Xu Xinghe did not expect that the group of kidnappers did not go far, but chose to board a plane in Gilles City, which is less than 200km away from Nanga City, and planned to take the Venus A-701 civilian spacecraft to another planet.
There are four people in their group. Apart from him, there is a burly man with scars, a gray-haired man with a buzzcut, and a relatively short man with glasses.
And his own situation was even worse than expected-
He was disguised as a tourist with disabled legs, sat in a wheelchair, and was pushed all the way into Giles Airport by the scarred man.
Xu Xinghe opened his mouth, but there was no sound coming out of his throat.
Not only that, half an hour ago, he was also given an unknown drug that disrupted his muscle function. Now his muscles are weak, especially his leg muscles, like a real cripple. Not only was he unable to stand up, he almost blacked out a few times, and could only be pushed away by the scarred man.
The three gangsters had given up all prohibited weapons such as guns because they were leaving from a civilian airport.
However, Xu Xinghe knew that the scarred man also had a soft blade of special material that was as thin as a cicada’s wing hidden in his sleeve.
Before getting into the wheelchair, the ice-cold blade threateningly pressed against his neck.
The owner of the blade warned him not to make any moves, otherwise he would die.
Xu Xinghe’s palm was sweaty.
At this moment, the scarred man was behind him, the gray-haired man was on his left, and the glasses man was on his right. The three surrounded him tightly, monitoring his every move.
It was as if he was the moon propped up by the stars, but he was actually being held hostage and monitored in all directions.
Xu Xinghe has no doubts that if he chose to hug the guard nearby and call for help when going through security, these thugs will really cut his throat with the mentality of killing the fish before the net is broken.
So, what to do?
He couldn’t really watch himself being pushed into a spaceship to a strange planet, with the fate of his life and death unknown.
As expected, the special weapon that the scarred man hid in his sleeve easily escaped the detection at this civilian airport.
The group of four went through two security checks, and all the detectors were quiet without alerting any alarms.
Xu Xinghe bit his lip and was pushed to the next area.
Because it was a cross-planet trip, after they passed the security screening, they had to pass the immigration checkpoint first.
It stands to reason that everyone is required to come forward with their own documents individually, then be questioned and have their identity verified before being allowed to pass.
But Xu Xinghe, who was disguised as Steven, was pushed through and accompanied by the scarred man because of his disabled legs.
Xu Xinghe originally thought that when the security inspector looked at him, he would use his mouth to say something to save his life.
Unexpectedly, the scarred man pushed him up, he took half a step forward from behind him, came to his side, then turned his head and stared at himself like a searchlight.
The moment Xu Xinghe opened his mouth, the scarred man’s eyes narrowed slightly. His right hand landed on Xu Xinghe’s shoulder, patting him lightly.
The indifferent gaze poured down like a basin of ice water, with a faint threat.
Xu Xinghe froze, his half-raised hand pointed at his throat, then shook his head, and told the staff at the gate that he was dumb and could not answer routine questions.
The scarred man put on a sad smile and explained that his younger brother had damaged vocal cords and disabled legs.
After he finished speaking, he scratched his head, like a strong, honest and hard-working man, completely unlike his fierceness a moment ago.
Under the watchful eyes of the scarred man, Xu Xinghe really did not dare to risk his life to openly ask for help.
The hand that had just been raised was properly placed back on the side of the leg.
The index finger of his right hand tapped lightly beside his leg.
Unfortunately, the security inspector behind the glass did not notice his move, and only cast a sympathetic look.
Next is face recognition, fingerprint recognition, pupil recognition…
Three green lights came on, and then the staff raised their hand and stamped documents for the man named ‘Steven.’’
After walking through the green passage, Xu Xinghe was pushed into the waiting hall by the scarred man, and joined the other two people who were queuing to pass the customs.
After going through a series of inspection procedures, everyone finally came to the boarding gate and waited to board.
Xu Xinghe’s right index finger was still tapping rhythmically on the side of his leg, hoping that someone would notice him.
Unexpectedly, it was not someone he hoped who first discovered this abnormal behavior.
A leather jacket suddenly swung over from the side, covering his legs and covering his hands that had been beating on his legs.
Xu Xinghe’s shoulders trembled, and he turned his head, only to see the gray-haired man on his right side chuckle. “It’s cold, don’t freeze.”
The smile hung on his face, but the coldness reached the bottom of his heart through the dark gray eyes.
Amid the noisy chatter of the surrounding people, the gray-haired man smiled and said in a voice that only a few people around could hear: “If you don’t want your fingers anymore, you can break them off — one by one.”
Xu Xinghe bit his inner lip and lowered his eyes at the man’s threatening voice.
——
Giles Airport, surveillance duty room.
A sudden command from above to strengthen airport inspections and security checks fell into the ears of on duty guards in charge of monitoring the cameras. But it did not have any substantial impact on their work.
At their level, they have no access to secrets, and naturally do not know what happened. They only vaguely heard that all major gates in the northern hemisphere are under martial law, and more than half of the interplanetary flights have been delayed.
“Maybe some super criminal is at large.”
”Well, there was martial law imposed a few years ago, and it seems that because of this, even the local army was dispatched. “
An old guard over fifty was sitting in a rocking chair, holding and drinking a cup of hot tea.
Beside him, a new guard who had just joined the job revealed a completely different mental outlook.
The young man was focused, dutifully staring at the monitoring from all perspectives on the big screen.
The old guard clicked his tongue, and half praised and half sarcastically said: “It’s good to be young, and I was so focused on my work when I was young.”
His voice just fell, when he heard the young man make a small noise of surprise. “Huh.”
The old guard asked: “What’s the matter?”
The young guard pointed to a monitor on the big screen and said, “This person in a wheelchair doesn’t seem to have any signs of muscle atrophy in his legs. I worked as a temporary care worker during my school days. Anyone who is in a wheelchair all year round will have atrophied leg muscles…”
The old guard glanced at the screen, then continued to drink tea leisurely. “Maybe it’s because he’s recently disabled? No need to fuss about this sort of thing.”
After hearing the words, the young guard continued to stare at the monitoring screen closely.
Until he saw the gray-haired man throwing clothes on Xu Xinghe, the young guard suddenly walked to the monitoring control panel and reversed the screen for a few minutes. .
Then slowed down and looked again.
“What are you looking at? asked the old guard.
“This man’s hand… seems to be knocking something.”
The young guard replied, staring at the screen intently.
He held his breath and stared intently at Xu Xinghe’s right hand on the side of his leg in the surveillance camera.
The index finger seemed to be tapping on and off—
Tap, tap, tap.
Click, click, click.
Tap, tap, tap.
After about a minute or so, he tapped the same rhythm again—
Three shorts, three longs, and three shorts.
“That man is calling for help!” The young guard stood up suddenly.
He quickly reached out and shook the old guard beside him.
The latter was slightly taken aback: “What?”
“Look! That man is knocking the Morse code distress signal!” The young guard said excitedly. “And after a few rounds of knocking, the man beside him took his clothes to cover it!”
The old guard stared at the screen for a while with a tangled expression.
He has worked at this airport for more than 20 years, but he has never seen anyone who can use Morse code to knock out a distress signal.
After struggling for a while, he still felt that the young man was making a big fuss. “He may just knock his leg casually. Maybe it’s a coincidence? If he really needs help, he doesn’t need to use such an obscure way, right?”
This is strange. Why would an active and conscious person call for help in this way?
“Maybe he’s being threatened? After all, there are three men around him. And the gray-haired man was very rude, not like he was treating a relative or friend.”
The old guard shrugged and took a sip of tea: “All right, little one, but it’s all just your guess.”
The guard known as the “child” was quite dissatisfied: “Didn’t the chief guard say that any suspicious problems found during the martial law must be reported in time!”
“Then go and report it.” The old guard yawned and then warned. “But don’t blame me for not reminding you, the people above don’t like nosy children. You are increasing their workload by doing this, and may be scolded.”
——
Xu Xinghe heard on the radio that his upcoming interstellar flight was delayed.
He felt nervous, but because the imposed martial law also affects airports, many flights are delayed, so this delay did not seem surprising.
The three people continued to surround him, and he was not allowed to stare at any one person for a long time.
Xu Xinghe lowered his eyes and sat and waited in the waiting hall with all the passengers.
During the long and difficult wait, the scarred man gradually became a little impetuous.
But in the end, he managed to control his emotions well, exchanged glances with the other two, and then guarded Xu Xinghe even more closely.
His hand was on the wheelchair, and it was always within a palm-length of Xu Xinghe’s fair neck.
After waiting for about an hour, the boarding gate finally opened.
Before boarding the plane, Xu Xinghe was given another pill.
The scarred man said to him very gently, “Are you tired? Sleep for a while, and we’ll be there when you wake up.”
Within five minutes of taking the medicine, Xu Xinghe felt a strong sleepiness.
It is a powerful sleeping pill.
Xu Xinghe knew that because he was in a wheelchair, after getting on the spacecraft, there was a high probability that there would be a seat for the disabled and not beside the scarred man.
That is, they had to be separated for a short period of time during their travels until the spacecraft landed on another planet.
This group of kidnappers must have been afraid that they would ask the flight attendants for help during the separation period, so they forcibly fed him sleeping pills, intending to let him sleep.
Half awake, Xu Xinghe was pushed onto the spaceship.
He vaguely heard the scarred man explain to the flight attendant: “My brother injured his leg in a car accident, so he has a certain psychological barrier and stress response to spaceships. I fed him some sleeping medicine, prescribed by the doctor, before boarding the plane to help him sleep. Please help me take care of my brother.”
“Please don’t worry.” The flight attendant led them to the handicapped section, and took Xu Xinghe from the scarred man with a smile. “We will take good care of him.”
More drama!
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