Chapter 8

A month later…

Harry was soaring over the jungle. His own private plane. It came down from orbit in parts and was assembled by the handful of drones and workers at the mining base. Designed to be piloted by a full-sized Avatar, with the assistance of the computer, he was able to transport himself, as well as several cargo crates full of materials needed for his base construction.

The jungle became a blur in the windows, with the green giving way to more green. The endless forest was only broken up by the colourful plants that dotted the landscape. Occasional trees far larger than all their peers rose out of the ground making him and the surrounding wildlife dodge around in gentle arcs.

Flying through the air, Harry had to constantly remind himself. He wasn't the largest or scariest thing occupying the air. He had heard tales of the Great Leonopteryx. A winged beast that rivalled the space shuttle for size and with all the razor claws to kill just about anything on Pandora. It was the apex predator. Harry hoped he wouldn't run into one.

The journey was long, he had been travelling for two days already and hoped to reach the Island by sundown. Flying at night was…interesting. The beasts, the truly dangerous beasts, seem to come out from whatever hole they were hiding when the sun went down.

Banshees were particularly annoying. He had heard from Jake how he would have to tame one of those flying death traps to officially become a hunter. He wasn't quite sure, never having made the Tsaheylu (the bond), how it all worked but thought that was a topic best left to be researched for another time.

Luckily, he had thought ahead. His plane was more heavily armed than the regular rotorcraft the mercenaries used. Automated machine gun turrets were positioned around his craft to provide a powerful deterrent to any wildlife that decided to take a closer interest in him.

He stood in the cockpit silently watching the curvature of the planet. He'd wrestled with his decision to leave for too long. Saying goodbye to the friends he had made was hard, but ultimately, he felt free.

He was free.

A change in the distance caught his eye. His hand instinctively went to the weapons panel ready to arm the guns at a moment's notice. At the horizon line, it was no longer green. It was blue. The deep royal blue and turquoise of Pandora's oceans. A nearly unexplored region that humanity had yet to threaten.

A smile crept slow on his face. He was nearly there. A boyish excitement bubbled up in him, waiting to see his new home. To explore. To relish in the joy of creating rather than destroying.

"Home" he whispered almost as a prayer to himself.

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The island was bare.

Drones in their resplendent yellow paint crawled over much of the island carrying resources or tunnelling down. While the island was large, much of the topography left little to be desired. He had created an ambitious plan to reshape much of the landscape of the island and even the ocean floor to create more ideal conditions. That would allow him opportunities to properly cultivate the land or even form artificial rock pools for fishing.

Already, drones were unloading his plane with great efficiency where they would be able to use the supplies of materials and methods to start the true construction. As initially decided, much of the island's vegetation was to be kept, such as the tall trees that he would build around. The great amount of material that had been extracted from underground was being used to level off some of the island territories to help build a flat landing pad for future deliveries or plane landings. Due to the amount, it was also being formed into great blocks that would form the basis of an underwater defence system to block rogue waves as well as keep large predators out of the shallow water surrounding his new home.

Despite having a heavy hand in inventing and programming many of the machines he was now relying on to build his home, it still amazed him. He smiled thinking about how people 100 or even 50 years ago would react to the rate of technological development. Even on Earth now, there were only a few who could enjoy this luxury.

His thoughts turned to his accommodations. He knew it wouldn't be ready yet, with many of the necessary materials only delivered now. Luckily, he had brought a prefab building that would serve as a temporary shelter, but it was little better than a tent with a solar. Not what he wanted to spend the rest of his long-life in.

The construction would take months to finish. The digging and frame of the base would be done in a matter of days, however the actual construction was far more complicated. He needed to equip his structures with all the modern conveniences, modern plumbing, electrical outputs, etc. He needed to unpack his equipment shipped all the way from Earth. Set up the automated systems, and many more tasks. All of that would require specialist work that even the most advanced drones struggled with.

He was looking at a timeline of a week or two to get his basic accommodation complete, then several more weeks until his lab was set up. The rest would follow in the proceeding months, but he had at least shipped enough supplies to last him until he was up and running.

Harry walked over to his new home, taking in the amazing view from the tallest hill. On the horizon he could see the coastline of the mainland, however it was far enough away that he didn't need to be worried about attacks from there. And naturally being on land gave him excellent protection against the undoubted hidden dangers laying in wait within the water.

He brought the holo-tablet up and scanned the landscape into his planning programme. He had to construct several defences. He was alone and didn't have the luxury of an army of mercenaries to defend his home. He needed different options.

Katy had supplied him with a variety of solutions that had been used both on Earth and on other planetary expeditions.

There were, of course, the turrets. They could shoot approaching enemies out of the sky with great accuracy however often lacked flexibility as they were tied to one spot. Still, he would construct a few with good vantage points. Better safe than sorry wasn't a common motto for nothing.

In addition, there were other more non-violent methods. There were sound emitters that produce sounds that humans, and Navi, couldn't detect but would irritate the local wildlife into leaving his home well enough alone. Similarly, there were sonar cannons that could work underwater to discourage large predators from coming near. However the most important was his defences and early warning system. All his buildings would be connected to his underground base to provide refuge if an attack took place. They would be heavily reinforced with refined metals to provide the ultimate protection.

After his near-death experiences, safety was a heavy burden on Harry's mind that all of this preparation would hopefully be able to soothe. Safe, it seemed was a high bar to pass in Pandora.

Walking to a natural bay on the island Harry removed his shoes, a more common occurrence after his talk with Jake, and dipped his feet in the crystal clear water. Wadding in deeper to sit on a rock with feet dangling in the water, he was amazed by all the sea life he could see just from the shore.

Scores of colourful fish swam around the bay, often ducking and hiding in the undersea plants. Further out Harry could see the shimmer of a great reef that would have put what remained of Australia to great shame.

With the thrill and recklessness of one finally free he stripped off his clothes and divided into the water.

The sensation was different than he expected. In his human days, he had the luxury of swimming many times, despite the startling lack of clean water. But now, it was different. He felt in control. Powerful.

He moved his arms and passed a swarm of bright yellow fish that seem to give him sideways glances before giving him a wide berth. Pushing through great fronds of myriad seaweeds, he couldn't help but think of all the samples he would be able to find here. The underwater world of Pandora was largely unexplored, any efforts were stopped when the Ubotainum was found on land so the company could focus on its extraction.

He continued deeper towards the reef.

Somehow, his breath still wasn't depleted. His eyes not needing the goggles he feared he would to see the marvels of the underwater world. He heard a sound and turned to see one of his crab drones trample the plants as they started to cut and shape the ocean floor.

That will need to change. Harry thought to himself making a mental note to alter the programme directives. The ocean was more alive than he had ever expected, and it deserved to be protected as much as possible. He wouldn't stop his plans, but rather make sure to minimise underwater damage.

Looking at a strange glowing plant with tendrils sticking out, he reached his hand out to give it a gentle touch. The plant quickly reacted by changing the colours going first from blue, to green and then to orange. The lights were so mesmerising that he almost missed the electrical shock the plant gave him. If he was a fish, it would have stunned, if not killed him. As a Navi, it did little more than make his arm tingle. In Harry's mind, he likened it to the sensation of licking a battery, a very large battery.

Another swooshing sound triggered his sensitive hearing. He turned around again half expecting to see another crab drone.

It was not.

A dark shadow moved quickly through the water in the reef ahead. It was only then that his recklessness hit him. He was out in the water. No weapons. No base defences to return to.

Taking the only option available to him, he started swimming back to shore with all his strength. He could hear motion behind him but kept swimming. Avatar's bodies might not rival a fish's pure speed, but they were fast.

As he could finally put his feet on the ground again near the shore, he turned. Finally willing to find what had nearly given him a heart attack.

An ilu poked its head out of the water, looked at him innocently and chirped before diving back into the water. Harry let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. Ilu's were often found in shallow water and fed off the local fish and vegetation but didn't often venture far out as they were easy prey for other aquatic wildlife. It was a good sign, if there were more dangerous predators nearby, the ilu would have fled long ago.

Now reassured he looked back at the water, lapping around his ankles, inviting him back in. Harry was tempted to return, to continue his underwater exploration but resisted. His scare with the ilu was a good reminder to him. He needed to at least be armed before returning.

Walking up the hill to where the construction was centred, and where his temporary accommodation now lay, he paused and rested on a patch of moss. Even with the sun still in the sky, he could see the looming gas giant of Polyphmeus. Despite just being a moon, Pandora still rivalled Earth for size but could only be one of several moons that orbited the gas giant that was commonly featured in the sky. The swirls of colours on the distant planet were simply beautiful.

Now dried off, he came back to his home. His list of jobs to be done was only extending. The workload was immense. The pressure to survive is all-encompassing. But as Harry busied himself, he started to hum a popular Earth tune as content as he could be.

He had found his home. Now he just needed to add the finishing touches.