Seeing the anger on their faces, Siegel knew he was at fault and sincerely expressed his thoughts to them. Upon hearing this, their anger slightly subsided, but they still showed no warmth toward Siegel.
At that moment, the communication line connected, and an extremely displeased, even impatient voice came through.
"What is it?"
"Chairman, Mr. Clyne wishes to assist in persuasion."
The man holding the phone quickly reported the situation to Chairman Zala on the call. Hearing this idea, the impatience in Patrick's voice faded, though he still sounded deeply displeased.
"Hand the communication to Siegel."
"Yes!"
Replying verbally, the man passed the phone to Siegel. Taking it, Siegel saw his friend's extremely grim expression on the screen and spoke with utmost sincerity and apology.
"Zala, I know the mistake my daughter made this time is severe, so I hope to mitigate some of the errors and prevent them from escalating further."
"It's good that you know!"
Patrick responded unhappily.
Staring at his friend through the screen, Patrick continued.
"We are currently in contact with the shuttle personnel. Once we establish communication, you will carry out your responsibilities."
"Thank you!"
Hearing this, Siegel expressed his gratitude sincerely.
Patrick calmly glanced at his friend and then ended the communication.
Seeing the disconnected call, Siegel returned the phone to the man and thanked him.
"Thank you for your help!"
"No need, I did this for Captain Griffith's safety as well."
The man replied calmly, pocketing his phone. Siegel smiled faintly at him and sat on the sofa, awaiting the outcome.
While Siegel waited in this manner, Patrick in his office was also waiting. However, unlike Siegel's quiet patience on the sofa, Patrick grew restless, pacing back and forth, occasionally activating communications to inquire about the situation.
Several minutes passed.
Beep! Beep!
Two notification sounds rang out. Patrick, who had been pacing, turned and approached the desk, pulling up the message.
With a few taps of his fingers, a video began playing on the office screen.
The footage showed the interior of the shuttle.
Watching Felix's condition in the shuttle through the video, Patrick felt a surge of intense worry. Just as he pressed the communicator to ask, a voice from the video spoke.
"Honorable Chairman Zala, there is no need to worry about Captain Griffith's condition. His current state is merely due to a paralytic anesthetic."
Hearing this, Patrick halted his attempt to call, his gaze fixed on the screen, waiting for what would follow.
In the video, the voice spoke again.
"Chairman Zala, our demand and intention are simple: to safely take Miss Clyne away from PLANT. Once we successfully depart, we will release Captain Griffith and his team.
Therefore, we urge you to carefully consider this!"
"Bastard!"
As the video feed fell silent, Patrick's face darkened, his low voice dripping with anger as he spat out the words.
With that, Patrick returned to his seat and sat down.
Leaning back against the chair, he calmly pondered the situation. After a moment of silent contemplation, Patrick had made his decision.
His finger pressed the communicator, initiating a call.
"Chairman, greetings!"
A greeting came through the connected communication.
Patrick ignored it and directly issued his command.
"Send them a message stating that I agree to their demands."
"Understood, Chairman Zala."
Upon receiving the order, an immediate reply echoed through the communication.
Patrick gave a soft hum in acknowledgment, ended the call, and swiftly dialed the Adjutant of the Griffith Team, Aric.
"Chairman, greetings!"
As the communication connected, Aric's greeting sounded.
Hearing Aric's words, Patrick relayed the instructions.
"You must ensure that your captain is brought back completely unharmed. If there is even the slightest issue, you will be held accountable!"
Shortly after Patrick's final warning, Aric's extremely solemn assurance resonated through the communication.
"Please rest assured, Chairman. We will definitely bring the captain back safe and sound!"
"Hmm."
With a hum, Patrick terminated the communication.
After completing these tasks, Patrick leaned back in his chair, silently praying for Felix while awaiting the outcome.
Athena Bridge
Aric stared at the ended communication, his gaze fixed ahead as he issued the order.
"Athena, set sail!"
"Aye!"
Josh responded loudly upon hearing the command.
Gripping the helm, he directed Aubrey.
"Ahead one-third!"
"Received, ahead one-third!"
Aubrey acknowledged and pushed the thrust lever forward. Once done, he reported back to Josh.
"Ahead one-third, completed!"
"Aye,"
Josh replied flatly, pressing the pedals with his feet and advancing the thrust lever.
The Athena, docked near the PLANT satellite, began to move forward slowly. After traveling some distance, Josh issued another command.
"Full ahead!"
"Full ahead, completed!"
Aubrey reported upon receiving the order.
Josh acknowledged and continued to operate the Athena.
Under Josh's control, the Athena's power output increased, its speed quickly surging to hundreds of times the speed of sound, vanishing from the vicinity of PLANT in an instant.
On the Shuttle
Felix sat slumped in his seat, weak and exhausted, staring at the handcuffs on his wrists as he questioned the guard in front of him.
"When do you plan to release us?"
"We will release Captain Griffith shortly."
The guard replied with a tone of respect, looking at Felix. Upon hearing this, Felix's expression turned grim as he coldly asked,
"You're not planning to release all of us?"
"I'm sorry, but to ensure our safety, we need to take some hostages. After all, having hostages will allow us to escape more securely."
The guard smiled and gave a straightforward reply.
After saying this, the man paid no further attention to Felix.
Seeing this, Felix stopped asking questions. He lowered his head, looked at the handcuffs on his wrists, and tried to break free from them. After several attempts with no success, Felix had no choice but to give up.
A little over two hours later, the shuttle smoothly and safely passed through the Jachin Due defense line, then continued traveling through space for another hour or so.
Just as Felix was beginning to feel drowsy from waiting, the guard stood up and walked over to him. Felix forced himself to stay alert and asked, "What are you planning to do?"
"Nothing much, just preparing to invite Captain Griffith to disembark!"
The guard smiled, his tone casual as he responded.
Hearing this, Felix turned to look out the window and raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning to leave me here to die in space?"
"Captain Griffith, you're joking." The guard chuckled, gazing out the viewport as he continued, "Captain Griffith, we've been followed all along. As soon as we release you, they'll rescue you immediately."
Upon hearing this, Felix mustered his energy and joked wryly, "Will you provide a spacesuit?"
"Captain Griffith, you guess!"
With a hint of amusement in his eyes, the guard replied playfully. After saying this, he stopped talking to Felix, reached out, and helped him up from the chair.
Supported in this way, Felix leaned most of his weight on the guard, allowing himself to be dragged forward.
Half an hour later.
Felix, now wearing a spacesuit, was thrown out of the shuttle by several people.
Drifting in the vast expanse of space, Felix watched as the shuttle closed its hatch before shutting his eyes and waiting for rescue.
In less than ten minutes, Felix felt a force pulling him from behind, then saw several thick fingers appear before his eyes.
"Captain Griffith, are you all right?"
At that moment, a concerned voice came through the spacesuit's communicator on the public channel.
Hearing this, Felix shook his head slightly and replied via the communicator, "I'm fine, just still feeling weak and unable to move properly."
"It's good that you're all right!"
Relieved to hear Felix say he was unharmed, the GINN pilot breathed a sigh of relief and spoke reassuringly.
Then, the pilot looked up at the receding shuttle and asked Felix, "Captain Griffith, are there still hostages on board?"
"That's right, they currently have more than ten people in their custody."
Felix nodded and confirmed through the communicator. After his reply, he added with a change of tone, "So we absolutely must not open fire on them, or the hostages' lives will be in danger."
Hearing this, one of the GINN pilots voiced his frustration, "Captain Griffith, are we just going to let them get away like this?"
"Even with reluctance in our hearts, this is the only way." Felix replied with a trace of resignation in his voice, then shifted his tone. "Otherwise, in a fight to the death, those hostages would lose their lives. I cannot gamble their safety on the goodness of human nature."
Hearing this, the GINN pilots could only suppress their discontent and pilot the GINN units to escort Felix back.
...
Two to three minutes later
In the medical bay of the Nazca-class High-Speed Battleship
"Currently, Team Leader Griffith is simply experiencing lingering effects of the drug. He'll return to normal once the effects wear off."
After completing Felix's examination, the doctor turned to explain the situation to the others present. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing there were no serious concerns.
Their relief was short-lived as their expressions suddenly darkened, voices dropping to an angry growl.
"Bastards! Don't let me catch them!"