Ivory Hill had spent the majority of her adult life running. Throughout her twenties and the first part of her thirties it was from bombs and bullets. Now, at thirty six years old Ivory was running from something that she could never truly escape fr...
Grace stopped in the corridor that herself and Ivory's bedrooms were on, pushing the sheet that Parker had just signed into the pocket of her white lab coat. "Come on Ivy we need to pack."
Ivory looked at Tigger, a worried expression on her face.
Grace felt her mouth curve into a smile at the sight of Ivory holding the enormous tabby cat. The redhead swore under her breath, pinching the bridge of her nose. You're a scientist, you have to stay objective she reminded herself. "You can take him with us, it's a squeeze up there as it is so a cat won't make much of a difference."
"Really? You're officially my favourite boss." Ivory moved to give Grace a one armed hug but the redhead stepped back smartly. Ivory buried her face into the cat's ginger fur momentarily then pushed her door open. "Now Tigger we're moving so you've got to sit still and be good whilst I pack or I might forget your toys by accident."
"I'll watch him for you." Grace followed Ivory into her bedroom and took the cat out of her arms.
"Thanks." Ivory bent down and pulled her rucksack out from under her bed. "Do I need to get medical supplies?"
"No they have them up there already, just grab what you need." Grace sat down on the edge of the bed, keeping hold of Tigger.
"He likes you." Ivory commented, opening her drawers and emptying it of her few clothes, dropping them into her bag. She picked up her art supplies and shoved them in then took the photos from her bedside table and wrapped them in her hoodie, tucking it in on the very top. The woman slid her toothbrush into the side pocket of her bag and put Tigger's supplies into his basket.
"Don't forget a towel." Grace eyed Ivory's rucksack which was still over half empty. "Where's the rest of your stuff?"
"Doesn't exist." Ivory shrugged. "I just don't want to have a load of crap, it would make what I've got less meaningful."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Jake, Grace, Norm and Ivory stood in the lab packing up the science equipment.
"I'm not about to let Quaritch and Selfridge micro-manage this thing." Grace announced, giving Jake a pointed look. "We're going to the mountains. There's a mobile link up at Site 26 that we can all work out of."
"The Hallelujah Mountains?" Norm demanded, his voice high with excitement.
"Yep."
"Yes!" Norm screeched, bursting into jubilant song. He turned to the other scientists and launched into a bizarre victory dance. "We're going to the mountains, we're going to the mountains, you're not going to the mountains!"
Jake looked blank.
Norm rolled his eyes. "The legendary Floating Mountains of Pandora? Heard of them?" He asked, his voice mocking.
"Come on, we need to get the Avatars into Trudy's Samson or we'll never be out of here in time." Grace swung a rucksack onto her shoulders.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Ivory, Norm, Grace and Jake were squished together in the back of Trudy's Samson, looking into the sky as the aircraft was dwarfed by enormous arches of rock.
"Can you see the magnetic formations? We're getting closer." Grace said to no one in particular, leaning out as far as her seatbelt would allow.
"Oh my god." Norm whispered as the thick bank of cloud parted, revealing the enormous islands of rock that were floating in mid air. The mountains were an overgrown rain forest with straggly beards of vines hanging beneath them. Waterfalls streamed down the sides of the rock and dissolved into a spray at the bottom.
"Unobtanium is a superconductor. A maglev effect keeps the mountains up." Grace explained.
Ivory tilted to get a further look until she was practically hanging out of Maya's door.
"Get back inside Ivy, I'm not waiting six years for another medic just because you've fallen out of a Samson." Grace shifted in her seat, adjusting her headset.
