Vimana

the same bastards I've seen over the last few days? No sir, I cannot do that.'

Shiva walked up and held Aaditya around his shoulder, as if comforting him.

'Aadi, all you will get is pain. Once you learn more, I don't know how you will ever be able to cope with being back home.'

'At least give me that choice. It's my father we are talking about.'

Brahma motioned for the others to step back.

'Very well then. Come over here and listen to what really happened to your father.'

SIX

Hawk One en route to waypoint three. Hawk Two has some FOD and is coming home.

Hearing his father's voice again was like an electric shock for Aaditya. Everyone else in the room had stepped back, leaving Aaditya alone in front of the holographic display. He watched a blue dot representing his father's plane move across the green tinged landscape. He knew that his father's wingman had aborted the sortie due to what was called in aviation parlance 'foreign object damage', which turned out to be a small bird hitting one of his jet intakes. The next ten minutes were routine reports from his father on the progress of his mission, which has been to test out flight characteristics of his aircraft after being loaded with the newly inducted Brahmos cruise missile. Then came the first sign of trouble.

I see something emerging from the water. Do we have a submarine in the area?

Hawk One, negative. Please confirm it is a submersible.

Going down to take a closer look.

It's large and spherical. Not a submarine for sure.

Hawk One, confirm your last transmission, please.

I see two craft taking off from its surface and coming towards me. Radar shows negative.

Hawk One, can you ID the bogeys?

They look like…..saucers, one has a red tip. They are flanking me now. Intent seems hostile, request authorization to take evasive measures.

Then there was silence. Aaditya fell to his knees. Narada made to come towards him but Brahma waved him back.

'They said it was an accident. Why did they lie?'

'Because no government likes to make such incidents public,' said Brahma.

Aaditya's mind was in turmoil. He had no idea what he should do. 'Aadi, perhaps it was fate that got you involved in all this, but we had no idea whatsoever of who you were till you posted online about the Delhi incident and we had to start doing background checks. Believe me, we would rather have not got you involved at all.'

Shiva knelt down beside Aaditya. 'I am a father. I nearly lost a son today, so I feel your pain. But I also think it's best that you get back to your life. You're young and have your whole life ahead of you.'

'A life spent knowing who my father's murderers are. No, I cannot do that.'

Indra raised Aaditya up.

'Son, what do you want to do?'

'I want to help you destroy those murderers.'

'Don't be foolish. What could you possibly do to help us?'

'Let me fly,' he pleaded.

'That's impossible!'

'I flew one of your vimanas back here, didn't I?'

Brahma intervened and motioned for Indra to back down.

'Aadi, you're angry, and I can understand that, but take some time to think it over. If you really want to stay and help us, we will not stop you, but don't be reckless. Your flying the vimana back was impressive but flying in combat against Maya and others like him is totally different.'

Aaditya was about to protest when Shiva spoke up, 'Look son, we don't just fly around. It gets up close and dirty, as you have seen. And there, you wouldn't last a minute.'

Aaditya thought Shiva was referring to his handicap, and he exploded in anger.

'Yes, I have a damned handicap that robbed me of my dreams, but if nothing else, I'll fly one of your vimanas in a suicide mission.'

At this point Brahma ordered everyone to disperse and told Aaditya to get some rest, saying they would talk again in a few hours when he had had more time to think things over with a cool head.

Aaditya was stewing in his room when Tanya came in and sat down on the sofa next to him.

'Aadi, I'm so sorry. I had no idea about your father.'

'All I want is to get a chance to avenge his death. That's all I want.'

Tanya placed a hand on his arm. 'Are you sure you want to stay?'

'Yes.'

Tanya sighed. 'Aadi, you would not be the first one to say that.'

Aaditya turned to face her, as she continued, 'Many more have come in contact with them over the years. Lost travellers, crashed pilots, accident survivors, and explorers. At first, many of them want to stay, especially when they guess what's going on. But inevitably, they cannot bear being away from their normal lives and accept the full reality of what they're involved in. Without being mentally prepared for this, the pressure gets to them. Some go mad, others beg to return. When they are released, their description of what they've seen makes them objects of ridicule or worse. That's why they are so hesitant to have you stay.'

'What's your story, Tanya? You aren't like them, and you clearly haven't gone mad.'

Tanya looked away wistfully, as if bringing back memories she had not thought of for a long time.

'My story is different. My family was killed in a plane crash over the Atlantic Ocean, and I was the only survivor. One of the vimanas saw a five-year-old girl floating on a life raft and picked me up. They tried to send me back, but the problem was I had no family other than the one I lost. In the months I was here, they got attached to me, and being a kid, my mind was open enough to take in who they were. So I grew up around them, they educated me, and when I was older, they offered me a chance to go back. By then, this was home.'

Aaditya was looking at her in wonder.

'So, you never wanted to go back?'

Tanya smiled.

'This was the only life I really remembered, and over time, I made myself useful, serving as the contact for anyone like you who happened to stumble upon them.'

'Tanya, who are these guys? Their names…their aircraft…they certainly are not the CIA, nor do they look like any other government organization.'

'That only they can tell you. Aadi, can I say something?'

'Yeah, of course.'

Tanya was holding both his hands.

'I would be happy if you stayed. I have nobody I can relate to, nobody else here who will grow old like me. One day I will be an old woman and they will still be what they are. But do think hard about your decision, it will not just change your life, it will become your life.'

Aaditya had no idea what she was talking about. But he was sure he could not just walk away after learning what had happened to his father.

'Tanya, believe me, I wish I had nothing to do with all this. I wish I could just get on with my life. But for better or for worse, I am here, and now I cannot walk away. I'll stay, whatever that means, and try and do something. I threw away the dreams my father had for me, but now I will not let him down.'