Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller

by Himanshu Rasam

  Chapter 45

  The second soldier after a long time had grown suspicious of something fishy going on inside the cabin. He bolted the back door from outside so no one could come exit from behind. Then he entered from the front door to investigate and had taken three bullets in his chest. Ajay was now trapped. Totally. He knew there was absolutely no chance he was getting out of there alive. The room was absolutely dark and the only way out of the room now was the door in the wooden partition through which the intruder had just entered. The intruder moved slowly from cabinet to cabinet, checking every corner for signs of any survivor.

  Ajay slithered quietly in the dark, guessing the movements of the armed intruder and trying to remain as far from him as possible. Ajay had made a mental note of the layout of the cabinets and stacks of floppies in the room when he had crossed the room. The sound of the attacker turning quickly or displacing a piled stack of floppies would give away his rough position to Ajay. He concentrated hard on listening to footsteps which were coming towards him from his left.

  He will be on the other side of this cabinet any second now. This is my only chance. Either I do this or I die.

  Ajay took out a pen from his pocket and tossed it over his head from above the cabinet so that it would fall on the opposite side of the cabinet. The sound of the falling pen reverberated throughout the room. The footsteps became quick and heavy. They approached the spot where the pen had landed and then suddenly stopped.

  Got him just where I wanted.

  The next moment, Ajay put all his power into his muscles and pushed the entire cabinet to his opposite side where the intruder was investigating. The entire stack of hard drives and unused electronic equipments came down, tumbling on the intruder. Ajay had made his window of escape. He dashed to the door in the partition, ran into the office room, and made it straight out of the main door. He didn't even care to look back for a couple of seconds. He just ran and ran to the nearest security check post. Never in his life had he run so furiously. After covering a considerable distance, Ajay glanced behind. There it was - the mysterious figure with its face covered, dark clothing and red hand gloves staring at him. Ajay quickly turned left and took cover behind the parked military trucks to avoid any bullets that might be fired upon him.

  Gasping for breath, he ran to the watchtower.

  ''You need to come over right now! Shots were fired in the co-ordinator's cabin-''

  Ajay, out of breath and in the verge of a collapse, managed to explain the guards the gravity of the situation and dragged them to the cabin. Twenty minutes later, the assistant co-ordinator's office was a buzzing centre of activity: Military officers were investigating the situation, Ajay had been cross-questioned three times by the authorities. Mr. A.K. Das was summoned immediately to check if any data was missing from his computer. The medics had cleaned and bandaged the wound on Ajay's right shoulder where the bullet had brushed past.

  ''So it was you who toppled that cabinet and broke those important hard drives?'' An officer was questioning a terror stricken Ajaysingh Chauhan.

  ''Yes, I had no option. I couldn't think of anything else,'' Ajay responded in a resolute manner.

  ''Did you have a good look at his face?''

  ''No. He had his face covered.''

  ''Did he see you?''

  ''I don't think so. We were never actually face to face. I am pretty sure he spotted me when I was running away, but he couldn't have seen my face. It was too dark,'' Ajay reasoned.

  ''Good,'' said the officer curtly. His manner was the most brisk and business-like and he did not mince words when he spoke next. ''It is a good thing he did not see you. With you exposed all of us would have been in danger and judging by this mayhem, he will surely strike back and his next target will be you. He will try and get rid of you as soon as he gets a chance. That means he is one of us and is in the facility at this moment''. Having said that, the Officer looked at Ajay and said with a quiet concern, ''You better watch out Mr. Ajay, it could be anyone.''

  ''Fine,'' Ajay spoke in a shaky tone. He saw the army men take away the bodies of the two soldiers on stretchers. Ajay was not feeling good at all.

  ''The floppy disk on which he was copying the data was plugged into the system even when we got there. Why do you think did he not take it with him?'' the officer tossed another question at Ajay.

  ''Maybe he panicked. After I escaped, he must have known that I would bring back help. So he needed to disappear fast. He must have forgotten to retrieve the floppy in all this chaos.''

  ''I guess you are right. We got some footprints in the sand, but the late night wind blew the rest of the trail of footprints,'' the officer replied.

  ''How can there be a spy amongst us and we don't even have a clue about him or his activities?'' Ajay questioned the officer interrogating him.

  ''For now, you are free to go. Don't speak about this incident or let anyone know you were involved. We will try to keep your name out of it. You seem pretty shaken up. Get some sleep now,'' the officer said, with a pat on Ajay's shoulder.

  Ajay shook hands with the officer and was heading towards his bunk when Jacob came running towards him.

  ''Hey! Did you hear the story?'' Jacob asked.

  ''What story?'' Ajay replied, trying to act normal.

  ''I was working in my lab when I heard that something had happened at the co-ordinator's cabin. Some guys were saying that a couple of soldiers died. Is it true? I also heard there was a scientist in the cabin at the time of attack,'' Jacob blurted out hurriedly.

  Ajay decided to tell his friend everything. He needed to take some load off his mind. He was about to start his story with 'That scientist guy was me' when something that he saw, made him stop dead in his tracks. Ajay's eyes were fixed on Jacob's hands. They were gloved. His eyes widened and filled with terror when it dawned on him.

  Jacob was wearing red hand gloves!

  Chapter 46

  ''Sir, I have a flight scheduled at 4.45 am from Aurangabad airport. We will rendezvous at your bunker and fly you to Delhi for the press conference. Hope we find that artefact before 4.45 am.''

  David's words brought Ajaysingh Chauhan back to the present. He realised that he was on a conference call with David and the IB headquarters. Ajaysingh quickly checked his watch. It was 2.53 am.

  ''Yes. How far is your team from the Ajanta Caves?'' President Ajaysingh asked, taking his time to absorb the ongoing events.

  ''Almost there. About fifteen minutes,'' David replied. In the de-synchronized roar of the rotors, David had to put in a lot of effort to be audible.

  ''You keep me updated about the progress on finding that artefact. What is the situation on the Island?'' Ajaysingh Chauhan asked the headquarters.

  ''We have our troops ready to attack, Sir. We only need to disable or hack into their systems. David's guy is working on that,'' HQ replied. After another few minutes of conversation, Ajaysingh wished David luck and went off the line.

  Fiddling with his keyboard, Ranjeet was still struggling to get past the security firewalls. The status on his screen now read '28% complete'. He was working on two laptops simultaneously: one of which was connected to the mainframe server at the IB headquarters, and the other one plugged into the host server at the Wheeler Island facility. David knew that Ranjeet was working as fast as he could, but things still needed to be speeded up. There was a special task force somewhere near the Wheeler Island facility waiting for his orders.

  ''How much more time, Mr. Hacker?'' asked David.

  ''I have gone deep enough into their systems. Now I got to be a bit slow and extra careful. One wrong command and they will detect my intrusion. Just give me a couple of hours,'' Ranjeet replied without blinking his eyes. He was glued to the screen with total concentration.

  Sameer was not present at the Rashtrapati Bhawan when others had listened to the tape sent by the lunatic. He decided to listen to what the original tape said.

  ''Maybe we can find some more clues which these pe
ople might have missed earlier,'' he told Shonali, who was stealing a look at Ranjeet out of the corner of her eye.

  ''Huh? Oh yeah, sure! You want to listen to the tape? I have the recording on my cell phone.''

  She turned to take out the cell phone from her purse when she glanced at Ranjeet again.

  Looks like that guy does have some brains. Looking at the way he is typing I think the keys will pop out of that keyboard soon. I hope he breaks down that firewall.

  ''Here you go, Sameer,'' said Shonali- her eyes still glued to the hacker.

  That same instant Ranjeet looked up at her. Shonali quickly shifted her gaze towards the window of the helicopter.

  Ranjeet was stunned for a second. He stared quizzically at Shonali.

  Was she looking at me? She definitely seemed to be doing so. Ranjeet smiled and out of the corner of his lips escaped a silent and elated grin.

  As he went back to his work, he remembered why he had looked up at Shonali. He was awfully thirsty.

  ''Hey, would you pass that bottle of water?'' he finally said, giving a dubious smile to Shonali.

  Shonali turned around to fetch the bottle of water behind her.

  He smiled at me! Should I smile back? No, that would be foolish. I should probably maintain my cold look and just give him the bottle. Matter closed.

  She took the bottle and extended her hand to give it to Ranjeet. Ranjeet was looking intently at her face. He didn't see any smile.

  Perhaps I was wrong. May be she wasn't looking at me at all. Was it the window behind me that she was staring at? Damn that lucky window.

  Ranjeet reached out to grab the bottle from her hand, giving a subtle smile this time.

  Shonali was trying to get a grip on herself. Remember Shonali, no smile. Just the standard cold look.

  Ranjeet grabbed the bottled with his right hand. His fingers touched Shonali's. How soft were Shonali's hands, her fingers, like silk on his skin. He wanted to leave the bottle and grab her hand. But Shonali was already withdrawing her hand. He relaxed back in his seat, sipping the water. Never in his life had he realised that plain water had so much sweetness in it.

  Shonali was silently congratulating herself for her composure. It was that simple. No smile and the cold look always work. Now the matter is closed. You don't want to go out with a guy like that.

  And out of nowhere, she heard herself blurting out-

  ''Is the water too cold?'' Shonali was smiling.

  Chapter 47

  ''So let's begin the game. I am going to tell you where the first clue is hidden, but it's not going to be easy finding it. To make the game interesting, I have planned some surprises for you. The first clue is written in metal at 28° 31′ 27.68″ N, 77° 11′ 6.89″ E. Take the paper beside this cassette player along with you. It would be quite helpful if you would know how to read those numbers on the paper...''

  Sameer was intently listening to each statement, trying to catch any clue which might have been missed. The tape continued.

  ''... I suspect that you won't take me seriously, so do not hesitate to ask Mr. Kapoor - the head of the BRAHMOS project if you have any doubts about the level of mass destruction that the missile is capable of. And the last thing - do not try to deceive me. I am not alone. I have my army- The Nine Unknown. I have my eyes on you every second. I know it will take...''

  Suddenly Sameer paused the tape. ''Did you note this?'' he asked with his eyebrows raised. Everyone turned to him to hear what he had to say.

  Sameer re-winded the tape and played it.

  ''....level of mass destruction that the missile is capable of. And the last thing - do not try to deceive me. I am not alone - I have my army - The Nine Unknown....''

  Sameer paused the tape and looked up.

  Ranjeet was first to ask the question. ''The Nine Unknown? What does-''

  ''Exactly! How could you miss that?'' Sameer asked.

  ''I did notice it when we heard the tape for the first time but couldn't make anything of it. I didn't pay attention to it later. Do you have any idea what does the 'Nine Unknown' signify?'' asked David.

  Sameer nodded affirmatively. He could vividly recall all that he had read about the Nine Unknown Men, from a randomly picked book a few years back.

  ''This guy is really into history, I tell you. He must have done a great deal of research to set us on the trail of whatever artefact he is referring to. Shonali, I guess you have an idea what the Nine Unknown means.''

  ''Not much. It is some kind of legend, though. No proof of the existence of the Nine Unknown Men has ever been found and interestingly not many Buddhist scripts mention about them. Those that do mention are so heavily riddled that deciphering them becomes a pain in the neck, literally. Scholars believe that the story of the Nine Unknown is just another religious hoax fit only for drawing room conversations,'' Shonali replied, quoting the information she had on the Nine Unknown Men.

  ''That's what a secret society should be like. Nobody should ever know that it exists!'' Sameer exclaimed. Noticing the blank looks on everyone's faces, Sameer decided to give them a detailed account of the Nine Unknown.

  ''The myth of The Nine Unknown Men dates back to the time of Emperor Ashoka who converted to Buddhism after the massacre at Kalinga. Legends say that the Nine Unknown Men are a two millennia-old secret society founded by the Indian Emperor Ashoka around 273 B.C. The Emperor founded the society of the Nine to preserve and develop certain knowledge that besides being beneficial could also be detrimental to humanity if it fell into the wrong hands. During his reign natural science, past and present, was vowed to complete secrecy. He appointed nine able and apt men for the task of preserving and hiding the knowledge. Ashoka founded one of the most powerful secret societies: that of the Nine Unknown Men. Many of the old Vedic literature, the sacred manuscripts from Nalanda, the knowledge from experiments, studies and documents accumulated over a period of more than 2,000 years were handed over to the Nine Unknown.'' Sameer took a little pause to catch up his breath and continued.

  ''Each of the Nine is supposedly responsible for guarding and improving a single book. Traditionally, the books are said to cover atypical subjects such as Propaganda and Psychological Warfare which concerns a concerted set of messages aimed at influencing the opinions or behaviour of large number of people. Instead of impartially providing information, propaganda in its most basic form presents information in order to influence its audience. It is the most dangerous of all sciences, as it is capable of moulding mass opinion. Another book was on Physiology which was supposed to contain the instructions on how to perform the 'touch of death'- death being caused by a reversal of the nerve-impulse. One account suggests that Judo was a product of the material leaked from this book. The third book was on Microbiology and Bio-technology. There were also books on Advanced Alchemy, Communication, Sociology, Gravitation, Cosmology with one of the oldest references to the space time fabric, and light, and the idea to use it as a weapon by concentrating it in a certain direction like the modern LASER technology. There was no known or surviving legacy of the Nine, although some believe they are amongst us even today. Believers in the Nine also point to the mysterious Delhi iron pillar, which is said to have been constructed at a time before the advent of the technology and is still considered a metallurgical marvel.''

  Shonali was at a loss by the barrage of information that Sameer was spewing at them.

  The Iron Pillar is the very place where the trail started. After all it IS all connected.

  ''So where are those nine books now?'' Shonali asked Sameer, her voice coated with escalated excitement.

  ''Lost in the abyss of time. The knowledge, the secrets... all gone. Nobody knows who the nine people assigned to safeguard the knowledge were. They remained Unknown forever,'' replied Sameer.

  ''Is this what our harebrained maestro is after? The forgotten and ancient knowledge which might give a new insight into how we see things today? Those nine books - is that what he wants?'' David tossed his
questions into the conversation.

  ''Maybe. Maybe not. After all, it was just a legend. The story of the Nine Unknown was made popular for the first time in 1927 through a book. That book talks about a secret society and all the secrets buried with it. But looking at the craze this guy has for the history- I think this lunatic still thinks that those nine books can be found. He has named his small army as the Nine Unknown Men,'' Sameer said.

  ''At least we now know that there are nine of them. Ten- including the bastard I am going to teach a lesson. It figures - when we were at the Thar desert camp, we had an intelligence report of around ten to fifteen people but we only found a half a dozen. When I heard the tape at Rashtrapati Bhawan, I didn't suspect there was a connection between both the cases. But now I can bet that those nine missing terrorists must be working for him,'' said David, giving Raghav a slight nod.

  ''Four minutes to destination,'' the pilot announced.

  Chapter 48

  The chopper hovered over the rock cut caves of Ajanta which nestled in a panoramic gorge, in the form of a gigantic horseshoe. David took out the dhvaj which they had found at the Sariputra's stupa.

  ''Now I understand why the first place which came to your mind when you saw this horseshoe shaped picture was Ajanta, Shonali. The caves are in the exact same formation as depicted in the drawing,'' David remarked.

  ''I just hope we are on the right track and find the artefact here,'' Shonali replied a little apprehensively.

  The pilot made a smooth landing in a clearing near the parking spot of the eco-friendly government buses which transported passengers from the foothills of the mountain to the caves and back. Ranjeet stayed back in the chopper to continue with his hacking. The concerned local authorities were already informed about the situation and all the caves were made accessible to David and his team.

  The commandos stuck to their formations protecting Shonali and Sameer, scouting the area for any trouble. A narrow entry passageway at the east side of the caves led them to the series of famous rock cut caves - the finest examples of some of the earliest Buddhist architecture, cave-paintings and sculptures.