"Driving along a dark, gloomy desert highway, cool wind blew through my hair, and the heavy scent of marijuana hung in the air."
"Looking up into the distance, I saw a shimmering light. Then she lit a candle, and voices drifted down the corridor. I thought I heard them say,"
"Welcome to the Hotel California, such a lovely place, such a lovely face."
Sunshine, highways, warm winds.
A Mustang roared down the California interstate. As the car sped along, the warm summer breeze swept through the woman's thick, short silver-white hair like the warm hands of a lover passing through her locks.
Even after hearing the Eagles' "Hotel California" thousands upon thousands of times since its release nearly a decade ago, Dr. Wendy Lawson still could not help losing herself in its heartrending melancholy and the yearning for home that came with wandering far from it.
About 150 kilometers from Los Angeles, on the vast and desolate road leading to Edwards Air Force Base, the guitar strums from the car stereo accompanied the rhythm Dr. Lawson tapped against the door frame, making the long, tedious solo drive seem far less lonely.
Every now and then, she rubbed the orange cat curled into a ball in the passenger seat. Before long, the outline of the air base came into view.
Established around the 1930s, Edwards Air Force Base had once been one of the training centers of the American Air Force during World War II.
Now, in addition to conventional Air Force pilot training, it served as the testing site for Project Pegasus, a special research initiative jointly established by the U.S. government, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Strategic Science Division, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Air Force.
Pegasus, one of the most famous fantastical creatures in Greek mythology, was said to