7 Chapter 7

"It's not possible" Selfridge screamed back at Harry, sitting in his office. His face was a mask of emotion to conceal the boiling rage that now living side him.

"You will facilitate the cargo delivery to this site. That was the argument you made when I first came here."

"The argument was to set up your equipment near the mining camp. Not hundreds of clicks away."

"I choose where I am going to live on this planet. Your shuttle will land the supplies there. What happens after is none of your business."

"If you think that you can…"

Harry cut him off with a barely contained snarl. "Think! I can! If you want to challenge my authority on this, remember my human body may have died on Earth, but those connections, that wealth still opens doors. Even in the RDA." The threat from his words were clear, even more so from the vicious tone.

Selfridge sank back to his chair in defeat. He was a company director, not a soldier. There was only so much he could do in front of a giant blue alien. "Why?" he finally asked. "Why now?" He had worked hard to accept Harry into the fold of the base, giving him every privilege he could, in an attempt to get him to stay. If Harry constructed his base in tangent with him, their operations could have accelerated beyond just mining.

Harry could help but let a hiss of anger. His lips pulled back over his front teeth in a warning. "Why?" he repeated incredulously. "Your operation is in direct conflict with the natives. Instead of trying to solve it, you send your mercenaries in to clean it up. What do you think they all carry guns because it helps the diplomacy?"

Harry took a deep breath before continuing. "I watched the slaughter of innocents whose only crime was trying to defend their land. And you ask me why? I can no longer tolerate this place. To me, it reeks of blood that is never going to wash off." He pointed a finger at the small human. "That is your legacy. Blood."

Storming out of the office, Harry made his way back to his lab. Thankfully, he was the only one with access. None of those pesky interruptions. He pulled up an image of the island. His island. One of the first things he had done after returning was to send out a scouting drone to record some accurate scans of the island and surrounding area. He would hardly want to make his home an island that would sink below the ocean in a storm.

The scan results were promising. The island stood tall out of the water, where peaks of rock poked through the water that would make it the worst place for boating. From the scans he could see the smaller island scattered around the main island, the ones further out to see seemed to act as a natural sea defence that absorbed the worst of the waves leaving a safer, almost lagoon inside.

Years of erosion had gotten rid of the soft soils leaving only the hard rock behind but that was fine with Harry. One of the first payloads to be delivered was his construction drones. They were rarely used on Earth due to various legalities that limited their activity to protect human jobs, but here on Pandora, he was free to maximise their use. All he needed to do was direct them to cut out, shape and then build his base. Then, with the materials, he could locally source his dream would become reality.

The mining base had an excess of other metals from the mining. They were not worth the price of shipping back to Earth and therefore sat unwanted in a warehouse. Harry felt no qualms about liberating that supply for his own gain.

With a practised swipe of his fingers, he brought up the designs. Katy had experts create multiple designs he could use that would meet all of his needs.

Looking at them now however, they were lacking. His mind thought back to those young Navi who was now decomposing in the forest. Their family never to know their fate.

All of the designs were very… Harry paused unsure how to describe them but finally settled on a word that he was becoming increasingly distasteful of. "Human." He had no desire to pollute this world with more human structures.

He looked back at the island and made a decision. The scientific building, the crop cultivators, the desalination plant, energy production and more could all be built within the island. Underground. That would leave the surface to be made in a more native style where he could co-exist with the local plants.

He selected the giant trees on the island and removed the smaller undergrowth from his display. He brought up the myriad designs of buildings and images of Navi tribes. He would make the structure flow around the environment, not cover it up.

It was time to create something worthy of this world.

Worthy of the fallen.

Worthy of Eywa.

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The shuttle could be seen on the horizon. Moving fast like a shooting star entering the atmosphere.

It was the first haul of his cargo since his arrival on Pandora. And it was dropping it far away from him on the island he had claimed.

Inside were many of the automated drones that had earned him his fortune and reputation. They would be able to tunnel deep within the ground, both on land and in the sea, to not only make room for the spaces he would require to be self-sufficient, but also to find deposits of metals or materials they could extract.

Just because he had a growing affection for the natives, didn't mean he would settle for discarding all his technology.

"Soon." He told himself. Once the cargo had been dropped, the signal would be sent to the lab where he start to control and direct their efforts.

He had finally managed to complete his design. It was what many would describe as ridiculous to create so many facilities and functions that would help him do everything from grow his own food, recycle waste, manufacture equipment, train his growing physical skills and most importantly continue his research.

Much of the island would be hollowed out, and even including some of the small islands to make room for all of this but he knew it would be worth it. The other advantage, apart from sparing the environment, was that during a storm, he could be perfectly comfortable, remaining confident that the water wouldn't be able to penetrate meters of thick rock covered with reinforced concrete and metal walls.

He would finally be able to leave this horror show for a peaceful retirement.

Harry only felt sorry for the few good people remaining. They lacked his means to claw out his own path. His mind turned to Jake. They had hardly spoken recently. He had been so wrapped up in sorting his departure out while Jake was driving his Avatar all day, every day, in the Navi tribe.

He looked at the sky starting to darken and decided he needed to say goodbye to the few friends he had made here.

With purposeful strides, he walked over to Avatar's canteen. He pulled out his mask and placed it on. Luckily, he didn't have to wait long. He was already getting strange looks from many of the other members about someone in the canteen when they can't eat because they would have to take the mask off.

"Jake!" Harry called out and invited his friend over.

They sat in quiet for a while Jake shovelled food into his mouth. He looked terrible. Purple circles ringed his eyes and his skin was pale and almost translucent. What was before an average build had deteriorated to skin and bones with weeks of no action.

"How's the tribe life treating you?" Harry asked to try and break the ice.

Sully nodded several times. "I learn more every day. The way they see this world, everything is connected. It's fascinating in a way that most people just can't understand. Neytiri has been teaching me to hunt with a bow. I still haven't quite got it, but every day I get better. Every day my feet get tougher, I can run further. You haven't seen the jungle until you've seen it the Navi way."

"You don't wear your boots?" Harry asked mildly surprised. It was a small detail but not something he had thought of. He had worn shoes all his life, so did all the other Avatar drivers. He looked down at his own shoes and wondered if perhaps his agility would improve without them.

Jake dodged the question with one of his own. "What about you, I heard something handed on patrol and now you always seem locked up in your lab?"

"You knew this was never my final destination. I have wanted to explore this world since the first moment I landed here."

"So you're leaving? Just like that."

"Yes." Harry said. It was harsh, but it was true. He had to get away from this place. "I'm setting up a home on an island a few hundred clicks away. Just off the coast. No big monsters or natives to hunt me down. It will be me and my research. Exactly what I wanted when I came here." Harry didn't want to explain what had happened. Jake already was stuck in the middle of the conflict, to put those deaths on his conscious as well would just be cruel.

"But what about …" Jake waved his hands to indicate all the people.

"I will miss it. Strangely. I will miss my friends and the work I've done here but we all must move on eventually." Jake looked at him sadly. What Harry was planning was little better than self-imposed exile. Harry continued "Still… you and the others are always welcome to visit. Just make sure to wipe your feet on the way in."

They both had a good chuckle at that.

The two friends sat talking, telling each other of their adventures and trials. Of discoveries and failures. Until the sun had gone, and the night had settled in.

Saying goodbye was never easy, but at least Harry hoped it wouldn't be forever.