Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller

by Himanshu Rasam

  ''I will keep looking for a way to get their systems down, or at least disable the perimeter security. Then your team might have a chance to slip past the security systems on the island without tripping any alarms. Will keep you posted.'' Ranjeet dove into his laptop screen, typing furiously than ever.

  As soon as the chopper made a landing in an open field, David and his co-passengers got out of the chopper and stretched their legs. The journey had been exhausting.

  Back at the bunker, Ajaysingh had been racking his brain over the past hour, focussing on the voice he had heard on the tape. He had made a lot of enemies over the last few years, but the insanity in this tone was unique. He was staring at his shoes with a look of nothingness and then it hit him like a thunderbolt and left him stunned. His mind had drifted to his past.

  I thought it all ended at Pokharan in 1998. I should have known- It was just the beginning.

  Chapter 35

  ''Bravo! Now that we have reached here, does anybody have any clue what we are looking for?'' Ranjeet was the first one to ask.

  ''I think we will figure it out when we reach that stupa.'' Sameer felt a dreamlike mist swirling around him as he entered the remains of the world's first international residential university, flanked by commandos following close behind.

  ''You know, almost two thousand years ago, it was very difficult to get entry into this place. Many of the scholars tried, but failed the entrance test,'' Shonali said.

  ''Wait! There was an entrance test at that time too?'' Ranjeet asked with a giggle.

  ''Yes. For admission in Nalanda, you had to answer the questions asked by the guards standing right here at the gates. Only 2-3 out of ten made it into Nalanda,'' replied Shonali. ''Many scholars from around Asia studied at Nalanda which was said to be the cradle of the Buddhist civilisation. The earliest references of this prestigious place can be traced back to Magadah- the time of Gautama Buddha in the 6th century B.C. It was devoted to Buddhist studies, but also trained students in fine arts, medicine, mathematics, astronomy, politics, architecture, philosophy.''

  As they walked through the ruins of the ancient city of knowledge, the commandos moved in a formation of 3 metres spread checking the corners ahead of them.

  ''Clear, Check the right passage,'' one of the commandos reported.

  ''Right passage clear.''

  They had to make sure there weren't any surprises lying ahead of them this time. Such ruins were always a possible ambush site. The place looked like a stone complex, mostly consisting of stone classrooms which appeared more like meditation areas.

  After all introspection leads to true knowledge, Shonali thought inwardly.

  Many dormitories appeared to be lined up at a corner near the south end of the excavation site. ''The current excavation is just a fraction of the total university and many buildings are still buried under the current site. The site has a number of small monasteries where the monks had lived and studied and many of them were rebuilt over the centuries,'' Shonali told Sameer.

  ''How many students did this university have? It looks like a large place for a university of those times,'' asked Ranjeet, with an intention to start a conversation with Shonali.

  ''It was huge! This place was planned in a magnificent manner. It had a nine-storied library where the monks meticulously copied books and documents so that individual scholars could have their own collections. It had dormitories for students, and would you believe, 10,000 students resided in the university’s heyday along with 2,000 professors. Nalanda University attracted pupils and scholars from Korea, Japan, China, Tibet, Indonesia, Persia and Turkey. Also, many of the students travelled to spread Buddhism, such as PadmaSambhav- a teacher of yoga who went to Tibet, where he established the 1st monastery and became the founder of Lamaism. Alas! All the teachings of those scholars and the literature, the knowledge stored here for centuries is now lost,'' Shonali said, trying to catch up with David's pacing feet.

  Ranjeet was not going to give up so easily. ''Lost? How was it lost?'' continued Ranjeet in an attempt to extend the conversation.

  ''There was a fire which burnt down over 9 million manuscripts and we lost a big piece of our ancient wisdom. The university lost many important factions of our oldest manuscripts in that fire, besides some of the valuable knowledge on Vedic mathematics, medicinal properties of plants and several other topics. It was around 12th century, when the Muslim invader Bakhtiyar Khalji sacked the university and tried to uproot Buddhism and plant Islam with his sword. It is said that the burning of those 9 million manuscripts continued for several months....''

  Ranjeet was slowly becoming detached from the surroundings. His eyes were glued to Shonali- the way she was explaining, the way her smile almost made him skip a beat, her beautiful purple kurti. Deep down, his heart was set on fire...

  ''... and the smoke hung for days like a dark pall,'' Shonali completed.

  ''We have enough information on this place now, but we still don't know which stupa does the message on the transcript refer to,'' David said, observing that there were quite a number of stupas around the place.

  Ranjeet ran his quick fingers on the keypad and the next second came pouring out data from the internet- ''This place has a strong link with Gautama Buddha as he often came here. There is a large stupa here where Sariputra- one of the chief disciples of the Buddha was supposedly born and his relics are entombed.''

  ''No.... There is no link between Sariputra's birthplace and the stupa on the transcript. It said - THE RESTING STUPA OF THE GREAT BUDDHA. There has to be a stronger connection of Lord Buddha to the stupa. Sariputra was a chief disciple, but not the first. Gautama Buddha delivered his first sermon to Kondanna, Bhaddiya, Vappa, Mahanama and Assaji- his first five disciples at Sarnath where he gave his first sermon on the Four Noble Truths and how to practice the Eightfold Path. That conversion of the five ascetics at the Deer Park at Sarnath led to the order of monks- The Sangha and hence-'' Shonali was trying to find the correct logic.

  ''What's the Sangha?'' Sameer queried.

  ''The Buddhist philosophy is based on three founding stones known as the Three Jewels- the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sangha. The Sangha has many definitions, but in general I would say Sangha are those groups of people who practice and follow the path of enlightenment shown by the Buddha.''

  ''So you think Sariputra's stupa isn't the place that transcript was suggesting?'' asked David.

  ''Maybe. But until we have something more credibly solid, we might as well explore the Sariputra's stupa,'' said Shonali with a sigh.

  ''So what should we be looking for in there?'' David came to the point straight away.

  ''The earlier message did not give us any clues, but I recall it said- STARTS THE HILL which means that it is just the beginning of a road leading us to whatever artefact that psycho wants. So we should expect to find some more clues in here. Look for any ancient inscriptions, symbols, hidden passageways. Anything that stands out from the normal is worth checking out. But I think it is going to be a tedious task and we don't have enough time to explore a complete stupa.''

  ''I know it's a tough task, but I have my task force and I have already asked for back-up. We also have two local guides coming to help us out, so we would know where to look,'' added David.

  ''That was pretty quick!'' Shonali was taken aback.

  ''Somebody skipped your history lecture, I guess,'' replied David, with a chuckle.

  David and his team spread out around the sector and started exploring while Ranjeet worked on getting access to the mainframe server. Shonali and Sameer worked on guiding the search teams.

  But back in Delhi, one man was beginning to understand why that phone call was meant for him; why the bomb had blasted at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The words- 'I want you to suffer. You'll be hurt and you'll be put to pain.... EVERY. SECOND.’ floated around him. The man paced up and down in his bunker restlessly. President Ajaysingh Chauhan was now starting to get the picture of who had left that message fo
r him.

  Chapter 36

  September, 1997

  Somewhere near the Indian Army- PTS (Project Testing Site), Pokharan

  Operation Shakti, District- Jaisalmer

  Co-ordinates- 27.095°N 71.753°E

  The last 48 hours of his life were the most mysterious ones. His mind was still figuring out the answer to 'What the hell am I doing in this desert?' as the army truck trembled over a temporary road. Sitting next to him, was an Indian army soldier with the typical 3 V-shaped white stripes on his arm, which probably denoted his rank in the army. Dr. Ajay Chauhan tried to ask the soldier the same question for the second time.

  ''Would you please tell me where the hell are we going?''

  ''We have our orders, Sir. We cannot disclose anything.''

  The cold look on the soldier's face told him that he was not going to get any answers. The truck had two more passengers who had got in with him at Jaisalmer. Their faces clearly told that they were as tired as he was. Observing their heavy suitcases, Ajay guessed that they were coming along for the same project that he was sent for.

  48 hours ago....

  Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai.

  Dr. Ajaysingh Chauhan was working on his project in his private lab at BARC when he had received a phone call from the director of BARC. After a brief conversation, Ajay agreed to work on the project the director had mentioned.

  ''Sure, I am certainly interested, but you didn't tell me where my posting is. I mean, I am excited to work for the government, but I need to know where I am going,'' said Ajay.

  The director had given him a strange reply, ''Don't worry about that. The Indian Army will take care of it. I will send you the tickets. You would be travelling soon.''

  8 hours later, Dr. Ajay departed for Bangalore. He had changed two flights in Bangalore and Chennai after which he finally landed in Delhi, where he was personally picked up by a Government of India vehicle and sent to Jaisalmer. His journey in the army truck had started there.

  The truck entered the project testing site which was well guarded with the highest level of security. The soldier accompanying them escorted the 3 personnel to the assistant co-ordinator's office. A couple of minutes later, co-ordinator Mr. A.K. Das was shaking hands with Dr. Ajay and his two companions.

  ''Dr. Ajay, Dr. Shashank and Dr. Jacob, welcome to Pokharan and welcome to Operation Shakti. I am A.K. Das- the assistant co-ordinator of this project. Sorry for the inconvenience caused due to your travel around almost half of the country, but we needed to make sure the spies don't trace our patterns. For the last three years, many scientists have joined our project and we have successfully deceived the CIA and a few other intelligence agencies until now. As soon as they detect a pattern of the country's top scientists heading towards Pokharan, we would be on their grid. They have already interfered with this project twice. This project, headed by Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam and Rajagopala Chidambaram, aims to develop India's best nuclear weapon.''

  He gave a quick glance towards his watch, gulped down his cup of tea and continued. ''Of course we did conduct Project Smiling Buddha or Pokharan 1 in May 1974, but this is much bigger. All of you are our country's top thermonuclear physicists and we require your assistance. You would be briefed about your work tomorrow, but before that I need you to understand the gravity of the situation. We need to be careful about whatever information we pass on. We are under constant surveillance of enemy espionage and believe me, we have many enemies. Most of the local and radio communications are done in codes. I know it will take you some time to get comfortable with the situation. Maintain minimum contact with your family and relatives, and be careful not to pass on ANY information carelessly. Is it clear?''

  The trio nodded in unison.

  ''I see you are very tired, so I suggest you go to your quarters and get some rest. Your luggage will be sent over after security clearance. Tomorrow morning you will be briefed about your work by Dr. Abdul Kalam. Good night, gentlemen.''

  Chapter 37

  Almost half an hour had passed, but the search teams had come up with nothing. The Sariputra's stupa was a complete stone structure with a huge dome and stretching walls. The search for inscriptions and hidden passage ways was hindered by the impaling darkness. Some inscriptions found on the stupa walls were discarded by Shonali as a fraction of the text was missing and some of those were just random names.

  David, Shonali and Sameer were standing right at the centre of the stupa inspecting the search. The sounds of the commandos' footsteps eerily bounced off the walls and echoed in the silence of the night.

  ''These stupas actually are a core part of Buddhism. Stupas generally represent the enlightened mind of the Buddha and were constructed since the early days of Buddhism,'' said Shonali. She wanted to break the unpleasant silence between the three of them. ''One of the symbolic meanings that they represent are the five elements: the square base represents the earth, the round dome is for water, the cone-shape is fire, the canopy is air and the volume of the stupa is space.''

  ''You sure we are going to find something here?'' Raghav questioned Shonali.

  ''We will,'' Ranjeet shouted from the other end of the stupa. He had been doing his research on the internet and finally hit a jackpot.

  He came running and showed his laptop screen to Shonali and David.

  ''I think we are searching the right place. It is believed that whenever Lord Buddha used to visit Nalanda, he resided in a mango grove. This stupa was built right over that mango grove.''

  ''So? Is that what THE RESTING STUPA OF THE GREAT BUDDHA means? The mango grove?'' Shonali asked.

  ''I think so,'' Ranjeet replied.

  Sameer, who had been keenly observing the stupa for the past few minutes, had made a peculiar observation. ''David, I think I have found something.''

  The sound reciprocated itself inside the stupa and everyone in the room was suddenly looking at Sameer.

  ''Err.. Sorry for disturbing everyone, but I think this stupa has a very special symmetry. Everything is absolutely symmetrical. The entry and exits, the Sanskrit inscriptions, the designs, the carved sculptures and even the ventilation holes up there are exactly opposite to each other.''

  Everyone instantly gave a quick look around the room. Indeed! Everything was so perfectly symmetric. But David didn't see any logic there.

  ''Yes. So what?'' he asked.

  Shonali realised the point Sameer was trying to make and started explaining it to David

  ''Those monks did take a lot of pain to put everything exactly in a symmetrical pattern around the centre. They made it symmetric for a reason. To conceal something- to hide. Symmetry has always been a mystery to man. We expect everything to be symmetric because the concept of chaos, asymmetry and randomness is just not the type for humans. This stupa is symmetric about its centre so...''

  ''...centre of the floor is the place we should look for clues,'' Sameer completed Shonali's sentence.

  Everyone's eyes were now on the floor of the stupa. Ranjeet walked to the centre, flashed a light from his cellphone on the stone floor. ''There's a bit of dust on the floor, but I am pretty sure that is a picture of a human eye,'' he said.

  There it was. Right at the centre- a human eye. Again a perfectly symmetrical carving at the centre of the floor enclosed in a circle. It had been there the whole time, but nobody had observed it. In an attempt to search the walls for inscriptions, they had neglected the floor!

  ''So what should we do now, Shonali?'' asked David with a worried expression. It was a far fetched theory and they still had no clue how big the object they were looking for was. Shonali pondered upon the question for a minute. ''If we are supposed to find something here, it must have been buried a long time ago. I think we should start digging in the centre,'' she said, biting her fingernails nervously. David decided to give it a shot.

  The NSG commandos, using the rocks nearby as their shovels, started digging up the centre of the stupa. Ten minutes passed by. Twent
y. Then thirty. Digging further seemed futile.

  Shonali now had another theory in her mind. There are many layers of construction beneath this stupa. So whatever they wanted to hide, they wouldn't have hidden it underground.

  ''Maybe the eye is not where the next clue lies. It was just a marker. The eye was keeping a watch over something. Something which those monks tried to conceal,'' Shonali conveyed her thoughts to Sameer.

  ''And where would that be concealed?'' Sameer asked Shonali.

  ''Right where this eye is looking at. Up there,'' Shonali said, pointing the finger at the centre of the dome of the stupa.

  At the exact centre of the dome was a design of another eye. An eye watching everybody beneath. An eye glaring right into the eye on the ground.

  ''I have a hunch that whatever we are be seeking is located at the centre of the dome.''

  Chapter 38

  November, 1997

  Indian Army- PTS (Project Testing Site), Pokharan

  Operation Shakti, District- Jaisalmer

  Co-ordinates- 27.095°N 71.753°E

  After an introduction to the project, Ajay, Jacob and Shashank started working on it with full determination. Over a short period, they became very good friends.They each had a separate lab to work under the guidance of Dr. Sarinder Kumar- an expert on Thermonuclear Weapon Development. Each one of them knew that this project was going to change the future of this country forever. Spending many nights working hard and dodging the enemy satellites, the project advanced with an excellent pace, until a phone call changed everything.