Chapter 4

Two months later…

Harry pushed his way through the thick jungle. The machetes of the security cleaved up and down on the vines blocking their path, forcing a path through.

Harry heard an animal twitter behind him. He jumped and turned, hand reaching for his side arm. Seeing the Prolemuris, a four-armed monkey swing through the trees, he relaxed. A trip in Pandora's jungle, however boring it sounds to collect some samples, was never dull.

Harry had finally gained enough mastery over his new body, and impressed his instructors enough to squeeze himself onto the routine research expedition. They were only going into the surrounding forest of the base, where the greatest dangers had been regularly purged by the patrols, to collect some samples for a study of their potential medical properties. Apparently, some satellite imagery showed an area of interest close by that they want to check out.

As he moved along behind the team, his hand gripped the portable scanner brought with him. It was at least two generations superior to the tech most of the scientists had available here, capable of scanning many details and secretions of plants without needing cuttings.

He saw a great conical plant with an almost orange glow to one side of the path. He approached and started scanning, he was able to remotely record the cells DNA and organelle structure to better understand the components. With that data, his lab, which was now functioning, could complete virtual experiments to determine the likelihood of finding a use for the plant, such as in making medicine. As his scanner got close enough, a slight breeze made the plant contact his instrument. Suddenly, the plant shrunk back. Almost disappeared except for a small protrusion a few inches from the soil.

Recovering from the shock, and triple checking no immediate danger, Harry approached again and started scanning the shrunken form.

"Fascinating…" he whispered to himself seeing the preliminary results.

"Found something Tourist?" That was what they called Harry, apparently, after another attempt to look at Grace's research, she had vented quite publicly about him and now his nickname, or call sign as the military personnel liked to call it was a tourist.

Harry waved the scientist, Shaan, over. He ran the expedition and staying on his good side was the key to being invited back out. He had quickly realised that his dream of finding a peaceful, and safe heaven was far until he could really understand Pandora.

"Look at the structure" Harry indicated to the other plants nearby. "It's capable of incredible compression with an efficiency that even we struggle to match."

"Hmmm." Shaan hummed back. "Nothing too special, quite a common plant. A good defence mechanism for most animals, although I have heard the Austrapede picks them out of the ground and eats them whole.

"But look at these results." He tilted his holo-table to show him the results. "The cell structure has changed, the cell walls have these organelles that I thought was something to do with the photosynthesis cycle however now I can see they literally folded the cell to compress it down. This is unheard of."

"If that all it takes to…"

"You're missing the point. Common or not, this is the sort of discovery that can be applied to many disciplines. From compressing data, manufacturing or even storage. Imagine being able to compress items down without losing any of their structure or rigidity, perfect for space travel."

"You really think all that can come from one plant." Shaan didn't look convinced. He was focused on the plants that were rare, that had miraculous properties to regrow limbs, cure exotic diseases or even stop ageing. A shrinking plant was beneath his notice.

"All things have value. Don't underestimate anything. Or you may just miss the gold mine under your very feet."

Harry turned and continued scanning. The data would be a fantastic start to discovering some of Pandora's secrets.

After some time, the team arrived at the destination. It was a small grove protected by overhanging trees and a rock face jutting out on one side. In the centre lay a plant that looked deceptively simple, as if it was any common vine that they had seen a thousand times in this jungle or on earth. What made it special however was the fruit. Glowing purple with flakes of golden light within screamed its rarity and therefore value.

"The natives call it the Tra'vre. We only heard about it by accident. It's one of their sacred plants that is rarely seen outside of the tribe." One of the Avatar researchers chipped in, equally shocked by the discovery.

Harry approached, and trying not to get in the group's way, began scanning.

"Why is it so special?" He asked, equal part curiosity and excitement to find out the answers himself.

They shared a look, and at a nod from Shaan explained.

"That right there is a Miracle fruit. Eat that and it can heal almost anything. Of course, if we process it back in the lab, we can get far better results and not be as wasteful. We've only come across two before."

Harry thought to himself how useful it would have been to have that before all this, but the logistics of shipping it back presented its own challenges. And even then, he doubted the board members would make public their discovery. Fat better to keep it for themselves, even if they weren't foolish enough to value money over life, or at least their own life.

The team took several samples of the soil and vine before harvesting.

"Red falcon do you copy?" Shaan radioed back to the ground team with our rotorcraft.

"We copy."

"Target found. Prepare for Exfil. Lock onto coordinates for pickup."

"Roger. Roger. Exfil ready on your mark."

"Mark." Shaan sent back.

"We're not walking back?" Harry asked one of the other Avatars in the group. He had been told that the rotorcraft struggled in the jungle environment and therefore they always had to land and be picked up in more sparse areas.

"Nah. This thing here is worth the risk. And walking through the Jungle with a few hundred mill in our bags wouldn't feel right."

It wasn't long before they could hear the craft in the distance approaching.

Shaan moved to his team. "Alright. We have one chance. Don't screw it up. Cut 2 cm above the stem. Rai your on the vine. Uncover the roots, I want it back at base in one piece. Tourist keep your eyes peeled. Once cut, these fruits seem to have a lure on the local wildlife. Wouldn't want you to become beast shit just yet."

Harry, only now understanding the risk and the need for the immediate evacuation after extracting the plant drew his sidearm. He had some training on using it, and was accurate enough in the drills but wasn't hopeful that translated to real-life survivability. Routine mission my ass. Harry thought bitterly.

All was going well.

Too well.

The fruit had been harvested and stored in a special cryo case to keep it fresh and Rai was carefully uncovering the roots. The rotorcraft was circling above waiting for their signal to drop the rope ladder to pull them to safety.

Then they heard it.

It started as nothing.

Silence.

The unnatural absence of sound in a forest that was filled with life put them all on edge. Then a low growl. Menacing and absolutely terrifying. The two military escorts that come with the swung their guns around wildly trying to find the source of the noise.

A black shadow jumped over the Avatar's heads and landed behind one of the guards. A quick snap with razer sharp teeth severed his head leaving his corpse to flop the group quickly creating its own bloody pool.

Thanator!

It was one of the beasts that were in almost every Pandora training video. It was wickedly fast and dangerous. One of the apex predators of the jungle that even fully armed military units would take a detour for.

Its body might not have the armour of some other beasts, but its hide was thick enough that all but a shot to the eyes with Harry's sidearm would be useless.

Think!

Harry forced his mind to work. How did they say to deal with one?

"Scatter! Reach the clearing" Shaan shouted and was the first to run into the bush.

Harry made the mistake of making eye contact with the beast before running in a different direction.

Behind him, he could hear bullets firing. The escort's last stand. The bullets soon stopped, and all was unnaturally quiet once again.

He pushed his way through the jungle not bothering to push aside the vines that whipped at his face. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw it. A black shadow jumped from branch to branch parallel to him.

"Shit!" It was following him.

He could see its face poking out of the tree slightly ahead on his right. He could see its muscles flexing to leap and take his life.

With a thought, acting solely on instincts Harry didn't know he had, Harry barrelled rolled to the side. The Thanator's claws just scrapped along one of his arms but he avoided the worst.

He kept running.

The clearing was not far.

Hearing the growl behind him, he did the only thing to save his life yet again. He fell to the ground. This time the razor claws soared over his head.

Now he had a new problem. The Thanator was blocking his path. He could run back but he knew it would be futile. His only hope of safety was the rotorcraft and escape from here. Going deeper into the jungle would only give the beast a greater advantage.

Resigning himself to a final contest, to risk it all, Harry drew a pistol. It was a beautiful piece that had been custom-made for his avatar form on Earth. It was made of the finest materials and its round could pack much more of a punch than the typical pistol. However, he still knew it wouldn't be enough.

He would get one shot. Maybe two. Then the beast would be on him.

A critical strike. A vulnerability was his only chance. The eyes would be perfect, however far too small for him to hit. He was hardly a marksman with his weeks of training. Looking at the Thanator now, he could see it had two strange types of gills on either side of its neck. They were a common feature of many of Pandora's wildlife and were how they breathed.

Without double guessing his decision, he fired.

Once.

Twice.

The Thanator was approaching now. A giant leap. Harry thought himself to the side, avoiding the Thanator's angry bite however roughly landing on a tree sending a painful shock up his arm.

Broken. He knew that pain.

He raised his one good arm and prepared to fire again.

Bang!

A loud shot echoed between the trees. A group of men dressed in camo clothes emerged from the trees. Behind them, a mech followed holding his rifle and began directing fire at the beast. Taking a final look at the prey that escaped it, it slipped back into the jungle. As it did, Harry noticed that it limped ever so slightly. Perhaps I did hit it after all? Harry thought.

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The journey back was filled with mixed feelings.

They had survived a Thanator attack. Something not many people could claim. Well except for those two escorts. Their bodies were found ripped to shreds in the jungle.

On the other hand, they had lost the fruit. Their rescuers had quickly advanced through the jungle to where it was left, unfortunately, the case was open and a feathered arrow was left behind.

The Navi.

Harry pulled out his holo-tablet. The glass was smashed, but he could replace that easily enough. The data however, that was the real gold mine. He had scanned dozens of plants, including the miracle fruit, and was looking forward to the discoveries he could draw from them.

As he landed, his arm in a sling, until the medical unit could repair the bone, Harry looked around and came to a decision.

He needed more training.

He needed more skills.

He needed to do more than survive in this place.

He needed to thrive.