zero hour

a drink on the keys prt II

The Ocean.

Waves.

Birds.

A Breezy Breeze.

SeaSalty mist on her face.

Lana struggled to wake up.

She could tell that the device has just been deactivated. She was neither awake nor asleep. In some kind of limbo. Induced by the obtuse flooding of simulated brainwave patterns emitted by a hidden device in the headrest of her seat. She was still in that seat, or so it felt.

Everything was blurry and indistinct.

But, she could tell that the Agency Conveyance had been parked and all systems disengaged and shut down. The Conveyance door was open. The sea-salty mist was hitting her face again. The conveyance was parked right on the beachhead, just yards from the receding tide line, and splashing seawater. A strong wind blowing seafoam, mist, and even a bit of sand in through the wide open cabin side panel.

Mack was a few hundred feet to the south, slowly walking on the sand, her shoes in one hand. Lana shook her head a bit to try and help it clear up faster. It just made the inside of her skull throb and hurt more. She could not tell where the rest of the crew that had been traveling with them was now.

But Macknally was close enough to catch up to. She seemed to be heading right towards a massive palm tree growing at a majestic swooping angle, making for a beautifully striking image against the open water horizon in every direction.

Lana patiently waited for the effects of the sleep therapy brainwave mashing session wear off... She gradually regained motor-skill control over her own body. She unbuckled the safety harness around her torso, with a shaky lack of coordination, but got it done. She reached down to take off her shoes, fumbling with hands that still felt half asleep and slightly useless. She then eventually she set off after Mack, intent on finding out where they are and why they are here. Lana's head so full of anger and resentment for being induced like that, that she totally ignored the scenery surrounding her. The closer she got to Mack and the lone palm tree on the beachhead, the more she realized just how stunning everything was.

Mack was standing right up next to the trunk of the tree, sorta leaning against it with one hip like she would a the busy edge of a Bar... and just stood there, staring out into the distance to the south, as the sky gradually darkened towards night.

Lana slowed her pace as she approached, and eventually found herself standing next to Mack and looking around in a circle. She just kept turning, saying nothing, stupefied, and let the vista just enter her from every possible direction.

Mack: the first time I was ever here was just after they had successfully opened the SeView Transportation Project. The Island had just been renovated...

Lana can't seem to form sentences.

Mack: The view is stunning isn't it? All Surf and Sunsets and Puffy Clouds in miraculous 360 degrees of majestic stunning raw power of nature vistas that render your mouth useless.

Lana: Aha...

Lana just keeps turning around, wide eyed awe just obvious on her face.

Lana: How.... wha... where?

Mack: Hush....

Mack reaches over and pulls Lana close.

Mack: [whispering in her ear] Just be still.

The two of them stand there surrounded by the striking beauty of the endless ocean in all directions and the green lushness of the modestly sized Island they were standing on. It was peculiar. It looked like beach where every you were, but it also had lush vegetation and shrubbery growing in patchy thrusts of plant life all over it. Beautiful everywhere you looked.

They stood there in silence for a long time...

The moon rose...

the stars came out.

[Fade to Black]