"Point 894... that's the lake isn't it? Remember we snuck off once from
the academy for a date?" Nandini asked with a smile recollecting old
days. Rajveer glanced at her for a moment before looking away
uncomfortably.
"My friend was feeling guilty about his love for
my little sister once again, but this time thinking about his past
relationships, most of which didn't go well." Naveen's voiceover says.
We
see flashbacks of Rajveer's past relationship with Nandini, the
nervousness, the romance, and later on their differences getting in the
way, the lack of interest, the arguements, etc.
"Having Nandini,
his friend, back in his life was nothing to create a storm in his
emotions, but having Nandini, his ex-girlfriend, was creating a havoc
and confusion between the past feelings for her and his present
feelings for Naina."
"Raj? Hello? Don't tell me you're falling
for me all over again! You used to have that dazed look whenever I was
around... it was so cute!" Nandini said with a grin, while Rajveer
keeps looking at her. He snapped out of it when they heard something
move a few meters away on the ground, or rather underground. They hid
away behind some bushes and watched as two figures came out from under
the ground, argueing softly.
"Chief you kicked my shoulder!"
"Shut up Nautanki! If anyone hears us they'll be kicking a lot more than that!" Rajveer grinned and got up.
"Cadets!
Are you OK?" he asked as quietly as he could. Aalekh and Yudi exchanged
delighted glances and came forward, but stopped when they saw Nandini
come out.
"Nai...? Uh Sir... who is...?" Yudi asked uncertainly, slapping himself mentally for thinking it was Naina.
"This is Captain Nandini, my old batch-mate and good friend." Rajveer introduced.
"I'm
not old... I'm younger than you! And you forgot to mention
ex-girlfriend." she joked, not noticing Aalekh and Yudi's shocked
looks. Rajveer did though, and changed the topic.
"How did you
guys get out from - underground?!" They explained everything after
taking shelter under a tree behind which they could easily hide if
anyone came by. All four went back to the hole cautiously, taking a
look at the ammunitions.
"These were banned so many years ago... and made even before that... but how did these get here?" Rajveer murmured to himself.
"Well many underground terrorrists get hold of old weapons in many ways, so this is probably one of those groups."
"No
that's not possible... this model, called the 'Kate' in USA," Nandini
picked up a rifle, "was banned due to classified reasons, and all of
them were destroyed soon after they were made. Only the people with
highest priorities could've gotten their hands on one even... so many
of them proves that this terrorrist group we're dealing with is nothing
small." Seeing their questioning glances, she explained, "I work in the
Department of Ammunitions Defence, which means I had to research every
type of ammunitions made in the past four to five decades..."
"So what do we do about it?" Yudi asked. Suddenly, Aalekh looked at Rajveer.
"Where are the others?" The colour from Rajveer's face drained.
"They're heading towards a place near Point 894!" he replied, horrified. "We have to stop them before-"
"Before
what Sir?" Naina's voice asked. She was standing with Ali and Pooja,
all of them carrying rifles on their backs, no doubt taken from the
terrorrists. They explained that when they were about to leave, the men
started talking amongst themselves about Point 894 being the trap. So
Naina, Ali and Pooja followed Rajveer and Nandini, leaving Huda, Sai
and Kamran in charge of their shelter along with guarding the
terrorrists.
Naina eyed Rajveer and Nandini, but dropped her gaze as she saw Aalekh, Pooja and Yudi looking at her.
"The
safety of my friends and her mentor wasn't the only rason my little
sister followed them." says Naveen's voiceover. "And the thing that
nagged her was that she didn't know what the other reason was."
"So,
how do we find Captain Abhimanyu?" Aalekh asked, trying to get his
friend's mind off the Army Captains as well as being truely concerned
about the man who had stood by him at so many occasions.
"We have to get in there..." said Rajveer. There was a few moments of uneasy silence.
"Why don't we go back to the shelter for now? Maybe we could get something out of those goons..." Ali suggested.
"Yeah...
plus, Qai - I mean Aalekh and Yudi's connections are damaged; they can
get recharged." Pooja added. Rajveer gazed at Naina and nodded as he
picked up the rifles and bombs they'd taken from the hole.
It
was a quiet journey back to the clearing, none of them knowing what
would happen if they broke the silence. Soon, they saw a small light
somewhere nearby and knew that it was their camp. All of them were glad
when they saw Captain Abhimanyu Rai Chauhan standing there talking to
the cadets, since it got their minds off everything else for a while.
"Are
you OK?" Rajveer asked him after he and Nandini hugged. He stood
silently for a moment before giving his best friend a sad smile and
shaking his head. They all looked at him confusedly. Abhimanyu thought
carefully before choosing his words.
"I was... taken... by the
leader of this cult, threatened that all of you are going to die,
threatened that I am going to die, and then... I was released..."
"Who
is the leader?" Rajveer asked urgently. Abhimanyu closed his eyes as he
replied. The stricken faces of the cadets, the grave look on Nandini
and the pained expression of Rajveer was not something he could bear to
see.
"Gehlot." After a long period of silence, he spoke again.
"It's a cult that has been running for decades all over this country,
and anyone who has tried to stop it are now lying in their graves in
this very forest." The cadets shivered unknowingly, realising the
intensity of the situation.
"But an entire army never tried to
stop them, and that's exactly what we are!" Nandini said confidently.
She stretched her hand out, looking at each of them in turn. The spirit
of fighting for and defending their country awakened, and they all
added their hands to Nandini's. They would stop this cult at any cost.
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