The door to the genesis chamber opened gently, the mechanical hiss accompanying the action. Grace did not get up immediately; instead, she remained lying down for a few seconds, a small smile appearing on her face.
It was the kind of smile she only allowed herself to give to the children at her school, or when she discovered new plants or animals on Pandora—moments of brief tranquility amidst the harsh reality she endured, allowing her to find peace for a few moments away from all the noise.
A few seconds later, she rose from the chamber and put on her lab coat, which was hanging next to her personal link unit, only to notice a still-steaming cup of coffee on a nearby table. She took it without hesitation, noting that Max was finally learning exactly how she liked her coffee, if the delicious taste was any proof.
As she was about to leave the genesis room for the common area, the electric door separating the two rooms slid open, making Grace stop in her tracks.
Max stood before her, but he didn't look right. A look of deep concern was etched into his features, and Grace immediately knew something had happened. "What is it?"
Max didn't answer; he simply pointed toward the other room. "Quaritch is here. He's waiting for you."
Grace's face hardened. They were near Sector 43-8H, close to the Omaticaya clan and quite far from Hell's Gate. Whatever reason Quaritch had for being there, it didn't bode well.
Grace began walking toward the room, but not before glancing one last time at Max, who nodded and whispered, "He knows."
Entering the common room, Grace saw Quaritch sitting in a chair in front of one of the mobile base's geographic reconnaissance monitors. Without looking at her, he began to speak.
"You arrived on Pandora in the year 2140. You've been in charge of the Avatar program for almost twelve years. A waste of money, in my opinion, but it's not my money, so I don't care. You've been on Pandora longer than I have, and I respect that." He looked at Grace for a moment and gestured toward her. "Being able to live with the aborigines without them killing you like the savages they are—that's a significant achievement."
"And perhaps because of that, you think they are harmless, docile, friendly. But I think differently. Since my arrival, I've had to send letters along with bodies back to Earth so the families of the soldiers under my command—the ones I am sworn to protect—can give them a proper burial."
Rising from his chair, Quaritch swiveled the monitor screen, gesturing for Grace to look. On it were images—blurry, but Grace recognized the place instantly.
The Subaiya clan.
Grace felt her breath hitch, a heavy knot forming in her throat. Nothing good could come of this. "I see you recognize the images," Quaritch commented, though by his tone, it was clear he already knew.
"I see everything. Nothing happens at Hell's Gate without me noticing. So, imagine my surprise when I learned that someone had accessed the controls of a spectral sensor satellite. Using a satellite of that caliber always leaves tracks, and my surprise was even greater when I noticed someone tried to wipe the logs of that reconnaissance mission."
"It wasn't hard to recover the images. And what a surprise—we have a Na'vi clan, a massive one, living less than three hundred kilometers from Hell's Gate. You know what this means, don't you?"
"The Subaiya clan represents no danger to the base," Grace countered. "They are far away and governed by self-isolation. They aren't interested in anything outside their borders."
Quaritch shook his head. "It's not your job to decide if they are a danger or not. That is my job. And I say a clan with more than fifteen thousand members—if these readings are to be believed—is a tangible threat to this base and the interests of the RDA."
This caused Grace's composure to vanish, and her fiery temper took over. "Then you will find an obstacle you cannot overcome. You are willing to poke a hornet's nest without having the means to defend yourself from the stings."
"The Subaiya clan is enormous and incredibly powerful. From what I've seen, even the Omaticaya—who, I remind you, we've had plenty of trouble dealing with—fear and respect them on a profound level. That speaks volumes about their power and the control they wield."
"You haven't seen what I've seen. And I tell you with total certainty that if you insist on attacking—no, forget attacking—if you simply approach the Subaiya territory, you will wake a sleeping enemy that we cannot face."
"To put it in perspective for you: the Subaiya clan is North Korea, and we are Japan. They hate everything human, and despite their isolation, they have enough 'nuclear weapons' in their arsenal to strike anyone who disturbs their peace. So, you can either listen to me and leave them alone, or poke them and prepare to die very, very quickly."
"To give you an idea," Grace added, pointing to the scars left by Quaritch's first-day encounter with a Thanator, "they keep the beast that did that to you as 'tame kittens.'"
Quaritch's face turned to stone.
"So think very carefully before you act recklessly."