You're a US police officer, what are you thinking about going back to the East for?

The car door opened, and two men with Chinese faces jumped out.

Their attire was very unassuming; they wore faded waterproof work jackets, baseball caps with the Seattle Ocean Shipping Supply Industry logo, and carried the salty, fishy smell of years of handling seafood.

They look no different from the refrigerated truck drivers who work night shifts at the Port of Seattle.

The two men walked quickly up to old Bill and Arthur, giving them a sharp once-over.

"Name."

One of the older drivers lowered his voice and asked in heavily accented English.

"William McIntyre".

"Arthur Pendleton".

The two old men, wrapped in large coats, quickly gave their full names.

The driver who asked the question nodded, took out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket, glanced at it in the dim light of the car headlights, and suddenly, without warning, threw out two obscure questions.

"Mr. McIntyre, what is the most commonly used physical compensation method to eliminate the latch-up effect during low-speed rotation in the calibration of a ring laser gyroscope?"

Old Bill paused for half a second, then his ingrained professional knowledge made him instinctively blurt out the answer.

"Mechanical frequency jitter, or the application of an alternating magnetic field bias using the Faraday effect."

The driver made no comment and turned to look at Arthur.

"Mr. Pendleton, in single-crystal nickel-based superalloys, what elements are typically added in trace amounts to suppress grain boundary slip under high-temperature conditions?"

Although Arthur was physically weak, his mind was clear, and he answered fluently.

"Grain boundary strengthening elements are not needed because single-crystal alloys eliminate grain boundaries themselves. However, for directional solidification or polycrystalline alloys, trace amounts of boron, zirconium, or hafnium must be added."

After hearing the answer, the two Chinese drivers exchanged a barely perceptible glance.

They couldn't understand a word the two old men were saying, but according to the standard answers in China, the pronunciation was exactly the same, with only a few syllables.

Identity confirmed.

"No problem, get in the car, I'll explain the follow-up arrangements on the way."

The driver opened the side door of the truck, pushed the two people inside, then quickly closed the door and jumped back into the cab himself.

The truck restarted and headed towards the Port of Seattle.

The interior of the carriage was dimly lit and extremely cold, with the refrigeration unit humming overhead.

As soon as old Bill and Arthur settled down, they smelled the distinctive bloody odor of raw meat and the strange smell of frozen animal fat.

It looks like this vehicle is not only a refrigerated truck on the outside, but it is also actually full of goods inside, with boxes of frozen meat with labels stacked around it.

Just as the two were shivering from the cold, a sliding window between the cab and the cargo box was opened.

The driver who had just asked the question handed them two thick military-style cold-weather suits and explained the upcoming arrangements.

"Wear this; it's minus ten degrees Celsius inside. Don't freeze to death."

"Gentlemen, let's get to the point."

"Next, we need to go through port security."

"All international ocean-going freighters must replenish large quantities of fresh water, food, and engine room supplies in ports before voyaging across the Pacific Ocean."

"Our vehicle is the cover vehicle responsible for delivering frozen meat supplies to that Panamanian cargo ship."

He pointed to the deepest part of the cargo compartment, where there were two custom-made wooden crates that were noticeably larger than ordinary meat crates and printed with "Premium Frozen Pork Ribs".

"When we get close to the dock, we'll put you into those two specially made transfer boxes."

"The box has a double layer inside, with lead plates and polyurethane insulation material as the lining, which can protect it from routine thermal imaging and X-ray inspections by port customs."

"There are hidden ventilation holes at the bottom of the box, so you won't suffocate inside."

The driver paused, his tone becoming extremely serious:

"Once we reach the loading and unloading area, the cranes on the dock will lift your container, along with hundreds of other containers of frozen meat, directly into the cold storage at the bottom of the cargo ship."

"There may be violent shaking during this period, and customs anti-smuggling police may also patrol the deck with sniffer dogs."

"Remember, no matter what happens, you are absolutely not allowed to make a sound or cough. Even if a box hits the deck, you have to grit your teeth and hold it in."

The driver's last words were:

"Once the ship leaves U.S. territorial waters and enters international waters, someone on board will go to the hold and release you. He will arrange for you to be taken to a safe, private cabin until you reach the other side of the ocean."

Then, the sliding window slammed shut.

Old Bill and Arthur exchanged a glance, silently put on the heavy winter coats, looked at the two huge wooden crates in the darkness, and felt the vibrations of the carriage as it swayed with the road, their hearts pounding.

……

As night deepened, refrigerated trucks drove smoothly along the empty freight highway. On the distant horizon, the towering giant gantry cranes of the Port of Seattle and the orange searchlights emanating from the vast container yards could already be seen.