Far away from the city, surrounded by miles of dark water, an island lay beneath the night sky.
For a while, nothing disturbed it.
Waves rolled lazily onto the shore and slipped back into the sea, leaving moonlight trembling across the wet sand.
Palm trees swayed in the salt-heavy breeze, their leaves whispering softly into the silence.
Then a low rumble drifted across the water.
At first, it was faint enough to be mistaken for distant thunder.
But it didn't fade.
It grew louder.
Closer and heavier.
The stillness of the island began to break beneath the sound.
A shadow swept over the beach.
Then another.
Then three more.
Helicopters tore through the night sky, their rotors churning the air so violently that sand spiraled upward from the shore and nearby trees bent beneath the force.
Searchlights slashed through the darkness in sharp white beams, sweeping across the island as the aircraft descended.
Metal doors slid open.
Ladders dropped.
