Earth To Centauri_Alien Hunt

by Kumar L

  Once at Chowpatty, he and his young helpers would carry the idol and the demons on a hover-cart to the sea. They would be one among many devotees standing waist deep in the water - watching the idol being claimed by the waves. The aliens would use this opportunity to slip into the water. Once undersea, Jur and Biw would swim out to the underwater city and find their way inside. Nish did not have an exact route into the underwater city yet, but he was pretty sure they could use one of the maintenance ports. Once the aliens were inside, Nish would be free. He planned on abandoning the truck in a bylane and exiting the city, hitching a ride on one of the many vehicles going back after the immersion. If all went well, he'd be in Sri Lanka the next day, taking in the sun on Bentota beach.

  Jur was skeptical of the plan, and every cell in its body rebelled against remaining immobile for hours on end. True, it would have a weapon at hand, but if the rifle was to be used, then space inside the vehicle would be too confined. Too many things could go wrong.

  Biw, on the other hand, was quite amused by the method of travel. The sights and sounds would be worth the dismal journey. The device would need to be prepared before they started off. Biw would not allow it out of sight throughout the journey. It was waterproof, so at least that was one less thing to worry about. The time for revenge was near.

  The three of them set about making the final preparations. The plan was to start off at noon. Nish wanted them in the back of the truck in their final positions, before the driver and his team of teenagers showed up. The less the interaction, the better. He'd set up a sort of a curtain mounted on bamboos between the sitting space and the idol to avoid unnecessary scrutiny.

  When they all agreed on the plans, they sat down to wait. With nothing else to do, Jur disassembled and cleaned its formidable-looking weapons once again. It also had a nasty-looking serrated knife that it kept in a scabbard on the ankle. Nish thought about asking what the blade was for since the rifle was more than sufficient to cut an opponent in half. But looking at the overall demeanor of Jur, he kept his mouth shut.

  Meanwhile, Biw was setting up the device with care, occasionally consulting notes on the handheld. Nish was still not sure exactly what that machine could do, but it looked pretty harmless from where he sat. Kandaarr – that’s what Biw had called it.

  At 11.30 a.m. there was a sound in the yard next to the building, and the three of them became vigilant. Nish got up and opened the door just a crack, peering across the passageway to the ground. He saw the truck pull up and park. The driver exited the cabin. Nish signaled to the two aliens and stepped out, carefully closing the door behind him. Inside, Jur stood up and slowly drew the knife from the sheath. A headache was beginning to affect its ability to think clearly. One thing was clear - a blood sacrifice was needed for the success of the mission.

  As Nish came out in the open, the driver greeted him cheerfully, pointing out the gaily decorated trucks, completely covered in flowers and colourful cloth. Nish nodded approvingly and walked around, checking out the truck thoroughly. He liked the way the statue had been positioned. He wouldn't need to move it to make space. A couple of well-placed pieces of cloth would provide the concealment he desired.

  The driver indicated that he wanted to relieve himself and walked towards the side of the building. As he unzipped his pants, Jur pounced on him like a snake, and in a single stroke cut his neck from ear to ear. Jur held the driver till the body stopped shaking and then slowly dragged him under the stairs. After wiping the knife off on the driver's clothes, Jur hid the body in the shadows.

  Nish was horrified at this sudden turn of events, but before he could even react or make a sound, Jur raised his rifle and pointed it at him, motioning him to come closer. Though not a stranger to death, this pointless murder seemed to have robbed Nish of his ability to think. He stumbled over to Jur, who said quietly, “We take no chance. You drive.”

  What the hell is wrong with this guy? He's completely mental. No sooner than these thoughts had passed in his head, that Nish finally lost his cool and charged at Jur. In his mind, the alien had been utterly stupid in killing the driver and putting his well-thought out plan in jeopardy. He was now entirely driven by fear of being discovered.

  Completely taken by surprise, Jur had staggered for a moment before lashing out as well. Nish was driven by rage and he pummeled the much larger Jur but was ineffective against the armour. Jur lashed out with one hand, catching Nish in the abdomen and as he bent down in pain, Jur reached for the rifle. Nish staggered back and through the pain still managed to kick out Jur’s legs. The two of them now rolled about in the dust, each trying to reach for a weapon. Biw had a tough time separating the two duelists. The sudden wail of a siren pierced the air and shocked the two opponents just enough that Biw was able to separate them.

  “Oh, hell! That's a 112!” Nish managed to croak out as he recognised the sound.

  “What is that?”

  “112 - EMRAR - Emergency First Response Automated Robotic System. The drivers’ ComNet must've triggered the crisis mode. We have to get out of here right now! There'll be others behind this one! We don't have time!”

  Just then the white and red ‘112' module came into view, flying low over the ground. EMRARs were humanoid robots with articulating arms mounted on flat pods, programmed to provide emergency medical aid by reaching accident sites within three minutes.

  The EMRAR's red revolving lights provided a stark contrast to the greenery in the yard as the robot homed in on the figure lying on the ground. It was not concerning itself with the cause of the injury; only on the treatment required.

  Jur struck out with the butt of the rifle. It caught the EMRAR just as the robot was settling down, sending it crashing into a wall. Even before the robot could recover from the blow, Jur brought the rifle crashing down again and again till only a twisted piece of plastic and metal remained.

  “Let's go! We don't have time!”

  The three of them turned on their heels and rushed upstairs. It took them less than three minutes to get all their gear loaded onto the truck and to move out.

  They met the group of boys near the main road, and everyone piled onto the back of the truck. The two aliens in their body armour lay still down beside the idol, partially hidden by the roughly made curtain. Nish was in the cabin driving the truck. The four boys in the back were already being raucous and started playing loud music - thus providing the perfect cover for the party.

  Nish turned into the highway joining a long line of similar trucks making their way into the city. Thankfully additional EMRARs or the police had not turned up so far. They were safe. For now.

  T minus 10 hours - NIA Station

  T heir exit from the hotel and the trip to the NIA regional office had been uneventful. The guards at the gate had been courteous, if disinterested, and had escorted them inside to the reception area.

  They were disappointed to find that Tej was out of the office even at that early hour. The duty officer informed them that she was off supervising the flushing out operations in the field and would not be back for quite some time.

  They stepped back outside into the light drizzle.

  “Now what do we do?” asked Anara.

  “There’s only one thing left to do. The mountain must go to the mahout,” replied Ryan.

  “You're one to expound Indian proverbs, Ryan. Anyway, that does sound logical. Let's see what our keepers have to say about this.”

  She went to the guards and spoke rapidly for a few minutes. They seemed reluctant at first but her persuasion skills were strong, and they finally relented. One of them made a call to Abhiram, and after a few minutes, Abhiram asked the trio to be brought over to the base camp near Panvel.

  A short ride aboard a police car later, they touched down near the camp. The camp was, in fact, a mobile trailer, set up just off the Pune highway. There were a multitude of vehicles parked alongside, including those from the army and the air force. A rough perimeter had been set up, which was gua
rded by armed men in uniforms.

  At this time of the day, the highway was deserted, and even the skies were clear of flying vehicles. It was a big holiday, and most people would be busy preparing for the prayers that evening. A couple of hyperloop lines, passing nearby, made occasional soft whooshing sounds as they carried pods at high speed to various destinations.

  They alighted their vehicle and walked to the perimeter guards. Their escorts showed their passes and the group was allowed to step through. As they approached, the door of the trailer opened and Abhiram stepped out. He looked like he'd had a rough night. Still, his eyes were alert and showed a touch of hostility.

  “What do you want, Captain?”

  “We need to meet with the DG. I believe that we have information that can help you.”

  “Indeed?” He raised an eyebrow, clearly skeptical of their claims. “And how may I know, did you come across this information?”

  “That's something I will discuss with Tej herself,” replied Anara testily. She was tired of being treated in so cavalier a fashion, like a common criminal instead of a senior ranking officer. She drew herself to her full height of five feet six inches and hardened her voice. “Would you be kind enough to call her over? Or maybe it's time I started getting in touch with some people over at the ministry? I still have some hold over there, you know, being a celebrated astronaut and all that.” She continued to hold Abhiram's gaze.

  Abhiram may have been intimidated, but he refused to show it. He merely appraised them for a few seconds, then nodded and went back inside, closing the door behind him. The captain and her team waited expectantly, standing outside in a semicircle.

  A few minutes later, they heard the sound of a nearing hovercraft coming in from the north. A bright speck in the sky grew progressively more substantial to reveal the latest generation Q210 tactical aircraft coming in to land.

  The doors of the craft opened, and Tej stepped out, this time clad in jungle textured fatigues. As she came closer, her clothes transformed to a beige colour to match the surroundings. Anara could not help feeling a twinge of jealousy watching the tall, powerful, determined figure walk towards them. Anara's own time in space had resulted in a much shorter and leaner frame; more suited for artificial gravity than lifting heavy weights on Earth.

  The frown on the DG's face was visible from afar, and Anara braced herself for the inevitable confrontation.

  “What do you want, Anara? I thought I'd told you to stay away from the investigation. Can't you see I'm busy trying to sort out this mess you've gotten us into?” The animosity in her voice was unmistakable.

  “For starters, Tej, I need a bit more respect from you,” Anara retorted adopting the same tone. “I'm not a common criminal to be treated this way. Second, I want you to understand clearly - I … did … not … bring … these … aliens … to … Earth! They would have shown up here eventually - with or without Antariksh going to Proxima.” Ryan moved forward as if to interject himself between Anara and Tej but Anara held him back with her left arm. “Now, the time for games is over. I ask you this - have you captured the aliens with all the fancy equipment and manpower you've got here?”

  Abhiram shifted uncomfortably in his place and looked at Tej, expecting her to blow up. Instead, she smiled.

  “I admire your guts, Captain. You're this close to getting arrested, and still, you came to meet me? I'm surprised. I'd expected you to take your ship and your crew and run away.” She was almost sneering.

  “Well then, you're lucky, that I didn't take the easy way out, aren’t you?”

  The two women stood face to face in the middle of the clearing surrounded by servicemen. Neither willing to back down. The silence stretched interminable, till Ryan interrupted it with a small cough. Anara looked sideways at him and then back at Tej. She forced her body to relax. One day, I will punch you on that pretty little nose of yours, Tej. But not today.

  “We've some information that will be of use to you. I think we've managed to identify the person who is helping the aliens and as much as it hurts me to say this, you were right.” Anara took a deep breath. “It might be a member of my crew.”

  To Tej's credit, she did not waste time in gloating. Instead, she gestured for them to follow her inside the mobile trailer.

  Once inside, she waved them to various seats around the cramped control room. Anara chose an uncomfortable chair near the door, while Ryan and Rawat preferred to remain standing.

  “We have not had any success in our search, and I have less than twelve hours in which to find them. Tell me what you know,” ordered Tej while motioning to Abhiram to start taking notes.

  “If that’s true,” said Tej as Anara finished her narrative, “then we need to lay our hands on this person, and hopefully he'll lead us straight to the aliens.”

  “I would assume so, but we've been unable to locate him. His ComNet is switched off.”

  “We will talk later about this Lieutenant of yours who managed to piggy back onto the NIA system. Anyway, ComNet tracking is for amateurs. We have something much more powerful.” She nodded to Abhiram, who walked over to a technician sitting at a station and passed on instructions. The results did not take long in coming through, and a widescreen lit up indicating locations on a map.

  “ComNet for that person is inactive but these are his last known locations over the past two days. He was definitely in Mumbai when the privacy function was activated.”

  “Override,” Tej ordered.

  “Yes, Ma’am. Overriding the privacy function,” Abhiram instructed the tech.

  “Can you guys do that - override the privacy setting, I mean?” asked Ryan, startled.

  “We can override any setting, Commander. That's one of the privileges of being in the NIA.”

  “But … but isn't that illegal?”

  “Seriously, Commander? Are you going to question me about legalities when thirty million lives, including yours and mine, are at stake? It would be a foolish government who would allow all controls to pass out of their hands without keeping any backdoors open.”

  “Privacy has been overridden. Waiting for a response.” There was silence in the room as they watched the screen with anticipation.

  “No response. The device has been physically turned off and is no longer transmitting,” announced the tech.

  “I was so sure this would work. Now what, Tej?” queried Anara.

  “Now we start using stronger measures. Abhiram, we need to activate a protocol. I'll have to brief you. Here's my reference code. Punch it in and bring up the details. Also get me the PMO.”

  T minus 6 hours - Highway

  I should just hand over these people to the nearest police post, thought Nish. It'll be so easy to end this right now. But I'm not going to do that, am I? This may be the only way to have my cake and eat it too. I'll take these people to their destination. Get my payment and run. Then inform the police of their location and to hell with them. By the time the cops get hold of them, I will be long gone. Hopefully what I’ve left behind in the room will give them some clues.

  He peered through the windshield at the riot of colours coursing around him. The sound of hundreds of happy people steeped in the moment packed into trucks and cars, blaring loud devotional music. It was enough to overwhelm all senses. It was precisely what Nish had been hoping for. There was no way anyone could locate them in this crowd, he thought. Despite the heavy traffic, he'd managed to make steady progress along the highway.

  A posse of police and emergency response vehicles blaring sirens had passed them by some time ago. But so far no one had shown any undue interest in their vehicle.

  Nish was still seething with anger at the unnecessary loss of life. More importantly, he was cursing his poor judgment in aligning with the killers. He wondered if he'd be able to keep his end of the bargain, now that he knew how utterly ruthless they were.

  Is the device they are carrying some sort of a bomb? Were the diamonds and the promise of a kingdom enough
to wipe the taint of a traitor and a mass murderer? Maybe there was a way out. Perhaps he could keep the diamonds and escape, not here, not now, but eventually. Yes, the crowds at the beach would be perfect. He could drop them off and disappear into the mob. He had already left one clue, maybe he could leave some more. Having determined his course of action, he now concentrated on driving through the loud but orderly traffic, carefully avoiding the people dancing in the streets.

  Jur was furious at Biw for not having finished off Nish. That is what the Chairman had wanted. Nish had caught Jur by surprise, making it drop the knife. Half a second more and it would have cut him open end to end. Anyway, it should soon get another chance to fulfill the Chairman’s orders.

  Biw, on the other hand, was missing the action that was going on all around them. The last sights and sounds of this world before its complete annihilation. The device was ready, and so were the two of them. The breathing apparatus had been triple checked, and the water would be a welcome break from the dry room they'd been confined to for the last few days. Another thought struck at that moment and Biw’s eyes turned cold. Anger welled up again and madness gripped the mind. Revenge. I still need my revenge.

  ********

  The police sub-inspector walked around the body while a woman wailed in the background, held back by the police barrier. He saw the body partly hidden in the shadows, the medical examiner hunched over it. It would take some time to get more details from the ME, and the SI lifted up the crime scene tape and walked back to his vehicle.

  “Is that the wife, Kamble?” he asked the constable who had responded first to the accidental death report.

  “Ho Sahib,” confirmed the constable. “Should I call her over?” For him, this case provided a well-deserved pause from the monotonous bandobast or security duty for the immersion.