Chapter 25

Maanav stood still for a moment trying to quickly analyse the situation. Shadow was leading the mission but Maanav and Anandi had the liberty to make decisions for Nitya and Naman’s sake. Just then Aanadi gestured that she was going inside through a window at the far corner. He wondered how she could make that out in the darkness that had enveloped them.

Amidst the acrid sea breeze blowing the loose tendrils of her unruly curls besides the obvious contours, nothing gave away that she was a woman. Maanav was in awe of her skills and all three of them hugely respected her for that. He nodded and gave her a thumbs-up. She disappeared into the dark cavern and Maanav tried to figure out if he could make out anything from the din of noises coming in. The intensity of the song had reduced but it still played and Capt. Rawat signalled that Naman was close to indicating the location of the torpedoes. He had to continue playing the song, which meant he had to unscramble the codes, which meant he had to keep typing on that instrument. Did the people inside know what he was doing?

They probably had to know because Kamble uncle was there, wasn’t he? He knew what that song meant.

He had to get inside… without making a noise because by now everyone would have been alerted. Suddenly there was a commotion and the glass in front of him creaked. He bent down in time to dodge a bullet. He slithered into the dark crevices. The bastards were shooting at his silhouette and Nitya or Naman could get hurt. He moved towards the back side of the ship. He knew there had to be an entry as per the blueprint Capt. Rawat had obtained. It wasn’t perfect, but gave them some idea about the ship’s layout. Usually those sides were heavily guarded but now that there was confrontation there was a possibility that the guards would be less since everyone had to take control over the deck, which now lay in darkness, thanks to Shadow’s handiwork.

Maanav slipped on his dark goggles and moved towards his target, silently and quickly, true to his name… He was right. Not just fewer guards, there was no guard at the back end. How could these people be so careless? Did they underestimate the Indian Navy? They probably also knew about the SPS courtesy Kamble uncle. So, this didn’t make sense, unless there was a …. Trap.

Right then Capt. Rawat’s voice made its staccato entry into his earpiece. “Avoid the tail… grenade trap…. Naman… conveyed… AVOID THE TAIL…”

But it was a tad too late… His leg hit a wire or something like that. It was too dark and despite the night vision goggles, he didn’t see the booby trap. But he reacted quickly and sprang to safety as 3 grenades exploded one after the other.

The explosion shattered the prevailing lull before the storm on board as chaos ensured. Flames licked the skies and debris rained down… charred wood, paper, cloth and stones too… Maanav barely escaped with a few scratches due to his quick reflexes but he worried about Nitya and Naman. Had Anandi made her way inside? Did he compromise her as well? Thick smoke filled the air around him and he had covered his face earlier in anticipation. The breeze helped for a change but there was a danger of the entire ship going up in flames a few containers that lay on the deck…. Did they contain inflammable articles? It would be catastrophic.

“Location determined…” Capt. Rawat declared. His voice drained in the ongoing commotion. “… Navy on the way to neutralize…”

Thank goodness the Navy had taken over that aspect. Their work was now cut out… They had to free Naman and Nitya and get out of there.

But that was easier said than done. They still didn’t have intel on the number of men on board from the enemy camp. And then he heard footsteps… of course, the explosion had given him away. He saw a huge anchor with its rope coiled up together for later use and made a quick move to hide behind. He had to remain uncaught.

“Bullet… come in…” Shadow buzzed into his earpiece. “…I have a visual on you. 3 men at 11 o’clock…” he now knew the positions of those coming in. “… they had AK 47s and grenades strapped to their bodies…”

Oh hell… he could take them out of their AKs in an instant but the morons were suicidal… indoctrinated. They would just explode themselves and kill all of them in the process.

“Bullet… just stay low. I shall join in…” Shadow spoke. He heard some clicks and thuds amidst a commotion on the deck. There was firing going on for sure… just how many were there?

“20 + men on the deck… a lot more inside ready with explosives… hold back boys… we need to be strategic…” Captain Rawat screeched into his ears.

Maanav hated to just wait, but he had been on dangerous missions and knew how crucial it was to wait along with presence of mind. Capt Rawat now had better visuals and all he wanted was to get into that room.

Right then he heard thuds and looked a bit outside his hiding place and saw the 3 men lying lifeless on the dusty deck floor… guns and grenades in tow. Laser stood behind them and nodded before disappearing from where he had emerged.

Wasting no more time, he rushed towards the room where the door stood on its hinges, hanging fragile in the wake of the blast. The sharp smell of burning metal was clogging his throat. It brought back the nightmares from his innumerable missions where he had conducted rescue operations, but nowhere before had his heart thudded the way it did now. He had known to remain neutral during missions, but this was proving difficult… with Nitya in there.

He stealthily moved close to the door and tried to peep inside, hoping to get some visuals. There was noise and music, along with some murmur. He was in a small part right outside the main room… he moved closer to a shaft-like structure that stood like a wall between him and the occupants of the room. He made an effort to hear what was going on…

They were talking… what?

Yes, talking… in loud voices. There was an argument of sorts going on, and Nitya was arguing with someone with a deep baritone.

Either Nitya was walking straight into the lion’s den or he was hallucinating. Where was Anandi. As if hearing him, he heard a tiny whistle. That was a call between the 4 friends… when they wanted to call each other without others in the Gurukul knowing about it. He looked up and Anandi was perched on a platform. If he didn’t know her, he would have thought it was a part of the wood. That was how good she was at camouflage. She gestured that she had heard everything there and that he had to wait for her to blast the shaft. Else their hostages would be hurt.

He nodded… this was getting on his nerves. He was used to missions where he just walked in all prepared, completed the job and left with the hostages or the packages that they referred to as their targets. This was getting way too difficult because his heart was involved… the explosion outside was a throwback to those jungles years ago in the camp where Nitya and he were separated. But this time he vowed… come what may, he wasn’t leaving without her.

There was noise coming in from outside… he wondered what was happening… did they neutralise the threat on the deck?

He struggled to hear the rising voices coming in from the other side.

“You are stubborn… very stubborn… like father like daughter…” the deep voice roared.

“Don’t you dare talk about my father… you don’t deserve to take his name after what you did to him” Nitya spoke back.

“We give him money… lot of money. And he…? he betray us. Because of him we couldn’t finish our mission. But now… Inshallah… we will.”

The music continued and so did the typing. Naman was holding himself well despite the chaos.

“Now tell the boy to explain this or you explain this nonsense music…” he roared again.

Maanav wanted nothing more than to kick the shaft and kill the man with his bare hands, but now he would endanger everyone. It was a faint scratch… he realised that faint noise was coming in for a while now. He squinted up to see Anandi had chipped of a tiny piece of wood and was now peeping through it. She gestured that there were 8 armed men inside and a few people tied up too besides Nitya, Naman and Kamble uncle. Nitya’s hands were cuffed. Maanav’s anger rose but Anandi gestured to him to keep calm. This wasn’t the time.

Their earpieces cracked again. “Deck neutralised completely. 3 arrested. We are all safe. Navy closing in 10 nautical miles…” Shadow informed them.

Anandi conveyed the inside situation to Shadow through her tiny tab.

“I just got a visual. I can see shadows and silhouettes inside. We aren’t opening fire now…” Shadow assured him.

They continued to hear the conversation.

“I don’t understand what he is doing… my brother just loves that instrument for its music…” Nitya reasoned.

“I am not idiot, girl. I know this means something. Your father… genius… He made something for those… activation keys. Tell me or I will kill you.” There was click and Maanav’s blood boiled.

He was about to kick the shaft when Kamble uncle spoke.

“Wait Janab… wait.. if you kill her the boy will be useless… he only listens to her and she is the only one who can understand the boy… otherwise this would not have taken so many years…”

“BAS KARO… I had enough nonsense… you old man… you are useless… what is the use of all my money…? You promise results… what is this? Why are… armed people on my ship? Who told them? Is something going on that I don’t know? My boys are dying…” the man was angry.

The music became louder.

“Naman’s messages have stopped. He is upto something. The Navy is a little over 5 Nautical miles away… from the torpedoes. It won’t take long…” Capt Rawat spoke up.

“We are spread across here… just get them out on the deck…” Shadow spoke immediately.

There was tiny vibration and Maanav knew it was the pick-up helicopter they had arranged just in case any of them were injured. It was on standby now. The music continued, and the ripples kept playing loudly.

“STOP THAT…” the man screamed. “…OR I WILL SHOOT YOUR SISTER… YOU RETARD….”

“Janab… please… let me try once…” Someone else spoke, and Anandi indicated it was Ashfaq.

“YOU…? YOU…? YOU ARE THE ROOT CAUSE OF ALL THIS… YOU AND YOUR FAMILY… IF YOUR GRANDFATHER HAD NOT DELIVERED THIS PACKAGE OR HELPED HER FATHER… THIS WOULDN’T HAVE HAPPENED… our mission would have taken place long ago and we would have received funding for a lot more missions… instead for 15 years I have been stuck with this because we spent so much on those torpedoes… they can’t be activated… Tomorrow is that Mumbai festival… lots of people gathering… best time to take them all… government will come to its senses…” The man chuckled.

Was he insane…? Mumbai festival…? Oh goodness, it was Ganpati Visarjan tomorrow. Maanav decided it was about time.

He gestured to Anandi to tell him where each person was.

“Nitya… please talk to Naman and get the activation codes. Our men have tried here but its scrambled… Naman knows it. I am sure…” Ashfaq spoke again.

“No Sajid… I mean, Ashfaq. My father gave up his life for the country… I would do the same but you know how much I love Naman… Unfortunately, he is uncommunicando… can’t you see he is distressed?”

“Its always him over everything… isn’t he?” Ashfaq sounded frustrated. “…He was the bone of contention between us as well… if not for him we would have had a future…”

Right then there was a gunshot and a thud. Maanav’s heart was in his throat but he heard Nitya scream. “ASHFAAAAQ… OH MY GOD… are you insane? Why did you shoot him?”

“I will not hesitate to shoot anyone else now. Enough is enough… tell that mad boy to deliver the codes…” the man spoke coldly.

Maanav looked up at Anandi who nodded. She typed into her tab, probably alerting Shadow. Maanav gestured the count of three and kicked the Shaft… he had to do it twice immediately when it gave away and he immediately took cover beneath the thick plank. There was firing around him and he heard a few clicks. No one would have anticipated Anandi to be there. She took out a few men before hurling a smoke bomb inside.

“Maaaanav…?” Nitya called out to him and he heard her scream. Just then, the music stopped.

The firing also had stopped for a moment.

“Naman genius… papa genius… Naman genius… didi… torpedo gone… torpedo dead….” Naman scampered around.

Just then, the huge man with a limp caught hold of Naman and held a gun to his temple.

“You made big mistake and now this brat will die…”

“NO… PLEASE NO… NAMAN… He will give the codes. I promise…” Nitya was frantic.

Maanav and Anandi had trained their rifles on the huge man and 4 of his men who now got their bearings together and held up their pistols.

“you fooled me enough… you and that old man… Kamble. No more. You can’t catch us.” The man limped behind backwards, while one of his men opened the door. Maanav instructed everyone that they were not to fire.

“NAMAN …. no please…” Nitya was crying and right then Kamble kaka rushed towards the limping man. He held the man’s hand holding the gun and tried to pull. One of the men kicked him and he fell.

“Shoot him…” The limping man commanded and one of his men shot Kamble kaka. The man moved away, but not quickly enough. He was shot on the thigh and instantly there was a pool of blood beneath him.

“Oh God … NO…. no… Kaka…” Nitya rushed towards him even as the limping man shuffled outside with an awkwardly struggling Naman in tow. As they began their exit one of the men pointed his pistol towards Nitya who was trying to stop Kaka’s bleeding.

In a swift motion, Maanav dragged Nitya, and they rolled towards a corner of the room and she missed being hit. Anandi made quick work of the man as he fell lifeless on the floor. Maanav shot at her handcuff’s and released them.

Nitya grabbed Maanav’s hand. “Maa… Maanav… Naman… please…” she whispered amidst tears.  “…Kaka was innocent… he…”

“I know Nitya… calm down. Nothing’s going to happen to Naman…” Maanav held her shoulders as he continued. “… that’s a promise. We are leaving together this time…” An unspoken understanding passed between them.

Nitya furiously nodded even as Anandi spoke to someone about Kaka as she tied a tourniquet around his bullet wound to stop the bleeding. They had to take kaka to the helicopter as soon as possible else he would bleed to death.

“Stay with him, Nitya…” Maanav instructed her and nodded towards Anandi and kaka.

He saw Nitya help Anandi as they tried to control the heavy bleeding, and kaka was losing consciousness. He glanced a bit outside to check. The deck lights were on …

Right then, Shadow’s voice came in. “Visuals on the target… Naman is in danger still. The man limping is the brother of the actual mastermind behind the 26/11 terror attack… the mission was named ‘BUTT mission’ in the bastard’s honour. He is wanted by Interpol for the blasts in London and the tourist bus attack in France. The Navy warriors are detaching the torpedos. Its 3 Nautical miles away from here. The bastards have rigged this ship, so we have to escape carefully… the trigger must be somewhere with the limping man.”

“Alert everyone…” Capt Rawat spoke up. “… Our brave and intelligent Naman had overheard the perps talking about the layout of the bombs and the detonator details are with me. It’s wired to a mobile with that man in the centre. Name’s Jameel Sayeed. My man has hacked into the software. Keep him occupied for a tad longer…”

Jameel limped cautiously forward. Right then, a smoke bomb landed close by, plunging the deck into a smoke zone. Everyone around began to cough and two of the men were taken down instantly. The two others sat limp on the deck, dropping their rifles. However, Jameel dragged Naman toward the ship’s edge, hoping to use him as leverage in a final standoff.

From the tail end, a couple of paramedics precariously trapezed down a rope from the helicopter and got into the room. Maanav heaved a sigh of relief now that kaka would be safe. Nitya rushed towards him. Before he could react, she screamed.

“NAMAN…  You, please LET MY BROTHER GO…”  Her voice had become hoarse by then. And Maanav’s heart broke watching her weep.

Jameel laughed hysterically. “You guys ruined it all. The sponsors are going to have my hide… No… I won’t go down alone. This kid… he is the root cause of trouble… everything would have gone as planned if he wasn’t in the picture… He will go down with me…”

“DROP THE GUN, JAMEEL. IT’S GAME OVER…” Shadow’s voice boomed over the ship’s loudspeaker.

“NO… NOT OVER… NOT AT ALL… MY MAN WILL BE HERE ANY MOMENT… I will leave here with this boy. You all will become ashes… just wait.” He smirked. Maanav saw the flustered look on his face.

“The explosives are disarmed. Jameel can’t do anything…. go ahead, my boys, finish the mission.” Capt. Rawat’s voice came into their earpieces.

Within a moment, shots were fired at Jameel’s shoulder and he wobbled a bit. Maanav rushed and in an instant pulled Naman away. Jameel raised his arm with the gun, pointing it towards Naman but a shot soon made its way to his forehead and the curtains finally fell.

Within a few moments, MARCOS on standby rushed and took control of the entire ship and the helicopter made a breezy landing to take the SPS team with Nitya and Naman along with the injured kaka… As told earlier, this mission was a secret and the details were not to be revealed.

Nitya rushed towards Naman who, in turn, smiled awkwardly.

“Naman Genius… Naman brave… Shadow…?” Naman looked around even as Nitya hugged the boy.

Shadow came towards Naman and hoisted him up. “You are the true hero of this mission, Naman… do you know you just saved our country?”

Everyone clapped for Naman.

“Naman genius… Naman saved country…” The young boy erupted in joy. As Shadow placed him down, supporting him on he wobbly ship, he looked up in reverence at the gentle giant. “… Sh…Sh… Shadow…?”

“Yes Naman…?”

“…Naman Brave…? Naman good…?”

“Yes…” Shadow reiterated. “…Naman is a brave genius… Naman is the best…”

©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.)