Pandora's Box - Avatar (Book 1)

-.-Invaders-.-

Jake still wasn't back yet - he'd been out with Neytiri all night -  and Grace had linked up and gone out looking for him.

Suddenly, the peacefulness of the shack was shattered by a whirring overhead: a scorpion was landing outside their camp, armed military personnel climbing out, led by Miles. Nix and Norm exchanged an equally worried and confused glance. They always went back to base, folks from base never came to them. 

The door opened and in stormed the visitors, cutting right through to the link beds.

"No! No! Sir, you can't - you can't interrupt a link in progress-" But Quaritch just shoved past Norm. 

Now it was Nix's turn to try. "He's right, you can't! It's dangerous!" He just stared down at her, stone-faced. "Miles, please."

"It's Colonel Quaritch to you."

Okay, that stung. But she had also stormed out on him last time, but for good reason. Still, she held her ground.  "I can't let you do this."

"Outta my way."

"No."

When both refused to move, she and Norm were forcibly shoved down, guns to their backs.

"No! You can't do this! You don't know what you're doing!"

"I'm the only one 'round here who knows what I'm doing."

"It's too dangerous!"

Despite their screaming protests, Quaritch smacked the red button, releasing the link.

Jake flailed awake as soon as the bed opened. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" 

"You crossed a line." And Miles promptly punched Jake back down.

"Jake!"

"Jake?" Grace demanded, shooting up from her own bed. "Jake? What the hell is going on?"

Back at base, the whole crew sat around and watched surveillance footage: Jake's Avatar at a Tree of Souls site that had just  been bulldozed. In the footage, Jake was trying to dismantle the giant machine. 

"You let me down, son," sighed Miles. "So what? You find yourself some local tail and you just completely forget what team you're playing for?"

Grace was having none of this BS. "Parker, there is still time to salvage this situation." 

Nix had never met Parker Selfridge officially, but he seemed to do a lot of standing around quietly while the people working for him argued. "Except for the dead trees," she mumbled.

"Parker-"

"Shut your pie hole!" snapped Miles. 

"Or what, Ranger Rick? You gonna shoot me?" Grace fired back. 

"I can do that."

"No!" jumped in Nix.  "No! No one is shooting anyone!"

Grace turned back to Selfridge. "You need to muzzle your dog."

"Yeah can we just take this down a couple of notches please?" the boss said, looking pointedly at Miles.  

"You say you want to keep your people alive?" Jake cut in.  "Then you can start by listening to her." He nodded to Grace. 

"Those trees were sacred to the Omaticaya in a way you can't imagine," Grace tried. 

Selfridge shook his head. "You know what? You throw a stick in the air around out here and it's gonna land on some sacred fern for Christ's sake!"