Operation M.I.A: Missing in Action (IN NEED OF REVISING)

Chapter XX

HEATH

Music: Cloudy Court Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2

During our flight out of Russia, we start having a bit of a discussion as to where we should go next. I'm piloting, so I pull up the map and take a quick look at it. There's a mark over Mexico, a mark over the northeastern US, and a mark over somewhere in northern Canada, but the fourth mark is over a group of islands I'm not entirely sure about.

"Hey, anybody know where this one place is?" I ask, pointing to the unknown mark. Mackenzie joins me and examines it for a moment.

"Nope. Couldn't tell ya," she replies. She taps the mark and a small internet window opens up on the hovercraft's monitor. It's a Wikipedia article titled, "Cancun".

"Any of you familiar with this place called Cancun?" I ask again.

"Ooh! My family went there for vacation one time!" Avery responds, super hyper now. "It's basically a resort with a bunch of neat islands. It's awesome."

"Well, it says here that there's something worth checking out on Isla Mujeres," Mackenzie explains. "Heath, you able to fly us there?"

"Can do," I nod. We arrive around a minute later. I park the hovercraft in front of a hotel by the name of "Grand Oasis Palm All Inclusive", which is an oddly descriptive name for a hotel. At least five different buildings make up the total area of the resort, and the one we're in front of has small pools of water located in front of the entrance. Behind us is nothing but a bunch of trees. I quickly scan the building for any signs of wrongdoing going on. The results come back negative.

"Well, I guess whoever's being held captive here could be considered having the vacation of their lives," Sam whispers to Elle, causing her to snicker.

"Heath, I know we're supposed to be looking for the captives here and whatnot, but there's a specific place on the island I want us to fly to," Avery tells me. She then glances behind her and then says, "Actually, I think this is the hotel we stayed at when I was on vacation here. We can just walk there. Follow me."

Unsure of what Avery has in mind, we follow her through the trees. Every time someone asks her where she's taking us, she just turns to them, grins, and replies with, "You'll see."

Skylar and I exchange looks, and both of us just shrug. Avery can be a bit mysterious at times like this.

Finally, we reach the other side, and it's at this point that Avery lets out a huge whoop and runs forward. It's literally nothing but the shoreline of a beach, with a dock for boats and water for as far out as I can see. Few occupants are present at the moment, but I'm sure by late afternoon it's normally much more crowded.

"Isn't this incredible, guys?" Avery exclaims, jumping up and down like a child.

"It's nice, I'll give it that much," Shanna nods, taking in the sights just as the rest of us are.

Avery spends the rest of the walk back, as well as the first part of our next flight, talking about memories from the vacation she spent here. "Oh my gosh, I remember when Brielle and I filled up water buckets with water from the ocean and snuck up on our parents. We got 'em pretty good," she laughs, sighing daydreamingly.

I'm half-listening to Avery, and half-focusing on scanning the gigantic forest below us. Avery starts reminiscing about the food or something when I get the scanner to turn green. "Ah-ha! I got something!" I exclaim, flying us into the forest.

"Apparently forests are really popular with these guys," Mia mutters to herself.

And it looks like this one's going to be a pain in the ass to figure out what exactly to look for. If the last two forests we've visited could be considered "dense", this one is basically nothing but plantlife. It's pretty much impossible to get a good view of the outside, and the trees' leaves cover up the sky so much the sunlight is mostly blocked. Definitely a clever selection on the traffickers' part.