Operation Dragon Strike

by Rahul Badami

  “Hitesh, it’s your show now.”

  Hitesh looked around and then sat in the chair closest to him. He plugged his tablet into the nearest network socket and then started to type commands.

  “We are in.” Hitesh said a moment later.

  Armaan glanced at his watch.

  0:00:19:51

  He had got his team inside without any event. Now everything depended on how quickly they could hack into Majid’s computer and access the decryption keys. “Hitesh, you will need to work very quickly.”

  Hitesh nodded and started to tap away on his screen. Armaan glanced at his screen. It had two windows side by side. One showed the ticking timer and the other showed a list of commands.

  Roshan’s voice whispered in his ear. “Krait One, there are some guards approaching close to my position. I’ll need to get out of here.”

  “Acknowledged, Three. Take necessary evasive action.”

  “Will do.”

  Armaan hoped Roshan would stay safe. He didn’t want Roshan to get caught. It would be a disaster. Right now he couldn’t help him and just hoped the guards out there hadn’t spotted Roshan. He hoped they could get out of here in one piece. Now with Roshan gone into hiding, they no longer had eyes on the building. He looked at Hitesh who was typing in commands on his screen.

  “I’ve found Majid’s workstation and was able to gain entry to it. Searching his log files, chat history and other places where I can get any information about the decryption codes.”

  Armaan looked at the countdown timer. It was still ticking down.

  The timer read 0:00:13:27 seconds.

  It was getting too close for comfort. He could see sweat pour down Hitesh’s forehead. It was the weight of expectations. They couldn’t afford to fail.

  “What are you doing here?” A deep voice spoke.

  Armaan turned around. A man stood there in the full uniform of the Pakistan Army; multiple ribbons and badges adorned his chest. His face had a full beard and his dark eyes were penetrating.

  It was Kabir Majid.

  CHAPTER 33

  PM Inamdaar glared at Navy Chief Rabindra Rathod. “How come the subs aren’t in position yet? We have barely a few minutes before the countdown timer expires.”

  They sat in the PM’s office. Inamdaar had been piled up with a lot of decisions ever since the cyber-attack. He barely had time to address his other commitments. He would ask for an update from his trusted men every few hours. He had called the Navy Chief to get the latest status report. But the Navy Chief indicated there would be a delay.

  “Sir, the subs have to make a slow and stealthy approach in the straits so that they aren’t picked up by hostile forces. Communications with our subs take time as they receive our messages only when they surface. The last message confirmed that all three subs are approaching the designated points. There may be a delay of a few hours in communication but I can assure you the men will get the job done.” He paused. “If you go ahead with the order.”

  Inamdaar nodded placated by the Navy Chief’s response. “I know what you are thinking. My critics tell me I’m a warmonger. And all my actions indicate the same. Isn’t that right?”

  “Sir, if I may suggest…”

  Inamdaar nodded. “Go ahead, Rabindra.”

  “Sir, if we go ahead with blocking the Straits, we will be at a point of no return. Even if our subs aren’t detected today, it will be only a matter of time before the needle of suspicion is pointed at us. We may risk ourselves to unneeded covert warfare in a scenario where we fired the first shot. I urge you to reconsider.”

  PM Inamdaar glanced at his watch. His next meeting was with General Singh. If Singh’s men could deliver the decryption codes, there would be no need to give the order. He would not admit to anyone, but even he resisted the thought of attacking what were innocent pawns in a larger game. But the fact remained he couldn’t appear weak in front of his populace who had given him the mandate to secure India’s sovereignty and assets.

  He had not expected this job to be so hard. On one hand, he had to show intent in protecting his assets; and on the other hand, he had to ensure nothing blew up in his face. It was like being tugged in different directions while walking on a tightrope. He saw Rabindra looking at him, expecting an answer. He could not avoid this. Not making a decision was also a decision. He could not dilly-dally or pussyfoot around. He had to show the perpetrators he meant business. He had to deliver a message that they couldn’t mess with India and expect to be safe.

  Inamdaar glanced at Rabindra. “I have taken your advice under consideration. We will not attack unless it’s the last resort. But the way things are going, expect the worst. Be ready to move our assets at a moment’s notice.”

  “I have already informed all our assets in the Bay of Bengal to be ready for any eventuality.”

  “Good. I will call you once I get an update from Singh’s team.”

  Rabindra left and Inamdaar felt an imperceptible queasiness in his stomach. It was the anxiety of the unknown. In a few hours, he would have to take a decision that would lead him on an irreversible course. He just hoped Singh would have some good news.

  A moment later, Singh entered. His face was drawn and haggard. Inamdaar’s anxiety deepened. It didn’t look like good news.

  Singh sat in front of him. Inamdaar saw Singh’s eyes rove here and there but did not meet his own.

  “What is it, General Singh?” PM Inamdaar asked.

  Singh took a deep breath. “Sir, I have a confession to make.”

  “Confession? What confession?”

  Singh finally looked at him. “I’m behind the Aadhaar attack.”

  CHAPTER 34

  Armaan stared at Majid. They had been caught in the act.

  Or were they?

  He just hoped their uniforms would provide a veneer of illusion to the man. Armaan wasn’t sure if Majid had accepted them to be employees in the facility. Majid himself must be the person sitting in a cabin that Roshan had informed him about earlier. With Roshan no longer observing them, they had got no warning. He had to come up with an alibi quickly.

  Hitesh came up with an alibi instantly. “We are doing a routine audit on the assets in here, sir.”

  Armaan could see Majid’s brow darken but only for a moment. They were among the cubicles and he was in the aisle. It would be difficult for Majid to see what they’d been doing.

  “Oh okay. Well I won’t interrupt you then.”

  Armaan stepped forward. He’d just noticed something.

  Majid’s hand had just moved imperceptibly. He was reaching for his holster. It meant he hadn’t been fooled by them. Maybe he was familiar with all the hundreds of employees in the building or maybe his gut instinct had kicked in. He was starting to step back.

  “Sir, I wanted to show you something,” Armaan kept walking trying to close the gap between them.

  But no. Majid understood exactly what Armaan was about to do. He gave up all pretence of subtlety. His hand whipped up and unhooked the holster strap and grabbed his gun.

  But Armaan was equally fast.

  He lunged forward, his body horizontal in mid-air, reaching out for the gun that was in the process of being directed at him. He grabbed Majid’s wrist and with a swift jerk twisted Majid’s wrist clockwise as much as he could. He was rewarded with a howling scream from Majid. The gun clattered to the floor. Then the forward momentum of his body crashed into Majid’s toppling them both on the floor.

  The air whooshed out of Majid’s lungs as Armaan landed on top of him. Armaan wasted no time and planted a well-directed punch behind Majid’s ear. The man went limp instantly.

  The entire episode had taken not more than three seconds.

  As Armaan lay panting, Hitesh spoke up, “What do we do now?”

  Armaan stared down at Majid. If anyone, this was the only person they were certain knew about the ransomware key. He would come to his senses within a couple of minutes. “We interrogate him.”


  Armaan pulled out a pair of handcuffs and cuffed the unconscious man’s hands behind his back. The legs were bound next. Then he gagged Majid’s mouth with a piece of cloth. The man started to moan, and then blink his eyes. Then his eyes widened as he looked around him and realized he was virtually immobile. He struggled to move, his eyes overflowing with hate. Armaan watched him calmly. After trying to shuffle around, Majid stopped moving realizing he was indeed trapped.

  Armaan brought his Glock between Majid’s eyes. “If you do something stupid, I’ll shoot.”

  Majid simply glared at him with steely eyes full of hatred.

  Armaan pulled out the gag. He wondered if the man would yell and alert any guards. He knew there was no one else on the floor. But what the man did was completely unexpected.

  Majid laughed.

  A full throated laugh that seemed weird considering his situation. Armaan was befuddled. What was wrong with this man?

  The laughter ended as abruptly as it started. The hate was back in his eyes. “I know who you are, Col. Armaan Ahmed.” Armaan’s eyes widened. Majid continued, “You shouldn’t be surprised. When Sohail Akhtar went missing, I did the investigation and I know what happened to him. And I know why you are here. This is quite satisfying.” He glanced at a wall clock. “Only a few minutes left. And I will get front row seats to watch the drama.”

  “Drama? What drama?”

  “The tragic story of you not being able to save your precious biometric database.” He chuckled at the look of surprise on the team’s face. “Oh yes. I knew why you were here the moment I stumbled upon you. This story ends here. With you failing. And with me laughing.”

  Armaan raised his hand and slapped Majid across the cheek. A red handprint materialized on his face, but it couldn’t wipe off the evil gleam in his eye. This man was impossible, but Armaan would use hook or crook to get what he wanted.

  Armaan grabbed his collar and shook him, “You’re going to give me the decryption keys for the Aadhaar database, or I’ll kill you.”

  Majid smirked, “Go ahead, try me. When I was on my first mission in FATA, I was captured by the Taliban and tortured for two days before I was rescued. I didn’t tell them anything. What makes you think I’ll tell you anything? Besides, you have less than ten minutes to get it out of me. I would like to see how you can do it.”

  He was right, Armaan realized. All soldiers were trained to resist torture. Ten minutes was too short a time to conduct a proper interrogation. He looked around at the team. Their eyes were blank. He had run out of options. And he was running out of time.

  Armaan cursed. Majid’s lips curved into a twisted smile. “Ah, don’t worry. I’ll tell you the secret of the decryption key.”

  Armaan turned to him. What now?

  “The secret is that there is no decryption key.” Majid let out another loud cackle.

  “Huh?”

  “There was never any secret key that would stop the countdown clock. The countdown clock is unstoppable and is designed to wipe out the database. No decryption codes were created to terminate the function of the hack.”

  “You are lying. The hackers demanded a billion dollars in exchange for the decryption key.”

  “All as per my saying. If you would have given them the money, they would have said thank you and goodbye. Each step of this project was carefully designed by me to be foolproof. Why risk everything by having an Undo button?”

  Armaan clenched his fists and punched Majid in the mouth. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. But Majid remained unperturbed.

  “Instead of wasting your time hitting me, if you guys are really that good, find a way to stop the database wipe-out. The clock’s ticking.”

  Arggh! Armaan pushed Majid onto the floor. He didn’t want to admit it but the man made sense. They now had barely five minutes to figure out a way to stop the counter from running. He glanced at Hitesh who was furiously typing in front of a screen. Baldev stood next to him glancing over at his work. Armaan looked down at Majid. He was all smiles.

  “I love happy endings.” Majid grinned.

  Armaan ignored him and strode over to Hitesh and Baldev. “Any help you need; let me know. If you need me to contact anyone, I’ll do it.”

  Hitesh grunted completely engrossed in his work. Armaan knew Hitesh was one of the best. If anyone could figure out a way to shutdown the timer, Hitesh was as good as anybody else.

  Roshan’s voice came in his ear. “One, I’m seeing a hostile right next to you. Did you catch him?”

  Armaan was happy to hear Roshan’s voice. “Yes, we neutralized him. What about you, did you avoid detection?”

  “Yes, they didn’t spot me and went away.”

  Armaan smiled. Small win. “Okay, stay hidden and keep an eye on us through the Hornet. Let me know once you observe anything suspicious. I don’t want another surprise. He almost sneaked up on us.”

  “I’m on it, One.”

  Armaan heard the sound of a mobile phone ringing. He turned around and saw it was coming from Majid. He walked over to him and stooped forward and fished out the mobile from Majid’s pocket. The incoming call was from someone named Karim.

  Probably one of his friends.

  Armaan rejected the call. He didn’t want anyone to know they had Majid. He still wasn’t sure what to do with the man. He could decide that later. The priority at the moment was shutting down the countdown timer on the Aadhaar database.

  Hitesh said, “I found the encryption software that was used to encrypt the database. I’m going through its logs.”

  “What does it say?”

  Hitesh shook his head. “It’s one-way encryption.”

  Armaan smashed his fist on the desk. “Try to reverse engineer the encryption.”

  “I’m already trying that.”

  Majid’s phone buzzed again. Armaan glanced at it. It was Karim again. Why is this guy so persistent? He rejected the call again but it buzzed a third time.

  Armaan walked over to Majid. “Who is Karim?”

  Majid just smiled. Armaan felt like slapping the face off him. But he understood it wouldn’t help. The man would refuse to cooperate. And he was right. They were running out of time.

  But Majid finally spoke, “You’ll find out.”

  An ominous bell tolled in Armaan’s head. What if Karim was someone in the building itself? Bound and fettered, Majid had a casual air about him, smiling and taunting them. Willing to risk Armaan’s wrath. This was after all his territory. He was one hundred percent sure that he was going to walk out of this confrontation on the winning side, and Armaan and his team could end on the losing side. He looked around. The cubicles were empty but he shuddered at the thought of a posse of soldiers bursting onto the floor and shooting them. He looked at Hitesh working hard; racing against the clock.

  He walked away to another cubicle out of earshot of Majid. “Three,” Armaan spoke into his mike. “Let me know if you see any hostiles approaching.”

  “Two men just entered a lift. It’s ascending now. I am not sure if they are coming to your floor.”

  Armaan’s heart squeezed tight.

  Was it Karim? Unable to contact Majid, was he coming to meet him in person? His repetitive calling definitely screamed urgent. Time was running out for them. “Let me know as soon as they reach the fourth floor.”

  “Roger that.”

  Armaan walked over to where Hitesh was furiously punching the keys. “What’s the status? Were you able to reverse-engineer the decryption?”

  “This is a 512-bit encryption. It is almost impossible to break it. I’m trying to figure out a backdoor entry to the encryption algorithm.”

  Armaan mulled over his options. He couldn’t figure out any. The watch now displayed 0:00:03:21. He looked at Baldev. “If you have any ideas, let me know.”

  Baldev stared at Majid. “I feel like smashing his skull against the wall.”

  Armaan shook his head. “Me too. But it won’t solve our problems.”
r />   Roshan’s voice pierced into his ear, full of urgency. “One, the two men from the lift have stopped at your floor and are coming out. You need to take a decision quickly.”

  Both Hitesh and Baldev looked up at him. They had both heard Roshan. Armaan grunted in frustration. He couldn’t leave. Not yet. He watched the countdown ticking with growing alarm.

  0:00:02:10

  0:00:02:09

  0:00:02:08

  “Three, keep me posted. We will stay here and do our work till the last second.”

  Hitesh focused back on his screen and continued working with renewed fervour. Armaan sprinted silently to the end of the hall and crouched behind the door. He pulled out his silenced Glock. They would have a split second advantage in case the men were headed here.

  Roshan provided an update. “The two men are going into the opposite wing where the man was sitting earlier.”

  Armaan understood one of these guys was Karim. He had called Majid and when he didn’t answer the phone, Karim went to his office. “Okay, let me know if they head over here.” He glanced at his watch.

  0:00:00:57

  The timer was now in double digits. Barely a minute left. If the Aadhaar database was destroyed, it meant that crores of Indians' data would be wiped out. He couldn't let that happen. They had to fix this no matter what. A lot was riding on this and time was precious.

  Armaan returned back to Hitesh and Baldev. Majid was sitting and smiling at their helplessness. Armaan’s cheeks grew warm.

  “What's the update?” He barked at Hitesh.

  Hitesh replied, “I'm going to test something. Let’s see if this works.” He pressed a key and waited. The screen beeped.

  But the timer on the screen kept running.

  0:00:00:34

  Hitesh clenched his fists. His forehead was moist with sweat. “Okay, I have one final idea.” He didn’t elaborate but frantically tapped the keys on his tablet.

  Roshan said, “One, the two men have come out of the cabin and seem to be talking among themselves.”

  Armaan’s pulse quickened. The situation was starting to get quite difficult for them. “Acknowledged. Tell me immediately if they are coming here.”