Dreamwalker

Chapter Two

“Shit! Shit!” Ted fell back into English.

“Shut up, let me work.”

“He’s out! He’s not breathing!”

“What?” Lisa hopped up next to him, but her hand on his ribcage. “Oh, he’s fine. Just knocked out cold. Gives me a chance to finish him up. Keep a hold of him, will you?”

Ted frowned as she first taped, then wrapped up his wounds in gauze.

“Everyone’s been pushing themselves to their limits. It's better that he gets a little sleep. Is he a member of the Omaticaya clan?”

“No, I don’t think so. He said goodbye to a group right after the ceremony.”

“Then taking him back to the spirit tree to sleep might not be the best idea. Why don’t-“

A group of local Na’vi brought in a couple young ones.

“Crap. Get them settled. I just need a moment more with him.”

“Come, friends,” Ted said, switching back to Na’vi. “Bring them here.”

He led the hunters to the blankets they’d set out. Tear streaked cheeks implored him to help. He bit his lip and looked down at the two little ones. They were covered in ash.

“Found in the tree?” he asked unnecessarily.

“Mo’at said to bring them.”

“Yes… let me get the healer. LISA!”

She looked up, grabbed her bags, and jogged over.

“They were found in the tree.”

She checked the pulse of the older one first, a young boy. She put her ear to his chest, then lifted the lids of his eyes. Her frown said enough. The girl she checked and immediately began work.

“Get me a respirator.”

When he returned with it, she’d cut a small hole into the girl’s throat. She pushed the line through into the hole. She sprayed something down her mouth. “Come on, breathe, damn it, breathe…”

As if on command, the little girl coughed.

“Easy, easy,” Lisa said in Na’vi. “Her throat was burnt by the air,” she said to the parents. “This tube is putting air straight into her lungs. Here, hold her.”

Lisa knew her way with parents, somehow knew that one of the women was her mother. The woman cried and rocked her body while Lisa continued to check her, injecting her and spraying into her mouth periodically.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t save the boy,” Ted said lamely.

“He walks with Eywa,” the woman who’d carried him in said. “We will take him back to the tree for a proper burial.”

Ted nodded.

The group returned into the forest, leaving mother and daughter in Lisa’s care.

“Get him out of here, will you?” Lisa said, with a jerk towards Rol’ei’s still prone body. “We have a couple spare beds. Put him up for the night, and get yourself out of the avatar for a couple hours. Both your bodies need food and rest.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

They smiled at each other. “Go on, get, before I run you on more errands.”

He nodded and picked up Rol’ei’s limp body. With a finger he snagged the bag he’d filled up earlier. He’d find use for it.

Two of the others were already in the bunk house, already sacked out for the night. At least he wouldn’t be alone in the military bunker. Without the miners, mercenaries, and technician it would be an vacant place.

He considered the bunks. Three empty beds to choose from; two dead, and the other one given up for a place at his girl friend’s side. It seemed a bit… like he was dishonoring their memories by using them for a stranger. The others might be coming back for some shut eye soon themselves. It wasn’t dark yet, but it would be soon, and none of the scientists were used to being out at night in the avatars. The Na’vi were too busy with their own to be troubled with keeping a bunch of newcomers safe in the woods.

Fine, his own bed, then.

As he leaned down to set Role’ei’s body down, the bag knocked into the bunk, thunking loudly.

The Na’vi woke up with a start and trashed his arms wildly. Ted dropped him the final foot or so onto the bed.

“What? Where am I?”

“You are in our sleeping area, the dreamwalker’s sleeping area,” Ted sat down on the ground in front of him. “You’d collapsed, and Lisa said it would be best to let you sleep.”

Rol’ei groaned and sat up on Ted’s cot.

“Well, I’ve slept. I should go back to-“

“No, you need rest. You’ve only been out for a few minutes. Here.”

Ted reached for the sack he’d brought earlier. On his way back from the camp with the water, when he’d thought they might be able to get away and get back to work, he’d picked several of the ripest fruit from the little orchard.

“Here, you need to eat. You lost a bit of blood while Lisa was fishing around in you.”

“Ah, is that a Tevi squash?”

“Yes, here.”

Ted sat on the wooden floor as Rol’ei carved up the green squash. He plucked hunks of the succulent meat out and sucked the juice from his fingertips. Ted sighed at the sight.

“You would like some?”

“Hm? Oh, yes, please.”

He took the offered slice.

“You had a strange look, when you came back with this bag.”

He kept his eyes trained on the slice between his fingers.

“If we want to be getting back into the woods to help, we should probably both sleep, at least for a couple hours.”

He made a non-committal noise.

“What else do you have here?”

“Oh, wait…”

Too late, the curious Na’vi had his hands in the bag. Ted got an inkling that Rol’ei might not have been just wandering past the back door the other day.

“Hm, looks like a set of your clothing.”

Ted felt blood rise up to his cheeks. He hadn’t seen the Na’vi blush, but this avatar’s body certainly had enough human physiology to be capable.

“I thought, with your injuries, it might be a good idea to cover more. Especially with working next to me.”

He looked up into that curious face. A smile pulled back Rol'ei's lips after a moment. He plucked out the clothes Ted had chosen.

“We should wait until after you’ve had a chance to rest some. Lisa only just did up your bandages. She’ll have my hide if I injure you again.”

In the bottom of the bag, Ted’d placed a pair of avatar-sized combat boots. They had enough spare around for another decade’s worth of work.

“So, I too will sound like a forest crashing angtsik?”

“You don’t have to wear them, I don't meant to offend-“

“No, not at all, I can already feel how swollen my feet are going to be.”

Ted looked away, taking a bite from his squash to disguise how pleased he felt. No other Na’vi, save the children playing dress-up, had any interest in their clothing.

“They are asleep?”

Ted looked back at his guest. He was intently watching the two unoccupied avatar’s in their bunks.

“In a way.”

“They are so still. Why are they in separate beds?”

“Well… wait, separate beds?”

“Within a clan, it is strange for one of the people to voluntarily sleep by themselves. Typically, a family stays together until a child grows up enough to want to stay with friends, or when a man finds his mate. And yet, it looks like your hammocks are only large enough for once each.”

“Yes, well, we don’t sleep together. I mean, we’re… none of us are mated to each other, so we’d rather stay in separate beds.”

“Doesn’t it get lonely? Being separated?”

Ted plucked up one of the fruits that’d fallen out of the sack. The tough skin reminded him of an orange. He picked at it with a fingernail.

“When you came here, did you bring your families? Do you feel the pain of being separated from your home world? What is its name? Who is the spirit of your planet?”

“You ask a lot of questions, Rol’ei. I’m not used to that.”

“One of the Omaticaya told me that there was a school, near here, at one point. To teach whoever would listen.”

“That was different, and I wasn’t one of the ones teaching. My interest lies in the plant life here.”

“Hm, well, if you are to keep working with me, you learn to expect those questions. I am not of the Omaticaya clan. I have not yet learned.”

Ted smiled. “As long as I may ask questions as well.”

Rol’ei nodded his approval. Ted loved his smile. Even with all of this darkness right now, Rol’ei had an infectious smile. He looked down, finished peeling off the skin of the fruit. He split it down the center, purple juices dripping down his blue skin. He offered half to his companion. They ate their pieces in silence. Ted yawned until his jaw popped.

“So, are you lonely?”

Ted shrugged. “I don’t miss the planet I came from,” Ted decided to answer instead. “I’ve been here four years now. I’m happy to never leave.”

He yawned again. “It’s time for sleep. I can’t keep my eyes open. I promise to be awake again in a couple hours. I want to get back to work.”

“Sleep until dawn. We both need it.”

Ted nodded. He scooted down a bit and curled up on his side. Ted could feel the grains of the rough wooden floor under his shoulder and hip. He closed his eyes and fought to stay awake. Rol’ei shifted on his bunk several times before he finally settled down.

Ted sighed and let himself disconnect from his avatar body and return to his human one.

Reconnecting with his body, after such a long time out, felt strange. For a moment, he entertained the idea of just sleeping in the linkup. But, biology had other ideas. He tossed the lid up and ran to the little boy's room.

* * *

“Hey, Stick-shift. How’s the grub?”

Ted grumbled around his reconstituted scrambled eggs. If he had the bags under his eyes that Lisa sported, he doubted he was actually fit for human companionship. “Thought you were going to stay out longer?”

“Jenny’s taking over the shift, and things seem to be slowing down now that most of the na’vi are going to sleep for the night. There’s only so much anyone can do, and they’re more diurnal then we are. You put Rol’ei in your bunk.”

Entire mess hall she could have to herself, and she had to sit next to him. Maybe being “alone” wasn’t such a bad thing sometimes.

“It didn’t feel right putting him in someone else’s.”

“There are a couple empty ones now.”

He poked the eggs with his fork, trying to decide if he wanted to attempt finishing them. With all the lush fruits and vegetables out there, you’d think at least one wouldn’t be toxic to the human body.

“So, what’s up with that look you were giving me earlier?”

“Look? What look?”

“When you came back with that jug of water and that bag of fruit 'n stuff. Yeah, sorry, I looked in.”

“You’re the second person to ask.”

“You’re not very subtle.” She smiled to take the sting out of her voice.

“It was just… a surprise to see you in that position.”

“Well I had to feel around under his thigh to see if that bullet went through. That damn reinforced carbon fibers all through his body is probably what kept it in.”

“Thank you, for getting it out.”

“Don’t thank me until he’s gotten through the first week or so. Soo…. Do you like him?”

“Of course I do. He’s very nice. I haven’t gotten much of a chance to work with the na’vi, not like everyone who worked at the school room.”

“Yeah, you and your garden. The Doc was our expert on plants, and she ran the school. Sorry. I know. It’s a sore spot on all of us. Come on, tell me about him.”

“He’s one of the Ikran Clan, from the ocean. He’s the clan’s Singer, their teller of stories.”

“Ah, that would explain why he asked if I sang. I’m glad you’re connecting with someone.”

“You’re acting as if I haven’t had any friends.”

“No ‘friends’ who’ve put that smile on your face. Not for years. We’ve all had crushes, here and there. It happens. It’s healthy.”

“And how healthy is an unrequited crush, hm?”

“Alright, not as much fun, I’ll admit that. But no more humans are coming this way, so…. Have you thought about joining with your avatar, completely? Like Jake did?”

“Not particularly.”

“Our technology is going to break down, eventually. We can keep everything running, without additional supplies, for another fifteen years, maybe. Food-wise, however, we only have maybe six years worth of supplies. We have everything meant for a hundred soldiers, but, we all need to eat. If we transferred to our avatars, then at least we could free up that food. As it is, we’re eating double what we need to, just to keep both bodies running.”

He set down his fork. “You’re saying, the humans will starve, either way, its just a matter of when.”

She looked down, nodded. “You were experimenting with hybridizing some of Pandora’s plants with seedlings we have from Earth. We have the space now. We can turn crew quarters into hydroponics labs. I’d say, start with the rice first. If we can grow a crop or two of just plain rice, increase our seed count so we have enough to work with…. What?”

“You’re working off of a big ‘if’ there, a lot of hopes that might not work.”

“We have to try.”

Ted sighed, rubbed his head. “I’m too tired to think about it, right now. I’m only going to get four hours sack as it is.”

“Get on to your bunk. I’ll take care of the trays.”

Once he got to the solitude of his private quarters his thoughts spun around in his head. Too many worries on his shoulders. One of the few reprieves of being on a military base, even as a scientist, there was always someone else to deal with the difficult decisions. Now... everything was up in the air.

* * *

Ted ate his freeze dried crap on the way back to the linkups. Maybe finding a way to set up hydroponics bay would be a nice change. He seriously doubted, with the technology they had here anyway, that he’d be able to hybridize anything. Would he really want to, anyway? If some rice variant turned into the new bamboo or kudzu, and outgrew all the native flora? No, he couldn’t do that. It would have to be subject to the same toxicity as the humans. Something susceptible to the hydrogen sulfide in the air.

“Ready to go back?”

He shoveled the last of the “bread” in his mouth and gulped it down with as much water as he could drink.

“Ready as I’ll ever be. I’ve never done so much hard work.”

“Well, get ready to feel the aches again.”

“Thanks, Roger.”

Within an instant, he opened his eyes, back again in the same position he’d been in when he set his avatar body to rest.

He looked up, to see Rol’ei staring down at him.

“Oel ngati kame. You are finally awake.”

“Oel ngati kame. Have you been awake long?”

He rolled a shoulder in an expressive shrug. Ted got up and stretched. His shoulders ached from the previous day’s work. He pulled up the corner of one of the bandages. Everything looked properly scabbed over, but no sense aggravating it.

“Not long. I tried to wake you, but nothing roused you. Or the others, so, I sat and watched. You sleep like a child, very deep.”

Ted smiled. If only.

He looked around at the others. Five beds empty now. The others must have come in after him. He wondered if the other two had stayed out with the Na’vi last night, or had gone in already.

“May I look at your wounds?”

Rol’ei nodded. Basic first aid had been a part of the Avatar Program, and he had a bit more besides. Basic dressings were no problem.

The na’vi’s shoulders looked far worse then Ted’s had. He frowned. Today he would take better care of those around him. His body had not been hardened for this kind of work, but he would try.

“I’ll change these,” he said. The locker at the end of his bunk had a small first aid kit. It had just enough gauze to change the dressings. He replaced Rol'ei's foot dressings with a thinner skin replacement plastic. He’d used the very same thing when he was toughing up his avatar skin to daily live of gathering flora in the jungle, so he knew that the gel inside would feel cool and pleasant.

“Ahh that is wonderful. Thank you.”

“Do you still wish to try on the boots today?”

Rol’ei lifted one foot, poked at the plastic wrappings. Ted flinched with him.

“I think some protection would be good, considering.”

Ted put another patch of the plastic over the Na’vi’s ankles and the tendon on the back, to make getting used to the boots easier. He ended up borrowing socks from one of the women; luckily everyone wore tube socks, so he didn’t have to worry about length of the foot, but four toes, rather than five, made for a more narrow foot.

He tucked Rol’ei’s feet into the boots carefully, and laced them up fairly tight.

“Okay, stand up, slowly.”

Rol’ei wobbled a little. Ted grabbed his arm, held him steady.

“Easy. It’ll take a while to get used to those.”

Rol’ei leaned against his arms and wiggled his feet, shifting his weight back and forward, lifting his toes.

“These will protect me?”

“At least from idiot botanists.”

Rol’ei smiled. “Irayo. Help me with the rest. Your clothing is very complicated.”

Ted chuckled and bent to complete his work.

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Lisa – Lisa Furlan, medic and language expert
Rol'ei – Singer for the Ikran Clan
Ted – Edward Cera, Avatar ethnobotanist. A specialist in nutritional values of Pandoran plants.
Omaticaya Clan – main clan from the movie
Ikran Clan – Rol'ei's clan
Angtsik (Hammerhead Titanothere) – like a hammerhead shark and a rhino had a demon love-child
Oel ngati kameie – I See you
Irayo – Thank you

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