The next morning, Aaditya was awakened by a knock on the door. He saw that it was still only five in the morning. When he opened the door, Kartik ran more than walked in.
'Sorry to barge in like this, but come with me.'
Seeing Kartik's expression, Aaditya didn't argue much and followed him to the hangar. When he saw that Kartik was walking towards his vimana, he finally asked him what he was doing.
'I'm flying to Japan, and I thought you'd like to come along. I may need someone to watch my back.'
'Japan?'
'Yup.'
With little more by way of explanation, Kartik climbed into his cockpit.
'Come on, I'll explain on the way there.'
Aaditya got into his vimana and followed Kartik out, both of them climbing to high altitude and then setting a course for Japan.
'Hey Kartik, what are we supposed to be doing there? The tsunamis are still continuing from the last news reports I saw.'
'That's exactly why we are going there. We picked up some Asura vimanas flying near Japan just after the first quake struck, and Brahma wants us to take a closer look.'
Aaditya remembered Indra's words and asked Kartik how exactly the Asuras were involved.
'We are not really sure, but as your people say, once is an accident, twice may be a coincidence, but three times in a row is a premeditated plan.'
Aaditya was not able to ask much more as they soon found themselves over Japanese airspace. Their displays were cluttered with green dots representing relief helicopters and aircraft that were streaming towards the disaster zones. But there were no signs of any Asuras.
'Kartik, should we go lower?'
'There will be dozens of relief choppers around, and I don't want to be seen. Besides, if there are Asuras around, we'll pick them up.'
'Holy shit! Did you see that?'
Kartik had obviously been seeing exactly what had caught Aaditya's attention and the young Deva whistled.
'So our old friends are capable of learning new tricks.'
Aaditya looked again to make sure that he had not imagined it. Two red dots had appeared on his display for a few seconds and then disappeared. Then they did it again. The mystifying bit was that the Asura craft had seemingly come out of the ocean and then again disappeared into it.
'Kartik, can our vimanas go underwater?'
'Not these ones. We do have craft that can operate under the oceans, and so do the Asuras, but it looks like they're launching and recovering their aerial vimanas from an underwater craft.'
'Can we track their submarine or whatever it is on our display?'
'No. I've already asked Ganesha to have one of our satellites take a look, and Vishnu is on the way in one of our own underwater craft, but I imagine by the time he gets here, the Asuras will be long gone.'
'What are they doing here?'
They waited for a few more minutes, circling the area, but got no further sign of the Asuras. Kartik asked Aaditya to follow him and turned west. Aaditya's display indicated that they were headed towards Thailand.
'Aadi, here's a geography quiz. Name a few famous Thai islands.'
Aaditya was puzzled at the question but decided to play along. 'Phuket, Krabi. Let me think, Koh Samui maybe. Can't think of any more. What does that have to do with anything?'
By way of reply, Kartik took his vimana into a dive, and Aaditya followed, breaking through the thick cloud cover. He was soon flying at no more than 10,000 feet altitude and could see the green-blue waters of the ocean below them, along with scattered islands.
'Aadi, ever heard of a place called Hong Island?'
'No, should I have?'
He could hear Kartik chuckle, clearly enjoying the suspense he was building up.
'Slow down next to me, and look down.'
Aaditya did as he was told, and looked down to see a small brownish-green island, virtually indistinguishable from the dozens of similar islands scattered around it.
'Kartik, what am I supposed to be looking at?'
'That, my friend, is the island of Hong off the Thai coast. If you want to know more, catch me if you can!'
With that, Kartik suddenly accelerated his vimana and streaked away towards their base. Aaditya had initially thought that these flying antics and games were a ruse to train him. Over the months, he had come to realize that of all the Devas, Kartik was a bit of a prankster and loved to fool around. That suited him just fine. He accelerated and was soon just behind Kartik.
As Kartik's vimana turned sharply to the right and then to the left, Aaditya matched him move for move. Kartik took his vimana into a roll, to try and turn the tables on Aaditya, but he was ready. As soon as Kartik's vimana pitched up, Aaditya slowed down to a near hover and rotated his vimana, and when Kartik had completed his roll, Aaditya was right where he had been-on his tail.
Aaditya could hear Kartik grunt in frustration and the Deva took his vimana into a steep dive. Not willing to give up now, Aaditya followed.
What are you thinking, Kartik?
With Kartik continuing in a straight line, it suddenly came to Aaditya what Kartik's plan may be. Kartik brought his vimana to a sudden halt, the craft pitching up violently as it lost speed. He had hoped that Aaditya would overshoot him. Instead, Aaditya's voice came over his headset, 'Bang, you're dead!'
Guessing what Kartik was planning, Aaditya had slowed his own craft down drastically, so that when Kartik stopped, he easily stayed behind him.
Before they could continue their games, Indra spoke through their headsets. 'I know you must be enjoying yourselves, but I had sent you to do some work. Now please get back if you're done.'
Suitably chastened, Aaditya and Kartik flew straight back to Kongka La.
When they got out of their cockpits, Aaditya saw a new expression on Kartik's face, one he had not seen before. When Kartik asked him a bit stiffly to go and check what Ganesha was up to, he wondered if he had done something wrong. He was on the way when Narada caught up with him.
'Terrible business this. First the quake and then I heard about the Asuras you tracked. By the way, don't worry about Kartik, he'll be fine.'
'What's with him?'
Narada smiled.
'He's a fine pilot but a poor loser. We all were watching on our displays how you flew circles around him today. I guess this is what happens when the teacher realizes for the first time that the student has caught up.'
Aaditya found Ganesha as usual propped up in front of his screens, eating something. Lakshmi was sitting next to him, staring at some data. She nudged Ganesha and spoke in hushed tones, 'He never loses a chance to make a buck, does he?'
When they saw Aaditya enter, she explained, 'I keep tracking which shell companies Kalki may be using to fund his activities and also pay his human cronies. Guess what? Just before this quake, one of his firms had invested heavily in shares of firms that supply water purifiers, emergency rescue equipment and also some housing firms in Japan that have traditionally got reconstruction contracts. As you can imagine, their stocks will climb sky high now, and he'll make a killing.'
Aaditya sat down, fascinated at the various levels at which this battle was waged, but he had other, more immediate concerns on his mind.
'Ganesha, everyone here seems to think Kalki has something to do with this quake, and Kartik said that some godforsaken place called Hong Island would give me clues. What's that about?'
Ganesha laughed, struggling to keep himself from spitting out the food that was in his mouth.
'Kartik will always be up to his tricks. I tell you, that brother of mine can never give a straight answer when he can have some fun making you work to get it. I need you to Google something.'
Aaditya inserted one of the control plugs in his ear and brought up a holographic display in front of him with a web browser open.
'Now Google "Hong Island UFO" and tell me what you see.'
Aaditya did as he was told and read through the first couple of search results. Then he turned to Ganesha, half smiling. 'Is this a joke? I got some trashy tabloid articles about how a UFO washed up on Hong Island after the 2004 Tsunami. But it's garbage. The articles claim there were two dead aliens inside.'
Ganesha raised an eyebrow in mock anger. 'And what's garbage about so-called aliens? After all, your alien could be my cousin.'
'Ganesha, come on, you must have seen this crap. Along with those alien bodies, they supposedly found a naked American woman whom they had been performing sexual experiments on, a McDonald's Happy Meal and some porn. Who would believe this stuff?'
'Nobody would. That was the whole idea, and these tabloids printed exactly what we fed them.'
'What?'
Ganesha turned towards Aaditya, offering him a sweet.
'You see, that evening, a craft did wash up on the beach at Hong Island. A few local fishermen saw it, and called some clueless local cops. But before any other authorities could get there, we had taken a look at it and destroyed it. But since word had gotten out, Narada and Tanya did their usual masterly PR and fed the tabloids such junk that nobody would believe it.'
'What craft was it?'
'The usual Asura vimana, with a dead Asura inside. It must have been caught up in the tsunami somehow. But the point is what the hell was it doing so close to the water in the first place?'
Aaditya thought back to the Asura vimanas he had encountered earlier in the day and wondered the same thing as Ganesha continued, 'The 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake measured 9.3 on the Richter scale, and you well know the catastrophic damage the resulting tsunami caused. In early 2010, there were two more major quakes-near Chile and Haiti, the latter resulting in almost as many deaths as in 2004. In 2011, we had the 8.9 quake off Japan, and now you have yesterday's Japan tsunami. The Japanese are well prepared and have much better infrastructure, but still several thousand souls have perished. What's common to all these events?'
Aaditya thought about it and answered that the obvious linkage was that they were all underwater quakes resulting in tsunamis. Ganesha nodded. 'That's not all. Every one of these events was accompanied by a huge spike in UFO sightings, and as we know from Hong Island and your mission today, the Asuras were indeed up and about in the same place and same time as these events.'
It suddenly struck Aaditya.
'Do you think Kalki is behind these quakes?'
'Of that we have no doubt now. The big question is what the hell his plan is.'
***
Aaditya was soon to realize what many men before him have-that hell indeed has no fury like a woman scorned. He had left in the morning when Tanya had been asleep and by the time he got back, it was already close to midnight and she was again asleep in her room. Normally, they went in and out of each other's rooms freely, but when he knocked there was no answer, and when he commanded the door to open, it stayed shut. When he woke up in the morning and sought Tanya out, he found her in a sullen mood. She would answer him with no more than monosyllabic responses and would not even look at him.
'Tanya, what's wrong?'
'Nothing.'
Aaditya sat down next to her on her bed and reached out to touch her arm, but she pulled it away.
'Sweetheart, are you mad about something?'
She turned briefly to look at him, and though she didn't say anything, her eyes told him just how angry she was.
'Hey, if I've done or said something, I really am sorry. Look, I screw up all the time, but the last thing I'd do is to hurt you on purpose. At least tell me what's wrong.'
'I have work to do as well. See you later.'
With those words, she disappeared, leaving Aaditya feeling really puzzled. He never got much of a chance to think about it during the day. All morning was spent sitting with the senior Devas who were poring over both the aftermath of the quakes and also the action in the Middle East. Thanks to Aaditya and Kartik, a major war in the Middle East had been averted, but what was bothering most of the Devas was why Kalki had suddenly stepped up his operations to such an extent.
Seeing Kartik nowhere around, Aaditya asked Indra who was sitting next to him where he was.
'He's flying over Japan again, trying to see if he can get a glimpse of the Asuras.'
Aaditya wondered why he had not taken him along.
'Why don't we just attack Kalki's home base, or don't we know where that is?'
Vishnu brought up a holographic map, and highlighted an area in the North Atlantic Ocean.
'Aadi, it's time for a history refresher. In March 1918, the US Navy suffered its worst peacetime loss ever when the submarine USS Cyclops sank under unknown circumstances with 302 sailors on board. There were no survivors, and to this date, nobody knows what happened.'
A red dot appeared in the highlighted area.
'December 1945, Flight 19, a group of five US bombers disappeared in the same area. Again, no wreckage found, no survivors and no explanation for what happened. Over the years, dozens of ships and planes have gone missing in this area.'
As Vishnu spoke, more and more red dots appeared. Vishnu motioned with his hand and a rough triangle was drawn on the map, enclosing all the red dots.
'This is where Kalki lives. Under the water, in his base.'
'Why don't you go get him?'
'We tried once. We lost fifty Ganas and twenty of our remotely controlled vimanas. He's got some force field up that we just cannot penetrate. And as you've seen, he protects his turf quite aggressively. Any ship or plane approaching it goes missing.'
'If all those planes and ships have disappeared, surely someone's noticed by now.'
Shiva spoke up. 'Of course they've noticed. Everyone knows about it.'
When Aaditya asked him what he meant, Shiva smiled. 'I'm sure you have heard of this area. This is what people call the Bermuda Triangle.'
That evening Aaditya was in the club, feeling a bit low. First, Kartik seemed to be making a conscious effort to ignore him, and then Tanya had not even met him once since she had left in the morning. He had tried calling her a dozen times on her headset, but she never responded. With nobody else there, he walked over to the bar. He had been here a dozen times, but never paid any attention to the bartender. He had learnt that the bartender was a Gana, one of Shiva's trusted warriors, and this one Shiva had personally trained in the art of mixing drinks. He never seemed to talk much, but grunted sympathetically when Aaditya sat down with a downcast expression. To the Gana's surprise, Aaditya asked for a glass for Soma. He had come to learn that Soma, while not alcoholic, was quite potent.
One evening Shiva had leant conspiratorially towards him and whispered into his ears, 'Our vimanas and technology are nothing. Our most prized secret is the recipe for Soma.'
Later, Narada had told him the more prosaic truth. Soma was indeed a drink with a kick to be reckoned with-a mixture of the Ephedra plant, which was now extinct but had been cloned by the Devas, milk and generous quantity of poppy seeds. The last ingredient made it a drink that could impart a very serious high.
That was when he saw Kartik walk in. Kartik just nodded to him and sat down some distance away, ordering a drink for himself. Perhaps because he was already a bit buzzed from the Soma, and perhaps because his mood was already pretty rotten, Aaditya walked over to Kartik.
'You having a bad day?'
Kartik just looked up and smiled.
'You seem to be avoiding me like the plague. What's up?'
Kartik seemed about to retort angrily, but then his features softened. 'Aadi, sit down and have a drink with me.'
He offered Aaditya another glass and poured himself one.
'I'm not avoiding you. Things have just been so crazy over the last few days that I haven't had time for anything. By the way, I gather Tanya's pissed with you because you forgot her birthday.'
Aaditya sat down next to Kartik, now realizing just why Tanya had been so angry with him. With all the action of the last few days, he had totally forgotten about her birthday.
'What the hell can I do to make it up to her?'
'You'll need to do something truly spectacular to recover from the hole you've dug for yourself, my friend.'
'Any bright ideas?'
Kartik beamed as he answered. 'I do actually. Take her for a spin.'
At first, Aaditya wasn't sure what Kartik had in mind, so he spelt it out. 'Take her for a flight on your vimana. She's never been in one.'
'Can I do that?'
Kartik slapped him playfully on the shoulder. 'You're a full-fledged pilot here now. You have two Asura kills to show for it. Of course you can.'
It was as if a light bulb had just gone on in Aaditya's head. Why had he not thought of it before? 'Thank you, my friend. You're a lifesaver.' Then he ran to get Tanya.
***
'What the hell are you doing?'
Tanya almost screamed in surprise as Aaditya woke her up and bundled her out of bed.
'Trust me for a minute and just play along.' He put a blindfold around her eyes.
'Aadi, what are you doing? Come on, tell me!'
Aaditya laughed as he walked her out the room and towards the hangar. Finally, with a dramatic drum-roll he took off the blindfold, and Tanya gasped as she realized what Aaditya had in mind.
'Happy birthday, sweetheart.'
He kissed her and then helped her into the cockpit.
'Should we really be doing this?'
'Aadi Air Flight 1 is ready for take off. Please make yourselves comfortable and we will serve refreshments soon after take off.'
The hangar doors opened as Aaditya commanded it and the vimana slid out and started a gradual climb. When it settled in level flight at about ten thousand feet, he dug into the area behind his seat and pulled out a cake.
'Black Forest. Your favourite.'
When they had eaten, he took the vimana into a gentle climb, going into the upper stratosphere. They could see the stars gleaming bright with no cloud cover to obscure them, and the full moon above them.
'All for you, my love.'
All of Tanya's worries about whether they should be out in the vimana dissipated as she saw the stars ahead of her. They flew for a few minutes and then started to return to base. Tanya's eyes were moist, and she reached out to touch his arm.
'Thank you, this is the best birthday I've ever had. Not just because of the ride, but because I spent it with you.'
They kissed once more and then Aaditya guided the vimana back into the hangar. It was already close to four in the morning, and they went back to their room and slept.
The next morning, Aaditya was called to meet Brahma. When he walked into the meeting room, he was surprised to see all the Devas assembled there. Kartik was there, but unlike the previous night, he was not smiling at all.
Narada pulled him aside.
'Aadi, what were you thinking?'
'What?'
Brahma stepped forward. All the other Devas looked downcast, as if they wished this were not happening. For the first time, Aaditya saw anger blaze in Brahma's normally grandfatherly eyes.
'Aadi, do you have any idea of what you have done?'
Aaditya was now totally clueless and began wondering if this was some elaborate practical joke. Seeing his reaction, Brahma only got angrier.
'We all love Tanya, and understand your feelings for her, but do you realize the danger in which you placed all of us with your irresponsible action last night?'
It finally dawned on Aaditya what this may be about.
'Look, I just wanted to do something special for her birthday. I didn't realize taking her in my vimana would be a big deal.'
Brahma took a deep breath, as if trying to control his temper.
'Flying alone is a big enough risk. We know you are learning fast, but what if multiple Asuras had ambushed you? And what would have happened to Tanya?'
'But I thought…'
'The problem is that you did not think. If you had told me, or one of us, we could have sent an escort and you could have still taken her out, but going out like that without telling anyone betrays the trust we have placed in you.'
Aaditya searched for Kartik, and began to say that he had spoken to Kartik when he saw the slight sneer form on the young Deva's mouth. He had been set up.
He stood up straight, looking Brahma in the eye.
'I realize what has happened, and I am sorry if you feel let down. But I am also not a child, and will take whatever punishment you choose to give me.'
Brahma said the next words as if he were unloading a great burden. 'You are not to fly till further notice.'
It took a while for the words to sink in, and then Aaditya realized just how devastating a punishment he had been doled out. He started to protest, but seeing Brahma's unforgiving eyes and Kartik's smirk, he stopped himself. He had been wronged, but he would not debase himself by begging.
By the time he got to his room, word had reached Tanya and she just hugged him tight, not saying anything, knowing both how hard Aaditya would have taken it, and also realizing that she had something to do with it.
Aaditya sat down, not saying anything, just looking blankly at the floor. After a few minutes, Tanya tried to get him to open up.
'Aadi, it wasn't your fault. I'm sure they will let you fly in a day or two when everyone has cooled down.'
Aaditya turned on her angrily. 'Of course, your precious Devas can do no wrong! I just have to sit and wait for their mercy.'
When Tanya recoiled back, Aaditya instantly regretted his words and reached out to hold her hand. 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. But do you know what really happened?' And he told her everything. When Tanya heard about Kartik's scheming, she was shocked. 'You should have told Brahma.'
'Come on, why would he believe me over Kartik? Who am I after all to them?'
'Maybe I should talk to them.'
'No, please Tanya, don't. I don't want you to get into any more trouble. It was my fault to start with, and even if I can't fly, I have you, and I hope I made your birthday special. That counts for more than flying a stupid vimana.'
Tanya smiled, and the two of them sat together, wondering what the new day would bring.
Aaditya had already resolved not to make things any worse, especially after Narada came calling and told him that Brahma was a softy at heart and would very soon realize he had been too harsh. He had also decided not to seek out any confrontation with Kartik. He realized till he was in trouble, bringing any more attention to himself would not help his cause.
For the first time in weeks, perhaps months, without the constant thrill of flying, Aaditya got a chance to reflect on what exactly he was doing. He loved flying, and he loved Tanya, but beyond that, he had no idea of where his life was headed. What was the end point of all this? He realized that even in what he had considered his 'regular' life, he had gone through his daily routine not because he was certain of, or even aspiring to, some defined destination. It was just something he had accepted as a matter of routine. Now life was far more ill defined, but at least every day was a chance to do something he loved and was passionate about. And if he did get a chance to uncover the truth about his father, or to avenge his death, that was certainly something worth hanging in there for.
So he stayed out of trouble, and put on his best behaviour. Two days after Tanya's birthday, he was in the club, when he saw Kartik walk in. But Kartik did not come near him, choosing instead to sit in a corner of the room, avoiding eye contact with Aaditya.
That suited Aaditya just fine, because he was afraid he'd get into a fight if Kartik said anything. He got up, and was about to leave the room, when Kartik whispered to him as he passed him, 'I'm sorry.'
Aaditya stopped. 'All you have to say is that you're sorry? You screwed me after I trusted you. What the hell do you want now?'
'For you to forgive me and to have a drink with me.'
Aaditya was about to leave when Kartik got up and stood in his way. For a moment, Aaditya thought he wanted a confrontation, but Kartik seemed somehow shrunken, almost a shadow of the cocky self he had been.
'Sit please.'
Aaditya sat down as Kartik ordered two Somas and downed them in quick succession.
'When we first came here and men started thinking of us as gods, we were surprised and a bit embarrassed, and we tried telling them we were not gods. But it was of no use so we went about our work.'
'Do you believe in God?'
Kartik smiled at the question.
'We may have seemed godlike to them, but we certainly are not all powerful or all knowing. There is a power out there beyond all of us, and it's best that we respect it, even if we cannot always understand it. As you may have gathered, though we are from another world, our egos, our politics are not that different from yours.'
Aaditya thought back to what Kartik had recently done and snorted, 'You could have fooled me.'
Kartik continued without responding, as if he was keen to get something off his chest.
'While early man may not have been as technologically sophisticated as us, he certainly was an astute observer, and our squabbles, politics and internal struggles were recorded down in many of your texts through snippets of gossip and information leaked by humans we had kept as helpers or students to nudge them along on the path to progress. I can still remember some of the early scribes exclaiming in glee when they recorded just how screwed up the so-called gods were.'
Aaditya had no idea where this was leading or what it had to do with him, so he began to fidget. Kartik continued, as if not noticing Aaditya's lack of interest.
'In the Hindu Puranas, there's a fascinating story. My younger brother Ganesha and I are competing for the mango of wisdom that Narada has on offer, and we are supposed to race around the world. I do just that, but Ganesha just circles our parents, saying they are his world, and he wins. Do you know what that means?'
Aaditya had no idea, and just wished Kartik would get to the point.
'It means that despite me being the elder brother, he was always the favoured one, the smart one, the beloved of our parents. I was a grunt who had a talent for killing Asuras, nothing more. You see it in how humans remember us-Ganesha's statues are in hundreds of millions of homes in Asia, regarded as a source of luck and fortune; I am remembered as a god of war.'
Aaditya began to see what was troubling Kartik.
'All my life, I have lived in his shadow, but at least had the consolation of being seen as the best pilot, of being the one my father would count on to march next to him in war. When you beat me with everyone watching on their displays, I just took all that rage out on you. I am sorry. I've already confessed to Brahma and you can fly now. As for me, I got an earful and am now grounded for a month.'
Aaditya didn't know what to say. As he looked at Kartik's face, he realized immortal demi-god or not, Kartik was also in many ways a young man with issues that he could understand and empathize with. He had no fancy words to offer, but thought back to how he would have handled the situation with any of his friends.
'Look, we all screw up some time or the other. You are the closest thing to a friend I have here, and I don't want to lose that. I can't help you with all your issues, but if you ever need someone to talk to, I'll be your wingman.'
That broke the ice. Kartik smiled and then roared in laughter. 'Four more Somas for us.'
They would have kept drinking more had Tanya not rushed into the club. She was surprised to see Aaditya and Kartik drinking together after all that had happened, but something else was on her mind.
'Tanya, what's wrong?'
'Another huge quake has struck. This time just off Hawaii.'