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Arrival

Five minutes until arrival, five minutes...

Anjali looked up and yawned a bit, stretching out her legs in front of her as far as they could go - which wasn't much, but enough to get some of the cramps out. She'd been on a plane for most of the past two days, and now this... and she was MORE than ready to get back on good solid ground. And to her new home.

She folded the magazine she'd been looking at and put it in her bag, realizing that she didn't remember the contents one bit. It had been more like idly turning the pages because they were there rather than actually absorbing any of the information. Anjali leaned against the window and tried to see out... and there it was, the water changing color as the depth decreased, subtly. The shadows of reefs and forest-sized seaweed clumps loomed, and then -

The Island.

Anjali let out a sigh as she saw it. A dramatic approach, but it was obvious that the human intrusion was recent and sudden. All prefab, no doubt... though she couldn't quite tell from the air, she was willing to bet on it. Clearcut, too, she was sure.

Well. That was why they'd hired her here, right? To take charge and do what only an expert groundskeeper could do. Soon she'd have those institutional complexes all but melting into the landscape.

Quite a challenge to look forward to. She grinned and settled back in her seat as the helicopter began its descent.

Anjali shouldered her messenger bag and hopped onto the tarmac, wincing as the long inactivity sent pins and needles shooting up one leg. But she recovered well, and walked mostly steadily towards Sabin, one hand held out.

Gods above, what an outfit. But, well. She hadn't been hired for fashion advice.

"Yes, I am Anjali Frangipani, and you are?" she asked, her voice smooth with a slight British accent, and the delicate lilt that marked her as being from India.

"Well, I am setting up residence here... perhaps permanently, judging by the look of things." Anjali frowned at the roofs she could see over the jungle. "But I shall have to wait and see." She bowed slightly to Sabin. "I appreciate your greeting and your help. Thank you. There are three large suitcases and a smaller duffel in the plane, and two plant boxes. Please be careful with those... they are fragile. I assume your - our - employers already have sufficient equipment here? I did not bring any of my own. I hardly relished explaining to the American government why I wished to bring sharp gardening tools onto their airplanes."

"Thank you very much," Anjali said appreciatively, waiting awkwardly while Sabin moved the large bags. Really, she was much more tired than she appeared, and the first blinks of jet lag were beginning to hit her, but she had to remain professional.

She could fall over once she got to the safety of her new residence.

"Ah, a tropical fever? I may already be inoculated against such things. They're not uncommon in India," she said, climbing into the front seat of the jeep despite her legs protesting being bent up to sit down again. "I brought my medical records, so I am sure your resident physician can ascertain that." She patted her messenger bag.

Now that they were actually beginning to penetrate the forest, Anjali took a deep breath. She frowned at the faint tinge of the jeep's exhaust, but that was quickly whisked away by the breeze that was heavy with the smell of growing vegetation and the sea.

Resisting the urge to fall asleep despite the jeep's motion being more jarring than rocking, she leaned quickly over - not enough to fall out, but enough to grab - and snatched a few leaves off of a roadside bush and examined them. Fraying a bit on the edges from being by the road, but healing... and the roots here would be worn to nothing if the traffic kept up. But that was unavoidable.

Concentrating on business, and on the landscape, kept her awake. But she was growing a bit excited as well. Although the work was daunting it would also be an interesting challenge, provided the bureaucracy here decided to help her and not hinder her planning and requests with red tape. And the forest would be wonderful to explore and collect and study... she hoped that, other than what had been destroyed for human habitation, it would be mostly untouched.

"Feral Labs," she read as they moved towards the buildings. "Ah, laboratories... what is it that you study here, again? I spent some time in the botanical sciences before deciding that I wanted to spend my time outdoors, not in a lab."

"Interesting." She swallowed a yawn and rather hoped they would be there soon - movement would help snap her out of the stupor that seemed quite determined to catch hold of her. "Ah.... and plants? Good, than I hope my efforts as groundskeeper will not be without support, if they haven an appreciation for flora as well as fauna." Anjali smiled at Sabin as the gate opened.

"Ah, excellent." Anjali rubbed her hands together, then stepped out of the jeep carefully. Fortunately, this time her legs didn't fail her, and she walked over to join Sabin, holding onto the strap of her messenger bag with one hand. "So what happens now, Doctor...?"

"Very well, anything to move things along," Anjali admitted. "I am sorry, but I've been in transit for the past day or so, and we all know it's impossible to sleep in economy class on a trans-Atlantic flight... so I fear if you aren't quick, the jet lag may claim me whether I want it to or not." She gave him a wry smile. "And ah, my records..." She opened her bag and handed him a carefully marked file.