Querencia

THERE WAS A DISTANT beeping sound echoing in her ears as her eyes fluttered open. Zoe licked her lips- feeling the dry and cracked skin that had replaced the previous softness- as she shifted her head slightly to look around the small pod. She could see the metal surrounding her, the blue lighting that was used was disorientating, and winced softly at the pounding in her head.

Five years, nine months, and twenty-two days had passed since she had been brought under into cryosleep. The words seemed to echo in her head, the realization of how much time had passed feeling like a weight had been dropped on her chest. Zoe gasped softly in the cryo, her chest rising quickly as she tried to steady her breathing.

She’d been frozen in time for almost six years and if she turned back at that exact moment, twelve years would have passed on Earth before she returned. There would be nothing left of her life and that terrified her.

The stretcher that she had been strapped into slid out of the pod and Zoe squinted at the change of lighting, a croaky groan escaping her lips. The scientists around her floated in the ship, an older man pulling himself closer and wrapping a hand around her wrist to check her pulse.

“We there?” She croaked out, her throat hurting from the lack of use. Five years, she thought, shit.

The man let out a chuckle as he released her wrist and began to float away slowly. “We’re here sweetheart.”

Zoe watched as more stretchers began appearing and let out a small sigh. It was an odd feeling, to wake five years into the future with the sensation that mere seconds had passed since her eyes had closed in the pod. She should have been turning twenty-six that year, but the cryo had frozen her completely, and- in all sense of the word- she was twenty-one.

Another scientist, a woman this time, began unclipping her from the stretcher, her lips pursed as she did so. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been strapped in, be careful when you start moving,” she instructed. “Your muscles are weak, and we would hate an injury so quickly.”

Zoe could feel herself nodding as her body began to lift from the stretcher involuntarily, the girl reaching forward and grabbing onto one of the many metal rods that were situated all over the interior of the ship.

“If you think you’re going to puke, please do so in one of the bags.” The woman began moving away slowly to approach one of the other pods. “The vomit floats up here.”

Her head was heavy as she nodded once again and held herself to a stop. Zoe blinked repeatedly, her eyes running over everything in a daze. For a moment, she almost wondered if she was dreaming and that she would soon open her eyes back in her small apartment, staring at the multitude of notes she’d stuck to the walls over the years.

Avatar training had not been easy, but she’d pushed herself through it, and now she floated on a spaceship on the way to Pandora.

Well, she thought as she was ushered to enter one of the shuttles that would drop them off at the base on Pandora, You better make it worth it because there’s nothing left to go back to.

ZOE CRACKED HER NECK as she stepped into the meeting room, the Colonel’s drawl echoing in her ears. “And they have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fires. They are very hard to kill.”

She crossed her arms over her chest at his words. Kill. What an odd word to use when referring to the native population of a world that wasn’t theirs. She hadn’t expected much else, not when they did the same to the humans of their own plant because of minerals and skin color. They had done it to her ancestors, and they would keep doing it as long as they lived.

Still, it truly was astounding that the head of the armed forces on Pandora could so casually throw around the word in a room filled with people. Although she doubted many of them cared about the death count, only the gains that came with it.

The man threw her a quick glance, his eyes narrowing, before he turned back to the crowd. “As head of security, it is my job to keep you alive.”

Zoe muffled a yawn with her hand as she pushed herself onto one of the metal benches and rested her head on her hand. She threw a curious glance at the man besides her, her eyes quickly scanning over the yellow wheelchair he sat on and the way his eyes seemed dazed over as he watched the Colonel.

She had a brief through to introduce herself but shook it off and turned forward again. They would likely be spending a lot of time together anyway; she might as well let him enjoy the briefing as well as he could.

Zoe let herself daze off at the sound of the Colonel’s voice. Realistically, she knew better than to give a briefing such little attention, but her head ached, and his words were spoken with such arrogance that she wanted nothing more than to stuff a gag in his mouth and toss him off of the nearest hill.

“I’m Jake.” The whispered words startled her awake, Zoe straightening quickly as she threw the man besides her a glance. He was handsome, and perhaps if the circumstances were different, she’d let herself flirt a little. As it was, they were in an alien planet surrounded by the, rightfully, hostile giants that were native to it. She doubted there would be time for flirting.

He was staring at her intensely as he waited for her response, his lips pressed together, and a hand stretched out. Zoe quickly grabbed it and gave it a firm shake. “Zoe.”

“Marine?” He asked as he moved slightly closer, his voice dropping.

Zoe felt her lip quirk at the question. “Raider.”

Her time with the Marines had been brief, but undeniably difficult. She’d been recommended for the Raider program and- after a long and bloody process- had joined the small number of women in the unit. Then, they’d decided to send her off to guard scientists on another planet.

“Ah,” Jake smiled for the first time since their conversation began, a small quirk of his lips that changed his face completely. “Recon for me, couldn’t see myself as a Raider.”

Zoe nodded at his words. “It’s not easy,” she whispered softly. “War never is.”

Jake looked her for a moment, his face somber, before nodding in agreement and turning back to the Colonel, Zoe quickly following suit and forcing herself to pay attention to the man’s words, regardless of how useless they seemed.

THE HALLS WERE CROWDED as they moved to the lab, Zoe keeping her strides slightly shorter so that Jake could keep up without having to push himself too hard. She tried not to make it too obvious, pretending that she was simply too tired from the trip to move quicker.

There was a slight chill to the air that had the hairs on her neck standing. Zoe brushed a hand over her hair, feeling the texture of her braids under her hands. She’d forced herself to braid it the day before going to cryo, and despite the fact that she had been essentially frozen in time, the braids were almost at the point of being taken down.

She figured the whole ‘freezing in time’ thing had been too good to be true.

“Jake!” The voice came from behind them, Zoe exchanging a confused look with the man besides her as he stopped for a moment.

“You’re waiting for someone?” She asked as Jake tilted his head over his neck in an attempt to catch sight of the person calling him.

“Not that I know of.” he shrugged before turning forward and beginning to move again. Zoe let out her own shrug before catching up to him.

Then a guy, this one tall and lanky with the disposition of a newborn fawn, rushed to meet them. “You’re Jake, right? Tom’s brother.” He let out a sigh as he caught his breath. “Wow, you look just like him.”

Jake blinked up at the man, Zoe coughing in an attempt to muffle her laugh. “Sorry,” the new guy grinned sheepishly, “I’m Norm. Spellman. I went through Avatar training with him.”

There was a moment of silence as Jake seemed to have been lost for words, his brows furrowed. Zoe had the urge to leave the pair in the middle of the hall but took pity on her fellow Marine. Shuffling over slightly to give space to a man walking by, she turned back to the pair. “Come on,” she urged. “Let’s get going, we’re taking up all the space.”

Jake followed her as they began moving down the hall again, Norm letting out a soft huff from behind them before he caught up with them. “And you must be Zoe? They said you were going to be our bodyguard, of sorts?”

She hummed in response as they reached the entrance to the lab. “Yeah, the government isn’t too happy with the fatality rate in the Avatar program. Says it’s wasting a lot of money.”

There was a moment of silence as Norm registered her words before he nodded slowly. “Right.”

The trio stepped into the blue-lit lab, Zoe raising her brows at the technology that surrounded them. There was a crowd of people inside, scientists if she was to go off their white coats. She could see the large pods that carried the avatars and had to fight the urge to rush forward in search for hers.

“Into the bio-lab,” Norm laughed nervously as they walked further into the large room, running a hand over a table, and narrowing her eyes on a set of vials filled with colorful liquids. “We’re gonna spend a lot of time up here.”

There was a strong scent in the air that reminded her of the hospital, from the corner of her eye, she could see Jake shifting uncomfortably in his chair as he pushed himself forward

“Link,” Norm rambled as he walked behind Jake, his eyes running over everything in the room. “Here’s the link room right here.”

Zoe shook her head softly at his excitement and chased after the two men. The link beds were identical to the one’s that she’d used on Earth, the same metal exterior and gel-like interior.

“This is where we’re connecting to the avatar,” Norm said as he waved at one of the link beds and threw Jake a quick glance, the man nodding in response.

“Come on,” she stepped forward and waved at Jake to follow. “Let’s check out the avatars.”

Zoe stepped around a woman and closer to one of the pods, her head tilting as she ran her eyes over the distinct features that made up its face. He was familiar in a way that was almost unsettling, Jake’s features blended onto those of the Na’vi to make the avatar. It twitched where it floated, Zoe taking a small step back.

“Damn,” Jake whistled as he approached her. “They got big.”

She threw him a quick look only to find the man gazing at the avatar with a blank face, his eyes heavy. “It looks just like you,” she mumbled while turning back to look at the avatar, Norm gushing across the room as he looked at his own.

“It looks just like him.” Jake turned to look at her, Zoe feeling the burning of his gaze on the side of her face. She didn’t acknowledge his eyes, instead tilting her head and nodding slowly.

“Maybe,” she conceded. “But you were twins, no? It looks just like you and just like him, that doesn’t take away the fact that, that,” she waved a hand at the avatar before finally looking at him, “Is now you and it looks just like you.”

Jake tilted his head as he looked at her. “That works too,” he smiled. “You’re really breaking the jarhead stereotype with that wisdom.”

Zoe let out a laugh at his words. “Come on, Marine. We can’t eat crayons every day.”

He barked out a laugh at her words, his shoulders shaking. Zoe felt a smile pulling at her lips as she looked back at the twitching avatar, Jake’s laugh echoing in her ears.

“Zoe!” Norm called out, her head snapping in his direction as she lifted a brow.

“Come on,” he urged. “Here’s yours.”

Zoe didn’t hesitate before heading to where he stood, Jake letting out a snort at her obvious excitement as he followed after her.

The avatar was beautiful. She was tall and riddled with lean muscle, her abdomen imprinted with strong lines. The markings that covered her skin had Zoe marveling, the avatar jerking in the pod. It’s hair was braided back in a simple braid that she knew wouldn’t last long, her hands already itching to properly braid the long hair.

“Holy shit,” she whispered, her eyes running over the avatar’s face. Her face.

It was an odd feeling, to see herself in such a similar body that was hers yet not. She had five fingers and eyebrows; a similar lip shape and she could see the similar muscle tone that her own body carried. She had a similar face structure and eye shape, but she was blue and striped. She had a tail and ears that reminded her of her neighbor’s cat.

Jake moved besides her; his eyes pinned to the avatar. “Now that,” he grinned. “Looks like you.”

And it did look like her, even the way it twitched its nose and lips. She couldn’t wait to drive the avatar, to see what that body could do compared to hers. To climb and run and bruise.

The trio stood there for a moment, their eyes on the avatar, before Zoe spoke, mischief pulling a smirk on her face. “You know,” she crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m pretty hot.”

Norm let out a soft sigh from besides her as Jake snorted in amusement.

“Well, you’re not going to hear me disagree,” he assured, Zoe throwing him a grin that he returned.

“Marines,” Norm sighed once again as he shook his head and headed off back to his own avatar, the man pressing his face to the glass as he watched it twitch.

Zoe gazed at the avatar for another moment before turning to look at Jake. “You hungry?”