Vimana

'Go on.'

Aaditya had to wait no more than a second before he heard Tanya's voice over his earpiece.

'Hi, Aadi.'

She was trying to sound cheerful, but he knew what kind of strain she would be under. Part of him felt guilty for having put her through this.

'Tanya, just wanted to say that I love you and we will be together when this is all over.'

They talked for a few more seconds before he said goodbye. He turned to see that Narada had a serious look on his face.

'What's wrong?'

'Ganesha just sent a message. The satellites picked up twenty Asura vimanas taking off this morning and they are all hovering off the Mumbai coast. Kalki probably suspects a set-up and doesn't want to take any chances.'

Aaditya wasn't sure what that meant for their plan, so Narada spelt it out.

'That means Shiva or any of the other Devas cannot be seen flying near Mumbai, and I can't risk following you either, if we want to ensure that the plan is successful. Still want to go through with it?'

'Of course,' Aaditya said with much more conviction that he felt inside.

Back in their room, Narada asked Aaditya to hand over the earpiece and the handheld vajra.

'No point in them suspecting anything. Plus, they'll confiscate them anyway.'

Then, when Aaditya had turned for a second, Narada chopped him in the back of his neck, sending Aaditya slumping unconscious to the ground. He was awakened by Narada splashing a bottle of cold water on his face. He sprang up, his head throbbing with pain.

'What the hell was that all about?'

Narada held a cold towel to Aaditya's head.

'Sorry, I had to do that. I've implanted a beacon in your body. Listen to this carefully-you can use it only once, and we will know where you are and try to get you. But you can use it only once, so you must get out of Kalki's base somehow if we are to rescue you.'

Aaditya rubbed his head.

'You could have just told me.'

Narada grinned.

'You can't reveal to them what you don't know. It's voice controlled, and it's programmed with a very specific code.'

'What do I need to say to activate it?'

'You need to sing the opening lines of 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' at the top of your voice.'

'You've got to be kidding me.'

Narada shrugged.

'Hey, I'm the messenger. Ganesha thought it up. Take it up with him when you get back. Now get going, and good luck.'

And so, at about eleven in the morning, Aaditya set out for the mall in a hotel car, leaving behind any remaining shred of security and certainty that had remained in his life.

***

'Check if the money's there. It should be in the overseas account you had specified.'

Aaditya had no need to check. Just before he had left, Ganesha had given him confirmation that the money had indeed been transferred to the account.

'So, Maya, what now? It would seem that I am now at your disposal.'

Maya grinned, revealing sharp-edged teeth. 'If you were truly at my disposal, I would have made an interesting spectacle of you. But my master desires that I get you to him in one piece. Follow me.'

Maya and Aaditya sat in the back seat of the Honda City that the two daityas had been driving, and soon they set off on what seemed to be a meandering drive through the city.

'Where are we going? Or are you just lost?'

Maya snapped in reply, 'Shut up and sit back. We can't be flying you out in broad daylight, so we'll wait till it gets darker and then get to the takeoff point.'

For the next three hours, Aaditya did little but fret, with Maya obviously enjoying his discomfiture. Finally, at 5 p.m., the car took the highway, and picked up speed. They drove for another hour before they came to a stop on the side of the road. Both daityas got out, holding handheld devices.

'No vehicles within two kilometres.'

'Now,' barked Maya.

Suddenly, it seemed as if the clouds had parted and the sun arisen again in the fading light. A bright light shone down over the highway. Aaditya saw a familiar shape descend and land next to the car. It was Maya's vimana.

'Get out quickly and follow me,' Maya barked at Aaditya.

Aaditya got into the cockpit, which had side by side seating like the vimana he had flown. However, as Maya took off, he quickly realized just why the Asuras seemed to have fared so badly in their aerial engagements with the Devas. While the Deva vimanas had seemed like something out of science fiction novels, with their thought controls and holographic displays, the cockpit of this vimana was not entirely unlike those of modern jet fighters. There was a glass heads up display and digital readings and screens of the sort that Aaditya had seen in magazine articles about the next generation of fighters. There was also a more conventional looking control stick. However, Maya seemed to be controlling the vimana with his voice commands, speaking in hushed tones into an earpiece. A voice controlled craft meant that at least his vimana would have an important reaction and speed advantage versus the other conventionally controlled vimanas the Asuras were supposed to have.

'I thought you only had kritika vimanas. Clearly you seem to have a mantric one. Still, if this is the best you have, no wonder you get wiped out every time you fight the Devas.'

Maya had taken off his sunglasses. He glared at Aaditya with his snake eyes, but said nothing. The vimana climbed to more than 20,000 feet and accelerated. The radar display was full of contacts, and Aaditya guessed that whatever their other shortcomings, the Asura vimanas were as stealthy as those of the Devas for Maya to be able to fly around with such impunity and no apparent fear of detection.

As the trip progressed, Aaditya found his curiousity and excitement gradually replaced by a growing sense of dread. Maya had said absolutely nothing to him since they had got inside the vimana, and it appeared that he had chosen to ignore Aaditya's initial insults simply because it was apparent who held the cards now. For all his planning, Aaditya was now at the mercy of the Asuras, and as he looked at the wide expanse of the ocean below him, he began to wonder if his plan had been doomed from the start.

Maya must have sensed what was on his mind, and whispered to Aaditya with a gentleness that he would have put beyond the Asura. 'You need not worry. Kalki has said that you are to be treated very well.'

But any relief Aaditya felt dissipated as Maya followed through, bellowing in laughter. 'Of course, when he's through with you, he may decide to feed you to the daityas.'

Maya kept cackling as the vimana continued on its path. Aaditya saw on the display that they were now quite close to the area known as the Bermuda Triangle, and the vimana entered a gradual descent. He began to breathe deeply, trying to still his mind and not panic. The vimana descended below five hundred feet and then continued in level flight, seemingly barely skimming the waves below. Just when Aaditya began to wonder what Maya was planning to do, the vimana came to an abrupt halt, hovering in position. Then Aaditya gasped as a giant black sphere began to rise out of the water in front of him. Even though only its tip was out of the water, it totally dwarfed the vimana, and its surface was polished smooth and gleaming.

A panel slid open on the side of the sphere, and Maya guided the vimana into the dark tunnel it revealed. As they entered the tunnel, the panel closed behind them. The light from outside gradually disappeared, and the vimana continued down the tunnel in complete darkness. Aaditya had entered Kalki's lair.