri spat.

“Huh? It's just a toy. It's not real.” Jake said and shook it.

“Skxawng!” Neytiri said as a deafening roar cut through the forest from the 'poised to leap' thanator.

“RRROAAAAR!”

Jake dropped the model of the real thing, quickdrew the heavy plasma rifle, and aimed as he pulled the trigger without hesitation. The thick plasma bolts slammed into the massive creature's face and burned through its eyes, nose, muzzle, and throat in only a second.

The roar was cut off as the creature's head exploded and Jake let the trigger go. He and Neytiri watched as the body dropped to the ground, lifeless.

There was complete silence for about three seconds before a loud squeak cut through it.

Jake looked down to see that the dogs hadn't reacted at all. “Don't bother getting up. I took care of it.”

Several squeaks responded as the dogs ignored him and kept chewing on their toys.

Neytiri dropped down from the branch she had been on for over a day and landed next to Jake. “What kind of bow is that?”

Jake wasn't stupid and didn't correct her for thinking it was a bow. “It shoots an extremely hot arrow that nothing can stand against.”

Neytiri eyed the thing with both envy and wariness.

“May I ask the name of the beauty before me.” Jake said and she looked up from the gun to his face.

“What is beauty mean?” Neytiri asked.

“Pleasing to the eye. A delight to look at. Favourable above many of the same.” Jake quickly added.

Neytiri squinted her eyes slightly. “Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite.” She said so rapidly that Jake couldn't even really hear the syllables, let alone the full words.

“A little slower, please.” Jake said.

Neytiri sighed and did as asked. “Ney-tir-ri te Ts-ka-ha Mo-at-ite.”

“Ney-tire-reh.” Jake responded.

“Ney-tir-ri.” Neytiri said and exaggerated her mouth movements to show how to pronounce it.

“Ney-tir-ri.” Jake repeated and then smiled. “Neytiri.” He said. “I'm Jake. Jake Sully.”

“Ja-ke Soo-lee.” Neytiri said.

“Close enough.” Jake said and motioned to the body of the thanator. “What do we do with that?”

Neytiri smiled. “We harvest and feast!”

Jake chuckled. “You're the expert.” He said and pulled out his calf knife to hand to her.

Neytiri stared at the huge thing. “What is that?”

“It's my knife.” Jake said and swung it around, then stabbed forward with it before flipping it around and handing it to her. “It should make cutting that thing up pretty easy.”

Neytiri gingerly took it and caught her breath at the lightness of the thing.

“Yeah, John gave it to me. The man's a genius.” Jake said and walked over to the crate. “Hold on, I have a back-up in here. We can do the skinning together.”

Neytiri watched as Jake pulled out another huge knife that was identical to the one she held. “Your master must be expert.”

Jake chuckled. “He'll get a big head if you tell him that.”

“What big head mean?” Neytiri asked.

“Um... his sense of self will inflate to... show more arrogance.” Jake said and hoped he got it right.

“We have same in tribe. Tsu'tey is close.” Neytiri said. “Angry since mate Sylwannin killed. My sister.”

Jake reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “I am sorry about that.”

“It affect all Na'vi.” Neytiri said and walked towards the thanator's body. “Watch and learn, Skxawng.”

“You've called me that a few times now.” Jake said and followed her. “What does it mean in Sky People talk?”

Neytiri looked thoughtful. “It mean... stupid? Idiot? Moron?”

Jake laughed. “Yeah, I got it.”

“You not angry?” Neytiri asked, looking surprised.

“About what? I'm just a grunt. I follow orders and do what I'm told.”

“What grunt mean?” Neytiri asked and crouched next to the beast's body.

“I'm a marine.” Jake said and her head lifted up to stare at him. “A fighter.”

“You claim to be a warrior?” Neytiri asked, surprised.

Jake did not miss the twisted meaning from what he said. “One of the best of my people.”

Neytiri stared at him for nearly thirty seconds before she huffed. “We shall see, Ja-ke Soo-lee.”

Jake knelt beside her and watched as she used his primary knife like she had always used it. He was impressed by both her skill and her dexterity while using an unfamiliar knife. He quickly copied her skinning technique on the other front forelimb and Neytiri gave him a reluctant nod of encouragement.

*

“Good god, John! Are you seeing this?” Grace asked as she watched Jake interacting with the princess of the Omaticaya Clan.

“Nope, I'm busy right now.” I said without looking up from Eye's display.

Grace turned around to whack me on the head. “Pay attention, dammit!”

“Ow. I deserved that.” I said and turned to look. “Oh, hey. Jake made a friend.”

“John, that is NOT the point here.” Grace said with a glare.

“Actually, it is.” I said and pointed. “Look at all the nantangs enjoying their new chew toys.”

Grace sighed. “Those were meant for the children of the clan to play with.”

“Meh.” I shrugged my shoulders. “We can deliver care packages right to Hometree if you want.”

Grace caught her breath and stared at me. “Are you serious?”

“Sure.” I said and turned Eye around to show her the detailed scans of Hometree and the heat signatures of everyone inside. “I can have a drone drop them right outside where the children are having classes right now if you want.”

Grace looked at Eye's display and she shivered. “We need... need to...”

“I made a new office for myself in the next compartment.” I suggested.

Grace didn't say anything as she stood, took my hand, and dragged me to my new office. She didn't even notice that it was identical to my old one as she readily accepted my own special deliveries several times before she was satisfied.

Jake and Neytiri received three more crates full of gifts and food soon after that.

*

“Neytiri! You are breaking our clan's vow to not help the Sky People!” Tsu'tey exclaimed in the Na'vi native language when his hunting party found the princess with a dreamwalker.

“Hush! He has been touched by Eywa!” Neytiri spat back. “It's the only explanation for him taming an entire pack of nantang and then sleeping with them like he is one of them!”

Tsu'tey was shocked to hear this. “That is not possible! No one has ever...”

“Yes! That's right! None of the People have ever done it!” Neytiri shouted.

“You know, now that you guys are here, you can help bring Grace's and John's gifts back to the Omaticaya Clan.” Jake said in perfect Na'vi.

All of the natives froze at his words and they turned to stare at him like he was a bomb about to blow.

“Just because I'm a warrior, it doesn't mean I'm stupid in everything.” Jake said and smiled at Neytiri.

“But... you asked...” Neytiri started to say.

“We don't have a full library of your words for things. Asking you what it meant let me add it.” Jake said and looked at the other natives. “The crates are right over there.”

“We will NOT be bringing Sky People things to Hometree!” Tsu'tey exclaimed.

Jake shrugged and tapped his comm badge. “Jake to John. Can you send the drones back and maybe another one? I can only carry one crate at a time and the locals are reluctant to help.”

“No problem.” John said from his comm badge. “They'll be there in a few minutes.”

“Thanks, John. Jake out.” Jake said and tapped the badge again. “It looks like we won't need your help. Thank you for offering so graciously.”

Tsu'tey was about to respond when five drones flew overhead. “AHH! We are UNDER ATTACK!!!”

Jake laughed and waved to the drones. “Hey, guys. Three full crates and one almost full are over here.” He said and walked through the bushes to where the crates had been hidden. “I was going to take as much as I could in my backpack and then come back later for the rest.”

“Boop beep beepbeep.” One of them said.

“Yeah, you guys are a real help. Thanks a lot.” Jake said and helped them strap the crates underneath their main torso for balance.

“Beep beep?”

“Me too, huh?” Jake asked and looked at the fifth drone that didn't have a payload. “You know what? Why not. We're going to get their attention just by showing up, anyway.”

“Beep.”

Jake chuckled. “Hey, Neytiri!”

“Yes, Skxawng... Ja-ke?” Neytiri asked and looked at him through the bushes.

“What's your view on flying?” Jake asked and he almost laughed at Neytiri's bright smile.

*

I sat at the monitoring station late at night with my arm around a nearly catatonic and euphoric Grace as we watched an epic celebration by the Omaticaya Clan, because she had never seen one before. The evening hadn't started out that way, though.

I had laughed my ass off when we watched Jake let a drone fly him and Neytiri all the way to Hometree, with the princess yelling and hollering happily the entire time. Who would have thought it was so simple to gain her favor like that?

When Jake and Neytiri had landed and the drones set down the crates of gifts, the entire clan came out of the tree to greet them and see the drones. The crates were opened and suddenly everyone had the various balls, dolls, and toys all over the place to play with them. It wasn't just the children, either. The adults were just as fascinated by everything in the crates, especially the fresh food in sealed containers.

Jake showed them the things that the different balls could be used for, then he demonstrated the frisbee and what could be done with it, as well as how to catch it. That had started a huge debate among the natives about the new training equipment and how quickly that more of them could be procured and what they could do to trick the Sky People to get them.

Thankfully, Jake hadn't laughed at the simple plan and told them that he could get them as many as they wanted if they gave him some more of their grey rocks in exchange, the bigger the better. He and the drones had been quickly surrounded by piles and piles of ore. It amounted to much more than several weeks worth of digging that the other sites had given the RDA, which was saying something.

At twenty million dollars an ounce, there were billions and billions of dollars worth of ore chunks just piled like ordinary rocks, which was exactly how the natives thought of them.

I had immediately sent a dozen drones with crates filled with the same contents and had them bring back the ore. The entire clan cheered at the successful trade and called for a feast using the new supply of food that would let them stop over-hunting the local wildlife. I would make sure of that and added regular deliveries of food to the schedule, which would ensure the clan's survival.

“John, it's so beautiful.” Grace whispered when she finally spoke and her hand stroked the monitor showing the special native dances being performed and the microphones recorded the songs being sung.

“I don't think they've had much to celebrate in a long time.” I said and kissed the side of her head. I created a blanket and tucked it around us.

“Thank you.” Grace said and leaned against me. “Thank you for everything.”

I hugged her close. “I'm not done yet.”

“What do you mean?” Grace asked.

“Well, with this supposedly new source of unobtanium that's practically priceless...”

Grace caught he breath. “No! They would never...”

“Grace.” I said with a stern tone.

Grace gave me a disbelieving look for a moment, then she sighed. “They would. They really would.”

“In a hot second, especially if they thought they could get away with it.” I said and she nodded. “So, I'm going to fake finding the ore at an old mining site and I'll set up the same dispersion field around Hometree that the Hallelujah Mountains have.”

Grace's mouth dropped open in shock. “You have GOT to be KIDDING me!”

I had to laugh at the look on her face. “What? You don't think I'm sitting on my ass and doing nothing while you guys are traipsing around the jungle, do you?”

“You've said that before.” Grace said and looked exasperated. “I am usually shocked at what you say next. Usually.”

“What if I told you I could replace all of the company people and mercenaries with identical clones and no one would know?”

Grace laughed and pulled me in for a kiss. “Next you'll tell me that they will all be nice and friendly.”

“How did you know?” I asked and made a confused face.

Grace kept laughing and kissed me again, then she got that look in her eye. Less than a minute later, we were naked under the blanket and she was moaning loudly as she watched the natives celebrate.

She would later tell me that was one of her most treasured memories.

*

My fake mining site went off without a hitch. The ore was readily accepted and Grace's program was given a fifteen year extension and her budget was tripled, not that she needed it with me there. It just let me cover up bringing in more things to make everyone's lives easier.

I also did exactly as I told Grace, because the RDA company had used the transport ship in orbit to do a deep radiological scan of the moon as it floated around. They detected an enormous deposit of unobtanium directly under Hometree and plans were being formulated to scare the natives out and they were going to cut the tree down, just for the pile of rocks the natives owned.

I wasn't having that. I cast stasis on them all, checked their minds to see who was in on the plan and approved of it, then I touched them and tossed them in Azkaban. I created a magical clone of them and gave them orders to reduce their presence on the planet over the next few months. With the new source of ore from the old mining site that I had faked, a lot of the people and equipment were no longer needed to search for and guard new sites.

The rest of the command personnel were obliviated of the knowledge and Eye deleted the electronic records. A quick trip to orbit took care of the crew on the transport ship, too. No information was allowed to leave Pandora without our permission.

The revised plan to downgrade and not expand, worked out well for Grace's program, because at the same time that most of the base was being decommissioned, Jake was being inducted into the Omaticaya Clan and taught their ways. Once he had learned their way of life in three months, he would become the very first member of the clan that was a dreamwalker.

Grace was ecstatic about the whole thing and took me to my office to ravish me again. I never complained when she did that, because she was always enthusiastic when she was happy.

*

Jake became one of the People and most of the RDA had left the moon. The only people that remained were administrators because the mining and sorting was now all automated. It didn't take me long to start a drone ship delivery system back to Earth and the regular transport was decommissioned. With the energy crisis on Earth solved because of the constant stream of unobtanium, the economy rebounded and people started working again.

Jake spent most of his Avatar time with the People and it took another three months before he could convince the tribe to allow Grace to visit in her Avatar form. Most of the children had become adults, because of the turnover travelling to Earth and back, so it was actually their children that she met when she arrived at Hometree.

During that time, I had reclaimed my lab from the main base and took the time to analyze the unobtanium on the molecular level. It had taken so long to do it because it seemed to have a natural barrier to be examined, which probably explained why it was considered a miracle material by the Earth scientists. The results were both shocking and hilariously stupid for me to discover.

Unobtanium was nearly identical to naquadah from the Stargate universe.

I banged my head on my lab desk for a full minute when the final results had come in. All of my sanctions, arrests, and vilification from the scientific community, was all a sham in my eyes. They all must have known they had those possibilities to explore with their unobtanium and wouldn't allow anyone else to come into their area of expertise and essentially steal their discovery.

I took out a file folder filled with all of the cancelled patents, the materials analysis, and everything else I had submitted to prove that I could do what I claimed. It was all rejected because they already had all of that from their own scientists. I shook my head at the stubbornness and stored the folder again. I would probably destroy it, and everything else related to this world's government, the next time I was out visiting a volcano.

I was glad that Grace was out visiting the Omaticaya Clan at that moment, because I felt like I was done with this universe. It had been years since I had been here and to find out that I could have saved the world almost a decade ago and the government had been too shortsighted with their own goals to admit that someone else could have done it without them.

I looked round my lab and thought about revealing everything to Grace, then shook my head. She was also locked into her own view of the world and how things worked to consider the regen tank. She would refuse to use it on just the principle of the thing.

“I think it's time I told her about the final modifications I've made to the transfer pods.” I said and dissolved everything in the lab, except for the Stargate. I apparated back to my office at Site 26 and went out to the monitoring control room. I sat down at the main station and wasn't surprised that everyone was either in their avatars or were visiting friends back at the main base.

I switched the displayed camera to Grace's point of view and I smiled at her playing with several Na'vi children and the dolls of the Na'vi. They were highly accurate, thanks to detailed scans and permanent transfiguration. Once I had them made, making a dozen copies was easy. A single mana gave me a crate full and Grace loved that they were selling on Earth like they were made of unobtanium.

“John to Grace. I'm sorry to interrupt you when you look so happy.” I said and she laughed.

“I think I can take a short break from playing with the kids.”

“I just thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to inform you of the last upgrade I made on the up-link pods.”

Grace must have heard something in my voice, because she took off her hat and turned it around to look into the camera. “What do you mean by 'last upgrade'?”

I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. “I'm done.”

“Done? Of what?” Grace asked. “John, what's wrong?”

I opened my eyes and gave her a sad smile. “I finished my analysis of unobtanium.”

Grace opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then she sighed. “Your synthetic element.”

“You got it. They are nearly identical.” I said and her face went sad. “We could have saved the Na'vi years of strife, loss, and pain that was caused by the RDA.”

“Not to mention the local environments that the strip mining have destroyed.” Grace said.

“I'm sorry that your efforts to replant them always fail.”

Grace gave me a concerned look. “That's not your fault. You've given me so much to work with and the advanced scanning technology has opened a lot of new doors in the biomedical field.”

“Only if made through you and as discoveries not associated with me, because they railroaded me for essentially telling them the trillions of dollars they spend every year to come out here, meant nothing.”

Grace could only nod. “They couldn't admit that you could make the same ore for pennies that they are selling for twenty million dollars an ounce.”

“I can give you an even better excuse now.” I said with a crooked smile.

“No! You... you couldn't... you can't...”

“Where do you think all that found ore is coming from?” I asked her.

“Oh. Oh, fuck.” Grace cursed and ducked her head. “They will kill you if they find out you are producing the ore and not mining it.”

“It's okay, Grace. I've made about a billion tons of it and it will be sent in regular shipments. It should last for another few hundred years, long enough for them to stockpile it and for you to release the scans that it's all been mined.”

“Me? What do you mean?” Grace asked.

“Remember I called to tell you what the last feature on the pod was?” I asked her and she nodded. “How would you like to become a Na'vi for real?”

Grace caught her breath, looked shocked for a moment, then fainted.

“Dammit.” I sighed. “Kids? She'll be right back.” I said in perfect Na'vi language.

“Okay, John!” The kids said and kept playing with the dolls.

I left the monitoring station and went to Grace's up-link pod. I hit the disengage button and it slid out of the alcove and I opened it and the biomedical harness. I revived her with a spell and she gasped.

“Hello, sleepyhead.” I said and her eyes locked onto me.

“You made me faint!” Grace almost shouted.

“I didn't mean to.” I said and helped her sit up. “The kids expect you back soon.”

Grace didn't ask me how she woke up so quickly. “I should have told them to braid my hair.”

I chuckled and cupped the side of her face with my hand. “I wasn't joking, by the way. I can make it a permanent transfer.”

Grace stared at me and looked like she didn't know what to say.

“Jake to John.” Jake's voice said over the comm.

I tapped my comm badge. “Go ahead.”

“The kids told me what you said and I'm in.” Jake's voice said.

“Jake, you don't know what this means.” Grace said.

“Grace, Neytiri is my wife. If I can stay with her permanently, I'm going to.” Jake said. “John, when can you do it?”

“Eye? Adjust the up-link and send the sequence.” I said and he beeped at me. “It's done Jake. Congratulations.”

“Excuse me?” Jake and Grace said at the same time.

“You've also kept all the physical skills you had in your old body. I'll be burying it here at the base, so all of you will always be here.” I said. “By the way, you just died. You have my condolences.”

“Dude are you serious?” Jake asked.

“Just take a nap or have Neytiri knock you out and you can see for yourself.”

“I'm too hyped to sleep. Neytiri...”

*CLONK*

“Ja-ke is sleeping.” Neytiri said and the call ended with a click.

I couldn't hold my laugh in and let it go. “You have got to love their directness.”

Grace stared at me and she still looked too shocked to do anything.

“I told you I would do anything to get here, including making you happy.” I said. “How happy are you going to be as a real Na'vi and a part of the Omaticaya Clan?”

“But, I'm not a warrior. How do I...”

“You are the foremost expert on this entire moon's ecosystems. I think the clan elders would beg you to become one of their sages and wise ones.”

Grace looked like she was fighting something as her face went through several different emotions.

“No, don't.” I said and leaned forward and gave her a quick kiss. “I was only here to help you. You are about to achieve your lifelong dream of learning everything you can about the Na'vi people. Staying human just to have sex with me should not be a factor.”

“J-John, I... I never told you that...” Grace started to say and tears formed in her eyes.

“And you never have to.” I said and gave her a passionate kiss. “I know what you feel for me and I love you, too. I also know that it pales in comparison for what you feel for these people. They are your entire reason for existing and I've done everything I can to make sure you achieved your dream.”

“I... I don't know... what to say.” Grace whispered.

“That depends on if you believe that this matter...” I said and pinched her cheek. “...is more important than the matter you have out there.”

“But, I'm not a natural Na'vi. My other body...”

“Don't worry about that. They're only just born, remember?”

“Wh-what?” Grace looked at me with wide eyes.

“A normal Na'vi lifespan is 160 to 180 years. Think about it.”

Grace looked thoughtful and caught her breath. “The bodies were born as adults!”

“You got it.” I said and let her face go. “No need for growing up at all. You can live for the next two centuries as fully yourself with all of your intelligence intact.”

Grace's eyes widened. “J-John... by Eywa's Grace!”

I smiled. “That will be you in about two minutes.”

Grace grabbed me by my shirt and shook me a little. “John, you have to make an Avatar and...”

“I can't, remember? The pods and the biomedical harness don't work on me.” I said and tears flowed down her face. I wiped at them and gave her a tender kiss. “If you still want to have sex with me after you change bodies, I'll grab an exopack and come visit you.”

Grace barked a laugh and wrapped her arms around my neck. “I would never feel it, even large as it is.”

“I think you would be surprised.” I wiggled my eyebrows at her and she laughed.

“Yes, I'm definitely shocked after whatever you say, because I'm actually considering it.” Grace said and kissed me. “John, I... I'm going to miss you.”

“I know.” I said and helped her climb back into the pod. “I'll set up a fully stocked Na'vi sized lab for you before I leave.”

Grace let more tears flow as she nodded.

“Be with the Na'vi, Grace. They need you.”

“I know.” Grace said and pulled the biomedical harness down to cover herself. “Make my headstone a nice one.”

“A giant hand with a middle finger pointing at the RDA base?” I asked and she laughed. “Consider it done.”

“John.” Grace whispered.

“I love you, too. I have for years.” I said and she smiled at the old joke. “Goddess speed, Grace.”

Grace beamed a smile and I closed the pod. I hit the button to initiate the transfer and went back to the monitoring station.

“Eye, alter the transfer and send the codes and sequence.” I said and sat down as he beeped at me. I saw Grace stir and smiled. “By the blessing of Eywa, it's a girl!”

Grace cried and the kids around her cheered.

*

I created the lab and everything that Grace and the others would need for as long as they lived. Not surprisingly, most of the people that had been using the Avatars, chose to become them permanently. They just seemed to like the easy lifestyle a lot better than the grind of human life.

A small crew of people also wanted to stay, so I cheated a bit and told them I developed a virus that would adjust their lungs to breathe the atmosphere. I also told them that it was a state secret and only I knew about it, because it could only be used on people staying on Pandora. They all accepted it and I just copied the breathing ability of the Na'vi into them.

They were joyously happy that they could go outside if they wanted and not have to die if there was a breach or their air ran out. I even flew my fighter out to visit Grace in her lab and she screamed at me to put on an exopack. When I didn't fall unconscious after a minute, she dropped to her giant blue knees and hugged me.

“Have you thought about my offer?” I asked her with a huge grin on my face.

“Where's your office?” Grace asked me back and we both laughed.

Two hours later, Grace was unconscious with a huge smile on her face and I had finally seen her giant and naked blue ass.

It was spectacular.

*

I stored Artemis and dissolved my fighter before I apparated to the hidden Stargate to take it to Earth. I stepped through it and took several deep breaths. “Well, this was an adventure to remember.”

Eye beeped at me and I chuckled.

“I don't know if we'll find something good for you or not.” I said and took him out from his pocket. “We can always hope.”

“Beep.”

“See you soon, buddy.” I said and stored him. I looked around and didn't try to think about what I could be going into, because I was sure that whatever I wanted would shunt me in exactly the opposite direction. I chuckled and gathered my Chi and covered myself in my magic before I disappeared.