Chapter 19
Nitya stared at Shadow, stunned to the core. She almost stumbled as she tried to turn around and Maanav held her. Tears welled up as she remembered how easily Sajid alias Ashfaq had coned her. She had resigned to the fact that he would be her saviour despite all the red flags and the only fact that saved her from the folly was, Naman disliked the guy with a vengeance.
How could she trust someone like him? Why didn’t she bother to get any inquiries done? But she knew Sajid would have had an air tight background, given the lengths to which he had gone and tried for years to trap her. She hugged herself as she shuddered.
The intercom rang startling the trio. Shadow answered that and went to the main screen.
“Guys come here… my team has decoded the morse code message.” Shadow hurriedly booted up the large screen.
The message scrolled upwards as a couple of lines came to light.
PREVENT NEXT ATTACK
DECEMBER 6TH
BEWARE JUDAS IN MIDST… UNBELIEVABLE
The trio stood staring at the sentences. Shadow was pondering over it.
“What… what did Appa mean by Judas…? who?” Nitya asked Shadow.
“What have we missed, Shadow?” Maanav walked towards him.
“I am trying to figure it out. While its certain there was an attack that couldn’t take place that year, it is probably planned for this year… we barely have the time. But besides all that, I am concerned with… who… I.e who is the traitor amongst us?” Shadow fumed and began to pace the office confines, his huge body making the large place look small.
“That is not possible, Shadow, Captain Rawat has vetoed all of us here, including Naman. And you know already that nothing escaped the Captain’s hawk eyes.” Maanav declared looking sheepishly at Nitya.
“Wait… we were checked?” Nitya asked, hands on her hips.
“Sorry, Nitya… but that’s protocol. We have to veto all our clientele. By now you must have realised we are no ordinary bodyguard service. So captain Rawat does that for us. He has given us the few cases that we have successfully resolved. This was the first major one. Obviously, he wouldn’t be complacent….” Shadow explained as he continued. “… But looks like he missed something this time… This has been relayed to him. Let’s focus on what we have here till then…”
Just then there was a siren that shattered the silence of the room and it was so loud that it felt the walls were trembling with the impact.
“Security breach…” Shadow screamed into a walkie talkie.
Nitya looked wide eyed as Maanav took out a walkie talkie and began to communicate with someone. There was a flurry of activity all of a sudden and before she could react, Shadow walked towards the huge monitor and clicked on a few buttons. The CCTV high resolution footage came to life and Shadow zeroed in on one of them.
“Para 4, come in… I see movement there. Get me a visual…” Shadow spoke into the walkie-talkie. One of the many windows was maximised and Nitya saw few people in black overalls dragging two people… covered and tied. Oh goodness…
Oh God that was Naman for sure… that walk was unmissable.
“NAMAN…” Nitya screamed as she ran out of the office as fast as her legs could carry her. Followed by Maanav close on her heels.
She barged into Naman’s room. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. She kept calling him while Maanav began to check into other rooms. The orderlies and the few other operatives began to comb every corner of the house. Naman was nowhere to be found.
Nitya was a crying mess when she suddenly held Maanav’s hand. “Maanav… where’s Kamble kaka?”
The search now included kaka as well but right then Shadow walked in signalling a halt to the proceedings.
“They have been taken away. Both of them…” He declared, rubbing his face apologetically looking at Nitya.
“WHAT…? Where…? HOW…? HOW…?” Nitya looked at Shadow and Maanav, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“The tunnel has been breached. They walked out of the tunnel… and took the other route at the intersection… the place where you guys rested when you came over. The other direction goes to Maanav’s place…” Shadow was lost in thought.
“But why did Naman just go like that…? Are you sure he wasn’t dragged…?” Nitya clasped her hands as fear sent shivers through her body. Maanav gripped her palm, but this time she wasn’t able to calm down.
“But Shadow, that tunnel didn’t have cameras, right? Just one at the entrance and exit… because of the technical difficulties… I remember you mentioning that.” Maanav quipped in.
“I had alternative arrangements. I had recently installed a wireless modem with seven camera attachments throughout the tunnel. It was an experiment and I am glad because we caught the duo voluntarily making their way out.” Shadow sighed hands on his hips as he contemplated the possible scenarios.
“Wait… what are we waiting for? We should get moving… they are in danger… Oh My Goodness, my Naman… does he have his medicines with him? What if he gets a seizure?” Nitya began to panic.
“Nitya, don’t worry…” Maanav held her shoulders. “…Naman is very important to them… they will protect him.”
She shrugged his hands away and stared at Maanav, tears continuing their onslaught on her cheeks.
“Nitya… look at me, please…” Maanav tried to reason.
Shadow cleared his throat. “I am getting a call from a private number… its probably Capt. Rawat. Let me connect and see what he has found out. The rest of you check if anything’s missing and we re-group in the office in 10 minutes.” Shadow walked out of the foyer where they stood.
The others left too, and Nitya and Maanav stood with solemn looks.
“So, was that the reason everyone wanted to protect my brother…? Because he is important? To solve that goddamn riddle my father made up years ago?” Nitya spoke amidst the strangling of her voice due to the clogging of emotions.
“Nitya, it isn’t like that…”
“Then what is it, Maanav? I am grateful for all that you did… Naman bloomed like never before… but for what? Just to shrivel into his shell, yet again?” She furiously wiped her face.
“Nitya, calm down sweetheart…” Maanav attempted to hold her shoulder but she moved away.
“NO Maanav… NO… It’s all my fault. I let caution to the wind… I was selfish about my needs. I didn’t know what was happening around me… my Naman. I would have noticed something…” Nitya looked at Maanav with panic-stricken eyes.
“Stop blaming yourself, Nitya… trust me, please… I promise you, nothing will happen to Naman. He will be back unscathed. I promise…”
Right then Shadow called them to the office.
When they reached there, all operatives had gathered around the console.
“Capt Rawat checked in and here’s some shocking news… There indeed was a Judas amidst us… not just now, but even 15 years ago… And Nitya, your father was right, as always.” Shadow spoke softly, looking at Nitya, contrary to his image of being a tough taskmaster.
“Oh God, it is Kamble uncle… the wolf in sheep’s clothing…” Maanav declared much to Nitya’s chagrin.
“WHAT…? How come…? That’s not possible. Kamble kaka was dad’s closest friend and… he was the only one who supported us all these years. I don’t know what would have happened if not for him.” Nitya found herself defending kaka. She couldn’t believe this was happening. First Sajid now kaka? “…What on earth is happening. Kaka was so against Sajid for me… Why would he do that…? NO something is wrong here…”
“Nitya, Captain Rawat will tell us the details in a minute.” Shadow spoke, clicking on a few buttons. The screen came to life again and this time there was a black screen with a silhouette of a man in a dimly lit room.
“I believe its time for some revelations now that Judas has struck…” A loud strong voice boomed over the speakers and Nitya was jolted from her reverie. Wait she had heard this voice somewhere it was so familiar.
The voice continued. “We had him under our Radar for a while but I didn’t want to warn you all else he would have got a signal too… but now we have proof of his connections with the enemy… his cell phone was monitored till he left Maanav’s home. He had a burner stashed along. He didn’t call else your monitors would have caught him. He had a game going on … a video game that he used to communicate with them…”
“No doubt he loved playing them with Naman…” Maanav said.
“That’s correct, Maanav. But my team just transcribed the details thanks to the brilliant boy in your midst. Manoharan’s son is a genius way ahead of his father… he left loopholes in the game software… because he probably had his doubts. Kamble couldn’t operate anything for crying out loud… he used Naman’s help all these years…” the voice continued and right then it struck Nitya…
“WAIT… It was you… that year in the camp in Himalayas… after the blast… you saved my life… didn’t you…?” Nitya spoke to the Silhoutte.
“Listen up, girl. That isn’t important now…” the Voice was curt. “… What’s important is that I have got on the loopholes in the video game and we are trying to get the details of the communication. But what we have received so far in a gist is, Kamble was one of their informers… He had it going well so far but he didn’t expect SPS getting involved. He had thought it would be easy like it had been all those years ago….”
“Wait… please wait…” Nitya held up her hand, tears streaming down her cheeks. “… Kaka always helped us… ALWAYS. Not just being there for us during crises, but even with money… What do you mean that he did it back then? What exactly did he do?”
The voice paused before he spoke again. “Kamble… from what we have gathered till now, was chosen for this role because he was close to your father who was making the special software… He was the one who lured your father into that job which he otherwise wouldn’t have taken up. Despite all his brilliance, your father was a very emotional person. But your father went two steps ahead… first he got on board Commander Deshmukh, our Maanav’s father and second, what no one anticipated, he arranged for that information to be sent to his children. No one would have doubted the move. Kamble knew there had to be something so he got closer to you all. Fortunately or unfortunately, he was an acquaintance form our Army days and was in touch with me. He gave the impression that he was protecting you, Nitya and Naman. But on the contrary he was giving information to the enemy. That’s why he arranged for you to move in with him once Naman decoded the mystery in the instrument….”
“So… where is Naman now?” Nitya’s worried voice squeaked even as Maanav held her close.
“He is safe, Nitya. Because he has the information that no one does… The genius boy has taken the game console with him… Kamble must have allowed it to keep him occupied and even as we communicate here, I am getting signals from the game. We are tracking them… don’t worry. We need to know their main location and what’s up their sleeve….” The voice explained.
“So… my brother is a bait…? How could you…? He is a special needs person.” Nitya wailed as she collapsed on to the floor and Maanav held her.
“Nitya… Nitya don’t you worry. I promise nothings going to happen to Naman.” He gave her water and supported her as she sat up.
She gripped his hand. “Maanav, Naman is innocent. He may not be able to recognise the enemy… what if something happens?..”
“Nitya, Naman is the smartest kid on the block…” the voice of Captain Rawat spoke. “… there were so many pieces to the puzzle but the kid single handedly got them all together… we have a lead only because of him. He is still communicating with us… Don’t worry…”
“But why did they take him with them? His instrument is here… what can he do without the instrument? It was this cursed instrument they have been after. They destroyed my mother’s sanity and now they were after Naman…” Nitya tried to explain.
“For planning our next step or to know what they are truly after, we need to decode your father’s letter, Nitya… it’s the final piece in the puzzle.” Captain Rawat’s sombre voice came across through the speakers.
Shadow typed in something and Nitya’s father’s letter’s copy flashed on the huge monitor.
“Nitya, can you make out anything here?” Captain Rawat asked.
“No… no… Oh goodness… I just can’t… I am blank.” Nitya couldn’t stop crying.
“Nitya…. my child. You must gather yourself for the sake of, not just Naman but the country… The same country for protecting which, your father laid down his life like the umpteen soldiers guarding our frontiers… Nitya, Now is the time for us to take this saga to its logical end… this must end. Your family’s turmoil has to end.” Captain Rawat ascertained and this time his voice held a lot more than power.
A sudden silence fell in the room as everyone of them assembled in the office focussed on the letter trying to figure out if it was a scramble of letters… trying to decode whatever it was.
Dated: 29/10/2008
Nitya,
I don’t know when this will reach you… I am sending this… secret channels. It’s not… well here… I can’t help it, child… Sorry for everything… You must save all… Take help. Read carefully….
Qui totum vult totum perdit
De omnibus dubitandum
Factum fieri infectum non potes
Pisces lethale in aquis profundis
dona felis summis
missio non perficitur
circulorum ut nec in aquis usque
Here lies it all….
Please do… Get the gift-circle completed…
Love
Appa
“The gift-cycle was mentioned in dad’s letter to me, which we now know… the instruments were compatible and the music was completed.” Maanav deduced what they already knew.
“Save all… means saving the country…” Shadow piqued in.
“Oh Appa…” Nitya wailed. “… what on Earth is this…? How can I make out… this is just Latin and Greek…”
“WAIT…” Maanav roared. “…WAIT… LATIN… that’s it. This is in Latin. Now I got it why it felt familiar… yet so unfamiliar.”
“What do you mean, Bullet?” Shadow asked.
“My dada had once enrolled me in a class to learn Latin… I left it in 10 days but a few words stayed in my mind… I had forgotten about them but today it just struck me…” Maanav rubbed his face.
Shadow signalled to his tech team and one of them gave him a thumbs up…
“Its not just regular Latin… these are Latin phrases… creative Latin phrases…” Shadow declared and continued admiration shining in his voice. “…Nitya, was there anything your father didn’t know…?”
@priyanayakgole
(Disclaimer: This is a piece of fiction using the backdrop of the attack that happened and any resemblance to any person living or dead is purely coincidental. This doesn’t attempt to change history or facts.)
