RESONANCE

by AJAY

"How can we just wait and let the inevitable happen?"

  "I propose that you ask the Air Force to fly down from their airbase, loaded with explosives. Let them encircle the airspace and await your instructions to bombard the reservoir."

  "It'll worsen the situation. I don't buy your theory."

  "Trust me. That would be the last solution. However, we'll exercise this option only as a last resort."

  The wave from the far end approached and struck the dam with full force. Exactly at that moment, four more semtex exploded in the four diversion tunnels. The underwater wave synchronized with the surface wave and once again moved away from the dam to the far side of the river. The water of the Bhagirathi and Bhilangana swelled in the upstream as the strong wave pushed it backward.

  "Damn it! We can't do a thing while this man is doing exactly what he wants."

  "We have a little more time."

  "How?"

  "After the hill on the far side collapses, the wave will move uninterrupted twenty-eight miles to the far end of the Bhagirathi River. Even if the wave is travelling at sixty miles an hour, it will take more than fifty-five minutes for it to travel back and hammer the dam."

  "What if another hill is exploded just a few miles from here?"

  "Then, we won't have any time. But it's not the waves that I'm worried about."

  "What worries you, Aban?"Juhi joined in.

  "Oscillation."

  The UGV started to catch Shalim Amār Khan's deep-throated laughter. "No questions."

  Aban trained his binoculars. The man continued laughing, strode to the downstream end of the dam. Quickly, he turned back to reach the lakeside and watched the dancing waves. "No questions. No questions."Suddenly Shalim Amār Khan became excited like a soldier in the middle of a war, when cannon shells are booming all around. His hands started to tremble and moved to his thighs, scratching it vigorously.

  Aban was stunned. He turned to Juhi, "I know who he is!"

  Juhi stared at Aban blankly.

  Siddhartha spoke out, "He is a rogue. He is the Deputy Commandant of the CISF, an antinational working for Pakistan."

  "You have got it all wrong. He is my Abba,"Saying this Aban ran towards his father, MacBook in one hand and tears streaming down his face.

  Siddhartha tried to stop Aban and ran after him in hot pursuit. Juhi stood still, shell-shocked.

  Aban shouted, "Stop it for god's sake, Abba,"and continued to run towards Imran Shah Malik, aka Shalim Amār Khan, "Stop it, Abba!"

  Imran Shah Malik turned.

  Threat

  Fifty Pakistani Army trucks, each crammed with soldiers and modern weapons, waited a few miles away from the residence of the Prime Minister of Pakistan at Muree Road, near Rawal Lake.

  The official car of the Army Chief of Pakistan entered the Prime Minister's residence. The General ran inside, pushing aside an American Special Armed Force offcier guarding the entry who did not know that he was the Army Chief and allowed unbridled access to the PM. Other Pakistani security guards gestured the man to allow the General to go.

  The Prime Minister was talking on his hotline. The Army Chief turned his attention to the big sized LCD.

  PTV, the Pakistan Television News channel stopped its programme midway for an important announcement. The anchor of the program appeared, "We have got an important tape from al Qaeda. Adam Yahiye Gadahn, the media spokesperson of al Qaeda, will start addressing you in a few seconds.

  Adam Yahiye Gadahn appeared and spoke in his deep, serene voice, "My dear fellow Islamic brothers, recall what Muhammad preached to us. His call of duty reminds us to do everything possible to slay the non-believer…"The message continued.

  The Prime Minister put down the phone on its cradle and turned to the Army General, "Weren't you supposed to be in Rawalpindi? How come you are here?"

  "We have a situation, Mr. Prime Minister."

  "I know that Tehri Dam in India is under threat. Our people are trying to explode it."

  "You know they are non-state actors."

  "This time I have confirmed information that few people are actually state-actors."

  "Have you shared this with anyone?"

  "Yes."

  "To whom?"

  "The Prime Minister of India."

  "Do you know the international ramifications of such an admission?"

  "I'm aware of it."

  "The Pakistani Army will never tolerate such nonsense."

  "I think the Army should know by now that terror in any form is just terror."

  The message of Adam Yahiye Gadahn ended and the anchor reappeared. "A few minutes back, the Government of Hindustān has informed Pakistan that the Tehri Dam in their Himalayan region is under Pakistani terrorist attack. In fact, our media correspondent heard three explosions. I'll update you with the latest after a short commercial break. I'll be right back; till then don't go anywhere. Stay tuned."

  The Army General sounded jittery, "Our AWACS have caught the signature of the Indian Air Force aircrafts, which have taken off from Dehradun and other Indian AFBs that are not far off from our borders."

  "They may be on their regular sorties."

  The anchor was back on PTV once again, "We have just received information that the Hindustāni Air Force has retaliated with a vengeance. Their Sukhoi-30 and Jaguar have invaded Pakistani airspace. Their course indicates that they are flying towards Tarbela Dam in Haripur District. If they attack the biggest dam of Pakistan, this hundred and fifty metre high dam will collapse at once. A colossal amount of water of more than one hundred square cubic miles will empty out in a few hours. All our major cities including the capital will be submerged under water in a matter of another few hours."The anchor continued explaining the disaster in waiting.

  The Army General turned to the Prime Minister, "What are you waiting for? Our country is under attack. I want you to give orders for appropriate countermeasures."

  "What countermeasures do you want?"

  "You know that I don't need your authorization for striking down their plane with our anti-aircraft missiles and engage them in air combat. I've full authority and I'm ordering this."

  "Go ahead."

  "I want your authorization for nuclear code access."

  "Why?"

  "You are aware that we cannot match their air superiority. If they have decided to destroy our biggest dam, they will do it. I've no doubt about that. But if we announce right now that Pakistan will exercise the nuclear option right away if their aircrafts do not turn back, it will surely have a deterrent effect."

  "I'm sorry, General. As the first in the hierarchy of National Command Authority, I won't allow it. In my view, the nuclear option is the last resort in our doctrine."

  "It's not. We have reserved the right to exercise the first-attack, if we are under threat from an enemy country. I don't need to repeat what our book says on nuclear protocol."

  "Well, I amended the nuclear doctrine only yesterday with the approval of the Cabinet Committee. You may get a copy of this from the Secretariat of the NCA."

  "It's illegal. I am ex-officio member of the NCA. Decisions in the NCA take place through consensus and I have my vote in the decision making process. You cannot do it without taking into confidence all the ex-officio members of the NCA including me. Moreover, the concurrence of the President is also mandated."

  "If you remember, our parliament Majlis-e-Shoora has already received the assent of the President, this year, on 11th March. Don't forget that I'm the Chairman of the NCA. Moreover, your role is limited to overseeing the functioning of Strategic Plans Division. In addition, nuclear doctrine is a government political decision and does not require convening a formal meeting of the NCA to vote on this subject or endorse it. I think I'm clear that I don't need your advice."

  "I have no time for unnecessary arguments. From now on, the patriotic Army of Pakistan is taking control of the government."

  "You can't."

  "Who will stop me?"The livid Army General was
trembling with fury. He pulled out his phone and pressed its keypads. However, he could not connect his phone. He tried a few more times, wondering what had gone wrong.

  The Prime Minister smiled, "We have blocked your access from the time you entered the premises."

  "How dare you do that?"

  "Turn around and look at the men behind you. I suggest you hand over your Army revolver to these people without any protest."

  The Army General turned around and was taken aback when he saw US Special Army Personnel. One of the officers smiled, "It's the Black Ops, buddy."

  The PTV Anchor was live once again, "We have just received sensational video footage. The fighter aircraft of the Hindustāni Air Force has blown up Tarbela Dam."

  The TV screen filled with the Sukhoi-30 and Jaguar firing missiles on the dam. The dam crumbled and water rushed out, submerging the Tarbela Airport instantly.

  The Anchor continued, "Our correspondent will try to get more video footage. Stay tuned for further updates."

  The Army General said, "We need to evacuate Islamabad and Rawalpindi without any further delay. Islamabad is hardly thirty miles from the dam. The capital will be submerged in no time. Mr. Prime Minister, I suggest an immediate evacuation of the President, you, your cabinet colleagues and my military personnel. I'm afraid if we do not do it, there will be no government in Pakistan."

  "Hold your breath, General. Nothing is going to happen."

  "Are you blind? Can't you see what your government TV channel has just broadcast?"

  The Prime Minister smiled, "I know you aren't blind. Look a little below the screen. The DVD player is running this documentary."

  "Isn't it a live program?"

  "It was to be. Fortunately, it is not so now."

  "Thank God! I should inform the army to de-escalate the heightened situation. Perhaps I'll need to talk to the Chief of Air Staff to hold fire."

  "I didn't ask you to put your army on alert. But the action of a few ISI officers put me on alert two days back. Let me give you the complete picture. When I came to know about the real intention behind the Tupac-II program, hatched by the al Qaeda, I did everything possible in the supreme national interest. US Special Army secured this place just in case the army tried to usurp power in panic. It is true that the Tarbela Dam was under threat in the same way as Tehri is today. Al Qaeda got hold of a spare submarine and a huge quantity of semtex. They planted the explosives at the bottom of the Tarbela Dam, on its diversion tunnel and at three other places in the hillside, just like our people in the Tehri Reservoir did. It was an exact mirror image of what is happening in India right now."

  The Prime Minister continued with an air of knowledge, "Unfortunately, till a few hours ago, we were sure that the Sardar Sarovar Dam in India was under attack. Accordingly, I informed the Prime Minister of India, so that he could secure and sanitize the Sardar Sarovar. However, the Indian Intelligence found out that it was not the Sardar Sarovar, but the Tehri Dam, which was the target. If something happens to Tehri Dam, we all will live to regret it ' both India and Pakistan. As of now, I can do nothing, but extend the support of our government to the Indian government."

  The Prime Minister sipped water and continued in his calm tone, "Coming back to Tarbela Dam, US Marines explosives experts have removed all explosives from the dam planted by the al Qaeda. But the al Qaeda had a plan-B too, in case something went wrong with their original plan. Saeed al-Masri sent his Jihadists with rocket launchers and explosives to board a speedboat and attack the dam from the Indus River."The Prime Minister stood and went to the DVD and loaded another disk. "Look at this disk and see how the drone missile eliminated each of the Jihadists at a place not very far away from Youi Bridge on the Indus River."

  The Army Chief was stunned. "Oh God! Al Qaeda is driving us to disaster."

  "Not as long as we are together. Sadly, two very high-ranking officers: one in the Air Force and the other in my own office was involved in this affair. They were in constant touch with Saeed al-Masri."

  "Who is the Air Force officer?"

  "None other than the one who gave you false information about the AWACS getting the Indian fighters' signature."

  "We really need to cleanse the system. But how did you get wind of it?

  "We came to know of many things after I asked the President of the United States to bug our complex."

  "Is this place bugged?"

  "Yes. Perhaps, for the first time in history, the Head of State of a sovereign country has made such a request to another country."

  "But what about this documentary on the Tarbela Dam?"

  "Truth is stranger than fiction. Strange are the ways of the al Qaeda. One minute, they are a crude tribal clan of mob mentality and the next -- sophisticated, techno savvy masterminds. al Qaeda prepared a fake film at a small film studio at Ravi Road in Lahore. This was the same film that was to be broadcast live on our national channel PTV. Imagine what would have happened had they succeeded in their plan. Your anti-aircraft missile and combat aircraft would have still been searching for some elusive Indian fighter jet as we spoke. With each moment ticking away, I would have slipped into panic too. I might even have considered using the nuclear option."

  "How does al Qaeda benefit by this?"

  "We all know that al Qaeda is fully aware about the locations of our nuclear arsenal. Still, our nuclear facilities are so well bastioned that nobody, not even the al Qaeda can storm in and steal our nuclear heads. So, they took our topmost Air Force officer and a few middle-level ranking officers into their fold by luring them with money and promises of putting them at the pinnacle of power, when they came to power. Our topmost officer of the Air Force became a pawn in the hands of these terrorists. So, he ordered the nuclear facility at Chaklala to assemble two nuclear warheads, load them into an Air Force Jet and delivered them straight into the hands of al Qaeda. A Dassault Falcon aircraft with these two nuclear bombs took off from the Chaklala Air Defence Command and delivered one of them to the walled city of Lahore. When the Commodore of Sargodha located the mysterious aircraft and shot it down somewhere in the north of Zhob, the other nuclear warhead was hurriedly dropped and presently lies somewhere in the vast land of North Waziristan."

  The Army Chief heard in rapt attention as the Prime Minister elaborated on the complexity of the 'game'. "These nuclear devices, however, are still useless for al Qaeda because they do not possess the nuclear code to trigger the nukes. Hence, the devious plan to bring India and Pakistan to the brink of war by showing us this fabricated video footage. If we in Pakistan thought that we were under attack from India, I would have called a meeting with the Defence Minister and you, our Chief of Army. The Defence Minister and I would have signed the documents and handed over the codes to you without so much as batting an eyelid. As defined by our protocol, you would have had no choice, but to pass on the codes to the Air Force and our good friend there would have promptly handed it over to his bosses in the al Qaeda. Armed with the power to detonate the nukes, the al Qaeda would have turned the tables of the balance of power in their own favour. They would have immediately slapped the demand on us to stop all operations against al Qaeda or else they would destroy Lahore. The next line of action would have been to threaten America. They would have ordered the Americans to vacate Afghanistan, remove their dummy government from Kabul and hand over power to them. In case of any dithering on the part of America, the al Qaeda would have detonated the nuke, pulverizing Kabul.

  With two nuclear weapons in hand, al Qaeda becomes a stronger force to reckon with. Just imagine, even though India is a regional power, it cannot retaliate against us after Kargil War and the Mumbai attacks, because of the nuclear deterrent that we wield. The same nuclear bombs would have boomeranged on us. They would have become an albatross around our necks and we would have been forced down on our knees in front of the al Qaeda because of the threat they posed to us. We would have been forced to give in to their demands. On the face of it, I would have resigned,
perhaps on 'medical grounds' while you would have given way to a more 'efficient', 'younger' colleague of yours. Similarly, men in top positions would have had to bow down, surrendering their positions to different sympathizers of the al Qaeda. Pakistan would then have had a dummy government and our hapless citizens would not have the slightest inkling of the lightning bolt that had struck them. Afghanistan would have been under the direct rule of al Qaeda while the world watched helplessly."

  "Oh! Doomsday!"The Army General turned to the Prime Minister. "We need to trace the two nukes immediately."

  The Prime Minister nodded.

  The Army General contacted the Vice Chief of the Army and ordered him to immediately cordon off the walled city part of Lahore and start a door-to-door search operation. An entire brigade of the army was put in charge to search for the capsule in Waziristan.

  After the order, the Army General turned to the Prime Minister, "Can I seek one last clarification?"

  "My pleasure."

  "How did you know that this fake film was to be broadcast?"

  "Pakistan will always be obliged to Imran Shah Malik and his brother. His brother gave us the initial lead and Imran Shah Malik sent us a few details of Tupac-II."

  "But Mr. Malik is dead."

  "That is what I too thought until a few hours ago. He is a man of mettle and has survived many battles. He is very much alive and ticking under the new name of Shalim Amār Khan, which, if you look closely, is the name Imran Shah Malik, rearranged."

  "Where is he?"

  "When he gave me the details of Tupac-II, I asked him where he was. To this he replied, 'Tehri' and hung up."

  "What is he doing there?"

  "Allah knows."

  Oscillation

  Everything was now quiet on the Tehri Dam. There was neither any further explosion from the diversion tunnel nor any massive landslide from the faraway hills. But it was only the lull before the storm.

  The massive wave created from the earlier explosion hammered the wall of the dam and turned back to the far end. On its way, it broke the inlet gate of one of the penstocks of the hydroelectric plant. Water rushed inside with tremendous velocity and pressurized the surge tank, which threatened to burst any moment.