Mountains and seas have a home

Half an hour later, at the ground transfer station in Krasnorsk, heavy snow had already covered the foot of the mountain, and the huge building embedded between the two mountains was flying the Russian flag.A few months earlier, ice cones had been hoisted from the bell tower, and the high gray walls left over from the Soviet era had long been frozen into an igloo. The house that was once used as a prison stared viciously with dark, gloomy eyes. With foreign objects.Soldiers with guns on their backs were walking up and down on the watchtower, and a stove was heating in the solid log house, and several officers were putting wine on the snorting stove.

The smell of wine and the crackling sound of firewood bring a little warmth to the winter. The more fierce and fierce the wind blows outside, the more vigorously the firewood in the stove will burn.The officers sat around the fire, looking at the coals and the hot dark red fire, and when one of them put down the tongs, bright sparks flew out of the hearth.This wooden house was also left by the Soviet Union. It was built during the Soviet-German War. It was built together with the transfer station in the mountain. The army was stationed a kilometer or two in front of the mountain.

"How about we make a bet?"

"What are you gambling?"

"Just bet on whether anyone can get here in less than 32 minutes today."

"When did this happen?"

"Ten years at least? I was a private the last time this happened to me."

"How do you remember?"

"It's unforgettable, isn't it? Who can forget such an astonishing feat?"

"Well, I bet someone breaks that record this year."

"Then I bet no."

"The bet is this jug of wine, and I bet you're going to lose."

"Let's see."

Krasnorsk was originally a missile base, but today they were temporarily arranged as a transfer station, and these officers were responsible for receiving a group of people who flew over from Lake Baikal.There was a clock on the mantelpiece, and it looked as if it too had been frozen in the cold, and the time was frozen in the clock.The lieutenant threw a sweet potato into the firewood and put his hands on the fire to keep warm. While listening to the samovar, he raised his eyelids to check the time.

It has been 32 minutes since the start of the test, and no plane has arrived yet.Under such extremely harsh conditions, flying 2864 kilometers in three hours means that each flight area can only stay for 36 minutes at most.Needless to say, the race against time, a large number of people are doomed to be defeated by time.

The sweet potatoes were covered in ashes, and immediately covered with a thick layer of ash.A few sergeants in beaver fur coats with lapel collars sat around talking, and they only had to wait a few minutes before they could eat hot, savory roasted sweet potatoes.The lieutenant lifted the samovar, poured strong strong tea into the kettle, then sealed the lid tightly, lifted the collar and wrapped the kettle in his arms.He counted the time carefully. At the 33rd minute, the roar came from far to near, passing over the extremely thick dry thatch and snowdrifts on the roof.

"Attention at the Krasnorsk ground transfer station, this is Ferret No. 99.7, identification number RTG-80-M20100105484. Candidate [-] has arrived and is ready to land. Please get ready for the ground staff. Repeat, please get ready for the ground staff. "

"Received at the transfer station. Ferret No. 1, please land on the fourth runway of take-off and landing point [-]. We have turned on the navigation lights and indicators for you."

"I saw it, and it's flying towards you." Fu Zhong pulled the joystick, raised the flight slightly, turned the fuselage sideways and flew around the ring of the airport tower as a courtesy, and finally landed on the fourth runway.

The sergeant pulled the baked sweet potato out of the ashes and said with a grin, "33 minutes, just a few tens of seconds. You lost."

"Stand up, soldier! Hurry up, move for me, slackers! The test takers are here! Go out to pick up the plane!" The lieutenant put his gun on his back and went out. The overwhelming snowflakes poured into the crack of the door, blowing the room The warm firewood inside jumped a few times.

The moment the plane touched the ground, it stirred up thick fog like snow, and the sound of the rumbling engine echoed in the empty valley below, and the sound disappeared after a while.Immediately afterwards, the plane drove along the runway into the maintenance station built in the cracks in the mountain. Fu Zhong stopped the plane under the command of the ground system. After confirming that the flight system was normal, he turned off the power supply of the cockpit and opened the bottom hatch.

The lieutenant led the people to wait outside the railing, Fu Zhong took off his flight helmet and carried it in his hand, and followed Ji Yao out of the plane.An orange engineering vehicle drove over from the other side, and maintenance personnel in fluorescent vests ran non-stop on the ground covered with signs, pulling rattling iron chains, and began to clear the snow for the aircraft.Fu Zhong's feet stepped on the flat, springy floor, and the eagle giant tree emblem shone on his shoulder.Fu Zhong first went to polish the Chinese flag stitched on his arm, then puffed up his chest and walked to the outside of the parking berth with Ji Yao.

Ji Yao spoke a few words with the lieutenant, and Fu Zhong put on a translator.After checking Fu Zhong's test number and certificate, the lieutenant motioned him to follow him, and told them that the office area of ​​the station invigilator was on the top floor of the command center.

"The first candidate has arrived, test number 20100105484, Chinese nationality. The identity verification is correct, and the information has been sent to the system for confirmation." The lieutenant said on the walkie-talkie, leading Fu Zhong into the elevator, "It's over. Please instruct."

The other end was silent for a while, and waited until the elevator was halfway up before saying: "Issuing a pass is permitted. Take him up."

The command center of the missile base is just an inconspicuous white house. The flat roof is covered with high and low signal transceiver stations and radar monitoring networks. mission.On the top floor of the house, a corridor ran through the middle, and on both sides were rooms paneled with yew wood panels. The walls were thick and the windows were small, and the doors were closed tightly.The lieutenant walked through the carpeted corridor with Fu Zhong, and didn't stop until a room at the end.

"Major General Hnikov, the invigilator at the station and commander of the missile base, is waiting for you inside. Captain Fu, congratulations on getting your first pass." The lieutenant said, he saluted Fu Zhong, and then stomped loudly. Step away.

Hnikov was an old man, and he had just hung up the phone when Fu Zhong entered.The office was elegantly furnished, with chandeliers pearling from the gilt-bronze ceiling, and a bronze statue on a low cabinet next to the state coat of arms.Fu Zhong stood in front of the major general and saluted. The old man immediately stood up and shook hands with Fu Zhong enthusiastically, and then sat back in the high-back chair covered with red-striped velvet to check his admission ticket and a series of documents.Hnikov asked the usual questions, then stamped the pass.

"Flying in the snow is not an easy task, how did you get here so quickly?" Hnikov asked him sitting behind the desk, "You are the first candidate to get here, it took 33 minutes, It's unbelievable."

"I used to train with the officer, and I depended on the officer's careful teaching." Fu Zhong answered briefly.

"I have monitored your flight status through the monitoring system. You are indeed a rare and excellent pilot. The last time I was so amazed was more than ten years ago. It seems that the time bureau does often inject new blood .”

Fu Zhong didn't make a sound, the major general with white beard and hair looked down at Fu Zhong's identity file and asked, "Your surname is Fu?"

"Yes, proctor."

The old man nodded: "No wonder I think you look so familiar."

"Does the proctor have any questions?"

"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered the past." Hnikov put the pass into the document, folded it and handed it back to Fu Zhong, "Congratulations on becoming the first candidate to pass, and good luck."

Fu Zhong went out, and Hnikov sat alone for a while, then looked at the wind and snow whistling outside the arc-shaped French window, pondering for a while.He twisted his fingers silently, and finally dialed the phone on the desk: "The examinee has been released, and the next examination room is allowed to open."

"receive."

"I wish you the best executive, Mr. Konstantin." Hnikov said, "This executive only took 33 minutes, second only to the highest record of 32 minutes."

"The waves behind push the waves ahead, newcomers overtake old ones, and there is still a long way to go."

The main control room of the Baikal base.Konstantin hung up Hnikov's phone, turned back to the operator next to him and said, "The Thunder Navigation Area is ready, and the entrance is open. The difficulty has increased, and the density has increased by 50%."

"Sir, if the risk factor is too high, the candidates' lives will be in danger. You should know that a high elimination rate will affect the selection of personnel."

"Do as I tell you. This is what the commander of the Chinese region means. This is just a virtual examination room. If there is real danger, you just need to move the joystick a little and lower the number."

Constantine moved the slider lightly, and the operator seemed a little nervous.Constantine patted him on the shoulder and walked to the center of the monitoring room. The flight status of each plane was displayed on the giant screen.There is a holographic map floating in the projection pool, and the images sent back by the drone show that the wind and snow are filling the air at this time, and the mountains and rivers are hidden in the ice and snow.In this eerie picture, there are more than a dozen red dots scattered in the sky, slowly moving forward.

Fu Zhong found Ji Yao on the platform and handed him the pass: "This is the pass, and I got it. The proctor asked me a few questions and then let me go. He didn't make things difficult for me."

Ji Yao checked the pass, and returned it to Fu Zhong.They stood behind the floor-to-ceiling windows and looked at the snow-covered peaks. The surrounding fields were cold and empty, and the winter wind was blowing. Fu Zhong breathed in the refreshing air after the winter, and felt the joyful feeling on his youthful and passionate face. The chill came from the place across the window.Ji Yao thought for a while before asking, "What question did he ask you?"

"He asked me why I got here so soon, which is a normal question. Finally, he asked me if my surname was Fu, saying that he felt familiar when he saw me."

Ji Yao smiled and said, "He may have seen someone similar to you before."

The two left the platform and went to the maintenance station together.Outside the suspended promenade, it was windy and snowy, the mountain was covered with ice, and the jagged rocks rubbed against the glass cover, and thick and sharp icicles hung down.Wrapped in a woolen windbreaker, Ji Yao turned up his collar to protect his neck from the cold, and turned his head to look at the sloping mountain outside. The frozen boulder looked like a precarious giant.

"The proctor said that he was amazed by my performance. The last time he was so amazed was more than ten years ago." Fu Zhong said.

Ji Yao's breath dissipated into white mist and melted into the cold air. He thought about it carefully and said, "Why is it ten years ago again? Too many things happened in those years, and I still haven't sorted them out. clue."

After a while of silence, the two of them walked over the deep cracked canyon. The surging river below had been frozen for a long time, and mottled frost and snow covered the ice.In the distance, above the sugar-like snow, a long train of things came galloping.Then they got closer and closer, and a large group of furry and furious sled dogs ran across the frozen river one by one.A man in a yellow wetsuit stood behind the sled, holding fast to the crossbar.In an instant the dog sled disappeared into the next bend of the river.

"Sir, I spent 33 minutes in the first flight area, ranking No. 2 in all the test records so far." Fu Zhong said to Ji Yao listening to the wind.

"There is such a thing?" Ji Yao tightened his collar, turned his eyes to look at Fu Zhong, "There is still someone pressing on top of you?"

They walked very close, Fu Zhong was next to his shoulder, and the backs of their hands touched each other from time to time.Fu Zhong laughed happily with his eyelashes drooping, and said with low eyebrows: "Sir, you didn't praise me first when you heard the news, but asked me who was on top of me. You don't know the way of educating people." .”

"The way of educating people? I dare say that the opium farmers in the Golden Triangle know the way of educating people better than me." Ji Yao folded his arms, and the crimson red around his eyes flew into his temples, hooking the heart of Fu Xin Gen Xian, "How do you want me to praise you? Give me an example?"

Fu Zhong felt a little hot, and raised his hand to brush his slightly curly hair, exposing his forehead.Ji Yao stared at his distinctly rising and falling facial features, said one thing but thought another thing in his heart.After a while, Fu Zhong suddenly turned sideways to Ji Yao's ear, raised his hand to cover his mouth, and said softly to him, "Save this for later."

Ji Yao asked him, "What can't you say now?"

Fu Zhong blew against his ear: "I don't think now is the time, and you will know when the time comes."

Breathing against the pinna makes one's heart itch, this is the most sensitive part of Ji Yao's body.He hurriedly raised his hand to push the tip of Fu Zhong's nose away, and said, "You are the best at tricking!"

As soon as the words fell, a thunderbolt exploded suddenly, shocking both of them.In the blink of an eye, a glaring white light fell straight down, and the reflected snow light forced Ji Yao to raise his sleeves to cover his eyes.A few seconds later, the thunder rolled, and the dark clouds behind the mountain surged, and the dense lightning was like a horned dragon swimming in Xiao Sen's indifferent clouds.The corridor trembled, shaking off a lot of ice.The loose stones on the mountain rolled forward and backward in groups as if they were free, and the storm hit the top of the mountain more violently, and many trees broke their bodies under the blowing day and night.

"The second flight area is open. Continue the exam. The invigilator at the next station is Wei Shanhua." Ji Yao stood under the plane and said to Fu Zhong, "Good luck."

He boarded the plane, but Fu Zhong didn't go up immediately, and said a few words with the lieutenant on the ground.A few minutes later, Fu Zhong put on his helmet and protective goggles and entered the cockpit, sat down in the main driver's seat, and fastened his seat belt.Ji Yao asked him, "What are you talking about down there?"

Fu Zhong gestured to the take-off instructor outside: "I asked him who the person in the first row was, and he said he didn't know, only heard of such a person."

Ji Yao nodded. At this time, the plane had slowly left the warehouse and turned onto the cleared runway.Snow soon covered her eyes, Ji Yao put on the helmet and the walkie-talkie, tightened the strap and said, "Go back and discuss this matter."

After speaking, he pulled on the mask and respirator.Fu Zhong raised the joystick, stepped on the accelerator, and the plane quickly lifted into the air and crossed the mountain peak. It turned its nose on a box-shaped mountain top in the west and drove into the second flight area.Then the entrance to the rear flight area was closed, the lieutenant watched the plane leave, and the Krasnorsk ground transfer station was once again caught in a furious storm.Not long after Fu Zhong left, several small gray dots appeared in the distance, passing by the low mountains and flying towards the transfer station.

It's time for the lieutenant to change shift. Someone will take his place.It was too cold outside, and the lieutenant trotted into the cabin after his shift.The wooden house is thick and solid, and the wooden piles are drilled deep into the hard permafrost underground. The dry thatch on the top tightly suppresses the heat, so that the wind and snow cannot invade it.The house is as warm as spring, the wine on the stove is bubbling, and the samovar is constantly emitting white steam, exuding the sweet aroma of strong tea with honey.

"I lost, here is the jug of wine for you." The lieutenant said to a corporal, took out the hot wine, wiped it, and threw it into the corporal's coat.Several people laughed happily again and told stories endlessly, talking endlessly about the strange people and strange things in the extreme north country.

When Fu Zhong passed the second navigation area, he was hit by a ball lightning on the flank.Wei Shanhua replaced the invigilator at the Novosibirsk transfer station. It was easy to get the pass, but it took a while to wait for the aircraft to be repaired.Fu Zhong looked at the clock, there were less than two hours left.

Passing through the third flight area, the plane almost crashed in the valley plain of the Yenisei River. Fortunately, after finding the eye of the wind, it flew to the Kurgan transfer station along with the wind. The invigilator at the station was Professor Kechenova.At this point the fuel was exhausted and the broken wing required repairs.There is an iconic big clock in the Kurgan transfer station, and the clock shows that there is 1 hour and 15 minutes left.

The fourth flight area is full of dense haze, and clouds are rolling in the darkness. This flight area is full of various routes, and Fu Zhong must avoid these planes precisely.

The long and treacherous journey made Fu Zhong exhausted. The navigator showed that his current position was 340 kilometers away from the Kazan transfer station. However, the closer to the transfer station, the denser the obstacles.Fu Zhong stared at the windshield and scanner carefully, carefully adjusting the flight angle and speed, which would inevitably lead to excessive fuel consumption, and two of the four auxiliary fuel tanks had been thrown away.

"Sir." Fu Zhong called softly, he blinked his eyes, almost forced out tears from the pain.

Ji Yao heard Fu Zhong's voice, and agreed to him very lightly.The surrounding haze is like a dead land, and red dots are densely scattered on the scanner.Fu Zhong slammed the fuselage sideways, and a passenger plane whizzed by next to him, which made him break out in a cold sweat.

"Sir, did you hear what I said?" Fu Zhong called Ji Yao while calculating the angle. He didn't dare to turn his head to look at him. A large cloud of haze rushed over the windshield, and if he was not careful, he would hit other planes Caused a fatal accident.

"I'm here, I haven't lost it." Ji Yao replied, reaching out and pressing Fu Zhong's hand.According to the exam rules, Ji Yao can't talk to Fu Zhong much.The only thing he can do is press Fu Zhong's hand and tell him that he is sitting next to him.

Fu Zhong smiled and said: "I will not crash, nor will I give up the exam, I will send you safely to Moscow."

"Well, I know," Ji Yao patted the back of Fu Zhong's hand lightly, "You're fine."

The Kazan transfer station is more lonely and quiet than the previous transfer stations. There is no human habitation on the vast snowfield, as if it is a place abandoned by God.Snow was quietly covering the frozen wasteland, Fu Zhong got a pass from the invigilator, saw that the plane hadn't been repaired, so he had to sit on the bench and take a rest.Seeing this, Ji Yao took off his windbreaker and put it on for him, and closed the window to keep out the cold wind.Outside the window, there is a vast expanse of snow, and the distant mountains have become black ink lines. Turtledoves and rooks have no branches to live in, so they can only roam the sky in groups.

Fu Zhong took off the walkie-talkie, covered his sore eyes and let out a breath.The left side of the brain kept throbbing and throbbing with pain.Ji Yao gently rubbed his temples, Fu Zhong asked, "How much time is left?"

Ji Yao turned to look at the clock standing in the snow, and told him, "There are 40 minutes left."

Fu Zhong propped his nose and stepped on his heels thoughtfully, looked up and saw Ji Yao standing in front of him, and suddenly made a request: "Sir, can I give you a hug?"

The exhaustion in his tone, the high-intensity and difficult flight has undoubtedly put his nerves on the verge of breaking.Ji Yao saw the tears overflowing from the corners of his eyes due to exhaustion, and gently wiped them away with his thumb: "Not now. The surveillance is right above our heads, and it is not in compliance with the regulations. Why don't we find them after the exam is over? A place where no one is watching, and take your time to finish these things."

"Just wait until the exam is over, right?" Fu Zhong's eyes suddenly became bright, and even Ji Yao couldn't help but wonder why he was so energetic all of a sudden, burning like a ball of fire.

"Of course, soldier, you have to figure out when to do something." Ji Yao looked down into his eyes and said, and tapped the bridge of Fu Zhong's nose with his glove, "Racing against time is not an easy task, but we I think you will be able to beat time one day."