by Mainak Dhar
'Aadi, let's go back. Our work here is done.'
Indra's voice sounded strangely subdued, and Aaditya asked the question on top of his mind.
'Kartik?'
He was met by silence, so he persisted. 'It's only been a few minutes since he was hit. He told me we could recover you Devas if we had a couple of hours. Come on, what can we do?'
Indra was silent, and then he simply said, 'Let's go back. There's nothing more we can do here.'
His was mind in turmoil, rebelling at the thought of abandoning Kartik, yet hoping against hope that the Devas had some solution up their sleeves. Aaditya followed Indra and the remaining drones back to their base.
When they landed, Indra disembarked and walked to the conference room without saying anything to Aaditya. Aaditya found the Devas all silent, staring at the display in front of them. CNN was reporting that there had been at least five thousand confirmed deaths from the tsunami, and the death toll was only likely to rise as the full extent of the disaster revealed itself. Tanya was in a corner, her eyes red, as if she had been crying.
Indra sat down soundlessly next to Shiva, betraying his emotions with a simple touch on Shiva's arm. Shiva just sat there, and as Aaditya entered, for the first time, he thought he saw tears well up in his eyes. Aaditya still did not entirely understand what had happened and still harboured hopes that Kartik could somehow be revived. After all, the Devas seemed to be indestructible, didn't they?
Brahma was the first to speak. 'My heart cries for all the souls lost in Hawaii and for our Kartik.'
Aaditya was still in a daze. 'Kartik told me that Devas had a couple of hours in which they could be revived. Surely you can do something?'
Nobody spoke till Shiva walked up to Aaditya and put his arms around him. 'Thank you for what you did today, and for trying to save Kartik. We are warriors and for us, loss is something we must learn to deal with, but for now, let me go and grieve with Durga for the loss of our son.'
Shiva walked out slowly, and Aaditya felt tears streaming down his face. Having seen the evil that Kalki was capable of, he was now convinced that his father could never have served such a monster. His mind kept replaying the dogfight, wishing he had reached sooner, wishing he had at least managed to destroy Maya when he had the chance.
'We have an incoming audio message.'
Ganesha's words got everyone's attention.
'Play it.'
On Brahma's command, a section of the giant holographic screen turned blank and Aaditya heard a voice that he realized with a shock he had heard before.
'Greetings, Father. Hello my enemies, old and new.'
It was Kalki.
***
There was pin drop silence in the room as Kalki's message continued.
'Many ages ago, you began this war against me. I never started any aggression against the Devas. If only you had let me do as I saw fit with the humans, with my creation. You began that war, but I will finish it. What you are seeing today is but a small preview of what I have in store. I will have what is rightfully mine. This world and its inhabitants will be shaped as I see fit, and you will be able to do nothing but watch. Save yourself more loss and grief, and go back to that pretentious alliance. Humans are my offspring, and I will watch over them, better than my own father watched over me.'
Aaditya saw even the normally unflappable Brahma flinch as the message ended.
'Why don't you just nuke his base?'
Vishnu answered Aaditya. 'We considered that. First, if he is underwater, there's no telling we'll get him, and if he retaliates in kind, then billions could die on Earth. We could not risk destroying this world again. Second, even if we succeed, what would we say to the humans? Why would they trust or believe us if we unleash a nuclear war on their planet?'
'So, what do we do?'
Brahma was now pacing the room, his hands folded behind him. 'It is a peculiar stalemate. We cannot get him in his lair, and he cannot get us. But we cannot just wait to see what new evil he has in store.'
Aaditya remembered what Kalki had said in the message he had sent through Maya. 'Does he know where our base is? Why doesn't he attack?'
'Because we still have one trump card.'
Aaditya waited for Brahma to explain, but Indra brought up a display on the screen. It showed the Earth, with dots orbiting it.
'Satellites.'
'I don't understand.'
'Aadi, when we returned here, we had our satellites crisscrossing the Earth to offer us near total surveillance. But when Kalki returned, we quickly took out each other's satellites in a space war that humans were oblivious to. Since then, neither of us has our own satellites up in space. Kalki is thus blind outside of his short term sensor range of his vimanas and his base.'
'Are we as well?'
Indra smiled.
'So Kalki thinks.'
Ganesha pointed to several of the dots circling the Earth that were now blinking.
'I've hacked into several of the US and Russian spy satellites and put in a couple of our special sensors into them. The humans don't even know it, but through them, we get twenty-four hour coverage of the Earth. Every time an Asura vimana takes off, we know.'
Indra tapped the screen. It showed a video of a missile in flight, and then disappearing as a bright blue light connected with it.
'1968. That was the year Kalki discovered our base. He launched four nuclear missiles. We saw them the moment they took off, and we intercepted them. The US and Russia also picked them up and put their strategic forces on alert. Ganesha had to mess around with their computers so they thought it was a malfunction in their radars. Otherwise, the Cold War you humans talked of would have turned very hot.'
A chill went down Aaditya's spine as he realized the implication of what he had just heard.
'He launched four waves of vimana strikes. Again, as soon as a single vimana took off, we were ready. We ambushed and slaughtered them. He doesn't know how we did it, but he knows he cannot attack us here.'
'So, what do we do?'
Brahma sighed.
'If only we knew the secret to Kalki's base. If only we knew how to break through his defences. If only we could get even a small glimpse into what's happening inside his base.'
Aaditya realized that as omnipotent and powerful as the Devas seemed, they were as clueless as he was now. They disbanded, planning to meet the next morning.
Aaditya had a rough night. He kept thinking of Kartik, of his last conversation with the young Deva. Not able to sleep, he called Tanya, and the two of them sat near the hangar, both gripped with despair and sorrow at Kartik's loss. He held on to Tanya, and she tried to comfort him, but she knew the guilt he felt would perhaps heal only with time.
At about four in the morning, when Tanya had finally fallen asleep with her head on his shoulders, Aaditya fell into an uneasy slumber, his mind a jumble of thoughts. The dogfight, Kalki's message, the stalemate the Devas found themselves in, the sudden spurt of tsunamis, Kalki's reference to his father, Kartik's death. All the disjointed thoughts swirled in his mind, as he tossed and turned, and then he had a sudden flash of clarity.
When Tanya woke up, Aaditya debated whether or not to tell her about his plan. At first, sure that she would refuse, he decided that he would go straight to Brahma, and if he agreed, then try and convince Tanya. However, when he saw her looking into his eyes over breakfast, he realized that he could not do that to her.
'Why are you looking at me like that?'
Aaditya just smiled and asked Tanya to join him for a walk. They walked all over the base, covering the length and breadth of the hangar, then walking to the underground chambers where some of the Devas slept and where their research and production facilities were hidden away. Aaditya brought Tanya to a bench overlooking a repair area for vimanas, where Indra's vimana was currently being tended to by two robotic mechanics. Over the dull hum of the machines, Aaditya told her what his plan was.
Tanya refused outright. Then, w
hen he told her the full story, she fell silent. She held on to his hand, as if unwilling to let go, as if afraid that once he left, she would never see him again. Finally, she kissed him and held him so tightly it felt as if she would crush him. Then, she simply let his hand go. She kept sitting there, staring into nothingness, as Aaditya got up and began his long walk to the conference room to meet Brahma.
'Are you out of your mind?'
Aaditya had guessed that Brahma would not welcome his plan, but even he was surprised at the outright rejection from the elder Deva.
'What other choice do we have? Did you yourself not say that the only real way to find out a weakness in Kalki's base was to get someone inside?'
'And why should Kalki ever believe you? Why would he not just kill you as a possible spy?'
Aaditya thought about that for a second. He had not yet told anyone other than Tanya about the message he had got from Kalki, and even now, he was not sure he should be revealing it to the Devas. He was less worried that they may question his loyalties, but that if they ever got to know that Kalki himself had reached out to him, they would never let him go. And with that would disappear any chances of his ever getting to know what had really happened to his father.
'Brahma, I'm not sure he will believe me, but you yourself said that his biggest weapon is temptation. He knows the one human weakness he can count on to exploit-our greed for money, for power. He has been doing that for years now. I could pretend that I have been seduced by an offer of money or power?'
By now, Indra, Vishnu, Shiva and Narada had come into the room. They had overheard much of the exchange and Vishnu spoke next.
'Aadi, it is brave of you to make such an offer, but there are too many unknowns. He may never believe you, the Asuras may just kill you outright the moment they see you, even if you do make it inside, and there is no way we can guarantee we can get you out.'
'And, my boy, there is also the risk that if he does want to extract information from you, you end up revealing too much of what you really know. After all, being the one human to have got so involved in our struggle, what you have in your head is what would make you most invaluable to Kalki.'
Aaditya started to protest at Indra's suggestion, but the Deva stopped him.
'Aadi, I know you are brave and you will say that you won't do anything like that, but even the strongest and bravest man will break under torture, especially the kind of torture Maya and his underlings are capable of dreaming up.'
With all the Devas against his plan, Aaditya began to lose hope. Suddenly, Ganesha burst into the room.
'Turn on the display. There's a message from Kalki.'
Kalki's voice boomed across the room once more. This time, his message was as short as it was menacing.
'Bye bye Bali.'
Aaditya watched as the Devas quickly brought up various news channels on their display. They all had the same leading news. An earthquake measuring over 8 on the Richter scale had struck the sea just off Bali. A monster tsunami wave was reported to be forming in the water.
Aaditya felt his pulse quicken, and his eyes sting from the tears that were beginning to form. How many thousands more were going to be sacrificed in this hellish game that Kalki seemed to be intent on playing? By now, the quakes and their devastating aftermath had become only too predictable, and as the Devas watched their satellite display, ten red dots appeared over Indonesian airspace.
'The bastard!'
Brahma spoke with a heavy sigh, ignoring Shiva's outburst. 'Turn it off. I don't want to watch more innocents be slaughtered without us being able to do anything about it.'
Narada had now come up behind Aaditya, and he felt Narada's hands on his shoulder, as if offering support. 'Brahma, perhaps the boy's plan, as crazy and hopeless as it sounds, is the only chance we have.'
All eyes in the room turned towards Brahma, knowing that the decision was his to make. Aaditya watched with bated breath as the Deva seemed to be weighing the decision before him. Finally he said just two words and walked out of the room.
'Do it.'
ELEVEN
'One room for the both of you, sir?'
The question seemed an innocuous one, but the tone in which the receptionist asked it was pointed enough.
'Yes, please,' Narada replied nonchalantly.
As the receptionist got around to processing the paperwork, Aaditya pulled Narada aside. 'Is it really necessary for the two of us to share a room? I mean, she thinks we're a couple.'
Narada kept looking in the distance, scanning for any sign of trouble.
'Aadi, I don't care if she thinks we're going to have a bloody orgy in there. I cannot let you out of my sight before the Asuras make contact.'
Aaditya sighed as Narada fished out his credit card to complete the formalities. That was one of the elements of the plan Narada had hatched. He was sure that the Asuras monitored calls and financial transactions just as the Devas did, and Aaditya was most certainly on their watch list after his role in the battles. A hotel reservation made in his name was sure to attract the attention of the Asuras.
Aaditya and Narada took the elevator up to their suite in the ITC Maratha Hotel in Mumbai.
'I like the buffet breakfast here,' had been Narada's reply when Aaditya had asked him why he had chosen this particular hotel.
As they entered the room, Aaditya took stock of the accommodations and then told Narada that he was going to take the couch in the living area.
'No offence, but I really don't fancy us cuddling together at night.'
'I am heartbroken,' Narada replied in mock despair.
The rest of the morning was spent rehearsing their plan, and by lunch, they were ready to give it a go. Narada left first, booking a hotel car to take him for a supposed business meeting. Aaditya left ten minutes later, taking a car to the In Orbit Mall, which he'd read was the largest mall in Southeast Asia. Narada could not be sure, but he had bet on the fact that if the Asuras had been alerted, they would prefer to tail Aaditya, thinking him a softer target. He was the first human the Devas had let so deep in their ranks, and for him to be out and about so openly would mean that he had the Devas' full confidence.
The driver must have thought Aaditya was a tourist who had come to Mumbai for the first time in his life, the way he gawked at the crowds and traffic around him. Being around so many people after almost a year made him feel like an alien. He was sure things could not have changed so much in a year for them to seem so strange to him-or had he himself changed so much?
Fifteen minutes into the ride, Aaditya's earpiece buzzed with Narada's voice. 'They are right behind you. Two ugly daityas in black suits and sunglasses riding a silver Honda City.'
Aaditya looked behind cautiously, and sure enough, they were there.
'Narada, where the hell are you?'
Aaditya could hear the Deva chuckle.
'In a taxi right behind them.'
As Aaditya's car came to a stop at the entrance to the mall, he felt his first real stab of fear. What had he got himself into? Now it was too late to back out. He would just have to carry through with the plan. The Honda was standing nearby, its engine idling. A security guard came over to tell the driver that he could not park there, but a glare from the giants inside the car sent the guard scurrying back. Aaditya just stood there, watching the daityas inside the car. It was a farce-they knew he was on to them, and obviously he knew who they were.
'Narada, what now?'
'If you go into the mall, they won't follow you in. In broad daylight, those freaks would attract way too much attention. So make your move here, and don't worry, we have your back.'
Narada was nowhere to be seen, but Aaditya didn't doubt that he was close. For that matter, for all his requests to go alone, he did not doubt that Shiva and the others were also near, ready to step in if things got ugly. Reassured by that thought, he walked over to the Honda. The two daityas looked at each other, and Aaditya thought he could hear them talking frantically. He s
miled to himself. They would never have expected him to make the first move. He casually walked up to the driver's side and tapped on the window.
The daitya rolled down the window as Aaditya leaned against the door.
'I assume you are not following me because you want my autograph. Look, I don't have time to play games. Narada is expecting to meet me for lunch, and he'll be here in an hour or so. If that snake-eyed bastard is nearby, call him. I need to talk to him.'
The slightly stunned daitya whispered something into an earpiece and then asked Aaditya to get into the back seat.
'What kind of an idiot do you think I am? Get him to come here. We do this my way.'
The daitya took off his sunglasses, his red eyes blazing in anger, but he soon composed himself and asked Aaditya to wait.
'Someone is pushing their luck today. For a slave of the Devas, you seem to have a big mouth.'
Now it was Aaditya's turn to be surprised. He turned around to see Maya standing just a couple of feet behind him. Dark sunglasses covered his eyes and he wore a black suit like the daityas.
'Come with me. Let's take a little walk together.'
Aaditya and Maya walked inside the mall and sat at a coffee shop. As the two sat facing each other, going through the motions of sipping the lattes in front of them, Aaditya was torn by conflicting emotions. Here he was with the creature who had killed Kartik in front of his eyes, and who was responsible for the abduction, if not the death, of his father. Every bone in his body told him to lash out now and kill Maya, but he held himself back. Even if he did manage to kill Maya, it would mean that both the larger purposes of his mission would amount to nothing-stopping Kalki for the Devas and finding out the truth about his father.
'So, my crippled friend, what assistance may I provide you?'
Aaditya bristled at Maya's insult, but reminded himself why he was here.
'I have a business proposal for your master.'
'Tell me what you want and why I should not kill you here and now. You've caused enough trouble for us.'
