Avatar 3, by Archaic.

[Muzer]

I'm quite excited now!

[archaic]

Scene 11

Spoiler

Pasha's tank.
A workman is installing an upgraded security panel in Pasha' airlock, lots of wires hanging out of the wall.
Another is on her roof with a vacuum cleaner, a third is working on the modified atmosphere unit, also on the roof of her tank.
Bethany looks in, head to the glass, hands shading reflections, Pasha is not at home.
Airlock guy, shouts over the noise "It got out, was that ok?"
Bethany, shouts back over the noise, slightly annoyed "She has a name! And yes, Pasha has full run of the place."
The noise stops suddenly, both glance upwards.
Airlock guy, absently "I had a cat called pasha."
Bethany "Did your cat have two PHD's and a Masters degree?"
Noise starts again, with some drilling thrown in for good measure.
Airlock guy, shouts over the noise  "Er, no." pause brow wrinkles "So why are we fitting security locks?"
Bethany, shouts over the noise "One; it's need to know only. Two; apparently I don't need to know. Three; where else do you put two Na'vi prisoners while they wait for their fair trial, and then their equally fair execution?"
Airlock guy, shouts over the noise "They're bringing them here?"
Bethany with exaggerated innocence "Bringing who here? I can't think what you're talking about."
Airlock guy, expression changes, shouts over the noise "I see."
Bethany, shouts over the noise "Any idea where Pasha went?"
Airlock guy points to the door to the Labs, shouts over the noise "Muttering something about peas. And 'bleating choirs'?"
Bethany, shouts over the noise "Ahh, I'd better" as the noise stops, continues at a quieter level "I'll go help her look."
Airlock guy says something which is instantly drowned out by the noise starting up again, with added hammering this time, he rolls his eye's slightly. Gives her a OK sign, followed by a thumbs up.

Cut to inside of lab as Bethany enters, Pasha is at the far end.
Pasha, shouts over the noise "Have they finished yet?"
Bethany, shouts over the noise "I don't think so."
Pasha, shouts over the noise "What?"
Bethany, shouts over the noise "I said ..... " then gives Pasha a disdainful look.
Pasha, shouts over the noise "Balcony?"
Bethany gives the thumbs up. Pasha picks up her view screen, both head for the outside door, and collect coats as they go out.
The balcony is 20 feet wide, and has a hand rail around it, almost comically too low for Pasha, half way up her thigh.
It is windy, they take covers off two very old sun loungers. Bethany looks at home, but Pasha's legs hang over the end, by around four feet.
Bethany "It'll be nice for you to have some company."
Pasha "You're company."
Bethany "I meant  ..... "
Pasha "My own kind?"
Bethany "You know what I meant, you know I don't see you as some neolithic tree hugger, or a savage, or a blue monkey."
Pasha "I know, but Neytiri isn't either, none of them are."
Bethany "Yeah, I know that too."
Bethany stands up, walks to the edge, and looks over the hand rail, it's chest height for her.
Bethany "Get the feeling that I'm in the minority."
Bethany slumps, elbows along the rail, chin on the backs of her interlocked fingers.
Pasha joins her, slips her legs between the well spaced uprights, so they dangle over the edge of the building, spreads her elbows along the rail.
Pasha looks out at the city, several columns of smoke rise at different points across the city. Several other blocks lie in ruins. Far below the sound of sirens, a gun shot rings out.
Bethany, rather too casually "Hope that's no one we know."
Pause.
Pasha "It's a mess, isn't it?"
Bethany "What is?"
Pasha "Earth, Pandora, my current situation, my impending situation, worst of it all is my best friend in the whole galaxy, won a competition to spend two weeks in Australia, right when I need her most."
Bethany"As I recall you won it, and then gave it to me as you wouldn't go. I'll willingly stay if want me to."
Pasha "Don't you dare, go, have a great time, party till you drop, come back and tell me all about it. Or else."
Pause.
Bethany "They found a replacement lawyer to represent them."
Pasha "Yeah?"
Bethany "Calitz Soyka."
Pasha looks at her horrified "But he represents mafia bosses, warlords, war criminals, and worse!"
Bethany "Gets some of them off too."

[archaic]

I wrote most of Scene 13 a while back, so you get another two for one.


Scene 12

Spoiler

Shuttle cockpit.
Pilot, "Passing outer maker, old mine is in sight."
Co pilot "Didn't fill it in much."
Quaritch "Circle round Hells Gate, I want a good look before we touch down."
They circle round, then touchdown on the road way between Hells Gate and the new mine. Troopers disembark.
Some one sings "We're all working for the human race."
Quaritch "Knock it off, this is serious."
They advance, move and cover, until they are at the perimeter gate. The fence is still buzzing, its live, the lights on the gate security panel are on. Quaritch waves his pass in front of it, the lights change, gate opens, the panels screen says "opening" the gate stops, fully open, on the screen "open".
Quaritch "Stay here, guard the front door. If a fly sneezes, I want to know about it."
Quaritch gestures to the others to enter.
Quaritch "Team one perimeter, clockwise. Team two perimeter, counter clockwise. Team three and four processing and refinery. Team five and six main complex."
Troopers move out, in different directions. More move and cover.
Cut to inside an airlock, looking along the length of it to the outside door, we hear people run up to it, after a moment more people run up. The door opens, three trooper step in, they close the door, one stays by the outside door, the other crouches, gun pointed at the inside door the third crouched behind with a hand held gas analyzer. the one by the outside door works the console, we hear the air change, then silence. No one moves.
Guy by the door "Chuck?"
Guy with gas analyzer "Looks good." takes off his exopack, cautiously inhales "Smells good."
Crouching guy "What's in the main complex? Could have set this up as a real simple trap."
Chuck puts his exopack back on.
Guy by the door "Thanks Ice, you're a real source of comfort."

Cut to the Avatar dormitory shack.
Plants in the compound are well cared for.
Shack's been repaired, looks like it's just been left. Three troopers climb the stairs, one opens the door, after a moment the second follows, a few seconds later the third. Lights work, the refrigerator is humming.
First guy opens its door a crack, gun ready pointed inside in case someone is hiding in there. The light comes on as the door swings wide open with a very slight squeak.
It's clear, food, drink and medication all marked 'Na'vi / Avatar Only. Not for human consumption'.
He closes the door. Looks at his fingers.
He says "They where here, recently."
Second trooper "Why'd you say that?"
Fist trooper holds up his hand, there's some slightly wet paint on his fingers.

Cut to the wreckage of the C21 that took of a section of the perimeter fence.
Troopers approach more move and cover.
First trooper opens a cabinet at the base of the watch tower, checks the panel inside.
First trooper "Power off, this section."
The team fan out and check out the debris field, as well as the main section of the wreck. There are no bodies.

Hell's kitchen.
The sound of three people approaching, move and cover. Door opens, Ice is crouched down, he opens the door, scans his gun across the mess hall. no body, nothing apears out of place. Hints of steam are very gently rising from the serving counter.
Ice "Clear. And something smells good."
His stomach rumbles, he glances down.
Chuck joins him at a crouch, looks round, then stands and walks cautiously over to the serving counter.
Chuck "There's a note, 'Help yourselves, with the compliments of Anton & Outcast. P.S. Welcome home.' Hmm."
Chuck turns it over and looks at the back, its blank, turns it back.
The third member of the team enters, Ice stands and both walk up to the counter.
Chuck is lifting each lid in turn.
Ice starts lifting lids, his stomach rumbles again.
Thrid Guy "Well I smell a trap."
Chuck "Steak! They got steak!"
Third Guy "Could have anything in that, Rat bait is kept in the stores here."
Ice "Lenny, did I ever tell you," stomach rumbles again looks down "I really hate you."
Chuck comes back with a plate, a large steak, a pile of fries, and a small side salad. "It could be OK. Would be good psychological warfare, we run tests on it and find it was perfectly OK to eat, by which time it's ruined and we can't eat it any way. Deep down we feel bad for not trusting them."
Ice and Lenny give him 'Who are you trying to fool' kind of looks.
Chuck "I'm serious, I'm willing to take that risk." Chuck's stomach rumbles.
Lenny "Leave it. And come on." Lenny's stomach rumbles. He sighs.
Chuck hesitates, then puts it down they turn and leave. Chuck steels a chip, eats it. His expression say's it all, it's divine.

Cut to a large machine, stained, and slightly rusty, a sign on it reads 'Trash Compacter'
There are broken stone fragment on the floor net to it.
Trooper "Found these buried in the trash."
Trooper loosely assembles the chunks, Quaritch has a good long look.
Camera looks over his shoulder as he reads aloud .....
"Here lies the body of corporal Jake Sully 2126 - 2154. His ..... " partially missing word "spirit?..... goes with the Omatikaya."
Trooper looks up at Quaritch "Trying to fake his own death?"
Quaritch "Mmm. Didn't work Jake, did it? They found you, and you'll answer for you're actions, real soon."
Trooper "So why chuck it in here?" banging the side of the compacter gently with the side of his fist.
Quaritch "Hide it in the trash, makes it look like ones meant to find it, and no grave means you can't exhume a body. If Lars found it, it just might have worked, unlucky Corporal."

Perimeter fence
Team who where at the Avatar dormitory shack and compound.
There is another gate in the main fence, a plaque above read 'memorial gate' beyond it is what appears to be a large war memorial.
First trooper "What the ..... Need to check it out." waves tag in front of security panel, gate opens.
Team cautiously exit the fence.
The monument is three sections, mirror polished on the fronts, rough cut on the sides and back, rectangular, silver writing. On the left hand section .....

In memory of those who laid down their lives, for a cause they believed was right and just.
May their spirits find peace.


Below this, in two columns that reach almost halfway down from the top, 142 alphabetized names including Miles Quaritch. Below these .....

Earth / Pandoran war  08 - 23 - 2154


Center section same size and shape, text in the same silver writing .....

In memory of those who laid down their lives, for a cause they believed was right and just.
May their spirits find peace.


Below this 60 names in a single column, that reaches most of halfway down from the top. Below these .....

Second Earth / Pandoran war  11 - 04 - 2160


The third section is blank, same height, but around ten times as wide.
Second trooper "Enough space for roughly three thousand two hundred names."
Beyond a very large pit, seven feet deep, seven feet wide, and reaching off into the distance.


Cut to administrator's office.
Quaritch is already there, Selfridge enters.
Selfridge  "The Pandorans have sent us a message: Join us, betray Earth, we have no shortage of food. Fight us and you will die."
Quaritch "They think they're clever. The mess hall, the memorials, that nicely dug mass grave."
Selfridge "Did anyone find anything tampered with?"
Quaritch "No, and tests on the food came back clear."
Selfride "Well, we've been here less than 24 hours, not one single shot's been fired, but there is no doubt, first round goes to them."
Quaritch "I plan to make it the last."

Cut to heavens gate, training room/gym.
Camera pans round.
Ty and Carlo Chaccon are kick boxing, several others are paired off and also kick boxing. One of the newer recruits is using Quaritch's wights bench, a couple of people are doing pull ups, some sit ups, some one handed push ups.

Cut to another chamber. Humans in exopacks, and Avatars are using a firing range Avatar Trudy and Hurwitz are taking class.

Cut to outside Peyral and a couple of other Omatikaya are training Avatars to shoot arrows at targets. On the end, one lone human in an exopack, the only female recent recruit, she's using a compound bow and hitting the target's center again and again.

Scene 13

Spoiler

Deliverance.
Outside shot, it passes in front of the moon, camera follows it as it heads towards Earth.
Cut to inside, Jake is twisted round in his seat, looking at Outcast.
Jake "Think they'll work?"
Outcast "Should do. The Council would go nuts if they knew I was lending you one of our Avatars." pause "I want to know how they compare, yours and ours. Are we visible?"
Jake reaches across to the panel. taps something.
Jake, "Not any more."
Outcast looks past Jake at a small flashing red dot on the picture of earth currently on the view screen, then holds up the balaclava.
Outcast "Right in a dead zone, no one will see us. Trial run?"
Jake leaves his seat, and sits in the aft most side facing seat, the seat between them has the balaclavas and the second wrist device. Outcast hands Jake a balaclava, Jake puts it on as Outcast places the device on the floor.
Jake "Now what?"
Outcast "Close your eyes."
Jake closes his eyes.
Cut to black
Jake's voice "And?"
Outcast's voice "Open them again."
POV some one lying on the floor, looking at two sets of legs. Person gets up, looks at their blue striped hands, brings tail round to look at, then their queue, the neural tendrils waving around.
Jake's voice "Yeah!"
Outcast "It can't tsahaylu, the queue is ..... just for show. Every world in the galaxy has something unique to it, that's Pandora's. So, they didn't bother to make it work, which means we can't be part of the clan. So on Pandora, we're outcasts."
POV person squats in front of Jake.
Cut to side view, Jake is squatting in front of Jake sitting.
Jake "That' kind of weird. How do I get back?"
Outcast "Open your eyes."
Jake sitting opens his eyes, the Jake squatting in front of him is gone, Outcast catches the device as it falls.
Jake takes off the balaclava and looks at it. Outcast places the device on the seat between them and gets up, moves over to the three seats in front.
Jake "It's a bit itchy."
Outcast "Sorry, it was a rush job." taps at the screen.
The image on the screen zooms in slowly.
Outcast "Ready?"
Jake stands, retrieves an endopack from a locker and slips it on, then nods.
Outcast tucks an assembler into the waistband of his loincloth.
The deceleration is just visible in the slight momentary sagging in their tails.
Outcast taps his wrist device and leads out, into the ruins of a once great cathedral, lots of debris and fallen masonry around. Total silence, broken by the sounds of the gentle breeze, no birds sing, no man made sound either.
Jake "Lets get this done, don't want to stay here any longer than we need to."
They clamber over the rubble, ahead of them what was once a small side chapel, more or less in tact. They make for it. inside the plaster has fallen from the ceiling and walls in places, the windows are long since smashed. Around the edges are statues in niches, some are fallen and smashed, some just worn and vandalized
in the center a sarcophagus with a stone figure on it, a woman in a flowing dress. This figure is pristine, looking as if was carved yesterday.
Outcast "What's different about this one?"
Jake "No damage."
Outcast "Something does all this to the cathedral and all the other statues. Yet leaves this one untouched."
Jake walks round it, and looks at the left wrist, a slight bulge in the sleeve. Jake smiles.
Jake "It's one of your avatars. What's it doing here?"
Outcast "My predecessor's, here on Earth. Couldn't find it when I sent her canister and artifacts back."
Outcast taps on his wrist device, scowls, takes out the assembler, and moves it over the bulge on her left wrist. After a moment it changes, no longer a statue of a woman in a flowing dress, but an actual woman in a flowing dress (Played by Zoë Saldana, for reasons that will become very obvious later, if you haven't already guessed them).
Outcast "It's damaged. Won't shut down, have to carry her."
Without hesitating Jake scoops her into his arms and sets off for Deliverance, cradling her like a small child.

Cut to interior of Deliverance
Looking aft from the front, Jake enters, followed by Outcast who taps his device to seal the door. Jake sits the woman in the aft most side facing seats, she looks lost in it.
Outcast "Next stop my place."

Cut to Deliverance, deep underwater, sinking slowly down. In front a vertical wall of rock. Deliverance stops. A large section of the rock becomes translucent. Deliverance moves forward.

Cut to inside deliverance.
Jake and Outcast by the still sealed Door.
Outcast smiling, with his finger poised to tap his wrist device "Ready for this?"
taps the button, door becomes translucent again, Jake steps out.

Cut to a huge cavern, stretching away into the distance, filled with an eclectic mixture, books, furniture, unidentified things under sheets. The front of a bright red eighties Porsche 911 pokes out from under sheet and a pile of boxes.
Jake laughs "Holy s***! ..... What is this, your private museum?"
Outcast, "Historical artifacts that 'represent human development' over the last seven hundred years, my tenure."
Outcast walks over to a table, identical to the one on Pandora, but smaller, several boxes are on top, several more beneath. Rummages around in a couple on the table, tips the third on the floor. Squats down and picks up the same gun that caused the real Steve the cleaner to vanish.
Outcast "Murder weapon."
Outcast stands, grabs a back pack from beside the table, tips the contents onto the table, picks out a bunch of keys, a wallet, a large bundle of high denomination bills in an expensive looking clip, knuckle dusters, a couple of knives, a pair of 45 magnums and a pair of desert eagles, a few spare clips, these all go back in the pack, along with the other gun. Second Pack, opens the draw string and smiles. pulls the draw sting closed.places these together in the middle of the clear-ish part of the floor.
Heads off, Jake follows. a long aisle both sides are racked out, and over flowing with hand guns, pistols, revolvers, rifles, machine guns, assault rifles, shotguns.
Jake quietly, in awe "Damn."
Outcast pauses for a while Jake takes it in, then gives a sideways jerk of the head, a 'this way' kind of thing.
Next aisle.
A pair of Midi guns, one on a tripod, one loose, are just the first items on the left. Assorted military hardware from 700 years stretch off into the far distance, some under sheets.
Outcast leaves Jake for just a moment, then returns, human, pulling a pump truck past Jake, fifty feet down the aisle he stops pulls the sheet off a pallet of boxes, slips in the truck, pumps up and pulls it out, almost immediately stops again, sheet off a box on a tripod, cammo painted foil cover on the front.
Jake "I know what that is, but what's in the boxes?"
Outcast "Land mines. If you see anything you like, grab it."
Jake grabs a Midi gun. and puts it on the top of the pallet. "Where's the ammo?"
Outcast "Six cases at the back."
Jake "Gonna need another pallet."

Cut to the two stuffing things into the equipment lockers, they're all full.
Jake "So, what are we going to do till they de-frost what they think is the real me?"
Outcast "Have a nose about, wish I knew where they planed to hold you."
Jake "If Earth is in really bad shape will they put Neytiri an my avatar in with the Na'vi you said was already here?"
Outcast "Seems logical."
Jake "Let's go check it out."
Outcast "British museum used to include her on the Pandoran exhibition tour."
Jake "Then we're wasting time."

Cut to a museum exhibition people are moving between glass cases, ooo-ing and ahh-ing at various artifacts. A man in a slightly faded uniform is restocking a holder with leaflets, a young buy, five or six walks away from his mother "Excuse me mister, I wanna see the alien."
The uniformed man looks over to the mother, she gives him an apologetic look, man crouches down.
Man "There's an interactive diorama ..... "
Boy "Saw it, it's rubbish, I wanna see a reel one."
Man "I'm sorry son, she's not here any more, they moved her to Groom Lake, that's in America."
Boy "Aww, it's not fair." and runs back to his mommy.
Mother "Come along Josh, We can look at the Mummy's in the Egyptian ..... "
Boy "But I wanna see a alien."
Mother "Well, when we get home, you can ..... "
The rest is lost in the noise of the crowd as the merge back in, and disappear out of the section.
Bethany walks over to him "Groom Lake? Area 51? Who are you trying to fool?"
Man "He's just a kid. It's all I could think of."

Cut to service door, van like vehicle pulls up, a balding skinny guy jumps out, short, unshaven, dirty looking, his pants look fraying around the bottoms of the legs. He looks around, heads for a member of staff, "Can you scan for this?" holding out a package.
Staff member "Late today Geoff, problems?"
Geoff "Don't go there, just don't even go there."
Staff member looks into the sensor on the gadget on Geoff wrist, it bleeps and a light goes green,
A soft female voice "Recognized: Thorn Bergstrom, staff member, British Museum."
By the time she is done, Geoff has handed over the package, and is back in his cab and the door is closing. As he backs out, and drives off in the back ground, the camera gets a good look at the address .....

Dr Pasha
Pandoran research unit
Lab S4
B. M.
London England


Geoff "She's there."
In the back, Jake in an endopack, holding down a tightly bound, gagged and blindfolded Geoff, minus his uniform and wrist gadget.

Cut to derelict city block, It's getting dark, vehicle backs up to what was once a loading bay, 'Geoff' hops out of the cab, looks around, it's clearly deserted. Opens rear door
'Geoff' "It's safe."
Bound up Geoff "HMM  M'  HMMMM  HMM-M-MM  MMMM?"
Jake to bound up Geoff "Shout and I'll eat you."
Jake peels the tape back from his mouth.
Bound up Geoff "Please, please don't kill me."
Jake "I can't be bothered any way."
Bound up Geoff "I didn't see your faces,"
Jake "Don't care."
Bound up Geoff "I couldn't tell anyone even if I wanted to and I don't. ...... Sorry?"
Jake takes off the blind fold, Geoff shuts his eyes tight "Please"
Jake slightly bored "We're cutting you loose."
Geoff has his uniform thrown at him.
Bound up Geoff "You're, you're not going to kill me?"
Jake and Outcast together, both sound equally bored with this conversation "No."
Bound up Geoff "Oh."
Jake and Outcast start to walk away.
Bound up Geoff opens one eye, looks around, sees the two retreating Na'vi "How am I going to explain this to my boss?"
Jake, bored "Your problem."
Deliverances doorway becomes translucent in a patch of otherwise thin air. Outcast enters.
Bound up Geoff "Going to untie me?"
Jake "Nope."
Bound up Geoff "What happens to me then?"
Jake "Shout for help."
Jake enters.
Bound up Geoff kind of whiny "But you said you'd eat me."
Jake puts his head out of the hatch "I lied."
Hatch seals and is invisible again.
Long pause.
Bound up Geoff shouts "Help, I've been abducted by aliens."

[Muzer]

LOL @ the last line! This is really exciting now, keep it up! I'll give you some karma now as well as when you finish, as an incentive

[Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan]

Great job again.

[archaic]

Irayo 

[archaic]

Scene 14

Spoiler

Cut to the new mine site.
One the bucket the bucket wheel excavators, a tech team of is crawling all over it. Armed sec-for troopers and maybe a dozen armored amps stand guard, camera pans over to see a Samson arrive, Selfridge leaps out as a tech runs over to him, Samson shuts off, we hear turbines spool down.
Tech "Nothing to report. No sabotage, no booby traps, a bit of corrosion. Need's a damn good service, but that's all."
The two head toward the excavator, camera follows.
Selfridge, surprised "Excellent, how soon can we commence?"
Camera pulls back.
Tech "All being well, perhaps as soon as the end of next week."
Selfridge "That's good, Dasilver will be relieved to hear that, when we reestablish coms."
Camera pulls back into trees, stops. Laying face down on a branch, bottom of shot is a humanoid. Cyan, with darker blue stripes, braided hair and a tail. Dressed only in a loin cloth and beads a bow and arrows across their back in the carry position. They're looking out at the work site, we see only the back of them, and their feet are just out of shot, after a moment they bring up and use a pair of binoculars, held in a hand with a thumb, and four fingers.

Cut to the deuterium platform, venture star is being refueled.
Montage of crew overseeing large bore automated hook ups conecting ISV to platform, workers monitoring screens showing the transfer and levels. The occupied cryo units also being opened, the revived personnel transfered. Lars and Magnus look at each other, both surprised.

Hells Gate compound.
A boy, maybe eight or nine, in an exopack is hiding behind a pallet of crates. Something lands on his shoulder. One second later.
Boy "Oww!" swats the thing, and brushes the body onto the floor.
We see from his movements that he has stepped on something behind the Crates. Goes back to watching what's going on.
One of the vast mining dump trucks rolls past toward the gate, boy runs over, slips underneath. Hiding inboard of the middle wheel, he walks with it to the gate, the truck stops in the back ground one of the sec-for guard at the gate is also swatting something, on his thigh.
The inner gate opens, truck moves forward then stops, inner gate closes, then outer gate opens, truck moves forward again, Boy keeps pace with it. Once out of the cleared strip around Hells Gates perimeter the track almost disappears, six years since it was used regularly, the forest has made a good effort to reclaim it, but the truck drives onwards and through it.
In the cab are a driver, and a second person, a sec-for trooper. The cab is large, spacious, and there is a coffee machine and a refrigerator, the second man is making two coffee's.
Driver stops the truck, in front the overgrown track splits.
Driver "Well I don't remember a fork."
Trooper turns round. "Huh? Must'a recut the track when they opened the new mine."
Driver "So, which way?"
Trooper "Right, I 'spose. I can see the top of the excavator."
Points to it, it kind of lines up.
Cut to outside.
In the path in the vegetation made by the trucks wheels, looking at the back end of it. We hear the engine note rise, it moves off, forks right, and disappears.
After a moment the boy crosses the path, right to left, rubbing the bite, and also disappears.

Hells Gate.
Two technicians standing next to the 'Quantum Paired-Particle' communications unit at Hells Gate, access panels, tools, parts and wires spread about. Both are drinking coffee.
Tech one, scratching his head absentmindedly "Well I don't understand it."
Tech two "Problem must be Earth's end."
Lars and Magnus brush past them, camera follows them as the round a corner into the control room, then the administrators office.
Lars "In lay mans terms, just exactly why are we not on earth?"
Magnus "What gives?"
Parker is eating an apple, "Well I thought they did you a favor actually."
Lars "Really? How's that exactly?"
Selfridge "Earth's a mess, and Pandora is nice this time of year. Golf anyone?"
Lars "What?"
Selfridge "As a director, I get to delegate. Every things running just fine by the way, the mine, Hell's Gate refit, accommodation, settlers." hesitates, frowns "Can't contact Earth." smiles again looks Lars in the eye "Enjoy."
Selfridge picks up his putter and walks briskly out of the office.
Lars blown away "Well, how'd'ya like that?"

[Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan]

Hmm, a boy....

[archaic]

I have put a toe in the water, with a hint more Na'vi, I hope I got it got it.somewhere.close!.


Scene 15

Spoiler

Deliverance
Interior of Deliverance Jake is activating the link machine. Lies down inside and goes to close the lid, Outcast holds it open for a moment.
Outcast, "Be careful out there and good luck."

ISV Promethius
Cyro vault, but nearly all the units are gone, four large sec-for guys, in uniform are floating weightlessly by one of the remaining units, it is one of only two not already open, the other is four feet longer than the rest. and has a team working on it, detaching it from it's mounts.
A tech activates the standard length one, after a few moments the tray slides out, revealing human Jake.
Human Jake "We there?"
Tech quietly, almost ashamed "Yeah, we're there."
First trooper, he has sergeant's stripes on his arm. "Prisoner will exit the unit."
Human Jake does so, and looks long and hard at the oversized unit.
Human Jake watches them detach the unit, as tears well up in his eye's.
Sergeant "Wrists."
Human Jake choked up "Please, be careful with her." holds out his wrists.
One of the other troopers takes hold of his wrists and applies a large cable tie as cuffs, pulls it tighter than necessary.

Shuttle passenger/freight deck.
The four sec-for troopers plus the tech's share an otherwise empty shuttle with Jake and the still frozen cryo unit.
They are weightless, the cryo is secured to the floor.
Jake floats over to the window in the unit.
Sergeant "Take a seat, corporal."
Jake "Can I have a moment, I might never see her again."
Sergeant, eye's narrow, sighs, in annoyance "A moment."
Jake holds on with his hands, and awkwardly wipes the window with his fore arm. He looks in.
Jake to Neytiri "So close, and yet you might as well be on another planet."

Cut to Jake being wheeled to a holding cell, Neytiri's cryo is nowhere to be seen, once inside the cable tie is cut with scissors.
He is left alone, there are no other prisoners on this landing. In the cell opposite, a link machine, looking much older than the ones he's used before. The lid is open.
Voice in the distance shouts "Lights out", a moment later we cut to black.

Cut to Pasha's tank, the airlock has been replaced with a larger one, two museum porters are loading Neytiri's cryo into the airlock accompanied, but not helped by, one of the tech's. Watching closely are the same four troopers, and a suit, no one we know. Pasha is at the far end of her home watching closely too.
Unit inside, door closes, air changes, inner door opens the porters slide it inside, tech initiates the thaw cycle.

Cut to the research staff in the lab except Bethany, who is missing, are crowded round one view screen, watching intently a live feed from Pasha's tank.

Cut to Pasha's tank, two of the troopers enter, they draw weapons as the tray slides out, Neytiri looks scared.
First trooper to Neytiri "Out."
Neytiri climbs out, she looks round at the humans in the tank with her, all wearing exopacks.
Second trooper "Yeah, you can take the mask off now, this is your air." and holds his hand out for it.
Neytiri removes it slowly, and hands it over, not taking her eye's off what they are doing to Jake.
The porters drag Jake's unconscious avatar out of the lower side of the tray, as soon as his legs are clear they put him down.
The tech' closes the draw as one of the porters removes the endopack from unconscious Jake. The porters put the cryo back in the airlock, all 5 humans enter, inner door closes.
As soon as the door closes, Neytiri moves across to Jake, rolls him over, and places a hand tenderly on his chest, above his heart. We hear air changing in the airlock.
Pasha walks over, no subtitles "Kaltxì ma tsmuke." with subtitles "Uniltìrantokx tireaan alìmru".
Neytiri looks round and sees Pasha for the first time, notices the prosthetic leg, and stares at it, with a horrified expression.
Pasha kneels down, near Neytiri, but at a respectful distance.
A tear rolls down Neutiri's cheek, she looks back at Jake, cradles his head gently in one hand and strokes his pectoral muscles tenderly with the other.
Neytiri, in Navi with subtitles "I do not understand."
Pasha in Na'vi, with subtitles "Welcome to Earth."

Cut to Jake lying motionless in the bed in the holding cell, his eyes open wide, and he takes a deep breath. He sit's up, looks around him, takes a long look at the link machine, then shuffles to the end of the bed and, with dificulty, hauls himself up to the small high window, hanging by one hand from the bars, he wipes a patch of window, looks out.

Cut to other side of window, Jake looking directly at the camera "Where on earth am I?" as camera pulls back a little, then swings round to show an unbroken ocean stretching to an empty horizon.

Outside Pasha's tank.
The member of staff that the little boy asked about the alien, is leading a man, medium height, athletic build, grey hair, his suit and case where clearly expensive when new, but now look kind of old.
They walk across the raised section of floor, Pasha and Neytiri look up from their shared plate of teylu and watch them.
They reach the far end they show passes again to the armed guard at the airlock. The staff member shows his pass, 'Will' it says, along with his hologram, and some other information. Calitz shows two passes, one museum pass with 'Visitor' in large red letters diagonally across the whole pass. The other is his own company pass, also with his name and hologram on it.
Man "Calitz Soyka, council for the defense. I am here to see Neytiri te Tskaha Mo'at'ite and the avatar of Jake Sully. I believe I was expected."
Guard speaks into his throat mike "Soyka is here." the guard hands Calitz an exopack, then opens the airlock.
As he does so Jake opens his eye's, deep inhale, coughs, and sits up, looks round to Naytiri, big smile, both stand, Jake gives Neytiri a tight hug, pressing practically every part of his being against her, Neytiri is less than committed to this.
We hear the outer airlock door close, and the air begin to change.
Jake looks deep into Neytiri's eye's "I missed you so much, I told you I never wanted us to be apart ..... " Jake sees the look of hurt and distrust in her eye's and the tears welling too "what is it, what's wrong?"
We hear the inner door of the airlock open, all look at the door, camera pans round too as Calitz enters, the door closes behind him.
Calitz "Kaltxi" then continues in English, to Jake and Neytiri "I have been appointed to represent the two of you in court," then to Pasha "and I'm afraid I have to ask that we have privacy for the remainder of this consultation."
Pasha goes to move, but Neytiri holds out a hand to stop her.
Neytiri to Pasha, quietly, and carefully "Thana" then in English to Calitz "We are Omatikaya, we keep no secrets from each other."
Calitz "As you wish. May we sit? I am not as young as I once was."
The three Na'vi sit first slowly. Calitz takes a small folding stool from a compartment in his case, clearly made specifically for this, and with a little apparent discomfort he sits too.
Pasha hands Jake the plate of teylu.
Jake "Thanks, I'm starving."
Calitz "There are many on earth who literally are, and a great many would hold you personally accountable for it. Which brings me rather neatly to the matter in hand."

Pandora, forest.
The young boy is walking in the forest, he glances at a small view screen, three inches by four, in his hand, and with his spare hand rubs his shoulder, then swats another bitting fly that's landed on his chest. He is near the top of a steep bank, a gap in the tree's gives him a good view of an impressive area of virgin forest.
A sound of movement above makes him look up. Another makes him turn and look behind. Takes a few paces backwards, then he looks up again. The takes another step as he turns. The moss gives way and he half rolls, half slides down the bank, mask knocked off by the fall, he rescues it and slips it back on, panting. Looks round for the view screen, he finds it, broken.
"Now I'm in trouble."
Looks round at the forest hears something making a yipping noise on the far side of the bank, looks up at the slope he's come down, something is moving about up there.
What ever it is is looking for a good way down, it finds it.
"Oh s***."
Boy runs. after some distance he passes a large creature lying dead, an arrow, four of five feet long sticking out of it, he pay's no attention, and keeps running after a moment there are yelps of pain behind. Keeps running, looks behind behind him, and trips over a root and goes down hard.
It is now night, the forest is awash with bioluminescence, he sits up and looks around. rubs his head.
In quiet awestruck tones "Wow."
Camera spins round as he turns round to take it all in. Looks at his view screen, still broken. Rubs various parts of his body.
"Now where?"
Heads off confidently, after a walking some distance he sees ahead of him tree's that are quite different, long glowing tendrils hang almost to the ground. He walks up to them. The undergrowth here is much thicker here, but there is a well trodden path among them, he takes it. A short walk later he sees a woman, cyan with stripes, wearing a triangular bead top, red edged with yellow edges. He stands transfixed for a moment. She opens her eyes.
Lady "Hello, my name is Mo'at, what's yours."
Boy "Er. My name is Theodore, but mostly I get called Ted."
Mo'at "Which do you prefer?"
Boy "Ted. Er where am I?"
Mo'at "Well Ted, we call these tree's Utral Aymokriyä. The Tree of Voices."
Mo'at releases her tsaheylu. "Would you like to go home?"
Ted nods. "Are, are you a monster?"
Mo'at "Why would you ask that?"
Ted "Your big and you look ..... " trails off.
Mo'at "Scary? It's not what they're like on the outside that makes that makes someone a monster, it's what they're like on the inside. They can be most dangerous because sometimes they can look just like everyone else on the outside, but they're cruel and mean on the inside."
Mo'at stands and sees Ted rubbing himself "Did they bite you?"
Ted nods "It hurts."
Mo'at "Shall we find something to take it away?" Mo'at picks up her staff "Walk with me."
They walk into the forest a short distance, Mo'at walks up to a tree trunk with big thorns sticking out of it, she places the Palm of one hand on the trunk, the other on a thorn.
Mo'at in Na'vi "Forgive me sister."
Breaks off the thorn, they walk a little way further and come to the same kind of plat that Neytiri drank out of. Mo'at wets the broken end of the thorn, and works it in.
Mo'at "Rub that all over, it will sooth the bites and stop them biting again."
She hands over the thorn.

Pasha' tank.
Jake "I'm concerned that the war will begin again, at least the biting fly season should hold off an attack for a while."
Calitz eyes narrow "Why do think it's that season"
Pasha "He is right, it would be."
Jake "Err, because ..... " hesitates " ..... I worked it out in my cell last night."
Calitz "Work anything else out? Jake I need to know everything if I'm to represent you, if there's something your holding back on, anything, I need to know, and now would be a really good time to mention it."
Jake "There's nothing."
Calitz "Neytiri tells me the Omatikaya keep no secrets from each other, but you were not born one, you became one and humans keep secrets, known for it. Tell me, do old habits die hard Jake?"
Jake "I don't know what your talking about."
Calitz "I read your military records file, do I recall you where trained to resist interrogation?"
Jake "I was. Would you like my name rank and service number?"
Calitz "It may serve you well under cross examination. So biting flies?"
Jake "What about them?"
Calitz opens his hands in a gesture of you tell me .....
Jake "They're not insects like Earth mosquitoes, they're ..... er ...... "
Pasha "Placental mammals. Just like you."
Jake " ...... er, yeah. I thought if tsahaylu'ed with one, it might not bite."
Neytiri tries hard not to smile.
Pasha "And?"
Jake "They got pretty strong opinions about it. No blood means a female can't have kids, or produce milk for them. Rest of the year the feed only on nectar, they pollenate the main food of Teylu beetles."
Pasha to Calitz "Teylu larvae," holds one up "principle caloric staple of the Na'vi for much of the year." to Jake "You where happier before, when you just swatted them? There is a human saying."
Jake, bitterly "Yeah. Ignorance is bliss."
Moment of silence.
Jake "Ignorance. Trouble is it'll make the humans destroy everything, it's pretty much all the humans have done on Pandora."
Calitz "Our, erm. Human scientists and researchers have been there for many years, discovered many things, made many breakthroughs. Like the cure for the common cold?"
Pasha "Hey. That was one of mine, I found that, here on Earth."
Calitz "I was not aware of that."
Pasha "You wouldn't be, I'm just a museum exhibit. Hell I even live in a glass case."
She knocks on the glass wall of her tank.
Pasha "It was announced the discovery was made on Pandora, helped win a funding battle, but the royalties come here. Researchers on Pandora? They would have learned more if they had spent an afternoon talking to any Tsahik."
Calitz "I fear that is not their mind set."
Jake "No. Humans look at whatever they do not understand with fear, or derision. Before I went to Pandora, I'd heard these stories about primitive savages that lived there, seen pictures too. First time I actually saw one for real, was when I met Neytiri. Saved my ass from being nantangs' lunch. I got a whole different perspective, right there. I know what humans think about Na'vi, but I also know the truth, and they don't meet in the middle. Just wish I put everyone straight."
Pasha "You can't Jake, they think you went native, they see you as a traitor."
Calitz "They may see the Na'vi as little more than animals, but, equally, in their eye's  Na'vi don't know any better. They where to stupid and limited to learn anything at Augustine's school. But you, you had all the benefits of being human. And you rejected them Jake, you rejected us. To live in a tree, as a savage."
Jake, sigh "I know."
Pasha " 'Na'vi are too stupid and limited to learn anything'. What do you think Na'vi are capable of Mr Soyka?"
Calitz "These are not my opinions Doctor Pasha," Jake and Neytiri both look at Pasha "however, as errant as they may be, they are, never the less, held widely among a significant portion of Earths population."
Pasha "The propaganda that passes for news these days doesn't exactly help."
Calitz "True. As it's inevitable that it'll come up at some point in the trial, I need you to tell me this now. Jake do you consider yourself to be Human or Na'vi?"
Jake with no hesitation "Na'vi, most people have no choice in what species they are, I got to choose and I chose to be one of Na'vi. It hasn't always been easy, but I have never regretted that decision."
Calitz suddenly the immaculate composure slips "Dammit, Jake, you can never be one! Your life as one takes millions of dollars of machinery to sustain. You visit ..... and you leave."
Long silence. Jake and Neytiri look at each other. Neytiri trying to read anything there. Jake looks back at Calitz.
Calitz takes a deep breath "Forgive me, I must apologize, that was most unprofessional. In my career some of my clients have been ..... " Calitz is looking for the right word "controversial figures. One mans terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, maybe even the founder of a new nation. They all have skeletons in their closets. In the end, I find out certainly most of them. If I know what they are ahead of time I can prepare for them. But I must warn you, the prosecution will love that. Trial officially starts on monday, the prosecution intends to request adjournment of three months to finish preparing their case, with your permission, I do not intend to object. Now if you will forgive me I have another client I must see. I'll be back tomorrow."
Shakes hands with Jake and, despite the visor in the way, kisses Neytiri on the back of the hand.
Calitz enters the airlock, door closes, air changes, outer door opens Calitz walks past the window briskly, and disappears from sight.
Jake turns to Neytiri. "Neytiri."
Neytiri backs off, turns away but holds a hand out behind her as if to ward him off.
Neytiri, in Navi "No. I do not know you."
Jake "Neytiri."
Neytiri turns back to look him in the eye, but there is no love in her eye's, only rage.
Neytiri, in Navi "How can I trust you? You became one of us, one of the people, one of the Omatikaya, and now you are not. It was all lies. As Tsu'tey said, you are a demon in a false body."
Jake in Na'vi "Remember the tree of souls, that was real, the funeral was real, what ever does not fit with that, that is not real."
Nytiri lunges at Jake, but Pasha catches her off balance, brings her to the ground, sitting on Neytiri's belly, and holding Neytiri's wrists. Neytiri struggles.
Pasha in Na'vi "I'm used to this gravity, you are not."
Neytiri stops struggling to hiss at Pasha then struggles even harder.
Pasha in Na'vi "This helps no one, it makes nothing better. And stop trying to kill Jake, that really doesn't help. He really does love you, and I'm not going to stand by while you tear each others body and spirit to pieces." stops talking, tears well in Pasha's eyes, she continues in English trying to choke back the tears "It is killing me inside."

[archaic]

Dang, that ran to over the limit .....

The message exceeds the maximum allowed length (20000 characters).

..... so here's the rest of it.

Spoiler

Forest.
Mo'at and Ted walking beside one another.
Mo'at "Any one else your own age?"
Ted sadly"No" smiles "Kehe." looks up at Mo'at.
Mo'at smiles back. They come to the tree line. near the track, the Gate is close, and continue.
Mo'at stops halfway between the tree line and the fence and squats right down, she's still taller than him. "Are those your parents?"
There are a couple by the gate the woman is arguing with the guards.
Ted looks at them "That's my mommy, but he's not my real dad." looks into Mo'at's eyes, then looks away, with great sadness in his voice "We don't mate for life."
Mo'at "Go to them. Eywa ngahu."
Ted "Will I see you again?"
Mo'at "Maybe."
Ted runs to the gate Shouts "Mommy."
Gate begins to open.
Ted's Mommy "Ted! Where have you been? We were worried to death."
Ted "I got lost in the trees and the nice lady brought me back."
Ted's Mommy "What have I told you about wandering off?"
Ted "But I ..... "
Ted's Mommy "Don't you give me that." raises hand to hit Ted.
Mo'at "Have compassion for all beings, rich and poor alike; each has their suffering. Some suffer too much, others too little."
Ted's Mommy "I presume that sanctimonious heathen crap passes for philosophy among your dirt scratching kind."
Mo'at politely "No, yours. I was quoting Buddha." Mo'at stands "Good bye." turns and walks away towards the tree's.
Ted's Mommy very angry "Don't you walk away from me!"
Mo'at turns her head slightly but doesn't stop of turn round "Forgive me, but I have dirt that needs scratching."

Pasha's tank.
Na'vi Jake and Neytiri, talking with Calitz.
Voice over by Jake "I find myself questioning what is real"
Human Jakes prison cell, a months beard growth. Eating a bowl of what might be porridge, visibly not enjoying it.
Voice over of Jake "and what is illusion."
Voice in the distance "Lights out", a moment later the lights go out, Jake puts the bowl on the floor. Lifts his legs onto the bed, lies down, closes his eyes.
Voice over of Jake "One life as a human, pretending to be Na'vi"
Inside of a link machine, Na'vi Jake opens his eye's, turns his head.
Voice over of Jake "in here, a Na'vi pretending to be a human."
Inside Pasha's tank. Jake opens his eye's and sits up.
Looking out of the window we see Neytiri is being escorted back to the tank by the guard, Calitz waits patiently.
Guard, muffled "Call of nature."
We hear the outer airlock door open, and a moment later close again, the air begins to change. Pasha is looking up at the lights, Jake notices her rub her cheek nervously, with crossed fingers.
The lights go out and the sound of the airlock air change stops, we hear both Calitz and Neytiri shouting in side the airlock, there is muffled thumping.
Pasha looks at her watch and leaps over to Jake.
Pasha whispers between gritted teeth "OK avatar boy, just exactly what is going on? You acted like you hadn't seen Neytiri in months, and she doesn't want to know you, even though I can see it's breaking her heart. How do you know what's happening on Pandora, even though comms are down, how?"
Jake "I don't know what you're talking about."
Pasha looks at her watch, "What did happen at the tree of souls that should make thing alright between you two, and what does the funeral have to do with it?
Jake "I don't know what you're talking about."
Pasha looks at her watch, "I am not your enemy, they are, your own retched species ..... " Pasha trails off, looks deep into Jake's eyes, then sits back and in disbelief " ..... not your own species?"
Jake "I don't know what "
Pasha whispers angrily between gritted teeth "Say that again and I'll make you wish your avatar was paralyzed from the waist down. Is Neytiri in on it? ...... " pause, pasha looks deep into Jake's eyes, then in mild disbelief " .....  She isn't is she?"
Lights come back on, the sound of the air changing in the airlock starts up again.
Pasha jumps off Jake, and then comes over more slowly, all smiles, offering a hand to help him stand up.

[Muzer]

Wow, long chapter! Again, very nice, though I couldn't figure out what the second Na'vi sentence was supposed to mean - I am quite dopey tonight, though, so that could be it

[Muzer]

Heh - I'm actually using a plain-text-only web browser at the moment (my brother is clogging our internet connection by downloading too many Steam games), so I actually saw that, hidden text included, from the start - and got confused by it.

[archaic]

got it.somewhere.close!.

Place the arrow on the fist letter in the above, then slide to the right.

[Muzer]

Um, what happened there? My post appeared before yours...

[archaic]

My bad, I've removed a post when I wanted to amend it, my mouse doesn't like me, never had this problem when I had one with a ball in it.

It say's "Uniltìrantokx alìman alìmru = Avatar body, his spirit is far away." well, if I translated it properly.




Edit: I didn't! Second attempt "Uniltìrantokx tireaan alìmru = Avatar body, his spirit is far away."
      posts amended.

[archaic]

The last section of this is harsh, be warned.


Scene 16

Spoiler

Heavens Gate.
Aircraft chamber, camera pans past a nearly completed C21 a few techs are busy on it.
Camera pans past a skeletal project,  significantly larger than a C21 eight tech's are busy working on or next to this, camera passes a desk, on it a view screen, on it a picture of a slowly rotating aircraft, like an oversized C21, but with six pairs of rotors, bottom right of the screen 'P1'.
Camera pans past the racks of completed C21's, several deep, to a doorway in the rock wall. Rows of bunks all with avatars, some with shirt and pants, some in loin cloths, females with bikini tops. In the back ground is a muscular avatar, pumping Iron. It's Ty.
Camera comes to rest looking down on a male and female avatar side by side, the male has major scaring around his left shoulder, it's Norm's, the female has a strong resemblance to Trudy. Trudy's eye's open, deep in hale, blinks, smiles, turns to look at Norm.
Noms eye's open, deep inhale, turns to look at Trudy.
Trudy "Kids won't be back till late, so, what do you want to do today?"
Norm "Flying's out till they hack the new satellites."
Trudy annoyed "Mmm." then seductively "Wanna go for a swim?"
Norm smiles "Yeah."
They leap off their beds, and run to the doorway.


Cut to on board Deliverance.
Jake's firing up the link machine. But it sounds very slightly not right.
Jake "Don't like the sound of that."
Squeaking from the machine, Jake and Outcast look at each other. Tearing sound followed by a loud metal grating against metal sound, both go for the stop button, both are to late and the rotor seizes with a bang. Both look at each other. There is a leak in the hull, water coming in.


Cut to Jake in his prison cell.
The guards approach the cell, open's the door.
First guard "Oi. Sleepy head, link time."
No reaction.
Guard "I said get up you lazy ..... " kicks Jake.
No reaction.
Guard "Ain't going for some 'died in the night' act."
Grabs the edge of the mattress against the wall, and pulls it so Jake rolls onto the floor.
Jake lies there unresponsive.
Second guard "I reckon he is dead."
Guard "Get the Doc'. If he is dead, we're all in one hell of a heap of ...... "


Outside Pasha's tank.
Calitz and the guard are by the airlock.
Guard into his throat mic "Soyka's here."
Goes to open the door, stops.
Guard into his throat mic "Go again?" pauses, looks at Calitz, then into his throat mic again "what do you mean 'Sully didn't wake up'?"
Cut to inside the tank Pasha and Neytiri have both stopped eating some fruit and are listening intently to the guard.
We hear his slightly muffled voice. "It seems Sully will not be joining us for the time being, command has requested that this session be postponed. Until further notice."
Pasha and Neytiri look at each other, Neytiri with a look of fear and horror in her eye's. After a moment Neytiri looks over at Jake.


Cut to on board Deliverance.
Top of the clam shell is off. Lying on his back on the lower section, which has been slid in, Outcast is working on the rotor above him, deep sigh, sits up, shakes his head sadly, as if to say 'I'm very sorry Mr Sully we did every thing we could, but I'm afraid we were unable to save your link machine'.
Jake "Dead?"
Outcast, "Might as well be, take day's to fix that rotor, quicker to go back to Pandora for another one."
Jake "Mean time, I'm lying in a cell in a prison cell someplace, and right now they're wondering why I'm still asleep."


Cut to Jake in his prison cell.
Jake on the floor, unresponsive.
Guard "What gives, Doc?"
Doc "Not sure, got reflexes, pulse, he's breathing, but no, and if I give him anymore stimulant his heart will give out."
in the back ground two guys dressed in flight suits, and life preservers run onto the landing carrying a stretcher.
Doc stands to get out of their way, holds up a small sample bottle.
Doc "Hopefully we'll know more when the results come back. Mean time, need to ask the other one what it knows."
Jake is quickly loaded and strapped to the stretcher.
Guard "Gloves off, as necessary."
Stretcher guys squat, one at each end of the stretcher. one say's  "Ready." the other replies "Go."
They lift and carry Jake out of the cell and towards the gate, Doc turns and hurries after them.
Doc, as he gets to the gate "Just remember what has been expended bringing these two to justice. Trial must go ahead, as planned."



Pasha's tank.
Four troopers are keeping Pasha in a corner, kneeling, facing the wall, cable tied wrists behind her back, four guns trained on her.
Pasha "This is outrageous, I'm a respectable scientist."
Camera pans round to Neytiri, also with her wrists cable tied behind her back. Lying face down. Again four troopers, guns aimed at her.
A ninth trooper is standing, clearly in charge, "And I'm the queen of Sheba."
Pasha "Well, your majesty ..... "
Queen of Sheba, angrily "Can it. You'll speak when you're spoken to, not before." turns to Neytiri "Now then Nay-tee-ree, it seems you and me, we have a little problem, our friend Mr Sully didn't wake up this morning, and my superiors would like an explanation. So, is there anything you'd like to tell us?"
Neytiri "I don't know anything about it!"
Queen of Sheba "Unfortunately, no one here believes you."
Pasha firmly "I do."
Turns to Pasha "I wonder what a narvee skin rug would fetch on the black market." turns back to Neytiri "Is there anything you want to tell us?"
Neytiri "I do not know anything about it!"
Pasha "Why don't you pick on some one your own size?"
Queen of Sheba to Pasha, menacingly "I'm sorry, I clearly failed to explain it earlier, If I so much as hear you breathe, Natiri will suddenly qualify as the only living blue skin on the planet." turns back to Neytiri "One more time, is there anything that you feel like sharing?"
Neytiri clearly and precisely "I do not know anything!"
Queen of Sheba to the four guards with Neytiri, slowly and nastily "Get it out of my sight."

If you think that's harsh then be warned there is another scene soon that is way nastier.

[Muzer]

O NOES!

(Not as harsh as I thought it was going to be... but O NOES nonetheless).

[archaic]

A fairly short one.



Scene 17

Spoiler

Administrators office.
Selfridge, Pope, Magnus and Quaritch present.
Lars "We all know conflict is inevitable here, we have over three thousand packed into Hells Gate like sardines. Out there enough unobtainium to supply earth for the foreseeable future. In the way are the Pandorans, Indigenous and Human. The question is not if, but how, when and where."
Quaritch "If we stay here we could be sitting ducks. Hells Gate is well defended, but enough Narvee could overwhelm the defenses, and the wildlife turned on us too."
Magnus "And if we go out there we could be walking into a trap, we've seen they're capable of making them startlingly effective. Plus they've leaned to keep to cover. Marine training added to local knowledge proved a potent mix."
Quaritch "But not a decisive one."
Magnus "No, they had more aircraft than we anticipated, three C21 and two scorpion, and deep in the flux vortex we had to fire line of sight while they still had missile tracking and lock."
Selfridge "How is that possible?"
Magnus "We couldn't work it out, sully seemed to have the luck of the devil too, as he reeled us in to an ambush, I was sure we'd hit him, more than a few times, but no, he just kept on flying."
Lars "I hate to say it, but it was all so much simpler before we made war with the Omatakaya."
Selfridge "I guess we blew winning hearts and minds of the natives."
Quaritch "It's worse than that, we've lost the hearts and minds of some of our own, there are humans out there ready to fight against us too."
Lars "Still, we have seasoned pro's, people who have seen action against the natives, and must be pretty sore, loseing to a bunch of half naked savages." to Magnus "I bet your men can't wait to give them some more."
Magnus "No, they're kind of sore ..... "
Lars interupts "just like in the clearing."
Magnus "Actually you may have ..... "
Lars interrupts "We took out a whole bunch of the enemy. Including some of the humans traitors."
Magnus "The men re ...... "
Quaritch interrupts "Well your men can help lead."
Magnus "I think they should remain here and act as rear guard, they ..... "
Lars interrupts again, mostly to Quaritch "They are at your disposal."
Magnus shouts "KEHE!" and bangs the table with his fist.
The office falls silent even the control room outside goes quiet, all look at Magnus stunned, he has their wholly undivided attention.
Magnus calm again "Not only have we irretrievably lost the hearts and minds of the natives, but we are steadily loosing the hearts and minds of our own people. Hegner was first, Jake Sully of course, and more since, in two waves. Lars, my old friend, I fear you have entirely the wrong idea about what happened at that field hospital. Discipline broke down, no one was massacred and another twenty or so of our finest defected. I no longer count on my men to massacre anyone, and I do not use the word 'massacre' lightly. No one did anything about it because they know a war crime when they see one. You want to use them, then have them guard Hells Gate, do not put them in the front line."
Lars "You told me, and I quote ..... "
Magnus looks Lars in the eye " ..... I think the Narvee got a pretty darn good look, at exactly what humanity is capable of." pause for effect "Compassion."

[Kätsyín te Zotxekay Tsyal’itan]

Wow, looking good.

[archaic]

Here's that harsh scene I said was coming, the the 'F' word is used in this scene, so if you're a younger reader, or easily shocked I do not recommend that you read this scene.
And yes, Illford Smith is a total wack job. Psychotic and sadistic too.

You have been warned.

Scene 18

Spoiler

Neytiri is strapped to a large device. Legs spread slightly, arms straight out, Neytiri is unconscious, a sheet covers enough of her so that you cannot tell if she is naked underneath it or not.
The room is quite large and is empty apart from Neytiri in an endopack on the thing, a table with a sheet covering a whole bunch of stuff on it that makes lumps in the sheet. Further away, two more tables also have lumpy things covered by sheets. Another sheet covers something table height and around eighteen inches in diameter. The only other thing in the room is Illford Smith, a man, around forty five, he is quite muscular, has the same haircut as jake had when he first arrived on Pandora from Earth and wearing an old looking black vest and pants,  army issue boots and dog tags. He is siting, spread legged on a chair, it's back in front of him, he is resting his elbows on it's back, his fingers steepled, he is motionless and watching Neytiri intently from around eight feet away.
Neytiri stirs, and then wakes, she goes to move but cannot. for a moment she struggles against the straps trying to escape. Then realizes her situation, a look of shock and fear on her face.
Neytiri sees him, flattens her ears against her head and hisses at him.
Illford Smith, his voice is friendly, and out of keeping for the situation "Good mourning sleepy head, my name is Smith, Illford Smith. You must be Neytiri, I'm honored, I've heard so much about you."
Neytiri "Why am I here? Why have you tied me to this .....  thing?"
Neytiri struggles against the straps again, hard.
Illford with apparent concern for her well being "I'd go easy on those straps, we wouldn't want you to come to any harm. And, it wasn't me that strapped you in."
Neytiri "Will you tell me what is going on. Please, you're frightening me."
Illford "We are here, so you can answer a couple of questions," pause "and fear is an understandable reaction." pause "Cold in here, isn't it?"
Illford takes the cover off what is now seen to be a brazier.
Illford "Lets see if we can't make you more comfortable, we wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable, would we?"
He folds back a corner of the sheet on the table, he is between it and the camera so we do not see to much, we hear him light a blow torch, and uses that to light the brazier, he hooks up an air feed fan, switches it on, the coals start to glow bright red.
Illford "That's better," as he warms his hands over it for a couple of moments, "much better." he looks around the room, at shadows cast on the walls "Almost romantic. Few homey touches this would have been a better pace for the two of you,  than three crammed in an aquarium with no privacy."
Pasha "Na'vi are open, we do nothing we need be ashamed of."
He picks up a metal bar from the table, it's handle in one hand, the other end in his other hand.
Illford, again with apparent concern for Nrytiri's comfort "Ooo, that's cold." pause "Don't worry, I'll take the chill off for you." as if it had only just occured to him.
He plunges around twelve inches of the bar into the red hot coals.
Illford now speaking casually, as if to an old friend "I'd like to introduce you to a dear old friend of mine. Admittedly he's not the man he once was. He used to be the life and soul of the party when we where young, always laughing and joking, a real ladies man." Then suddenly concerned. "But you might not know what that means." Pauses for a moment, looking contemplative, then seems to dismiss something he is worried about, "We went through the academy together, he always kept in touch with some girl from back home, telling her how much he missed her and how much he wanted to go back home again to see her. Didn't stop him seeing other girls while he was there." pauses, scowls "You know, he never mentioned her to any of them?"
He pauses. Folds back a little more of the sheet, to reveal a bucket and a full water carrier. He lays the water carrier down, places the bucket on the floor beneath it, and turns the tap on.
"Where was I?" long pause as the bucket fills some.
"Oh yes, I remember. Me and my friend passed out together, posted to the same unit."
Turns off tap as bucket is pretty much full.
"He'd laughed and joked all the way through training, he was no different after deployment." long pause "We took out our fist village, mourning of day one."
pause "Men,"
pause "women,"
pause "children,"
long pause "even the dogs."
pause "there were a couple more more that afternoon."
Laughs nastily "Pretty much carried on that way."
Takes the poker out of the brazier, looks at it. It is glowing cherry red, then he lowers it slowly into the bucket of water, so that it hisses for a long time. When it finishes hissing he takes it out, looks at it again before plunging it back into the coals, twisting it round and working it in deeper.
He continues seriously, these appear to be painful memories "We'd been out, maybe three months when we got ambushed, not for the first time, not the last neither. But this one was bad, we fought our way out, but took heavy casualties."
Now with just a hint of a sneer "He has to act the hero and rescue our corporal, what a waste of time, died in the night anyway."
He slips his hand under the edge of the sheet and takes out an old fashioned clipboard and a pen. Illford walks round to near Neytiri's feet, and begins to fill in something onto the clipboard. Then very theatrically looks at his watch, and notes presumably the time on the paperwork.
Illford looks at Neytiri "Where would we be wit out the paper work? Still living in a tree I guess. Oh, I'm sorry, no offence." pause "I need to do a reflex test, I'm sorry if this is cold."
He drags the non writing end of his pen up the soul of Neytiri's foot, she reacts.
Illford "Same reflex as humans."
He seems impressed and more than a little surprised, and makes a short note on his paperwork, then he puts it and the pen back on the table.
Illford "We'd lost our first recon' in the fighting, so sergeant makes my friend up, just temporary, and field promotes him to corporal too. Quickly made himself unpopular, throws his weight around a bit, if you know what I mean. But we didn't see him so much, plus we were kind of busy dodging bullets and looking out for IED's."
Several seconds of near total silence.
"One night, It was raining, real hard. We get a message that the enemy is holed up in some abandoned monastery, and my friend is sent out to look it over. In the rain. He takes a couple of days over it, we where starting to think he was dead or captured when he finally turns up. We meet up with another unit and attacked at midnight. Fiercest firefight of the campaign so far, by dawn we where taking an ass kicking. Then three more units turn up, couple of hours later it' all goes very quiet. First recon' gets sent in to check for survivors. He's in there a long old time, then there's a single gunshot, makes us all dive for cover."
Slight sneer returns "Then my friend comes out."
pause "White as a sheet."
pause "He says to the serge,"
pause "no survivors."
Sneer increases "Then he looses his lunch all over serge's boots."
laughs nastily "Leaves his meals for about the last week behind a bush too."
Sneer increases again "He weren't laughing and joking, no more after that."
Long silence.
The sneer increases yet again "Week or two later, he gets careless and gets himself shot up good."
Ilford walks over to between the tables with sheets on further away.
As he walks, with his back to Neytiri "So allow me to introduce you, to my good old buddy ..... "
Ilford gets to the far ends of the two tables, takes a sheet in either hand and keeps walking, pulling the sheets off slowly as he does so.
" ..... and fellow veteran of the Venezuelan conflict .....  Corporal Jake Sully .....  Both of them."
On one table is human Jake in, and Na'vi avatar Jake an exopack on the other, both seemingly asleep.
He drops the sheets, turns and comes back to the brazier, as he walks "By my calculations you would have been around six or seven when he was taking care of the natives."
He takes out the glowing poker.
Neytiri, no subtitles "Keleye'ung vrrtep."
Illford "Now, about those questions. Lets get the ball rolling with a nice easy one shall we?"
He comes over with the bar. Brings his face close to hers.
Close up of his hand taking a good grip on the sheet that covers Neytiri, it is torn back. Cut to under the table we see it pile up on the floor next to Illfords legs. We also see the glowing metal bar in his other hand.
Illford, trying to be nice as pie, but there are undertones "We pumped your f*** buddy so full of stimulants it'd wake the dead. So, what's with the sleeping beauty impersonation?"
He brings up the poker so that she can have a good long look at it. Neytiri is clearly scared, and tries to get away from it.
Illford nothing but friendly tones in his voice "Why won't he wake up?"
Neytiri glances away from it to look at him "I do not know!"
Illford still with the nice sounding tone "Perhaps. But I bet you could make a remarkably good guess." pause, he suddenly notices the metal bar isn't glowing any more "Oh, would you look at that. It's gone cold."
He walks to the bucket, it hisses as he immerses it again.
Neytiri "I will tell you nothing."
Ilford touches the bar back onto the hot coals "Trust me," works it deep into the coals, after a moment, "you will."
He takes out the metal bar, it's glowing cherry red again.
There is a massive crash as the door busts open, tearing chunks of the door frame away.
Illford looks up, we see him and the shadows of two figures silhouetted on the floor. One with a bow, one with a gun.
Illford looks across at the two Jake sullies lying on tables, and receives an extremely large arrow to the chest, it knocks him to the floor. Jake cuts Neytiri's straps.
Neytiri leaps up and descends on the still dying Smith, she kneels on his neck and chest with one knee, takes hold of the arrow and pulls it out.
Neytiri, in Na'vi, no subtitles "Rot in hell, you disgusting sack of puss."
Neytiri hands Jake the arrow, in english "Lets get out of here."
Jake looks at his two avatars, "You, you don't seem surprised to see me,' pause, then in shock "you knew didn't you?"
Outcast, with Jakes Na'vi Avatar over his shoulder, "Roof, clock's ticking."
Neytiri "Jake, I am Na'vi, we see."
Jake takes her in his arms, but doesn't accept this explanation "No. Really, how?"
Neytiri looks deep into Jake's eyes "Humans like to keep secrets ..... but they are not good at it."