Mr Muni just shook his head slightly.
'That is not important.'
Aaditya cut him off in mid-sentence. 'I saw some men being killed there, so it is very important. And what in god's name were those aircraft?'
Mr Muni touched Aaditya's arm again, but this time gently, as if to reassure him.
'You need to believe me, we are the good guys.'
'So what are you? CIA, Special Operations of some sort? I've never seen or heard of any force using aircraft like that, and I'm sure India does not have anything like them in service.'
'Aaditya, it's not important who we are. In fact, we would be happy to ignore you, apart from deleting anything you post online. But I am forced to meet you like this because we think you may have placed yourself in great danger.'
'Danger?'
Mr Muni ordered another juice for Aaditya. 'Calm down and listen carefully. Did you pick anything up from the site of the incident? We swept the area later and have confirmed through our reconnaissance drones that nobody else approached the place during and after the incident.'
'Please tell me, Aaditya. Did you pick anything up from the site of the incident?'
Aaditya suddenly remembered the cylinder and was about to blurt it out when he checked himself. He had no idea who this man was and whether he was to be trusted. The last thing he wanted to do was to get further involved in this mess.
'No, Mr Muni, I did not pick up anything.'
The man stared into his eyes intently for a few seconds. Though his heart was hammering, Aaditya did not flinch. Mr Muni got up and began to leave, then turned to Aaditya.
'If what you say is true, then in a way it's good for you, since your involvement in this ends, and you will never hear from us again. It is a separate matter that if those who attacked my colleague last night picked up the object we seek, then we have suffered a setback.'
Aaditya just stared at him, not willing to give an inch.
'Just remember, Aaditya, if you do have it, then there may be others seeking it, and they may be more persistent that I am and willing to harm you to get it. If you need me, just call the number on my card.'
He left, and Aaditya finished his drink in one long gulp. What a day! Now all he wanted to do was go home, pick up the goddamned cylinder and throw it away, maybe in the Yamuna river. That would be the end of this bloody episode, and he could finally get back to his life.
***
The rest of the evening passed much more pleasantly. Aaditya had planned on going straight home, but changed his mind fast when he saw a missed call from Supriya. He called her back, apologizing for the constant interruptions, conveniently blaming them on a last-minute movie plan that Sam had hatched. At seven in the evening, they were together, sipping coffee at the Taj Man Singh hotel. Aaditya noted that her tastes were probably too expensive for him to try and pick up the tab every time, but tonight, he was not going to be stingy. Supriya was perfect as far as first dates went-listening intently to him and laughing at his jokes. If she was only pretending, she was a good actress. For his part, Aaditya needed no acting to show how interested he was.
He dropped her home at Golf Links, where she stayed with her parents. He wished the bike ride had lasted longer, with her holding on to him, and when he rode away after wishing her good night, he promised himself that he would be seeing her soon enough.
Slightly lost in thought and very happy, Aaditya entered his apartment close to ten o'clock.
For once, he was in no mood to go online or even take off on one of his online sorties. The day had started weirdly enough with Mr Muni and his cryptic comments, but it had ended just fine-a date with an attractive woman and the prospect of seeing her again soon. As he changed and lay down on his bed, he looked at the strange cylinder on his bedside table. All he wanted was to be rid of it once and for all. He had it all planned out. Tomorrow, on the way to college, he would dump the damned cylinder in the river, and then forget about Mr Muni and the CIA, or whatever organization he worked for.
Aaditya was having a decidedly pleasant dream, the details of which were later fuzzy but involved Supriya in various stages of undress, when he was awakened by a sudden noise. As he turned on his bedside lamp, he saw that his artificial leg, which he took off every night before sleeping, had fallen to the ground. It was just after three in the morning. He decided to go to the bathroom and then have a glass of water. He swung himself off the bed and attached his leg, and after a trip to the bathroom, was in the living room, opening the fridge door to get some water.
That was when he heard the slight scraping noise outside his front door. He quietly shut the fridge door, enveloping his house in darkness. The corridor outside was still lit, and through the narrow gap under the front door, he could see shadows moving outside.
He wondered if Mr Muni and his cohorts had come to check for themselves whether or not he had their precious cylinder. Whoever was outside was not making a particularly good attempt at being quiet, since they seemed to be muttering among themselves. That made it bad news on several counts.
One, there seemed to be at least two or three of them. Two, they were probably not petty thieves. There had been burglaries in the neighborhood before, almost all of them inside jobs involving the household help, and if the thieves had scoped out the neighborhood, there was little reason to strike a place occupied by a single college student, who would have little by way of valuables at home. And finally, if this did involve Mr Muni and his friends, then he was in deep shit, especially after the violence he had witnessed at the Old Fort.
Aaditya's mind raced as the men outside tried to pick the lock.
He rushed to his bedroom and slid the cylinder behind his back, tucking it into his shorts. Hardly a stroke of genius, but why make it easier for them, if in fact this had anything to do with the cylinder. He had nothing at home that could have served as a weapon except a fruit knife that would likely elicit more laughs than fear from the intruders, so he decided that in this case, discretion was the better part of valor.
Aaditya's apartment was on the ninth floor, and just one floor below the roof. He climbed out his bedroom window. Just as he heard his front door open, he began climbing up a pipe to reach the roof. He really did not have much by way of a plan, but getting as far away as possible from the intruders making their way into his apartment seemed like as good an idea as any. A few minutes later, he was on the roof, trying to hide in a corner near the large water tank. He had no idea what was going on in his apartment, and he really didn't care much for the cylinder, but he realized that in the chaos, he had forgotten his good luck charm. His hopes that the intruders would get what they wanted and then be on their way were shattered when a few minutes later, the door to the roof swung open.
Still concealed behind the water tank, he heard heavy footsteps echoing across the roof.
'We know you are here. Make it easier for yourself and come out now.'
Aaditya peered around the corner and realized that his efforts at concealment had been useless. There were three men standing no more than five feet away, and they seemed to know exactly where he was. How the hell had they managed that? The dull roar of something flying overhead told him how.
Realizing he was trapped, he stepped out, keeping his hands up, though he seriously doubted the men saw him as even a bit of a threat. As he walked closer to them, he got a better look. Two seemed to be identical twins of the men he had encountered at the fort, the same size, the same colour, and the same peculiar ridged forehead. But it was the third man who worried him the most. He was considerably smaller than the other two, perhaps equal to Aaditya in height, but was built like a tank. His eyes were covered by dark glasses even at this time of night. The swagger with which he walked, and the way the two larger men seemed to make way for him left no doubt who was in charge. He walked towards Aaditya, smiling, but with little humour in his expression.
'Please come with us to your apartment. I think we have some talking to do.'
Aaditya contemplated resisting, and as if reading his mind, the man took out a curved blade from a scabbard
