His watch displayed 4.20 am. David knew that the President had to depart for Delhi soon. He asked Raghav to assemble his team in a corner.
''Everyone- I know this night has been a tough one. I know we are on the field for almost 12 continuous hours but this is a critical time and we should face the situation together.''
David's voice brought encouragement and energy to his team.
''It's time that we split our tasks. Task 1- We need to extract President Ajaysingh from his bunker, take him safely to Delhi and ensure nothing happens to him. Task 2- We need to continue this trail until we find that artefact. I hope Ranjeet has been successful in hacking into their systems by now. I will have a chat with him in a moment,'' said David as he turned towards Raghav.
''Raghav, I need you to stay and help Sameer and Miss Shonali in the search. I will take half of my troop and head for the bunker.''
''But wouldn't it be better if you were to stay here. I can go to be with the President.''
''No, Raghav. You are injured and it's a risky task to be with the President. I know that the President's security is our top priority and I will handle it. You continue the search. Is it clear?'' David asked.
''Yes, Sir,'' Raghav replied obediently.
David started explaining the situation and his plan to Dr. Ajaysingh over the radio, while Sameer and Shonali kept searching for any missing or overlooked clues on the painting. Shonali was utterly confused with the pattern of events that had happened so far. The stone cube in her hands provided no help.
''We know that this stone cube is not the final object. The script clearly says that what we seek is hidden with the four guards. But is this what our lunatic wants?'' Sameer asked Raghav.
''I don't think so, Mr. Sameer. Of course, we can buy some time by telling the psycho that this cube is the final object we found, but if this is not the thing he expects, then it would be one big dangerous mistake,'' explained Raghav. ''And it doesn't make any sense- We can't just give him a cube with a numeric grid on it,'' he added.
''Let us get some things straight then- Whatever clues we have found tonight have one thing in common- Buddhism. Nalanda university, the stupa, the dhvaj, these caves, the painting- all of them have something to do with Gautama Buddha. But what I don't understand is why the first clue was on the iron pillar which, I think, has nothing to do with Buddhism!'' Shonali remarked.
Sameer nodded in agreement. ''Whatever messages we have found until now indicate that those were hidden by a group of people- the extract in the message 'you too have set out to find that source of truth and we will help you to find it' clearly indicates that. Let us suppose that this group of people belonged to a specific cult or legion. So the question is - what are they leading us to?'' Sameer added.
Shonali looked at the cube in her hand. She had a strong gut feeling that the answers to some of her unanswered questions were inside that stone cube and she needed to get it open somehow. She carefully observed the locking system of the cube. The grid on the front face acted as the lock for the cube. The rest of the faces of the cube were just plain. Each of the nine tiles on the 3 by 3 grid had miniature rotating copper cylinders behind them, which displayed numbers from 1-9 on their curved faces. Rotating each of the nine cylinders would produce a different pattern of numbers on the grid face every time.
''It's like a magic square!'' Sameer cried out with excitement.
Chapter 56
Ajaysingh realised he would have to leave for the conference as soon as David's team got to the bunker. He asked David to pass the radio to Shonali.
''Take care, Dad!'' Shonali kept her conversation short. She knew her father's life was in danger. But that's how things were between the father and daughter. There always was a silent conversation. ''I am very thankful that you are helping us. Stay safe,'' replied Ajaysingh. David and the handpicked commandos made their way towards the temporary helipad from where their chopper would take them to Aurangabad airport.
As they reached almost half of the distance, David received a call from Ranjeet.
''Sir, I think I have done whatever I can from the outside. I can turn off their warning systems for some period of time until your men can get inside...''
''Good job, Ranjeet. Let us give that bastard in his face. I will send my teams in as soon as you disable the security systems. Tell me, what is your time frame?''
''Sir, the job is not yet over. I cannot get through the firewall completely unless I access it from the island. I need to be there personally to disable the firewall. Now, I can get your team inside the facility without arousing their attention. But then, I cannot hack into their security camera feed. They might still catch your team members sneaking into the facility on the cameras. Also, the missile launch systems can only be hacked from the server room which means they could still launch the missiles even on the slightest suspicion.''
''So what do you suggest Ranjeet?''
''I need to get into the facility to hack the missile launch systems. I can disable the securities for seven minutes without getting caught on their radar. Once we are inside the facility, I will try to loop the camera feeds to buy us some time. Then I need to access the server room, disable the hub and shut down all the ports transferring data from the island to the satellite. This way, they won't be able to launch the missile. In case we are late to stop the transmission and they have already launched the missile, they won't be able to control it. The secondary ports at the Delhi headquarters would take over the control of the missile systems from there.'' Ranjeet poured out all the information he had analysed after his long conversation with Vishal.
David took some time digesting the new set of information.
''I am on my way to you, Ranjeet. Just give me a couple of minutes,'' said David as he advanced towards the temporary helipad. David was trying to think of a plan so that his troops on the east coast could retake the Wheeler Island facility and he could protect the President as well. After a lot of thinking, he decided to play his best card- Capt. Pratap Shinde.
When David and the black commandos reached the helicopter waiting to take them to the airport, Ranjeet was standing near the door of the chopper looking at David with curious eyes. Ranjeet needed to know what David had planned next. David took a deep breath before he quickly explained his chalked out strategy to Ranjeet.
''Ranjeet, I would have accompanied you to Wheeler Island, but I need to be with President Ajaysingh right now. So here's what we do- You accompany us to Aurangabad airport. I will arrange for your flight to the eastern coast from there. Our military camp is located at Dhamara- the nearest port to the facility. Wheeler Island is approximately ten kilometres inside the waters from the shores of Dhamara. Go and meet Capt. Pratap as soon as you get to Dhamara base. He is my best man and he will lead the infiltration team into the facility...''
The pilot started the engines and the blades began to rotate.
''... Explain everything to him. I would be with Dr. Ajaysingh while Raghav and the rest half of my troop is going to be with Miss Shonali and Sameer until they figure out the clue on the painting. I know following that psychopath's orders is nothing but madness. Yet, until we totally recapture those missiles, I think we should keep all our options open...''
The blades rotated faster and it was becoming difficult for Ranjeet to hear David's voice.
''... Raghav will inform me as soon as Sameer or Shonali hit upon something,'' shouted David, trying to make himself heard. ''You update me as soon as Capt. Pratap is ready to infiltrate the facility. I have given Pratap his set of instructions and will let him know you are coming...''
The chopper rose up slowly. They could see the rock cut caves and the valley below them becoming smaller and smaller.
''There is a special task force for his security. Why is it so important that you should be with the President in Delhi?'' asked Ranjeet.
''I know. There is Colonel Rana to look over the President's transportation. But I am worried about a piece of informa
tion that we have recovered. I think this Assignment 6.00 can be something dangerous. Don't worry about your safety, Ranjeet. The NSG commandos under Capt. Pratap are extremely skilled and trained. I am sure they will handle the situation at Wheeler Island without any hiccups,'' David assured Ranjeet.
Ranjeet looked out of the window. All he could see was darkness around him.
It's the darkness before the sunrise, he told himself.
Chapter 57
''A magic square?'' Shonali was very curious to know.
''Yes. I mean magic squares aren't just any 3 by 3 or 4 by 4 grid of numbers. They have some special addition properties along the rows or columns. This grid looks almost the same way. If you rotate the copper cylinder in each tile of the grid, you get different combinations-''
''And you think a proper combination of 9 unique numbers- one in every tile would be the code to open this cube?'' said Shonali guessing Sameer's line of thought.
''Absolutely! In cryptography, we come across many such devices designed by great minds to hold the untold secrets. It has been since the time of the Pharaohs of Egypt that man started to keep their prized possessions in boxes which could only be opened by solving a specific puzzle. This is a kind of portable safe, I guess.''
''So now we need to select nine numbers and then we open the lock. That would be just a few million of combinations,'' Shonali frowned.
''No,'' said Sameer, ''the clue for combination must be somewhere in this text. If they have provided the lock, they must also have given the key. There must be some deeper meaning to this text which we are not paying attention to,'' said Sameer as he started reading the transcript from the top once again, this time with diligent care.
There were a few seconds of silence as Sameer went through the script on the painting over and over again. Raghav fished out a pack of cigarettes and passed them around while the commandos sat back and watched Sameer and Shonali rack their brains.
''I think the monks are referring to King Ashoka here,'' Shonali said aloud.
''And why do you think so?'' Sameer immediately shot back at her. ''There were many kings of Magadha. They could be referring to the semi-mythical king Jarasandha- the king who likely established the very kingdom of Magadha!''
''No. They mentioned a very special name- Devanampriya which means loved by the Gods. This was another name of Ashoka- the Great,'' said Shonali showing the screen of her smart phone to Sameer. She had searched for the words 'Devanampriya, Buddhism' and King Ashoka's name popped up in every search result.
''But why didn't they use a more common name like- Samraat Chakravartin instead of Devanampriya?'' Shonali asked herself.
''Maybe they decided to use a rather uncommon name on the painting,'' Sameer reasoned.
''So even if we say that the name Devanampriya was used for King Ashoka, who were his guards that the painting refers to?'' Shonali still had questions.
''Maybe they were some special guards who always protected King Ashoka or were entrusted to guard his precious object.''
''No, Sameer,'' Shonali interrupted Sameer curtly. ''I have a different theory. I think this object was passed down to King Ashoka. The object or the artefact must have existed long before it was handed down to Ashoka and that is why we found the dhvaj at Sariputra's stupa. Sariputra preceded King Ashoka by almost two centuries.''
''But there is also the possibility that the artefact may have been hidden long after Sariputra's death. The stupa has been there since the time of Sariputra and the cult of monks could have hidden it any time since then,'' Sameer interjected.
''That is a possibility, yes. But this painting above us depicts Lord Buddha and not King Ashoka. If it was Ashoka who owned the artefact, then why would he write a message suggesting the artefact is guarded by his four guards on these caves? Anyway, it is not of importance who had the object or to whom it was passed down. The question we should focus on is who were the notable guards of King Ashoka and how are we going to unlock this damn cube?'' Shonali came to the point.
''After the massacre at the battle of Kalinga, when King Ashoka embraced Buddhism, he was drawn deep into it. He understood the Buddhist principles and felt that it was his duty to make people know about Buddhism. So he sent his messengers and monks from his kingdom in all four directions, to advocate Buddhism and to preach the noble path shown by Gautama Buddha. He had ministers nominated for this task. Maybe those ministers are being referred to as the guards,'' said Shonali.
She tried to search the internet for any help on King Ashoka and his guards. Meanwhile, Sameer concentrated on finding any numbers or combination of numbers hidden in the painting or in the text above and below it.
Not very far away, Ranjeet had just got into a flight that was ready to take him to Biju Pattnaik airport in Bhubaneswar from where a chopper would finally transport him to the Dhamara base of the NSG soldiers. The mission ahead involved a great deal of risk. Fear was mounting up in Ranjeet's mind as the flight passed through turbulence in the clouds. He had never handled a live situation on the field anytime before and he knew he would go nuts at the sight of cross-fire and blood. He felt a chill run through his spine and his hands shivered as he tried to imagine himself trying to hack the enemy servers as bullets passed by- just inches away from him. He shut his eyes tightly and locked down his brain. Ranjeet tried to think of something good, something soothing in his mind and only one thought crossed his mind- Shonali. He knew it was something more than just a crush.
Maybe before I left, I should have talked to her- At least I should have wished her a goodbye.
Shonali was the only thing that kept his hands from shivering.
6 kilometres east of his secret bunker, President Ajaysingh was waiting on a plane for David and his team to arrive. Their arrival was scheduled in forty minutes. The flight seat was comfortable, the cabin temperature was ambient and President Ajaysingh had not rested for a long time. It did not take him long to drift off into a deep sleep.
Chapter 58
Project Testing Site, Pokharan
Operation Shakti
18 April, 1998
Time: 6.30 am
It was the first combined meeting of all scientists at the Pokharan project site. After months of hard work, the project was finally nearing completion. The work had gone smoothly and no suspicious activity had been tracked, no documents were stolen after the incident at A.K. Das's office. That incident was covered up the same night and the Indian Army soldiers made sure that nothing was leaked out. Everyone believed that the spy had probably fled from the facility or was perhaps too shaken and afraid to do anything now. Assistant Project Co-ordinator A.K.Das addressed the audience in the hall.
''Good morning, Gentlemen. This program dates back to 1945 when Dr. Homi Bhabha established the Institute of Fundamental Research. Since then, this nuclear program has seen many ups and downs. Many times the governments in India decided to shelve and halt this program with the fear of inviting international criticism. But this time we had an unconditional support from our government. We have tentatively decided to carry out our tests in the first week of May.''
The crowd applauded as the assistant project co-ordinator A.K. Das handed over the mike to the Chief Project Co-ordinator Dr. A.P.J Abdul Kalam.
''We overcame a lot of hurdles to reach this point. American satellites had detected our test preparations in 1995, hence these tests required complete secrecy to avoid detection by other countries. I appreciate this entire planning which was done just by a small group of scientists, military officers and politicians to ensure that the test preparations would remain behind the curtains. Even some of the senior members of the Indian cabinet are not yet informed of our ongoing preparations. On the diplomatic front, we have adopted a policy of nuclear ambiguity. To ensure that we are not internationally criticised or questioned, statements are being made by our politicians and diplomats which imply that our country's nuclear status is undecided as of now. This has bought us some time and I hope by the f
irst week of May, we would be in a position to complete the tests. You will have put your sweat into this now. Only a final push is all that is left- I hope that we see India in the list of the countries with nuclear arsenal in the coming millennia.''
Dr. Kalam's words were like a moral boost to all the scientists present in the room. Everyone clapped and cheered but Ajay and Shashank. Sitting in one corner of the room, they donned a worried look on their faces. On the other corner of the meeting hall was the person who Ajay had thought of as his friend- Jacob. But since the incident at A.K. Das's office, Ajay had started to suspect Jacob of being involved in something dangerous. And slowly, it became evident to Ajay that what he knew about Jacob was totally wrong.
''Do you think he could be the mole amongst us? The spy?'' asked Ajay one afternoon to Shashank in their room while Jacob was still working in his lab. He told Shashank about the incident that had happened in A.K. Das's cabin.
''No way. Jacob can't be...'' Shashank stopped in the middle of his sentence as his face gave away an expression of awe. Shashank quickly rose up from the chair and walked towards Jacob's bed. He bent over and tried to feel the underside of the bed with his hand. A couple of seconds later, he found what he had been looking for. Shashank withdrew his hand from under Jacob's bed to reveal a small locked steel box to Ajay.
''I saw it about a couple of weeks ago when I returned from my shift an hour early. Jacob was on his bed working on his laptop, reading out something from this steel box next to him. He was perplexed when he saw me and hurriedly covered it up with his sleeping blanket. Also, I find him awake most of the times - even after his heavy work shifts!'' Shashank recounted his experiences with Jacob to Ajay.
''So should we report it to Mr. Das or the security head?'' Ajay asked Shashank.
''We don't have a solid proof against him except that glove story. I think we should search his baggage and office. We may find some proof there,'' Shashank suggested.
Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller Page 15