Earth To Centauri_Alien Hunt Page 8

  Jur grunted at this from the corner. When he spoke, his voice was deep and gruff. “Give him payment. We have no time.”

  Biw opened a pack, pulled out a pouch and tossed it to the agent, who caught it expertly in both hands. He opened it and the contents shined with a flash of brilliance he'd never seen before. He pulled out one diamond the size of a large pebble. It had taken some time to make these TrueKifs understand what he wanted in return for the favour he was providing, and it seemed they had brought him exactly what he had asked for. He pulled out a small loupe from his pocket and examined the stone for quality marks about which he had been reading. He was pleased to find it almost flawless. The diamonds would be too hot for Karam to handle; he'd have to find other dealers. Maybe Thailand?

  “Okay, this looks good,” he said as he closed the pouch and put it deep inside his shirt, “Now what are you planning to do?”

  Biw pulled out a folded screen from a pocket and spread it on the floor. It came alive with a map of Earth, and a finger pointed out Mumbai.

  “We thought we should go to the source of the signal you sent to us many years ago, but your flying crafts spoiled our plans. Jur and I have been talking about modifying our original plan and finding a new target. This is where we want to go,” said Biw, emphasizing this by pointing at the city again and expanding the map to enlarge Mumbai and its surroundings.

  “The megacity of Mumbai, huh? You sure about this?” Both aliens nodded emphatically.

  “Well, that isn't going to be easy, but I'm sure I can work something out,” he said with confidence. “If you can tell me what you want to achieve, we can work out the best location.”

  Biw and Jur exchanged a look, and Jur nodded. For Jur the agent was expendable. Once they got to their destination, he would be eliminated. There was no harm in sharing their objective with him.

  “You see that container over there?” Biw pointed to the corner. “That's a kandaarr, the most powerful weapon ever made on KifrWyss. We have been working on it in secret for many years. We have refined it based on a weapon design you brought to HuZryss. It is now ready. What better place to test it than on your enemies lair? We need to get it to the centre of the city. Don't worry - this is just a small prototype for a demonstration. Boom!” he added for dramatic effect. “There will be no more talking, no more space travel to KifrWyss, no more contact! Never again will Earth threaten us!”

  T minus 42 hours - NIA Station

  T ej sat brooding in her office, going over all the data she had in her mind. It was all conjecture at this point, but she'd learned to trust her instincts, which had been honed over years of police service. Something was not quite right. The aliens had apparently shown up on Earth to deliver some message. The message was most likely to be destructive - that much she knew from the transmission sent by RyHiza. Also equally obvious was the fact that they were going to deliver the message in the most potent way possible. This meant that they would select a high profile target - a place or a person. Fortunately, the interception of their ship had caused their plan to go awry and given her a glimmer of a chance to prevent whatever misdeed the aliens were planning.

  She was sure they would not be able to achieve their objective without sufficient data on the target. If she likened these aliens to terrorists, they would need information about the goal. It was unlikely that the aliens had visited Earth earlier and given the light-years of distances involved, they would not have been able to use Earth’s signals to gather information. That only left the data left behind or shared by Antariksh during its mission on Proxima.

  As an intelligence officer, Tej knew, that in war or peace, the most important commodity was neither men nor weapons. It was information - knowledge about your enemy and your target. How many times in history had battles been lost or won because the victor had knowledge of the enemy’s plans? The British broke the enigma code machines of the Germans during World War II and gained an unprecedented advantage. Aldrich Ames also came to her mind, who had worked for the CIA but was, in reality, a Soviet mole. Similarly, drones in the battlefields of the 21st century had provided invaluable information to the army who could then take down targets with impunity. History was replete with such examples.

  However, she doubted that the data handed over by Antariksh to the KifrWyss would have been adequate to mount an incursion. Much more was required than just data when one wanted to infiltrate another world - logistics, transport, detailed maps, communication system and the rest. Only agents on the ground could provide these inputs.

  It was becoming more evident now that someone on Earth was helping the aliens. It had to be someone from the crew of Antariksh. Tej had only one lead to go on - the strange signals caught earlier.

  There was a knock on the door, and her deputy entered. She nodded at him and he sat down in the chair in front of her.

  “Anything new, Abhiram?” she asked.

  Superintendent Abhiram, her assistant shook his head from across the table. He was as puzzled as anyone else. All the electronic monitoring and human intelligence had turned up nothing so far. Zero. Zilch. Shunya.

  “What about the signals we had intercepted earlier?”

  “They've not been repeated so far, Ma’am. We have a dedicated tech keeping a watch. I suspect the aliens, if any, have gone underground, possibly busy in preparations.”

  “Hmm. I agree. And what's worse is that we don't have any idea of the possible target, method or any timelines. This is completely messed up.”

  “Isn't that why the toughest jobs are handed over to us?”

  “Hmph,” she snorted but nodded in acknowledgement. This was the very reason the NIA was the premier investigative agency in India.

  “Let’s recap a bit,” she said standing up and straightening her dress. For the moment she was wearing a smart blue suit in the official colours. Though a bit warm around the neck, it bestowed her with freedom of movement and allowed her to carry the communication gear and weapons unobtrusively. She stood in front of the window looking at the skyline of Mumbai. The ‘city that never sleeps' seemed to call out to her - so vast and yet so vulnerable.

  “We know that an alien ship has landed somewhere nearby this city. The landing point may not have been its original destination since it was shot down by the air force and possibly damaged. If so, the aliens will need time to carry out repairs, and till then, at least the ship is immobile. This probably means that their schedule is, in all likelihood, shot and this just might play into our hands. The landing area has no potential high-value targets. It is not the seat of the government so we might be able to rule out an attack on VIPs or political figures. That leaves only Mumbai as the new possible target. We've also intercepted some strange signals - which probably are their attempts to establish communication with their agent on Earth. And I believe there is a strong possibility that someone on the crew of Antariksh is involved in this.”

  Abhiram looked up at the last statement in surprise. “You can't be serious Ma’am,” he blurted out. “They are our heroes. The first humans to travel into interstellar space.”

  Tej looked at Abhiram blandly. “What does it take to turn a man into a traitor, Abhiram? It is always one of these - radical beliefs, money, sex or blackmail. Every man has a price. While I don't believe the contact time was sufficient to convert anyone politically, I am confident that a society similar to Earth would certainly understand the concepts of greed or blackmail.”

  There was silence in the room for some time while the two of them tried to find loopholes in this logic.

  “So, do we start spying on our own people then?” Abhiram asked. He'd done that before, of course, but this was an exceptional case. If it got out that the NIA was keeping tabs on the crew of Antariksh, there would be the devil to pay.

  “I've already taken care of that. Counter Intelligence is on the job carrying out background checks on everyone in this room. I will have to find a way to extend those checks on the captain and her entire crew. That wo
n't be so easy, and I need to show CI sufficient cause for such an action. And that is where you come in. I'm making you personally responsible for managing Captain Anara. She's going to meet the human female at INHS Asvini. Don't let her out of your sight and report back if you get any leads. Find me the mole, Abhiram. Get me my proof.”

  T minus 42 hours - Panvel station

  I f he'd been frightened with the announcement, he chose not to show his fear. He'd been expecting something like this ever since that ‘Chairman” chap on HuZryss had met him. Now that ‘encounter’ had been spine-chilling. The Chairman was one scary fellow. It had not taken much time for the Chairman to intimidate, seduce and finally turn him.

  “Theek hai,” he instinctively spoke in native Hindi. “Alright. You want to get to Mumbai, and I'll get you there. But what's your objective - your ground zero?” he asked, pointing to the map of the city. “Look here, Mumbai covers over one thousand square kilometers and it’s laid out north to south. Technically, it does not have a distinct centre. It's divided into seven basic sectors. This here to the south is SoBo and to the northeast is Pune. The old industrial belts are in the middle - where we are standing right now. The whole of the island now is more or less a residential area. All business and industrial work areas were relocated many decades ago.” He looked up to see Jur and Biw hanging onto his every word.

  “Ab dekho, if you're looking to send a message to show you're capable of hurting Earth, and you are in India, and not in New York or London, then there are only two places to consider - the Gateway of India, here, or the underwater city, there,” he said. He traced his fingers over the Marine Drive and pointed out a spot just beyond it in the Arabian Sea.

  The two of them saw a circle, roughly five square kilometers, a few hundred yards away from the Marine Drive.

  “That is the underwater city of Shivaji Nagar, just off the coast of Mumbai and home to some two hundred thousand people. Exclusive, affluent and inaccessible.”

  There was another growl from Jur. The voice was deep and sonorous when it spoke. “What is so special about this place?”

  “It's the place everyone dreams to live in one day. You see, when the island city became too congested and was running out of living spaces in the 21st century, it was decided to shift all commercial activities out of the current city. It then became an education and residential hub. But the old charm was getting destroyed. So they decided to build a new city, one that would put to shame the metropolises of old. There was already the memorial of the Shivaji Maharaja, the Maratha King, in the middle of the sea and they decided to take the same idea further. That's how Shivaji Nagar was born. Of course, it has expanded over the years, and many of the old city problems have crept in as well. And yet it still stands as an exclusive domain of the rich and powerful. I should imagine that an attack there would shake the nation to its core.”

  Jur grunted again, and Biw looked at it with disgust. I must have a chat with him one of these days about grunting all the time.

  “If we decide to attack this underwater city, can you get us there now?”

  “No, I can’t,” he answered simply. Then looking at the expressions on their faces, he added hastily, “Only because we're not ready!”

  “Explain,” ordered Jur, menacingly raising its four arms.

  Words tumbled out of his mouth as he tried to reason. “I've brought only the very basic supplies with me. We will need to penetrate a whole city of more than thirty million people to reach our target, and I can assure you the police force here is the best in the world. Not to mention your stunt with the spacecraft – that will have half the army hunting for us as well. Can you imagine the reaction of the locals when they see heavily armed aliens walking in their midst?”

  He waited to see if they believed him and was relieved to see Jur bring down its arms. It and Biw walked aside and whispered to each other.

  Biw finally looked back at him. They had reached some consensus. “Do you have another plan?”

  He nodded. “Maybe. You see, in two days’ time it is the immersion day for the Ganapati festival. Millions of people will be on the street, and the cops will be busy managing the crowd. The main immersion area is right next to ground zero. That'll be our opportunity to enter unnoticed. We need to keep our heads down for a day, and then I'll get you there.” That'll give me time to find out how to dispose of the diamonds as well; he thought to himself.

  “Okay. How much time do you need to prepare?”

  “A few hours at least. Can't do much now. It's too late. I'll think of something.”

  “Okay. Do you also know where they are keeping the humans from HuZryss?” asked Biw, raising the question that had been troubling him for so long.

  He was surprised to hear the question. He saw that Jur had been startled too, but had recovered quickly and continued preparing its rifle.

  “I have heard they're being kept in a hospital somewhere in Mumbai. I can probably find out exactly where if you're interested.”

  “Hmm. Sure. Find out and let me know, okay?” Biw rejoiced inside. If Joe and Lucy were in Mumbai, then the task would be so much easier.

  Jur looked up at this, abandoning the pretense of cleaning. “Why do you want to know, Biw?” it asked in a deep voice full of an unspoken threat.

  “Nothing special, just curious,” Biw replied trying to be nonchalant. “I was wondering if we would have time to visit them and maybe play a little game. It would be good to pay them back for leaving HuZryss.”

  Jur grunted, still glowering at Biw. “It is not our plan. No change. Sit down and forget the HuZryss.”

  Biw shrugged but glanced meaningfully at him - get me the information.

  T minus 40 hours - INHS Asvini

  I t had been false labour pains. Dr. Khan was relieved. It would give them a few more hours or maybe even a day or two of breathing space. Lucy had been coping quite well and ever since he'd allowed Joe to visit her regularly, her mood and confidence had improved substantially. The only low point was that he'd been unable to find her blood relatives, despite having searched every nook and corner of the genetic database available to him and Narada. The less than 3% chance Narada had calculated had just been reduced to zero. He cursed himself inwardly. He'd wanted to give her parentage as a gift to Lucy.

  There was the sound of footsteps in the corridor, and he turned to find Captain Anara walking purposefully towards him. Ryan and Rawat followed close behind her, and they were in turn trailed by two burly Naval MPs and a guy in a blue suit.

  “Captain!” he exclaimed, genuinely surprised and pleased to see her. “I'm so glad to see you!”

  Anara smiled back at him and compounding the surprise, uncharacteristically hugged him. She felt happy on meeting the stoical doctor after the strain of the last few days.

  “How are my favourite doctor and his favourite patient? I must say, Doctor Khan, you've been completely neglecting your duties to the crew. Here we're sweating it out, hunting aliens while you get to spend time with your adopted family.”

  The doctor looked visibly flustered till he saw the crooked smile on Ryan's face and realised the captain was only pulling his leg. Relieved, he stepped forward to shake hands all around, even with the young guy in the blue suit, who he learned was with the NIA. Only the two MPs stayed aloof and silent, observing the proceedings from a distance.

  Dr. Khan guided them all into his temporary office and offered them tea while bringing them up to date with Lucy's condition.

  “I guess you'd like to meet her, am I correct, Captain?” He knew how fond Anara had become of the two humans from HuZryss.

  Anara nodded, and he led them out into the corridor again, then turned left and guided them into the changing room. Only one visitor at a time was allowed inside the quarantine area. Consequently, just he and Anara changed into sterile clothing. The others waited in the changing area - observing them through the double paneled windows.

  As Anara stepped out of the decontamination chambe
r into the positive pressure room, Lucy almost jumped up from her bed. Joe, however, reached first and wrapped the captain in a fierce embrace. She was somehow able to free herself and hug Lucy in turn. The four of them, including the doctor, stood around smiling and tried to talk at the same time. Anara was feeling relieved that she'd managed to get the two of them safely across billions of kilometers of space, back to the planet where they belonged.

  “How's the mother-to-be doing?” Anara asked playfully. She was becoming better at interacting with her people, first the doctor and now Lucy. Ryan would be proud of me, she thought to herself.

  “I am doing good, Captain. The people here are wonderful, and your planet is so beautiful. I just wish I was allowed to visit the city,” she said looking ruefully at the doctor.

  “All in good time, Lucy. Once the child is born, we'll all be waiting to take you around the world. It's your world now too.”

  As they sat around chatting, the doctor looked at his watch and gestured to the captain. Their visiting time was up, and they needed to go. Heartfelt goodbyes later, the two of them exited into the corridor to find Ryan standing alone, except for the two sentries.

  “Where's Rawat?” asked Anara.

  “He mentioned something about checking out the security systems. He should be back soon. How're they doing?”

  “They seem to be in good spirits, and we won't have to wait very long for the baby. Ah, here's Rawat.” They all started walking out. Rawat sidled close and whispered in her ear. She frowned and nodded almost imperceptibly.

  “Come, Ryan, I want to show you a few interesting places around this area,” she said loud enough for the others to hear.

  They exited the hospital through the lobby and walked out under the arched portico. They found the weather outside was gloomy and overcast. This was monsoon season after all. They'd been lucky that the day had been dry so far. They could just see the outline of Oyster Rock in the bay, with its refurbished building that now housed some kind of top-secret monitoring station.