Andrew is the name, Andrew Stranger. That’s pronounced STRANG-ger, not stranger. Let’s get that straight, right off.
I’ve been doing this space thing quite a while. I got my start as a Belter, making mining colonies happen in the Solar System. I still feel like it was my luckiest day when I got an assignment that brought me here to the Alpha Centauri system. I’ve been around long enough that I’m now retired. Recently retired, that is. I still know people, and people still know me.
So I wasn’t too surprised to get a call from the sector governor, Joshua Tyler, but I was surprised when he invited me to come to his office for a hurried, private meeting.
Joshua got up from his desk when I came in, came over and warmly shook my hand, “Good to see you again, Andrew.” He motioned me to sit on one couch in his office while he sat on the other, and as he sat it was clear that something difficult was on his mind.
“You remember Dr. Grace Augustine, don’t you?” he said with a sad tone.
I did. It’s a small world out here. I remembered Augustine as a bright, driven scientist, but one who sometimes didn’t have the best judgment about real-world issues. That’s why she was out here and not back in the Solar System running some kind of institute on Earth.
“She’s dead. Got killed in some kind of native uprising at that mining project that RDA Inc. has going on Pandora.”
“I’m sad to hear it.” I said.
“Yes, it’s sad. And worse, the other humans there got their butts kicked, literally, and have been forced off the moon -- all of them.”
“Ouch!”
“A big ouch! And a messy one -- the Earth media could have a circus with this one. Natives and Settlers... whew! But the story I have is they got kicked out because they were shipping some kind of fairy dust off the planet, something called...” He checked his notes, “Unobtainium. The Head-Ted there, Parker Selfridge, tried to root-out a native village to get at a rich lode of it located under their village tree. It turned ugly.”
“So, charges are being brought?”
“There will be, as soon as we get the facts straight. But that’s not why I’ve asked you here today.” He leaned forward, “I’ve seen some videos of this world -- some of Augustine’s stuff -- and read some of her report abstracts. This world is not some Mars clone, it’s a jungle world, and you know how rare those are. Beyond that, it may have some interesting stuff... perhaps very interesting.
“Those pirates, Selfridge and his buddies, sorry... colonizing corporation I guess I should call them, may have mucked up something with big potential.” He gave me a big smile, “I want you to investigate this place further.”
“I can do that.” This actually sounded interesting. It was one of those outside-the-box projects that sometimes pop up -- especially in a frontier place like Alpha system still is. Thanks to the next-generation constant acceleration star drives we’re starting to use, it’ll settle down soon, but it hasn’t happened yet. And that’s why I came here. I like looking at new things.
The governor smiled a relieved smile, “There are some perks and pitfalls that go with this, Andy. The neatest perk is, this RDA corporation built up some Avatar technology to go with this world. You’ve heard of those, right?”
“I have. It’s like VR-on-steroids, from what I’ve heard. You get to inhabit some other kind of body, a real body.”
“Exactly! And in this case, that real body is a Pandoran native body... blue skinned, tough, agile and twelve feet tall, I’m told. Augustine was in one for about three months before this blow-up, and they had a half dozen operating when it happened.
“The obvious pitfall is those natives are now mad as wet hornets, and confident. You’re going to have to tread carefully.
“The less obvious one is that the humans did get kicked off. Selfridge is a second-rate scoundrel, but not a fool. He says his Security Chief went out there with overwhelming force. He was totally blindsided when the natives surrounded the main base and gave them twenty four hours. His Security Chief, Colonel Miles Quaritch, didn’t come back, and those still alive from that raid came back as prisoners.”
“Ouch!” I said, then asked carefully, “Are we talking about ‘Psycho’ Quaritch here? How did he get a command again?”
The governor shrugged and sighed, “This is the frontier. He got buddy, buddy with Selfridge, and I guess those corporate types couldn’t find anyone they thought was better.”
“Ummm... I guess they were pretty out of touch.”
“They were... in many ways. And that’s why I want you to get on the ground there, if you can, and give me the straight-skivvy. I need to find out what I need to do, if anything.
“So, I’ll send you what information I have. We’ll need you to spend some time giving samples and getting trained for your avatar. ...Let me know what else you need.”
He smiled and stood up. We shook hands again when I stood up, and that was it. It was sweet and simple -- that’s one of the things I like about being out here on the frontier.