Recombinant Bridgehead

The Balance

A torrential downpour: grey, windy and insane—Pandora's reaction to the invasion of her nerve centre as they flew without clearance, deep into her mountains. They bore the mark of Eywa, and so, unauthorized to bite, no phalanx could attack. Quaritch pierced the veil of mist first, and his brigade obliterated the rest into swirls. All were on high alert with weapons ready and eyes scrutinizing every vertical shadow, but the very air felt empty. Spider was the most agitated of all; he knew exactly where they were and, worst of all, saw exactly where they were headed. "Why are we here?" he beseeched, but Quaritch turned Spider forward; the flyer needed to focus.

Robbed of detail by the fog, Mons Cocytus hovered before them as a blurry form, manifesting like a ghost of a Great Old One. Spider was petrified as his recombinant banked the mountain in search of the opening. He didn't want him to find it—he wouldn't possibly find it—but the more he fought the clamp on his shoulder, the more he gave Jake away.

When they neared the base of the fortress, Quaritch knew, from a single twitch, they were on the right track. He dived beneath the mountain, scanning the ceiling underside for the entrance. Obscuring limpid plant matter grew down from above, like tentacles in the deep ocean, and peeping from the shadows was the occasional cluster of yellow eyes. Through heavy mist and conjoining shapes, a maw came into view. Quaritch had Gloria beat the air, and on the last thrust, her wings folded in, and they penetrated High Camp.

Spider finally threw off the paw and sprung from Gloria, landing with a nasty roll that he didn't heed; rather, the youth screamed out, "The recombinants are here! Get out!"

Spider's frantic echo waned in decibels—no response.

Quaritch gave his orders via hand signs for every recombinant to hug the wall. The team spread out, making quiet footfalls as they oscillated their weapons. Spider's chest heaved; he was still on the ground, using all fours despite the constraint of his tight clothing, when he gaped up at his supposed friend. "What are you doing!" he demanded but was answered with an enigmatic expression. Was it pity? Was it indifference? Spider didn't know.

"I'm not picking up anything," said one of the recombinants.

"Place really is abandoned," replied another.

"No!" Spider yelled and shot off down the caverns.

The fluorescent lights were deactivated, but he knew the layout so well he could run through High Camp in the dark. As he did, narrow shafts of light illuminated pockets of the cave. The field cabins were abandoned, the teepees were gone, and the spot where Kiri's wigwam once stood was a cold, empty section of cave.

"No... No!"

Still in disbelief, the man ran again, but no matter what corner he turned, there was no one there to see him—no human, no Na'vi, not a single member of Jake's family; Spider had returned to a home that was as abandoned as he was. He stood in place, swivelling on his feet, wheezing and panting and wishing someone, anyone, would show. Only one figure did. Spider hissed at the back-stabbing recombinant and bolted away. Desperately, he ran, shouting the names of his family. "Neteyam!" he cried down a corridor. "Jake!" he called through a tunnel. "Mrs. Sully!" he repeated. "Mo'at! Max! Norm! Kiri..." His pleas echoed back to the focused recombinants, continuing their mission regardless of how relatable they found the cries of a soul utterly cut off from home.

Spider saw a faint light leaking from Mo'at's pagoda, the last place he knew to find Kiri. He burst into the cavity but found nothing—nothing but a single, robust sapling starting to bud. One foot lifted before the other as he staggered into the sanctum, walking through the falls of light that beatified him for entry. Bathed in white—baptized by the gentle rain—then back to blue, he came towards the plant. Withered at its base was a dead sun lily. With both hands, he picked up the delicate token. The petals were without the water of life and starting to crack from dryness. Blue eyes went heavenward to the opening in the rock, where a declaration that may have changed everything was never made. The son of Adam at last understood he was cut off from his Eve. "So that's why you brought me here..."