by Neeraj Chand
And then suddenly Neel was transported back in time, to everything he had done wrong in the previous missions, the mistakes which had lead to the downfall of the hopes of so many people.
A voice seemed to echo in his head.It was telling him that he would not succeed. He"d heard it often enough in his nightmares.
He pushed the voice aside. Concentrating hard on his training and the mind control techniques the doctor had taught him, he jumped towards the roof of the bank.
But he couldn"t rid himself of the image of a sumo hurtling towards him.
* * * Inside the bank, the tension was palpable. The hostages were crouched on the floor, watching their jailers in fearful silence. Some of them were night shift workers at the bank, some customers, all of them just happening to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. Some fifteen minutes ago, they had come close to dying when one of the thieves outside had accidentally shot a police van, triggering a spate of firing from the other side. One of the thieves had wanted to kill some of the hostages then and there, to send across a message. But the leader had stopped him. The firing had finally ceased, and now they stood again in silence, an uneasy standoff.
The leader, Bisra, was pacing the room silently, inwardly cursing everyone he could think of. He was a well built man, with sinewy muscles in his arms, a high forehead and narrow, shrewd eyes. He knew the robbers were in trouble. The plan had gone horribly wrong. When they had first managed to get their hands on that weaponry, far beyond anything the police used, he had thought the whole thing was going to be cakewalk, provided they were careful. He had worked for months to get the plan in place. And now everything was going wrong. The car they had demanded had arrived. But it wasn"t big enough to carry all of them and still have space left for the loot. Their guns were ridiculously heavy and difficult to use properly. The crowd outside was getting bigger every minute.
But the biggest problem was his teammates. They were the best he could find, but were now exhibiting the painful lack of thought and foresight which prevented them becoming anything more than hired guns and small time crooks. They were not able to cope with emergencies at all. He had had difficulty stopping them killing the hostages sometime back because they did not understand that the firing had been an accident, and if they started killing hostages the police would decide to enter the building to stop them, and then things could get from bad to worse.
Suddenly, from the back of the building came a grinding sound. The robbers spun, guns up and ready. Ahmed motioned for them to wait. He listened hard but no more sounds came. The first sound had been a strange one, almost like bending steel. He wondered if commandos had been sent in after them.
“Daya, go check in the back to see what that was.” Bisra snapped to one of his team members, a hulking man who wielded a specially modified AK -47. He lumbered off. Ahmed"s hand tightened on his gun. If there really were policemen in there, they would soon know…
Thirty seconds passed but no sound came. Ahmed was about to shout to Daya when he saw the door reopen. Someone entered the room. But it wasn"t Daya.
A strange, black clad figure stood before them.
* * * Neel surveyed the scene before him. There were a total of four robbers left. The fifth one, the one they called Daya,wasn"t going to be moving anytime soon. The hostages were sitting huddled against a wall at the far end of the room, and two of the robbers were standing guard over them. The other two were guarding the two doors in the room. Upon seeing Neel, they had all leveled their guns at him. One of the robbers who were guarding the door gestured to the other one. He walked towards Neel, gun at the ready.
“Who are you?” he demanded aggressively, secure in the power of his gun, pushing at Neel"s chest roughly with the butt of his rifle. Neel considered saying something pacifying, perhaps to negotiate for the release of the hostages first. But he couldn"t think of anything. Besides, he didn"t need to be a behavior specialist to see that these were extremely nervous robbers, who could start shooting the hostages at the slightest provocation. And since they had taken the guns away from the hostage"s faces, it seemed better to keep it that way.
His response, therefore, was to punch the robber unconscious.
Instantly, there was uproar. Three guns blew away at Neel, aiming for anything part of his body they could see. The problem was it was suddenly very hard to see him. Neel dove out of the path of the bullets, feeling them miss him by inches. He could remember his training, but after more than a minute of dodging, he realized there was a problem.
The shower of bullets was fine, as long as they were all aimed at him. He had no idea how to rescue those hostages. All he could do was wait and hope the thieves would run out of ammunition soon.
* * * At Swan Labs, Divya sat in front of the computer monitor. For days she had been searching the net for anything which could help Neel cope with his problem. The doctor had done all he could but it wasn"t enough. Something was lacking, which left Neel Dervin defenseless, and she was afraid he really would stay that way forever.
Suddenly, she heard rapid footsteps outside the control room, and the next moment Arjun had burst in. He was breathing hard, as if he had come running. She saw an expression on his face that she could not identify at first. With a start she realized it was fear.
“What"s wrong?” she asked, feeling anxious.
Arjun"s reply was one word: “Neel.”
Divya felt a knot tighten in her throat. “Is something wrong?” She managed.
Arjun nodded, his mouth set in a grim line. “You"d better come and see. In the general room.” he turned and strode out of the room without waiting for her response.
Divya was right behind him. The two raced across the lab towards the general room, where the big TV kept in a corner was turned on and tuned to a news channel. Dr Fahim entered the room at the same time she did, his face creased with worry. They all turned to the screen, where a scene of destruction greeted them, with a familiar, black clad figure at its center.
* * * Neel ducked as a volley of bullets buried themselves in the wall behind him. The man with the narrow eyes was the only one who achieved some accuracy with the bullets. The other two had clearly never used rifles before and were firing wildly in his direction, sometimes missing him by more than a couple of feet, which made them even more dangerous, since he had a hard time telling where the next bullet would come from. Neel felt the cold indecision and panic stealing over him again.
Bisra was watching the intruder dodge th e bullets with growing disbelief. “This is crazy.” He thought, as Neel weaved around the shots at mindboggling speed. “Thisisn’t possible.” But the truth was right before his eyes.
Bisra realized that he did not at all want to fight this freak any longer. He glanced sideways at his partners but it was obvious that they wouldn"t be of any help. They were more scared than he was.
Suddenly, he remembered the insurance he had arranged for this type of situation, and leveled his gun at one of the hostages, a portly, middle aged client who had thrown chivalry to the winds and was cowering behind a female clerk. Raising his voice, Bisra bellowed across the room, “Stop or I"ll shoot!” Everyone in the room froze, including the stranger.
“That"s right!” Nasir yelled, swinging around towards the hostages as well. And that was what galvanized Neel into action. Nasir was highly unstable in his excited state. As his finger tightened over the trigger, Neel raced to the table and grabbed the heavy bowl filled with sweets that was kept on the reception table. Swinging it over his head, he threw it hard at Nasir. The bowl connected with the barrel of the gun, knocking it aside a split second before it spewed fire. Knowing he had only seconds to act, Neel bounded towards the two men, knocking the third aside as he plowed through him. Reaching the two men, he picked them up and slammed them into the wall behind them. They connected with a sickening thud and slumped to the floor.
The only robber left was the one Neel had knocked out of his way. He was stirring feebly. Neel walked over to him and kne
lt beside him. A brief press to the nerve cluster at the base of his neck and he slumped down, unconscious.
There was a silence in the room as the hostages looked fearfully at him, as though he might start attacking them as well. Neel turned to the door. The robbers outside had been watching the proceedings inside the bank in fascinated horror. But now they cast a terrified glance at him and scrambled into their car, there only aim to get as far away from Neel as possible. By the time he got to the door, they were twenty feet away.
Neel stepped out of the bank and was hit by a wave of camera lights. He saw the stunned spectators, including the police, watching him from the side road. Everyone had forgotten about the robbers, who were speeding away. One giant leap took Neel over the wall, and he stood facing the Safari. The Driver was too scared to reverse. He hit the accelerator and the car shot forward at full speed.
Noises echoed insideNeel"s mind. He was hearing screaming, he was hearing crying, and he was watching his nightmare come to life.
Standing alone on the road with the car racing towards him, he froze, his brain numb. Then his mind descended into chaos. Images flashed through his brain without rhyme or reason, his mind losing control as the terror enveloped him.Sumo… safari…. Scorpio… blood on the road… his blood…Pain… unbearable… all consuming… losing consciousness… fading…dying in pain… pain is dying…
The wave of fear was sudden and intense, more potent, a hundred times more powerful than during his sessions. Even more than the kind he had faced outside Phlicer complex. Neel"s mind was a small boat caught in a tsunami, flooding out all reason, deadening his body and not allowing him to move.
T oo slow…too weak…useless…the car was coming closer… stop the hurting… stop the pain…it was growing bigger… lying on the road…, his blood in front of him…a mountain of steel coming to consume him… blackness… intense...
He stood in the middle of the road like a lifeless puppet whose strings had been cut, knowing he was going to die tonight, and knowing exactly how painful it was going to be. And then suddenly, having arrived at this point and waiting for the crash, he wasn"t thinking about death anymore. He was thinking about everything he was leaving behind. Doctor Fahim and Divya talking to him in the hospital. Laughing and joking with Aryan and Priyanka on the rooftop. Prince wagging his tail to them in greeting. Hunting for the kitten in Aryan"s room. Sitting with his classmates and listening to Mr. Dayal. Arjun, Premi and Negi pulling him into a hug. Racing with Nitin and Aryan through the city. His mother hugging him on the kitchen floor. The memories flowed unceasingly, and a new emotion began to well up inside him as his eyes became wet. The car continued to thunder towards him, but now it had somehow shrunk down to its actual size.
And then a distant part of his mind registered, out of the corner of his eye, a single reporter climbing over the wall, heaving a camcorder behind him, and running to the road to get a shot of him. The reporter was fixing his lens, his excited gaze on the camcorder, and running at full speed.
A tiny piece of upraised concrete, a sudden fall, and the reporter lay sprawled on the road, directly in the path of the car, still clutching the camera safely to his chest, recording Neel"s demise. All he was aware of was the miraculous, black clad figure, and not the car roaring towards him from behind.
Neel stirred, his brain fighting to gain control. He felt as though he was moving through quicksand. He had stopped breathing, and his chest was constricted, suffocating him. But the reporter was on the floor, and he would not be able to get out of the way in time.
Neel walked faster, reason gaining a tiny foothold in his mind. His breath was coming in short gasps now. His mind had accelerated on its own, and the car was suddenly slowed down ominously, exactly as in his nightmares. He took a step forward, and it was all he could do to keep his shaking legs from giving way beneath him and collapsing then and there. Another trembling step, and he remembered the blood covering the pavement in front of him, the bones sticking out of his chest. He shivered, shutting his eyes tightly. When he opened them again, the car was still moving, and the reporter was still in front of it.
Another step, and he felt some of the strength return to his legs. His nails were digging painfully into his palms. But he wasn"t stumbling anymore. He bent forward, bracing his legs against the ground, just as he had done so many times in the open field at Swan Labs.
And suddenly, he was running at berserk speed. He passed the reporter, and ran straight towards the car. Using every ounce of strength he had. Running as if the demons in his head had finally emerged into the real world to give chase and drag him down forever. The car grew bigger and louder as he neared it, and in the instant before the impact, he saw his own reflection in the shiny steel bumper.
The next second, they collided. The impact was incredible. Cold steel met hardened flesh, and the car"s hood was crushed like paper. Neel"s overwhelming momentum hit the car like a giant hammer. The car flew back, lifted literally off the ground, and crashed again onto the road, knocking its occupants unconscious. An air bag exploded inside the car, and then silence.
The reporters had reached the road, along with the spectators. The screaming was too mixed to be understood. The photographers were clicking madly, surrounding the black clad figure.
And Neel Dervin stood in the middle of the road, breathing heavily, blinking away the tears streaming down his eyes. In the heart of the crowd, yet separate from them. The feeling building up inside him so deep, so intense that he felt faint. Slowly, he raised his arms in triumph, and the crowd went insane.
* * * Inside Swan Labs, a hushed silence permeated the lobby. The only sound coming was from the television. They saw Neel disable the robbers in the bank, and come outside. Then they saw him jump onto the middle of the highway.
All eyes were concentrated on the figure on the road. Arjun was gripping the back of a chair so hard his knuckles were whitened. Divya had a hand over her mouth and the doctor stood motionless, his heart hammering.
The black clad figure was looking extremely small and vulnerable. The car roared towards him at full speed. But then the figure moved. He took a step, then another. Then suddenly his speed increased, and in the next second he had crashed into the vehicle in a blur of motion. It was over in less than a second.
The camera shook at the moment of the impact, and the people in the room shuddered as though they too had felt the icy hard metal smash into their bodies.
An earth shattering explosion, the scream of the crowds. And then it was all over. The silence was more deafening than the explosion, the people on the street and the people in the room not quite being able to believe what had happened. But then the spell was broken, and the crowd was swarming over the road, shouting, and Neel had raised his arms in victory. They closed in around him. But one more giant leap, higher than any he had taken before, an incredible movement of pure joy, and he was gone.
Doctor Fahim stood staring at the TV.Tears were flowing down Divya"s face. She lifted her head and met Arjun"s gaze, who grinned fiercely, and strode over to hug her. Over his back she saw the doctor. His face was buried in his hands, and for a moment she thought he was crying too. He looked up, and she saw a mixture of emotions on his face. Wonderment and disbelief, and something less easily identifiable. The next moment he stood up, looking happier and prouder than he had ever done before. He met Divya"s gaze and laughed; mouthing a word she had no trouble understanding.
“Extraordinary.” * * * At Phlicer lab, Malik Saket had been rushed to a TV monitor by one of the night guards, and now stood watching the news with a stony gaze. He had hoped the assassin had been killed, or at least badly wounded since his visit to Phlicer lab, and his disappearance for more than a month had almost made him believe it. But he had been wrong. Malik wondered if Mehta was watching this too.
The impact occurred, and the assassin stood on the road, arms uplifted.
Out in the open at last.
Malik"s phone rang. He switched it on andhear
d Mehta"s voice, brief and to the point.
“Start evacuations ASAP.”
CHAPTER 16: K Neel sauntered out of his room the next day and made his way down to breakfast. He had had a deep and restful sleep the previous night and felt refreshed for the first time in weeks. His mother noticed the change in him immediately.
“What is going on with you?” she asked. The transformation in his manner had been evident ever since he had returned last night in a curiously happy daze from Aryan"s house with a confused,“He didn"t have my copy. I forgot, I"d already submitted it.”
“What?” Neelasked innocently, smiling after what seemed like years to his mother. “I had a good sleep last night, and I feel great.” He stared at her for a moment, then rose and walked up to her slowly. As she stared in amazement, he wrapped his arms around her and gave her a hug. “I"m really sorry about the way I"ve been acting these last few days.” he said quietly. “It won"t happen again.”
His mother stared down at him, feeling touched and intensely relieved. She cupped his face in her hands and looked at him closely. “So you"re feeling better now?” she asked. “You don"t feel stressed or anything?”
“No way,that problem is definitely over.” Neel said confidently, grinning. “You don"t know how glad I am to hear that , sweetheart.” she said fervently, giving him a tight hug and a kiss. “That medicine Doctor Fahim gave you must be working. He told me your depressionwas only temporary. Now relax and eat your meal.”
Neel sat down and glanced around to see if the newspaper had arrived yet. He saw it lying on a chair and reached out for it. He had returned home last night around nine to find his mother on the phone with a reporter friend and surrounded by an excited group of neighborsincluding Priyanka"s mother and other women who lived nearby who had come to talk about the news. The TV was still tuned to the news channel, which showed in a never-ending loop the images of the miraculous foiling of the bank robbery.