03:02

by Mainak Dhar

  He looked at me, an amused grin on his face. ‘Easy, my friend. We don’t come with an army. All we have is the two of us, for now that is.’

  ‘What happened? How did you guys get here?’

  Mrs Khatri interjected. ‘Aadi, we’ll talk about all that, and I suspect we’ll stay up all night learning of what these two men have to tell us about the world outside, but for now, we need to say our goodbyes to those we lost.’

  We walked to the construction pit behind the school, which was acting as our cemetery, and laid our fallen to rest. Mira was buried by her parents while someone recited Koranic verses. Yash’s body was consigned to flames by his father, while his mother stood in a corner, weeping inconsolably. Finally, it was the General’s turn. His body was wrapped in a white sheet, with only his face showing, looking serene and at peace.

  ‘Who will do the final rites? He had no family here.’

  I took the torch and performed the final rites. I stood by the pyre as the flames took his body. With his sacrifice, he had bought us all a new lease on life, and I was now going to make sure that it was all worth it.

  My side hurt every time I moved and my head ached. I realized that I had also managed to sprain my ankle sometime during the battle. Basically, once the adrenaline had worn out, it felt like my entire body was in pain. Dr Guenther gave me an Ibuprofen to help relieve the pain and Mrs Khatri told me the debrief would take place in my apartment so I wouldn’t have to move too much.

  So, at eight in the evening, there were around thirty people gathered in my living room. Drinks and snacks were being passed around and it would have looked like a party had the circumstances not been what they were. I was on the sofa with Megha next to me and the others were on couches or sitting on the floor.

  Ronald had a glass of wine in his hand and he grinned as he began. ‘You guys sure wasted them!’

  ‘We would be dead if you hadn’t shown up. I certainly would have been. Thank you.’

  He raised his glass to me and continued. ‘True, but they only had three men standing. They may have killed you but their attack was stalled. They would never have taken the colony with three men. As it turned out, this battle was a game-changer. We got nine Kalashnikovs, twelve pistols, one RPG launcher, the heavy machine gun, nine radio sets and twelve bulletproof vests that still work. You do realize what that means?’

  I’d had no idea so much of the enemy gear would survive the explosions. It did indeed transform us into a group that would be able to field close to thirty armed men.

  ‘What about enemy casualties?’

  ‘They sent sixteen men. Seven died in the fight. Of the others, we took the one who had the least wounds prisoner.’

  I looked Ronald in the eye as I tried to process what he was saying. ‘What about the others?’

  He just moved his fingers across his throat.

  I considered what he was saying, and thought of what those men would have done had they broken through our lines. No, this was not a time nor a world where mercy was to be given easily, so I just nodded.

  ‘What has he revealed so far?’

  ‘Not much, but Shaikh has a way with people. Everyone talks, sooner or later, and he will too.’

  ‘What brought you here?’ Bhagat asked.

  ‘Technically, we violated orders. We were to do a recce for enemy forces and saw the attack on the society this morning. There was no way the two of us could have taken on all of them. Then we saw them massing for another attack. What got us interested was you guys raising the tricolour. Finally, it looked like someone was standing up to the bastards. Then we saw the battle and you guys giving as good as you got, so we chipped in. I say “technically violated orders”, because we were to avoid detection by the enemy. With all the attackers dead except the one bastard, we’re still sticking to orders.’

  He laughed as he said that and I found myself increasingly liking our new friend. I knew he was a trained killer, but he had a warm, genuine laugh that seemed to put everyone around him at ease.

  ‘Won’t they attack again? Shouldn’t we be watching our checkpoint?’ I asked.

  Ronald smiled again. ‘Akif?’

  Akif tapped the radio he held. ‘They totally freaked out when they asked for updates and didn’t hear back from their men. They sent a two-man patrol to check and Shaikh sniped them both. They’ve lost eighteen men in one evening, when they thought all they were up against were helpless civilians. They’re digesting this and making plans—I heard them order all patrols to get back to the airport. I’ve got a dozen kids with weapons out there now, and by tomorrow we’ll start training more people with the new weapons.’

  I tried to convince myself that things were secure for now, but with the battle and the killing we had been through, it was hard to sit in my apartment while the enemy was outside, planning another attack. Ronald saw my expression and laid a reassuring hand on my shoulder. ‘Shaikh is also out there, and the two of us have radios of our own. Any trouble and we’ll get help out there fast. You’ve done more than your share of fighting for now. Relax, eat something, and get some rest.’

  Megha whispered into my ears. ‘Listen to him and relax!’

  So I sat back, but relaxation was the last thing on my mind. ‘Ronald, fine, I’ll sit here, but why don’t you tell us your story. What’s happening out there?’

  ‘We were on board a submarine, the INS Chakra, on patrol in the Indian Ocean, when radio transmission from Mumbai stopped. We surfaced and saw that the whole city was black, except for a few military frequencies. Largely strategic units that had been hardened against nuclear or chemical attacks. It was chaos, nobody really knew what had happened, though there had been a heightened state of alert for a few days and intelligence of impending terror attacks, so we all assumed it was an attack of some sort. With the evidence we had, our Captain was about to conclude that it was an EMP attack, but then we heard from the Americans and realized just what had happened.

  ‘The Americans have forces all over the world, and many more subs and airborne command posts which are hardened, so while they were in a state of panic for the first day, gradually they began to connect the dots. At least four nukes were set off in the upper atmosphere. One over the continental United States, a huge bomb that blacked out all of the US; one over south Asia that took us out along with a lot of neighbouring countries; one above northern Europe which has blacked out the UK, France, Germany and some parts of Russia; and finally one launched in the southern hemisphere which has most of south-east Asia and Australia blacked out as well. At one stroke, these bastards took most of the world’s major players off the table.

  ‘They say well over two million people may have died that first day itself.’

  There was a ripple in the room. We had seen the violence that had been unleashed, but it was difficult to process and comprehend death on that sort of scale.

  ‘Think about it: five thousand passenger planes over the US alone at any given time. When they all fell, perhaps seven lakh people died. Add to that similar losses around the world and more than a million would have died in air crashes alone. Then, traffic accidents, looting, people dying in hospitals as systems went offline, and you’ve got to think two million may be an understatement.

  ‘They had planned it well. They had sleeper cells in many cities, including Mumbai, which went into action soon after the blasts. Their job was to attack security forces and create even more chaos for the next phase of the plan, which was for reinforcements to come in and hold territory. They did that with groups moving up from Mexico into the US; with boats that landed on the Italian and French coasts from Libya to join their sleeper cells there, hidden among refugees; and as you’ve seen here, flights. They tried to fly into Delhi first, but thank god the Air Force had a few fighters that were hardened against nuclear strikes and were meant to deliver nuclear weapons. They blasted those bloody transports out of the sky. But then they came to Mumbai, and there was nobody to stop them here.’

&
nbsp; I asked the question that was no doubt on everybody’s mind.

  ‘How did they pull off the attack? Who helped them?’

  Ronald held up his hands in mock surrender. ‘Easy, easy. I don’t have all the answers, but I’ll fill you in with what I do know. How they pulled it off is a matter of conjecture. The US thinks they got warheads from Pakistan and old Soviet stocks. They likely used rockets captured in Iraq and Syria, so no major help needed there. What we do know is that they used converted freighter ships to launch them. The word is that elements of the Pakistani military helped them think through and execute this.’

  ‘What’s the US doing to retaliate?’

  Ronald’s face grew solemn. ‘The US President was killed in a suicide attack on the White House just as the Blackout happened. In the chaos, they got through the Secret Service and wiped out the First Family. They did the same here as well—a lot of top government leaders were targeted. In our case, thankfully, the PM survived and is in a secure bunker supervising our response. The new US President took a few days to evaluate the situation and is co-ordinating with allies, including us.’

  ‘With all the power out, how are they communicating?’

  ‘The US has its own military intranet that was hardened against nuclear strikes; we have our secure systems; and a lot of guys in the field are using old-fashioned shortwave radios.’

  Nitish chuckled. ‘We should have thought of that and found a set here.’

  ‘It took a week or so for all the governments to get their heads around what had happened,’ Roland continued. ‘God knows how many more millions died in the chaos, and then the new US President ordered massive retaliation. Tactical nuclear weapons were used to wipe out all known ISIS bases and those of their sympathizers in Iraq, Syria, Libya and Somalia, and all major Pakistani air bases and nuclear installations.’

  There was a gasp of astonishment at that.

  ‘Surely lots of civilians died in those strikes?’

  ‘Yes, but it seems the US decided that was better than risking more attacks.’

  Mr Sinha had been sitting quietly. Indeed, all evening I had heard him say very little, and assumed he had taken the General’s death hard. They had become good friends over the last few days. Now he sat up and asked Ronald another question. ‘If all their bases are gone, it’s over, right?’

  Ronald shook his head. ‘Hardly. What made these killers different from any other terror group was their desire to hold physical territory, to create their so-called Caliphate. Their major bases are wiped out, but they planned for this. Thousands of them are in the US, Europe and here, recreating their Caliphate on a global scale, and their flights coming in here are just reinforcing that. They initially sent some men on boats disguised as Pakistani fishing vessels, but now the Navy’s onto it and sinking any boat that looks suspicious. This air lifeline is harder to bust, though.’

  ‘If we had fighters in Delhi, why not here?’

  ‘Only fighters tasked with nuclear missions were hardened, and in the first few days, the bastards hit air bases around the country. You must have seen the fires burning—Naval and air bases around Mumbai and Goa were hit by sleeper cells and terrorists who had come in by boat. Goa managed to survive but all the newer fighters are useless, so they cobbled together the strike this morning. There’s a whole other war going on all across India. With air power cobbled, the Army’s relying on the good old railways and old coaches to transport troops. Of course the bastards are trying to intercept trains, but it’s a matter of time before a big Army contingent gets here to launch an assault on the airport and wipe out the other cells. In a congested city like this, though, it’s going to be messy.’

  ‘Where are they flying in from?’

  ‘Nobody knows. The Americans have high altitude satellites up but they are so busy with the battles raging in their homeland that they haven’t gotten around to tasking them to find out. Probably coming from a hidden base in Pakistan. That’s why Shaikh and I were dropped ashore, to have a closer look at the airport and come up with a plan to retake it once our troops get here. Our info is that the first train will be here within three days. By the way, Aadi, I did need to ask you something.’

  ‘Of course, what is it?’

  ‘Can Shaikh and I stay here for a while, use your society as our base of operations?’

  I glanced around to see what the others thought, but everyone just looked at me, waiting for me to decide.

  ‘Of course, now we’re also a part of this fight. What do you want us to do?’

  ‘We have a lot to plan, but for tonight, you need to get some rest.’

  I started to protest, but he stopped me. ‘You’ve taken a few nasty knocks and everyone here needs you fighting fit as soon as possible. We’re all here to take care of security for one night. Now, get some rest.’

  As everyone left and I retired to my bed, I wondered just how much sleep I’d get. Megha rested her head on my chest and lay there and I could tell she wasn’t sleeping either. When the Blackout had started, I thought Mumbai had somehow gone dark; but now I realized that the blackness had engulfed the whole world.

  FOURTEEN

  When I woke up, it felt like every single inch of my body hurt. I managed to swing my legs out of bed and stand and took a few tentative steps. Walking seemed to make things a bit better so I headed to the balcony, wondering what was happening. I looked at my watch to see that it was ten in the morning. I hadn’t slept so much since the Blackout, and part of me was beginning to get anxious about what had happened while I was sleeping.

  When I went to the balcony, I saw to my relief that there was no invading force in our midst, indeed things were only too normal and nobody seemed to be faring any the worse for my absence. I saw a note from Megha on the dining table: Take these pills and sleep. If you step outside, Mahadev has orders to shoot you ☺. Love you.

  I smiled, took the pills and, nursing a headache worse than the worst hangover I’d ever suffered, I decided to obey Megha’s instructions and went back to bed. When I next woke up it was one in the afternoon. I felt much better, and realized that, more than medicines, what I had really needed were some hours of uninterrupted sleep and rest. As I went to the dining room, I realized Megha had been at work again, and there was a plate with food on it for me. With the first bite I realized just how hungry I was and I literally licked the plate clean. Feeling much better, I decided to risk being shot by Mahadev and stepped out. When I came down, I did see Mahadev there, and he greeted me with a smile.

  ‘Megha madam told me you’d come out sooner rather than later.’

  ‘I hope she’s not actually told you to shoot me on sight,’ I smiled.

  He had not been kidding about upgrading his ride to the new jeep and it was waiting outside the society gates.

  ‘Where to, sir?’

  ‘You tell me. What have I missed?’

  ‘Not too much. Shaikh has been working with Nasir and his friends on more bombs and defences, and I think he wants to meet you about the prisoner. Plus, we have about a hundred more people who want to join us. They arrived an hour ago and the committee’s still debating what to do with them right now next door.’

  I walked over and found the team in the middle of a discussion. Mrs Khatri was holding forth when I entered.

  ‘We cannot feed a hundred more people!’

  ‘But Malini, they want to help us. All they’re asking for is security.’

  ‘Kundu, they have no weapons or guns, how can they help us? You’re in charge of our supplies so you know that we cannot feed a hundred more people without seriously compromising our long-term stocks.’

  Kundu looked like he had no response to that.

  I spoke up then. ‘Who are we talking about, folks?’

  Everybody got up to greet me and asked me how I was doing.

  ‘Still largely in one piece, but who are these hundred people?’

  Bhagat answered. ‘A group of people from some buildings on LBS Marg. The
y got the same demands we did, and they say some societies are actually complying and trying to buy peace by giving food stocks as taxes. They were debating what to do when they say they heard the fighting and word’s somehow got around that we defeated an enemy force. They also saw our flag. They say in return for security they will help us fight the enemy. Of course, other than hockey sticks and kitchen knives they have no real weapons.’

  I thought about it and said half to myself, ‘At least they want to fight. That’s something.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘I said, at least they want to fight. It’s a shame that others are trying to buy peace, because they’re just delaying the inevitable, but I can understand why they’re doing it. Hasn’t that been the story of our country for too long? Haven’t too many of us tried to accommodate and buy peace with invaders instead of uniting to fight them? If people are willing to fight, I say we see how we can help them.’

  ‘Aadi, I don’t disagree with your sentiments, but how can they help us fight the enemy? They have no weapons to offer.’

  I turned to Anu, who had asked the question. ‘I think they may well have a lot to offer. So many of our people are tied up in organizing food and water supplies, and now we’ll have a sizeable group we can train to use guns. But the big reason we survived yesterday were our bombs. Imagine if we had a whole group of people devoted to making bombs. What if, instead of three bombs, we had thirty or fifty? Imagine the firepower that would give us. We could rig up all entrance routes and make an attack on us all but impossible.’

  ‘But what about food and space?’

  ‘Let them live in the Meluha. It’s empty now, and as for food, why hoard a year’s stock when our survival hinges on the next few days? You heard Ronald, this war will turn one way or the other in the next three or four days. Let’s focus on being as strong as possible for now.’

  Nitish spoke up in my support. ‘He’s got a point. The enemy is reinforcing. We saw four flights come in this morning, so they’ve taken their losses seriously and will attack sooner or later. Having a lot of food six months down the line will mean nothing if we don’t live to eat it.’