Immortals

by Kaayn, Spartan

  The Commissioner wanted Ajith to alert all three cities. However, to Ajith, it was inconceivable that Jai and Juliet would go towards Pune, when in fact they had just run from Bhai’s farmhouse from that very direction. Ahmedabad was in close vicinity and therefore less likely, unless there was some friend or family there. Chennai was a possibility if the couple wanted to start anew in alien territory, very far away from Mumbai.

  Nevertheless, Ajith agreed with his boss.

  ‘I’ll inform all the cities.’

  ‘That’s better. How are you going to search for them in Chennai? Do you have any connections down there?’

  Ajith understood what the question meant.

  ‘Does the gang have any connections down there, Sir?’

  The Commissioner laughed.

  ‘Ajith, my boy! They have connections in Timbuktoo!’ He laughed again.

  ‘Sir, I’ll wait for your command. But please ask the gang not to get involved.’

  ‘Hmm…’ The Commissioner mulled over it a moment.

  ‘You give me a lot of credit, Ajith. These people do not work for me. All I can get you is a head start, say three days. After that they will get involved.’

  ‘I think three days should be enough, Sir.’

  ***

  Mogappair

  Chennai, India

  20 May, 2012

  It had been a week since Jai had landed up in Chennai. They were still staying at Raja’s place. Henna had taken to handling the affairs of the household as a woman of the house would. Henna was still in shock over what had happened to her and was in constant fear for her parents. The happiness over Rashique’s killing did not last for long. She kept quiet most of the time and sobbed a little when she thought she was not being watched. But Jai, still scared to venture out of the house, watched her cry in solitude and wondered if he had dragged her into a hell-hole worse than her previous life.

  At night, Henna would take up the only bed in the house and Raja and Jai would sleep on the floor in the other room. They had called Henna’s home umpteen numbers of times but no one had answered their calls. Henna had no other contact number. There was no news from Nasreen, either. She too had not answered her mobile and had not reported for duty since that fateful day when Jai and Henna had made the run from her apartment in Mumbai. Henna was sad and felt guilty that she had brought misery and possibly death to the only people she could call her own.

  Jai was different. He was a part of her; an inalienable part of her very being. They were in it together. She wasn’t sorry for him. She was sorry for both of themselves and glad at the same time that they were in it together. She had heard of what had happened at Bhai’s farmhouse. She knew the quirky story of Jai’s parallel lives and believed in it despite herself. It seemed incredible but she had seen what had happened in her village and had now heard of the single-handed demolition of Bhai’s citadel.

  And she had seen the card trick. There was no beating the card trick. It had to be true.

  There were undefined feelings in her for Jai and she did not want to belittle them by giving them the much-maligned name of love. She wanted to give herself to him, yearned for his touch on her skin, for his lips to brush hers again and yet felt defiled and dirty due to her haunting and ever-present past.

  Jai too was engulfed in an inner darkness.

  He had no clue to his nightmares, no light for the future and no answers for his feelings for Henna. He had loved her from the first time he set his eyes on her in Bhai’s house and that love had grown with each passing moment. He cherished the kiss that had blossomed spontaneously between them in a moment of grief and uncertainty, and which he had relived three times in the three lives he had used up to get to Rashique Bhai. He longed for her and felt the need to caress her tender body and to love her the way she ought to have been loved. But he was scared that she still bore the scars of her traumatic past and wondered if she would ever be ready to accept him in her bed. But that and the hardships surrounding them notwithstanding, he still loved her deeply and he knew he would continue to do so forever.

  Raja saw his indecision and consoled him many times.

  ‘It’s a lot better this way. No news is definitely good news. It is better not to keep looking for them. I have followed that rule since leaving Mumbai. Do not trouble “trouble", my friend.’

  Jai bought newspapers every day and scanned through them, half expecting his photograph on a wanted list somewhere or expecting to hear some news about the world that he had left behind in Mumbai. For him, not having any information was as bad as having bad news. He could not just assume that all was well and that he should just get on with his life.

  He had just finished with the papers and was browsing the news channels on television on that fateful evening.

  Some hot-shot Indian nuclear scientist, Professor Ananthakrishnan, had been shot dead that afternoon just outside his residence in Kalpakkam, the little nuclear town fifty kilometres south of Chennai along the eastern seaboard.

  ‘The following footage is disturbing and viewing discretion is advised,’ ran a footnote on the screen. It was followed by a grainy video from a surveillance tape that showed two men on a motorcycle riding up to an old man just outside the gate of his house, possibly pretending to ask him for an address. The man riding pillion on the bike then drew a gun and shot the old man directly in his chest. Jai counted three flashes from his gun. The motorcycle sped away and the old man fell to the ground. He had died instantaneously.

  The reporter then went on to the back-story about the professor and his accomplishments.

  Kalpakkam was the nuclear centre that was developing the latest cutting-edge thorium-based fast breeder nuclear plant. A thorium-based reactor would reduce Indian dependence on the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group for uranium and thus go a long way in guaranteeing energy security for the country. Professor Ananthakrishnan was a physicist working for the development of the reactor. He was also involved in the last Indian nuclear test in Pokhran and had interests beyond nuclear physics, that bordered on the paranormal and the fringes of psychology and the human mind. Of late, he was semi-retired from his post at the reactor, visiting it only occasionally in a consultant’s role. He was devoting most of the rest of his time unravelling the mysteries of the human mind in the field of ‘noetics’.

  There was then some file footage of the slain physicist making concluding remarks at a recent seminar where he was speaking on the tricks that our mind played on us

  ‘The more I understand the way our brain functions, the more it mystifies me. The human brain is the most powerful computational tool on the face of this planet. It is so powerful that even we, the owners, are not aware of its true capabilities. We see more than twenty dreams every night but remember only one or two. Why is that? Why are we not made aware of what our brain does… or can do? We hear of people who can foresee future, can bend spoons, can talk with the dead and discount them as tricksters or charlatans. What if it is not? What if there is a true “miracle”?

  ‘What is a miracle? To me, it is just something that is possible but beyond our understanding. It is something that we perceive but refuse to acknowledge because our limited logic fails us. An average human being uses only ten percent of his or her brain circuitry; seems like an awful amount of wasted redundancy to me. What will happen if we were to realise the full potential of our brains? What if there are individuals amongst us who are using more of their brain than the rest of us? What are the intriguing possibilities? How do they perceive the world around them? Do they see differently, hear differently, feel differently, dream differently from us? I wonder.’

  The physicist left the dais to thunderous applause and then the footage cut back to the news-anchor.

  It was a definite setback for the government and there was a possible link to terror groups trying, yet again, to hurt and derail India’s spectacular rise on the world stage. This was being seen as an attempt by terror outfits to hit where it hurt India the most: to
hurt its institutions. Professor Ananthakrishnan was an institution in himself.

  Then a picture of the scientist was flashed with his birth and death years written under the picture.

  There was an advertisement break and that was followed by the sports news round-up where India had just handed Australia a thumping 120-run defeat in the series clincher Down Under; South Africa had defeated New Zealand in a rugby series in Cape Town with a three-point margin; and Vettel had notched up yet another F-1 victory.

  He switched to another news channel that was telecasting live the rescue efforts underway to drag the victims of a bus that had fallen into a gorge in Rishikesh.

  The phone rang, startling Jai from his preoccupation with the TV.

  Jai picked up the receiver, not saying anything.

  ‘Hello. Jai?’ It was Raja’s voice at the other end.

  ‘Yes,’ Jai responded.

  ’I have some news,’ Raja was almost whispering at the other end. It was obvious to Jai that he was speaking from the food court telephone, judging by all the noise in the background.

  ‘Mm-hm,’ Jai grunted.

  ‘I had gone to the market for a bit and while I was away, there were two men looking for me at the food court. The manager at the desk hadn’t seen them here before and they also took my home address from him.’

  Jai listened carefully, trying to understand what to make of it.

  ‘Okay… um... I have to assume that they are looking for us?’ It was more a deduction than a question.

  ‘I don’t know, man. Thought I should tell you. I mean, I don’t know... but part of me wants to run away from Chennai this instant and start over at some new place. You can never be sure with these things. What do you think?’

  Jai did not know what to make of it yet. But the more he thought about it, running away seemed to be the safest option.

  ‘Okay, Raja. I don’t know what I am going to do, but if you do come back and find that we aren’t here... then, just thanks a lot for all you have done for us. I will never forget the favour, my friend.’

  ‘Yeah, if I do come back… In all probability, I will not. Well, all the best, in case we don’t meet again – and say hello to Henna for me.’

  ‘I will,’ said Jai and put the phone down.

  Jai peeked into the other room, where Henna had fallen into a short, tired, evening nap. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. For all her worries in her waking hours, she probably did not have the horrible nightmares in her sleep, which she used to have earlier. Jai absent-mindedly picked up an air-bag and started to pack, still unsure what he was going to do. He tiptoed around the room not wanting to disturb her from her sleep.

  The door came crashing down with a loud bang at that instant. Jai was startled and Henna woke up with a shriek. Jai rushed instinctively towards the noise and found three men with guns in the room, the door having given way at the hinges. Jai ran back into the inner room, having nowhere else to go. He caught Henna and shoved her into the bathroom, bolting the door from outside. Jai stood guard outside, grabbing a kitchen knife that was lying on the bedside table where Henna had cut an apple before going to sleep.

  The three men barged inside the room and the man in the front raised his gun at Jai. Jai flipped the knife in his hand, grasped the blade and flung it hard across the room at the man. The man ducked but the knife caught him in his right shoulder, his fingers squeezing the trigger reflexively. The bullet found the right side of Jai’s chest and Jai was thrown back against the wall. The other two goons rushed towards him and kicked him out of the way. Jai still held on to the bathroom door handle. One of the men smashed the butt of his gun on Jai’s hand, making him scream in pain and cringe away. The other man unbolted the door and found it locked from inside. He jumped at the bathroom door, his weight crashing the PVC door in an instant.

  Jai heard Henna scream, and then he saw the man dragging her out by her hair. Jai leapt from where he was lying and the second man instantly fired at Jai, pumping another bullet into his chest not far from where the previous bullet had struck. The third man had by now lifted Henna off the ground and thrown her headfirst on to the bed. He grabbed her by the tunic and yanked on it hard, tearing the fabric and exposing the white lace of her bra. He then jumped on her, pinning her down on the bed.

  Jai realised what the man was up to and let out a loud blood-curdling scream with the last ounce of breath that had not seeped out of his leaking chest. Henna thrashed wildly, hearing Jai scream and screamed even louder, joining Jai’s howl. The second man pulled the third off Henna from the bed, shook his head, and pointed his gun at her and shot two bullets that struck Henna in her head. She fell back, dead and silent.

  Jai’s voice deserted him in an instant and he sank to the floor, Henna’s dead face the last image on his clouded consciousness.

  ***

  Etin County

  Domus-Nova

  Mouse-tail Galaxy

  Domus-Nova Year 2547, Earth Year 7858 AD

  Jai swooped down from the sky on Wrecko, his Xuenemaia, the breeze ruffling the beast’s fur and beating against Jai’s face as he sat astride his ride. There was black war paint smeared all over his body. He was leading a rescue team to free two of his corporals being held captive at a camp-base of the Humae’its.

  Jai and his team of twenty riders rode into the strong breeze coming in from the sea, cold enough to sting their bare skin. The night was dimly lit by the crescentic Lueon and Majon, the faint white and blue light just enough to navigate while providing them enough dark cover for their attack.

  The riders rode in a V-formation, in three groups, Jai leading the first group of the pack. As they closed in on their target, Jai started his descent and stabilised Wrecko just above the tree-line, barely skimming the foliage of the towering blubar and futyon trees rising close to two hundred metres from the ground. They could see the lights of the Humae’it camp.

  Jai tightened his grip on the spear docked by his side on the beast. He gave it a gentle tug and it came unstuck. A click of a button later, the first Quesenium shell swung forward on the spear to its tip. Jai raised his spear, the riders followed, arming themselves with spears and Quesenium-tipped arrows. They were almost on their target and Jai signalled them to get into attack formation. The third-group riders on each side converged to the centre of the formation, readying their Xuenemaias for the dive and the snatch. There were light posts all around the complex and that made things a bit difficult. However, Jai was counting on the surprise element of the attack.

  Then they were upon the camp and left the cover of the trees as they swooped down on it. Jai steadied his throwing arm and let go of the Quesenium-tipped spear towards the camp to the right of their target. The second-group riders on each side followed suit, directing their spears at the camps adjacent to the target camp, sparing the target camp. Long, coiled cords attached the spears to the under-armour of the Xuenemaias, and they retracted up towards the fighters after depositing their Quesenium load on their targets. Jai’s missile boomeranged back into his hands as he rode on beyond the target camp. The Quesenium loads exploded in a brilliant flash of light and sound a second later, creating a circle of intense heat and fire all round the camp in which his comrades were being held captive.

  The third group of riders on each side swooped down right to the middle of the blitz site and jumped off from their Xuenemaias, which hovered a couple of feet from the ground. There were a couple of Plurient guards with laser guns, who took a couple of seconds too long to recover from the sudden attack. The riders did not give them a chance and hacked them down with their swords.

  Jai circled the campsite and came back towards the prisoners. The noise had alerted other Humae’its in the camp and they had taken to shooting at the dark sky above. The lights at the ground blinded them to what was happening above and Jai and his fellow riders took aim at the camps, systematically destroying them with Quesenium loads. The prisoners had been freed, and they were on the Xuenemaias. Ja
i gave the signal and the riders let loose another barrage of fire around the rescue team, letting them ascend to the safety of the dark skies.

  Jai knew he did not have much time before the Humae’it aerial teams arrived, and gave the signal to evacuate. The beasts swooped back into the air, flying back in formation. There were laser rounds flashing all around them as the Humae’its fired in the dark after them. Wrecko took the lead and flew at the head of the formation. His ability in dodging the flares was uncanny. Jai held on, huddling down on the beast to keep a low profile. He could feel the beast’s heart pounding away under his hand on its chest. He loved that sensation of that strong and robust heart beating away, in perfect rhythm, despite the madness of the raid and the counter-attack around them. It reminded him of his childhood, when he and his Xuenemaia took long walks in the Zunn. They usually had a light picnic of cake and berries, and when he grew tired of playing, he fell asleep, curled on the bosom of Wrecko, the strong heart beating away beneath his ear. Only the beast wasn’t called Wrecko back then. Its given name was Xaddon but now everyone knew it as Wrecko the Wrecker.

  Jai was almost at the tree line, and he turned around to see if the Humae’it fleet had taken to air, when a round flew too close to him, swishing behind his ears in a hot searing hiss. He got his head out just in time, but it grazed past the side of his face.

  That left a permanent scar on his face.

  Domus-Nova

  Mouse-tail Galaxy

  Domus-Nova Year 2548, Earth Year 7859 AD

  Jai winced in pain and woke up from his dream, on the cot in the white room. Things had not changed much in the room where Jai was alone, prisoner in his paralysed body in alien surroundings.

  Jai looked around the room and saw the clock on the wall, showing a strange time with the hour hand at fourteen and the minute hand at eight. The doors and the windows were closed today and the entire room was suffused in bright white light.