by Abhishek Roy
While I waited patiently with my breath held, I realised that the bullet was taking too long to hit its designated target. Strangely there was no noise also. Slowly, I opened my eyes, half expecting to behold heaven but caught myself staring at the bullet, suspended centimetres away from my head!
“Aarrghh!” I cried out in sheer disbelief but a small squeaky sound came out from my throat. I recoiled away from the bullet. Either this was some alternate reality where I was already dead and was watching the final moment of my life or this inexplicable thing was actually happening.
As my focus moved from the bullet to its background, I almost winced to see each and every officer frozen in their positions. Everyone had their guns trained on me but none of them moved, their faces maintaining their expressions. More astonishing was the condition of my shooter. The AK-103 he held in his hands still had the bright explosion of gases suspended in front of the barrel, refusing to effuse into the air. Moreover, the small snow particles were also hanging in the air.
It was as if, time proper had stopped and along with it, everything had stopped except myself. I seemed to be able to move around freely, without any restrictions and suddenly, it struck me. This event was obviously not going to last forever.
Without wasting any time (which was not really being wasted for time itself had stopped!) I sprinted uphill towards the lake. As I ran, the sight of the gravel scooped up by my feet, enthralled me for they too stopped after rising an inch or two above the ground. They looked like small wavelets rising up from the soil.
Within seconds, I reached the top of the hill and observed something astounding. The lake had now completely drained away and I could see the ground sloping inwards making it look like a meteor crater. Anxious to know where Ram and Vivek were, I sprinted towards the lake as fast as my feet could carry me. Soon, the circular hole bored into the hill face came into view. I bent down a little but there was no sign of Ram and Vivek. I ran a little further and the floor of the lake came into view. It was however no ordinary lake floor. The base was riddled with jagged, tube like protrusions secreting hot gases. While a few of them secreted only gases, most of them were oozing out red hot lava. Being frozen in time, they now looked more like melting glass than molten rock. Suddenly, I knew why the lake was warm despite being in such a cold environment. It was all because of the protrusions which people know as volcanic vents.
If the earthquake had not drained away the water, I would have never known that these vents existed on the lake floor. In addition to draining the water, the tremors had also opened up a number of cracks and fissures on the lake bed, most of which were glowing yellow and oozing magma.
In the middle of all this, I spotted Ram and Vivek standing at a place where the lava had yet to reach. They were huddled over something at the bottom of the lake bed which I could not see.
“Ram!” I tried calling out to them but what came out my throat was but a squeak. Clearly, it was because of the air particles which too had succumbed to the grasp of time and refused to vibrate. In fact, I was also having some trouble breathing for the same reason. I tried taking a whiff from the inhaler but the gas particles got suspended inside my mouth. I sucked in as much as I could.
Ignoring my discomfort, I made my way towards them. All of a sudden, after I had covered nearly the distance between me and them, time resumed its flow.
Everything started moving again. The lava started to flow, the wind started to blow, gravity along with time started acting normal and Ram and Vivek started to move. Most of all there was an explosion of noise. The noise of the wind and of the atmosphere, which we take for granted, was there for me to rejoice. It felt like coming back to life.
As relieved as I was, I also knew that the soldiers would have started moving. Hence, I controlled my desire to shout out to the two of them and let them know that I was here, apparently having evaded death.
Whilst I moved towards them as fast as I could with an injured leg, avoiding the rivulets of lava I caught a glimpse of Vivek and Ram lifting up something heavy, something like a stone slab.
“Ram!” I cried out.
He spun instantly, his eyes wide with surprise. “Mathias!”
Ram and Vivek set down the stone slab and Ram embraced me as soon as I had reached him.
“We saw you disappear over the hill and then heard the gunshot! I got so terrified...”
“I am still alive and kicking, Ram. You need not get worried.” I assured him and tried to cool him down.
“Nevertheless, how did you reach the lake so fast? Especially, with your wounded leg.” Vivek inquired of me.
“I’ll tell you guys later.” I said, deciding that standing on a volcanic lake bed with 15 guards tailing us, explaining the strange event would be last thing I’d want.
Now that Ram and Vivek had set down the stone slab, I could see why they were inspecting it. There, emblazoned on the slab and distinctly visible was the sign we had spotted on a well in Badrinath.
“Isn’t that the.. .Scandinavian rune?”
“Yes, it is.” Ram confirmed.
“It is completely dark inside. However, we can hear the distinct sound of gushing water.” Vivek informed me.
Just then, we heard the loud sound of the earth cracking. We followed the noise to see that another fissure had just opened up, a few feet away from us, which was also oozing magma and quickly turning the beautiful and serene lake, into a hellish- looking pool of molten rock.
Along with that, my peripheral vision caught some movement up on the surface. I could now see that the soldiers had further split into two groups, one heading towards the lake and the other probably towards our abandoned tent.
“Quick guys!” I whispered loudly. “We do not have time for this.“
“Help me lift it, quick. They will be able to see us in less than 30 seconds!” both of them heeded my command. They rushed to my aid and helped me half lift-half drag it away from the hole. After we dropped the slab down with a smack, I took some time trying to muster my courage. It was a circular hole and the darkest I had ever seen. It looked scary and forbidding even compared to the hole Ram and I had ventured into only recently.
“Give me your torch.” I said and Ram handed it to me. I flicked it on and turned the beam of light into the hole. The darkness didn’t allow the light to penetrate it but I could make out moving water down below.
I gave one final glance to the soldiers who were but 40-50 metres away from the lake, and jumped into the hole without a word, knowing that they would follow me.
“Mathias!” that was the last word I had heard from Ram before my field of vision was shrouded in darkness and once again, I got wet. The strong current whisked me away instantly and I struggled to breathe while I bobbed in and out of the water. The stream took me somewhere and I had to submit myself to it.
Ram’s story
NANDA DEVI BIOSPHERE RESERVE,
UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
March 10, 2017, Friday, 1625 hours
“Mathias!” Ram shouted just after he disappeared down the hole. The lava was now so near to them, that Vivek and Ram had to stand on the tips of their toes. While Ram gazed down the hole, shocked to see Mathias do such a thing, Vivek shot a glance at the rapidly advancing soldiers. Before the man in front of the group could get a visual on his targets, Vivek shoved Ram into the hole and without wasting a moment, he jumped down too, dragging the stone slab for it to fall and shutout the lava from entering.
Elsewhere
NANDA DEVI BIOSPHERE RESERVE,
UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
March 10, 2017, Friday, 1625 hours
“What happened to the lake? The water’s gone and it’s flooded with lava!” asked an incredulous officer.
“I presume it is the result of the seismic activity. Look, it looks like a lake from hell!” offered one of the officers.
“I think I caught some movement on the lake bed.” the soldier at the head of the group said, his voice laced with suspicion.
“Congratulations soldier, on detecting the movement of the ‘flowing’ lava!” another officer chuckled.
“I think I caught some ‘human’ movement.” retorted the soldier
“Really?” the chuckling officer asked just as they reached the brim of the crater. “You think anyone bar you would go down there?” he smirked.
“Perhaps, the lava came up only a few minutes ago?” the soldier proposed.
“I can’t see any trace of the boys, sir.” The soldier at the back of the group suggested.
“Neither do I,” agreed the officer, scanning the scene which looked no less than hell itself. The lake bed was now covered with lava and steam shot up into the air from places where the lava met water. It looked really odd in the cold and icy Himalayan environment. Even if the boys had gone in there, there was no chance they could have survived it unless.
“What about that strange hole on the face of the ridge?” offered another officer.
“They could have reached it only if there was water here. They couldn’t have climbed the sheer rock face without proper equipment and as far as I remember, they were empty handed. I can go and bring the climbing gear but I strongly believe that they are not in there.” answered the soldier next to the officer who had asked the question.
“No need to do that soldier. With the lava beneath us, climbing the sheer rock face and descending to the hole would be extremely dangerous. Let us go see if the other group found something.” With that, they made their way to the tent situated at the foot of the opposite hill.
While walking, one of the officers turned his head and looked up at the imposing structure at the top of the cliff. He had never seen it there but knew that it existed for many years.
“Doesn’t look Buddhist. It’s strange. We never discussed about this building here. Could they have...... “ the officer muttered to himself. “No, they couldn’t have done it so fast.“
He suspended the doubts and followed his comrades to the tent.
What he was unable to see was the last bit of the stone slab melting away into the lava and if they had waited for another few minutes, they would have been able to see the steam shooting upwards as the lave would have reached the water.
Kapittel 26
Mathias’s story
UNDERGROUND, UTTARAKHAND, INDIA
March 10, 2017, Friday, 1650 hours
There was darkness and water everywhere and this time, colder water. I knew that finding a hand hold or a support would be futile. Therefore, I streamlined my body and allowed the current to take me hopefully, to the well we had seen. I was pretty confident that it had to lead there. Even in the darkness I could easily say that I was moving at a breathless speed. One moment, I would bank left and the next moment, right. It was almost like the Space Mountain Rollercoaster in Disneyland, except for the huge volumes of water.
I did not have the faintest idea about my speed but I could only pray that Ram and Vivek had followed me. In the deafening sound of the gushing water, even the loudest of their shouts would have been muffled.
For fifteen to twenty minutes, I was unable to see any form of light. Suddenly, the waterway sloped downwards and I felt myself fall a few feet along with a mini waterfall. Just after the drop, the flow of the water calmed down exponentially and started moving languorously in a straight line. I figured I could start swimming now. As soon as I tilted my head back up from my arrow head position, I hit my head against solid stone and went underwater spontaneously. After surfacing did I realise that the water filled up almost the whole of the tunnel I was in except for a few inches from the top. Judging from the depth, the tunnel was pretty big. It was then that I realised that maybe, this wasn’t a tunnel after all and was an underground river which some people long ago had manipulated to form a top secret high-speed transport system from the temple to Badrinath.
Eager to know where I was headed, I looked up ahead and was delighted to see a shaft of sunlight pouring into the water filled tunnel from an opening overhead. I swam towards it slowly, unable to move very fast as I was fatigued after the rigorous chain of events I had gone through.
As I neared the oculus, I was glad to hear the warm commotion of civilisation outside.
As my eyes got used to the lighting, I spotted a crudely made spiral stone staircase clinging to the wall of the well which led up to dry land.
After a few more breaststrokes, I reached the flight of stairs and hauled myself up from the water, relieved to breath in the evening air. I looked up to see the warm evening sky and from the bottom of the well, it felt as if I was inside the lens of a camera. I allowed the warmth to course through my blood and just before I was about to get up and head to the city, a frightening thought crossed my mind. I looked down at the gently flowing water whose surface was glistening in the afternoon sunlight and made the water look friendlier than it was deep inside the winding tunnel. However, it was not the water I was thinking about.
“Where are Ram and Vivek?” I thought aloud. It had been a long time since I had last seen them. Now, I could only hope that they had followed me. I waited for two and a half minutes and just as my worry was going to morph into panicked prejudices, a hand appeared from within the tunnel. It was shortly followed by the flustered face of Ram.
“Ram!” I cried out in excitement. Before he could say a word, I grabbed his left armpit and hauled him up to the staircase. He sat down on the stairs sloppily and started panting heavily. “You..... will not..... take such drastic..... decisions ever again.” he managed.
I could not help but smile. “Oh, Ram. I am so glad to see you. Do you hear civilisation?” I asked, happily motioning towards the world above. “We have evaded those people and reached somewhere safe in a matter of a few minutes. All because of my drastic actions.“
“Whatever.” he replied. Over the years, I had come to know about Ram’s acute dislike of joy rides in amusement parks. He had always avoided roller-coasters and completely detested the snaking water slides. Fortunately, he didn’t know what lay underneath the hole and even if he had, our predicament would have forced him to jump in.
Then came Vivek whose reaction was milder than Ram’s. After steeling ourselves, we climbed up the stairs. On reaching the top, we hopped over the rim and were immediately met with a number of suspicious, curious and inevitable gazes from the nearby people. We however decided not to return the gazes.
“Hey! Isn’t this Badrinath?” cried Vivek, scratching his wet head.
Ram walked up a few feet and looked at the body of the well. “Yes! Look at the symbol! We are in Badrinath!” However, his expression became a bit grimmer. “Guys!” He shouted in disbelief. “The symbol on the slab back in the biosphere and the one over here match for sure! So we were right!”
We walked over to the porch of a small public building. Gradually, the number of gazes diminished as they might have figured us out as some crazy tourists seeking adventure inside one of their local wells.
“What should we do next?” Vivek asked me. I looked at Ram to see a melancholic look on his face. The same expression he had worn when that holographic man had acrimoniously told him about the lie he had told him about his father being alive. It was surprising, how Ram’s mood could change in seconds.
Now, neither did we have any place to go to nor did we have any clue about what we should do next except return to London.
“First, I reckon we should go back to your house for the time being. That man might have his henchmen here too.” I said.
“Who is ‘that man’?” he asked.
“I.... I will tell you on the way back.”
“I understand but we should eat first, no?” Vivek started rubbing his stomach,” I am famished.”
“Alright....” I checked my watch. “Ten to fifteen minutes only. Any more than that and we eat on the way to Rishikesh.”
“Yes boss!” replied back Vivek, delighted to have a chance to manage his rumbling stomach. Instantly, he ran off to a nearby re
staurant.
“Ram?”
“Yes?”
“I can understand your pain and I empathise with you... but you shouldn’t let this get over you. That man cannot be trusted easily. Do you agree?”
“Yeah...but think about it. The man said that he was from another dimension, that his people were the ones the Nordics used to worship. Over that, the shrine surely looked Scandinavian and then this rune... Do you think that such a huge thing would be staged for us?” said Ram.
“I know. If it was staged, the person behind it would have spent a lot of money to make the shrine and the holographic projector. I don’t know whether to believe Baldr or not.” I replied.
“Anyways, let us think about this later. Vivek must be waiting for us.” Ram smiled at me. It was a painful smile but I was glad he could get over the shock.
“Let’s go.” I slung my arm around his shoulders and both of us walked into the restaurant.
Kapittel 27
Mathias’s story
RISHIKESH, INDIA
VIVEK’S HOUSE
March 10, 2017, Friday, 2300 hours
“So you are back from your expedition, huh? Did you find your father, Ram?” Vivek’s father asked. Ram didn’t say a word. He simply walked over to the room.
“What? Did I say something wrong? I don’t see anything worse than you losing my truck.”
“Baba.this isn’t really the time you should be asking this.” Vivek replied.
“But I just wanted..... “
“I’ll tell you everything later on. We need to have a word now.” With that, he walked over to his bedroom with me close behind his heels.
“We should freshen up first.” Vivek advised the glum Ram and me. After fifteen minutes, we were all dressed in our casuals and sat down on Vivek’s bed with a cup of steaming hot tea in each of our hands.
