Пауку не дают уйти, заставляя остаться рядом с ними, в названном "цивилизованном мире", хотя ему всего лишь хочется быть счастливым, возможность быть свободным
Summary - A time fracture in the reef beneath the Sea Dragon drags Miles Quaritch, Lyle Wainfleet, Sezia "Z-dog" Zdinarsk, Alexander Ja, and Spider Socorro as well as three humans OFC! Cara Sofia "Rocky" Rochester, OFC! Gwen Delaney, OFC! Azure Druyan to the colony of Terra Nova.
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Warnings: Massive suspension of disbelief required, canon-typical violence, bad geology, made-up temporal mechanics/magic, fucking about with canon, wildly raw/unedited, no beta.
A/N: The colony of Terra Nova is actually has the CO2 concentrations almost high enough for the recoms to adapt to and low enough for the Humans to survive in. It's hard for everyone to breathe, but everyone can.
This story will evolve toward mature and NSFW, but we are still in the exposition phase.
Zdinarsk is Sezia because Washington is already Alicia.
One month ago…
Gwen Delaney had spent most of the day loading Sea Dragon sailors into lifeboats. The sun slipped behind Polyphemus as the ship continued to sink out from underneath her. She had been managing her emotions just fine, until she watched Azure fly over the side rail as the body of one of the recoms pushed her into the water. She thought the recom might have been Lyle Wainfleet.
She watched helplessly as Azure and Wainfleet both slipped deeper.
“Oh no you fucking don’t,” she muttered. She launched herself into the water and looked for Azure.
Gwen pulled the light off of her life vest and slipped out of it. She swam down until the light was a tiny pinprick in the mass of darkness around her. She kicked hard into the current, trying to reach Azure before she hit the bottom. But, the current dragged her on. She didn’t know how long she had been swimming for when she finally saw her friend.
Gwen Delaney reached for the other woman and kicked them both to the surface.
Azure’s mask was filled with water. The exo-pack had a crack in it. She pulled Azure to the bank and cleared the mask. She hoped the crack wouldn’t let in the deadly poisonous atmosphere, but she didn’t have anything to seal it.
She looked around for the recom. She didn’t recognize this part of the island. She didn't recognize anything. The sun was bright and high in the sky. She hadn’t thought she'd been in the water for more than twenty minutes.
Mira came over the ridge of Snakehead Falls. She searched for the source of the coughing and spluttering. She looked over and saw two young women. They were bedraggled and wearing a type of blue camouflage. She didn’t recognize them as pilgrims or sixers.
“Hey! What are you doing here?”
“Help!” One woman choked out at her. “Her mask is cracked! Hurry!”
In her panic, Gwen didn't notice that Mira wasn’t wearing a mask.
“Please, I’m Gwen Delaney and this is Azure Druyan. We both work for the RDA.”
Azure regained consciousness about halfway back to the Sixer camp.
“How long have I been breathing atmo?” Azure asked. She was surprised by how clear-headed she felt.
“About as long as you've been here. We’ve got first aid back at the camp. We weren’t expecting any pilgrims today. Actually, not for another four months.”
“Pilgrims?” Gwen asked.
“Yeah, the transition plays hell with your system when you first get here.”
“Transition to where?”
“Let’s save it til we get where we’re going.” Mira said.
No one else spoke for the rest of the walk back.
Dawn - Present day…
Cara Rochester struggled against the wing of the Sea Dragon as it pushed her deeper into the water. She tried desperately to escape the metal cage the wing had created as it swept her along the bottom. She had a moment of stillness when she thought she could swim out, but the deep current pulled her out from the wing and pushed her deeper. She was swept helplessly along, grateful that she didn't have to hold her breath as the exo-pack bumped along her hip in the turbulent water. The darkness of the night seemed to consume her. There was no life here. The rocks, moss, sea life that she’d become used to, the bioluminescence of Pandora was simply gone. She worried for a moment that she had gone blind. She winced as her knee scraped sharp pebbles on the seabed. She pushed off the bottom. After a few moments of floating directionless in the void, she could see a pinprick of light ahead of her. The pinprick became the sun. She worked her way through the torrent that pushed her further and further from the grinding sound of the sinking Sea Dragon. That sound gave way to a constant thundering that pressed her ears. She swam as hard as she could toward the sun. Her head finally broke free and she looked around. She had a moment to take in the dense temperate forest that surrounded her.
The high face of a waterfall blocked her passage on one side. She swam toward the bank.
“We’re putting him on a diet after this shit,” another woman’s voice echoed off the cliff face. She coughed and struggled to catch her breath. The echo from the past turned Cara's head.
She looked to see two recoms standing waist deep in the plunge pool. They were dragging the unconscious body of a third.
“Let him go. You need to keep that still until I can pack it and we can get you to a doctor,” the man said.
The details of the recom woman’s appearance come into focus.
“Sezia? Sezia Zdinarsk?” Cara gaped.
“Don’t call me that,” she groused. She looked at the soaked, dumbfounded human staring at her.
Curiosity passed across the face of the recom in the hat, but he didn't say anything.
“Rocky, please. Can you--,” she didn’t finish her sentence.
Rochester swam back toward them. Lifting the recom from beneath, she helped drag his body. The four of them collapsed on the bank.
“Z,” the man said. “Sit. I’m Alexander. Call me Ja.” he offered a brief nod to Rochester.
“Cara Rochester, call me Rocky.”
“Where are we?” Zdinarsk asked.
“We must be somewhere on the interior of the island.” Ja speculated.
“No.” Rocky said, but forgot to elaborate. She stood. She forced her body through the air to the wall of the cliff. She walked along the tree line looking down.
“I hate it when she does this.” Z-dog muttered. “Why not?” she asked louder.
Rochester looked over at the three of them. Ja applied something to the wound on Zdinarsk’s side. “Why do you insist on asking questions you don’t actually want the answers to?”
“Then tell him,” she rolled her eyes. “This is gonna be about rocks.”
“Yes, it’s about the fucking rocks, Sezia.” Rocky snapped, impatient with Zdinarsk’s impatience. “These are not reef formations. They’re made of basalt. I don’t think I’ve even seen a basalt formation since we left earth.”
They sat with this information. The recoms’ breathing was still heavy, labored.
“OK. We have water. We can find food. What we need to do is find shelter,” he said. The unconscious man stirred and groaned. “Hey, hey! Wainfleet, don’t try to move, man.”
“Come, sit here and hold his head still.”
She walked back over to the struggling recoms. Rocky sat cross-legged beneath the recom’s enormous head and placed her hands under his chin.
She surreptitiously cast a glance at Zdinarsk. The shaft of the arrow sticking out of her side was almost as long as the human was tall. Ja packed Zdinarsk’s wound with gauze and did his best to immobilize it. He broke the shaft on both sides a fist-span out from Zdinarsk’s body.
Ja returned to check over Wainfleet, asking him to wiggle fingers and toes. Satisfied that he didn’t seem to have any critical injuries, Ja told her to let him up.
Ja, Wainfleet, and Z-dog all twisted their ears. Rocky wasn’t sure what was happening. But, after a moment she heard it too.
“Is that fireworks?” She asked.
“That’s gun fire,” Ja said. “Keep them here.”
“And what exactly am I supposed to do if they try to get up?” she asked, gesturing vaguely to the fact that Wainfleet’s head felt almost as big as her body.
“She’s gutshot and he’s barely conscious. You’ll be fine.”
“Clearly, you’ve never tried to get Sez-- Zdinarsk to do something,” she muttered. He heard her, but chose not to address the comment. The look on his face left no room in her mind that she would have to address it eventually.
Ja was sweating, nauseous, and cramping as he hurtled through the densely wooded area, toward the sound of firing guns. He figured it had everything to do with his breathing difficulties. He came to the edge of a clearing and saw a human. Not just any human, he recognized this one. It was the Colonel’s pet project.
“Socorro! Hey, Socorro.” Ja yelled to get Spider’s attention and the boy headed toward the recom.
Spider saw the familiar medic, despite his complicated feelings about the recoms in general, he was desperate for something familiar. He’d been here for a day and a night and nothing was familiar. He’d never seen this kind of forest before. He’d never been this cold at night before. The animals were all vaguely different from the animals he’d always known.
He didn’t know what to make of anything. It was a cold day in hell indeed as he lurched toward the recom for comfort.
Ja assessed the teenager. He had a small cut on his chest, but no major injuries. He handed the bleeding kid gauze and instructions to put pressure.
“Hey. We’re OK. There’s another human over with Z-dog and Wainfleet. She doesn’t have a gun or anything. Come on.” Ja pulled the kid up from the ground.
Wainfleet was fully conscious by the time they got back to the waterfall.
“What happened?” Rocky asked.
“The last thing I remember is a big fucking whale thing launching itself on the deck of the Sea Dragon,” Ja said.
“Jake and Quaritch were fighting.” Spider supplied.
“Sully’s wife blindsided me and tossed me over the side.” Zdinarsk added.
“Same, OK. So we all agree there was a fight. We all agree that the ship was sinking. We all agree that this is not anywhere close to where we were.” Wainfleet summarized. He looked from face to nodding face. The five of them sat lost in thought.
“Who was shooting?” Rocky asked
“Humans. There was some kind of fight. I thought it was Quaritch and the Metkayina.” Spider said.
“Should we go there? The RDA should have medical personnel on all outposts. No offense. But Sez-- Zdinarsk needs a doctor and possibly surgery.”
Ja didn’t take offense. She was right. In his mind, even if they weren't RDA, they should go. Z needed more help than he could give at this point.
Wainfleet stood. “Kid, come with me.” he said, gesturing to Spider.
They came back a bit later with a recom-sized travois.
“Absolutely not.” Zdinarsk said. “I can walk.”
“You can. You’re not going to. If you try, I’ll put your ass on report for refusing orders.” Ja told her. The face she made at him then made Rocky smile. She thought it was cute when it wasn’t turned on her. She forced herself to look away.
They all shared the burden of hauling the travois. It worked best with just one person, but Rocky and Spider made it possible for the recoms to take a break by pulling together.
They found the outpost at the low end of a Valley.
“You and you,” Wainfleet pointed at Rocky and Spider, “behind me.”
So they got behind him and followed him to the massive gate. No one was sure what to expect. As they drew closer, the less they were certain of the RDA’s welcome, the less they were certain that this was a RDA outpost.
They came to a massive wooden gate structure. Behind the gate where hundreds of people, about fifty of them were holding weapons trained on the newcomers.
Everyone they could see was human, but no one seemed to know what to do with the ten-foot-tall blue cat-man standing at the head of the little group. Everyone was aiming at him.
“My name is Lyle Wainfleet. I’m a member of Project Phoenix. We’ve been separated from the rest of our battalion.”
No one moved. No one responded. No one from inside the massive gates tried to help to Wainfleet. They simply held their guns trained on him. Rocky had seen more than one dead recom riddled with bullet holes. For her, that had enough for several lifetimes.
Rocky stepped out from behind Wainfleet, who tried to grab her and push her back. He stopped when guns, which had been held loosely, tightened to shoulders in preparation for fire.
One man came out from the bustle of extremely armed security forces. He walked up just behind the gate wearing some kind of body armor that neither Rocky nor the recoms had ever seen before.
The man in front of the gate was fully gray with a neatly trimmed beard and muscles fit to burst his black shirt. He had to be in his fifties, and classically good-looking with it, a silver fox with canny, piercing blue eyes. He looked from Rocky to the recom behind her and back to her.
“Hello?” She said, praying he spoke English.
“I’m Commander Nathanial Taylor.”
“I’m Dr. Cara Rochester. This is Spider Socorro. Behind me are Sezia Zd--
“Don’t fucking call me that!” She shouted from the travois.
“Zdinarsk, Corporal Lyle Wainfleet, and Specialist Alexander Ja. We were on a sh- ship.” She said, stuttering and realizing that she must sound absolutely ridiculous. She started again. “We need help. Zdinarsk has a body wound. She’s been treated with an antitoxin, but she may need more. She needs medical attention. Wainfleet was unconscious for-- well we don’t know how lon--.” She was interrupted again she looked behind her. She returned her attention to Taylor, “And Specialist Ja has just collapsed.”
“Hand over the guns, all the weapons,” he said.
“Done.”
“What? No!” This outburst came from Lyle, he sounded offended that he’d even been asked.
“Mr. Wainfleet, please. They need doctors more than you need guns right now.” She looked pleadingly at him. He didn’t like it, but he safetied his gun and set it on the ground. The others followed suit. Everyone began pulling out weapons, even Spider pulled a knife out of the tweng he was wearing.
“What are you like twelve? What are you doing with a knife?” She hissed.
“I’m sixteen.” he hissed back, “It’s a tool.”
Taylor stared at the woman and sauntered toward her. “You got weapons too?”
“What? No!” She was offended that he’d even ask.
“Wash, come pat her down.”
Alicia Washington stepped forward. The brunette Valkyrie that reached for Rocky pinned her wrists with one hand on top of her head and patted the shorter woman down. What she found, what Taylor had seen, was the tube of samples that Cara had stashed in her waistband before she was knocked off the ship.
“It’s rocks, commander.”
“Alright, give them back to her. Let’s bring ‘em inside.”
Wainfleet lifted Ja into a fireman’s carry and they all went into the compound. Several of the soldiers in black moved forward to pull the travois toward the clinic.
“You, Rochester, you speak for the group, you come with me.” Taylor said. Rocky looked back at everyone.
“I don’t actually.”
“What?”
“I don’t speak for everyone, anyone. Actually, I just met everyone except Sez-- Zdinarsk.”
“Well, since everyone else is headed to the infirmary, come anyway. Bring the kid.”
Spider followed her and the two soldiers up to a round command center inside of the compound.
They explained as best they could what happened and Taylor and Wash sat unmoved and unwilling to believe the story they were being told.
Rocky slid the exo-pack off her face and so did Spider. Commander Taylor looked at the angry red lines from the rubber seal around their faces. The ones on the boy looked deep and old, almost set.
“So who are you?”
“I told you. I’m Cara Rochester. I was on a ship with the RDA when it went down for-- reasons,” she shrugged.
“What reasons?”
“There was a tulkun, an explosion, an attack by Na'vi terrorists. I couldn't really say. If I knew for certain, Mr. Taylor, I’d tell you.”
“Miles Quaritch.” Spider pitched in. “My dad was trying to kill Jake Sully. But it wasn’t really going well.”
“OK, number one: Your dad?” Rocky asked.
“And,” Taylor said, “Who’s Jake Sully?”
“Which was about to be number two.”
“Jake Sully was chief of the Omaticaya. My dad has a massive hate-on for Jake and his wife, Neytiri, because they killed him the year I was born.” Rocky looked at the boy. She wasn’t sure she’d heard that correctly. She wasn't inclined to believe him, but given her current situation, nothing seemed impossible anymore. “He, my dad, used to be the base commander at Hell’s Gate on Pandora before the expulsion,” he clarified.
“Pandora? They’ve been trying to colonize that place for nearly thirty years. So, you’re RDA. All of you?”
“I am. I’m a geoscientist. The recoms are too. RDA, I mean, not geoscientists, although, I don’t really know that for sure. They do belong to Project Phoenix,” she looked at Spider, “Spider would be Pandoran, but human as far as I can tell. And, a child, so not employed by the RDA.”
“Well,” Taylor weighed his decision carefully. “You’re responsible for ‘em. If they get into trouble, I’m coming for you.”
“Why me? I have no authority. That recom, Wainfleet, should probably be in charge. The recoms all listen to him. And, he’s a teenager. Is he going to listen to anyone?”
“That is exactly why I'm putting you in charge. You didn’t stay back. I find that trying to keep someone in line who is disinclined to keep their heads down is an uphill battle and I’m no Sisyphus. The teenager you’re going to have to figure out on your own.”
“I'm sorry. Are you sticking me with the kid because I’m a woman?”
“No ma’am. I’m sticking you with the kid because he came in with you.”
“I’m right here.” Spider said.
Her cheek twitched and she failed to suppress a smile. “Sorry, kid. I don’t think that’s the best idea, but I’m assuming, since we’re standing here and you’re the one behind the desk, you’re in charge. And your kindness is appreciated for the present. But how do we get home? I have a family. I have research and responsibilities, a contract. And, I'm sure everyone else does too”
“The trip to get here is one way. There’s no way to get you back. I’m afraid I don’t have any more answers than you do. Any more aliens gonna show up?”
“Mr. Taylor, I don’t even know how we showed up.”
“Well, we’ve got some empty houses that we can put you all up in. Don’t have any furniture your friends’ size, but we might be able to put some things together in a couple of weeks. Failing that, We’ll get something in with the next couple of pilgrimages.” He clapped his hands on his thighs as if it were all decided.
“I want to check in on the recoms.” Rocky told Spider and Taylor, who nodded. “Are you going to be OK by yourself?”
“I’ve been alone for most of my life.” He sounded bitter, bored. The tone in his voice broke Rocky’s heart.
“I’ll be there in a little bit.”
“Yeah, whatever,” he said, rolling his eyes.
The Brunette, Wash, took Spider to their accommodations. Cara followed Taylor over to the infirmary.
Lyle Wainfleet was sitting with his CO2 rebreather on his mouth and his head in his hands. Taylor stood a discreet distance away, not quite giving them privacy, but he gave them room. He watched them interact without listening in on their conversation as much as possible.
“Mr. Wainfleet?” Rocky said. He looked up at her. And put the rebreather down.
“Call me Lyle.” His smile was big and genuinely filled with something resembling relief.
“Lyle, then. Rocky. How are they?”
“Ja’s in surgery, he had some internal bleeding which is why he passed out. The doctor was worried about something called crush syndrome. Z-dog is resting. The RDA set Ja up with the antitoxin for the arrow before we were deployed. It just needs time. She needs rest. How’s the kid?”
“Bitter? I don’t know. There seems to be a story there. Do you know anything about it?”
“Yeah, but tonight’s not the night for it. Where’s he now?”
“Being taken to where we’re going to be staying. They gave us all a bungalow. Mr. Taylor assumed a lot. Mostly they’re keeping us together because we all showed up together. Do you want me to talk to him about letting you guys live on your own?”
“Nah. You’re familiar. We’ll stick together. You’re one of us now.” His smile was disarming as it was meant to be. He bumped her shoulder with his.
“OK,” she was reasonably soothed by his empathetic charm. “And, how are you?”
“Nah, I’m fine. They checked me out and said I should stay overnight for observation, but they aren’t making me stay in bed.”
“OK, good.” She took a deep breath and asked again, “Sez-- Zdinarsk is OK?”
“How do you know her?” He peered at her.
“If she didn’t see fit to tell you, I don’t think it’s my place.” Rocky didn’t like sidestepping the question, but she didn’t want to out Zdinarsk if she didn’t have to.
“Oh, ended badly, huh?”
She changed the subject. “You guys won’t fit in the furniture, but they’re going to work on that over the next couple of days. Apparently they get shipments every couple of months. But get this, it all comes from 2149. They’re all from our past. I don’t know that Earth is going to have this stuff readily manufactured. Are you OK?” His face had fallen while she was talking.
“Yeah, it’s just-- 2149. That’s the year I got to Pandora.”
“I’m so sorry.” She didn’t know what else to say. She put her hand gently on his shoulder. She knew that Na’vi were more tactile by reputation. She didn’t know if it extended to the recoms as well. Wainfleet seemed to be more affectionate by nature. She wondered what he had been like as a human. “Do you want me to go?”
“Yeah,” he sat up and she recognized what he did next. His face was locked into a smile. It was as impossible to see beyond as most people who used boredom to mask their feelings. The bravado, the toxic inability to allow oneself to feel seen. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She sighed and sat next to him. “She’s not either when she says that, you know.” Rocky sat with him in companionable silence. She looked up and shared a silent apology with Nathaniel Taylor, who was still standing by the door.
They sat like that until the duty nurse finally did force Wainfleet into bed.
“Keep me posted on Se-- Zdinarsk, won’t you?”
“Yeah, of course. I’ll be at the house tomorrow.”
She sat back in the chair and rubbed her face. Whatever else they were now, they were familiar. She sighed and stretched. She lifted out of the chair and went over to where Taylor was waiting.
“Thank you.” she said, “I think I need to get the kid tucked in now.”
He held the door open for her and she stepped outside into the night.
The bungalow was chaos when she got there. Spider had piled all sheets and pillows in a corner of the main room so that he could see the door, but couldn’t be seen. He had instinctively built himself a pillow fort.
Taylor cleared his throat, “Well, ma’am, this is where I bid you goodnight.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done, Mr. Taylor.”
He fought a wave of amusement at her refusal to call him commander.
“Goodnight, Dr. Rochester.”
She half expected him to tip his nonexistent hat when he said that.
She watched him stroll into the night back the way he came, then she went inside.
“Spider?”
“I’m here.” His voice was heavy with sleep. He sat up from behind the couch.
“Are you OK?”
He curled his body into a ball. He was clearly not.
“Hey,” she sat down next to him. “We’re OK. We’re safe.”
He nodded, but wouldn’t look at her.
“Did you eat?”
He shook his head. In the little kitchen, she went through the cabinets and pantries. There wasn’t much that was ready to eat. It was late. She was tired. But, she didn't know how long he had gone without food. The kid was nearly six feet tall. His frame was strong, the product of an active life that required many types of strength. She didn't want him to go to bed hungry.
“What did you eat back home? What was your favorite?”
“Mary used to make this thing called ‘Oliolis’.”
“Oliolis?”
“Yeah, they’re these little squares. Sometimes they would put meat in them.”
“I think I know what you’re talking about. We called them raviolis. You want to come help me? It’s a condition of me doing this, actually. And, you can’t tell anyone else I can cook.”
“Got it.” he said. He didn’t quite smile.
She pulled down the makings for pasta.
“This is called a nest,” she said. She created a little bowl in the flour. “Do you know why?”
He shook his head.
“Because, it’s where the egg goes.”
She watched him fight a smile. She cracked the egg into the small cup. She mixed it and rolled the dough out. “It’s not going to look quite the same because I don’t have a way to scallop the edges. And, it doesn’t look like we have any meat, but we’ve got some mushrooms and a couple of other things.”
He shrugged.
She narrated the steps through boiling and draining the pasta. She put some oil, garlic, and parmesan in the pot and stirred them together. She put it all in a bowl for him.
He sniffed hesitantly.
“Just go easy. We don’t know what kind of shock to your system you can expect. So, little bites. Please don’t make yourself sick. I get the distinct impression those guys in the infirmary would take it amiss if something bad happened to you on my watch.”
He took a slow cautious bite. Clearly pleased, he dug in.
“Good?”
He nodded and cleared his bowl.
“Is there any more?”
She filled his bowl again. He ate slower this time. The black hole in his stomach finally filled. His eyes drooped. He seemed to accept that he was safe. His body shutting down after three days of sustained adrenaline.
“Go to bed.” she said when he finally dropped the spoon.
“You don’t want help cleaning up?”
“You get a freebie this time due to trauma. But!” she pointed the dirty serving spoon at him, “You only get this one. Now off to bed. We can figure everything else out tomorrow. I’ll be here in the morning.”
“Thanks, Cara.”
“Call me Rocky. Good night.”
He nodded and trudged to the first bedroom door in the hallway. She didn’t miss the fact that he left the door open
Rocky tucked herself on the couch. But she lay restless. She kept hoping to wake up on the Sea Dragon.
The morning light streamed in through the shutters in Spider’s window. He sat up in the unfamiliar surroundings. He took in the room and the past three days slowly started coming back to him.
The sounds of scraping and jostling in the kitchen stirred him from bed. He crept slowly out. Caution born of long years in a very hostile environment forced Spider to peek around the corner and watch Rocky in the kitchen for several minutes.
The smell of cooking breakfast drove him from his hiding place in the hallway.
“Good morning, Spider.” Rocky said with a smile. “Great timing.”
She placed a thick stack of buttermilk pancakes in front of him.
“I’m going back out to the falls today. I want to see if I can find anything in the rock shelter or the plunge pool about what happened or how we got here. Do you want to come?”
“Sure.”
“OK. Eat your breakfast. I’ll go get dressed. Then we’ll see if we can get an escort.”
Rocky found Wash in Taylor’s office.
“I’d like to go back to where we were found. I want to see what is there. Maybe there is a way for us to get back.”
“That area is strictly off limits.”
“Why?”
"It's not safe. That's slasher territory."
“Here’s the thing: I’m not a prisoner. I'm not Terra Novan. This is a courtesy. So, you can have someone take us out there, or we go out there alone. You can then explain our absence to and deal with the ten-foot-tall cats that are about to be released from your infirmary.”
The trip out to Snakehead falls was a lot easier with the transport. Wash and two young security officers hopped out and fanned around the area near the top of the falls. Rocky looked around and tried to see what she could find. There wasn’t much to distinguish the top of the falls from any other falls on earth. Rocky and Spider climbed down. They looked around briefly for any other bodies, but he didn't see anyone. Spider followed closely behind Rocky.
The mossy, mildewed smell of the rock shelter assaulted Spider’s nose. He bent under the low ceiling. She seemed to be reading the rocks the way he read a trail.
“What do you see?”
“Formation patterns. I won’t get into a lot because it’s mostly technical and very useless unless you’re doing research, but look at the roof here. See how the ceiling is a little different from the rest of the cave. The majority of the crest is much harder on the Mohs scale than the rock underneath, so the rock underneath erodes much faster than the other. So we get a rock shelter. I honestly don’t know what I’m looking for. I’m hoping for a door back, maybe. So we can go home.”
“But, what does that look like?”
“That-- I don’t know.” They did a couple more circuits around the little cave. “Come on,” she said.
They climbed out of the rock shelter.
“WASH!” Rocky shouted.
The enormous blue body leaked red into the splash pool and stood out among the gray rocks.
“Go get Wainfleet.” Rocky told Spider. He climbed up the rocks like he’d been born to it. He got into the transport with Wash and one of the soldiers. The younger of the two Terra Novan men stayed behind with Rocky and the stranger.
Rocky scrambled toward the body. She put a CO2 rebreather on the recom's face.
She looked down at him and patted his cheek. “Can you hear me?”
He grunted. He opened his groggy eyes.
“Can you tell me your name? Fyape fko syaw ngar?” It was one of three Na’vi phrases she had picked up while working on Pandora.
“The fuck d’you just say to me?” He demanded in English.
“What’s your name?”
“Quaritch, Miles Quaritch.” He sounded angry, like she should have known that.
She recognized the name of the man who had taken command of the Sea Dragon and disrupted her research, but had never met him.
“Alright, well, Quaritch, Miles Quaritch. Welcome to Earth. Lyle will be here in just a little bit. He’ll explain everything.”
He squinted up at her, trying to make sense of what he was seeing. He had a vague impression of dark hair and darker eyes. She wasn’t someone he knew.
“Where’s the Banshees?”
“Not here. I haven’t seen any of them in a couple of days. There’s actually a lot you need to know. But seriously. We should wait.”
He didn’t like that she wasn’t being forthcoming with him. It helped ease some of his grogginess. He tried to think about the last thing he remembered before he opened his eyes. The fight, Sully, the ship going down, the choke hold, the water, the black, her voice.
Wainfleet and Washington crested the ridge over the waterfall and made their way down toward the plunge pool.
“Colonel.” Lyle rushed toward them, running through field checks to make sure he wasn’t severely injured. Rocky let Lyle push her out of the way.
Lyle’s world made more sense with Quaritch in it. There were worlds of difference between command and second. Lyle knew it. He wasn’t ready to take the reins entirely on.
Lyle's presence seemed to soothe Quaritch. His ears and tail relaxed and he let Lyle look him over.
Rocky said, “Here’s the thing: We have to get you about four kilometers before you can rest. So, when you can stand, let's do that. We aren’t exactly safe out here.”
Commander Taylor was waiting when they got back.
“Dr. Rochester. What have we here?”
“Mr. Taylor, may I present Quaritch, Miles Quaritch.”
“Let’s get him to the infirmary. Reynolds, have Dr. Shannon take a look at him.”
He looked Quaritch over as he had the other recoms. The blue man had clearly taken a beating.
Taylor waited until everyone was cleared out before he looked back at Rocky.
“What do you make of it?”
“I have no idea. He didn’t exactly strike me as stable, but I don’t know. He was given command of our ship out from under our captain’s nose. It wasn’t a great time. We were seriously disrupted for months.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s the former base commander. He’s Mr. Socorro’s father. Beyond that, I can’t really say.
“He’s a, what’d you call it, a recom? How can he be the kid’s father?”
“Well, I suppose the answer to that is a question that philosophers will argue for thousands of years before we’re born. You’re familiar with the thought exercise of the ship of theseus? Or of the gifted ax?”
“Ship of Theseus, the hero’s ship that they steadily replace planks until at some point it no longer is the same ship?”
“That’s the one.”
“My understanding is that Mr. Quaritch is both and neither.”
While he processed the information she had provided him, he closely examined her face. Most people in their first couple of days in Terra Nova look much better than they do when they arrive.
The skin on her face seemed washed out. Her russet brown eyes seemed darker to him for the heavy bags under them. Her shoulders rounded under the weight of something he couldn’t see. It bothered him to see someone so young carry so much weight.
He nodded. “You get any sleep?”
“No. The couch didn’t move right.”
“Maybe we’ll make you a hammock instead of another bed.” A grin broke across his face.
His lip thinned across his perfectly straight teeth. It wasn’t lost on her that his smile was slightly crooked. It made him seem much more jovial than the dour figure who had presented himself at the gate and stripped them of their weapons on their first day, was it only yesterday? She appreciated that kind of reserve. The mirror neurons in her mind fired relentlessly and forced her own smile back at him.
“That might be nice,” she cleared her throat after a minute. “I’d better go check on my yahoos.”
“I’d like to see you back here,” he said. He realized how it sounded and course-corrected. “When everyone gets a clean bill of health. We can talk about where each of you’ll serve the colony best. Have a good morning, Ma’am.” He held the door open for her and again she got the impression he should be wearing a hat and tipping it toward her when he said that.
At the infirmary, Rocky went to check on Zdinarsk. She was still sleeping. Rocky sat down in the chair next to Zdinarsk’s bed.
“She’s going to be fine, you know.” A woman’s voice said from behind her. The voice belonged to Dr. Elizabeth Shannon. Shannon’s dark eyes didn’t miss a thing.
“I know.”
“You coming in to check on her every hour isn’t going to make her heal any faster. Give the antitoxin time to do its work.”
“Is this your less than subtle way of kicking me out?”
“Basically.”
“Alright.” Rocky looked at Zdinarsk. The face she wore was both intimately familiar and completely foreign, aptly alien.
They had married right out of high school, and divorced a few years after that. That was when Zdinarsk had decided to go to Pandora for the first time. Rocky was notified of her death by mistake. Zdinarsk had never amended her paperwork once she was single. To be fair, Zdinarsk was in cryo and on her way to Pandora once the divorce decree had been issued. Zdinarsk’s death had been a bitter pill for Rocky to swallow. But, she finished her degrees and was also offered a place in the RDA on Pandora.
Rocky had not been informed of Zdinarsk’s participation in Project Phoenix. If she had, Rocky would have stayed on Earth.
She admired Zdinarsk’s angular face. It was still beautiful, even written in blue and much bigger than it had been. But, written in those cheek bones were all Rocky’s failures as a wife and a human being. Rocky shook her head and walked away. She checked on Ja then swung back around to the most recent arrival.
Wainfleet was talking quickly and in hushed tones to Miles Quaritch.
“What’s the word on this one Doctor Shannon?” She asked, nodding toward the newest addition to their little group.
“A bit worse for wear, but he should be fine to go home in just a bit.”
Rocky left them all in the infirmary. She headed back to the bungalow. She had showered and was taking the linens off the couch where she had slept when Wainfleet came in with Quaritch.
Quaritch eyed her with suspicion. His first impression of her not being entirely upfront with information stuck with him. He wasn’t inclined to be trusting, but that initial lie, put her squarely in a category with his enemies.
“Colonel,” Wainfleet said. “This is Rocky, Dr. Cara Rochester. She’s been helping us out.”
“An actual doctor or science nerd?”
“Rock and dirt nerd, actually. Perhaps you need me to take a look at your head.” She gestured to the bandage over his eyebrow.
Wainfleet was torn between amusement and concern. Quaritch might have been comfortable taking a good-natured ribbing from his squad, but he didn’t know her.
Quaritch didn’t say anything, but his ears flattened aggressively. He inspected each of the rooms.
“Are we really stuck here?” Wainfleet asked.
“As far as I can tell. I did some poking in the rock shelter behind the falls where we all came in, but there was nothing. Additionally, the last thing we all remember is the Sea Dragon. Me and the three recoms came in a day before you did, Mr. Quaritch. Spider was here a couple of days before that, even. I do rocks and dirt. I don’t do temporal mechanics.” She shrugged. “What they have told us, is that we are somewhere in the latter 20 million years of the Cretaceous period. And they know that partly because of--”
She was cut off by a screaming roar in the distance. “Because of the dinosaurs.”
Hours passed. While Quaritch had been inside in the room he had taken for his own, Rocky had tried to stay away from him. She didn't like the brusque words or harsh way he spoke. He was hurt and exhausted, so she excused the behaviors. She kept her distance as much as was possible.
“Hey, Rocky,” Wainfleet said. She looked up from the samples she had arranged on a table across the porch.
“Lyle, hello.” She smiled up at him.
“She’s awake,” he said. He watched the relief wash over her face. She set down the tools she had been working with and bolted to the infirmary.
“Thanks,” she yelled back at him over her shoulder. Lyle watched her go and smiled to himself, whistling Dixie as he walked inside to check on the Colonel.
Rocky came to a halt just before the double glass doors of the infirmary. She took a deep breath and walked in.
The injured woman was tucking into her first breakfast in days when she saw Rocky come around the corner.
Even from this far away Zdinarsk could smell her. She could smell the raspberry and goat milk soap that Rocky had showered with that morning. She could smell Rocky’s sweat. She could smell all the way down to Rocky’s skin, the indescribably unique smell each person carried. She remembered that smell. She found the longer she was in her new body, the less narrative memories made sense to her, but the emotional memories, the sensory memories, those stayed with her. They always hit her hard and at weird times. The smell of Rocky’s profuse sweating put her somewhere in the distant past, a past she shrugged off.
“What are you doing here?” Zdinarsk asked coldly.
“Nothing.”
That girl still has no goddamn poker face, Zdinarsk thought. Nonetheless, her inclination was to alleviate the worry in Rocky’s eyes.
“I’m OK. Doc says I’m here for another day or so, then I can go, but no heavy lifting, or anything for at least three weeks. And I have to check in every 24 hours. I’ll get to go see the new place tomorrow.”
“So soon.” Rocky couldn’t deny she liked the idea of having someone checking in on Zdinarsk. She knew that Zdinarsk wouldn’t look after herself if given the opportunity.
“Well, that’s good to hear. I’m going to go check on your friend.”
“Hey, how you feeling?” Rocky asked.
“UUUHHHHHH, like a fucking whale fell on me.” he said.
“I’m getting the impression that might have been what happened.”
Alexander Ja looked at his visitor. “It’s nice of you to come see me.”
“Of course. Lyle told you about Quaritch?
"Yeah. It's good he's here. He'll know what to do."
Rocky was surprised by Ja's indefatigable faith in Quaritch. He'd been here for less than 24 hours and she had already seen quite a change in her new companions. Maybe it was because she was on the outside, but Quaritch didn't seem like the kind of man who would like her questioning him, or their loyalty.
"Let me know if I can help with anything. But, you’ll be released with Zdinarsk?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
“Great. See you tomorrow then.”
Days later, they all gathered in Taylor’s office. Rocky looked even more tired than she had when Taylor had seen her last. She rubbed her eyes and listened to the conversation.
“So, what can you do?” He sized up each of the large blue aliens. He’s been hearing about the Avatar project from the RDA and Na’vi since he was a much younger man, but this was his first time seeing him in the flesh. They were huge. They were going to be a problem if he couldn’t keep them on his side and out of the Sixer’s camp.
He looked at each of them.
“I’m Colonel Miles Quaritch,” he introduced himself officially to Taylor. “If you haven’t already met, these are my men. “Wainfleet, Zdinarsk, and Ja.”
“Quaritch, I’ve heard of you. That was some stunt you pulled in Nigeria. I was in Somalia around the same time. That shit made it all the way to the east coast. So you, your men, all soldiers then?”
Quaritch eyed the man and nodded. “Ja’s a medic. He can split his time in the infirmary.”
“And the good Doctor here?”
“She’s not mine, the boy is though.”
“Colonel,” Wainfleet stopped him. What passed between them was a conversation composed of eye and ear movements. It was a style of communication born of proximity and time.
“The Doctor ain’t mine, but we owe her for takin’ care of my men,” he sighed.
Taylor nodded and asked, “can you accept my command? We aren't cowboys here. Even if this is frontier lawmaking.”
To Rocky, Taylor seemed to take up much more space in the room than he had a few moments before. The balance between him and Quaritch seemed much more level. The space between them held her attention.
Quaritch nodded again.
“Well then, we can use you in security.”
“Sounds settled to me.”
“Now, you.” He looked at Rocky. “You’ll have to wear more ‘en one hat. I want you to continue managing them.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Taylor. I’ve hardly been managing anything.”
His electric blue eyes were alight with amusement. “Nobody's dead, yet. I’d say you’re doing a damn fine job. In addition, what else can you do?”
Rocky shrugged, “Rocks, dirt, a little meteorology, I’m a geoscientist.”
“Any farm experience?”
“God, no.”
“Can you teach?”
“I ran the freshman science lab while I was doing my dissertation, but that was a long time ago.”
“Sounds like you have all the qualifications to teach the upper sciences at the school then.”
“Great.” She didn’t sound thrilled, but she didn’t seem like she was going to argue.
The recoms and Rocky were making their way down the stairs from Taylor’s office.
“But before anything else happens, I need to know what’s between you and Zdinarsk.”
The other three recoms picked up the pace and made it back to their bungalow in record time.
He watched the blood rise up her dirt-smeared chest, along her neck and over her face to her hairline.
“Nothing.” Her voice was high and breathy.
He looked at her making it clear he wasn’t buying her lie.
“You helped move 367 lbs of recom over four klicks for ‘nothin’?” Her hands idly rubbed against each other. He watched her fidget, but didn’t notice how her finger pads kept finding the empty space on her left ring finger.
“Yes, Mr. Quaritch I did. For no reason other than that I should.” She hiccuped, “Besides, I don’t even know how that would work. We-- We’re not even the same species.”
Those words caught Miles Quaritch by surprise. When he had hurled them at Sully's wife and Spider, he hadn’t known them for a lie. It wasn’t until he saw the blood spilling down Spider’s chest that Miles knew he would do anything for Spider Socorro. But she saw none of these thoughts. He wondered if she was lying now too. He kept his face hard and blank.
“Well, as long as it stays ‘nothing,’ you got a space with us. Ja and Wainfleet are willing to double up so you don’t have to sleep on the couch. Your night to cook will be on Thursdays.” He said it like he had already made up his mind, and to him, it was already a forgone conclusion. She was one of his now. “Door’s open when you’re ready.”
She watched him walk away. His stilted movements should have been as smooth and graceful as the others. She didn’t know of his mistrust of her. She didn’t know his ways. She only knew that he had come to her injured. It meant something to her that he had done that.
Rocky spent most of the day exploring the orchards and the rest of the compound.
Well after nightfall, Rocky found herself standing outside the recom’s bungalow, their bungalow. It still seemed strange to think on it.
She listened to them chattering and laughing away inside. She looked around at the outside space. It was warm and inviting in a way that surprised her. She stared at the doorknob. Despite her will to reach for it, her hand didn’t move.
“Rocky, this is stupid. Just go inside,” she muttered to herself. “Open the door.” She growled to herself and turned to face the street.
Inside the house, the recoms looked amongst themselves as they listened to her mutter and stomp outside the front door. They heard retreating steps. Wainfleet looked at Spider and stood.
“Better get in here, Rocky. Food’s almost gone." Wainfleet said behind her. She turned back and looked at his big goofy smile.
hey Cereza! ☺️🩷 love your writings so much!!❤️🔥❤️🔥may i please request smut of zdog x human!reader? the idea i have is z goes into heat and goes to see an RDA nurse to get help finding out what’s wrong… and one thing then leads into another🙈 feel free to ignore if this isn’t your cup of tea<3
You were a nurse for the RDA, you were expected to help everyone in Bridgehead. Everyone including the recoms. You had to go under some kind of training to treat them since, their bodies were different than human bodies. It was easy stuff to quickly learn. Everything was fine so far until one night that everyone in particular had come in for a check up. It was pretty late, you were organizing some medical documents in alphabetical order. This was to make your job easier. As you continued to fix documents, you heard the door open and slam shut. You went to see who it was. It was Zdinarsk, she looked like she needed help. You could seen the sweat she was covered in and her panting like crazy.
Quickly you sat her down on one of the bed's for the recoms and began to do a check up on her. When you touched her forehead, you felt it burning like crazy. "Oh god! You're burning up! When did this began?" You asked her, beginning to check her heart beat with the stethoscope. "It began today... god it wasn't as bad as it is now..!" she whimpered almost in pain. You then placed the tool down and continued to check her. "What other symptoms do you have?" you asked. Grabbing a thermometer. "I'm sweating like a pig! I don't feel hungry...." she listed. "And.... and I just want to be outside all the time!" She said lastly.
Now it made sense, she was in heat. "Oh! You're in heat." You said to her, making her look at you. "What.... the hell is that..." she asked, out of breath. She then laid on the bed, onto her stomach. "It's something that the na'vi go through. Since you're technically a na'vi, you get it as small." You explained, you watched as she whined, squirming around in bed. You couldn't help but just watch her behavior. This was the first time you've witness a heat. Z was whimpering, a lot. She began to arch her back as much as possible. "It's okay, It'll pass. You can either try and relieve yourself. Or I could give you some prescription medication." You suggested, then Z looked at you dead in the eyes. You saw how her eyes dilated, and her tail almost waging like crazy. She then slightly moved up. Like a predator about to pounce.
Before you know it. Z had pounced on you, knocking you down to the floor. Luckily you didn't hit you head. Now you were under her, she was still looking at you. But this time with hunger in her eyes and her mouth was slightly open. "I don't need no prescription drugs." She softly growled, leaning down to your face. Getting close to your ear. "I need you sweet cheeks." She whispered, with a smirk on her lip. As you were about to say something, you were cut off by a sudden kiss on the lips. Her mouth was right onto your tiny one, she kissed you hard and rough, almost desperately. You felt as her tongue plunged into your mouth, leaving you almost a moaning mess. You could also hear her purring.
Instead of attempting to remove her off you, you started to kiss her back as much as you could. You placed your hands on her neck, softly feeling her loosely braided queue. This sent a shiver down her spine. She pulled away to take a breath, a small string of saliva was attached to your mouths. "You have no idea! How bad I've been wanting you!" you hissed, she then reached down and tore off your white dress off. Causing the buttons to scatter around the room. Z had a good look at your breasts, she was drooling by the sight of your soft flesh covered by the lace that kept them in place. "I could just stare at these all day!" she commented, then she moved the lace down to expose your soft flesh to her. She was ogling your now erect nipples.
"I bet they taste delicious as they look." She commented, leaning down and taking your nipple into her mouth. You let out a small whine, feeling her cat like tongue and sharp teeth on your breast. You couldn't help but feel your body shiver, you were enjoying this and she would smell it. Z let go of your breast and looked up at you with a smirk on her lips. "I see that you're liking this, that's good!" she growled. She went back to sucking on your other breast as she fondles the one that she had let go. You couldn't help but squirm underneath her, this was so good. You've never felt this kind of pleasure ever.
Z pulled away again, she then moved further down your body. She then grabbed your legs, pulling you a bit closer to her. Then she then grabs your white tights and ripped them off as well, on the crotch area. Raveling your lacy panties to her. "God, you're soaking wet!" She commented almost excitedly. She moved them a side. Your wet folds were now exposed to her. Without a warning, her mouth was onto your pussy. You let out a small squeal and you lifted yourself up some more. She was sucking and slurping at your pussy, she was eating as if she's been starving for days. You felt her tongue and teeth on your pussy. She then pulled away, licking her lips to taste your juices from her lips. "You taste so good!" she commented, going right back in sucking at your pussy, slurping up at your clit.
Your back arched, your body was now on fire. You were quivering and shaking at this point. As much as you wanted to be quiet, you couldn't, you were a moaning mess, nearly screaming. Z then pulled away from you again. She picked you up and laid you on the medical, almost throwing you. Z then began to remove all her clothes, almost ripping it off her body. She was now standing naked above you. You couldn't help but stare, the lights were out, except for the one in your small office and the red light that glowed in the medical bay. You couldn't help but just stare. She was beautiful. Under the red light, she was like some kind of goddess.
Z then crawled on the the bed, towards you. She then grabbed your legs and pushed them up, all the way up to your chest. She then positioned herself. On top of you, her legs either side of your thighs. Her wet pussy was now touching yours, causing you to bite your lip and moaned loudly. "Feels good doesn't it?" She asked, then she laid her chest onto your chest, slowly she began to rub her pussy against yours. "Hah!" you whined out, Z kept rocking her hips slowly. She leaned down and captured your lips into hers. Kissing you deeply. You weakly kissed her back on the lips, wrapping your arms around her neck, trying to pull her closer. She softly growled on your lips, beginning to rock her hips a bit faster.
"Hah!" you cried out loudly against her lips. Z pulled away from your mouth and held your chin so that you could look at her. Your eyes wee half lidded, you were already feeling yourself getting closer and your mind was going into ecstasy. "Are you close sweetheart?" she asked you, instead of responding vocally, you nodded in a whine. Z then began to rub herself faster onto you, making you let out a small squeal and screw your eyes shut. She pulled you back in a kiss, holding your chin in a firm grip. Softly squishing your cheeks together, kissing your lips roughly. You felt your legs burning by the position they were in and they began to shake, you were close. Z growled and gently bit your lip softly, you felt her canines bite onto your flesh. She whined and growled softly. "Oh fuck!" she moaned, she too was closer. She ran her hand down your body, she began to rub your clit at a fast pace with her middle and ring finger.
You slightly jolted by the feeling of her fingers. You whined and your back arched slightly much higher. "Oh Z!" you whined. Z rocked her hips as much as she could. And she rubbed your sensitive clit with her fingers helping your with your release. "Come on sweetheart! Don't keep me waiting!" she moaned with a tease and a small grin on her lips. "I'm! I'm!" you couldn't complete your sentence. Out of the blue, you had began to cum and so did Z. She let out a loud groan while you let out a loud cry. Your nails had dug into her back. You were trying to catch your breath. Your whole body was shaking and covered in sweat. Z was just looking at you, panting, trying to catch her breath as well. "You okay sweet cheeks?" She asked, with a small smirk. You only nodded, wiping the sweat off your face. Z couldn't help but chuckle, then give you a kiss on the forehead. She then got off you, laying down next to you.
You had the chance to put your legs back down, you felt them already going sore by the position they were in and how long they were up. Z then pulled you close to her. "I'm feeling sleepy, you wouldn't mind if I just crash here for the night?" She asked you. "No, I'd want for you to stay." You said, almost shyly, as if she didn't just fucked you into oblivion a couple minutes ago. "Good." That's all she said, cuddling you close to her. You didn't think she was much of a cuddlier. "Don't think this is the last time this will happen sweet heart." She said, with her eyes closed. You couldn't help but feel your face heat up, but you wouldn't mind for this to happen again. After all, at heat lasts up to seven days, if not, up to twenty one days.
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