“Hello,” he said as he lifted the call.
“Mayan,” I asked if I got the right man on the line.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he told and continued, “So you finally found your home, so nice. Are you happy with what you are now?” he questioned.
“Who’s side are you?” I asked Mayan.
“Money,” he replied.
“Where is Aria?” I asked him.
“We have her,” he told frankly.
“What do you want?” I argued.
“The case against Simon Robs must be withdrawn; Varoon is doing a good job. He filed a case against Simon Robs and he blocked his trip abroad because of the case. If things won’t go straight, Simon Robs has to kill you to set himself free,” Mayan warned me.
“So you decided a side,” I mocked him.
“It was my choice from the beginning, and there is no way you can save Aria. Simon Robs controls the Golden army. He is a person whom you can’t even touch,” Mayan swanked Simon Robs’s capacity and told,“I do not know how much I hate you. I would ruin your life with my own hands if I get a chance.”
“And so he is scared of Varoon and a single case,” I ridiculed again and continued to tell, “I know how to save Aria and the way to put an end to Simon Robs,” I challenged and said, “I know you Mayan, the real you would never do any harm to me, I know you still consider me a friend.”
He disconnected the call.
“What do we do now?” Sofia asked, shocked.
“Do we really have a plan?” she puzzled.
“No, I don’t for now,” I said without any expression.
“We need to find a link for these kidnaps,” I asked.
“Yeah, we have to,” she said something which I already know
“Sofia, how much time do you need to get the address of the old lady who kidnaped an infant at your hospital?” I asked Sofia. The old lady can be a link for kidnappers then Sofia flipped her phone.
Her home is tiny with lots of dirt around, smelling bad; we knocked the door and entered in once she opened the door.
“What do you want?” she asked exasperatingly.
“We thought you are jailed” Sofia stated.
“Crime is common here,” she told bluntly; and went in when a baby from another room started to cry.
“Why were you kidnapping that infant baby? I’ll kill you if you don’t speak the truth,” Sofia warned her.
“Think before you talk, son of Mr. Dev,” old lady replied to me for Sofia’s confrontations.
“How do you know about my dad?” I asked her.
“I even know how you were kidnapped from your orphanage and how you befitted to be a son of a rich guy in the state,” she stated secrets of my life.
I left shocked to hear all those from her. I got here to know a few secrets about Simon Robs, but tangled queries of my life seem to be resolved today.
“How do you know all this?” I asked her.
“I am Sara, elder sister of Susen. I was once the superior scientist at Simon Rob’s place,” she told “Susen is still working for him, abandoning me!” she cried.
“Tell me whatever you know?” I requested her.
“Why should I, boy,” she demanded.
“I know you didn’t kidnap the baby. In fact, you saved the baby from the stupid parents who wanted to kill a baby girl. I know you have got a kind heart,” I said.
Sofia stared at me left shocked, unknowing what I spoke.
“How do you know all this?” she asked.
“You think, you were freed from jail all by yourself?” I asked.
She remained silent.
“I met infant babies’ parents that day and found that they were the real culprit who asked you to kill the baby,” I told the truth which I hid from Sofia.
“But you were intended to save the baby. That’s the reason why you have kidnaped the baby, unknowing the truth, we wedged you and jailed you; later on after knowing the truth I set you free,” I told her.
“Yeah, still those cruel parents threw that little baby girl on the streets. I saved the baby and she is under my protection now,” she said scolding them.
“I know that. I heard the sounds of baby cry once I was in,” I said.
“Well, you impressed me,” she said “and condition of baby girls is very pathetic in this country,” she cried.
“Well, okay. Can you reveal all the secrets?” I asked her.
“Of course boy,” she gave a weird smile.
“I was the prime scientist at Simon Rob’s camp. We faced a trouble; no human miner was able to dig to great depths and was unable to sustain the heat. No instruments or machinery was able to perform well because of accuracy and preciseness we required. Simon Robs ordered me to create a technology so that humans could sustain high temperatures at greater depths.
I created a steroid, but we need to test it on a human. I wasn’t willing to test on humans, but Simon Robs forced me to do. And the steroids that I created, need a decade to fully implement potential and generate the resistance against the heat in the human who are induced in.
Simon Robs and his batch kidnaped a group of kids from an orphanage, and it had to be yours. So many kids were brought to me and they forced me to induce steroids into their body against their will. I couldn’t commit that crime so I informed the police about the crime going to be done.
SI of Nevara was on time and saved every kid, but you were the only kid whom we couldn’t save. I induced steroids into your body; it took one week for you to come to consciousness. I stopped working under Simon Robs, but my sister Susen betrayed me and continued to work under him. SI promised me to take good care of yours and his cousins Mr. Dev who didn’t have a child adopted you. Dev promised to take good care of you. And they had to bring you to me every now and then for a checkup. You came to me at many times, but you never recalled my face.
That’s the reason you never feel the heat when compared to your fellow beings.
Now it’s been a decade; you fully grew potential against heat. Simon Robs wanted to test if my steroids were successful or not. Susen tried a lot but wasn’t able to beat my experiment and create steroids. And she also failed to create any other technology to help Simon Robs dig at any further depths where diamonds worth 100 times more compared to current mining are available.
So they wanted you. Sources close to me informed that they tried hard to kidnap you and take samples from you. And they successfully caught you. But in the process, they had to kill your parents. Susen collected samples from you and created steroids and they performed tests on kids by kidnaping them from the slums.
And they kidnaped many tribes and injected huge amounts of steroids into their bodies. Few died, unable to sustain the reactions, and others will soon die if a huge amount of steroids is injected at once.
They injected more amounts just to induce heat resistance characteristics in one month, which indeed takes a decade,” she told everything she knew.
Sofia and I shocked, unable to utter a word remained calm.
I still couldn’t believe her cock and bull stories; so I replied,“Stop mocking me!”
“You still don’t believe me,” she smirked and went into her small kitchen and came out with a bowl holding it by a holder.
And she signaled me to hold it with my hands. The vapor is evaporating from the bowl, but I couldn’t feel the heat. Sofia tried to touch the bowl and removed her hand in a quick reflex.
“You might have come across many incidents like this, but never bothered,” she stated.
My mind made a quick tour of my entire life. There are many incidents when my friends suffered heat and I felt neither heat nor did I sweat. Even Sofia and Aria mocked me for not feeling heat in different situations.
“Look into the car accident, you met with. You were mostly injured because of an accident but wasn’t much affected because of burns,” she gave a valid clue.
Everything she told fits logically correct. I went with accident
in May 2016. They might have conducted experiments and left me after their use; I woke up from coma in August 2016. As Sofia told, by June, Simon Robs gang and his Golden Mask man army kidnaped many children from slums and conducted experiments on them. As told by Geetu when we met her; from July they started hiring new people and kidnaped more tribes for performing mining. Sofia’s husband was also hired in July as told by him in the temple. Now Sofia met with incidents where many tribes were dead because of injection of powerful steroids. Everything sounds exactly correct.
It is a huge tangle around me. My entire life is complicated by him. He is the one why am here today.
“Why did they attack us now? When they don’t have any use of him,” Sofia asked her pointing me.
“Because I filed a case against him, after talking to Geetu!” I answered her doubt.
“Yeah, let’s not leave him alive,” Sofia suggested me.
“I would kill myself if I failed to distory him” I said angrily.
“Yeah,” Sofia supported me.
“What can I do for your favor?” I asked Sara.
“Kill that man,” she told equally angry.
“How much time do you need to get Simon Rob’s number?” I questioned Jane after reaching home.
“Time you flick your eyes,” he smiled.
“Why do you want to call him?” Sofia asked.
“I want him to know that his death is approaching,” I told her and dialed his number.
He lifted the call after 2 tries.
“Hello,” a woman picked the call. “I want to talk to Simon Robs,” I said angrily.
“Sir, someone wants to talk to you,” she told and gave the mobile to him, scared of my aggression.
“Hello, who is this?” he asked again.
“Your first experimental trial,” I said angrily.
“Oh, you son of Dev!” he paused and said “Sorry, adopted son!! Are you still alive? Mayan told he killed you,” he laughed.
“I want your death,” I warned him.
“I am sitting like a king in my palace. You can’t touch me,” he heightened himself.
“Nice yarn, give a try!” he cut the call.
“What did you get by calling him?” Sofia asked me.
“You will know soon” I scorned her.
19. A War against an Evil
“I want to know where he planned his next kidnap,” I asked Jane.
“That’s a tough question, sir,” he told forthrightly.
“Call your ex-husband and probe him to come near the road at Vara hills,” I asked Sofia.
We are waiting for him at Vara hills. It’s already 8.00 pm and traffic here is a rare word. He got onto the road and took his mobile out of pocket to call Sofia. Entirety around is so dull without life.
Jane and I clutched him from behind and tied him and threw him into our car;
“I am going to kill your wife. If you don’t answer me” I threatened him putting a blade on Sofia’s throat.
“Okay, kill her. I’ll find a new one,” he told in an unruffled ascent.
Sofia jumped from my hands and slapped him hard. She seized the blade from my hands and threatened him to cut him until his last part of the body is dead if he doesn’t answer. I never saw her in a more dangerous avatar than what I saw today.
“I’ll tell you what you want,” he agreed to tell after threatening him for a long time.
“Tell me where the Simon Robs army had planned their next kidnap attack,” I asked.
“I don’t deal with these things,” he cried.
I slapped him hard and asked “Then tell me where I can get to know.”
“Rana from Hadvi Street deals with kidnap planning,” he cried.
Sofia slapped him again, and we threw him out of our car.
“Where can I get a digital pen voice recorder,” I asked Jane.
After reaching Hadvi Street, it took 10 minutes for us to find the Rana’s house.
“How do we get the info?” Sofia poked me again. And I recollected that Rana is the same man whom Geetu had mentioned that he is the sole cause behind kidnaps.
Rana walked out of his house while we are hiding beside a compound wall.
A man from Rana’s gang had perceived us and came near to us and threatened us by asking, “Who are you? What business you are dealing here?” he asked in his rowdy accent
Jane showed him 20,000 rupees and Sofia told him what all he needed to do is to buy this pen. He took that pen and put it in his pocket and asked us to leave. We left the area and sat in our car.
We opened our laptop and started to listen to the voices of rowdies through the receiver. Our pen recorder idea worked very easily.
Rana called all his gang members and gave orders to them. We heard everything through the receiver.
Rana ordered few to go to Huda village, a few to head the Sombada village and rest were sent to their main kidnap spot, to the tribal land in a forest far away from the city.
I rushed to Huda village and waited for them to arrive.
A guy in formal clothes came and called upon every villager and started a lecture.
“You will see a new world of money, gold. What all you need to do is just working for our company. We will make your village a heaven,” he bluffed the village people.
He convinced almost everyone in the village and got acceptance from more than a hundred people to accompany him to his place the very next day.
I felt pity for my country, where technology is growing at an exponential rate; still gives birth to innocent lads, where criminals like this are taking advantage of their innocence and exploiting their life. It’s been so many years of independence and still there people live in darkness unknowing what power is, what technology is.
“What are you going to do now?” Sofia asked me.
“Be strong, go according to the plan. Everything will be alright,” I heartened her.
“No one came out alive from his cave till now; will you be safe,” she asked.
“It’s not me, who alone is going to be safe, I have to protect everyone from this village.I am risking their life for my selfish cause. I am letting them to hell, though I can enlighten them and give them a chance to escape,” I said.
“You aren’t risking their life. You are risking yours to protect them,” she tapped my back.
“I am happy I met you,” I praised her, but she is not happy at my praise this time. She seems to be more concerned to see me safe
More than 100 villagers packed their bags to join the man and got into his vans. I disguised up myself with the villagers and sat in a van.
After a few hours of the journey, we were near the cave. Many security people stood at the entrance of the cave and had a count of a number of people in the van. We went into the cave and traveled more than 2km into depth. So many people stood wearing Golden Masks. They are exactly the same as they were on the day I was kidnaped by them.
Every mask man is muscular. I roughly counted the number of people. My mobile didn’t catch signal anymore. Two more vans followed us. Few villagers in the van doubted me where I was from. But it is easy to manage them. The cave is so huge like a new dark city. It even accommodates cliffs and hills within its. A huge palace constructed of the top cliff, shining from every corner. This is what the palace Sofia spoke about.
All the villagers and tribes from all the three destinations are assembled in a place. Though it is top of a cave, but it is at a great height.
There are rail tracks to go into further depths, no vehicles are allowed any further. Many mask men stood with swords, controlling the people moving on the tracks. People who journeyed on rail tracks seemed to be miserable, tired and dried up. They suffered worst life.
Mask men hit them with chains and rods for being slow. Sluggishly thousands of people came to a number of coaches. More than three hundred people are pushed into a single room. All the other new companions, new victims are scared to look at them. Few understood that it would be their
turn in the near future, while few still dreamt it would be a wonderful life here.
A huge man came to us and announced,“You all are going to work from today under Simon Robs. We will provide you with food and shelter here. Work hard for him. Undoing any rule would buy you severe penalties.”
“What penalties?” a brave man raised a question.
Golden Mask men took him and cut his head with their sharp knife. I regretted. I couldn’t save him. No one dared to question him after they saw what had happened to him.
We are all pushed into a single huge room.
A few people started to weep for their family members, and others wanted to escape, but they didn’t know the path. Few fell asleep while others are still awake scared of tomorrow.
I woke up a few people and made them wake up others. I stood in the center of the room while everyone paid attention.
“Do you all want to become slaves here?” I asked.
No one replied,
“Do you all want to become slaves here?” I asked loudly.
Few replied, “No!” very slowly, scared of their death if mask men would have heard them.
“This guy will kill all of us. When we are of no use to them, and he terms this a shelter? He calls this as food,” I said, pointing to the food and the cage.
“What about our family?” Don’t you want to see your children?” I asked them again.
“Yes,” few people added and replied.
“They will kidnap your wife and children tomorrow, you will get no support from the government. Will you let them suffer?” I asked.
“No!” voice raised a bit.
I went on motivating them for about an hour, and few agreed to revolt.
“We can easily outnumber them, lets revolt,” I encouraged them.
Few men stood with me and others sat still scared of what had happened to the man in the evening.
People who supported me helped me break that wooden cage, and few of Golden Mask men saw us and they started a war; others who sat scared drove some courage in them and came to fight with us.
Few people helped me unlock all other caves. We are now including all the people from others caves outnumbered them easily.
You Are Never a Stranger Page 9