"Pull the parachute," commented Jack. The man looked darkly at him, then up to the ceiling as if to ask, where would you go? The chunk of carrier had somehow intersected with the cooler during the renovations. The steel hull of the former naval craft extended all along one wall, it's solid surface adorned with coded instructions, handles, and latches.
Jack too looked up to the ceiling of the cooler, which had become transparent glass. Overhead, an angry mob looked over a ledge, shouting and shooting firearms across the chasm. As the cooler slid by underneath, the man shook his head.
"Curse them," he spat quietly.
Their vehicle moved on, transforming as it went into a touring craft and acquiring more people. The crowd gasped suddenly. On Jack's side, a scenic view of the Italian countryside was being revealed as the craft drove by. Jack and the other tourists stared in wonder.
The valley was enormous and bordered on all sides by tall mountains. On the left, a monstrously colossal stone fortress, thousands of feet higher than any other building, extended all the way across one section of the valley, dwarfing all other structures. Fantastically green trees and a myriad of plants grew from every surface, including an impressive rooftop garden.
The city beyond the fortress was spread out in a curiously pleasing jumble of Mediterranean-style buildings that gave the appearance that they'd just fallen out of the sky in a heap and decided to make do with wherever and however they'd landed. Further past the city were more fortresses, much smaller in scale but no less impressive, parceled into squarish plots of green farmland. Separate, tall spires rose from ground and smaller buildings dotted the landscape farther and farther towards the mountains on the opposite side of the valley. Many of the buildings featured a wall painted a gentle gradient of blue, suffusing the city with smears of unexpected color. It was one of the most beautiful scenes Jack had ever seen.
"Ohhhh...." sighed Petunia emotionally. "I've got to get a picture of this." She began fumbling with her camera. "Jack!" But Jack kept his eyes fixed on the landscape until it slid out of view.
The craft became circular and stone, with a symmetrical ceiling above held up by squarish columns around the circumference. It began tipping and spinning slowly, as if some giant were twirling it in his hands. People slid around, but only Jack seemed alarmed at the possibility of someone falling out through the gaps in the walls. One woman in particular seemed very close.
"I hope you don't fall, that would be bad," sang Jack.
The woman glanced at him before jumping from the gap to meet a fiddle player on the grass. They interacted briefly, then the woman jumped back into the craft before its upswing.
Jack tried to remember the details of the landscape he'd just seen. He closed his eyes and thought of the trees and buildings. Focusing on the rooftop garden, he flew by and enjoyed the gnarled but healthy trees, the shrubs partially hiding doors to inner sanctums. Once he'd seen almost the entire length of the garden, he set down to examine the rings around a stump, only to find that it was younger than he'd thought. There was a girl there, perhaps a curator.
Jack looked over to see a large, predatory cat stalking towards him through the trees. Alarmed and annoyed at his stupidity, he tried to flank the cat with the hope that it would instead go for the girl curator. But just as he'd gotten behind the cat, it turned and roared. Bracing himself, he decided his only hope was to try and face down his hunter. Just as the cat started to charge, Jack raised his arms and made aggressive spitting noises and high-pitched screams. The cat stopped just as it reached Jack and backed up slowly, growling. Then, without warning, it charged once more, this time undeterred by Jack's antics. It pounced and Jack knew he was finished.
There was a flash of light, and Jack decided he wanted another try. He thought that maybe if he braced the butt of a long spear on the ground and angled it just right, he could catch the cat in the chest or the mouth as it pounced and its momentum would do the work for him. He began stabbing at a soft package. The landscape changed, and he was indoors. He unwrapped the package to find only a strange stuffed animal. It was a gift, and though he was annoyed that the animal was of an unknown species, probably from Japan, the gifter's voice overhead reminded him that he should appear grateful. He hugged the stuffed animal, along with a second, in his harms and smiled.
