The gift of Eywa

chapter 1: pandora

Nova's pov

Opening my eyes I take in my surroundings as I realise that I am in a metal coffin. Squinting at the bright light I groggily ask if we are there yet to the med tech. Saying yes it turns to the others. "People, you have been in cryo for five years, nine months and twenty two days. You will be hungry, you will be weak. If you feel nausea, please use the sacks provides for your convenience. The staff thanks you in advance."

Getting up I see my childhood friend Jake, struggling to get onto his wheelchair. You see, after I left the military he suffered from a spinal injury that renders him paralysed from the waist down. And he can't do surgery to get it fixed as neither he nor I have that kind of money to do so. "Need a little assistance Jake." I say, offering a small smile. He looked up at me before shyly responding yes.

Chuckling, I help him before kneeling infront of him like a mother would do for a child. "Y'know Jake, you don't need to be shy when you need help. I'm always here for you. Now and forever." I say grinning as held his hands in my small ones before kissing them, using our old motto. Smiling like a Cheshire cat Jake nods his head before we are told we are heading out.

Looking around I was left speechless at the sight before me. Jungles and canopies of nature surrounding us. It was beautiful to see such a lovely sight, untouched by the hands of man.

I was brought out of my thoughts when I heard yelling. "Exopacks on." That must be the crew chief. Helping Jake put his on first as I could clearly see his struggles before putting on mine. "Renember, you lose your mask you unconscious for twenty seconds and your dead in four minutes. Let nobody be dead today, it looks bad on my report."

'Wow, is that all they care about, not the lives lost.' Hearing that we were ready for departure I pushed Jake around, following our crew chief as the cargo ramp opens with our oh so lovely chief shouting at us to not stop and go directly to base.

As we were walking I could hear the mean comments the others were making about my best friend. Unbeknown to Nova they were also talking about her in a not so friendly way, causing Jake to ball up his fist in anger. Angered I stop wheeling Jake and go to teach them a friendly lesson but before I could I was pulled back by Jake as a huge tractor taller than a house roars past on muddy wheels. However, what caught my eye was that there were arrows sticking out of the wheels. 'What happened?'

As I continue pushing Jake toward the RDA facility, forgetting about those jerks we head to a space to get our debriefing. Getting to the room I saw a man who was no longer wearing his mask, indicating we could tale ours off. I recognise that man, he is Cononel Miles Quaritch, the head of security of the gates of hell colony. A hundred new watch raptly as he paced across the front of the large cafeteria. "...you are on pandora, ladies and gentlemen. Respect that fact of everyday."

The Colonel raises his hand and points out the window towards the dark treeline. "Out beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flys or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubees." Someone's delusional. Everyone in the room except me tensed  and quiet. "We have an indigenous population of humanoids here called the Na'vi. They are fond with arrows dipped in a neurotoxin. Which can stop your heart in one minute. We operate, we live, at a constant threat conditioned yellow."

'That doesn't make sense. There must be a reason the na'vi are attacking.' "As head of security it is my job to keep you all alive... i will not succeed... not with all of you. If you wish to survive you need strong mental attitude, you need to follow procedure." With that and a few other words I zoned out on the debriefing ended.

In the corridor people are rowing in both directions, looking for room, lugging duffers and cases. "Well this is it." "Yeah, so let's do lots of exploring." I said with a laugh as Jake followed. In the corner of my eye I could see a old friend approaching. Running, well, staggering under and overpacked duffel trying to catch up to us. "Hey Norm, long time no see." I said with a smile, happy to see him again as I brought him into a hug, missing the glare Jake sent him. "Hey Nova, it has been a long time hasn't, bit I am glad to see you." He said before turning to Jake.

"Hey, your Jake right? Tom's brother? You look just like him." Jake looks at him warily. "Sorry, I'm Norm Spellman, I went through avatar training with Nova and your brother Tom." He said as he offerd his hand and Jake to shake. "He was a great guy- funny. It was a big shock to all of us." 'Why is he talking about this.' Agreeing we went on the move again as Jake stubbornly decided to pump the wheels on his chair without any help.

"And duh! Obviously you would look like him. I mean if you weren't genetically identical you  wouldn't be taking over his avatar." Norm said as a fond smile appeared on my face, reminiscing about my training with Tom. "That's why I'm here." Jake said with a sad expression. "So, are you ready to check it out." "We've been ready five years ago." I say as Jake and I follow Norm.

Entering the BIO lab I couldn't help but awe at the large complex with many adjoining rooms. A scientis Doctor Max Cullimore is supervising the uncrating of three shipping containers. The nearer has the sides removed, revealing a ceiling high acrylic tank. "Me Nova and Norm are out here to drive these remotely controlled bodies avatars. There're grown from human DNA mixed with DNA from the natives here." Max explained.

Norm stopped beside him while Jake rolls past him, as if drawn by a force. In the amnio tank was a figure floating lanquidly inside. A very large, very blue man. It has a lemure-like tail, the skin cyan blue and long black hair that drifts gracefully as if seaweed. In awe Jake opened his mouth, "damn, they got big."

"Yeah, they matured on the trip." Norm said as he turned to Max. "So the proprioceptive sim worked pretty well. "Yeah, they got great muscle tone, give us a few hours and you guys can take them for a spin." "He's amazing isn't he." I say to Jake as he wordlessly nods his head. Speechless. The figures sleeping face turns towards us and the features, despite the feline ears and long feral snout, they were Jakes features. "It looks like him." Jake says mesmerised. "No, it looks like you. Nova, look to the right and you'll see yours."

"Huh" looking to the right I see a beautifully avatar in the amnio tank, who had the same features as me, including my eyes, but what most caught my attention is that she has long white hair that reached up to her tail. "She's beautiful, but I thought all the avatars and na'vi had brown hair." I question. "Yeah, I thought so too but when we mixed you DNA it turned out like this. But I think it looks exotically, and uniquely, cool." Norm said too me as Jake smiled warmly.

"Well you guys should probably get settled. And remember to do your logs. All for scientific research."