Julius eyed the sea that was creeping towards them with a degree of mistrust.

[b]"Either you've been awake a lot longer than we have or that's a very quick change in the tide.  I don't know of anywhere with that kind of rapidity."[/b]  He was largely confused but still found himself fascinated by this strange and alien place.  The sky, the sea, the desert.  None of it made sense.  Not a thing.  There was no life anywhere, apparently, which worried him but nevertheless fascinated him.  He perked up at the mention of a mountain.

[b]"Where?"[/b]  He asked, more cheerful.  The others looked surprised at this sudden change in character so he felt the need to explain himself, calming his nerves temporarily.  [b]"Even if there's no rainfall if the mountain is high enough there's sure to be some ice and so water and life.  We came out of the sea so the water cycle here can't be life-threatening and it's not so hot that there'd be absolutely no ice at the top of any mountain.  The red haze might have something to do with the clouds - after they all, there are essentially a moving mass of moisture.  If it was falling to the ground like rain it would probably look like a red haze?"[/b]  Again, he was musing to himself and found he had veered wildly off his intended conversational course.

[b]"In any case, I agree.  The mountain is probably our best chance to find out where we are and the best place to find the necessaries for survival.  Who knows?  We might be lucky enough to find some intelligent life there."[/b]

That was when Tim mentioned the absence of his tie and they saw it disappear underneath the sand, as if dragged down by something.

[b]"That's a bit of an ominous sign..."[/b] Julius commented with a nervous laugh.  

Trying to move their minds on he slipped his arms out of the loose white shirt he wore over his t-shirt (his vague attempt to be trendy which had ended up being several fashion cycles late) and then wrapped it over his head.  He explained his thinking to the others before they could dismiss him as a nutty academic.

[b]"It's not that hot here, at least not right now.  But that sun will dehydrate us pretty quickly unless we take some proper precautions."[/b]