Authors: Aditya Mewati
Karthik upended the milk carton, pouring the milk on the flakes. He lifted the bowl and made his way out of the kitchen.
He turned on the TV, to watch the previous night's news, and sat down on the sofa with the bowl of cornflakes.
Behind him, the pale yellow sunlight slanted in through the window. He watched the news and gobbled up his breakfast. Luckily they were showing, the repeat telecast of the previous night's news.
A woman was standing with a mic; Behind her, the hospital was gleaming in the orange light from the street lamps.
"... Sydney's most popular Entrepreneur and Philanthropist, Daniel H. Ford was shot—one hour ago —in Bradman hall's washroom." The reporter was saying, "Half an hour ago he was admitted... Here... in Royal Prince Alfred Hospital." She pointed at the hospital behind her. Many police cars were parked in front of the hospital.
"Do you have any updates on Mr. Ford's health?" The Anchor, who was sitting in the studio, asked.
The reporter nodded. "Yes," she took a deep breath and said, "Doctors said that he is in coma. His condition is very fragile. But the doctor also says, there are certain chances of improvem—"
"I'm sorry for the intrusion ," The Anchor interrupted, "we have a new CCTV footage for the audience."
The video changed. Karthik could easily see Sara smoking cigarette, and an old woman behind her searching something in her purse. They both stood in the deserted corridor, which led to the parking lot.
Karthik noticed Sara's expressions changing. She covered her ears with both hands and crouched on the ground. Karthik saw a new human figure entering the scene with his right arm stretched out, and he was holding a gun in it. There were no sounds in the footage, but Karthik realized he was firing on Sara. The old woman behind her dropped on the floor.
The man who called himself Alex Muffin kept firing as he skewed to his left and soon was out of sight.
Another woman entered the scene. "Lilly," Karthik murmured. Lilly bolted toward Sara, who was sitting on the ground, and was shivering with fear. Lilly moved toward the old woman. She checked her heartbeat and shook her head. She walked back to Sara, bent in front of her, and shook her shoulder. She was asking something to Sara. Sara weakly nodded and pointed at the board with 'Parking lot' engraved on it.
The video changed. The woman standing in front of the hospital came back into view. Karthik spotted himself, walking out of the hospital gate. As soon as reporters saw him, they started huddling around him, and started asking him thousands of questions: Who was that man? Why did he attack Mr. Ford? How did he–
Karthik switched off the TV. He already knew what was coming next, and he had no intentions to see those embarrassing moments again. He did not want to see himself crying on the television. You need to be strong, Karthik. You need to be strong, he told himself. No way! That man was like your father. But, you don't need to worry, he'll be fine. What the heck! He is in damn coma! How could I–
His cell phone rang. He flipped the cell phone open, and said, "Hello."
"Hey, It's me, Lilly."
"Hey, Lill–"
"Where the hell are you? Everyone is waiting for you on the airport."
"I know. Just hang on for another fifteen minutes," Karthik said, solemnly.
"Okay, and don't forget to sign those documents in the police station. We'll need the permission letter to leave the country."
"I know. I'm a lawyer."
"Okay. If you don't come in fifteen minutes... we are leaving without you."
click
.
The white Gulfstream G650 private jet was waiting on the runway. It is among the most popular luxury jets for celebrities and the rich alike, and they've become so popular that nearly forty of the Gulfstream G650 have been sold. Its white body was gleaming under the bright, blue sky.
Karthik dragged the suitcase across the runway. He spotted Piper, who was waving at him from the third porthole. He waved back.
The pilot was an old man in his early sixties. He already knew Karthik, and helped him with his suitcase.
"Thank you, Mr. Walker." Karthik said.
"It's okay, son," Mr. Walker, the pilot replied, "How is Mr. Ford's condition?"
"It's improving," Karthik replied.
The pilot nodded and returned to the cockpit.
Karthik entered in the passenger's compartment. There were four seats, two on the either side of the wall, facing each other. The seat in front of the Piper was empty. Lilly and a man with curly hair were sitting on the left, facing each other. The man was working on a laptop. Lilly’s nose was warped in a white bandage.
Karthik sat in front of Piper. She glared at him. "What?" Karthik asked; Although he knew the reason for her being angry.
"You know," Piper replied, brandishing her watch
"Okay, okay. I'm sorry.” He looked away from her. “You must be Lilly's partner?" Karthik said, offering his hand to the man with curly hair. He was wearing a big, wire-framed glasses. Karthik’s actual intention was to change the topic.
"Yes," The man replied, shaking hands with Karthik. " Jack Morgan. You can call me, Jack," he said and returned his attention back to the laptop.
"He is a kind of hacker nerd," Lilly said, loudly so that jack could hear it.
He shot her a resentful look and dropped his eyes back to the laptop screen. They sat in silence for a few seconds.
Karthik cleared his throat, "The police officer asked me the reason for going to Egypt."
"What did you say?" Lilly asked.
"Work," Karthik shrugged. He looked around and said, "We don't have any air hostess?"
Piper shook her head. "No. Lilly Said we better go without them."
"And also without that Pilot." Lilly chimed in.
"Without the pilot?" Karthik smirked. "Then who did you expected to fly this stuff?"
"Me," Jack said without raising his head. His fingers kept dancing on the keyboard.
The pilot's voice boomed from the speakers. "Okay, folks. We are ready to take off. So get your asses tucked in your seat. Have a nice ride."
Everything around them started vibrating.
"Does he always talk like this?" Lilly asked Karthik.
"No, Not always. Only when he is upset."
The plane soared in the sky. Karthik glanced out the porthole. The airport below him was sliding away, getting tinier, and tinier, and tinier.
The plane turned in the air and now was heading toward the west. Karthik kept staring out the porthole. Lilly read a magazine. Jack’s fingers still kept dancing on the keyboard and Piper... She just kept glancing at them.
The land below then ended and the ocean began. Karthik soon lost his interest in gazing at the monotonous, blue body and shifted his gaze at Lilly. “How is your nose?” He asked her, breaking the silence.
“It’s Okay,” she said shrugging.
“What’s your age, Lilly?” Piper asked her.
Lilly frowned. “Why do you want to know my age?”
“It’s going to be a long trip. I guess we’ll need ways to pass the time. So, Let’s Know about each other. You don’t need to reveal your personal information. So, what’s your age?”
“Thirty-one.”
“Damn! “ Karthik said, “You’re younger than me. I’m thirty-two.”
“What about you?” Lilly asked Piper. But Karthik answered for her. “She is thirty-two, too.”
They again felt silent. It stayed like this for few minutes and Piper said, “Why did you decide to become an agent?”
“You’re asking me?” Lilly asked.
“I guess Karthik is not an agent here,” Piper said mockingly.
“I thought you were asking to Jack,” Lilly said, “Anyway, I became an agent because... I wanted to fight the crime... I wanted to be like my dad.” The memory of her dad’s death came to her and she felt numb. She had been having the same dream from the day her dad was executed. But the dreams had stopped when she turned eighteen. She didn’t see any other bad dreams related to her father’s death for next thirteen years. But they came back to her few weeks ago.
“That’s all?” Piper said.
She nodded solemnly. Piper realized that something was wrong and quickly changed the topic. “Why would someone want to kill Mr. Ford?” she asked.
“I don’t know,” Karthik said, “But thank god he survived the attack.”
Lilly again nodded. She got up and said, “I need to go to the washroom.” She crossed the entryway and was soon out of sight.
Jack turned down the laptop and sighed. “You are done with your work?” Piper asked him.
“No, I’m just taking a little break.”
7
th
August 2015.
They had been flying for eighteen hours, now, and it seemed to Karthik that he had almost lost the track of time─The sky outside had now grown dark. Karthik stared out the porthole at the cloudless sky, and sighed; he didn't know why he did it; it was a sort of involuntary sigh; Mostly meant to show his tiredness─it also seemed to him that they will just keep flying like this─to the infinity. Although he has been part of many business flights with Mr. Ford, and many of those flights have been even longer than this. But this one was different. There was no Mr. Ford with him. And it was neither a business flight. What the hell am I doing on this plane? He thought, Shaking his head as there was no answer to this question.
"Karthik," Piper's voice interrupted his thoughts.
He looked up. Piper was holding a cup of coffee for him. "Thanks," he said in a tired voice, reaching for the warm cup. He touched the rim of the cup to his Lips and tilted the cup. The coffee was great. He loved it.
He turned his head toward Lilly and Jack. And unbelievingly Jack was still working on his laptop; Lilly was just staring out the porthole.
“What are you doing?" Karthik asked Jack.
Jack nodded but said nothing.
"Jack, what are you doing?" Karthik asked. This time, his voice sounded fresh and powerful. He even surprised himself.
"Talking with a dealer," Jack replied.
"What kind of dealer?" Piper asked him.
"Weapons. We may need them for protecting ourselves—"
"Do you really think, we may come across such kind of situation?" Piper asked nervously.
"I don't know. We better prepare..." Jack said vaguely.
We better be prepared? Ya, right, Karthik thought. "Do you know what does that Loony terrorist wants from Piper and those other scientists?"
Jack shook his head. "I don't know. It will be mostly related to the money and power."
Money and power? That actually makes sense. Wait a second, from where the hell those groups get those monies and power? Especially the money?
"Where does S.A.L.L or... S.A.L.F... or whatever its name is... from where the hell does it gets the money for buying weapons?" Karthik demanded. Yes, "Demanded" that's the right word. It sounded more like a demand.
"There are many terrorist groups that are rich and owns many advanced weapons. They have many sources for their funding needs. Like they hijack planes or Cruise ships for ransoms. I even heard that many international companies support them—Forget about the company... Even many countries secretly support them."
"Why? Why do companies and countries support such organizations? When they know that the only things this organization wants is to spread terror."
"It's all about money." Jack shrugged. "And also the political issues. It's like: scratching each other's back."
Lilly, who was looking out the porthole, turned her head away from it, and said, "You should see this."
Karthik looked out the porthole. He could now see, lights, city lights dotted on the dark land. The sight was breathtaking.
And the Pilot’s voice boomed from the speaker. "Get ready folks. We are about the land."
As their plane taxied on the airstrip of the Cairo International airport, far away, in Sydney, the man who called himself Alex Muffin restlessly knocked an office door.
"Come in." A hoarse voice from the other side of the door hissed.
Alex Muffin walked in, scanning the room. Through the window, he could easily see the morning sunlight breaking through the dark sky, smearing it with the shades of red and pink. The curtains on the window fluttered.
He turned his attention to the bald man sitting on the desk. The bald man was Tom King. Tom looked surlier than he had seen him one month ago.
"Did anyone see you coming here?" Tom asked. His voice was filled with aggression.
"No," Alex replied and walked toward the water filter which was mounted on the desk next to a coffee machine. He filled the use-and-throw cup with water and drank it hurriedly as if he would die at any second if he didn't drink the water quickly.
He relaxed for a few minutes, and finally said, "I want my money."
Tom laughed. "Money? You'll get the money after Ford's death."
"But he is almost dead," Alex complained.
"No—"
"Let him have his money." A voice interrupted. Alex looked to his left, and spotted an another door, connecting to a dark room. A dark figure stood in front of the doorway.
Alex squinted. "Who are you?"
The man walked out of the darkness. Alex gaped. "You!" He roared.
"Yes, me," Luke Tesla said.
"Y-You were the one who gave... that speech!" Alex stammered.
"Yes. Did You like it? Of course, you did. Everyone does." He sat on the chair and pulled out six bundles of Australian dollars.
"What are you doing?" Tom demanded.
"I'm giving him the mone—"
"But Ford is not dead!" Tom said.
Luke ignored him. He stared at Alex, and said, "Take them. It's all yours. Two million as we had promised."
"That makes it four million," Alex grunted, "I want eight. Four million per kill. Four for Ford. Four for that shitty, old woman. I took two million advance, which means you have to give me six million."
"What if I refused to give you Six million?" Luke asked hotly.
"Then the whole world will come to know that you were behind Ford's death."
Luke stared at him, and said, "Fine." He pulled out more bundles. "Give him a bag," He said to Tom.
Tom returned with a bag, and reluctantly handed it to Alex. Alex started shoving the money in the bag.
Luke yawned, "Damn," he muttered, and stood up and started for the coffee machine. "Tom, you want coffee?"
Tom sullenly nodded, glaring at Alex.
"What about you?" Luke asked Alex.
"Yes," Alex said happily.
Luke returned with three cups of coffee. He handed one to Tom and another one to Alex. Alex happily drank it.
Tom drank the coffee, shaking his head. He still could not believe that Luke was paying Alex eight million dollars. When he was halfway through his cup, he heard someone choking. He jerked his head toward Alex, and found Alex shaking—white liquid oozing out from his mouth.
Luke chuckled, staring at Alex. "You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours. You rub me in a wrong way... then..." He started laughing.
Alex dropped his head on the desk and died. Tom started back at his own coffee in horror and quickly kept it on the desk.
Luke stood up and said to Tom, "Wash his body, and throw him in the ocean. And make sure that coastguards find his body." He again laughed and started walking out of the office.