Millennium Babylon

The sky is dry, the candles are full, and this day is an ordinary day, just like every day in the past three years.In the Thar Desert, people ate roast mutton sprinkled with cumin, drank sorghum wine, sang and danced shamefully, and finally fell into balls of yellow sand.

This desert——runs through the border between country Z and country Y, stretching for eighteen cities, but only this city can be named after it.

Taal City is the pulse on the tip of the desert.

It has been more than 900 years since the Tatars dipped camel blood to write history on fur paper.

In the history of more than 900 years, there are many days when the sky is full of yellow sand, there are many days when gold and iron horses are used, and there are also many days when the princess is married to the princess.The jewels are everywhere, and the banquet is like flowing water. At night, they are lit together in the pergola, like the Milky Way descending to earth.

By the autumn of [-] AD, it was finally over.

There is a small airport on the outskirts of Taal.

"Ajit, stop talking! There is an approaching plane! If you don't come out, you will be thrown upside down!"

The door panel creaked and shook a few times, but it didn't fall down.The young man named "Ajit" behind the door continued aggrievedly, with a taste of cumin in the local dialect mixed in English:

"You're a liar, Jimmy. You lie to me every time. There are no planes. We don't have many planes here a year. This kind of pigeon doesn't want...a place where it doesn't want to defecate. Why haven't you stayed there for more than three years? Let's go? Also, what are onions?"

Why haven't I left this place where the birds don't shit?

The man known as "Jimmy" selectively ignores the question.He twirled the powder of the homemade cigarette in his hand, picked up the stone lighter, knocked it on the table, and dropped it jokingly.

He occupies a spacious central control room by himself, with his back stretched on the ergonomically designed and indifferent office chair flown in from Switzerland, with his feet up on the table, with a slow and lazy look.

The glass covered with anti-UV film reflects his young face: it is obviously an East Asian face, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, a straight nose, and a shallow scar on the side of his forehead, which is covered by a few strands of hair hanging down. .He was quite thin, wearing an airport uniform in the style of a guard, and a pair of thick leather boots. He was supposed to have a serious and stern look, but when he smiled, he gave off a hippie look:

"Scallions are a kind of plant that can be cut into small pieces and then stir-fried with oil to make scallion oil noodles. But you don't have them here-neither onions nor noodles. I don't know if I have delivered them yet, so I ordered them all." It’s been more than two months. The customs officers who took bribes in the last wave have all been laid off after their term of office and returned home..."

He continued to knock on the door, startled and said, "Ajit! I suddenly remembered! Did you have an uncle who opened a small shop opposite the customs to sell curry dumplings? You asked him to give the person in charge of the security check some laxatives, Can you do it? If this thing is done, you will be the Star of Taal I appointed!"

The Star of Taal is the highest honor in the monthly evaluation of this airport located on the outskirts of Taal, whose full name is as long as "Abdullah Hawthorne III".

This honor was selected by all full-time staff—four people by secret ballot, and it has never been awarded to the Ajit family in the past three years. By bribing his colleagues from various countries to import instant noodles, Jimmy can monopolize more than half of the "Tal Star" in a year.

And Ajit, who believes in being down-to-earth and hard-working, is cleaning the toilet with detergent, adding five points for every sweep.There is a shortage of local supplies, and detergent mixed with water can be used to refill the hand sanitizer and rinse the mop. Jimmy always avoids talking about this point to the big-name captains who come and go.

He grinned as he saw a silver plate on the head of Aunt Aruna, the "Star of Tal", appearing in the corridor last month.There are three cups of hot milk tea, a pot of honey, and a pot of sugar on the silver plate.

"I'll add more sugar to yours, dear Jimmy. If it's not enough, you can add more. I'll put the sugar bowl on the cabinet." Aunt Aruna rolled up his cigarette, held it in front of her nose and asked carefully, and the inspection was completed , and then put it down with satisfaction, "Our family's Nora taught it at school, Jimmy, let me tell you, people who smoke that can only give birth to deformed children."

"I don't have it! It's a leaf! Just once! It's been three years, how do you still remember..." Jimmy took a sip of the milk tea, and his clenched lips looked pink. The fine hair was sticking out in all directions.

"Jimmy, Nora asked you... are you free to spend the weekend with her—"

"It must be free." Jimmy grinned and smiled brightly. "I'm hosting a hot pot party at home. Do you remember what hot pot is? Just that delicious hot pot. I have everything ready. You are all welcome to come."

Aunt Aruna sighed and left without saying anything.Walking past the notice board of "Tal Star" by the door of the toilet, she looked at the photo of her spring face taken in the capital of country Y in her early thirties, and was stunned for a moment.

Tal is now in Country Z.There is no home, no country.They are stuck in the delicate cracks in the relationship between the two countries. The past beauty is gone forever, and there are wars for eight months of the year.

Aunt Aruna went back and forth suddenly, took the young Asian man's hand, and patted the back of his hand hard, leaving a red mark: "It's almost four years? Three years... plus It's been... ten months. Jimmy, no matter what you hid in our corner at that time, you should be fine today, right? The desert is huge, and there are countries Y and Z. There are so many good places, you should go Look. Don't be like me..."

Jimmy got up and hugged her, was suffocated by the blended essence, patted Auntie's thick back, then let go, smiled nonchalantly: "Got it. I've read it all. I will go to more than 180 countries in the world. More than 100. Great, right?"

He stood up and faced the black and green maps of the Linux navigation system on the screen of the central control room, and remained silent.

An unscheduled and unapproved aircraft has entered an alternate flight from the direction of 26:[-] degrees southwest.

And Ajit was still working hard with a mop in the bathroom:

"Jimmy, I can't get out right now—you should hurry up and make an alternate landing. It is estimated that country Z is going to bomb again, and the air control rushed to us. Recently, there are smuggled goods to Tal, which probably came by air," After finishing speaking, he added, "Be careful."

Jimmy snorted, put on the headset, and coughed twice into the microphone.He focused on the aircraft's range, altitude, azimuth, and wind speed at a rare high ground on the radar chart.It stands to reason that it is common for deserts to be windy, and who hasn't gotten up to watch a force [-] wind fall and continue to sleep back to sleep.

But Jimmy put his hands in his pockets and stared at the wind outside today, feeling a hint of extreme weather—I'm afraid it's not just as simple as the air control in country Z not allowing him to enter.

At this time, the communication of flight Z183 had just been restored, and the pilot had no time to explain what happened, so he applied for landing. Jimmy immediately started ground control and replied: "Talta station, Z183, alternate landing is allowed. 4500 down, descent rate 2000."

The pilot over there was grateful: "Z183, Thar is approaching, and I listen to your command."

It can be heard that it is the accent of country Z, trembling with a bit of shock.

Jimmy was about to speak again when he saw a second green dot suddenly appear out of nowhere on the radar screen, bouncing and approaching Tal.

The second point was flying extremely fast, completely ignoring the passenger plane Z183 that was about to make an emergency landing.

Jimmy looked up at the sky.

If his courier had arrived earlier, he would have held the expired calendar sent by his mother from London and studied the sentence "today is not suitable for flying into the sky".

But the yellow sand in front of him was full of eyes, and a deep male voice suddenly sounded in his ears: "Tal Tower, K862, apply for an immediate diversion."

"K862, approved for landing. Ascend 8500, turn right for five nautical miles, and line up behind Z183." Jimmy also tried to explain nicely: "There is only one runway in Tal."

"Tal Tower, K862, I have important passengers on my plane, can't wait. Descent 4500."

If it wasn't for the way he spoke, the male voice was actually as pleasant as an announcer.

It's a pity that Jimmy didn't buy it.While arranging the approach of the aircraft that came first, he asked Ajit to go to the hood to prepare to meet him, and finally he replied to the arrogant captain in a leisurely manner: "K862, say it again?"

Captain: "One more time, K862."

Jimmy: "K862, did I let you drop 2300?"

Captain: "Yes, K862, descending at 2300."

Jimmy: "Are you allowed to enter? K862!"

Captain: "Received, K862, cleared for approach."

This rascal!

Jimmy cursed in his heart, but watched the opponent fly closer and closer on the radar.He decisively ordered Z183 to go up to the desert hinterland for a big circle, and come back after 10 minutes when the runway is ready.

The plane that jumped in line was bold and careful, and it flew into view in less than 2 minutes. It was actually a heavy helicopter!

Jimmy immediately realized that the heavy helicopter's fuselage was covered in stealth paint, and the pilot had been doing his best to avoid being detected by radar.That's why the plane jumped in line at the last moment.

Jimmy didn't know whether he was more surprised to see the long-lost model, or to hear the voice in the headset.

Someone, probably the co-pilot, yelled in a baby voice like Zhi Ling's sister, and the person she scolded was, no accident, the captain just now:

"Look at this poor place you chose! I said I was going to fly to the north, but I didn't mean to fly so far north. I have already reached Africa in the north. Why are you looking at me? Look again? You want to see the animal world? You say you Flying over Tal once, bullying me blind? What about the eighteen runways?!"

The captain with a nice voice but rude behavior hadn’t had time to refute. He just listened to her training a few more times like a cannonball. The hotel I stayed in couldn't be more dirty...

They thought he could not speak Chinese.That's right, the working language of the local control tower is pure English.

But Jimmy snapped his fingers and interrupted her.

Jimmy confirmed the plane's ground speed, ground wind speed, visibility and temperature to them, and finally said leisurely in Chinese: "You can witness, K862. The ground guidance is in place. There is only one runway, and you can watch it fall by yourself."

The heavy-loaded helicopter landed steadily in the raging wind and sand, the propellers gradually stopped, like a huge monster slowly stopped breathing.

For a while there was no voice from anyone on the channel.

Jimmy turned the chair at an angle, just in time to see the passengers step out of the hatch first, and a stretcher was seamlessly pushed onto the waiting ambulance by the ground crew.

The only ambulance in Thal.They jumped in line to call emergency services.

The sister Zhiling on the plane snorted coldly and asked the captain if she had watched a very famous Korean drama called "Please answer 1988".She said that this poor place should simply make a sequel called "Please Reply 1999"-it is a century behind, with neither vitality nor hope.

All the glory of Taal in the past was blown away like sand six years ago when country Y declared its independence and drew its border.The people who stayed in place opened their palms empty, unable to grasp even a trace. No matter how big the brand-new land of country Y is, it cannot be replaced by Thar, which has fallen into the hands of country Z.

"Captain," Jimmy asked provocatively on the channel, even hearing the other party's breathing clearly, "How many cities and countries have you flown?"

"Countries... 87. Cities beyond count."

"You're so lucky." Jimmy snorted coldly into the headset, "You come to Taal, I guarantee you've never seen such a beautiful sunset in your life."

"Who guarantees it?"

Before Jimmy could answer, he heard Ajit running into the central control room step by step, holding Jimmy and whispering: "I'll report some bad news to you."

"Tell me, which machine's roof was blown away by the wind again?"

"It's Rahimi who called in sick again today."

"Oh shit……"

Jimmy lit a cigarette, went out and pushed the plane side by side with Ajit.The tractors at their airport are not strong enough, and any "big" aircraft with more than four seats needs manual assistance to push the canopy.Many canopies also leaked rain every three days.

"Give them Canopy Three?" Ajit asked with a smirk.

Jimmy shakes his head, number one, give them the best- bring 24 hour surveillance.He would like to see what kind of shady goods are loaded on this plane.

There are three alternate airports within a radius of [-] kilometers, why did they land in Tal, which is not a bird shit?

"Because there was an earthquake in country K just now!" Seeing his ignorance, Ajit shook his head, "You can't adjust the frequency in the central control room, right? I heard from the radio that there was a major earthquake in country K, and all flights heading south were diverted .It is estimated that other places are full, and he flew to us if we don’t give him a place.” After he finished speaking, he added, “Otherwise, do you think that everyone is like you and loves Tal?”

Better not be like me. Jimmy watched the smoke rings fall in the dust.No wonder it's windy today, but it's a demon wind.

In the howling wind, the sun tried its best to break through the sandstorm and sprinkle on the airport, which looked brilliant. Jimmy couldn't hear anything, and suddenly he saw someone walking towards him.

It was the captain who made his own way and was not polite.

He was wearing a pilot uniform and sunglasses, with a straight back and a pair of long legs that turned the tarmac into a catwalk.

He walked past him without stopping.

For a moment, Jimmy looked at his gradual and distant figure from the side, and felt that he was very similar to the world-famous statue-the well-tailored flight suit wrapped the sharp muscles, the slightly curly hair was full of sunlight, and behind the sunglasses It is an extremely indifferent face, not responding to the weather or the world.

Jimmy thought, the captain is not the young and noble David—he is the god of the sea who fights the snake in the storm, and he has a face like a thousand sails passing by the side of a sinking boat.

Just staring in ecstasy, Jimmy stared at the captain who was guided to land by him but didn't even say hello, and then saw a red dot appear on the man's back.

The red dot is shaking. Jimmy looked back at the warehouse, and sure enough, he saw that the normally closed window was open, and there was a round pipe standing firmly, it was probably a gun!

He wanted to tell the captain to run, but he only knew his name was K862.

What's more, the wind is so strong that I can't hear clearly, it's like a Qiong Yao drama-it's a pity that the protagonist may be dying and I don't know it yet. Jimmy picked up the broom beside the canopy and rapped on the helicopter door unceremoniously. The procedure of testing the sealing performance of the doors and windows and the pressure gauge in the cabin was immediately stopped, and the alarm bell sounded.

The captain heard the voice, turned his head, frowned, and walked towards him quickly.

The red dot was gone, and so was the gun in the warehouse window.

Jimmy didn't want to get himself into trouble, he had too many more important things to do.There was nothing else he could do, so he threw the broom on the ground...and ran.

That afternoon Z183 also returned safely and landed in Taal.

The captain of Z183 is a dark brown-skinned middle-aged man who is still in shock and urgently needs to complain: After a magnitude [-] earthquake occurred in country K, some runways at nearby airports were damaged, and some airspace was closed in advance to avoid danger. The only country Z was open The airport was scheduled to be three hours away, and he was about to run out of gas.Between life and death, no one cares that there is still a plane in the sky that has not landed, and no one on the ground can be saved.

"Thank you for taking me in!"

"It's easy to talk about. In our small place, there are not many planes a year."

Jimmy hooked up with him and became brothers, but somehow conjured up a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, the original one, and waved it in front of the other's eyes.The two chatted while walking on the way to the bar:

"Do you know who that K862 is? Have you met them before?"

The captain of Z183 thought about it hard, and said that although K862 had a flight number prefixed with country K, the actual operation rights belonged to the Chinese international aid contractor stationed in country K. He also remembered whether it was building a mobile phone base station or a steel plant Incredible.

"That Chinese company," Jimmy asked in a low voice, "isn't it called Jianxin?"

"See—letter—? It seems to be called this."

Jimmy reached for the pager on his belt and pressed a few buttons quickly.These days, people who use pagers but don't have mobile phones... I'm afraid there are not many people who can find them with lanterns.

Jimmy's pager also has a protective case with a drawing of a lazy egg lying on the beach.Life is all about being nice to yourself.Lazy and shameless.He called the bar to have his Mojito Pleasure Water ready and his favorite pinball machine free.

As a result, people said that there are only non-alcoholic Mojitos, and the earthquake in K country has also affected the supply route of Tal, and the next delivery is unknown.

But his favorite game console is not played at all, and it is empty every day.Everyone seems to think that outdated machine is more boring than the endless desert.

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