Admittedly, Aaditya was still a fresher and yet to see his first college festival, but he had never imagined a corporate sponsor could look the way this one did. Even before he entered the room, he saw the man sitting at the table through the partially open blinds. He had long hair that was tied in a thick ponytail, he seemed to be in his forties, thin to the point of being gaunt. He wore jeans and a loose-fitting T-shirt. As Aaditya entered the room, he noticed something even more odd. The man had a long black case next to him. From its shape it looked like it contained either a guitar or some other similar musical instrument. All in all, this sponsor who had insisted on meeting Aaditya looked more like an aging rock star than a Vice President of any corporation.
When Aaditya greeted him, to his surprise, the man stood up and folded his hands in greeting.
An aging rock star who believes in traditional values.
This new sponsor seemed to get weirder and more interesting by the minute, but weird or not, he was a potential big contributor to the college, so Aaditya got down to business.
'Mr Muni, it's a pleasure to meet you. I was told you wanted to specifically meet me, so please do let me know how I may be of assistance.'
The man looked Aaditya over, then he smiled back and nodded.
'Yes, you are indeed the one I was told helped my colleagues.'
Aaditya had no idea what he was referring to. He had never had anything to do with the organization Mr Muni claimed to belong to, and while some of the senior students may have approached companies for sponsorships for the festival, as a fresher, Aaditya had nothing to do with it. He began to guess that it may just be a case of mistaken identity and tried to clear it up.
'Mr Muni, I'm afraid I don't have much background on your organization but I guess someone from our college must have approached one of your colleagues for a sponsorship. I'm not sure where my name came in, but I would be more than happy to help in any way possible or perhaps get you in touch with one of the students on the organizing committee for the festival.'
'We are a global entity with diversified interests, and as for how you could help us, I would prefer to talk outside the college.'
That was a strange request, but considering how unconventional this Mr Muni had been so far, Aaditya agreed to play along.
'Where would you like to meet?'
Mr Muni got up, gathering his case as he replied. 'Let us talk over a coffee.'
So far Aaditya had remained pretty detached from what happened in college, other than hanging out with Sam and iPod, but now that the principal himself was involved, he didn't want to screw this up and cost the college lots of money in potential funds. So he readily agreed, and followed Mr Muni's taxi on his bike. For some reason, Mr Muni seemed to want to meet at Connaught Place. This was fine with Aaditya. Once the meeting was over, he could loiter at some bookstores before going home. As things turned out, Mr Muni led Aaditya to Oxford Bookstore, and they were soon seated at the café.
'I love the smell of new books. So invigorating, so inspiring. What will you have?' Mr Muni asked politely.
Aaditya ordered a juice, while Mr Muni got a tea. Mr Muni chattered on about books he wanted to read, and gradually Aaditya tried to steer the discussion back to the subject at hand.
'Mr Muni, do let me know how I can help you and what you had in mind in terms of sponsoring our festival.'
'Aaditya, I actually have no interest in your college or in your festival.'
'I'm sorry, I don't understand. Why did you come to our college then?'
Mr Muni leaned back in his chair, smiling.
'I had to make up a story so that I would have a reason to meet you.'
Aaditya wasn't sure any more where this was headed, and Mr Muni made it worse with his next words.
'My interest lies in you.'
Before Aaditya could say anything, his phone beeped an incoming SMS and Aaditya glanced down to see a message from Deepak. It read Having fun? Where did you disappear after college?
He laughed. 'I get it. Has Deepak put you up to this?'
Now it was Mr Muni's turn to look puzzled as Aaditya continued, 'That clown! Must be his idea of a practical joke. Look, Mr Muni, I think we've both been had. I assure you I'm straight and have no interest in men, and if he told you otherwise, he was just trying to have a laugh at our expense.'
Aaditya scanned the room.
'Knowing him, he's probably here, waiting to come up and reveal his great plot.'
When he looked back at Mr Muni, the smile had been replaced by a look of concern.
Time to get out of here, Aadi.
As Aaditya mumbled a goodbye and got up to leave, Mr Muni laid a hand on his right arm. Aaditya was at least five inches taller than him and outweighed him by a handsome margin, but the man was deceptively strong, and when Aaditya tried, he could not shake off his arm.
'Look Mr Muni, I don't want a scene. Take your hand off me, and I'll walk out of here, and we end this matter without making it messy.'
To his surprise, the man looked at him beseechingly, almost pleading with him to stay.
'You do not understand. This is no joke. I want to talk to you about the events you witnessed last night at the Old Fort, where it seems you crossed paths with two of my colleagues. Obviously I did not want to have that conversation in your college.'
Stunned, Aaditya sat down.
'We would have had no way of tracking you, but when you posted about the incident on an online forum, we knew who and where you were.'
A thousand things were swirling through Aaditya's mind. Not least of which was the realization of just what a fool he had been to post details of the incident online.
'Who the hell are you?' blurted out Aaditya.
Mr Muni just shook his head slightly.
'That is not important.'
Aaditya cut him off in mid-sentence. 'I saw some men being killed there, so it is very important. And what in god's name were those aircraft?'
Mr Muni touched Aaditya's arm again, but this time gently, as if to reassure him.
'You need to believe me, we are the good guys.'
'So what are you? CIA, Special Operations of some sort? I've never seen or heard of any force using aircraft like that, and I'm sure India does not have anything like them in service.'
'Aaditya, it's not important who we are. In fact, we would be happy to ignore you, apart from deleting anything you post online. But I am forced to meet you like this because we think you may have placed yourself in great danger.'
'Danger?'
Mr Muni ordered another juice for Aaditya. 'Calm down and listen carefully. Did you pick anything up from the site of the incident? We swept the area later and have confirmed through our reconnaissance drones that nobody else approached the place during and after the incident.'
These guys must be the CIA, thought Aaditya, wondering why the hell he had to go and get involved the previous night.
'Please tell me, Aaditya. Did you pick anything up from the site of the incident?'
Aaditya suddenly remembered the cylinder and was about to blurt it out when he checked himself. He had no idea who this man was and whether he was to be trusted. The last thing he wanted to do was to get further involved in this mess.
'No, Mr Muni, I did not pick up anything.'
The man stared into his eyes intently for a few seconds. Though his heart was hammering, Aaditya did not flinch. Mr Muni got up and began to leave, then turned to Aaditya.
'If what you say is true, then in a way it's good for you, since your involvement in this ends, and you will never hear from us again. It is a separate matter that if those who attacked my colleague last night picked up the object we seek, then we have suffered a setback.'
Aaditya just stared at him, not willing to give an inch.
'Just remember, Aaditya, if you do have it, then there may be others seeking it, and they may be more persistent that I am and willing to harm you to get it. If you need me, just call the number on my card.'
He left, and Aaditya finished his drink in one long gulp. What a day! Now all he wanted to do was go home, pick up the goddamned cylinder and throw it away, maybe in the Yamuna river. That would be the end of this bloody episode, and he could finally get back to his life.
***
The rest of the evening passed much more pleasantly. Aaditya had planned on going straight home, but changed his mind fast when he saw a missed call from Supriya. He called her back, apologizing for the constant interruptions, conveniently blaming them on a last-minute movie plan that Sam had hatched. At seven in the evening, they were together, sipping coffee at the Taj Man Singh hotel. Aaditya noted that her tastes were probably too expensive for him to try and pick up the tab every time, but tonight, he was not going to be stingy. Supriya was perfect as far as first dates went-listening intently to him and laughing at his jokes. If she was only pretending, she was a good actress. For his part, Aaditya needed no acting to show how interested he was.
He dropped her home at Golf Links, where she stayed with her parents. He wished the bike ride had lasted longer, with her holding on to him, and when he rode away after wishing her good night, he promised himself that he would be seeing her soon enough.
Slightly lost in thought and very happy, Aaditya entered his apartment close to ten o'clock.
For once, he was in no mood to go online or even take off on one of his online sorties. The day had started weirdly enough with Mr Muni and his cryptic comments, but it had ended just fine-a date with an attractive woman and the prospect of seeing her again soon. As he changed and lay down on his bed, he looked at the strange cylinder on his bedside table. All he wanted was to be rid of it once and for all. He had it all planned out. Tomorrow, on the way to college, he would dump the damned cylinder in the river, and then forget about Mr Muni and the CIA, or whatever organization he worked for.
Aaditya was having a decidedly pleasant dream, the details of which were later fuzzy but involved Supriya in various stages of undress, when he was awakened by a sudden noise. As he turned on his bedside lamp, he saw that his artificial leg, which he took off every night before sleeping, had fallen to the ground. It was just after three in the morning. He decided to go to the bathroom and then have a glass of water. He swung himself off the bed and attached his leg, and after a trip to the bathroom, was in the living room, opening the fridge door to get some water.
That was when he heard the slight scraping noise outside his front door. He quietly shut the fridge door, enveloping his house in darkness. The corridor outside was still lit, and through the narrow gap under the front door, he could see shadows moving outside.
Shit.
He wondered if Mr Muni and his cohorts had come to check for themselves whether or not he had their precious cylinder. Whoever was outside was not making a particularly good attempt at being quiet, since they seemed to be muttering among themselves. That made it bad news on several counts.
One, there seemed to be at least two or three of them. Two, they were probably not petty thieves. There had been burglaries in the neighborhood before, almost all of them inside jobs involving the household help, and if the thieves had scoped out the neighborhood, there was little reason to strike a place occupied by a single college student, who would have little by way of valuables at home. And finally, if this did involve Mr Muni and his friends, then he was in deep shit, especially after the violence he had witnessed at the Old Fort.
Aaditya's mind raced as the men outside tried to pick the lock.
Think, think.
He rushed to his bedroom and slid the cylinder behind his back, tucking it into his shorts. Hardly a stroke of genius, but why make it easier for them, if in fact this had anything to do with the cylinder. He had nothing at home that could have served as a weapon except a fruit knife that would likely elicit more laughs than fear from the intruders, so he decided that in this case, discretion was the better part of valor.
Aaditya's apartment was on the ninth floor, and just one floor below the roof. He climbed out his bedroom window. Just as he heard his front door open, he began climbing up a pipe to reach the roof. He really did not have much by way of a plan, but getting as far away as possible from the intruders making their way into his apartment seemed like as good an idea as any. A few minutes later, he was on the roof, trying to hide in a corner near the large water tank. He had no idea what was going on in his apartment, and he really didn't care much for the cylinder, but he realized that in the chaos, he had forgotten his good luck charm. His hopes that the intruders would get what they wanted and then be on their way were shattered when a few minutes later, the door to the roof swung open.
Still concealed behind the water tank, he heard heavy footsteps echoing across the roof.
'We know you are here. Make it easier for yourself and come out now.'
Aaditya peered around the corner and realized that his efforts at concealment had been useless. There were three men standing no more than five feet away, and they seemed to know exactly where he was. How the hell had they managed that? The dull roar of something flying overhead told him how.
Realizing he was trapped, he stepped out, keeping his hands up, though he seriously doubted the men saw him as even a bit of a threat. As he walked closer to them, he got a better look. Two seemed to be identical twins of the men he had encountered at the fort, the same size, the same colour, and the same peculiar ridged forehead. But it was the third man who worried him the most. He was considerably smaller than the other two, perhaps equal to Aaditya in height, but was built like a tank. His eyes were covered by dark glasses even at this time of night. The swagger with which he walked, and the way the two larger men seemed to make way for him left no doubt who was in charge. He walked towards Aaditya, smiling, but with little humour in his expression.
'Please come with us to your apartment. I think we have some talking to do.'
Aaditya contemplated resisting, and as if reading his mind, the man took out a curved blade from a scabbard on his shin. It was similar to the blades Aaditya had seen the previous night, no more than six inches long and slightly curved at the end, but with its razor sharp edge glinting even in this faint light, it looked deadly enough. The man moved the shiny blade in a circular motion in front of his face and then suddenly extended his arm straight, stopping it when the blade was pointed straight at Aaditya's face.
'I am told you know how to fight. Believe me, I would love to indulge you and perhaps cut your eyes out and carry them back to feed my dogs.'
Aaditya involuntarily took a step back as the man continued. 'But I have been told to just have a chat and learn a bit more about an item we are interested in. So shall we?'
It was hardly a request as the man grabbed an arm in such a vice-like grip that Aaditya felt as if his entire right hand were on fire.
Five minutes later, he was back in his apartment, sitting on his sofa. The two larger men were standing behind him, ready in case he tried to make any trouble while their leader was sitting on the sofa next to Aaditya. He was leaning back, his legs crossed, as if he had come to catch up with an old friend.
'First, Aaditya Ghosh, please be so kind as to hand over the cylinder.'
Aaditya figured lying would serve little purpose so he reached behind his back and pulled the cylinder out of the elastic waistband of his shorts, handing it over. The man handled the cylinder almost reverentially, passing it between his fingers lightly, bringing it close so he could peer inside, though even now he had not taken off his glasses. He then handed it to one of his men. In the light of his apartment, Aaditya had got a closer look at his tormentors. The two larger men were not only as dark as he had remembered and had the distinctive ridge over their eyes, but parts of both their faces were covered in hair, looking strangely more like bears than men. As one of them took off a glove to handle the cylinder, Aaditya saw his hand was also covered by a thin lining of hair.
What the hell were they?
He had little time to observe further as the man seated next to him prodded his prosthetic leg with his knife.
'So now they have an army of cripples to fight us.'
As the two men behind him sniggered, Aaditya felt anger rising within him.
'You have your cylinder, now leave me alone.'
The man picked at his fingernails with his blade.
'It's not as simple as that. You were there when so many of my daityas were crippled or killed. I had to burn them myself lest they be discovered. What a waste, but I don't tolerate failure.'
Aaditya now remembered that the man with matted hair had also called the attackers by that term.
'So first of all, will you tell me how you are involved in this? Are you one of them inserted to live with men? Or are you a paid agent?'
Aaditya had no idea what the man was referring to, and when he said so, the reaction was as instantaneous as it was brutal. The left hand shot out at blinding speed, landing a stinging blow on Aaditya's face. His lip cut and bleeding, Aaditya recoiled in pain and surprise.
'We know who you spent your morning with. How do you know my old friend Narada?'
Narada??
A second's delay in answering and the man lashed out again, but this time Aaditya was ready. He blocked the man's blow and struck back, landing a solid punch to the temple. The man rocked back, and as his two men grabbed Aaditya's shoulders from behind, he bellowed in rage.
'I will cut your heart out and eat it myself! But first, I will extract every drop of information you possess, even if I have to bleed it out of you.'
Till that point, Aaditya had harboured hopes that they would take the cylinder and be gone, and he had cooperated with them. However, he had no intention of being slaughtered like a lamb. He rocked his head back, connecting with one of the men's jaws. As the man loosened his grip in surprise and pain, Aaditya slammed his fist into the other man's eyes. Free now, he vaulted over the sofa, and ignoring the pain in his right leg from the impact, ran into his bedroom, locking the door behind him. He picked up his mobile, wallet and good luck patch from his bedside and climbed up to the roof, hoping to escape down the fire ladder on the other side of the building. He never had the time. The three men were barely a few feet behind him, having battered down his bedroom door in seconds.
Aaditya saw them climb on to the roof, and suddenly remembered what Mr Muni had said. He looked in his wallet for the visiting card and dialed the number. Before he could say anything, the larger of the three slammed into him, sending him down to the ground. Their leader was now upon Aaditya, landing a series of hammering blows. Aaditya blocked one or two, but the man was too strong and too fast, and Aaditya fell back. He saw the man bring his blade up. Aaditya landed one last desperate blow, a kick that was perhaps more painful for him than for the man. He stepped back, pivoted on his left leg, and landed a roundhouse kick with his right leg. The man swerved out of the way, but the kick slapped him across the face, sending his dark glasses flying. The two other men had now pinioned Aaditya's arms and held him against the roof's railing. The smaller man stood over Aaditya, blade in hand, and without his glasses on, Aaditya got his first look at the man's eyes.
They were not the eyes of a human being, but slanted, green and scaly, the eyes of a serpent.
That was when Aaditya began screaming.
***
The blade was but inches from Aaditya's right eye when an explosion of light shattered the darkness. His attackers turned to see what was happening. A streak of light streamed through one of the big men holding him, turning him instantly into a pile of ash. The two remaining men rolled away from beams of light aimed at them, producing small handheld devices no larger than a mobile phone through which they fired back with streaks of light. Aaditya took advantage of the chaos to hide behind the water tank, as he watched the bizarre battle unfold on the rooftop.
The white aircraft with the curved nose that he had seen the previous night was back, hovering a few feet above the roof, and beams of light were streaking out of its fuselage, targeting the two men on the roof. Then realizing that this strategy was not working, the craft came lower till it was just a couple of feet above the rooftop, and two figures leapt out.
Aaditya had seen both of them before. One was the man with the matted hair, still dressed in tiger-striped tights, who leapt through the air, stabbing the remaining large man through the neck with his trident. The other was the woman Aaditya had seen earlier. She was still dressed in white, with a long red mark running down her forehead. She engaged the man with the snake eyes.
Aaditya watched in fascination as they traded blow for blow, the snake-eyed man armed with the curved blade that had been about to pluck out one of Aaditya's eyes. They seemed to be blocking each other's blows till the man got an opening and lashed out with his right foot, sending the woman staggering back. She recovered in a split second when the man with the matted hair came to her rescue. He had already reduced his opponent to a pile of smoking ashes. Now he leapt through the air, his agility belying his height and bulk, and landed a crushing kick on the face of the snake-eyed man. His sunglasses destroyed, and his snake eyes revealed for everyone to see, the man reeled back, and slashed with his blade. The man with the matted hair avoided the blow by inches and landed another kick that sent Snake Eyes flying, landing on his back.
It was now two against one, but the man with the snake eyes seemed to be holding his own, staying close so that his opponents could not use their handheld weapon, and countering them blow for blow. The man with the matted hair was however slowly but surely gaining an edge and Aaditya guessed that it was but a matter of time before he struck a killing blow.
That was of course till further pandemonium was created by the arrival of two saucer-shaped flying vehicles. Six dark giants rappelled out of them, and the tables were neatly turned, with the man in the matted hair and the woman with him now going on the defensive. Seven against two turned out to be odds too heavy for them, and even though one of the attackers was soon lying lifeless on the ground, the others pressed home.
If Aaditya had thought he had seen it all, one more flying vehicle appeared. This one was blue and seemed to be painted to resemble a peacock. It landed on the roof feet away from Aaditya, and a solitary figure leapt out and joined the melee. The newcomer was smaller than the other men, but moved with the grace and agility of a gymnast. He cartwheeled and rolled through the five men in black, striking so fast with a concealed blade that Aaditya could not even see a single blow land. When he had come up in a half crouch on the far side of the roof, Aaditya saw that three men were down. Now it was four versus three, and as another dark giant fell, Aaditya could see the man with the snake eyes begin to falter. His two remaining men were still engaged in a life or death struggle, but he had begun to move back slowly but surely.
As the battle raged, Aaditya took his first close look at the blue craft that was near him. It had a tapered nose and a raised transparent canopy like many fighter jets but nothing else about it resembled any aircraft Aaditya had ever seen. There was no tail fin, no signs of any air intakes or jet engines. The fuselage was flat and thin as if it didn't have to be encumbered with things like fuel or engines, and as far as Aaditya could see, the aircraft was shaped like a triangle.
Aaditya looked behind him to see that one of the saucer-shaped craft had now come within feet of the roof, and Snake Eyes had begun to move towards it. Unfortunately that brought Aaditya straight in his path. He stopped, glaring at Aaditya, murder glowing in his reptilian eyes, his blade at the ready. This is the end, Aaditya thought, when the man with the matted hair called out, 'Maya, you coward! Don't leave your daityas to die while you escape to your hellhole. At least die an honourable death.'
Maya swerved out of the way as the trident that had been hurled his way missed him by mere inches. Aaditya saw that the cylinder that had been the cause of all this mayhem had fallen out of Maya's grasp and the woman had picked it up. The two remaining giants, who had been referred to as daityas, were still trying to hold back their opponents in order to give their leader a chance to escape. Maya now resumed his retreat, running towards the waiting saucer, and Aaditya. His blade was out, his arm extended, and Aaditya knew it would be seconds before he was cut down.
In panic, he looked around him and saw the blue flying vehicle standing very close. He ran towards it, and using a small step-ladder embedded on the side, climbed aboard. He was of course curious about what this craft was, but for now, he just wanted to get out of Maya's way. There were two seats arranged side by side, and a small empty space behind them. He crawled into the space, hoping to climb out as soon as Maya was gone.
He heard the faint buzz of the saucers flying away and raised his head, ready to make a getaway before anyone saw him.
Someone climbed into the cockpit.
Shit!
Aaditya pressed himself against the cold wall behind him, wishing he could make himself invisible. But nobody was looking for him. It was much, much worse. Within seconds, the pilot powered up the craft, and it took off vertically, then flew off at breakneck speed, flattening Aaditya against the wall.
The craft flew on to its destination, taking Aaditya with it.