Mainak Dhar - Vimana

'Aadi, it's time we parted ways.'

Aaditya got up, startled at the announcement.

'You're going to let me go?'

When Narada just nodded, Aaditya asked with indignation, 'If you could let me go just like that, why did you wait so many days? Do you realize that my friends are probably already in panic because people can't get in touch with me? God, they must be filing police reports by now.'

Narada smiled. 'That's the least of your worries. Your professors have received an email saying you are not well, and anyone who calls your mobile gets a recording that sounds pretty close to your voice saying the same thing.'

Aaditya was too stunned to respond as Narada continued, 'We were genuinely worried our enemies would come for you. Some of us argued that in the larger scheme of things it doesn't matter, but that is what makes us different from them. Every life is sacred. We have sent out the feelers that you are not connected with us in any way. We don't know if they believe us, plus we can't risk you trying another escape. So you earn a flight back.'

With those words, Narada tossed Aaditya's clothes and belongings towards him.

'Get changed. I'll be waiting outside.'

Narada had been nothing but civil, but Aaditya could sense a hint of disdain in his voice. Honestly, he didn't care-whoever these people were, they had no right to keep him confined here. And no matter how unexciting his regular life was, he would pick it any day over being locked up in a cell. He followed Narada outside, but before he entered the hangar, Narada asked him to wait. Aaditya was startled as Narada put a blindfold over his eyes.

'Is this really necessary?'

'Yes it is. You have already seen too much for your own good.'

Feeling like a prisoner even though he was supposedly being released, Aaditya was led through the hangar. He then heard the voice of the young man who was called Kartik.

'Look, my friend, I'll be flying you home. Please don't try anything silly like taking off your blindfold. My father looks much bigger than me, but I can punch just as hard.'

The last line was accompanied by a laugh, but Aaditya had no doubts that the young man would carry through on his threat. He had no intention of being a hero; all he wanted to do now was to get home.

Aaditya was helped into the cockpit, and strapped in with a seat belt. He heard a soft hum as the engine powered on, but before the canopy closed and the craft took off, he felt a soft touch on his left hand, and heard a whisper, 'Goodbye.'

It was Tanya. Aaditya felt a slight pang of regret at how he had betrayed her trust and wished that he had gotten a chance to say sorry. He heard the canopy slide down around him, and then the craft seemed to lift slightly as it glided forward slowly, presumably towards the hangar doors. He felt himself being pushed back against the seat as the craft accelerated and then entered a steep climb. Aaditya had no idea how fast they were going, but within what seemed like a few seconds, the craft stabilized in level flight. He heard Kartik murmur next to him, 'Now we sit back and wait till we're over Delhi. Should be there in twenty-five minutes or less, but we're in no hurry, are we?'

Now that he was free, Aaditya's curiosity was running on overdrive. Where had the base been located? The kind of mountains he had seen were certainly not to be found anywhere in the Indian heartland. The closest one could find them was in the Himalayas. If indeed they had been there, flying to Delhi meant a one-way flight of more than one thousand kilometres at least. All his knowledge of flying and planes was now being exercised as he did some quick calculations.

Travelling that distance in less than twenty minutes meant flying at over twice the speed of sound all the way. That was if indeed they had been at the closest possible location to Delhi. No fighter aircraft could sustain Mach 2 for such a period of time and still have the endurance to cover such a long round trip. He corrected himself-no aircraft that he knew of. If anything, this experience was showing him that there were many things he had not the foggiest idea about.

Kartik must have guessed what he was thinking about.

'They say you're quite an aviation buff. Flying is my life, so I can imagine how curious you must be about the vimana we're in. Too bad I can't tell you too much.'

Aaditya had heard that word before,

'Vimana? Doesn't sound like something the CIA or Americans would call their planes.'

Kartik seemed to mutter under his breath, as if regretting having spoken too much. After that, there was no more conversation.

The monotony of the flight began to get to Aaditya. He felt his body loosen up as the stress of the last few days drained away, and he was soon nodding off. He dreamt he was in a fighter plane under fire, and was being buffeted violently from side to side as it narrowly escaped exploding shells. When his head hit the seat behind him hard, he woke up with a start. It had not been a dream.

The craft was undertaking drastic maneuvers, swerving from one side to the other. There were loud explosions outside. Fighter pilots wore special pressurized suits to protect their bodies from the effects of pulling such maneuvers which often put pressures several times that of normal gravity on the body-G forces as they were called. But even in his shorts and T-shirt, he felt no major impact of G forces. However, he had little time to contemplate how the builders of this craft had managed yet another seemingly magical feat.

'What's going on?'

When there was no response, he shouted louder.

'Dammit, what the hell is going on!'

Kartik answered softly, but the tension was apparent in his voice.

'We're under fire.'

'Who? The freaks that you fought on my roof?'

No response. After a second, Kartik exclaimed, 'Is your mobile on?'

Aaditya remembered that he had turned it on when it had been returned to him.

'Oh God, that's how they are tracking us!'

Aaditya felt Kartik's hand reach into his pocket and take out his phone. Just then the craft shook more violently and he heard Kartik scream. Then there was silence.

'Kartik?'

No response.

Aaditya took off his blindfold. It was utter mayhem around him. Kartik lay slumped in his seat, blood oozing from his head. His seat belt was undone, and Aaditya guessed he had reached over to get the phone when the craft had suffered a near hit, and he had slammed his head against the wall. Aaditya looked frantically around, trying to see what was happening. The raised canopy gave unrestricted visibility, and Aaditya saw three dark shapes in the distance. As they came closer, he thought he recognized them as the saucer shaped craft he had encountered earlier.

With Kartik out cold, they would be a sitting duck. He had no idea how this craft worked, but at least he was no stranger to flying planes. He looked at the cockpit in front of him, searching for the controls. He was flabbergasted. There seemed to be no flight controls-no joystick, no thrust controls, nothing.

How the hell did one fly this beast?

He looked over at Kartik and saw an earpiece tucked into his left ear. He plucked it out and placed it inside his own left ear. Within a couple of seconds, he heard some transmission. He could not be entirely sure but the voice seemed to belong to the ash-covered monster who had knocked him out.

'Are you there? Please acknowledge.'

Aaditya looked behind to see the three saucers circling him. They could have shot him down at leisure but perhaps they wanted to capture the craft he was in. They had him boxed in, one on either side and one behind and slightly above his position.

'Hi…this is Aadi. Kartik is out cold and we are surrounded by enemy craft. What the hell do I do?'