The announcer's voice was righteous, after all, it was an order from above, not a problem with the star station itself. And the entire planet was the same.
The passengers were all uneasy. All the star stations on the entire planet were sealed? Why? War? Terrorist attacks?
The chief flight attendant quickly received a call, grunted a few times, and hung up.
"You're all on vacation, with the duration to be determined. Everyone go back and rest," the chief flight attendant said.
The flight attendants were all a bit dejected. Their salaries mainly depended on mission fees from flying ships. If the vacation period was too long, it would mean a sharp drop in income. This was simply a bolt from the blue.
The chief flight attendant dragged her suitcase and left through the staff passage. The terminal was bustling with noise. Many travelers would surely cause trouble next, but it had nothing to do with her.
As soon as she reached the edge of the star station, she was stunned by the sight before her.
The streets were vast, filled with roaring police cars, so many that they seemed to come in strings. Military vehicles also swept through the air, their military insignia particularly striking under the lights.
The atmosphere of the entire city suddenly became tense, as if facing some great threat. The planet's law enforcement agencies were all mobilized. The military and police equipment that usually lay dormant in their bases had awakened, moving through the city like beasts.
At the subway entrance across the street, large groups of people were streaming out, almost all of them pulling out their phones to call, complaining or cursing. The subway had also been suspended, with only medical trains on standby.
The hover taxis on the street became busy. Normally, almost no one took these hover taxis; they were twenty times more expensive than subway tickets, and most of the time the taxis were lazily parked by the roadside, motionless. Now, they were all extremely busy. They would stop briefly by the roadside, passengers would get in, and then they would take off.
The chief flight attendant managed to hail a taxi and got in.
"Please show your identification, and then fill out this registration form," the driver handed her paper and a pen.
The chief flight attendant was bewildered, "Identification? Do you need to check IDs to take a taxi now?"
"We didn't used to. The notice was issued tonight," the driver said apologetically. "Please cooperate and show your ID. There are cameras in the car. If I give you a ride without checking your ID, I might lose my job. The orders from above this time are terrifyingly strict."
The chief flight attendant opened her suitcase, took out her wallet, and showed her ID to the driver. The driver nodded.
"To Jin Chang Community... What's going on today?" the chief flight attendant asked.
"I don't know. Something big must have happened." The driver set the destination on the screen and said mysteriously, "My uncle is in the Wanshui area. He said a lot of military vehicles went through there, and they set up checkpoints on the streets, with soldiers everywhere. The entire Wanshui network was interrupted for half an hour. People outside couldn't contact people inside, and people inside couldn't get online or make calls. Half an hour later, the network was restored, and they said it was a problem with the signal tower. Who would believe that?"
"All the star stations are sealed, and transportation to other planets is cut off, without any reason given. It just suddenly stopped, and we don't know how long it will be down," the chief flight attendant said with a worried expression. "Could it be war?"
"War? With whom? The Miers were defeated long ago, and the surrounding planets are all human." The driver shrugged. "I suspect..."
As the driver said this, he glanced at the camera on the car roof, covered his mouth with his hand, and whispered, "The military has mutinied."
The chief flight attendant was startled, her eyes widening.
It was entirely possible!
Although the major planets could not go to war with each other, many planets did experience internal strife. For such internal conflicts, as long as there were no large-scale civilian casualties, the Galactic Empire generally turned a blind eye.
"Think about it, the star stations are sealed, public transportation is sealed, isn't it to prevent someone from escaping? So many military and police actions, it should be to capture certain special individuals, a decapitation strike," the driver lowered his voice, looking like he was sharing a secret.
The chief flight attendant nodded heavily; she had also thought of this.
"Let's wait for the news. I think the news will say something," the chief flight attendant said.
She looked out the window. The city lights were in chaos, and the streets were filled with bewildered crowds. The driver turned on the car radio. People kept calling the hotlines, asking what had happened. The radio host was also confused and could only stammer for everyone to pay attention to their safety and wait for news.
It felt strange, as if everyone was like small animals living on an isolated island, usually foraging for wild fruits and drinking dew, living a peaceful life. But today, this small island suddenly started to move, and everyone realized that the so-called island was a giant sleeping turtle, and the land they lived on was alive.
So the question arose, why did this giant turtle awaken?
...
The taxi stopped at the entrance of the residential complex.
Before the chief flight attendant could get out, a police officer came to knock on the window, asking for the driver's and the chief flight attendant's IDs, and then left.
The chief flight attendant got out of the car. There were two police officers standing at the entrance of the complex, both carrying assault rifles, wearing helmets, bulletproof vests, and black leather boots, checking people entering and leaving the complex.
Looking back at the street, several police cars were speeding by, and the sound of aerospace fighters could be heard in the distant night sky.
The chief flight attendant was uneasy. She pulled her suitcase and hurried towards her residential building. Before going upstairs, she glanced towards the community supermarket. It was full of elderly people coming and going, carrying bags of rice, flour, oil, and grain. The drastic changes on the street had frightened these people, and they all rushed to buy food and take it home. As long as there was surplus grain at home, they could stay indoors, no matter what floods raged outside.
Her husband was in the living room putting on gear: a bulletproof vest, body armor plates, a life monitoring device, a bulletproof helmet...
The chief flight attendant put down her suitcase and quickly helped her husband put on the heavy equipment. Her husband was a senior police officer in the local area. He was supposed to be off duty today, but it seemed he had received an urgent order. The order was not low-level, as he was even wearing combat gear.
"You take care of yourself at home. I bought you some saffron. It's on top of the refrigerator. Remember to drink it," her husband took out his pistol from the drawer and repeatedly pulled back the slide to check its status.
"How long will you be busy this time?" the chief flight attendant asked, frowning worriedly. "I heard... the military has mutinied?"
"Don't talk nonsense," her husband shook his head. "Don't discuss this online, and don't send it to your girlfriends or anything. Women shouldn't guess. Now the local network information has been taken over by the planet's network center. If you send something inappropriate, I'll have to go through procedures to get you out."
"What exactly happened?" the chief flight attendant asked with a worried face.
"I don't know either, but it's not a small matter. This matter is terrifyingly big. All off-duty police officers in the city have been recalled. Even students from the first to fourth year of the City South Police Academy have been mobilized for duty. The military is also rushing here. Rapid response units and counter-terrorism vehicles from special forces brigades entered the city half an hour ago. I can also hear the movements of the air force," her husband loaded the pistol magazine. "It's definitely not a mutiny. Old Li just called me and said he received the notice. The planet governor's special train will arrive in two hours, and the governor will personally oversee this area. There might be network interruptions, so don't panic."
The chief flight attendant was shocked and covered her mouth with her hand.
"I'm leaving. Take good care of yourself," her husband opened the door.
"You be careful!"
"Got it."