Aaditya could not even see a single blow land. When he had come up in a half crouch on the far side of the roof, Aaditya saw that three men were down. Now it was four versus three, and as another dark giant fell, Aaditya could see the man with the snake eyes begin to falter. His two remaining men were still engaged in a life or death struggle, but he had begun to move back slowly but surely.
As the battle raged, Aaditya took his first close look at the blue craft that was near him. It had a tapered nose and a raised transparent canopy like many fighter jets but nothing else about it resembled any aircraft Aaditya had ever seen. There was no tail fin, no signs of any air intakes or jet engines. The fuselage was flat and thin as if it didn't have to be encumbered with things like fuel or engines, and as far as Aaditya could see, the aircraft was shaped like a triangle.
Aaditya looked behind him to see that one of the saucer-shaped craft had now come within feet of the roof, and Snake Eyes had begun to move towards it. Unfortunately that brought Aaditya straight in his path. He stopped, glaring at Aaditya, murder glowing in his reptilian eyes, his blade at the ready. This is the end, Aaditya thought, when the man with the matted hair called out, 'Maya, you coward! Don't leave your daityas to die while you escape to your hellhole. At least die an honourable death.'
Maya swerved out of the way as the trident that had been hurled his way missed him by mere inches. Aaditya saw that the cylinder that had been the cause of all this mayhem had fallen out of Maya's grasp and the woman had picked it up. The two remaining giants, who had been referred to as daityas, were still trying to hold back their opponents in order to give their leader a chance to escape. Maya now resumed his retreat, running towards the waiting saucer, and Aaditya. His blade was out, his arm extended, and Aaditya knew it would be seconds before he was cut down.
In panic, he looked around him and saw the blue flying vehicle standing very close. He ran towards it, and using a small step-ladder embedded on the side, climbed aboard. He was of course curious about what this craft was, but for now, he just wanted to get out of Maya's way. There were two seats arranged side by side, and a small empty space behind them. He crawled into the space, hoping to climb out as soon as Maya was gone.
He heard the faint buzz of the saucers flying away and raised his head, ready to make a getaway before anyone saw him.
Someone climbed into the cockpit.
Aaditya pressed himself against the cold wall behind him, wishing he could make himself invisible. But nobody was looking for him. It was much, much worse. Within seconds, the pilot powered up the craft, and it took off vertically, then flew off at breakneck speed, flattening Aaditya against the wall.
The craft flew on to its destination, taking Aaditya with it.
FOUR
Aaditya had no idea where he was, but from glancing at his mobile phone, he learnt two things. First, the flight had so far lasted eighteen minutes, and second, he was now out of range of his cellular network. The flight had been fairly level and smooth, and as he suddenly felt the craft slow down and descend, he guessed that he was at the end of his journey.
The cockpit was momentarily enveloped in darkness as the craft descended, then it landed with a soft thump, and Aaditya heard the canopy slide open with a hiss. He waited for several minutes after he heard the pilot exit the craft, then cautiously raised his head to see if the coast was clear. When he saw no obvious signs of activity, he slowly climbed out. What he saw took his breath away.
The craft he had hitched a ride on was one of several lined up across the length of a long corridor. Most were of a similar size, and each sported animal colours and designs. The craft he had been in was coloured like a peacock, down to eyes on each side of the nose. Next to it was a similar craft coloured like a tiger and then, the white craft with raised horns he had seen during the fight at the Old Fort. At the far end of the line, he saw much larger craft, perhaps as large as commercial airliners.
The rational part of his mind was still saying that he had found himself in the middle of some top-secret operation, perhaps carried out by the CIA. He tried hard to explain away the beam weapons that instantly reduced men to ash as advanced weapons he had not seen or heard about and the man with the snake eyes as perhaps a mere figment of his fear and imagination. Nobody had eyes like a snake in real life, did they?
With no sign of anybody around, Aaditya walked till the far end of the corridor, marvelling at the unusual craft he saw arrayed before him. He was also wondering how he could get away. If this was indeed some secret government installation, surely they would let him go once they realized that he had got mixed up in thus purely by accident. There seemed to be no doors or windows obviously visible as he looked in vain for a way out. Then he heard soft footsteps behind him, and whirled around. Standing in front of him was the man with matted hair he had seen at the Old Fort and then on his rooftop.
In the bright light, Aaditya saw that the man looked quite fearsome. His muscled body and tiger-striped body-hugging suit were in themselves intimidating, but to add to the effect, his matted hair was piled on top of his head, and his forehead and face seemed to be smeared with ash. Aaditya took a step back, not knowing what to expect. The man was looking at him curiously, and despite his fearsome appearance, his eyes seemed kind, and he spoke softly.
'How on earth did you get here?'
Aaditya realized that dressed in his old T-shirt and shorts that he wore to bed, and wearing no footwear, he must be looking like a vagabond. He reached into his pocket to fish out Mr Muni's card, hoping that would establish that he meant no harm. It turned out to be a bad move. The man started at Aaditya's sudden movement and before Aaditya knew what had happened, a massive punch landed on his face.
Everything went black.
When Aaditya regained consciousness, he was lying on the floor in a small room. There was no furniture around, and as he sat up, he rubbed his jaw where the man had struck him. It still hurt like hell. He realized that his phone, wallet and lucky patch had all been taken from him. As he sat contemplating the situation, a portion of the wall in front of him slid open. Mr Muni walked in, a bemused expression on his face.
Aaditya sprang to his feet and began to explain himself.
'Aaditya, relax. I know you meant no harm, and I know what happened on your rooftop, and I apologize if the one who struck you hurt you.'
'Mr Muni, I still don't know which organization you work for, and honestly, I don't care. All I want to do is to get back to my home.'
Mr Muni sighed.
'Yes, I was afraid you'd want that.'
A sinking feeling came into Aaditya's stomach at those words.
'You can't keep me here! I swear I will not tell a soul anything. Just send me back, and you won't ever hear from me again.'
Mr Muni walked closer to Aaditya. He looked almost sad.
'Aaditya, I wish it were as simple as that, and that I could decide on your fate all by myself. But the stakes here are higher than you can imagine.'
'So what, I'm your prisoner now?'
Mr Muni began to walk towards the wall, indicating that their conversation was over. Then he stopped and turned.
'I do hope you come to see yourself as a guest till we figure out the best course of action.'
With those words, the wall slid open, and Mr Muni was gone, leaving Aaditya alone in the room. Barely having slept the previous night, fatigue soon got the better of him, and he dozed off on the floor. He was awakened by the sound of the door sliding open. He sat up, still groggy, and unsure of how long he had been asleep. A young woman entered the room, dressed in jeans and a T-shirt. She looked no older than a college student, and was carrying a
