Betrayal | Tsu'tey

I

Never quite empty
Mek nìwotx kawkrr

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The cold void of space is never quite empty. In fact, it's incredibly full of diverse forms, and these forms spin around itself. Those forms have arms that spiral into its center. The center could be a dark void, or a bright burning star. But at the far edge of the galaxy, was the Earth solar system. Only four lightyears from the human's birth place, was an older system. Proxima Centauri B. And circling that, Polyphemus, and one of its thirteen moons, Pandora.

Not far from Pandora, was the ISV Venture Star. An interstellar voyager. Aboard, was Aria. Hooked up to a monitor, her defrosting body was tender from the freeze. She was never a morning person. That tender feeling was more of a whole body bruise. There was a haze through her mind. But she was content to hide it all.

She licked her lips, furious at the chapped feeling, biting at the dried tissue. She hardly noticed her floating body being unhooked from the bed's restraints. She payed the medical staff no mind as she twisted about, struggling to gain her bearings.

Eventually, Aria did propel herself to her locker, where she collected her things. After that, she chose her clothes and went to the habitation module to wait to board the Valkyrie ships down to Pandora's surface.

Sapphire seas and obscure continents were visible from the cockpit. None of which the other passengers would be lucky enough to see. Clouds swirled as the ship dipped into the atmosphere. Puncturing the clouds, the Valkyrie soon found its target to land. However, the turbulence was rattling the ship, sloshing around the liquid within the amnio tanks.

"Exopacks on!" A rugged, as in weathered, crew chief shouted down the aisle as he strutted down the walkway. Behind him was a man with a clipboard, marking down the items in the cargo, repeating his shouting.

Aria grabbed her mask, puzzled at the straps, she resolved the braid her hair messily and quickly so it wouldn't interfere with the seal of the mask.

"Exopack on, let's go!" The churlish attendant barked.

"Workin' on it!" Aria whisper hissed, "don't get your panties in a twist, princess." Her eyes returned to the clasp on her mask as she got it to lock before she slipped it over her face.

"Remember people, you loose your mask; you're unconscious in twenty seconds, dead in four minutes. Let's nobody be dead today! 'Looks very bad on my report." The crew chief almost murmured the last part.

As the shuttle lurched to a stop, everyone began unclasping their belts and standing, cued up with their duffles ready in their hands or on their backs. Tense expectant faces reflected on their masks. A hydraulic whine announced the opening of the cargo ramp.

"Go directly into the base! Do not stop! Go straight inside!" The crew chief barked. The colonists and scientists began double timing it onto the pavement towards the gated door. Aria among them.

Above, gripping the railing with something tense, like excitement or surprise, was a uniformed man. Short clipped hair, parallel scars down his head, tightly rolled sleeves, cross crossed scars etched onto his form, icy steel blue eyes peered down at his daughter.

Quaritch.

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"You're not in Kansas anymore..."

Aria's head swiveled with the familiar commanding tone of her father's voice. Her eyes seemed to light up with familiarity and some sort of feeling that was pleasant.

He paced down the isle, not facing Aria, unwilling to give her special treatment.

"You are on Pandora, Ladies and Gentlemen." His eyes briefly grazed over the crowd as he stopped and stood up on a pulpit, "Respect that fact every second of every day." He turned one-eighty degrees and pointed out with contempt towards the forest outside and the ten meter tall fence.

"Our beyond that fence every living thing that crawls, flies or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for jujubes." He turned back to the crowd, eyes cold and angry. A projection of his attack from his memory played behind his eyes.

"We have an indigenous population of humanoids called the na'vi. Their fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that'll stop your heart in one minute." He began to pace down the aisle and back again.

"As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive. I will not succeed." He paused to let it sink in. He looked at the people under his care, "Not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need to cultivate a strong mental attitude." He stopped again at the pulpit.

"You've got to obey the rules. Pandora rules..."
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Quaritch eyed his daughter with an unrecognizable emotion on his face.

"Aria, I didn't think you'd show up in this shit show. You're an avatar driver?" He almost seemed to scoff out the words, a small smile on his face as he awaited her response.

"Yeah, I figured I'd stick by my old man. I did have to dust off that degree I have to get in." She smiled back, hopeful that she'd get his praise. They began to walk as they talked.

"Well, your "old man" appreciates it. Between you and me, it's been rough." He looked off into the distance of the hallway, measuring how and when to end the conversation before they reached Grace's department.

"Hm." Aria acknowledged, "I was hoping we'd be working closer than that. Things on earth aren't the same without you." She sifted through her emotions, cherry-picking the vaguest way to say i miss you, dad.

"I'm sure earth can wait another few years for me, though, I am pretty great." He said, missing her point completely.

"Yeah." She said, silenced by the pang in her chest.

"Well, I'll see you when I see you. I've got a base to run, and you've got... science." He waved her off as she entered the bio-lab.