C.R.E.W.
Chapter-3
The Execution of Vindicta
I had been weirdly staring at him since I noticed that Arabian clothes. It was not as if Farhan was dressed up like some Sheikh of Dubai. No! He was in an American suit just like us. But the style of the buttons and folding of sleeves with a weird bow attached to his neck was unquestionably awkward. Then, I just left this topic because I don’t know much about the Muslim religion; maybe it was because of some occasion of something. Moreover, if he was the betrayer that I and Aniruddh are suspecting, then there stands no chance that he’ll make this type of foolishness. And I am a real jerk, Farhan has been with us for ages; there stands no chance that he would be the betrayer. It’s someone maybe who left this mission because of our inactivity on Operation Vindicta.
Still, I was curious (more of a jerk) and asked him, “Farhan, your clothes seem eccentric… Where'd you buy them from?”
“Actually”, Farhan said with no stuttering that I would suspect him for, “It’s my brother’s birthday. He lives in south-west Asia. He gifted me this.”
“That’s something I know. His brother’s living there. No suspicion, then”, I thought and then exclaimed, “Very very happy returns of the day to him.”
Vikram was still struggling for his phone. He had the clue that it’s not going to be repaired before a week. Aniruddh would be busy and Amaira will never care about this. This week will be a living hell for Vikram. Thinking about this, I had mindless amusements running through my veins but I knew that bringing them out would work out like pepper for Vikram.
For an hour or two, we went on talking as usual. Vikram was also listening to us this time. The clock was ticking faster and our final plan was ready by night. Manoj used money and political power to make sure that we were not interrupted at the airport. We had two choices. One to fly with a passenger aircraft already armed with weapons and identical to the one which should've flown at that time. That aircraft is kept at the base of CREW but to transport it to the International Airport without any foreign soul noticing it was as impossible as going to Satan’s dark abyss and coming out of it alive. Now our chance was to book each and every seat of the original aeroplane which we already have done in advance. It will be present at the airport like an ordinary plane following its routes of arrival and departure. We just needed to load ammunition in that plane to make our plan a success. It wouldn’t be a piece of cake. Passing through the front door is precarious. We decided to tell this plan of ours to the company which was responsible for that plane. Fortunately, that was owned by the Indian Government and by the Prime Minister’s (Adarsh Sethi) orders, they were liable to do this. They would make us escape the guards and load our ammunition into the plane. This was our second plan which had fewer flaws than the first one. Then, as intelligent as our departure would have been, that much foolishness would have been our arrival at Abu Dhabi International Airport. There was no way we could get past the guards there.
Our last plan was a total risk. A risk or should I say a gamble which we had planned to carry out. You could not have found a worse plan than this but this was all we have got. This was totally under Farhan’s control. He would be the leader of the battalion which would go on the expedition. Under his leadership, we will secretly, in many divided groups, enter the black market for our supply of ammunition. That would probably lead us to the Global Terrorist Organization, too. Why? Just because Mathew Oliveria told us that the GTO organises all its work through the black markets of Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Of course, if they can run their terrorist organization and pretend it to be a business, then we surely stand a chance to perforate into their internal matters to extract some clue out of it. Our battalion of 80 soldiers would be randomly divided which will ensure our safety. No one would be able to connect the dots and suspect our planned attack. Farhan is capable of handling such grave situations. Once we find the leader of that group or anyhow if we can reach him, that would be a flawless attempt towards the first step of Vindicta. We all are acquainted with the fact that we will have to gain the trust of that organization to infiltrate. Only Farhan would know how to do that and I am sure that he would exactly do it like Mathew.
We went home and as every day passed, our heartbeats were increasing, the clock was now ticking slower than usual and the tensest week was about to begin. The saboteur was still not found and we didn’t afford the time that we would waste to prove the most unreasonable probability that the betrayer knew our plan.
Sunday had come and the plane had to depart the very next morning. In the end moments, we cancelled most of the tickets and decided to send only a fraction of the soldiers. Then weekly, soldiers will be sent at very random intervals to make the plan more efficient.
Farhan and three others had to leave the next day and I can’t even imagine the loads of pressure we had on our shoulders. The time was feigning our nervousness and it felt as if everything had turned into ice. Very rigid, very slow but impactful. The same night I and Aniruddh were talking. Mostly all the flaws were covered and we thought that it would be good to have some distraction. Aniruddh’s over forty now, still, I can still find the frisky nature in him.
“It’s kind of a cliche now!”, I gasped, “I am too tired of this life now. After Ajay’s death, I thought we found a mission to live but it’s been ten years since then. Our struggle to get into CREW, our plan being accepted by the Defence Ministry and the President; all of these were too difficult to carry out. We have travelled all the way through to experience tomorrow’s dawn. Our all ups and downs have been dedicated to our retaliation. The feelings today I have in myself are arbitrary!”
“That’s kind of obvious. You remember when we were ready with our plan and we presented it to Adarsh Sethi, the PM, he instantly took this in order. He was ready to make fake passports for the people going to Abu Dhabi with a suitable alias. He surely co-operated with us. With the Hindustan Sanrakshan Party's (HSP) loss in the Lok Sabha 2014, our works have become easier. It’s December now and we have done a lot. Indian Leader Party (ILP) is surely supporting us all through this and why won’t they? After all, if we win, they will have a vote bank ready for the next elections and in 2019, it will be as twice as 2014. No need for a coalition, now!”
“Yeah! Well, I, today, remember the day when you went on an educational tour twelve years ago. That was such a month for me. I, still, remember that after coming from that tour, you had earned so much prestige that denying your proposal in C.R.E.W would have been idiocy. I don’t know why it suddenly struck my mind. Maybe, all the things that led us to this moment are just refurbishing themselves.”
Aniruddh giggled, “Yeah, see how life is so pre-planned. The prestige that I gained in that tour is now becoming my reason to avenge Ajay. It’s our last shot. All the soldiers’ lives are at stake. I wish we could go there physically but we’ll be in the control room managing everything!”
“That’s not in our hand. We need experienced people at the control centre too. Moreover, C.R.E.W. won’t pay us a penny now. Already our salaries were less because not much money is invested in these secret organisations. Now when the plan’s put to play, more money will be spent and our salaries will be randomly deducted at different intervals.”
“Damn if I care.”, Aniruddh slapped his hand on the table, “I am happy and blessed with the money I have in my hands. That would be enough for our survival. How can you even think of that at a time like this?”
I felt ashamed of this selfishness. Not even after a second, I felt patriotism flowing through my veins and took Aniruddh’s hand in my flaccid one’s; then exclaimed, “I won’t evade any responsibility in this matter, now!”
“That’s goofy”. And we both laughed thereafter.
We went to sleep and definitely, it was a formality. None of us could get a night of sound sleep and the same case was with Farhan, Manoj and every soldier who knew about this was going through the same thing. The night passed and the dawn set in. It was about nine in the morning when we left for the base of CREW (Located in Delhi).
[Breaking the fourth wall- I won’t actually tell you the location. Of course, it’s a secret]
It didn’t take much time and we were almost ready to accomplish what we have been waiting for so many years. We opened the gate and I think I was recording every minor step that we took. It happens. Chaos brings tension and this type of chaos brings you to the verge of self-questioning. That is what I was doing. I was questioning each and every step of mine which, surely, is eccentric.
Everyone was busy with their work. One team was busy decoding Mathew’s upcoming message which he had already sent in a coded form through transmitters. A team was busy capturing the arrivals and departures of the plane and like this, everything was completely in order. Through our new plan, we needn’t care about anything to pass the guards. All we needed was a safe departure and a safe landing.
I can elaborate the office in the sense that it was not some kind of highly qualified made building for secret agents. After all, everyone knows about the existence of CREW. We cannot afford to make it more susceptible or elegant. It has wooden textures with a small stage in between for announcements and the other area is covered by computers and its employees. It has one floor and that too, in the basement of a building with an area of about an auditorium (a small one)!
Aniruddh reached up to the small stage, took the mic and became the cynosure of all eyes, “In a couple of minutes, our first team will leave under the leadership of Farhan Qureshi. We have worked day and night with Mathew Oliveria and his works, too, have brought this triumph. The screams that were heard ten years ago will repay the sacrifices that have brought us to this moment. Not only the sacrifices of people but also we sacrificed our own private lives, our comforts and our quality-time. Let’s hear those screams again, again and again, to encourage ourselves to make the antagonists scream in agony, pain and a desire to die!!!”, Aniruddh was at the top of his voice by now. He rested his voice for a minute and then started again, “Once Farhan lands successfully, the control department would become the most significant aspect in this mission. Decoding his messages and tracking him would be our mission. Let’s Do This! Hail C.R.E.W.! Hail INDIA!”
Not a minute later, Farhan left for the airport and we had no final vocal talking. We just winked at each other and we could understand that he, too, was excited to carry this mission out. Deep down, we all knew what our real emotions were.
We were continuously tracking Farhan from the control centre. Two people from the airport control centre were in direct contact with us under the Prime Minister’s order to keep track of the aeroplane.
The plane took off. It gave no reasons to worry about. All we could do now was to wait. It took many hours. We were all walking around in anguish and continuous fear. Abruptly, we could hear cries of despair from the radio that was connected to the control centre of the airport. They cried aloud, “We lost control of the plane. Not visible on radars!!”
Aniruddh gave me instant orders to switch on a news channel. The news was normal, no new things, “Fake Police Cases observed in Mumbai in October have suddenly disappeared and have left the police investigation shocked.”
Then suddenly we could see a bright flashlight occurring as a transition and a new piece of news started to air, “Not many moments ago, a plane that left from New Delhi to Abu Dhabi was caught in a blast and crashed in a public area in Sukkur located in Pakistan. The fear-mongering has already started and no assumptions can be made about the number of deaths.”
Not even a second later, Aniruddh received a message from Farhan, “I am sorry!”
Aniruddh screeched and wailed out loud, “What the heck is going on?”
We didn’t even have time to react to all this. That plane had already crashed and Aniruddh received that message now!
Wait a minute, Farhan’s Arabian dress…. That wasn’t a fluke at all!
Aniruddh calmed himself and he had mastered this ability, “The message was sent 10 minutes ago. It means Farhan knew that a blast was going to take place. He didn’t keep his phone at the aeroplane mode and when the plane was continuously descending after the blast, the phone grabbed signals and I received it now. Farhan’s seat was in the middle of the plane. The only probability that can give all of this an explanation is that the blast occurred on either of the sides. It would be interesting to note if the crew members were left alive.”
“So do you mean?”, I said queerly, “GTO has infiltrated!”
“Yes, no other thing gives me an explanation. It’s an open challenge. But why the hell did it have to take so many lives? What great cause can defend you, Farhan?”
“It is impossible to get past the guards to install the bomb in the plane. There are no chances of hijacking!”
“That gives us another probability, then! The date of the mission and the date of the blast were matched. I can only think of GTO and not any other organization because now I can confirm that we had or we still have an impostor. Because it can’t be such a mere coincidence of Farhan’s message.”
“How did they dig out so much? They reached the base of our institutions”
“This is only possible when some political influence was there. And then, the organisation targeted other members who would do anything for some rewards or maybe those who would sacrifice anything to save something’
“Does that mean CREW may have many impostors that the GTO might have reached?”, I asked reluctantly.
“Yes, for sure!”
“Then, it also gives us the deduction that the Global Terrorist Organisation is mostly working online.”
“How can you deduce that?”, Aniruddh was confused.
“They reach out to those people who would sell themselves for mere rewards or something. That is only possible when they establish connections online.”
“That is just a probability. No confirmation. But if we can confirm this, then we just have to destroy the source of information, then. Otherwise, it maybe possible that we would be pointing guns at each other very soon because of the betrayals!"
“Maybe? How can it be ‘maybe’? You already know that the worl———“
“That the world will be against us. If any remains of Farhan’s phone are left and they see this message, we will be pointed out directly. Even when the bodies will be collected, Farhan’s alias will not match with his real name. This GTO!”
“Leaving aside all the consequences, why do you think it was done?”
“Just to upheave the Indian-Pakistan issue. That’s what the GTO has been doing since then.”
I didn’t say anything. I don’t even know how we were discussing all this in our confusions that were full of our deep sense of dismay. This could have been the worst time of all. On the other side of the heart, I could feel sorry for those who died because of Farhan’s betrayal. He knew in advance what was going to happen. Why then? Aniruddh was totally destroyed and I could do nothing at a time like this when I, too, had no way to continue with.
Aniruddh started again, “This antagonist may have any dream but what I can deduce is that he has a very strong complex to be a god and a very cliched man to be the villain of our lives. When one failure leads to another, some people fall down whereas some find a new mission to live for! And I am one of those who will find a new mission for our lives. Hell if I care about the consequences!”
Amazing as always!!
ReplyDeleteThanks😀
Delete⚡️This World is getting slowly - slowly too big !! ⚡️
ReplyDeleteAm I right !??
Yeah, you are absolutely right! Thanks and stay tuned
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