{ CHAPTER - 3 } UNWANTED GUEST
—On That Night
"You've arrived, Chief Aryan."
Someone greets the man and addresses him as chief.
"What's the matter, I left my family behind, so it had better be significant."
Karma's father was the man referred to as the chief.
"Sir, I apologize for disturbing you on your day off, but this is critical," the man said.
The man handed the chief a tablet, which was playing a video, and said. "Sir, this video was shot by one of our drones off the coast of Mumbai."
The footage showed a group of unknown men with covered faces slaughtering a group of Indian Marine soldiers, who were unable to fight back despite having a gun against those men.
"If this footage is correct, what is the point of showing it to me? This is a matter that the government of Mumbai should deal with," the chief exclaimed.
The person approached the chief and said. "Sir, according to what we discovered about them, these people were first seen in the Arabian Sea, where the government lost track of their ship and abandoned the search, believing it was a lost ship. However, after some time, they received a report from Indian Marine, who spotted the same ship off the Indian coast and identified them as foreign intruders."
Hearing all of this, the Chief inquired as to what this had to do with us, to which the individual replied.
"One of the affiliates was apprehended and brought in for questioning, during which he informed us that he was only on a tour. The guide had been hired by those people and was simply doing his job."
Chief inquired. "A guide? That's weird, where was he directing them?"
"The Himalayas, sir," said the person.
Something didn't make sense to the chief, and he began to doubt himself. What made them want to visit the Himalayas? , If that is their destination, why not take the shorter route through China? Is this a snare or a diversion? He had a lot of questions, but no answers.
The chief, perplexed, inquired. "Did you ever figure out why they wanted to go there?"
The individual stated. "Sir, when we asked the person in custody the same question, he said that the group appeared to be looking for something."
The chief was preoccupied with what these people could be after. Breaking Chief out of his trance, the person handed him some files.
"What is it?" Chief inquired.
"Sir, here are some files on who we believe is behind this."
The person then said, pointing to the table on the other side of the room. "And then there are the rest."
The chief sighed and said in a troubled tone, seeing the number of files in his hand and on the table.
"Sigh! This much will take until the morning to go through."
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It's morning and the chief hasn't returned home or picked up his phone, the mother is also concerned.
"Is dad still not picking up your phone, Mom?" Karma asked his mother who was sitting on the couch.
"No, he isn't, but I'm sure he's fine; he's probably working overtime."
Karma's father, 'Aryan Dabral,' is the head of the NIIA (Northern Indian Intelligence Agency). So Karma understands, to some extent, how busy he is. Karma is frequently astounded by his father's ability to spend time with his family.
!ring!! ring!
His mother's phone rang, and she answered it.
"Hello, where are you, you didn't even answer your phone. Yes... All right... All right. Okay, I see..."
After a briefing, she hung up the phone.
"Was it dad? What exactly did he say? "Karma inquired.
"He said he'd be here for lunch, so don't worry. But, putting that aside, how about you? I thought you were going out with your friends today."
Because of his father, Karma had forgotten about previous plans he had made with friends.
"Oh, you're right, I forgot; well, I'll change and leave then."
He got dressed and left the house. "I'll be right back."
"Take care and don't stay out too late," his mother said as he walked away.
Because the exams were over and it was time for them to graduate, all of his friends decided to celebrate their final day before the results arrived. They wouldn't have the same amount of free time once they started college.
"Hey Karma here," one of his friends called across the street. They arrived at the agreed-upon location on time.
"Where are the others?" Karma inquired of his companion.
"Everyone has already arrived," his friend responded.
They decided to meet near a local shopping mall and go to a famous local restaurant; it wasn't a large place, but the food there was famous.
During their conversation, one of Karma's friends approached him.
"Hey Karma, did you hear about the incident in Mumbai?" Ayush inquired.
The entire group, especially the boys, was ecstatic when they heard this.
"What do you mean by that?" Karma inquired, perplexed.
"So you don't know, as I expected,"
Hearing this, Karma said while mocking him. "Could you please enlighten me on this thing you're talking about?" Karma stated
"When I awoke in the middle of the night for water, I noticed light coming from my living room and went to check. I noticed my father on the phone with someone, and he appeared concerned for some reason. But that wasn't all; in the pin-drop silence of the night, I overheard someone on the phone."
This attracted the curiosity of everyone in the room, much like a mystery novel.
Someone approached Ayush, patted his shoulder, and said. "What did you hear?"
"Well, the guy on the phone had a shakey voice and they were talking about a gang of terrorists assaulting or something like that, so I figured YOU of all people could know about this because your father also works for the government," Ayush says.
— 'Ayush Roy,' his father, works for the Indian Marien and is presently on vacation. Karma has informed all of his buddies that his father is only an officer with the (NIIA). He took care not to reveal any confidential information to anyone.
"No, I didn't hear anything like that from my father," Karma denied.
One of his friends in the room said, slightly hesitantly. "That sounds like a problem."
"And I even heard them yelling Monster," Ayush says.
One of the karma's friends exclaimed with a dumbfounded face. "OK. You're just spouting nonsense now, are you sure you weren't dreaming? Your joke was believable until you brought in the monster thing"
Even Karma thought this was a joke when he heard it, a monster in this day and age. Even children nowadays are not afraid of such things.
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After their party, they said their goodbyes for the night and wished each other luck with the results before heading home.
"I'm home," Karma announced as he walked into the house.
When her mother saw Karma, she asked if he had a good time with everyone.
"It was good; is dad home?" he inquired.
"Yes, he's inside," his mother confirmed.
Karma entered the living room after walking past his mother. He noticed his father, who was tiredly sitting on the couch.
"How was everything at work, Dad?"
His father responded tiredly. "It was fine; I just had to do some overtime."
"I see, well, you guys have dinner, so I'll go to my room now."
He didn't want to eat dinner because he was already full.
"Are you no longer hungry?" his mother inquired.
"Nope, I'm already full. Goodnight"
He said goodnight and left. As he was leaving, he noticed some files on the couch and realized how hard his father must have worked.
He spoke to himself as he closed the door to his room.
"I'm so tired, I'm going to sleep like a dog today."
CHAPTER - 3 - TO BE CONTINUED