A Small Story... For which I won the first prize @ ZGC

The man looked at her with his grey pitiless eyes. Neha could feel her approaching death in them. The man took a knife from inside his coat and Neha saw her own petrified face in it. He waved the knife at her and knew no more. Her last comforting thought was that he would never get what he came for.

*

Kapil woke up with a start. His bedside telephone was ringing loud, breaking the silence of the early morning. He glanced at the clock. The glowing green letters showed that it was five o’clock in the morning. Rubbing his eyes, and inwardly cursing the caller, he picked up the receiver. A mechanical female voice said, “Good morning Mr. Kapil. Report to the Director immediately at his office. Your vehicle is waiting for you at your porch. Thank you.” The phone hung up. Kapil placed it back onto the receiver and stared at the darkness. The director wants to see me? Now? What the hell is going on? When have the director ever called anyone so early? This was really quite abnormal for the Director, especially someone like Dr. Sekhar. When has he ever arranged a meeting with anyone at all? Kapil wondered, hurriedly getting off his bed for a quick bath and coffee.

            By the time Kapil came back after his bath and got himself a cup of coffee, it was 5:20 am. He quickly locked his door and hurried to the porch and found himself face-to-face with a small helicopter. The pilot motioned him inside and Kapil got in, feeling rather too sleepy and understanding to argue. So, I’m on a secret mission, thought Kapil, cursing himself for not undoing the telephone line before he slept the previous night. He knew it was no use. Dr Sekhar would come flying down through him window, but at least, he’d have got to sleep a bit longer.

            At about 6:00 am, the helicopter was about to drop to the surface, Kapil could see a pink tinge on the sky towards the east and sensed that it was nearly day-break. After a while, the copter landed on the helipad of the building, and took flight the moment Kapil headed towards the door. Before he had even reached it, the door opened and a man of about 50 motioned him and led him through a spiral staircase near the door. Kapil looked at him, gave him a codeword and the man returned another. Now, Kapil was certain that this was indeed the director. He led Kapil to a conference room with dim red light and locked the door behind him.

            “Mr. Kapil”, the director said, in his raspy voice, “this is very important. As you are aware, Ms Neha Menon has made a very important discovery with highly dangerous implications. We have offered her security but she had refused to take any. Last night, when I tried to contact her, I found that she is not attending her landline. The mobile appears to be switched off. I even checked in her house but she was nowhere to be seen. We’ve also checked for her in all possible places and still couldn’t find her. It is now your duty to find her location and save her if need be. Also make sure that the formula is safe and the other side doesn’t get it, yet. Any questions?”

            “No sir”, replied Kapil, wondering what had happened to Neha.

            “Alright then. Your transport awaits you here.”

            After 10 minutes, Kapil drove himself out of the GSF office; he was lost in his own thoughts. As he drove out of the GSF and crossed a signal – light junction, he hardly noticed a hidden camera capturing his motion.

            About 10 miles away, a phone bell rang. A hand picked it up. The message was short, "PK passed through zone-1.”

*

            It was 10:00 am. Naina sat on her couch, thinking about what to do. She let her thoughts wander again and again to the events of the previous night. Her friend Neha had called her and requested for an urgent meeting. She had appeared to be tensed. They stood for a long time in silence, watching the sun set at the beach. Then, Neha had handed her a cover and said, “Keep this with you. I’ll get it from you tomorrow at eight in the morning. If I don’t come, contact Kapil. He will come to get it from you. Just tell him that this is very important.” Naina had asked why she looked too preoccupied but Neha had blocked her out. “No Naina. Just listen. Don’t even try to argue. Please understand.” A tear glistened in her eye. You’ll soon know that I’m doing all this for a good cause.” Saying so, Neha had left. Late that night about eleven, Naina had received a call from Neha. She sounded fearful, “Naina, don’t lose what I have given you at any cost”, Naina heard a doorbell ring. Neha had hung up and Naina sat bewildered, wondering what was happening. This morning as Neha had not arrived, Naina had tried to call Kapil but was really tensed up after talking to Kapil. “Naina, I’m really sorry. But Neha is missing”, Kapil had said. “You know how it works with GSF. I know it is really important but I can’t honestly come. Could you please meet me at .....” Kapil had mentioned a place and Neha stared, wondering whether to go or not. Now, at 10:15 am, she had decided that she’d better go than wait here. She needed to know the truth. And the sooner she knew, the better.

            Naina drove past the traffic signals and parked outside a shopping mall. She hung inside for 15 minutes and came back to the car. As she got in, she was pleased to see Kapil sitting in the front seat beside the driver’s seat. “Let’s go”, Kapil said. Naina drove to the park. There, sitting on a bench, Naina handed him a cover and Kapil handed her a small hidden camera. Each was horrified to see the mysteries they have uncovered. They argued in whispers.

            “Kapil, we need to put a stop to this.”

            “I’m sorry Naina. There is nothing we can do. As you see, Neha is dead. And they are really powerful.”

            “But this is insane. Don’t you understand what it means? Come on. Let’s go to the GSF office.”

            “Are you mad? What is the surety that they are not really associated with them? They tried to kill me, for heaven’s sake!”

            “But...”

            “Please don’t argue. We’ve lost Neha. If we ever let this out, they are never gonna spare us. Nor our families. Do you really wanna see such horrors Naina?”

            “No. But...”

            “Please. Safety first. Give it to me. We’d better destroy it rather than lying it around.”

            Naina handed him the two envelopes, rather reluctantly. They promised never to mention this to anyone. Naina bade him farewell and went back home. It had been a very tiring day.

*

            A few kilometres away, at the GSF basement, a grey-eyed man passed a note to the director. It said:

“MISSION COMPLETED”

The director gave a cold laugh and switched on the light. A sneering face of Kapil came to view.