Jack did the math in his head: 10,000 square miles is roughly 25,000 square kiloters. Finding twenty or so people in such a large area is practically like finding a needle in a haystack.
"Are you sure we might have landed on Jolo Island?" The co-pilot's face turned extrely grim. It was still so ti before dawn, and the temperature wasn't too high, but his forehead was already covered in beads of sweat.
"What's wrong?" Everyone looked at him with confusion, not understanding why he was so nervous.
"Jolo Island is the stronghold of 'Abu Sayyaf.' The Philippines only nominally rules the island, but in reality, it's managed by terrorists and separatists, and most of the local population are sympathizers and supporters of these people."
This co-pilot, trembled slightly, probably thinking of the violent videos circulating on the internet.
Jack had heard of the "Abu Sayyaf" organization he ntioned; kidnapping and beheading foreign tourists were their specialty, with foreign tourists being kidnapped in the Philippines, especially in the southern islands, almost every year.
The 20-plus tourists and crew mbers who had crash-landed on this small island were like a windfall. Jack could already imagine the series of events that would happen to them after they were captured.
n would be violently tortured, won would be assaulted, then fild, several heads would be chopped off, negotiations would take place, and more heads would be chopped off.
Then ransom would be received, extortion would continue, and eventually a few hostages might be released, but the rest would only beco slaves on plantations or sex slaves used to satisfy their lust.
This organization's slogan was to establish its own religious kingdom, but apart from the occasional bombing, most of their skills were focused on kidnapping and extortion; they had long since developed a complete, assembly-line-style standard operation.
This was a real problem. If he had a choice, Jack would rather have crash-landed at sea. But then he would die more quickly, so strictly speaking, there wasn't much difference.
"Do we have a chance to get help from the Philippine governnt?" Captain Torrance asked the two FBI agents.
Jack shrugged. "We're the FBI, not the CIA, and we don't know much about the situation overseas. But as far as I know, the Abu Sayyaf group the co-pilot ntioned has been fought by the Philippine governnt for thirty or forty years, yet its size continues to grow."
He then turned to the co-pilot. "Furthermore, I don't recomnd having too much faith in the Philippine governnt. If I rember correctly, ten years ago, a bus full of tourists was hijacked."
The co-pilot nodded bitterly. "I was in university at the ti and watched the entire incident live. There were eight dead and seven injured. The perpetrators caused less than half of the casualties; the rest were all caused by the police. One person died directly from being hit by sothing."
This caused everyone to exchange glances.
"So what should we do? Should we hide this from the passengers?" Captain Torrance was at his wits' end. While a captain doesn't have the sa almost absolute responsibility towards the crew and passengers as a ship's captain, it's not far off.
Although theoretically this responsibility is relieved after leaving the plane, in practice, the captain still has an obligation to provide rescue and organize self-rescue.
Neither Jack nor JJ would willingly take on this responsibility; after all, it concerns the lives of more than twenty people, and it all depends on whether the captain can gain the respect of the passengers.
However, he still offered so advice: "Get a map, I'll try to confirm our exact location first. But in my opinion, the most important thing right now is to find a way to contact the outside world."
"Although the military and police here aren't trustworthy, there are still many US military bases in the Philippines. The number of passengers on board isn't large, but they should all be from different countries, so at least so rescue should be possible."
"However, given the risks we'll face, it's best to gather as much supplies as possible first, and hide with everyone for now."
They've probably already been discovered. Such a large plane flying low over the island in the middle of the night — the residents couldn't possibly be unaware. Soone will definitely co looking for them after dawn.
Besides, don't be fooled by the potholed, dilapidated dirt road they've crash-landed on; in this impoverished tropical region, it's definitely a main road. This place might beco lively soon.
'Man, Chingchong has worse roads than these.'
"Alright, alright, let's do it one step at a ti. I'll go and calm the passengers down first, then we can all unload the luggage from the plane, pick out the useful items, and I'll try to fix the radio."
Captain Torrance said, puffed out his cheeks, as if encouraging himself, then, as if rembering sothing, pulled the two FBI agents aside.
"I saw you remove the prisoner's handcuffs. Was that safe? I don't want him to do anything that could harm the other passengers."
"I'll keep an eye on him. Rather than letting him beco a destabilizing factor, it's better to show so goodwill first. As long as he's not hopelessly stupid, he should choose to cooperate with us."
Jack's current physical condition and fighting skills ant he would take him down if sothing goes wrong, especially since JJ had a pistol.
"Alright, I trust your judgnt." Captain Torrance took a small sip of the mineral water Bonnie offered and walked towards the passengers gathered nearby.
Seeing the captain approaching, the passengers began to stir with excitent.
"What's going on?"
"We need an explanation, can you give us a straight answer?"
"What should we do next?"
Torrance patiently waited for them to quiet down before speaking loudly.
"Listen to , everyone quiet down. Thank you for your cooperation. It's very regrettable that this accident happened. I know you all have a lot of questions. I'll tell you what I know so far."
"Several consecutive lightning strikes have caused us to lose the plane's batteries and communicators. I believe everyone witnessed that rare ball lightning."
"Under the current circumstances, we have no way to call for help."
The passengers beca noisy again.
"What? We have no way to call for help?"
"Are you kidding ? How is that possible?"
"Please, everyone, remain calm." Torrance made a hand-pressing gesture and raised his voice as much as possible.
"Once the plane cools down and there is no risk of fire, I need everyone to organize themselves, return to the cabin, retrieve the luggage, collect the water and food, and then discuss what to do next."
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