The possibility of being captured, kidnapped, or taken hostage exists for all travelers, but
it’s one that’s especially real for operatives who cannot rely upon being bailed out by their
home-nation governments.
If captured, operatives can expect to be immediately frisked for concealed weapons, at
which point they are likely to have most of their gear confiscated by their captors. Escape
aids concealed in clothing may remain undetected for a while, but operatives know that if
they are in captivity long enough, they will eventually be stripped naked and have to rely
solely upon the escape tools they’ve concealed on and inside their bodies. Given a lack of
institutional backup, self-escape preparations are an essential component of a Nomad’s
every operational plan.
A human aversion to bloody bandages means captors are unlikely to closely examine
lesions or scars, so a Nomad can utilize medical adhesive to glue specific tools onto the
body underneath manufactured wounds.
There is also a near-universal reluctance on the part of captors for frisking, patting
down, or probing the nether regions of their detainees—and this unease provides operatives
with exploitable opportunities for concealment of escape tools in axilla (armpit) hair or
pubic hair. Body concealments can be as elaborate as suppositories placed in the penis
(urethra and foreskin), vagina, or rectum or in the nostrils, ears, mouth, and navel. And
they can be as simple as barely perceptible condoms. Note: This advantage can work to a
Nomad’s benefit, but diminishes quickly as he or she is transferred to increasingly higher
levels of detention and security.
