Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller (13 page)

Chapter 36

September, 1997

Somewhere near the Indian Army- PTS (Project Testing Site), Pokharan

Operation Shakti, District- Jaisalmer

Co-ordinates-
27.095°N 71.753°E
 

The last 48 hours of his life were the most mysterious ones. His mind was still figuring out the answer to
'What the hell am I doing in this desert?'
as the army truck trembled over a temporary road. Sitting next to him, was an Indian army soldier with the typical 3 V-shaped white stripes on his arm, which probably denoted his rank in the army. Dr. Ajay Chauhan tried to ask the soldier the same question for the second time.

''Would you please tell me where the hell are we going?''

''We have our orders, Sir. We cannot disclose anything.''

The cold look on the soldier's face told him that he was not going to get any answers. The truck had two more passengers who had got in with him at Jaisalmer. Their faces clearly told that they were as tired as he was. Observing their heavy suitcases, Ajay guessed that they were coming along for the same project that he was sent for.

48 hours ago....

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.

Dr. Ajaysingh Chauhan was working on his project in his private lab at BARC when he had received a phone call from the director of BARC. After a brief conversation, Ajay agreed to work on the project the director had mentioned.

''Sure, I am certainly interested, but you didn't tell me where my posting is. I mean, I am excited to work for the government, but I need to know where I am going,'' said Ajay.

The director had given him a strange reply, ''Don't worry about that. The Indian Army will take care of it. I will send you the tickets. You would be travelling soon.''

8 hours later, Dr. Ajay departed for Bangalore. He had changed two flights in Bangalore and Chennai after which he finally landed in Delhi, where he was personally picked up by a Government of India vehicle and sent to Jaisalmer. His journey in the army truck had started there.

The truck entered the project testing site which was well guarded with the highest level of security. The soldier accompanying them escorted the 3 personnel to the assistant co-ordinator's office. A couple of minutes later, co-ordinator Mr. A.K. Das was shaking hands with Dr. Ajay and his two companions.

''Dr. Ajay, Dr. Shashank and Dr. Jacob, welcome to Pokharan and welcome to Operation Shakti. I am A.K. Das
- the assistant co-ordinator of this project. Sorry for the inconvenience caused due to your travel around almost half of the country, but we needed to make sure the spies don't trace our patterns. For the last three years, many scientists have joined our project and we have successfully deceived  the CIA and a few other intelligence agencies until now. As soon as they detect a pattern of the country's top scientists heading towards Pokharan, we would be on their grid. They have
already interfered with this project twice. This project, headed by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Rajagopala Chidambaram, aims to develop India's best nuclear weapon.''

He gave a quick glance towards his watch, gulped down his cup of tea and continued. ''Of course we did conduct Project Smiling Buddha or Pokharan 1 in
May 1974,
but this is much bigger. All of you are our country's top thermonuclear physicists and we require your assistance. You would be briefed about your work tomorrow, but before that I need you to understand the gravity of the situation. We need to be careful about whatever information we pass on. We are under constant surveillance of enemy espionage and believe me, we have many enemies. Most of the local and radio communications are done in codes. I know it will take you some time to get comfortable with the situation. Maintain minimum contact with your family and relatives, and be careful not to pass on ANY information carelessly. Is it clear?''

The trio nodded in unison.

''I see you are very tired, so I suggest you go to your quarters and get some rest. Your luggage will be sent over after security clearance. Tomorrow morning you will be briefed about your work by Dr. Abdul Kalam. Good night, gentlemen.''

Chapter 37

Almost half an hour had passed, but the search teams had come up with nothing. The Sariputra's stupa was a complete stone structure with a huge dome and stretching walls. The search for inscriptions and hidden passage ways was hindered by the impaling darkness. Some inscriptions found on the stupa walls were discarded by Shonali as a fraction of the text was missing and some of those were just random names.

David, Shonali and Sameer were standing right at the centre of the stupa inspecting the search. The sounds of the commandos' footsteps eerily bounced off the walls and echoed in the silence of the night.

''These stupas actually are a core part of Buddhism. Stupas generally represent the enlightened mind of the Buddha and were constructed since the early days of Buddhism,'' said Shonali. She wanted to break the unpleasant silence between the three of them. ''One of the symbolic meanings that they represent are the five elements: the square base represents the earth, the round dome is for water, the cone-shape is fire, the canopy is air and the volume of the stupa is space.''

''You sure we are going to find something here?'' Raghav questioned Shonali.

''We will,'' Ranjeet shouted from the other end of the stupa. He had been doing his research on the internet and finally hit a jackpot.

He came running and showed his laptop screen to Shonali and David.

''I think we are searching the right place. It is believed that whenever Lord Buddha used to visit Nalanda, he resided in a mango grove. This stupa was built right over that mango grove.''

''So? Is that what THE RESTING STUPA OF THE GREAT BUDDHA means? The mango grove?'' Shonali asked.

''I think so,'' Ranjeet replied.

Sameer, who had been keenly observing the stupa for the past few minutes, had made a peculiar observation. ''David, I think I have found something.''

The sound reciprocated itself inside the stupa and everyone in the room was suddenly looking at Sameer.

''Err.. Sorry for disturbing everyone, but I think this stupa has a very special symmetry. Everything is absolutely symmetrical. The entry and exits, the Sanskrit inscriptions, the designs, the carved sculptures and even the ventilation holes up there are exactly opposite to each other.''

Everyone instantly gave a quick look around the room. Indeed! Everything was so perfectly symmetric. But David didn't see any logic there.

''Yes. So what?'' he asked.

Shonali realised the point Sameer was trying to make and started explaining it to David

''Those monks did take a lot of pain to put everything exactly in a symmetrical pattern around the centre. They made it symmetric for a reason. To conceal something- to hide. Symmetry has always been a mystery to man. We expect everything to be symmetric because the concept of chaos, asymmetry and randomness is just not the type for humans. This stupa is symmetric about its centre so...''

''...centre of the floor is the place we should look for clues,'' Sameer completed Shonali's sentence.

Everyone's eyes were now on the floor of the stupa. Ranjeet walked to the centre, flashed a light from his cellphone on the stone floor. ''There's a bit of dust on the floor, but I am pretty sure that is a picture of a human eye,'' he said.

There it was. Right at the centre- a human eye. Again a perfectly symmetrical carving at the centre of the floor enclosed in a circle. It had been there the whole time, but nobody had observed it. In an attempt to search the walls for inscriptions, they had neglected the floor!

''So what should we do now, Shonali?'' asked David with a worried expression. It was a far fetched theory and they still had no clue how big the object they were looking for was. Shonali pondered upon the question for a minute. ''If we are supposed to find something here, it must have been buried a long time ago. I think we should start digging in the centre,'' she said, biting her fingernails nervously. David decided to give it a shot.

The NSG commandos, using the rocks nearby as their shovels, started digging up the centre of the stupa. Ten minutes passed by. Twenty. Then thirty. Digging further seemed futile.

Shonali now had another theory in her mind.
There are many layers of construction beneath this stupa. So whatever they wanted to hide, they wouldn't have hidden it underground.
 

''Maybe the eye is not where the next clue lies. It was just a marker. The eye was keeping a watch over something. Something which those monks tried to conceal,'' Shonali conveyed her thoughts to Sameer.

''And where would that be concealed?'' Sameer asked Shonali.

''Right where this eye is looking at. Up there,'' Shonali said, pointing the finger at the centre of the dome of the stupa.

At the exact centre of the dome was a design of another eye. An eye watching everybody beneath. An eye glaring right into the eye on the ground.

''I have a hunch that whatever we are be seeking is located at the centre of the dome.''

Chapter 38

November, 1997

Indian Army- PTS (Project Testing Site), Pokharan

Operation Shakti, District- Jaisalmer

Co-ordinates-
27.095°N 71.753°E

After an introduction to the project, Ajay, Jacob and Shashank started working on it with full determination. Over a short period, they became very good friends.They each had a separate lab to work under the guidance of Dr. Sarinder Kumar- an expert on Thermonuclear Weapon Development. Each one of them knew that this project was going to change the future of this country forever. Spending many nights working hard and dodging the enemy satellites, the project advanced with an excellent pace, until a phone call changed everything
.

Prime Minister's Office, Delhi.

''Hello, this is the Personal Assistant to the P.M. How may I help you? ''

The voice on the other side of the line spoke with an American accent.

''This is the Defence Secretary talking on behalf of the Director of the C.I.A. I need to speak to Mr. Prime Minister. It is a matter of extreme urgency.''

3 minutes later, the Prime Minister was speaking to the Defence Secretary of the United States.

''Good evening Mr. Prime Minister. I apologise for calling on such a short notice, but we have some immediate issues to discuss...''

''I understand that Mr. Secretary. What are the issues you want to discuss? I will be glad to help.''

In a corner of his brain, the Prime Minister of India already knew what was going to come
. It must be that damn project again
, he thought inwardly.

The Defence Secretary took a deep breath and asked a single question.

''What is India's nuclear status?''

Prime Minister was not at all surprised by this question. He had his answer ready- written down on a notepad in front of him in the most diplomatic tone.

''Mr. Secretary, we have not yet decided to go nuclear or not. This year we completed 50 years of our independence and we are still trying to focus on the development of agricultural and economic sectors rather than defence.''

After a brief pause, the American voice replied, ''That's fine. I was just asking because we picked up some signals of nuclear activity around your country on our satellites. Need to cross-check them now. Until then, have a pleasant evening.''

''My pleasure helping you Mr. Secretary.''

The prime minister put down his phone and heaved a sigh of relief.

Whenever that project has come up, these meddlers have always tried to poke their nose in between. Why can't they stand us being a nuclear power? Last time they forced us into shutting down Pokharan-1, but this time we won't bow down. If this project tastes success, we send a message to the rest of the world that Indians are capable of joining the elite class of the nuclear nations
. The Prime Minister was determined to see the project as a success. He wired a message to the director of the Pokharan project.