The next day Shashank and Ajay took a day off from their work and went through Jacob's belongings while Jacob was at work.
''He has a wide collection of books!'' Shashank said, opening Jacob's cupboard with the key he had carefully slipped out of Jacob's key ring the earlier night.
''He doesn't read much. So why these many books?'' Ajay questioned himself. Soon enough, Ajay found a map hidden under the books on the middle shelf. It was the map of the entire Pokharan Project Testing site with accurate locations of the shafts where the explosions would be carried out along with the security checkpoints and watchtowers. Only the security team of the facility had the access to such maps. That day Ajay was almost convinced that he was living with a spy.
It was he who attempted to kill me that night. I have been living with him for so long. The only reason why I may still be alive is that he didn't see my face that night.
Since then, Ajay and Shashank had moved out from their combined room and had started living separately. Jacob didn't ask for any reasons or justifications.
The assistant co-ordinator A.K. Das took over the mike after the energetic speech made by Dr. Kalam. He decided to unveil the plan of action to the scientists.
''From today we work together, integrating all our work which was fragmented earlier. DRDO has set up three laboratories to manage designing, testing and producing components for the test, like advanced detonators, the implosion systems and high-voltage trigger systems. We would also have to look into weaponization, systems engineering, aerodynamics, safety interlocks and flight trials. You would be assigned your respective sections today. As soon as we are ready for the tests, the nuclear devices would be sent from BARC.''
The work was distributed and it was decided that the first group would be tested on 11th May and the second group on 13th May. The first group consisted of the thermonuclear device - codenamed Shakti I, the fission device: Shakti II, and a sub-kiloton device: Shakti III. The second group consisted of the remaining two sub-kiloton devices Shakti IV & V.
Ajay and Shashank had decided to keep their eyes open for any sign of trouble from Jacob. They used to secretly search his room and office for more clues but found nothing solid.
That bastard is one hell of a spy. He sure knows how to hide his identity, thought Ajay.
The scheduled date for testing the first group of devices was approaching fast. There was barely a week left when Ajay found a note in Jacob's office. The note was typewritten and was cleverly hidden in Jacob's table drawer. It read- BE READY TO STRIKE ON 10TH.
That's one day before the day of the tests! Ajay was stunned. He knew he had to report this to his superiors. He took the note, closed the drawer and turned around to walk towards the door. He was about to grab the doorknob when the door opened from outside and Jacob stood before him staring right at the note in his hand.
Chapter 59
Ajanta Caves,
Outskirts of Aurangabad
Time: 5.09 hrs
''Dhritarashtra, Virudhaka, Virupaksha, Vaishravana!'' cried out Shonali, hoping that she had the answer to the riddle on the painting. The NSG commandos were startled on Shonali's reaction.
''Do those names mean anything?'' Sameer asked without looking up, intently working to open the curious puzzle box.
''The guards- The guards of the four directions. That might be the answer to the clue on the painting!''
Sameer still had a puzzled look on his face. He had no clue what Shonali was talking about.
''The Four Buddhist Guardian Kings: Dhritarashtra- King of the East, Virudhaka- King of the South, Virupaksha- King of the West, Vaishravana- King of the North are the protectors of the four cardinal directions and are almost always found at the entrance to monasteries and temples. They are dressed in the ornate armour, clothing of a warrior king and may be depicted either sitting or standing. I think these are the guards that the painting may be referring to!'' said Shonali.
''But what does it have to do with King Ashoka? The painting refers to the guards of Ashoka - Not just any guards. And there is the flower- go find your destiny resting on a flower. Also, your theory of the guardian kings does not lead to any place,'' Sameer said.
The smile on Shonali's face faded as she realised that her interpretation was not a very good one. She looked at the paper where Sameer was working with some numbers.
''I will give it another try. What are those numbers, by the way?'' Shonali asked.
''I am trying to see if the combination is some kind of magic square. The pattern of the cube gives me a hunch that the key must be some kind of magic square,'' Sameer said as he drew a 3 by 3 grid on the paper and filled some number in each cubicle.
Shonali was surprised to see Sameer precisely hitting upon a perfect magic square, whose sum of every row and column and even diagonal added up to 15.
''Why did you choose this particular magic square?'' Shonali asked Sameer.
At least there are some things in History which the crypto-analysts know better. Sameer smiled as the thought crossed his mind.
''That would be the first magic square any crypto-analyst would check out! It is a very common yet unique magic square. It is related to ancient Vedic mathematics, even mentioned in Chinese philosophy as the Lo Shu's square. Sometimes, in Hinduism, you can also find it on the corners of pictures of the divine trio- Lord Ganesh, Goddess Laxmi and Goddess Saraswati!'' said Sameer as he rotated the tiny copper cylinders to match the numbers in the magic square on his paper.
Shonali realised that it was indeed a very well-known magic square and that many Yantras of Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism were some or the other form of a magic square or a magic pyramid.
As soon as Sameer rotated the last cylinder to match 6, he turned the cube in excitement and tried to slide the panel. The panel did not budge even an inch. Sameer was ready for this- It was only a wild guess that he had made.
''Maybe we should concentrate upon the text above the painting. It may give us some clue,'' said Shonali
The text above the painting was only a sentence said by the Buddhists during their prayers - 'बुध्दम् सरणं गच्छामि ।' while the text below didn't happen to reveal anything.
Shonali tried to follow the lead.
''बुध्दम् सरणं गच्छामि । धम्मम् सरणं गच्छामि । संघम् सरणं गच्छामि। These are the three sentences which the Buddhists say in their prayers, but why was only the first sentence written on the painting? The painting does depict Lord Buddha, but the text has no relevance here. Why would they put up something...''
Sameer suddenly realised that the sentence- बुध्दम् सरणं गच्छामि wasn't an unimportant part of the text. He counted the number of letters making up the statement. There were three characters in each word and the three words made up the sentence in devnagari script. A total of nine characters! Nine boxes to fill...
''Maybe it is not a magic square after all. It must be one of those Vedic numerical codes!'' Sameer's face lightened up as he began to recollect his cryptography lectures.
''Vedic codes? Aren't we dealing with Buddhism and monks here? Why would they be using Vedic codes?'' said Shonali as questions sprouted in her mind.
''These were the sort of codes passed down from one generation to the next. Some of the Vedic shlokas we recite even today are a form of code. Those existed much before the times of Lord Buddha and Ashoka. They may have gone down in Buddhism when people embraced Buddhism. Vedic literature merged with almost every civilisation which existed in India,'' stated Sameer, jotting down a Sanskrit shloka right from his memory.
''You mean to say that the intellectuals who composed Vedic shlokas were some kind of cryptologists? They embedded a code in their shloka and passed it down to generations? And for what? So that no-one could decode it?'' Shonali's comment was sarcastic.
''I am not saying that they were cryptologists, but th
ey did pass on some things down to the coming generations. During the early days, knowledge was passed on verbally in gurukuls. The pupils had to memorise the Shlokas which would be passed down by them to the future generations.'' Sameer was trying to explain it to Shonali unhurriedly, but Shonali had too many questions.
''Do you know any of the coded shlokas?''
''Actually, there's one based on what we call in modern terminology as the alphanumeric conversion. It goes as
गोपीभाग्य मधुव्रातः श्रुंगशोदधि संधिगः
खलजीवितखाताव गलहाला रसंधरः '' said Sameer.
''As per my knowledge of Sanskrit, this is a praise for Lord Krishna or Lord Shiva,'' said Shonali, finding nothing surprising about the Shloka.
''Yes. But if you decode it, you will get the value of the irrational constant Pi up to 31 decimals,'' said Sameer, triumphantly leaving Shonali dumbfounded.
Sameer took a deep breath before explaining the code to Shonali.
''It is a code after all. You can only decode it if you have the key to the code. The key is like this- all the Sanskrit Characters have been specified some number between 0-9 and the key itself is also narrated in a form of another Shloka. This is how it goes कादिनव टादिनव पादिपञ्चक यद्यश्टक क्ष:शुन्यम् which means Kaadi Nava starting from ‘ka’, the sequence of 9 letters represent 1,2,..9. Similarly Taadi Nava, starting from ‘ta’, Paadi panchaka (1-5), starting from ‘pa’, Yadyashtaka (1-8) starting from ‘ya’. ‘ksha’ represents 0. So the word to word code would go as-''
Sameer jotted down the key on the piece of paper.
ka(क)-1, kha(ख)-2, ga(ग)-3, gha(घ)-4, gna(ङ)-5, cha(च)-6, cha(छ)-7, ja(ज)-8, jha(झ)-9.
ta(ट)-1, tha(ठ)-2, da(ड)-3, dha(ढ)-4, ~na(ण)-5, Ta(त)-6, Tha(थ)-7, Da(द)-8, Dha(ध)-9.
pa(प)-1, pha(फ)-2, ba(ब)-3, bha(भ)-4, ma(म)-5.
ya(य)-1, ra(र)-2, la(ल)-3, va(व)-4, Sa(श)-5, sha(ष)-6, sa (स)-7, ha(ह)-8.
kshah(क्ष)-0.
He turned to Shonali who was already doing the replacements in the shloka which Sameer had told her earlier.
गोपीभाग्य मधुव्रातः श्रुंगशोदधि संधिगः
खलजीवितखाताव गलहाला रसंधरः
ga-3, pa-1, bha-4, ya -1, ma-5, Dha-9, ra-2, tha-6, shru-5, ga-3, sha-5, da-8, Dha -9, sa-7, Dha- 9, ga-3, kha-2, la-3, ja-8, va-4, tha-6, kha-2, tha-6, va-4, ga-3, la-3, ha-8, la-3, ra-2, sa-7, Dha-9, ra-2
3.1415926535897932384626433832792
Shonali's eyes were wide open as she realised that it was the accurate value of pi up to 31 decimal places. She instantly shot her next question at Sameer.
''And you think this code is the key to the cube?''
''Yes. I think so. It's worth a try after all.''
''And which is the text that is ciphered in the painti-''
She stopped in mid-sentence because she knew there was only one statement on the painting that was unaccounted for - बुध्दम् सरणं गच्छामि ।
Sameer quickly worked out the replacements on the paper
ba(ब)-3, Da(द)-8, ma(म)-5
Sa(स)-7, ra(र)-2,~na(ण)-5
ga(ग)-3, cha(छ)-7,ma(म)-5
Now Sameer had another 3 by 3 grid filled with numbers and he just hoped that this was the right one. Shonali began to roll the copper cylinders on the cube and adjusting the numbers to match the grid prepared by Sameer. After she was done, she closed her eyes shut and tried to slide the panel below.
This time- the panel slid. Very slowly!
Chapter 60
Safdarjung Airport, Delhi
Time: 5.43 am
Safdarjung was a lesser known airport since the government shut it down in the 90's. It was now reserved for quick getaways of the VIPs in case of emergencies. The airport provided helicopter services for the Prime Minister, the President and other VIPs. As soon as President Ajaysingh's flight touched down, the airport became abuzz with military activity. Soldiers were posted at every check post, every corner and every gate. The airport staff was thoroughly checked. Colonel Rana had left no stone unturned to illustrate that he had meticulously planned the security arrangements for the President. Military armoured vehicles at the main lobby entrance were ready to take the President to the conference.
David and his team escorted Dr. Ajaysingh from the aircraft to the main terminal. On the way, David had had a quick chat with his team at Dhamara base explaining Capt. Pratap the complete situation
''HQ is sending more backup to you ASAP. Ranjeet has partially hacked into the system, but he would need to get some work done at the servers down there. Protect him at all times and also take out as many bastards as you can. This is a full priority situation so hope for the best and plan for the worst,'' David had said.
Dr. Ajaysingh and David made their way towards the security checkpoint where Colonel Rana was busy smoking a cigar while talking on his walkie-talkie. As soon as he saw the President approaching, Rana hurriedly put out the cigar, tucked his belly in and gave a crisp military salute to Dr. Ajaysingh. Colonel Rana, in his late forties, was not as physically fit as David. His bulging belly and round face added a pleasantry to his character; in contrast to his voice which was hard and commanding.
Rana did not seem happy on seeing David with the President, but shook hands with him after the official salutes. Together they made their way towards the main lobby. David let the President walk a little ahead while he stayed back to discuss some things with Colonel Rana.
''So where is your special task force, Colonel? I brought a handful of my men, just in case,'' said David.
''That was unnecessary, David,'' Col. Rana replied, noticing David’s mounting exasperation. ''My men here are highly trained and extremely capable of protecting the President''. Rana pointed to a group of soldiers standing at the main entrance. ''Maybe I should have asked HQ to put me in-charge of the President's security instead of you,'' said Colonel Rana, icily. It was always cold war when it came to Rana and David.
''I did what was necessary at that moment,'' retorted David. ''The President's life was at a risk. Those terrorists had somehow infiltrated the Rastrapati Bhawan which is, or should I say 'was', one of the most secure and military guarded locations. They even blasted the chandelier in one of the inner rooms. It is not possible to do such a thing without any support from the inside. It was necessary not to keep the President at one location- He would have been an easy target. I did what I thought was best for his safety and as you can see, he is safe and secure,'' David said with a raised voice. He spied a look of guilt in Rana's eyes. David could feel that something was not right.
Unaware of a cold war happening behind him, Dr. Ajaysingh had already climbed into the armoured military vehicle parked at the front entrance of the airport. The driver gave him a full smile.
''Okay. But the headquarters has asked ME to take over the charge of the President's security, so you can relax now and take a break. We will take him from this point onwards. Thank you for keeping him safe,'' replied Rana as he hurriedly walked towards the convoy of military vehicles at the entrance of the airport.
''That's a negative. I AM coming with you.'' David's voice was firm. His eyes had a fire as he looked right into Colonel Rana's eyes, waiting for Rana to challenge him. But Rana knew- It was David. There was no way he could hold David back and there was no point in holding him back.
''Fine David, let us not create a scene. We have to be at the press conference within ten minutes and I won't mind if you come along. Now, please hurry and just stay calm.''
David signalled his troop of commandos to be near the convoy and keep a watch over the President.
''I need to know your security strategy, Colonel,'' asked David trying to remain calm. The night had
been a tough experience for him. He could feel his stomach grumbling.
''I really don't think that would be necessary, David. We don't have much time for-''
''Won't take long! Just a couple of minutes.'' David cut Rana short and set about putting things in order. He sent Sgt. Harish to quickly grab sandwiches from the airport canteen for him and his team members who seemed famished after the night's work.
''Okay. Look there,'' said the irate Colonel, pointing towards the map of Delhi, which was framed on the wall of the main lobby. ''We have five armoured armada vehicles for the inner circle. The President would be in the centre vehicle while the other four would guard him in a diamond formation. The outer perimeter will have six police vehicles: three in the front and three in the back. My soldiers will be in the armadas guarding the President while the police will take care of the traffic ahead. We won't run into much traffic as it is only 6.00 in the morning. We also have two helicopters for overhead watch and air support.'' Rana explained to David everything as fast as he could.
David finished the last bite of his sandwich and prepared to leave towards the main entrance when a thought crossed his mind.
''Did you have your vehicles checked? It was the SUV which was rigged to blow off at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. I don't think we should repeat the same mistake,'' David expressed his worries.
''YES. The vehicles are checked. Shall we go now?'' Colonel Rana's blood was boiling with each of David's questions. Sitting in the vehicle, President Ajaysingh was still wondering what was taking David and Rana so long.
David got in the vehicle with the President, but he still had his doubts. He knew he was missing something and Assignment 6.00 kept turning up in David's mind. The driver turned on the ignition and Colonel Rana gave orders for the convoy to proceed. The vehicle slowly began to make its way towards the main gate.
Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller Page 16
