Although in a desperate situation, Song Heping and his companion couldn't help but be amused by the Antonov in front of them.
A Da Maozi speaking Russian-accented Chinese, with a slight Northeastern dialect, instinctively carries an elent of humor when he curses.
"Where is Sara!?"
Song Heping suddenly rembered the Sara who had taken him out of Beirut.
"In the chaos just now, I don't know..."
Jiang Feng then realized Sara was missing.
"Weren't you in the cabin?" Song Heping was sowhat angry. As a professionally trained veteran, Jiang Feng should have been looking out for his own people in such monts.
"I..."
Jiang Feng couldn't find the words.
The situation earlier was too critical, he had never experienced such panic.
The plane would start leaking imdiately after stopping on the water surface, and without escaping in the shortest ti, there would be a life-threatening danger.
Song Heping felt his tone was a bit harsh.
No one can be expected to stay calm during such crucial monts.
"Forget it..."
He sighed, feeling a wave of guilt.
After all, Sara was in this task because of him and Jiang Feng.
He lowered his head and glanced at his watch.
Dawn was approaching.
At the mont he wasn't most worried about whether the few of them could drift ashore or be rescued at sea.
What worried him most was whether Mossad or the CIA would realize he wasn't dead and continue to persistently send agents to pursue them.
After all, this ti he had slapped the faces of both Mossad and the CIA hard.
If they managed to escape and survive safely, both Mossad and the CIA would be laughed at by everyone who knew.
In the midday sun of the Eastern diterranean in July, sunlight poured onto the sea surface like molten steel.
Eight hours had passed since the crash.
Undoubtedly, the sea surface near the Sinai Peninsula felt like a huge oven.
Song Heping squinted his eyes, seeing the edges of the supply package starting to curl up—this PVC material should withstand temperatures up to 120 degrees, yet it was curling under prolonged exposure.
"Three o'clock direction ahead!" Jiang Feng suddenly shouted.
Song Heping quickly looked towards the direction he indicated.
He saw a piece of white flotsam drifting on the sea, with soone lying on it.
It seed to be a woman.
"Sara!"
Song Heping judged the person's identity from their clothing.
"Jiang Feng, give the rope!"
There was a rope about ten ters long on the supply package, which was used to secure supplies on the plane, but it snapped during the crash and fell into the sea along with the supply package.
At this mont, a rope was indeed needed.
"Sara!"
Song Heping shouted towards the drifting object.
"I'm Song!"
The person lying on the flotsam moved, seemingly hearing Song Heping's shout.
"Over here!"
Ignoring his dry throat, Song Heping shouted: "Can you still swim?!"
Sara finally located the sound, turning her head.
She saw Song Heping, but looked very weak, simply shook her head slightly and then lay still again on the wreckage.
"The rope!"
Jiang Feng had already prepared the rope.
Song Heping estimated the length, roughly twelve ters.
Not enough.
There was at least a distance of over forty ters to Sara.
"I'll go down to save her. You wait till we get closer, then throw the rope and pull us back."
"Okay."
Jiang Feng looked around, warning: "Be careful, the waves are strong!"
"I'll be cautious."
Song Heping had trained in long-distance ard swimming.
But this was different.
Long-distance ard swimming relied on tools, like making a backpack into a float, carrying inflatable swim rings, or crafting a raft using materials found on site before getting into the water.
Swimming in the sea with nothing, under such physical condition and sea state, was very dangerous.
It was easy to be pushed in unexpected directions by the waves, exhausting all physical strength.
However, at this point, any extra concerns were unnecessary.
Rescuing was the top priority.
Song Heping unhesitatingly jumped into the water, swimming vigorously towards Sara.
Luckily.
His incredible physical stamina played a crucial role at this mont.
The waves were strong, but each ti the waves ca, Song Heping would dive to avoid them, surfacing after the wave passed to continue swimming.
This technique helped him conserve a lot of energy, quickly reaching Sara's side.
"Sara!"
He extended his arm to push her.
Sara raised her head and saw Song Heping, smiling, but the smile soon faded.
"So many people died..."
Song Heping was stunned.
Soon, his heart felt weighed down like by a huge stone.
He understood Sara's aning.
Many people on this plane were innocent.
They were genuinely humanitarian aid dical personnel.
If it weren't for him boarding this plane, they might now be landing in Europe, reuniting with their awaiting families.
"Don't think about it too much."
Song Heping changed the subject.
Such heavy topics were not suitable for discussion now.
"Can you still swim?"
"I think my arm is broken..."
Only then did Song Heping notice Sara's right arm wasn't resting on the flotsam.
"It's okay, endure it. I'll take you over to our side. I'll take care of you and get you back to the shore, you will survive."
Survive.
These three words were actually heavy.
But crucial.
Sara nodded, weakly saying: "Can you do it?"
Song Heping said: "Trust my abilities."
Then he said: "Relax, I'll pull you. Just relax."
"Okay."
Sara cooperated.
She mustered the courage to let go of the flotsam, trying to relax her body.
Song Heping hooked her arm, passing through her chest, wrapping around her upper body, then swam towards Jiang Feng and the others.
Sara's body was cold, but her chest was soft.
Initially, Song Heping felt a bit embarrassed but soon didn't care.
There wasn't a chance to distract him.
Swimming while dragging soone was completely different.
This ti, Song Heping couldn't dive to avoid the wave crests.
Several waves pushed him and Sara off the original path by over ten ters.
"Be careful, old squad leader!"
Jiang Feng was anxious.
Tides or waves were deadly, the power of the sea was imnse, humans could hardly resist.
Even seemingly insignificant ten ters departure could eventually be fatal to Song Heping.
Fortunately, Song Heping's physical stamina was astonishing.
He repeatedly got pushed away by waves and repeatedly swam back.
Finally, he grasped the life-saving rope.
When he climbed back onto the supply package again, Song Heping kneeled, vomiting heavily, expelling the salty seawater that had entered his body.
"Based on my experience, we should be reaching the shore soon..."
The Antonov stood on the supply package, looking around.
"That way!"
He suddenly shouted excitedly, pointing east.
Sure enough, in the distance, they could vaguely see a faint yellow line—actually a beach glistening under the sun!
"Damn!"
Jiang Feng's voice choked up.
It had been too hard.
If they continued like this for another day, they would all dehydrate.
Seeing the shore ant seeing hope.
But Song Heping didn't cheer.
He sensed it wasn't over yet.
Mossad wouldn't let things slide.
Their style was relentless pursuit.
If they dared to shoot down a civilian plane, they would dare to continue sending people into the desolate Sinai Peninsula to chase him down.
Song Heping looked up at the sky.
The sky was strikingly blue, without a cloud.
He realized that perhaps in the unseen near-Earth space, there were eyes watching him.
The real battle might just begin.
User Comments
0 comments from readers