Striking While the Iron is Hot
News of Khalid Qureshi's downfall had reached New Delhi, and while no one was naïve enough to believe that ISI had crumbled entirely, this was a rare opportunity.
Ajay sat at the head of the table in the operations room, scanning the latest intelligence reports.
The room felt emptier than usual. The loss of Amit, Ravi, and Iqbal still crushed heavily on everyone.
Their sacrifice had led to the capture of Colonel Tariq, but the cost had been too high. Ajay could feel the absence of his fallen comrades like a physical weight on his shoulders.
Every decision he made now had to count.
K.N. Rao, the head of R&AW, entered the room quietly.
His usual calm demeanor was intact, but Ajay could sense the pressure that Rao, too, was under.
With Khalid out of the way, it wasn't a matter of if ISI would regroup, it was a matter of when.