Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

INTUITION

"Laxman ka phone aakhri baar 7:24 par Delhi mein on hua tha. 15 minute ke liye on tha, aur phir band ho gaya. Uske baad on nahi hua", Ustaad ji said.

Karan tapped the pen on the table. "15 minute mein kisi se baat, koi message?"

"Nahi, Sir ji. Kuchh bhi nahi."

He hummed. He took the map, pinning it up. "Phone flight se gaya hai. Mumbai ki."

"Sir ji, aapko kaise pata?" Sanju asked.

"Laxman ne mujhe 2 baje ke baad call kara tha. Agar woh 7:30 baje Delhi pahuncha tha, toh flight toh leni hi padegi. Deolali ke paas major airport Mumbai ka hai. Uske alaawa Nasik ka airport hai. Nasik ke airport par itni raat ko Delhi ki koi flight nahi chalti." He uncapped the pen. "Phone yahan se Mumbai gaya. Earliest, 5 baje pahuncha hoga. Ustaad ji, pata kijiye. 5 baje ke aas paas Mumbai se Delhi kaunsi flight jaa rahi thi. Aur jinhone board kara, unki list aur details nikaaliye."

"Ji, Sir ji", Ustaad ji said.

"Sanju, jahan se Laxman ne mujhe call kara tha, wahan jaa. GPS ke hisaab se bahut door nahi gaya tha before his phone was switched off." She nodded, moving out of the debrief as well. "Faizi, Delhi mein apne network ko activate kar. Police se baat kar. Dekh, yeh jahan uska phone on hua tha, wahan par koi clue mile toh."

Karan stared at the map, his mind swirling with the information he had. The door opened and he glanced away. Ustaad ji came in, holding a file. He held it out. "5:05 par ek flight nikli thi. 7:15 par land hui. Par Laxman jaisa dikhne waala koi nahi hai."

"Sab passengers ki list hai?" He asked. He nodded. "Yeh dekho ki kisne recently ticket khareedi thi."

He flipped through the pages, flipping them before holding out some forms. "Yeh paanch log hain, Sir ji, jinhone take off se sirf 6 ghante pehle ticket khareedi hain."

Karan took the pages, reading through the details. A couple of businesspeople, some employees. Nothing out of the ordinary. But there rarely was ever on the surface. "Details nikaalo. Verify karo sab kuchh. Ek ek cheez check karo inke baare mein."

"Ji, Sir ji."

'Sir ji, academy ki baat hai.'

'Pata nahi kiski aankhein kahan hai, Sir ji.'

'Par un logon se toh achhe hi hain, Sir ji, jo fauji hokar bhi desh ke nahi hain.'

'Kab kaun dhokha de jaaye, pata nahi, yeh toh phir machine hai.'

Karan's grip tightened on the table. 'Kya Laxman ko spy ke baare mein...'

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Academy mein kuchh toh locha hua hai", Bala said. Koel paused in her chewing, before continuing and glancing up at him.

"Kyun? Kya hua?" Suman ji asked.

He glanced around. He shrugged slightly. "Pata nahi. Par sab special agents kaafi tension mein lag rahe hain." He leaned in slightly. "Abhi Karan Sir ji, Faizi Sir ji, Sanju madam aur Ustaad ji ko idhar udhar jaate dekha. Itne serious toh woh chhape se pehle bhi nahi the. Aur woh the, na, humaare attacker, chalte phirte beizzati ki dukaan- Raghav Sir ji- woh bhi badhe serious lag rahe the."

'Kahan ho tum? Tum... tum theek ho, na?'

'Ho na ho, this has something to do with that call', Koel thought. 'Sounded so serious. Aur Faizi bhi itni jaldi mein bhaag gaya tha. Mujhe kuchh achhi feeling nahi aa rahi hai. Kuchh hone waala hai kya?'

"#Investigation karein?" Chitra proposed excitedly.

"Nahi", almost everyone else said together.

"Paagal ho gayi hai kya?" Bala said. "Academy ka andar ka maamla hai. Beech mein padhna sahi nahi."

"K-Koi kuchh n-nahi k-karega", Monami spoke up. "Ch-Chitra, koi m-mazaak n-nahi hai. C-Could be s-serious. Tr-Trainers ke k-kaam ke b-beech nahi aa-aana ch-chahiye."

Chitra pouted a little. "#True", she said.

"Tu, na, padhai mein chala dimaag, hashtag", Koel said. "Waise bhi bahut zyaada lag nahi raha hai. Kharch ho jaayega saara."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

Sanket stared at the location of the phone. There seemed to be something weird. He frowned, opening all the files up again and checking the details in as well. They seemed to be just fine.

The door was pushed open and he glanced up. Karan walked in, and Sanket straightened up, saluting him. "Kuchh mila?" Karan asked.

"Nahi, Sir. Par..."

"Par kya?"

"Kuchh gadhbadh lag rahi hai."

Karan raised an eyebrow. "I want something more than 'kuchh gadhbadh lag rahi hai', Sanket."

"Yeh jo signal hai, it's not quite as strong as it should be", he said. "Almost as if... koi beech mein intercept kar raha hai."

He frowned. "Matlab?"

"I am not sure." He typed in a few things, before staring at the screen. "But... I think yeh location completely accurate nahi hai. Aisa lag raha hai ki kisi ne kisi aur city mein baithkar Delhi mein signal bheja hai, jisne upar satellite ko signal bheja jo signal humaare records mein aaya. It's faded."

"Tumhaare kehne ka matlab hai ki Laxman ka phone kabhi Delhi mein tha hi nahi?"

"Mere kehne ka matlab hai ki jo phone Delhi mein on hua hai, chances hai ki woh phone Laxman ka nahi hai. This means ki humaare paas koi idea nahi hai ki aapse baat karne ke baad, woh kahan gaya hai." He paused. "Sir, yeh koi chhota sa kaam nahi hai. This takes a lot of skills. Aur kaafi saara equipment bhi. And the work's clean. I almost didn't catch it. This is... this is a big job."

"Tum yeh city trace kar sakte ho, jahan par yeh original signal bheja tha?"

Sanket hesitated. He didn't like saying no to Karan. "Sir... try kar sakta hoon but chances bahut kam hain. It's a very clean work. Even signal bhi thoda bahut hi fade hua hai, which means ki shayad beech mein kahin par inhone ek aur jagah signal bheja hoga, which strengthened it before sending it to Delhi."

"Aur... aur jahan par Delhi mein bheja, wahan par bhi toh equipment lagta hoga. We have the exact location in Delhi. Usse kuchh idea mil sakta hai?"

He shrugged. "Bas ek insaan wahan par hona chahiye. It's really not that heavy. Portable hai. Par shayad aap logon ko kuchh mil jaaye. Tech help toh nahi hogi."

Karan nodded, sighing. He patted his back. "Good job, Sanket."

"Thank you, Sir."

Sanket turned back to his computer. Retracing the signal... maybe he could do it.

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Sab theek hai kya?" Koel asked, keeping her head on his shoulder. "Tum... tum kal se thode tensed lag rahe ho. Is it a mission?"

Faizi clutched her hand, lightly rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand. "Not exactly."

"Iska kya matlab hua? 'Not exactly.'" Faizi hesitated. "Confidential hai?"

"Haan."

"Okay", she muttered. "Koi baat nahi." She sighed slightly. "Sab... Sab theek hai, na? I mean... tum, Karan Sir, Sanju ma'am... you guys are safe, right?"

"Koel..."

"Okay. Okay, sorry", she said. "Mujhe..."

"Tumhe darne ki zaroorat nahi hai." He pulled away. He turned slightly to face her, clutching her hands. "Hume pata hai ignorance mein rehne se zyaada tension hoti hai, and academy mein bhi shayad tumhe kuchh baatein sunne ko mili hongi. Hum tumhe kuchh bataa nahi sakte hain. Par itna zaroor assure kar sakte hain ki jitna tum tension le rahi ho, utna khatra nahi hai. Thoda bahut khatra toh hamesha rahega, na? Woh toh kabhi bhi, kaise bhi aa sakta hai."

She nodded. "Yeah." She sighed a little. "It's just... aisa lag raha hai ki kuchh hone waala hai."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Aisa lag raha hai ki kuchh hone waala hai", Karan said quietly into the phone. "Pata nahi kitna badha, kya, just that... that sense of foreboding... ki kuchh toh hai, jo aane waala hai. All these clues, these signs, they... they have to point to somewhere, right?"

Param paused on the other side of the line. "I know that feeling", he said quietly.

"Kya karoon main? What do I do?"

"Kuchh nahi kar sakta tu. Ignore karne ki koshish kar. Jo hona hai, woh toh hokar rahega. You can only wait until you have something to act on."

"Mujhe achha nahi lag raha, Bhaiya. Achhi feeling nahi aa rahi. I think... I think Laxman mar chuka hai. I think hum use nahi, uski laash ko dhoond rahe hain. I think... there's a lot we don't know that we should know. Bahut kuchh ho raha hai and we're... we're not seeing it. We're blind." Karan clutched the table. He was blind. The scene was black.

Param hummed slightly. "Zaroori nahi hai jo tu feel kar raha hai, woh sahi hai. I know bahut kuchh ho raha hoga jo tu mujhe nahi bataa sakta. Par sometimes, dimaag trick ho jaata hai. Hamesha lagta rehta hai ki kuchh aa raha hai, par woh sirf dimaag ki chal hoti hai. Tu tense environment mein hai, shayad isliye bhi yeh feeling aa rahi ho. Stress lene se koi faida nahi hai."

"Yeah. Maybe you're right. Just... thoda edge par hoon main. Maybe it's nothing."

"Do you think... do you think you're in danger, Karan?"

"Pata nahi. I don't know. I don't think so."

"Laxman ne tujhe raat ko phone kyun kara tha? Kuchh bataaya usne?"

He paused a beat. He couldn't trust the phone. "Nahi", he replied. "Kuchh nahi. Bas milne ko kaha tha."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Sab passengers check kar liye, Sir ji", Ustaad ji said. "Unn paanch mein se teen ko kisi meeting mein jaana tha, ek ki behen ka accident ho gaya, aur ek ki maa ka dehaant ho gaya. Baaki files bhi check kari, par sab saaf lag rahe hain."

Karan nodded. "Theek hai", he muttered. He tapped the pen against the table.

'Matlab, koi flight mein tha hi nahi. Phone nahi gaya Delhi, sirf signal gaya.' He stood up. Back to the scene, it was then.

"Usne yahin se kahin tumse baat kari hogi", Faizi said when the two were at the location. "Phone kaatne ke exactly 3 minute 12 second baad, uska phone baad ho gaya."

"Usne kaha, woh dukaan par jaa raha tha", Karan said. He glanced up in the direction. "Time note kar." The two began walking at a fairly mediocre speed.

"Bas", Faizi said.

Karan glanced around. It seemed empty. He glanced back at the commandos who were quietly following them. "Search the area", he ordered.

"Do din ho gaye hain, Karan. Yahan kya hi milega? Sanju ne kara tha search sabke saath. Kuchh nahi mila tha."

"Aur kya option hain humaare paas?" He muttered to him. He glanced around. "Laxman ko kuchh academy ke baare mein pata tha and uski baatein sunkar lag raha tha ki... ki kuchh badha hai." He shook his head slightly. "Hawaa mein se aaye chaahe, par we need something. Ho naa ho, this is about the spy."

"Sir", a commando said, walking up to them. "Kuchh bhi nahi mil raha."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Aap p-pareshaan l-lag r-rahe hain", Monami said softly. Karan glanced up from the coffee mug. "Usually, naa b-bolne w-waala d-department toh m-mera h-hota hai, na?"

He smiled slightly. He shook his head, sighing a little. "Just tired", he assured. She hummed. "Main... main tumse ek baat puchhoon? Agar tumhe nahi jawaab dena, toh it's fine." She nodded. "Tumhe... tumhe nightmares aate hain." Her face fell and she glanced away. "And I know uss din jab tumhe kaanch se chot lagi thi, you had a panic attack because of the nightmares, because... because woh tumhaare dimaag mein ghoom rahe the."

"Aapka... Aa-Aapka q-question?" She said.

"How do you turn it off?" He asked quietly. "I have... I have a lot on my mind."

"Usually, S-Sid m-mujhse b-baat karta hai. Yaa e-even b-better, he h-hums a s-song."

"Kaunsa song?"

"Bas... k-koi bhi. J-Just... J-Just have s-something e-else to f-focus on." She looked up at him. "Is it w-work jo aa-aapko t-tang k-kar raha hai?" He nodded. "C-Confidential?" He nodded again. She nodded back slightly. "F-Faizi S-Sir se b-baat kar lo."

He opened his mouth before sighing. "I... That's... That's not for me", he admitted.

"B-Baat k-karna?"

He nodded. He clicked his tongue in frustration. He took a big gulp of the coffee, his tongue and throat burning with the heat. He winced slightly.

A hum made him look at the girl next to him. She had her eyes closed, humming a soft tune. He stared at her. She was... humming. It was kind of nice. He let his eyes slide shut, quietly listening.

'J-Just... J-Just have s-something e-else to f-focus on.'

A distraction. That was needed.

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"I think we have hit a dead end", Faizi said quietly. Karan stared at the information they had laid out on the board.

"Hume bhi yeh hi lagto hai, Sir ji", Sanju said. "Kuchh naa bacha hogo. Delhi mein phone tha hi nahi, flight mein koi naa tha, jahan se Laxman gayab hua wahan bhi koi naa tha, naa kuchh pehle ka pata chal raho hai. Laxman hawaa mein gayab hogo."

Karan hummed slightly, nodding. "Pull off the team", he said, sighing a little. "Kuchh bhi nahi hai. Faizi, Sanju, networks active rakho apne. We'll pick this up again when we get something." The two said their verbal agreement, nodding.

'Bahut kuchh ho raha hai, and we're... we're not seeing it. We're blind.'

'You can only wait until you have something to act on.'

Karan closed his eyes, leaning his head on his folded hands.

'Sir ji, academy ki baat hai.'

'Pata nahi kiski aankhein kahan hai, Sir ji.'

'Par un logon se toh achhe hi hain, Sir ji, jo fauji hokar bhi desh ke nahi hain.'

'Laxman ke gayab hone ke peechhe kiska haath hai? Is it... Is it the spy? Is he the one jo yeh sab kuchh kar raha hai? Yaa koi doosra bhi hai? Kitne log hain? Kise dhoonda hai?'

He gritted his teeth in frustration. His informer. Laxman was his informer.

'J-Just... J-Just have s-something e-else to f-focus on.'

He stood up, taking a deep breath. He found her on the terrace. He paused at the doorway, watching her for a moment. Her open hair flew slightly from the wind as she sat on the parapet, gazing out at the city. He walked closer.

"Monami..."

She smiled when she saw him. She crossed her legs, gesturing him to sit. "H-Hello."

"I... I need a distraction", he admitted, sitting down. "Kya... Kya tum... please?" She leaned her head back, closing her eyes. She hummed a soft tune. He closed his eyes, listening to her quietly.

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Hum kya soch rahe the..." Faizi started. "Ek break lete hain."

"Diwali aa toh rahi hai", Karan said. "Break hi break hai ek hafte ke liye. Thoda sa time hi toh reh gaya."

He clicked his tongue. "Hum aaj ki baat kar rahe hain", he said. "Saturday hai. Koel ko date par lekar chalte hain. 3-4 din se dhang se baat bhi nahi kar paaye hain hum usse. Woh bhi thoda tension mein thi."

"Tension kis baat ki?"

"Ignorance mein zyaada tension hoti hai", Faizi reminded. "Use kuchh nahi pata isliye probably, dimaag mein kahaaniyan banaa li hongi."

Karan hummed, nodding. "Plan toh kari nahi date tune?"

"Date se zyaada, thoda relax ho jaayenge", he muttered. "Woh bhi, aur hum bhi. Thoda bas... academy ke tense mauhal se door."

A boy walked up to them before he could respond, a brown packed box in his hand. "Karan Sir, aapke liye parcel aaya hai."

Karan frowned slightly. "Parcel?"

"Explosives ke liye check kar liya hai. It's all clear", he said. He held it out to him. Karan took it.

Faizi glanced it over, frowning. He shrugged. "Explosives nahi hain." He grabbed a glass of water. "Kisi dost ne kuchh bhej diya hoga. Dekho toh sahi."

He grabbed the knife, cutting the tape off. A strong scent of chemical hit him and he coughed a little, his eyes watering slightly. What the hell smelled so strong?

"Kya hai yeh?" Faizi said, coughing and pulling the lid of the box back better. The glass slipped from his hand, shattering on the floor of the mess. Karan stared into the box.

It was a human arm.