Demons of Time

by Varun Sayal

  “And here you are. But this book also talks about something else.” The priest tried to hint at what he was looking for without giving it away.

  “A verse from Shiv Mahapuraan, right?” Tej quipped, and the priest nodded in affirmation. He assured him that the right person was seeking the artifact and not some imposter. He recited the complete verse taught to him by Guru Rigu with as much articulation as possible.

  Ramanujam made him recite the verse at least five times before he could believe it. He then asked him to wait in that room while he went inside the inner sanctum of the temple. He took a good thirty minutes, while Tej eagerly waited outside.

  Ramanujam came out with a dusty, medium-sized wooden box. He opened it, and inside was an object wrapped in a rugged red cloth. Removing that cloth revealed another smaller, round, dark brown wooden box. The box had its lid sealed. Tej recognized the box—the same one in which Rigu had placed the powder.

  At that moment, Tej felt strong respect for Ramanujam and the vaahak clan of priests. His image of this future was that of a ruthless world, a place full of people ready to deceive, hurt and kill others for money and power; a realm full of beings who knew no principles, followed no ethics or morals. But these priests had dutifully and selflessly preserved a small object for thousands of years—not for any benefit, but out of the respect of their traditions. They did it to venerate the rules established by their elders. While it was easy for him to take Vaahaks for granted, it was an immensely difficult job to keep a small object such as this safe for such a long time. It was a burden which thousands of generations of vaahaks shared.

  With trembling hands, the priest handed over the small box to Tej. Tej’s throat was too heavy to say any words of thanks, but his face conveyed the gratitude. He knew he had to check the contents before he could leave that place.

  He asked the priest for a moment alone, took out a Swiss Army knife from his pocket, and cut through the clay seal. Beneath the seal was the tricky maze of wooden levers and blocks which Rigu had taught Tej how to solve. After sliding a few small wooden bars and sticks on top of the box, the inner lid clicked open. When he opened the box, he smiled. The sparkling green bhasm powder was in there, intact—the same bhasm which Rudrakshini showed him when he met her thousands of years in past, two days ago.

  While touching the box, he had noticed the surface of the box was rough on one side. He took a small handkerchief and wiped out dust from that area. Someone had inscribed a Sanskrit writing on the box. With some difficulty, he read it. It said “Samarth Bhasin.” Samarth Bhasin? Why would Guru Rigu write these words on the box? That read like a name of a person.

  He closed the box and covered the maze-lid again with clay. He stepped outside the room, touched the priest’s feet, and took his blessings. The priest had tears in his eyes and a smile on his face as if a mountain’s worth of weight was lifted off the old man’s shoulders. Generations of pledges their family took as vaahaks had been fulfilled today.

  Tej asked if the words “Samarth Bhasin” meant anything to him, but the priest was clueless. He assured Tej that no one in their family ever touched the inner box; engraving anything on it was out of the question. Tej said his goodbyes and left the temple. The entourage started for Mumbai.

  But this day would not end without a few more surprises. As they embarked on their return journey, they received intel from Kevin and his sources. The team had intercepted another threat. One of the rival cartels was planning another attempt on Ravi’s life, somewhere along the Mumbai Pune Expressway. This was a problem because now they would have to completely avoid the highway, and travel through the maze of half-built village roads. They would have to take a lot of long detours before they reached Mumbai.

  This new route plan and proposed delays annoyed Tej, but with the sacred bhasm in hand, he wanted no complications, so he agreed to the longer route. Throughout the return journey, Tej held the wooden box close to him. He concealed it in a small black leather bag which he kept clenched in his hands. The name “Samarth Bhasin” echoed in his mind. Could this person lead him to Kumbh? Or was it the name of Kumbh’s new host? Should he call Kevin and ask him right away?

  He decided against it. He wanted to wait until he reached the bungalows. In the wee hours of the morning, they finally arrived at his bungalow.

  Day 5 of 7

  14.

  Triangulating the Devil

  At 06:37 AM, the caravan entered the bungalow’s premises. Tej was fatigued and sleepy, but he headed to the control room straightaway. He was eager to meet Kevin and check the team’s progress in finding in Kumbh’s new host.

  When he entered the control room, he realized that Kevin’s team had fully set up the room. Various large and small computer monitors, laptops, and other gadgets were placed all around. Several screens were running live camera feeds of various traffic junctions. Kevin’s team was also monitoring surveillance footages from safe-houses of Ravi’s known enemies. A few analysts sat glued to their laptops, listening to pre-recorded and live calls. A group of investigators leafed through dark-net chatrooms for any heavy arms activity undertaken in the past five days. They were looking at any angle they could, chasing clues in most improbable of the locations.

  But this fancy setup somehow did not impress Tej. Running a huge empire of arms smuggling required a leader’s brain and aptitude, which Ravi had developed over the years. Ravi’s brain was telling Tej that the room, although looked busy and productive, had low energy. Most of these folks had been working for over eighteen hours at stretch. Some had been taking a lot of caffeine and smoking to keep themselves up. Although Tej did not want them to stop, he realized that for them to be functioning at their best, he needed to give them a break.

  He asked Kevin to send some early starters out for a rest. Those who joined the investigation later in the day could continue working. He then called everyone’s attention and addressed them.

  “Time out, guys, time out. I know we’re all brilliant chaps here, and are putting in our best efforts. I want those of you who started their day early to take a four-hour break. Try to get some sleep, you all. We have enough rooms in this mansion for you to crash in. Ask the housekeeping staff, and they will guide you. Kevin, walk with me outside, will you?”

  Kevin and Tej stepped outside. Tej dug his gaze into Kevin’s eyes but kept quiet. Kevin looked at him for a moment, then fumbled. “Sir, today we focused on your search parameters, but …”

  “But what?”

  “But we were side-tracked a bit because we received a tip on another attempt on your life.”

  “All right, I’m not leaving this bungalow anymore. I am safe and sound here, so you can ignore any such further tips. Can you please focus on finding who is actually behind this rather than getting side-tracked?”

  “Sure, sir.”

  “During whatever time you could devote today to my search conditions, what did you find?”

  “Sir, we have identified a list of seventeen individuals in Mumbai who fit your criteria. They all are celebrities or well-known powerful figures. Each of them underwent a life-shaking incident in the past five days. All have recovered from that and are now doing better.”

  “Did any of them move to a secure location after their recovery?”

  “That is the part of the information we are still working on. We are going through flight plans for private jets that left Mumbai within the past five days. Registered ones are easy to get, but unregistered ones will take time, as we need to obtain them by other means. We are also looking at traffic cam feeds of major junctions throughout the city. If a big convoy of cars or private trucks left the city in the past five days, we will know.”

  “All right, take a break. After the team is back, I need a status update report every two hours.”

  Kevin went into the room, and Tej headed to his private suite.

  His whole body ached
with pain because of lack of sleep and the tense journey. The last four days had been very eventful for him. He felt as if every last bit of energy in his body had been drained out. He entered his suite and looked at his hand-tufted cashmere-blend mattress. It was one of the most comfortable beds he had ever slept on, but he still missed sleeping on the bed made of bamboo and jute back in his village. That bed used to be his eventual comfort after hectic farm duties or a tiring day of panther hunting. He set an alarm for five hours later on his phone and crashed on his bed.

  The alarm broke his sleep exactly five hours later, at noon. He got up, took a shower, changed, and went straight to the control room. He realized that people were already back on their stations. Kevin, too, had returned and was having a discussion with a few members of his team, sipping from a coffee mug. As soon as he saw Tej, he came over and handed him over a sheet of paper, on which three names were typed, along with some details.

  “These are the names we have shortlisted, sir. There is a very high chance that our target is one of these.”

  Tej started to read the detailed descriptions of those names.

  First was a famous real-estate builder, Shaukat Ali Tyrewala, forty-three years old. He had been shot in broad daylight four days and thirteen hours ago. He’d suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to the emergency room. When doctors checked him, his pulse was momentarily gone, but they were able to resuscitate him. He was awake for a few moments but again slipped into a coma. After twelve hours, when he again came to his senses, his team shifted him to an unknown location.

  The second was Narendra Moreen, a well-known stock trader, and money launderer. He was working at his morning job when he’d been stabbed seven times in stomach by an assailant. This incident took place around four days and eight hours ago. Narendra was rushed to the hospital where he was saved after thirteen hours of complex surgery. He was currently in the hospital, and was alive but unconscious.

  The third was Juniata Gonzalez, fifty-seven years old, a seasoned politician. She was a member of the Goa legislative assembly and was in Mumbai for a party meeting. She suffered a massive cardiac arrest while having breakfast around four days and two hours ago. Her staff had rushed her to a nearby hospital, where doctors stabilized her. Later, her staff took her back to Goa.

  Below those three names, there were three more names. These were similar cases, but Kevin believed they did not quite meet the search parameters. A famous model in her early twenties had been acid-attacked by her stalker while she was returning from a photoshoot. A well-known businessman in his late forties had been attacked by a pack of ravenous stray dogs while he was jogging. At last, there was a drug dealer who was badly injured in a hit and run but succumbed to his injuries soon after. Having looked at the complete list, Tej was not satisfied. Something was amiss.

  “Kevin, does the name ‘Samarth Bhasin’ ring a bell?”

  “Samarth Bhasin?” Kevin sifted through several sheets of paper for this name. “Yes, sir, Samarth Bhasin was one out of our seventeen names. But we filtered him out because he did not survive his accident.”

  Wow, that can’t be a coincidence. Tej thought.

  “You filtered him out because he did not survive? Are you sure he didn’t? Tell me more.”

  Kevin signaled another analyst, who handed him a fresh print out, from which he started to read. “Samarth Bhasin, sixty-two years old, a powerful businessman and mafia boss of a major drug-dealing operation. An uncontrolled car nailed him outside his house four days and ten hours ago. He was rushed to the Intensive Care Unit, where they tried to revive him. But his heartbeat stopped, and the pulse was gone. After a few attempts to revive him, they declared him dead.”

  Tej had a strong feeling that Samarth Bhasin was Kumbh. His hypothesis was that after his travel to the future, Rigu’s visions would have updated, and he would have somehow found out Kumbh’s current host. Rigu knew Tej would come to fetch this box and put this name as a message. This was a strong sign, but Tej had to make sure it was an accurate one.

  “Kevin, can you dig deeper on this name, please?”

  “Sure, but…”

  “But what, Kevin?” Tej thundered. He was not in a mood to entertain frivolous questions or suggestions. “Do you think the man we are looking for is so naive that if he is planning to hide, he will make it any easier for us to track him? Just because the hospital declared Samarth Bhasin dead does not mean that he is dead.”

  Kevin was silent. But Tej wasn’t assuaged by his silence.

  “Where is Bhasin’s dead body? Which mortuary, which body-sheath number, in which hospital? Which doctor declared and signed off on the time of death? Was the body handed over to the family? What proof do we have that Samarth Bhasin is dead? If you can’t find these simple details, buddy, then let me tell you, I’m disappointed in you. In that case, I should have had another team look into this. You better pack up.”

  Kevin felt offended about being reprimanded in front of his whole team. He and his team were investigators who relied completely on logical fact-finding and deductive reasoning. Contrary to their work protocols, they had been chasing weird ghost-tails on Ravi’s strange requests, and now they were being chided for not pursuing one particular name—a name which didn’t meet Ravi’s own initial search parameters.

  Tej sensed the look of indignation on Kevin’s face. He himself was tired and agitated, but this was not a time for him to antagonize the team. The stakes were too high for him to weaken their motivation and jeopardize this search. He took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for the outburst, Kevin. I trust you and the team. I am relying on you to do the right thing. But in return, I want you to trust my instincts, too. I have been in this game for too long. I know a dark shadow when I see it.”

  Ravi was their top boss, and he’d apologized for his outburst, which was a big deal for him. Kevin had not worked directly with Ravi in the past, but he had known Ravi to be a strict task-master. This apology was something Kevin did not expect. Kevin felt relieved and motivated by these words.

  “It’s all right, sir. We understand you want this man at any cost, which is why you are being hard on us.”

  “Good. I want every resource, every asset we have, to focus on Samarth Bhasin. Forget everything else. I want even the minutest details on him. Time is running out for us, so be honest with me, Kevin. Can you do this?”

  “Give me two hours, sir. If this Samarth Bhasin is alive, we will lay his entire history and geography out before you.”

  “All right. You know where to find me.” Tej patted Kevin’s shoulder and left.

  Two hours later, at around two in the afternoon, Kevin sent a message, and Tej returned to the control room. Kevin was ready to give him an update.

  “I’m all ears, Kevin.”

  “You were bang on right, sir. Samarth Bhasin is alive! After he was hit by the car, his men rushed him to the hospital. He was declared dead on arrival. That was the actual entry recorded in the hospital’s register. But two of our field agents rounded up the doctor who wrote that entry. We also got hold of three nurses who were present in that operating theatre. After a few threating words, they narrated the whole story, and the story is very interesting. After two minutes of staying dead, Samarth Bhasin not only recovered but also miraculously came out of the coma. He then forcefully insisted on leaving the hospital. The hospital staff was paid heavily to keep quiet about the fact that he has survived.”

  “That’s good, Kevin, excellent. What happened after that?”

  “After that, within the next two hours, he also chartered a convoy of three military-grade helicopters and left Mumbai. His destination was his small privately-owned island in the Indian Ocean, called Macci-Pulau. This is a deserted island declared unsafe for tourist travel.”

  The pieces of the puzzle were coming together for Tej, but he wanted to be accurate about this. He recalled Rigu’s initial word
s to him. When Rigu told him about Kumbh’s escape for the first time, he said, “Today at 6 PM Eastern time in 2024 AD…”

  That’s it. That was the time when Kumbh escaped.

  Kevin saw a kind of a flash in Ravi’s eyes and realized he was onto something.

  “Kevin, what is 6 PM eastern in our time?”

  “That would be 03:30 AM India time, sir.”

  “And when was Samarth Bhasin revived?”

  “It was around this time, sir.”

  “Are you sure, Kevin? I don’t want approximations. I want certainty.”

  “Absolutely certain, sir. Our agents have also obtained the scanned copy of the hospital logs, and have sent that to us on messenger. The attending nurse herself wrote this note. I can show it to you.” Kevin showed him a scanned note on his phone. “Doctor declared time of death at 03:29 AM. The patient recovered at 03:31 AM. This second part around his recovery was later redacted, sir.”

  Tej smiled. Finally, the pieces of the puzzle had come together, and the picture was perfectly clear. At 03:30 AM India time, the Virtexo developers uploaded the patch, and Kumbh escaped the time-prison. Right after that, he undertook the knock-off blitz and finally took up residence within the body of a man called Samarth Bhasin at 03:31 AM.

  Bhasin was an individual with the wealth and political connections to game the system. Hence, Kumbh had used his resources to charter helicopters and escape to a secured private island. There, he could live out his seven days in this time-slice with peace.

  Tej felt ecstatic and thanked God. A small detail given by Guru Rigu had finally led him to Kumbh. There was no doubt in his mind that Samarth Bhasin was Kumbh.

  “Kevin, this Samarth Bhasin, he’s our guy.”

  “But how, sir? What am I missing here? How is 03:30 AM time relevant?”

  “You did an awesome job. Don’t worry about anything else. Now you have another important task. I need complete details on the island Samarth Bhasin has traveled to. I also want naval intel and satellite imagery from the adjoining islands. And yes, this information will not leave this room. Understood?”