Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller

by Himanshu Rasam

  Sameer carefully placed the cylinder on a handkerchief that Shonali had laid down on the ground. Everyone gazed down at the unexplained cylinder placed at the centre of the Shakyasimha gallery fervent to know about its contents. Shonali ran her finger along the surface of the small cylinder searching for openings.

  ''There is a slit running at the centre of this cylinder. Maybe it opens up if pulled along its length,'' said Shonali as she applied a light pressure on the exterior of the cylinders, trying to pull the two ends apart. Just like a hollow pen, the cylinder parted in the middle and a papyrus scroll could be seen concealed inside.

  Sameer carefully unrolled the scroll trying to be as careful as he could be while handling the delicate piece of paper. The script was written in Sanskrit and had almost the same font as that of the messages they had found earlier.

  बहुभ्यः वर्षेभ्यः मानवः एकमेव सामान्यं किमपि प्राप्तुं प्रयतमानः वर्तते - एतस्य कृते एव सः तस्य सर्वं जीवनं समर्पयति , तन्नाम मुक्तिः । प्राचीनकालीनानां विदुषां मतानुसारं, मानवः नाम मर्त्य-देहस्य पत्र्जरे बद्धः आत्मा । एतदर्थमेव सः धर्मं प्रति गच्छति । धर्मः एव मोक्षं प्रति गन्तुं मार्गदर्शनं कुर्यात इति तस्य श्रद्धा भवति । अहं दीर्घकालं यावत्‌ मुक्त्यर्थ्यम्‌ अधावम्‌ । अन्ते एकमेव मया शिक्षितम्‌ तन्नाम मुक्तेः मार्गः सर्वदैव अस्माकं पुरतः एव भवति । तस्य च सुबोधतां प्रति अस्माकं दुर्लक्षमासीत्‌ । अस्माभिः सत्यस्य त्यागः कृतः यतो हि अस्माभिः तस्य अर्थः एव न ज्ञातः ।

  शून्यता । एतदेव सर्वदा सत्यमासीत्‌ । यदि वयं शून्यतायाः स्वरूपं ज्ञातुं शक्नुमः तर्हि एव वयं मुक्ताः भविष्यामः । सर्वेष्वेव शून्यता भवति । कोऽपि नियमः चिरस्थायी अपरिवर्तनीयः च न भवति । सातत्यपूर्णं परिवर्तनं भवति अतः एव सर्वेषामस्तित्वं परस्परसम्बधैः अनुबध्दं वर्तते । एकदा यूयं धर्माधर्माणां पारं गमिष्यथ तदा युष्माकं निर्वाणदिशि प्रवासः प्रारप्स्यते। यद्यपि जनाः मां बुद्धमिति प्रवदन्ति तथापि मम दृष्टया अहं पूर्वं यथा आसं तथैवेदानीम्‌ ।

  कित्र्चिदपि न भिन्नः । अहं स एव । केवलं वास्तविकं ज्ञानं मया प्राप्तमिति मन्ये। एतज्ज्ञानमहं सर्वदूरं नेतुं प्रयतिष्ये । एकस्मिन्दिने प्रत्येकं ‘बुद्धः’ भूयादि ऽ त्याशासे ।

  एतन्नाम जागृतेरूदयः ।

  It took longer for Shonali to translate this time. Almost fifteen minutes.

  The following is only an abstract of Gautam Buddha's memoir. Most of the original record was lost in time. This is the recreated version of the true memoir.

  For years man has been seeking one simple thing- He devotes his entire life for one single purpose. Liberation. Ancient scholars believed that we are nothing but souls trapped in the perishable vessels-our mortal body. Through his efforts, every single day man has been trying to be free- to be liberated. He turns towards religion for this purpose, believing that his religion may guide him to achieve liberation. I ran behind liberation for a long time and in the end, I learnt one thing- the path to liberation was right there in front of us all along. We just neglected the simplicity of it. We discarded the truth because it didn't make any sense.

  Emptiness. That has been the truth all along. Once we are able to realise the nature of emptiness, we will be liberated. All things have the nature of emptiness. There is no law that is permanent and unchangeable. With continuously changing phenomenon, the existence of all things becomes a web of inter-relationships. Once you let go of the Dharma and the Non-Dharma, you will begin your journey towards Nirvana. Although people have now started calling me - The enlightened, I don't see myself any different from what I was earlier. I am the same me. Only now, I feel like I have realised the truth. I will try to spread the knowledge far and wide and hopefully one day everyone will be enlightened.

  What this is, that is; this arising, that arises.

  Before Sameer or Shonali could react to the contents of the scroll, Raghav rolled it up and replaced it back into the cylinder. ''We don't have any time to waste. We should get moving and deliver this artefact to David - You people can discuss the deeper meaning of the text later,'' he said, taunting Shonali and Sameer.

  ''I just hope we aren't too late,'' he added.

  Chapter 74

  1995,

  Karachi, Pakistan.

  Ayaaz walked down the silent streets of Karachi holding a cigarette between his fingers. The smoke from his cigarette disappeared into the night's mist and the ashes dispersed with the blowing wind. He had quit smoking a long time ago, but he didn't care about anything now. The journey from the streets of Peshawar to Karachi had not been easy. His maternal uncle had struggled a lot to ensure that he got the best education. He himself had struggled day and night for the interview. But alas! It was all over now. His career, his passion-just snatched away from him.

  As he walked along the pavement, he could see a dog eating the leftovers from a public dustbin. Ayaaz kicked a bottle of soft drink lying on the ground towards the dustbin in a state of frustration. The dog charged towards Ayaaz barking with anger. Ayaaz had faced enough that day and he was not going to stand up against any other torment. Picking up a fairly big piece of rock next to him, he waited for the creature to come close. As the dog sprinted up to him, Ayaaz jumped high and smashed the dog's head with the rock. The creature instantly fell on the ground, bleeding profusely. Ayaaz didn't stop there. He continued to smash the dog's head with repeated blows from the piece of rock. After a while when his anger melted down, Ayaaz threw away the rock, wiped his blood covered hands with his handkerchief and made his way towards the hotel he was staying in.

  The receptionist greeted him with a fake smile as Ayaaz entered the lobby of the hotel. She signalled him to come over for a moment. ''I have got a package for you, Sir. It was delivered about fifteen minutes ago,'' she said, handing over an A4 sized black envelope. Ayaaz checked the front and the backside of the envelope, but there was no sign of the sender. He decided to check it out in his room over a glass of whisky. After consuming a fair amount of alcohol, Ayaaz opened the mysterious envelope he had received. There was a blank cheque in the front and a note attached in the back- If you want to work for your country, we can offer you a chance. Tomorrow morning a vehicle would be waiting for you at 8 am sharp in front of the hotel. We had a reason not to select you for that job in the interview. You have far better prospects.

  The note was not signed by anybody but a tiny watermark at the bottom was faintly visible. As Ayaaz held it up against the light, he could clearly make
out the words 'I.S.I' written at the centre of the watermark.

  The next morning Ayaaz was taken to an underground command centre. There he was greeted by three people in uniforms and a fourth man who had been the head of the panel interviewing him the previous day. As they entered a conference room, all the soldiers and military officials left, leaving only three people in the conference hall- Ayaaz, the head of the interview panel and another man in a brown suit going through some files. After an uncomfortable silence of five minutes, the man in brown suit looked up at Ayaaz. ''Mr. Ayaaz Farid, I am J. Mulla- deputy chief of the I.S.I,'' said the man, running his hand through his greying hair. ''I had a glance at your personal file and I have also been told that you are a very qualified thermo physicist. We were looking for a person just like you. So tell me Mr. Ayaaz, did you ever dream of becoming a spy?''

  Chapter 75

  Wheeler Island, Bay of Bengal

  Co-ordinates - 20° 45′ 28.94″ N, 87° 5′ 7.92″ E

  Handling the terrorists defending the control tower was not too hard for the commandos. All it took was a couple of flashbangs to impair Irfan's and Razak's vision and put bullets in their heads. Ranjeet rushed up the tower and checked the systems.

  ''Sir, they have already initiated the launch program, but we still have four minutes before the missiles are launched,'' Ranjeet reported to Pratap.

  ''Can you do anything to stop them now?'' asked Pratap with an expression of escalating fear.

  ''Our only option now is to shut down the system by cutting off the backup power supply of the control tower,'' Ranjeet responded back.

  ''And how do we do that? Is it possible to do it within the time frame?''

  ''I hope you brought along some explosives, Captain!'' said Ranjeet, rushing down the stairs to the basement which served as the backup power station of the control tower.

  Chapter 76

  1996,

  Peshawar, Pakistan.

  After a couple of his espionage missions, Ayaaz was back at his home, packing bags for his next mission. It had taken him three sleepless nights to finally take that decision. The meeting at the I.S.I command centre had lasted for five long hours. What the deputy chief had proposed was a very good chance to develop the nuclear research sector of Pakistan, but was not in line with Ayaaz's principles. It was not an entirely wrong act from his point of view. He did believe in the idea of 'snatching things by wrong means if you can't get them the right way'. But this thing they were planning was a complete theft.

  A soft knock on the door cleared the clouding thoughts and dragged him back to the present. He opened the door and saw another yellow envelope lying at his footsteps. There was nobody to be seen nearby. Exactly as the deputy chief described. No direct contact.

  ''How do you think I should contact you then?'' Ayaaz had asked over the phone. The phone line was secured. ''You will not be in contact with anybody from the I.S.I. Officially, we are not involved in this operation. We would set up a front-man from our side who will act as a messenger for us. We will give your orders to him and he will direct them to you. If you want any help from us, you are to contact him and he will make sure that your message reaches us''. The deputy chief stopped short and exhaled a deep breath before continuing. What followed was not pleasant to hear, but it had to be said. ''If your cover ever gets blown, it goes without saying that none of this should be traced back to us. I suppose you understand that in such a case, we will completely deny that you worked for us. You may have to face whatever consequences follow without disclosing our involvement in the project. It is a cost every espionage agent has to pay for the sake of his motherland.'' The deputy chief had chosen his words very carefully.

  Ayaaz used a razor to cut open the envelope and emptied the contents on his study table. It contained all the items the deputy chief had promised along with his appointment letter for the post of Chief Thermo-Nuclear Scientist in the Pakistani military's Research and Development cell.

  ''You do this job and we will make you the head of our nuclear research division. I know you have the right qualifications and will lead the research with utmost proficiency. This job will take only about 10-12 months. I know they have reached the last phase of their project and that is why we need to act quickly. We have made the necessary arrangements so that you will not face any difficulties during the operation. When you come back, you can use their research to develop a nuclear device here not as a mere scientist but as a head of the research wing. I will send you the appointment letter, along with the other documents you will be needing for the operation- your passport, background documents, the front-man's contact. Study everything to the last detail,'' said the I.S.I deputy chief when Ayaaz had finally agreed to work on this project for them.

  Ayaaz checked his passport and his new alias. It was a name he did not like, but he had no option but to accept it. The documents seemed perfectly authentic and his background was well structured.

  ''Passports and the documents are fine. How do you intend to take me across the border and place me in the project?'' Ayaaz had asked. A soft chuckle could be heard from the other side of the phone. ''You worry too much, Ayaaz. Let us take care of that. We have our contacts and our methods to get things done.''

  Memorizing all the necessary details from the documents, Ayaaz picked up the contents of the envelope from the table and placed them in his bag. This was the biggest gamble of his life. He clearly remembered the cold blooded words of the deputy director right before the call got disconnected.

  ''Ayaaz, do not forget that your primary objective is not to steal their research but to sabotage it. Their tests should not be successful. Is that understood?''

  Chapter 77

  Project Testing Site, Pokharan

  Operation Shakti

  10 May, 1998

  Time- 4:33 pm

  23 hrs 10 minutes left for the tests...

  The entire base was now on high alert with sirens ringing in each and every corner of the facility. Sinha had sent his soldiers to search every nook and corner for Jacob. ''This man just killed four of my soldiers. I want this man - dead,'' he had instructed.

  Ajay was working at his laboratory carrying out tests for the final launch when he heard something behind him. As he turned around, he grabbed a screwdriver lying on the table as a measure of precaution. But he realised there was no need to use the tool when he saw the condition of the intruder. It was Jacob- bleeding badly. He was barely able to stand up on his feet.

  ''Listen to me. I was... I was set up. You need to believe me...'' Jacob could barely get the words out of his mouth. He crashed on a table spitting out blood from his mouth. Ajay took a step towards the door of the lab to inform the security.

  ''Ajay! Please. Just hear me out...'' Jacob's feeble words expressed a lot of pain.

  ''You tried to kill me once, sabotaged this entire operation and stole secrets of national importance and you want me to trust you?'' Ajay was furious.

  ''I told you yesterday night and I am telling you again now- That was not me. Someone set me up. Today when I was in that interrogation room, I heard gunshots... and then... then a masked guy comes in and cuts me loose. Now all the soldiers are searching for me outside. There is someone else here who is making you think that I am the traitor and while you all are wasting your time on me, he would be sabotaging up this project.''

  ''I cannot trust you or talk to you right now. I am going to bring in Major Sinha here and you explain it to him. You lie down here. You seem to be in pretty bad shape.'' Ajay rushed toward Sinha's office to inform him.

  A couple of minutes later, Sinha along with his troops and Ajay reached Ajay's lab. Jacob was lying with his face down on the table. Ajay rushed towards him and turned him over. His face was calm and Ajay could not detect any breathing.

  'I think we lost him', said Sinha after checking Jacob's pulse.

  ''I... I don't understand. He seemed fine just a while ago. I left him here for two minutes... and... I don't understand,'
' said Ajay, in fright.

  ''You focus on your work Dr. Ajaysingh. We will take care of this,'' replied Sinha, exhaling out a deep breath.

  7.00 Hrs later...

  It was the last minute briefing of the scientists at the central hall of the facility. Ajay was trying hard to concentrate on the meeting, but his thoughts just diverted back to Jacob's last words- There is someone else here who is making you think that I am the traitor and while you all are wasting your time on me, he would be screwing up this project.

  Ajay started looking at the story from a different angle. He glanced around the hall searching for faces - faces which might have tried to set up Jacob, kill him. But there were none that he could think of with a valid motive. Let me consider for a moment that Jacob wasn't the spy. So, if the spy is still on the loose, he might attempt to sabotage the project tonight. I better inform Major Sinha. Ajay directly headed to Sinha's office after the meeting and expressed his worries.

  ''Don't worry, Ajay. We have doubled the security measures and every single soldier here is on high alert. Nothing will go wrong till the nuclear tests are done with,'' Sinha ensured Ajay.

  But Ajay just couldn't take his mind off the matter. He kept churning the thoughts on his way back to his room. He thought of the ways he would sabotage the operation in a quick, simple manner if he was a spy. It took him a minute to consider all the possibilities, but he finally had an answer.

  Sabotaging the electronic circuitry used for triggering the bomb would be the perfect way. But the circuitry is scheduled to be installed tomorrow morning- which means it is still in the electronics lab and our spy friend has an easy target to sabotage! Ajay's mind was racing faster every passing second. He retraced his steps back to Sinha's office to warn him.

  On reaching the security head's office, Ajay was informed by two NSG commandos that Major Sinha had just left to make arrangements for the night patrol. Ajay explained the situation to them and asked them to come and inspect the electronics lab with him to which the commandos immediately agreed. The night was chilly and yet the scientists toiled in the shafts like labourers. There were soldiers stationed at every corner keeping an eye on every tiny detail. On his left hand side, Ajay could see an LED display countdown running on a big screen put up near the Taj Mahal shaft which read 15 hrs 30 minutes 24 seconds. Ajay remembered his near death experience in A.K. Das's cabin earlier and he decided not to make the same mistake again. He asked one of the soldiers accompanying him to let him keep a sidearm in case anything goes wrong.