Bluetooth Hijacked

“You know that my biggest fear is terrorists hijacking the plane that I’m traveling on,” said Richard as he walked on the road leading to the airport. Richard was not a frequent flyer, but this year, he had been on flights for at least five times before. And every time, he had reported to the airport security that someone is planning to hijack the plane that he is going to travel on.

“Terrorists are not born to terrorize only you Richard,” his wife replied back on the phone.

 Richard adjusted his Bluetooth earpiece and replied, “What if my plane is used to crash on some building? Anyhow, dying in a plane crash is going to be a scary end. Does it matter if it crashes on the ground or into some building?”

Someone suddenly ran across Richard’s path and he tripped on that person’s luggage and fell down. He regained his posture within a second but there was silence in his ears. He then realized that his Bluetooth earpiece had fallen down and someone else was about to step on it. He excused that person to move and retrieved the fallen earpiece. He rubbed it using his handkerchief and again placed it on his ear. 

“I had been shouting frantically. What happened to you? I heard you shout!” his wife sounded tense on the other side of the phone. 

“I just tripped and fell down on a piece of luggage. No… no. I do not have any injury as far as I can feel. Ok. I need to walk to the terminal faster. I will call you once I reach the lounge. Bye,” Richard had cut the call and started walking towards the terminal. 

Richard finished the process before boarding and was seated in the airport lounge. He was startled when he heard a voice in his Bluetooth earpiece. 

“Listen carefully to what I say. Our operation today is of utmost importance.” was the voice that he could hear in his earpiece. He turned around in his chair as far as he could twist himself and tried to check whether he is hearing a conversation that is taking place outside the earpiece.

“You will board the plane as planned. Once the plane has taken off and reached 10,000 meters altitude, you will then proceed to the restroom.” Richard found that the voice was clearly emanating from his Bluetooth earpiece. He realized that something is off with the way the person on the other side is passing on the instructions. So, he remained as calm as possible and did not respond. 

Has my Bluetooth earpiece gone haywire when it fell down a few minutes before? Is it why I hear someone else’s phone call? Has my Bluetooth earpiece paired wrongly with someone else’s mobile phone? Richard had several such questions in mind at that moment.

“Once you walk out of the restroom from where you would have picked up your weapon, you will then stand on the aisle and raise your weapon and claim to the passengers that the plane has been hijacked.” Richard broke into a cold sweat. The past few times, when he had reported to the airport security that a plane is going to be hijacked, were based on the suspicious activities of his fellow lounge occupiers or how they looked edgy or nervous. But, none of them turned out to be hijackers upon investigation. Yet, the airport security guards heard him out because they did want to let any hijacking happen. This time too, he could spot someone nervous, a few jittery, and most sleepy. But, this is the first time he had a solid backing that the plane is obviously going to be hijacked. 

“You are not going to negotiate with anyone on the ground. The mission of our group is to show our power to the world. We should prove to that government that they cannot protect their citizens in air, land, and water. The government should be on its knees when they arrive at the negotiation table. Do remember the power of your mission. At no point should you falter or lose your control.” the voice warned the potential hijacker. Richard kept on hearing the conversation ensuring that he doesn’t even breathe faster or blurt out something in horror. He kept wiping the sweat on his forehead and neck. 

Richard had an urge to walk around the lounge and look at people who were wearing a Bluetooth earpiece so that he can pinpoint the hijacker to the security guards. He stretched out his arms and his legs and then stood up. He took a look at the entire lounge. Almost all the chairs in the lounge were occupied. He adjusted his tie and started walking slowly.

After going around the lounge, Richard could spot three men and two women with Bluetooth earpieces. The first he saw was a man in his fifties replying to the other side via his earpiece, but Richard did not hear another voice in his ear. So, he struck out that man from the potential hijacker list. Two chairs behind her was a woman in her twenties. She was murmuring to the earpiece to ensure that nobody other than the other side hears it. This too goes away from the list, Richard thought. The third was a man in his thirties wearing a yellow T-shirt. He too was speaking loudly about his fight with his wife. Not him too, Richard thought and moved on. His targets now shrunk to a woman probably in her forties and a man in his twenties. Both were silent and kept nodding their heads. 

While Richard was busy hunting the suspected hijacker, the man on the other side of the phone call kept giving instructions, “Once you take control of the passengers, take a hostage from them and keep her or him at gunpoint. Drag them to the cockpit and ensure that the captain listens to your instructions. Divert the flight to the coordinates that I have sent to your Smartphone. Make sure that the flight crashes at the spot with maximum speed. Be on full alert and finish your job. May our power succeed!”

“May our power succeed!” he heard a different voice in his earpiece. He heard a male voice, so his suspicion centered on the man in his twenties. That man was wearing a red-and-white striped T-shirt. Richard slowly slipped between people entering and leaving the lounge and approached the airport security guard, “I just now heard a terrorist giving instruction to a potential hijacker. If you come with me now, I can show you the potential hijacker.” Richard narrated the entire incident to the security guard. The security guard agreed to accompany Richard and both entered the lounge. Richard took the security guard to the man he had suspected. The man was blinking at both of them and asked why they were talking about him. The security guard informed his team on the walkie-talkie and soon three more security guards came into the lounge. 

Meanwhile, announcements for Richard’s flight to board reverberated on the lounge and Richard excused himself from the security guards. He went to his chair and picked up his bag and turned around to look at the security guards. They were taking away the man he had pinpointed as the potential hijacker. Relieved from the stress of his plane being hijacked and beaming because of his personal achievement, Richard walked towards the air bridge to board the plane.

Inside the plane, Richard sat in his designated seat and loosened his tie. He had a long day ahead of him. He had to meet his clients at a hotel next to the destination airport. After meeting three different clients, he will be meeting his college batch-mate in another hotel and have dinner with him. He will be then boarding the return flight the same night and return back to his home. 

In a few minutes, the plane took off and after the initial pain in his ear, everything stabilized. The plane journey is for an hour. I can take a small nap, Richard thought and closed his eyes. He suddenly felt someone nudge him and he opened his eyes to see the person sitting next to him requesting him to move so that he can leave for the toilet. Richard stood up and gave way for the co-occupant. The co-occupant was the man in his thirties in a yellow T-shirt who was complaining about his wife via his Bluetooth earpiece earlier in the lounge. Richard closed his eyes and tried to get back to his slumber. 

He woke up in shock when he heard the passengers scream. Right at the end of the aisle, the yellow T-shirt man was pointing a pistol alternatively at both sides of the passenger seats. 

“Remain at your seats and do not move. This flight has been hijacked. If you try to do something smart, you will die before all of us die.” the hijacker shouted. The passengers became silent and the hijacker took a teenage girl from the first row of the plane. He kept her at gunpoint and told her to knock on the cockpit.

Events mentioned in the phone call were unraveling before the eyes of Richard. He could not believe what he is seeing. This guy was talking about his wife on the phone but I did not hear anything of that in my Bluetooth earpiece. How can this person be the hijacker? Richard’s thought raced. Did I give away an innocent person to the security guard? Richard’s face frowned. Maybe, this guy was speaking to avoid evoking any suspicion to the intelligence bureau who might be tapping that call. How did I not hear it? Maybe, he was on mute. Ahh... he was on mute. Now, what do I do? My biggest fear came true. That too, this hijacker is not going to negotiate but crash the plane. What will I tell my family now in my last few minutes? Richard’s thoughts paced ahead.

What if the guy in the red-and-white T-shirt was from the intelligence bureau and came there to watch the suspected hijacker? Did I make a grave mistake? In the pretext of nabbing a hijacker, did I avoid the real arrest of the hijacker? Richard thought. Tears started flowing from his eyes.

The plane now started to tilt down and its speed increased. The occupants of the plane shrieked and many of them cried. Richard too joined the chorus.