She exhales, walking to the nearest desk to stub out her cigarette in an empty plate.

"Crucial."

She crosses her arms over her chest.

"I figure you've heard the stories. Grace Augustine: living legend, wrote the book on Pandora xenobotany. Hell, she even prefers plants to people.

"So I'm not stupid. Selfridge and Quaritch have their plans for the program, I know that much. But that cargo of yours you plan on treating just as well as your 'human passengers'?"

Her voice changes on the last two words, a dare burning dark in her eyes.

"They're not just some science project grown in a petri dish. They're my only means of connecting to the Na'Vi. The cultural exchange, the education my school is responsible for, is incalculable. Their connection to this planet is beyond anything we're remotely familiar with. We're curing the common cold back on Earth because the biosphere here has managed to create antiviruses for every single virus in the human body."

There's a distinct thrill in every iota of Grace's being as she speaks.

"My work here is to show Earth that we're not the only 'people' out here."