Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller (29 page)

Ranjeet had looped the video feed from the first and second floor security cameras. The looped video was being uploaded to the system memory and that was taking more time than Ranjeet had expected.

''Sir, I don't think this is going to work. This video is taking too long to upload. Take your team and breach in the control tower. Now!'' Ranjeet suggested Capt. Pratap.

''But they will be able to see the camera feed any moment now. If you don't loop those video feeds, how the hell are we going to reach the control tower undetected? Moreover, when they see that their teammates have been shot down and the hostages have been secured by us, those missiles are going to leave the island immediately.'' Pratap was annoyed with Ranjeet's failure.

''Trust me, sir. Those missiles won't be going anywhere for another seven minutes,'' Ranjeet said, remembering what Vishal had told him about the default countdown program.

Razak and Irfan intently held their breaths as they waited for the camera feeds to turn back on. Within seconds all the screens started coming back to life. For a moment, everything seemed to be alright, but then Razak suddenly realized that something had gone completely wrong. On the feed, he could make out the bodies of his colleagues lying on the floor with bullet holes on every inch of their body. The Indian army had made its move and was at their doorstep.

''Prepare the missile for launch. Let us show these bastards the price of breaking our rules,'' Razak said with a fire in his eyes. His fury was uncontrollable.

Irfan went ahead and booted up the Hypersonic missile launch program. ''Sir, the program has started a seven minute default countdown before the launch. I am unable to override it,'' said Irfan. His hands were shaking.

Razak tried to override the program using his skills, but the algorithm was locked! A shrill countdown alarm rang throughout the facility. The quiet research facility had suddenly turned into a chaotic carnival of sirens. ''This missile is going to take off in seven minutes, Irfan. And we are going to hold this tower for the next seven minutes!'' said Razak, picking up the AK-74 next to him.

Chapter 72

Black Cats Headquarters,

Delhi

Co-ordinates- Classified

Time- 7:20 am

The call had terminated and the familiar hang-up beeps could be heard.

It is just one guy, with his handful of men, causing havoc throughout the nation. This operation must have been planned and perfected by him for years,
thought David
.
Never in his career in the military had David faced such an ingenious monster. He knew that this man would be free as a bird six hours from now when the enemy chopper would take him safely across the border and then Indian Intelligence would again be a laughing stock for the rest of the world. There was blood boiling inside David, but he knew there was no other option. All he could hope was that Capt. Pratap and Ranjeet changed the game at Wheeler Island.

''Do we have the location from where the call was made?'' David asked his subordinate.

''It must have been triangulated by now. I will get you the exact co-ordinates and the details in a minute,'' said the officer and left the room hastily.

After a few moments of complete silence, Ajaysingh finally took a decision.

''I am going there,'' he said firmly.

David, totally taken aback by the President's response, resisted. ''No, Sir! You cannot do that. He thinks you are dead. Let it be so. Moreover, we don't have that artefact yet. There's no point in you going.'' David tried to explain Ajaysingh.

But Ajaysingh had made up his mind. ''David, since how long do you know this madman? Last 12 hours, right? This guy had messed with my life 15 years ago and now he has come back again. That time he almost tried to kill me, tried to sabotage our project. Now he blasted a bomb inside my residence, killed the soldiers protecting me and you think I will let him get away with this? I should be the one putting a bullet in his head. He has made me lose a lot and this time- I am not backing out,'' said Ajaysingh looking in David's eyes. For the first time in the night, David saw a fire sparking up in the eyes of a seventy two year old man.

''But Sir, we don't even have the artefact to deliver,'' stated David.

''And that is exactly why I need to stall for some time! I can engage him in a conversation and distract him which will give Ranjeet and your team some time. In case Ranjeet is not successful, it will also give Shonali some more time to find the artefact. We have to extend his one hour barrier in any case,'' said Ajaysingh, making his way towards the door.

''But there is danger out there and you would be risking your life!'' David followed the President to the lift.

''I am aware of that. What is the point in being the President if I don't step forward during such kind of Exigency? We will also get an element of surprise when he realizes that I am not dead yet,'' said Ajaysingh.

In his mind, David felt it was a deja-vu. Around 12 hours earlier when his team had raided the bunkers in the Thar desert, he had said the same thing -
We will have the element of surprise
. But instead, the entire night had turned out totally surprising for him. So David was not sure how this 'element of surprise' would help them.

''Okay. We can try out your idea, but we need a plan to face that mastermind and also a back-up plan in case something goes wrong this time,'' said David, pressing the button of the lift. They were heading to the main command centre located in basement level 2.

''That's your department, David. I am the person who would be meeting the crazy guy. Get your soldiers ready. We will leave as soon as I get his location and make a call to Shonali. Got it?'' Ajaysingh entered the command centre receiving instant salutes of all the military and intelligence officers present in the room.

''What is the location to which you triangulated the call?'' asked Ajaysingh, coming straight to the point.

''It is a private airstrip in the outskirts of the city usually used by the planes carrying heavy cargo. Our troops are on their way. We are waiting for instructions to go in and get this man,'' an official responded.

''Your instructions are to stand down, officer! I am going there myself,'' retorted Ajaysingh. He asked David to explain the plan of action to his team.

About twenty minutes later, a chopper dropped Ajaysingh on the deserted airfield and took off. The sun now dazzled brightly and drops of sweat trickled down Ajaysingh's neck. David and some Black Cat commandos had taken positions with sniper rifles quite a distance away, providing cover to President Ajaysingh from every possible direction. Ajaysingh felt heavy as he walked wearing a bulletproof jacket towards a figure sitting in a wheel chair right at the centre of the airfield. Ajaysingh had been given a small pistol for self protection and a concealable Bluetooth earpiece to be in constant contact with David.

The mastermind saw a figure approaching him. He couldn't make out the face at first, but as the figure neared him, the mastermind dropped his jaw open. Standing before him was Dr. Ajaysingh Chauhan, the President of India, without a scratch on his body. Half of his meticulously planned operation had been ruined. The mastermind looked with stone cold eyes towards Dr. Ajaysingh.

Ajaysingh had guessed it right. It was his old friend who was behind everything that had happened in the last fourteen hours!

''And after sixteen years- we meet again, Shashank,'' said Dr. Ajaysingh, returning the icy stare to the man in the wheelchair.
 

Chapter 73

Using a pair of tongs, Sameer carefully extracted what looked like an ancient cylindrical stone tube. The tube was carved out of the same sandstone as the Capital and had remained camouflaged inside the small cavity at the centre. ''No wonder even the experts couldn't find it. They never looked for it! Who would expect something to be preserved inside an ancient sculpture!'' exclaimed Shonali excitedly. The tube was around fifteen centimetres in length with less than a two centimetre diameter.
  

Sameer carefully placed the cylinder on a handkerchief that Shonali had laid down on the ground. Everyone gazed down at the unexplained cylinder placed at the centre of the Shakyasimha gallery fervent to know about its contents. Shonali ran her finger along the surface of the small cylinder searching for openings.

''There is a slit running at the centre of this cylinder. Maybe it opens up if pulled along its length,'' said Shonali as she applied a light pressure on the exterior of the cylinders, trying to pull the two ends apart. Just like a hollow pen, the cylinder parted in the middle and a papyrus scroll could be seen concealed inside.

Sameer carefully unrolled the scroll trying to be as careful as he could be while handling the delicate piece of paper. The script was written in Sanskrit and had almost the same font as that of the messages they had found earlier.

बहुभ्यः वर्षेभ्यः मानवः एकमेव सामान्यं किमपि प्राप्तुं प्रयतमानः वर्तते - एतस्य कृते एव सः तस्य सर्वं जीवनं समर्पयति , तन्नाम मुक्तिः । प्राचीनकालीनानां विदुषां मतानुसारं, मानवः नाम मर्त्य-देहस्य पत्र्जरे बद्धः आत्मा । एतदर्थमेव सः धर्मं प्रति गच्छति । धर्मः एव मोक्षं प्रति गन्तुं मार्गदर्शनं कुर्यात इति तस्य श्रद्धा भवति । अहं दीर्घकालं यावत्‌ मुक्त्यर्थ्यम्‌ अधावम्‌ । अन्ते एकमेव मया शिक्षितम्‌ तन्नाम मुक्तेः मार्गः सर्वदैव अस्माकं पुरतः एव भवति । तस्य च सुबोधतां प्रति अस्माकं दुर्लक्षमासीत्‌ । अस्माभिः सत्यस्य त्यागः कृतः यतो हि अस्माभिः तस्य अर्थः एव न ज्ञातः ।
      शून्यता । एतदेव सर्वदा सत्यमासीत्‌ । यदि वयं शून्यतायाः स्वरूपं ज्ञातुं शक्नुमः तर्हि एव वयं मुक्ताः भविष्यामः । सर्वेष्वेव शून्यता भवति । कोऽपि नियमः चिरस्थायी अपरिवर्तनीयः च न भवति । सातत्यपूर्णं परिवर्तनं भवति अतः एव सर्वेषामस्तित्वं परस्परसम्बधैः अनुबध्दं वर्तते । एकदा यूयं धर्माधर्माणां पारं गमिष्यथ तदा युष्माकं निर्वाणदिशि प्रवासः प्रारप्स्यते। यद्यपि जनाः मां बुद्धमिति प्रवदन्ति तथापि मम दृष्टया अहं पूर्वं यथा आसं तथैवेदानीम्‌ ।
      कित्र्चिदपि न भिन्नः । अहं स एव । केवलं वास्तविकं ज्ञानं मया प्राप्तमिति मन्ये। एतज्ज्ञानमहं सर्वदूरं नेतुं प्रयतिष्ये । एकस्मिन्दिने प्रत्येकं ‘बुद्धः’ भूयादि ऽ त्याशासे ।
      एतन्नाम जागृतेरूदयः ।

It took longer for Shonali to translate this time. Almost fifteen minutes.

The following is only an abstract of Gautam Buddha's memoir. Most of the original record was lost in time. This is the recreated version of the true memoir.

For years man has been seeking one simple thing- He devotes his entire life for one single purpose. Liberation. Ancient scholars believed that we are nothing but souls trapped in the perishable vessels-our mortal body. Through his efforts, every single day man has been trying to be free- to be liberated. He turns towards religion for this purpose, believing that his religion may guide him to achieve liberation. I ran behind liberation for a long time and in the end, I learnt one thing- the path to liberation was right there in front of us all along. We just neglected the simplicity of it. We discarded the truth because it didn't make any sense.

Emptiness. That has been the truth all along. Once we are able to realise the nature of emptiness, we will be liberated. All things have the nature of emptiness. There is no law that is permanent and unchangeable. With continuously changing phenomenon, the existence of all things becomes a web of inter-relationships. Once you let go of the Dharma and the Non-Dharma, you will begin your journey towards Nirvana.  Although people have now started calling me - The enlightened, I don't see myself any different from what I was earlier. I am the same me. Only now, I feel like I have realised the truth. I will try to spread the knowledge far and wide and hopefully one day everyone will be enlightened.

What this is, that is; this arising, that arises.

Before Sameer or Shonali could react to the contents of the scroll, Raghav rolled it up and replaced it back into the cylinder. ''We don't have any time to waste. We should get moving and deliver this artefact to David - You people can discuss the deeper meaning of the text later,'' he said, taunting Shonali and Sameer.

''I just hope we aren't too late,'' he added.

Chapter 74

1995,

Karachi, Pakistan.

Ayaaz walked down the silent streets of Karachi holding a cigarette between his fingers. The smoke from his cigarette disappeared into the night's mist and the ashes dispersed with the blowing wind. He had quit smoking a long time ago, but he didn't care about anything now. The journey from the streets of Peshawar to Karachi had not been easy. His maternal uncle had struggled a lot to ensure that he got the best education. He himself had struggled day and night for the interview. But alas! It was all over now. His career, his passion-just snatched away from him.

As he walked along the pavement, he could see a dog eating the leftovers from a public dustbin. Ayaaz kicked a bottle of soft drink lying on the ground towards the dustbin in a state of frustration. The dog charged towards Ayaaz barking with anger. Ayaaz had faced enough that day and he was not going to stand up against any other torment. Picking up a fairly big piece of rock next to him, he waited for the creature to come close. As the dog sprinted up to him, Ayaaz jumped high and smashed the dog's head with the rock. The creature instantly fell on the ground, bleeding profusely. Ayaaz didn't stop there. He continued to smash the dog's head with repeated blows from the piece of rock. After a while when his anger melted down, Ayaaz threw away the rock, wiped his blood covered hands with his handkerchief and made his way towards the hotel he was staying in.