by M J Anand
Abhimanyu had been trained on many skills, and knowing all the details of every equipment he had ever operated was one of them, as it was for all MARCOS. He was still special. Abhimanyu had seen the specs of this particular copter in one of his flying classes a year back and recalled, rightly, it was stationed in the Indian Army’s Tezpur Base, not far from Guwahati.
Amjad dialed Colonel Shahid. ‘We can’t risk the cannon guns on a nuclear truck, so we’ll also need low-altitude heavy lux shooting capability to blind them out. Just a minor modification, your engineers should be able to do it before we land in Guwahati.’
‘Right on it. My men will tune up the things just like you’ve always wanted it.’
Abhimanyu was a well-known helicopter pilot across services. He was amongst the few pilots whose weapon choices were documented for training purposes. He had trained with Colonel Shahid, who counted Abhimanyu as his best recruit. By Colonel’s own judgement, Abhimanyu had the capability to surpass him in copter maneuvering skills.
All of them were more settled, except Sonia, who was eager to share something more. ‘There is one more thing.’
Amjad refocused on her screen.
‘We have more than one nuke,’ Sonia quipped. Her words caused an indelible expression on all their faces.
‘What do you mean?’ Abhimanyu asked.
‘While we could only trace one detonator, there are two nuke instances. The detonator’s file also has references to two assault teams, AT01 and AT02. No other details are available. No one is infiltrating it, no one is carrying it, and no one is responsible for it. It only appears as another instance in some of the files with Cortex tagged to it.’
‘Anything on the location?’
‘There are many instances of joint work between AT01 and AT02, but the trail on AT02 disappears beyond that. So, all we can say is it’s also in the Northeast.’ Amjad eyed Prem in despair.
‘Perhaps it was a part of the deleted files. Perhaps another similar hard disk exists, a similar cell. We don’t know anything about it. Which is why it’s more dangerous,’ Abhimanyu answered.
‘The detonator is the key. There is only one detonator, and the truck can lead us to the detonator, and the detonator can lead us to the other nuke.’ Prem was right. That connect was the next best thing to a concrete lead they had.
Abhimanyu immediately agreed to the plan. ‘Keep commando teams and bomb diffusion squads on standby. Moment you have anything on the detonator or the other nuke, we’ll be ready to make our move.’ For Abhimanyu, it was time to hit the roads again.
‘All roads lead to Guwahati,’ Amjad concluded, and the MARCOS signed off from the cyber cell room.
The IL-76 spread its wings at Delhi’s Palam Airport with MARCOS in its belly to begin the final sequence.
Guwahati Airport
It was three days to India’s Republic Day, and the night was just beginning to take hold. Emergency protocols were activated, and the MARCOS landed at the Guwahati Airport midst pitch darkness guided largely by the aircraft instrument systems. The airport was practicing wartime protocols. Major General Arup Kannan, head of IB’s Eastern command, was ready to set them up for their next step basis the brief from the headquarters. ‘The helicopter is ready. MI-35M.’ It was locked and loaded, ready on the tarmac. ‘A team of four commandos will accompany you. They’re the best from Army’s Eastern command.’ Arup handed him their coordinates. ‘Feed them into your pads. Our rangers have scouted them. They are still in the jungle roads.’
‘Time to hit them?’
‘Difficult to predict exactly. They’re moving eastward on NH-31. Our satellites are following them, but the green cover and the terrain isn’t helping. The Space Research wing is ensuring we triangulate enough data not to lose them, and the exact time to reach them will depend on their moves. Your helicopter has a direct feed, and we will be in touch to communicate on that.’
Abhimanyu gave the major general a firm handshake. ‘Keep your men on alert. We’re not chasing a ghost this time.’
Sonia’s deductions were clear, and Abhimanyu was sure it was now or never. ‘It won’t be easy to hide a ten-ton nuke on these roads.’
‘No. But it will be naïve to expect they don’t have a rabbit up their sleeve,’ Abhimanyu interrupted.
Major General Arup thought it unlikely but wondered how much he didn’t know.
‘In that case, we’ll need to scan the whole Northeast. The mountains, the forests, the rivers, and borders on all sides make it impossible. China, Bangladesh, and even Myanmar have breached those mountains from all sides in the past.’ Arup was overwhelmed at even the thought.
‘That’s why we need a lead on the second nuke, and you need to keep your resources on it.’ Abhimanyu was right; their approach had to be laser sharp.
Major General nodded. ’But how?’
‘We need to be there when they make their first mistake. They’ll have to come out of their den at some point to complete their mission. That’s our moment. The satellites, drones, local intelligence—all the assets should report every suspicious movement no matter how small. While we go after the first broken arrow, the other one has to be pursued equally aggressively.’
They walked toward the helicopter.
‘Connect with Sonia in Delhi. She’ll get you all the information you’ll need on someone we just call the detonator. You’ll understand what I mean.’
General Arup finally agreed with Abhimanyu’s analysis. ‘You could be right, and I understand that’s the best guess we have. My boys will be on it, Abhimanyu, even though I pray we’re wrong. I pray there is no other nuke.’ Arup smiled and waved. ‘See you on the other side soon.’
‘See you, General.’ Abhimanyu boarded the helicopter, switched on the rotors, did the regular flight check and flew toward his next destination—NH 31.
Chapter 16 - Calamity on Wheels
Northeast India
It was more than sixteen hours since Akhlaq had been driving, but he didn’t feel drowsy yet. Sleep had deserted him; he was high on adrenaline. Revenge seethed in his eyes. Its fury was enough to burn down the city beyond the jungles to ashes. Akhlaq was on a holy mission he had prepared for as long as he could remember. Infidels had killed his parents when he was a toddler. The memory of the night when Russian forces had executed mass bombings in his hometown in Afghanistan still haunted him. He had only been two years old, but he could vividly recall the incident. A seething desire of revenge had burned in him ever since. Azghar had spotted the scar and knew his fire would turn him into a great asset, so he enrolled Akhlaq in a secret camp operated by the Afghanistan’s rebel forces.
Young recruits from all over the world were taught the tenets of sacrifice here. Sacrifice was the only form of worship that would get them freedom from the eternal pain. Their souls would heal, and they would emerge on the other side cleansed of all sins. Akhlaq’s commitment had inspired many local rebels, and he was already a celebrated figure in his camp. He viewed western-style political systems and democracies as an enemy—the non-believers, Satan. What better way to attain freedom from eternal pain than to kill a million infidels. His regularity with the rituals and ruthlessness in the field had helped him gain trust of the top commanders. Eventually, they had entrusted him with facilitating the holiest of all missions—a nuclear fedayeen mission. Akhlaq was driving toward his ultimate destination, and his eyes wanted to soak up every sight tonight.
Jahangir woke to take over from Akhlaq. He knew Akhlaq’s mind and body needed rest. Jahangir was his senior and understood the importance of being fully alert when they hit the city. They were still twelve hours from the city of a million people, and a million things could go wrong in these moments. He eyed Rupesh—just an infidel who sold his soul to betray his own kind. Such men had only one religion: money. Rupesh had managed to get them across the Nepal border, and so, he would be paid the pending half of his money duly. He was a relaxed man and had gone to sleep a few minutes ago soon after they
had crossed the Nepal border. They needed such infidels for a successful mission. The seniors had said to obey him, for he knew the roads and had the contacts. So, they tolerated Rupesh’s commands. Once they reached the city, they were scheduled to stop at the drop point where the infidel would leave them for good. From thereon, it was up to Jahangir and Akhlaq to finish the mission. Money would go to Rupesh, but the real reward was reserved for Jahangir and Akhlaq. Heaven awaited them. The gods would pay them well. A good deal to have any day.
The satellite phone beeped, interrupting Jahangir’s thoughts. It wasn’t supposed to beep. He was extremely surprised. The instructions were as clear as possible. There was no need of any last moment communication. However, only his masters had the phone link, and if they had decided to call, it must have been something urgent, so he asked Akhlaq to stop the truck. Jahangir walked away from Rupesh, for he didn’t trust an infidel, even in his sleep.
The dark roads disappeared into the night as he walked away from the headlights and stopped fifty meters ahead in the middle of the jungle.
‘Aslaam Valikum,’ a soft voice said on the other side, and it didn’t take Jahangir long to recognize it.
Out of respect, he went onto his knees. ‘Aaleyah, I am blessed to hear your voice. Allah must be very happy with me. No better time to hear your voice than just before our martyrdom.’ After taking the blessings, Jahangir stood and listened carefully. Surprise had turned into shock, but it was Aaleyah’s command, and he had to abide by it at any cost. ‘I will do everything just as you say, Aaleyah. Our martyrdom will not be wasted.’
The phone disconnected from other side.
Jahangir looked skyward and closed his eyes, for the Gods had invited him before the scheduled time. Jahangir slid into the truck cabin. ‘Turn around. We have to change course.’
Confused, Akhlaq leaned into his ears, careful of the infidel beside them. ‘Are we abandoning the mission? I can’t. I have to finish what I came for.’
‘No, idiot. We are preponing it.’
Akhlaq felt fear then elation. ‘But what about him?’
‘He goes with us,’ Jahangir replied with one finger on his lips.
Akhlaq’s happiness knew no bounds. The infidels’ commands had pestered him all along the trip. There was no better revenge than to kill him alongside them. Of course, he won’t get to Heaven, for he hadn’t made any holy sacrifices. He was just a money whore.
Guwahati Command Center
The army couldn’t do it alone. Major General Arup knew it very well. He needed every help he could get; an integrated response to track and diffuse the broken arrow was the need of the hour. And the only way to ensure perfect coordination was to get the chiefs together. As the general in the field, his powers superseded hierarchy now. It was his moment to shine. ‘Get me the headquarters online. IB, ISRO, and RAW.’
Amjad straightened his collar. Not often did he interact with his direct boss—the RAW Chief Rajnish Gogoi. The RAW Chief was known to wander in the obscurity, away from the public glare. It took the operator less than ten minutes to say, ‘We have them online, sir.’ Today, even Ranjan Gogoi had to surface.
Arup cleared his throat to brief the chiefs. ‘Sir, intelligence has confirmed a terrorist module is out to detonate a broken arrow in the Northeast. We are tracking everything that resembles our leads on the nuke-mounted truck. Guwahati seems to be the target for now.’
The IB Chief, Prem, and RAW Chief Ranjan were quiet. The only chief in genuine shock was the ISRO head. ‘Is it a drill?’ he asked innocently, for he was the only one completely clueless.
‘No, sir. This is as real as it feels. I request your best brains onto this, men you would trust with your life. Also, we can’t risk any leak, any paranoia, or any incompetence.’ The ISRO Chief was naïve but a sensible man. He was terrified but knew it was the right time to call in the cavalry, more than ever.
‘Get me all the team leads from the intelligence wing on line two,’ ISRO’s Chief instructed his executive assistant. Intelligence wing was the classified team in ISRO that used all the available ISRO technologies to scan, detect, and feed information for the hunters. Each team leader had an area of expertise, like thermal scanning, pixel zooming, terrain mapping, remote sensing, imaging, and many others. They needed it all.
They not just needed to scan the entire East in only a few hours but also had to guide the commandos to the bomb’s location and diffuse it. The point wasn’t lost on Rajnish. ‘Any leads on the bomb location or any movement?’
Arup looked at Sonia for the latest information.
‘There is a decoy plan certainly, but we havn’t detected any suspicious movement yet. One can guess that it could have been transported already.’ Sonia’s deduction was logical and frightening. ‘A miniaturized nuke can be put in a passive state and activated at the right time. However, it’s not possible to move it around much without a very high risk of explosion. It implies that the nuke must be put close to its target, so our area of scanning remains the same—all the major cities and their immediate outskirts, areas which are close enough to the city but far enough for storage.’ After some thought, she continued, ‘We should dedicate all the spare resource bandwidth to survey the incoming and outgoing roads across all the major cities in East India, also near all major border checkpoints. Those are the two spots they’ll have to compulsorily cross.’
‘What about mountains, forests, and national parks?’ The ISRO Chief was getting overwhelmed. He had no time to recce twice.
‘Well, if they are in the mountains and forests, the danger to human life is minimal. We don’t have time to look for them there, and we don’t need to look everywhere. We need to rank their possible targets, which is a tall task.’ Sonia’s strategic acumen was not lost on the chiefs.
Though they were constrained by resources and time, they had a field sense of the task ahead. The hard disk had given them an edge. The chiefs then realized they were ahead of the terrorists who still did not know the Indians were coming for them. The Indians had to make it count. If there would ever be any mission that would exemplify the best of all these services, it was here.
Major General Arup broke the contemplative silence across the room. ‘In Chennai, we barely had any leads, but we came out on top. The odds don’t matter now. The only thing that counts is the result.’
The chiefs nodded in unison.
Amjad was happy to see the three chiefs coming together. The service had to often work at odds with each other. Bureaucratic walls and political interference often meant that for any extra budget, they had to gain an edge over the other in the eyes of the Indian bureaucracy and the government. After all, the government had to divide the same pie between all of them. Add to that the political stooges nurtured by every power center in parliament. The interference was often debilitating. The structures, often weak. However, for seventy years since India’s independence, in times like these, individual patriotism outmatched institutional failures. Only time would tell if it will be enough. The three chiefs had their heart set on the field action. They prepared for an intense battle of intelligence.
Amjad checked the time. ‘Get me Alpha, India online.’
Arup dialed in and waited a few seconds. ‘Alpha, India, come in with your location.’ He would repeat at the same pace till there was an echo.
‘ETA, five minutes. Teesta River in sight. Prepare to force stop on bridge number forty-nine.’ Abhimanyu knew they would have limited options to escape from the bridge.
‘Can we get the truck on screen as well?’
Meanwhile, General Arup and Amjad were perplexed to see the truck turning around.
‘They’ve changed course. They’re no longer coming toward Guwahati. They’re moving back.’
Everyone had the same question; what had prompted them to turn around, or was it just a diversion?
Sonia traced back the truck’s route. ‘They had turned around about the same time you took off.’
Tensio
n was in the air, and every bone could feel the chill. Stress was scripted across their faces. Amjad and Abhimanyu had the same thought now.
Amjad searched for anyone who had made a recent entry or exit. He tried to read the faces in the room, but none seemed suspect. Everyone in the room was genuinely concerned. ‘General,’ Amjad whispered into General Arup’s ears, ‘do you trust your people with your life?’
‘Every one of them.’ His voice was stern. ‘But something has surely ticked them off.’
They checked the satellite’s live feed. Each pixel accounted for a meter, and at such sharpness, it was hard to interpret the on-ground movement. The ISRO team connected the incoming stream into their video grab software, which enhanced the video quality to o.1 meter. The enhanced video came onto the screen, and a gloom descended upon the room.
‘It is indeed the miniaturized nuke.’ Amjad could see the terrorists working on the bomb. ‘What are they doing?’
‘Activating it,’ Sonia said in a low voice.
Abhimanyu wondered if it could get any worse from here.
‘Even if it does not blast, it will lead to massive radiation leaks,’ someone said.
‘How do we know if it’s active?’ Abhimanyu asked, yet hopeful.
‘As soon as they came out and opened the trunk, the radiations spiked on our trackers. It was in passive state till now. It’s definitely active now.’
Amjad gathered his senses, realizing there was no time to waste, and eyed Sonia. ‘They were going southwest from the Namchi bypass, which leads to Guwahati. They have now turned south from Namchi, which will … lead them to Siliguri. That’s their target now.’
‘So, we need to stop them before they reach Siliguri and also prevent any radiation leaks?‘ Abhimanyu was ruffled but tried to sound calm.
