The Mahabharata Secret (5 page)

In a few minutes, the convoy was driving towards the highway again, leaving the wrecked Ford behind.

Vijay and Colin sat helplessly in the SUV. They were prisoners but who were their captors? And why had they been taken captive?

5

244
BC

The Mauryan Empire, Ancient India

Surasen wiped the sweat from his brow. For the past three hours, they had cut a path through the jungle. It was the monsoon season and the humidity was stifling. Flies and mosquitoes buzzed around his ears. Surasen was breathing hard as the path sloped gently upwards.

The forest was still. To Surasen it seemed that the jungle and its inhabitants were holding their breath, waiting to discover what would happen when he reached the end of his journey.

He was aware that the forest had grown increasingly dense in the last few hours.

‘There,’ the jungle-dweller, who was leading them, said suddenly, as he pointed to the fronds and the closely packed trees.

Surasen held up his hand to halt the progress of the soldiers who accompanied him and they crowded around him in a tight knot.

‘Stay here. Wait for me.’

‘My lord.’ The commander of the troops was hesitant. ‘Is it safe to go on by yourself?’

Surasen shook his head firmly. ‘I will be quite safe by myself. But, if I don’t return in one
nadi
you may come after me.’

With these words he stepped forward and moved aside the curtain of leaves and creepers, revealing a hidden gully that sloped gently downwards, disappearing into the thick foliage and undergrowth. He took a deep breath and started down the gully, the thickly clustered creepers closing in behind him, concealing him from the others.

He drew his sword and slowly moved forward, squeezing through the trees and treading on a thick carpet of dead and fallen leaves that covered the floor of the forest. It was darker here than the rest of the forest. Looking up he discerned the reason for the gloom. Through the trees loomed the outline of a rocky outcrop, perhaps a small hill, which cast its shadow over this part of the jungle.

The path continued till it reached the base of the hill and disappeared behind a rock face that stretched for sixty feet around the foot of the hill.

Surasen approached the hill and hesitated; he stood before the crevice between the rock face and the hill. It was just wide enough for a man to squeeze through sideways, and led into a yawning black opening.

Stooping, he peered into the opening but nothing was visible in the inky blackness that stretched before him.

Clutching his sword tight, he stepped into the darkness, using the sword and his free hand to guide his path. As far as he could perceive, he was in a narrow passage, barely wider than the breadth of his shoulders. Slowly, he made his way through the passage, trying to ignore the claustrophobic feeling that was washing over him; and fending off the thought that he was walking through the base of the hill, with tons of rock sitting above him.

After a while, the walls of the passage abruptly vanished and he realised that it had widened. Almost simultaneously, a dim light pierced the darkness around him, as if the rays of the sun had somehow filtered through the layers of rock above and reached these depths.

Surasen could now make out that he was in a tunnel carved through the rock. Whether it had been created by natural forces or the hand of man he couldn’t discern, but men had certainly been at work here, for the walls and floor of the tunnel were smooth and even.

He walked cautiously through the passage, testing each step before moving forward. There was no apprehension of supernatural beings anymore; he worried more about any possible traps that men may have laid to protect this place. Perspiration dripped down his face and body, drenching his clothes. Abruptly, the tunnel ended, opening into an immense cavern which was also dimly lit by the unseen source of light. Surasen gasped in disbelief. The roof of the cavern soared above him into the darkness, untouched by the light, and he couldn’t see the far walls from where he stood.

But it wasn’t the size of the rocky chamber that took his breath away. It was what lay before him that rendered him speechless.

A chill ran down his spine and a strange sensation, a mix of elation and horror, swept over him. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

He now understood Emperor Asoka’s words of caution and his cryptic instructions.

The legends of old were true.

What lay before him in the cavern could put the world in terrible danger.

6

Present Day

Day 4
Gurgaon

Vijay and Colin sat upright as the Ford drew to a halt. It had been a long drive and they had spent much of that time speculating about who their captors were and what they wanted with them.

‘One thing I know,’ Vijay said in a low voice, hoping the men in front couldn’t hear them, ‘is that they aren’t Indians. I don’t know what language they speak, but it definitely isn’t one of ours.’

‘They were following us for a while, probably from the airport itself,’ added Colin.

‘It was well-orchestrated,’ Vijay agreed. ‘They probably planned to jump us on the highway, once we’d left habitation behind. When I got off the highway, they decided to pool their resources to stop us. But this was crazy. We could have died out there, either by smashing into the Merc or when the Ford hit us.’

‘I wonder what they want from us,’ Colin said soberly. ‘I can’t think of anything I have that could be of interest to anyone else. And the same goes for you.’

A thought struck Vijay. It made him shiver. ‘D’you think they have some connection with Uncle’s killers?’ He voiced the thought. Despite his blindfold, he knew immediately that this resonated with Colin.

They heard the rear door of the Ford being opened and were roughly dragged out of the car and into a building, down a staircase.

Their blindfolds were removed to reveal that they were in a windowless room, dimly lit by a single fluorescent tubelight. A stale smell hung in the air suggesting that the room had been locked or unused for some time. Three chairs stood in the room and they were swiftly bound to two of the chairs.

What now?
Vijay wondered as the men left the room.

After a while, four men entered the room. Two of them were armed with Uzis.

One of the new faces, a medium-sized man with a pleasant, clean-shaven face and sharp eyes pulled up the third chair and sat facing the two captives. His demeanour indicated that he was the leader of this group. He stared intently at the two prisoners for a few moments. Vijay stared back defiantly. Though he was terrified inside, he didn’t want to show his fear to his captors. But he said nothing. If his hunch was right, he didn’t want to get Colin and himself into any more trouble than they were in already.

‘You know what I want.’ The man leaned forward and looked hard at Vijay. ‘Where is the key?’

‘The key?’ Vijay echoed blankly, unable to comprehend.

The man’s face grew hard and a menacing look appeared in his eyes. ‘Don’t play games with me,’ he warned.

‘I really don’t know what you are talking about,’ Vijay shook his head helplessly. How was he to convince this man?

Without taking his eyes off Vijay, his interrogator gestured to one of the burly men who stepped forward and lashed out with the butt of his Uzi, catching Vijay on his left cheek. Blood now trickled down his face.

‘Did that help you understand?’

Vijay hung his head and shook it again, trying to hold back his tears, born more of terror than of pain.

Their captor pulled his chair closer to Vijay, until their knees almost touched.

‘Now, listen to me, Vijay Singh,’ he hissed. ‘I know your uncle had the key.’

At these words, Vijay’s head snapped back up and he found the other man’s eyes boring into him. So these men
had
known his uncle!

The questioner misunderstood his sudden alertness as comprehension. ‘Ah, so you do know. Your uncle told you about the disk with the verse, didn’t he? And he left you clues to find the key in his emails. I know he did.’ A sudden urgency crept into his tone. ‘Where is it? Where is the key?’

Vijay struggled to control his emotions. The terror he had felt initially had been replaced by a raw fury, as he realised that these were the men who had murdered his uncle. But he had to be careful. These men wouldn’t hesitate to kill Colin and him if they sensed that something was amiss. A plan began to form in his mind.

‘Fine,’ he finally said, keeping his voice low so the tremor wouldn’t be noticed, desperately hoping that his deception would work. ‘You’re right.’ He could sense Colin staring at him, bewildered, but he kept his gaze on the man before him.

‘Uncle did send me the emails,’ he admitted. ‘But I haven’t been able to decipher them yet. I haven’t had the time.’ The fact that he was being quite truthful helped him add conviction to his tone.

‘Imtiaz,’ the interrogator drew his chair away and addressed the sallow-faced man standing to the side. ‘You have a printout. Give it to him.’ He leaned back and studied Vijay for a while. ‘I believe you,’ he said, finally. ‘For now. You have all night to study the emails and decipher them. You better have some answers by morning. Maroosh will not be so kind to you the next time.’

The burly man who had struck Vijay grinned cruelly as the leader rose and stalked out of the room, followed by Imtiaz. The two guards remained, stony-faced and hard-eyed. After a few minutes, Imtiaz returned with a sheet of paper which he placed in Vijay’s right hand.

Vijay glanced at the paper in his hand. The familiar emails stared back at him.

‘Where did you get these from?’ he asked Imtiaz.

‘Vikram Singh’s laptop. And Farooq means what he says. Better get to work and figure them out. You saw what he did to your uncle.’

With that, Imtiaz turned and walked away, followed by the guards. The door closed and bolts were drawn, sealing them in.

Colin looked at Vijay. ‘I sure hope you know what you’re doing. These guys are no ordinary street thugs.

Vijay didn’t hear him. He was lost in his thoughts as he stared at the printout Imtiaz had given him.

‘So uncle did leave clues in the emails,’ he mused. ‘And now we know what they were looking for in the study. A key, he said. What does that mean?’ He looked up suddenly at Colin. ‘But that can wait. We’ve got a few hours before dawn. This Farooq guy is the one who killed uncle. Right now, I don’t give a damn who he is or what he wants. We need to escape.’

‘How?’

Vijay shrugged. ‘Let’s think. We have to work something out. If we can’t, we’re dead men.’

They sat there for a while, thinking hard. Their eyes explored every corner of the room. Vijay stood up, still strapped to the chair. Their legs were free and the chair was light, so he was able to shuffle his way around the room as he explored the walls and the door. But there didn’t seem to be a way out.

As Colin watched, a thought came to him. He looked closely at the ropes, which bound his wrists but not his hands and fingers.

‘I’ve got it.’

Vijay turned and looked at his friend. ‘You have an idea?’ He shuffled back to Colin and sat down next to him. Colin rose and slowly moved closer to Vijay, positioning himself in such a way that their hands were touching and he could tug at the nylon rope tying Vijay’s hands.

The minutes passed slowly, agonisingly. But the knot refused to oblige. Perspiration beaded Colin’s brow as he concentrated on the job.

His hand began to ache and the rope binding him cut into his wrist as he stretched his hand, adding to the pain. But he persevered.

They had no means to track the passage of time. There was no way of knowing when Farooq would come back, and desperation slowly began to get the better of them.

Colin sighed with frustration. He knew that time was passing them by. It was beginning to look hopeless. He gritted his teeth and tugged at the knot, willing it to loosen.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded outside the door. The sound of the bolts being drawn came to their ears. Vijay froze as he realised that time was up. A cold terror gripped him, paralysing him with fear. Maroosh appeared in the doorway and Farooq was visible behind him. What would Farooq do when he discovered that, far from deciphering the emails, they had been trying to escape?

Colin gave a cry. The knot had finally come undone because of his persistent efforts. Vijay’s right hand was free. Vijay quickly pulled at the rope binding his left hand. His right hand throbbed with pain and his fingers were numb, but a rush of adrenalin gave him the strength to free himself completely, just as Maroosh walked into the room followed by Farooq.

Maroosh’s eyes widened as he realised that Vijay was free, but before he could react, Vijay launched himself at the large man in a classic rugby smother tackle, wrapping his arms around the big man’s arms, so that he was unable to use his gun. Maroosh went down heavily. His head hit the floor with a sickening thud and he went limp.

At the same moment that Vijay tackled the guard, Colin, still bound to his chair, launched himself at a surprised Farooq, who had also just realised that his prisoners were free. Farooq crumpled to the floor as Colin landed heavily on him, knocking the wind out of him.

‘Can’t let you take all the credit.’ Colin grinned up at Vijay, who wrested Maroosh’s gun out of his hand and rushed to Farooq. He hesitated for a split second, then swung the butt of the Uzi against Farooq’s head, knocking him out.

Vijay grinned back at his friend as he untied his ropes. But there was no time to linger. They had been lucky to overpower both men without an alarm being raised. There was no way of knowing if Imtiaz or any of the other guards were on their way here.

Colin sprang out of the chair, massaging his wrists, and the two friends crept to the door, peering out cautiously. The room was at the end of a corridor lit by a row of incandescent bulbs that hung from the ceiling. They moved stealthily down the corridor until they reached a staircase.

It seemed that the room where they had been kept captive was on the lowest level of the building. They waited for a few moments at the foot of the staircase, but there was no rush of feet coming downstairs; no sound.