The Time Traveler

by Tej Pratap Singh

  “My boy, I have no idea how you did it, but, what a show!” Lurton said over the phone. “And that too within a week. I thought you’ll need a month at least.”

  “Hmm,” said KC in a disinterested tone.

  “Well, then let’s meet, it’s time you take out the second obstacle. Adam will meet you and share the details,” said Lurton.

  “Lurton I had a month for this job. Let’s keep it that way. I’ll contact you when the month is over,” said KC disconnecting the call abruptly and handing over the cell to Jasmine. “Jazz, don’t answer any calls from any unknown number.”

  “Wow! Did you just hang up on Lurton?” said Jasmine surprised. “Can you afford to do that?”

  “He needs me, Jazz,” said KC. “It’s not the other way round.”

  “Is that going to work?” asked Jasmine.

  “We will soon find out,” said KC as they sat in a taxi. “Take us to East Street, lane 11.”

  Jasmine’s house was half an hour’s drive from the airport. It was 5:50 p.m. now. KC looked inside the taxi to see if there were any signs of it being bugged. He had seen so much in so little time that he had learnt to trust nothing and no one. Logic meant very little to him now. For the last three months he was living his life out of the box.

  “What are you looking for?” asked Jasmine.

  “I don’t know, just looking around,” said KC now looking out of the window.

  “Relax, KC, it’s okay, we are okay now. You think too much all the time. Just relax, you need to rest you know,” said Jasmine as the taxi stopped at a signal.

  “I know, Jazz,” said KC, “but I just can’t.”

  “Come on just relax,” before she could say anything more, KC grabbed her and pulled her down. He looked over her shoulder, there was a truck heading straight for their taxi from the side perpendicular to them. The truck rammed the taxi in the front as the taxi swung around twice without turning over, the truck had struck them hard enough to rock the car out of commission. Its windows were shattered and its engine was half out of the bonnet. The car was almost squashed into half.

  KC had blacked out but he regained consciousness pretty quickly. He looked around and then he looked at Jasmine, she was unconscious. He turned around and tried to open the door, but it was jammed. He rammed the door with his shoulder, once, then twice, then thrice, but it didn’t open. He turned around and looked at Jasmine, she was still breathing but seemed to be in bad shape.

  He quickly turned around once again and rammed the door with his leg as the door swung open this time and fell a couple of meters away. He crawled out of the wrecked car and then quickly pulled Jasmine and the driver out. Jasmine had stopped breathing by this time. He quickly turned her on her back and tried to resuscitate her. He provided chest compressions and gave her rescue breaths.

  He was starting to panic, “No, No. Jasmine! Come back.”

  He bent over and repeated the CPR, again and again.

  Jasmine didn’t make the slightest movement.

  “Jasmine, don’t do this to me,” cried KC almost in tears. “You can’t leave me. Not now. Not Again.”

  He bent over and tried again.

  “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,” counted KC as he pushed straight down on her chest with the heel of his left hand. Jasmine didn’t move.

  KC stopped and looked at Jasmine as she lay on the road. She reminded him of Jenny when she was lying on the road after he had shot her.

  “It’s all my mistake. I am sorry, Jasmine. I should have never involved you,” cried KC as he picked her up and hugged her with all his might like never before. “I wish I could change everything. I wish this never happened.”

  Two black SUVs with tinted glasses came and surrounded the smashed car. KC continued to hold Jasmine as tightly as before; himself bleeding. He looked up as Adam came out of the SUV with a wicked smile painted all over his face, followed by five of his men.

  “You can leave her now,” said Adam. “She’s dead, and she is expendable.”

  “Are you responsible for this?” asked KC with Jasmine in his arms.

  “Yeah, this is my way of saying that you don’t have a month. When Lurton says, get back on the job, he means get back on the job, asshole,” said Adam.

  KC gently placed Jasmine on the road and got up as Adam took out an envelope from his coat to give it to KC.

  “This is your next target,” said Adam as he took out his pen and wrote something on the envelope. “You take us too lightly, KC. It’s time you took us very seriously.”

  In a split of a second KC moved forward before Adam or any of his men could even blink an eyelid. He took the pen from Adam’s hand and stabbed his neck as blood gushed out of it. KC pulled out Adam’s pistol from his holster and fired four bullets right in the middle of the eyes of all his men but one. They fell right where they were standing before they could even comprehend what was happening. They were dead, as dead as Jasmine was.

  KC pointed the pistol at the fifth man. The man was literally shaking in fear; he could barely maintain his composure as he saw Adam shaking in pain with a pen in his windpipe and four of his mates dead around him in a matter of seconds. He couldn’t believe how anyone could be so bloody quick and accurate. It simply was not possible.

  “You,” said KC in rough voice, “I am not going to kill you for now. Go back to Lurton and tell him what you saw. Tell him that I am coming for him. By tomorrow this time he will be as dead as all of them.”

  “Who are you?” asked the man aghast.

  “I am your worst nightmare. Now, don’t push your luck, get out of here,” said KC.

  The man quickly got into the SUV and drove out as fast as he could. KC turned towards Adam who was still very much alive, still shaking in pain.

  “You take me too lightly, Adam,” said KC. “It’s time you took me seriously.”

  “Please. Please shoot me,” cried Adam as he trembled in pain. Blood poured out of his windpipe, some of it filling into his lungs.

  “This is for Jasmine,” said KC.

  Just then a car made its way towards KC at great speed, almost running him over. It looked just like the taxi in which KC and Jasmine had crashed. It screeched to a halt right next to KC. He realized that it not only looked like the taxi he was travelling in, but it had the exact same license plate and color.

  The window rolled down, Jasmine shouted from inside the car waving at him, “Come on, KC, get in. We got to move. Now! Get in.”

  KC stared at Jasmine in disbelief. He turned around and saw Jasmine lying on the road motionless. He turned around again and saw Jasmine waving at him from the car. For a moment KC thought that he was seeing things, but, after everything he had been through, pretty much anything was possible. KC ran towards the car, as he got close to the car, he could see clearly that it indeed was her.

  “KC, get in, we got to move right now. Two more cars are coming this way and they’re full of bad guys. We got to move,” said Jasmine.

  “But how do you know? How did you get here? Jazz!”

  “I’ll tell you everything, but, we got to get out of here first,” said Jasmine.

  Just then KC saw two cars heading for them from a distance.

  “That’s it, KC. They are here. We have to go,” said Jasmine.

  “Who is here? Who are they?” asked KC totally confused.

  “It’s Adam. They are coming to get you,” she explained.

  “Adam? But I just killed him,” said KC.

  “Look I have no clue what you are talking about,” said Jasmine. “Just get in, will you?”

  KC quickly opened the door and sat in the car. Jasmine stepped on the throttle. KC looked back at the road, it was clear; there was no wrecked car, no bodies lying on the ground, just the two cars that had stopped there. KC could see Adam stepping out of the car with his five guards.


  As they drove past the signal, KC saw the truck standing on the side of the road with its tyres punctured.

  “All right, Jasmine, we are quite far away now. You can stop the car now. Just tell me what’s going on, will you?” said KC after a couple of minutes.

  She stopped the car and they got out of the car. They were facing each other. It was her, as alive as ever. He took a step forward and held her. Before she could say anything, he hugged her tightly and kissed her.

  “Wow,” she said with a smile. “You really missed me in Hong Kong, didn’t you?”

  “Oh my God, Jazz. I thought I lost you. I thought I’d never see you again. This is the best thing that has happened to me ever. Wait. Just wait. What did you say, “I missed you in Hong Kong?” But you were with me the whole time.”

  “What are you saying, KC?” said Jasmine. “You never let me come along. I was so worried for you. Thank God you are all right.”

  “What’s going on?” asked KC.

  “Okay, I’ll tell you. I got a call from you yesterday, you told me that at 6:00 p.m. exactly I should pick you up from the traffic lights, from where I just picked you up,” explained Jasmine. “You told me that you would probably be very disoriented but I should ensure that you get in the taxi and then drive away with you immediately as some guys would be chasing you in two black cars.”

  “I don’t believe this,” said KC, shaking his head and leaning back against the car.

  “What happened?” asked Jasmine keeping her hand on KC’s shoulder.

  “I changed time, I bloody changed everything,” said KC laughing out loudly.

  “What did you change?” asked Jasmine.

  “You don’t remember anything, do you?” asked KC.

  “What exactly are you talking about?” said Jasmine.

  “Of course, you don’t remember anything because it never happened,” said KC. “But how the hell did I manage to do it? If I called you yesterday… then I should have been in Hong Kong and at another place at the same time. I’ve got to find out where I was, that’s it.”

  “KC, forgive me for not following but do you know that you are talking rubbish?” said Jasmine.

  “Hahaha,” laughed KC. “So, if you don’t remember anything, so must be the case with Lurton and Adam; they don’t remember any of it because it never happened.”

  “What didn’t happen?” asked Jasmine again.

  “Jazz, give me your cell, I’ve got to make a call,” said KC taking the cell from her and calling Lurton.

  “Mr. Lurton?” said KC.

  “Hahaahahah,” laughed Lurton. “My boy, I have no idea how you did it, but, what a show! And, that too within a week. I thought you’ll take a month at least. Well then, let’s meet as it’s time you know for you to take out the second obstacle. Adam will meet you with the details.”

  “Yes, let’s meet,” said KC. “How about the Grand Palm? Same place, same time.”

  “Adam will meet you,” said Lurton laughing. “Great doing business with you.”

  “You have no idea,” said KC smiling and disconnecting the call.

  The next morning, when Jasmine woke up and walked into the hall rubbing her eyes, she was surprised to see KC all dressed up and ready to leave.

  “Whoa,” said Jasmine. “Look who is ready so early.”

  KC smiled and hugged Jasmine and kissed her on her cheek.

  “Good Morning,” he said. “How are you feeling today?”

  “Ah, I am fine,” said Jasmine surprised by the way KC was behaving. “What’s with you, KC, you’ve been acting very strange since you came back from Hong Kong.”

  “Oh, is that so?” questioned KC. “Hmm…, anyway, I am going to meet that weasel Adam now so I’ll see you in the evening, Jazz.”

  “Weasel? I thought you liked him?” laughed Jasmine.

  “Well some events changed that perception, Jazz. I just realized that I don’t like him anymore,” said KC.

  “But you’re leaving so early. I thought you were going to meet him in the evening? Weren’t you?” asked Jasmine.

  “Yeah, but I got to pick up a few things first before meeting him and that’s going to take some time,” he explained.

  “Should I come along?” asked Jasmine.

  “Absolutely not,” said KC. “Ah.., I mean no, nothing much to do today, I just got to meet him so you don’t need to accompany this time around.”

  “Alright then,” said Jasmine.

  KC spent the whole day visiting several chemists and fashion houses and finally in the evening he arrived at the Grand Palm. Winter was in full swing so it was really cold but KC still insisted on meeting Adam at the same open-air restaurant where they had met earlier. KC sat there waiting for Adam. KC was on his second coffee when finally Adam arrived, shaking in the freezing cold.

  “Is this your idea of a joke?” said Adam sitting in front of KC, taking off his overcoat. “It’s freezing cold out here, I am sure we would have been a lot more comfortable inside, don’t you think so?”

  “And miss this great view of the city? I don’t think so,” said KC.

  “Alright, smart guy, are you ready for your next op?” said Adam rubbing his hands together trying to keep himself warm.

  “Yes, pretty much,” said KC. “So, who is it going to be?”

  After a brief pause Adam took out an envelope and placed it in front of KC. KC recognized the envelope, it was the same one which Adam had given him yesterday after running over his car.

  “What’s in the envelope?” asked KC trying to sound surprised.

  “Your next target’s picture,” said Adam bluntly. “And, your paycheck for the hardware.”

  “So, do I get a month this time also?” asked KC keeping a can of beer on the table that he had brought especially for Adam.

  “No, you’ve got two weeks and no delays please,” said Adam. “I don’t like it when things don’t happen according to my plans.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s going to happen fast, so fast that you’ll not even realize what happened,” said KC opening the beer can with a jerk and accidentally dropping it on Adam’s overcoat lying on the side of the table.

  “Goddammit!” blasted Adam. “Fuck! Look what you have done. You have ruined my coat, this was a $6000 coat, you scumbag.”

  “Oh, I am so sorry Adam,” said KC. “I am terribly sorry. It was an accident. Oh crap, I have ruined your coat.”

  “Goddammit, it’s freezing out here and my coat is ruined,” fumed Adam.

  “Well, don’t worry about that,” said KC opening a packet he had brought along and taking out a brand new really expensive coat. “Try this. It’s a $20000 Valentino fur coat. Coincidently, I bought it for you this morning. It is getting pretty cold you know. And after all that you have done for me this is the least I could do for you.” He rubbed the coat gently to show how soft it was.

  “Wow!” said Adam taking the coat from KC and rubbing it against his face to feel the soft fur.

  He got up and put it on instantly, running his hands up and down the coat feeling its softness. The hair on his arms and body stood up due to the static electricity produced by the rubbing of his hands against the coat. Adam was thrilled with his surprise gift.

  “Well, I am glad you ruined my old coat, KC,” said Adam. “I like Valentino.”

  “That’s great,” said KC. “And I also got this beer for you.”

  “Thanks,” said Adam taking the beer can from KC’s hand. “I’ll leave now, my work here is done.”

  “Aren’t you going to have your beer? This is the best beer in the world,” said KC getting up, opening his beer can and moving to the edge of the balcony, looking at the city lights. “This makes me feel so alive.”

  Adam got up and walked up to where KC was standing.

  “I’ll rather have it in my car
on my way back,” said Adam.

  “Suit yourself,” said KC, “but I am having mine right here.”

  From the balcony, KC saw Adam move to the parking and get into his car. He reversed his car and got into the exit lane from where he could see KC standing in the balcony. Two black SUVs with his bodyguards followed shortly behind.

  Adam lowered his window and took out his beer can, opened it and waved at KC.

  “Boom,” said KC smiling and waving at Adam.

  Within seconds there was a huge blast; the car and the area around caught fire. Adam and his car were in cinders within seconds.

  “Drinking can be injurious to health,” said KC throwing his beer can into the dustbin.

  Adam’s guards, shocked, rushed out of their SUV, trying to put out the fire, but they were too late for the fire had spread pretty quickly and nothing remained of Adam, or his brand new coat.

  KC had been quite busy since morning. He had gone to a chemist outlet and got sulfur in bulk. And then a few beer cans. A couple of hours of professional work and Rs 70,000 later he got the sulfur in to the beer can, shut it tight and sealed it. He followed it with a quick visit to a fashion store where he bought a Rs. 1,50,000 brand new fur coat that no one could possibly keep their hands off. Enough to produce the right amount of static electricity to ignite the sulfur in the can when it’s mixed with moisture in the air. So much for the ‘hardware money.’

  KC moved back to his table and picked up the envelope, he opened it to see the picture inside. It was Kamal’s photo.

  Chapter 6

  The 8th Day

  KC got back to Jasmine’s place wondering how he was going to handle his next op, Kamal. Lurton definitely wanted Kamal dead. And it was not a surprise; Kamal was an honest and powerful man. As long as he was alive, the Indian intelligence would not let Lurton survive. KC would have to kill Kamal or Lurton would remove the protection he was providing KC and then everyone would come after KC like mad bloodhounds be it MegaTech or the FBI. KC wouldn’t get the time to plan his exit strategy then. Kamal had to go.

  * * *

  It was a bright sunny morning. KC stood outside the National Counter Terrorist Agency, after one week of reconnaissance he had finally found it. The NCTA was a covert organization under the Defense Ministry, it had been there for ages, but most of the people even within the Government didn’t know about it. Only the best of the best were recruited for the NCTA, no one could opt for it because as far as the masses were concerned the NCTA was a ghost, it didn’t exist. The NCTA used to handpick operatives that it considered worthy of the organization. NCTA was responsible for most of the international terrorists killings and several ops to negate their malevolent and foul plans. Kamal was their head; he was a very strong-willed and honest individual. An Ex-Army Special Forces recruit, he too was handpicked as a young man. He had given over 20 years to the NCTA during which he had led some of the most gruesome and challenging ops, and now, he was at the helm of affairs.