''Sir, we have someone on the alternate emergency frequency who says that he needs to talk to you. I told him you were busy, but he said it was of utmost importance and that he would only be talking to you,'' whispered the commando in a haste.
David tuned to the alternate emergency frequency on his radio.
''David here.''
''This is XM-0101 sir.'' The reply was absurd for the rest of the soldiers, but it was different for David. He could not believe his ears.
''Repeat again. Who is it?'' David asked to confirm.
''This is XM-0101, Sir. I just heard what happened at Sarnath on the radio. I decided not to trust anyone else but you. XM-0203 is here with me. Awaiting further orders, Sir,'' the reply was confident.
''Hold on,'' said David. His face lit up knowing that two members of his team were still alive.
David hurriedly walked to Ajaysingh and told him the news.
''Sir, I was just contacted by one of my team members from Sarnath-''
''But they were all dead,'' Ajay interrupted.
''No, Sir. The pilot of the airplane that took my team and Shonali from Aurangabad to Sarnath is still alive. He is with Sgt. Harish and contacted me under his code name on an alternate emergency frequency. He is at Lal Bahadur Shastri airbase at Babatpur and if I had to guess- that's where Raghav would be heading right now.''
''So what do you mean to say? Your soldiers can still get Shonali out of danger?'' asked Ajay with a revived hope in his tone.
''Technically speaking- We only have one soldier. The other one is just a pilot. But I think we still stand a chance. Sgt. Harish is a phantom commando and my best sniper. They can get some help from the airport security,'' David replied.
''Get your soldier on the radio for me, please. I need to talk to him.'' Ajaysingh's voice had taken a sharp tone. He no longer looked weak. Something very different was going on in his mind.
David turned on his radio and handed it to the President.
''Sgt. Harish? This is Ajaysingh Chauhan.''
''Sir.''
''I need to know for sure if you can stop that traitor and bring me back my daughter safely.''
''I suppose we can, Sir.''
''My daughter's life hangs in a balance there. I don't need what you 'suppose'. I need your assurance.''
''Sir, we will try our best,'' replied Harish.
''Alright. Go ahead,'' said Ajaysingh, exhaling a deep breath.
Ajaysingh Chauhan passed back the radio to David as he walked towards Ayaaz who had been escorted to a far corner of the airstrip. David accompanied him suggesting the plan of action.
''We can only hope that Harish does his job. But if the things go wrong, we can still have that exchange. I think it's best for us to wait until-'' But David's words were falling on deaf ears.
Ajaysing was no longer listening to anyone. His feet took him faster and faster. His mind projected him memories- his daughter: Shonali, the Pokharan project, his friend Jacob, the dead bodies of all the soldiers killed in the blasts. His fears tried to hold him back, but his mind was set. The soldiers around him had no idea what he was going to do next.
He stopped in front of Ayaaz. There was a light smile on Ayaaz's face and a stern determination on Ajay's. Ajay looked in the eyes of his enemy for a moment. David was still narrating Ajaysingh the plan of action when he saw the President slowly pull out the firearm he had been given for safety. Ajay withdrew the weapon and aimed it at Ayaaz. There was a moment of hesitation as memories of Shonali flashed in his mind again- his mind telling him to stand down, telling him to withdraw. But a split second later, the fire was back in his eyes. Before anyone could react, Ajay emptied the entire magazine of the pistol on Ayaaz's face.
''I have done what was needed to be done. I hope Sgt. Harish does too,'' said Ajay as he handed over the pistol to David and walked away with tears in his eyes.
Chapter 84
Lal Bahadur Shastri airport,
Babatpur, Uttar Pradesh, India.
Co-ordinates: 25°27′08″N 082°51′34″E
Time - 9:00 am
''I need a chopper from the nearest airport to the airstrip in Delhi, where our leader is being held. I hope that he is in a good condition or else nothing will stop me from putting a bullet in your daughter's head. I will give the further instructions there.'' Sgt Harish was listening to Raghav barking orders at David on his radio.
''We will have your helicopter arranged at Babatpur airport. Please bring no harm to Shonali,'' David replied in a helpless tone.
Give the enemy a feeling that he has the upper hand, let him slacken his defences and then strike when he is off his guard. Good going commander, Harish thought as he switched off his radio and turned towards his 'team'.
His team consisted of six airport security officers, the pilot and an airport maintenance guy. Harish had explained them everything and he hoped that they would play their parts well. He just had one shot to get Raghav.
About ten minutes later, a silver SUV came in sight of Harish's scope. In the rising dust, he could faintly see Raghav driving and Shonali gagged and tied to the seat next to him. He put his finger on the trigger and waited as the car slowly approached the airport gates. Raghav was very careful to check for any ambushes or surprise attempts to kill him. The airport security guards did just as they were instructed by Harish. As soon as they saw the vehicle approaching, they raised their weapons high up for Raghav to see and instantly put them on the ground.
Give the enemy a feeling that he has the upper hand. Check.
After Raghav entered into the airport premises, he did not stop until he was on the airstrip. He took his time to survey the area and then got out of the car with Shonali at his gunpoint. The pilot approached Raghav slowly with both his hands in the air. Raghav, not wasting a single moment, immediately signalled the pilot to get on the wheel while he himself got in the rear seat of the vehicle along with Shonali.
''Drive to the chopper. Fast,'' ordered Raghav.
''It is at the helipad. We were about to fuel it up,'' replied the pilot, sounding frightened.
''Take me to it now!'' roared Raghav, pointing another pistol at the pilot.
The pilot cruised on the runway towards the helipad giving a quick glance at the terrace of the control tower. Harish knew that he wouldn't get a clear shot so easily. Raghav, being a commando himself, was precisely trained for protecting himself. Every passing moment Harish prayed that the maintenance guy, Raja, had done his job by now. When he planned the attack, Harish had realised that Raghav would be too unpredictable. Raghav probably knew all the tricks in his book. The only exact position of Raghav that Harish could possibly predict was the rear seat in the helicopter.
Raja nodded slowly to the pilot just as Raghav was climbing in the chopper along with Shonali to indicate that the job had been done. The pilot heaved with a sigh of relief and got inside the chopper for the ride. He fired up the engines and gave a thumbs up to Raghav indicating that they were ready to go. So far things were going according to Raghav's instructions. He lowered the gun he had aimed on the pilot.
Let him slacken his defences. Check.
Harish saw the thumbs up given by the pilot. It was a signal to let him know that everything was in order. It was his turn now to play the cards right. The pilot slowly lifted the chopper off the ground and headed towards the airport control tower. From the terrace of the control tower building, Harish had already calibrated his scope according to the wind. He had instructed Raja to replace the side glasses of the window seats with low quality glass which would allow his bullet to penetrate easily and deflect less. As they approached the control tower, the pilot made a slow turn sideways so that Raghav's window side was exposed to Harish. Raghav was too occupied to notice the well hidden sniper on the terrace of the control tower. The pilot tried to curve the chopper slowly giving Harish just enough time to execute his shot. There was no mistake made: the bullet rushed out of the barrel of the gun, impacted on the rear win
dow, tore through it and pierced right into Raghav's skull- blasting a pool of blood on Shonali's face.
That was the end of Ayaaz's Nine Unknown Men.
Epilogue
And so two months later you gather the courage to ask me out for a coffee?
Shonali replied to Ranjeet's text.
Well, it's not a date actually. I just wanted to know about the events that happened after...
Rajneet was about to finish typing his reply when he received another text from Shonali.
And now you are going to say that you are just curious about the stuff that happened after that night- as if I don't know that Commander David already gave you a detailed update about that. So if you are asking a girl out for a date, at least have the guts to accept it.
Shonali had attached a devilish smiley at the end of her text.
''What does this girl really think about me?'' The ancestral question popped up in Ranjeet's mind.
Alright. I accept it. I wanted to take you out on a date since the day I met you. So if you are not in the middle of your 'running behind artefacts' thing. Could we meet- say tomorrow?
Ranjeet spiced up his text by sending a winking smiley. He waited for the delivery report and prayed. Almost half an hour past before he got any reply from Shonali. The reply was short-
Tomorrow afternoon. CCD? :-)
The next day, Ranjeet reached the decided meeting spot ten minutes early thinking of topics to converse on. He was about to complete his list of topics when Shonali walked up to his table and gave him a little smile. It was her striking beauty that made Ranjeet drop his jaw almost instantly. Ranjeet simply could not take his eyes off her purple kurti, the pretty small pink bindi on her head and her beautiful eyelashes.
''Stop staring at me like that. Makes you look bad,'' said Shonali as she signalled the attendant to bring the menu.
''Actually- you should stop looking so stunning,'' replied Ranjeet. Shonali giggled at the compliment.
''So you were saying you wanted to know what happened after that night?'' asked Shonali while turning between the pages of the menu.
''Yes, actually wanted to know everything about what happened that night. What did you find at Sarnath?''
''We found a recreated version of Lord Buddha's memoirs. Something he wrote after he experienced enlightenment,'' Shonali explained.
''Such kind of document existed? I mean, if it existed, why wasn't it mentioned in any ancient manuscripts and why was it kept hidden?'' asked Ranjeet.
''Originally the memoir was passed down the order of monks for centuries. They wanted to keep the secret of enlightenment hidden until the time was right for it to be exposed to the world. Many of such important documents had been lost or destroyed owing the invasions from the west. Hence, they kept it converting from one form to another keeping the core teachings intact. But eventually, it was lost in time. It reappeared rather mysteriously in King Ashoka's court. Ashoka then began his efforts to spread Buddhism far and wide. He introduced his scholars to the memoirs of Lord Buddha and asked them to base their teachings on the direct experiences and knowledge shared by Lord Buddha. However, he decided to keep this artefact hidden to preserve its sanctity. He ordered the object to be hidden and left a trail so that one seeking true enlightenment may find it. The details about the beginning of the trail were hidden in the nine books assigned to his Nine Unknown Men whom King Ashoka had chosen,'' said Shonali.
''And that is how the psychopath came to know about the trail?'' Ranjeet was suddenly absorbed in the conversation.
''I think so. Dad said that Shashank- or whatever his true name was, had found a new spark, a new desire to search for ancient artefacts. He had found two of the nine books hidden by the Nine Unknown in the ruins of Ras Koh hills during the nuclear operation. They were recovered from his residence in Peshawar last month. How he obtained the other two books is still a mystery. He was a psychopath, but also a genius. He figured out most of the hidden clues all by himself-''
''And then planned a magnificent operation and used us and our resources to get him the object he desired.'' Ranjeet completed Shonali's statement. ''But was doing all this just for a simple scroll really worth it?''
''Maybe Shashank had expected something else at the end. He was a psychopath- attached to finding the artefact, following his unrealistic passion wildly. He didn't need a valid reason to go mad after finding it. Although there is a lot more to that 'simple scroll' than it meets to the eye,'' said Shonali, sipping her coffee.
Ranjeet realised for a brief moment that he had not even ordered anything. But he didn't care about it anymore. He was interested to know the contents of the scroll. ''So what was written on the scroll?'' he asked.
Shonali took out her phone and showed Ranjeet an image of the scroll.
''I started to study about the contents of the scroll since then. I borrowed that artefact for a couple of days for my research. There was no code it in, no hidden clues or such. It was the truth in plain sight.'' She then explained the translation of the script on the scroll.
''What this is, that is; this arising, that arises. Quite confusing,'' commented Ranjeet.
''It is the law of cause and effect. I investigated into some Buddhist manuscripts such as Samyuktagama to understand the deeper meaning of the transcript on the scroll. The concept of emptiness is the unique aspect about Buddhism. There was a great change in Indian thought and ideology around Buddha's time. Although the cycle of life and death, and the attainment of liberation in Nirvana were theories accepted by the Indian society at that time, there were still many questions about why there was a rebirth and how one could be liberated. Gautama Buddha then introduced the 'Middle Path'. He explained the process of human activity by the law of dependent origination and showed the way to uplift oneself by the noble eightfold path,'' said Shonali between her sips of the cold coffee.
''I know a little about the noble path- the righteous way to live. But what's this law of dependent origination?''
''People always try to find a way to end their sufferings. How does human suffering happen? Gautama Buddha said that it is not something that happens without any cause. All things exist in accordance with the law of cause and effect. When there is a cause, there will be an effect. When causes exist, effects exist. The rising and existence of things are determined by the causes and conditions. This is why the Buddha says- what this is (cause), that is (effect); this arising, that arises . When a cause arises, an effect also arises. This is the circulation process of the law of dependent origination. It explains the creation, cessation and existence of the worldly phenomenon,'' explained Shonali.
''Okay. But what does it have to do with emptiness?'' asked Ranjeet.
''The ultimate truth of emptiness was drawn from the empty nature of the law of dependent origination.
'If we can see the truth
of the causes of worldly sufferings,
we will not be attached to the view of nothingness.
If we can see the truth of cessation in the world,
we will not be attached to worldly existence.
By avoiding the two extremes,
the Tathagatha teaches us the Middle path.'
It is a verse from Chapter 12 of the Samyuktagama. When the cause ceases to exist, the effect will cease along with it. The Dharma is said to be alive. It can exist or cease, rise or fall. If it is something real that has a permanent identity, then it should not cease and become extinct. If it is nothing, then it should not rise and exist. The Dharma rises and ceases, it can exist and become extinct. If we investigate the core of all things, we will realise that everything is conditioned. Things have no permanent identity, existence, extinction, rise or fall. Their nature is empty and silent. The Buddha explained that all things are impermanent and in constant change. Emptiness also implies Nirvana, that is renunciation of the misrepresented view of permanency and ego, leading to the realisation of liberation.
'One who thinks of impermanence
&n
bsp; will understand the truth of ego-lessness.
The Enlightened One
lives in the state of ego-lessness,
renounces attachment to the empty worldly phenomenon ,
and hence progresses towards liberation and Nirvana.'
This is another verse from Samyuktagama, Chapter 10,'' said Shonali.
''Interesting theories. Each one of them. I hope it brings about some change in the ideology of people when they learn about the contents of the scroll. Is it going on public display?'' asked Ranjeet.
''I think so. Dad said that the blasts and all the chaos that happened was successfully covered up without giving the media much details about what actually had happened. The scroll was told to be a recent archaeological finding,'' said Shonali, finishing up her coffee.
''By the way- you have a poor choice of topic to converse for a date,'' she added mischievously.
''I had a complete list of topics prepared. But your striking looks made me forget all about it. Maybe we can try it again. I deserve a second chance,'' said Ranjeet.
''I can't stop looking stunning, but I think we can go for a second date. How about a movie this weekend?''
Ranjeet nodded with a smile. ''I think I am beginning to understand the law of dependent origination. That chaotic night was the cause. This date of ours is the effect.''
The End
***************
A Note from the Author
Thanks for reading Operation Chaos. I hope you enjoyed it. I have tried to be accurate in the physical description of the locations in the story, most of which I have been to in person. I’m a travel junkie and particularly love places of cultural significance.
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Operation Chaos: A Gripping Action Thriller Page 24