Drabbles: 30. Episode XXXI- Return of the Jallad (Pg 95) [Note Pg 98] - Page 15

Originally posted by: roxon

Love it all

Originally posted by: shreya_rc

They also serve who only stand and wait." Milton (On his Blindness)summarizes the whole whole drabble, na?

Amandeep Chawla came from a family of army men. His grandfather had been a part of the 15^th Punjab Regiment's tremendous success at Burma. His father had been part of the Rashtriya Rifles stationed in the North Kashmir Valley, and had lost his life there.

So it hadn't surprised his mother when he'd first signed up for the BSD.

Aman had always been an exceptionally bright, but quiet child. And it was those very qualities that made him such a valuable second lieutenant. He was astute and observant-- so he rarely erred while investigating and following orders.

And it was the same cool head that had helped him evade capture when their mission had gone so terribly wrong. Rudra-- desperate to wrap this matter up once and for all-- had been banking heavily on surprising their opponents. Unfortunately, Tejawat's men had been lying in wait, and had formed a perimeter around them very quickly.

Had it not been for his intuition that had warned him that something was amiss; Aman would not have strayed from his team and climbed a large tree to scan the area again.

The night was still a blur. All he remembered was tremendous gunfire and Rudra being overpowered by four men, before being knocked out. The rest of their men had been killed. It had taken less than an hour.

Long after, Aman had sat stiff and silent in that tree-- shock, grief, and anger coursing through him. At dawn, he had made his way back to the base and reported the matter to Brigadier Singh.

The motive for Rudra's capture soon became evident. Tejawat's men were hoping to secure his release in exchange for Rudra's. It was a crude and desperate attempt that was bound to fail, given that the BSD did not negotiate with terrorists. But Aman had recognized the opportunity it presented to not only buy time for Rudra, but also to try and figure out where the moles in the BSD network were. He had convinced Brigadier Singh to stall and pretend to cooperate, while he came up with a counter-operative.

Today, before leading the second operation to capture the renegades, he had made a silent promise to himself. If Rudra was still alive, he would do whatever was in his power to get him out of there. He knew he was risking court martial by changing the logistics of the operation at the last minute and without express permission from his seniors-- but he was prepared to face the consequences.

~~~~~~~

Aman had been combing through each hideout and storage room with increasing despair. He smashed through the old padlock on the door of yet another one with the butt of his rifle. Flashing a light inside the grimy interior, he couldn't help the relieved grin that broke out on his face when a gruff and familiar voice barked out at him.

"Took you long enough, Aman. Now get that damn light out of my eyes."

The best apology against false accusers is silence and sufferance, and honest deeds set against dishonest word-