Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

Four days later…

Ali was happy, well at least as happy as he could be under the present circumstances with two of his friends apparently missing.

Before graduation his parents and Pooja's parents had spoken to one another and decided that before any engagement would be organised, each of them should first get to know their child's choice of a life partner. At the graduation it had then been decided that after Naina and Huda's engagement, Pooja should head back to Kanpur with Ali to spend a couple of weeks with his family, after which Ali would go to Pooja's house to spend a couple of weeks with her family. In this way, the two families hoped that they could overcome the cultural and religious differences between them.

Ali and Pooja had briefly discussed calling the plan off when Naina had vanished, but when her parents had asked them not to reveal it to anyone they had decided it would be best to continue as normal. The long trip to Kanpur had been a good opportunity for Ali and Pooja to spend some time alone, something that they wouldn't be able to do for the next month.

So far everything was going perfectly. From the time of her arrival, Pooja had made a full effort to impress his family, and it was working. She would spend time with his Ammi, helping her to cook and listening to stories about Ali's childhood. She would sit with his Abu, listening to his stories about his time in the army. She would gossip with Ali's four remaining sisters, discussing hair and makeup, school, college and boys. Even Ali's eldest sister, who was living with her husband, had loved Pooja when she came over to visit. And amazingly, in the time that she had been here, Pooja had hardly spoken in her mobile language at all! Ali was happy, but also nervous about going to Pooja's house in a few days time. He only hoped that her parents and relatives were as impressed by him, as his family had been by her.

Ali had just finished getting dressed for the day when he heard a knock on the door, and his mother's footsteps going towards it. As he closed his cupboard, he heard the sound of the front door being opened and his mother's polite "Aap?"

"Ji, Auntyji," came an unmistakable voice, "Is Ali home?"

Huda had arrived

**

Ali quickly hurried down the stairs, worried about why Huda was here. The last time he'd heard from him was a phonecall to say that Alekh had disappeared. Now four days later, he'd turned up at Ali's house. Ali just hoped that it didn't mean yet another of their friends had vanished.

"Hudabhai, aap?" he asked, reaching the lounge room where Huda was sitting.

Ali's mother looked at him questioningly, she was confused as to why another one of Ali's friends had turned up unannounced.

"Ammi, I'll just talk to Huda." He told her, and nodding she left for the kitchen. The two boys were silent until she had brought some chai for them and then left the room.

"Huda what are you doing here?" Ali finally asked, confused as to why he had turned up."

"Ali, I've got no options left." Huda told him, looking tired. "I tried to go home and just relax, but I can't forget about this mystery. I need to find out what's going on, and I need to find out as soon as possible."

"So how am I supposed to help you?" Ali asked.

"You're not," Huda replied "Pooja is. When I called her house, her parents said she was here. She was Naina's room mate, maybe she knows something that she hasn't told me yet, or that she has forgotten."

"Well maybe, but…"

Just then Pooja walked into the room, dressed in a salwar kameez. "Arre wah, Huda. So now your missed call has arrived here!"

"Wow Punjaben, you're looking nice in these clothes." Huda told her.

"Of course I am," Pooja said giggling, "And all for my Ranjha! After all, I should look like a proper Heer shouldn't I?"

Settling down on the couch beside Ali, she looked at Huda expectantly, wondering why he was here.

"Actually I've got something to tell you both," Huda said quietly, "Something I couldn't say on the phone. Maybe we should go for a walk."

Ali nodded and the three left the house quietly, heading towards a quiet caf up the road. They sat at a table in the quietest corner, and Huda didn't tell them anything else until their drinks had arrived and the waiter had left.

"When I was in Delhi, I went to see Captain Rajveer."

"How is he?" Pooja asked, sounding worried.

"He's not good. Those bas***ds haven't been treating him well."

Both Ali and Pooja's faces reflected their anger at this. They all loved Captain Rajveer a great deal and couldn't bear to hear of him being mistreated.

"So did you find out anything from him?" Ali asked, wanting to change the topic before Pooja became upset.

"No," Huda said, sighing with disappointment. "He told me that when he'd been in jail for two months and on the run for a month before that, how was he supposed to know where Naina was when he hadn't even talked to her in that time."

"But that's not true!" Pooja exclaimed "He…" then suddenly she clapped both her hands over her mouth as if she'd let out something she shouldn't have.

Huda stared at her, his suspicion had been correct, Pooja definitely knew something that she hadn't told them.

"Look Punjaben," he said to her seriously, "I don't know why you've been hiding this, but tell me what it is right now. It could affect more than one life."

"Alright," Pooja said, looking slightly guilty, "I had promised Naina that I wouldn't say anything, but I think the circumstances are such that…" And she began to recount what she knew.

**

That night Pooja had woken to low voices in her room. She didn't know why she didn't call out, but instead she had lay still, opening her eyes to see what was happening. There on Naina's bed sat Captain Rajveer, and they appeared to be discussing something.

"…Don't trust him." Was the first thing that she heard, whispered by Rajveer Sir. "And remember, don't do anything until after your graduation. They shouldn't suspect that you know where it is."

"But Sir," Naina had asked him "What are you going to do now, it's dangerous for you."

"Naina," he had whispered to her, "Don't worry about me. Whatever happens just make sure that you complete this mission. My life isn't important, what we need to accomplish is."

"Sir…" Naina had whispered, distress evident in her voice. "Don't talk like that, nothing will happen to you. Nothing can happen to you."

He had touched her cheek lightly as if to comfort her, and then abruptly taken away his hand. "I'll try to make sure that nothing happens to me, but Naina, no matter what, don't do anything to give yourself away. Remember your mission." And he had turned to go.

Naina had thrown her arms around him, hugging him hard. "Be safe, Sir." She had told him a bit tearfully, "Just stay out of their reach until I manage to…"

He had held her to him, and then he had kissed her forehead. "Good luck, Naina." He had told her, "I trust you." And he had climbed back out the window.

Hearing her friend's tears, Pooja had called out to her in a whisper, "Naina, what…"

Naina had turned, shocked that Pooja was awake and had heard their conversation.

"Pooja, how much did you hear?" she asked with urgency, and Pooja felt compelled to tell the truth."

"From when he said 'Don't trust him'." She replied.

"Pooja," Naina said seriously, "Promise me that you will never tell anyone what you heard tonight. This is very important, Captain Rajveer's life depends upon it."

And Pooja had promised.

The next day Captain Rajveer had been arrested a hundred kilometres away from KMA. Nobody had ever assumed that he might have been there the night before.

**

When Pooja had finished the story, they all sat there in silence trying to put the clues together. If anything, Huda was even more confused than before.

Captain Rajveer had been missing for a month before he was arrested, Huda had never assumed that he had come back to KMA and spoke to Naina. He had talked to her about a mission, about Naina knowing where something was, and about not trusting somebody.

Pooja's recount had raised more questions than it had given answers.

Completely and utterly confounded, Huda had no idea what to do next. He turned to Ali.

"Ali, do you think that I could stay with you for a couple of days until I figure this out?"

Ali sighed. "I'll tell Ammi to put an extra mattress in my room."


**

Meanwhile, in a small town somewhere near Delhi…

Alekh and Naina went over their plan for the next day one more time, making sure that they had everything they needed. They had the clothing, the equipment, the details and times, they had a very dangerous plan.

Going over it mentally, Alekh suddenly turned to Naina, "Bole to… I think we need one more person for this."

"You're right," Naina sighed, "Two people really aren't enough for this plan, three would make more of a difference. But who?"

Alekh thought about it, turning the options over in his mind. "It has to be someone we can trust."

"More than that, it has to be someone they wouldn't expect us to call on." Naina adds, "So that we can be sure nobody will follow them."

Suddenly Alekh's eyes lit up, as he worked out who they should call. Naina knew exactly what it was he was thinking and nodded, smiling.

"Go and call," she told Alekh, "And tell this much of the plan…" And she told him in detail what to tell their new partner.

Alekh nodded once he had understood and went down the road to the nearest PCO. He dialed the number quickly, having learnt it by heart.

"Hello?" he said into the receiver, "Could you go and call Yaduvansh Sahni to the phone for me?"

And then he waited.

**


Hey guys, thanks for the comments. Kash, Naina was this smart in the serial too... next update, the plan will be put into action!