Chapter 1: Glory that invites mystery

The small yet mighty country of Berkcaz existing of the cusp of land and sea was one of the few places in the world where you will find true peace and quiet without the manipulation of political antics of the government

Each body of the whole governing system was free from the "influence" of the central government and the citizens had the power to overthrow any governing body if they didn't work in their welfare. A unique system, an advanced more powerful form of democracy if you will

Where some departments were slightly corrupt like all things in this world, the safety of the people was not! The Police department thankfully was kept in check by this uniquely handcrafted character of a woman - Vikaya Pekassador

Vikaya Pekassador was the kind of woman whose legends are told of the eras gone by, and when children, men and women listen to them, it either fills them up with a powerful, undeniable urge to chase and create their magical destiny or to throw away their life in total disbelief and disgust, the choice always remains within and is determined by what exists within

On the surface level Vikaya seems too simplistic, just a highly-praised police detective in a small country but as events unfold we find out she is much more than that

Unlike her usual, slow-paced walk to work Vikaya zoomed to the police station like a tornado

"The robbers ran away, the people outside the store saw their getaway car dash away" reported the officer on the transmitter

"CCTV cameras?" asked Vikaya

"Officers are chasing it but the cameras show it's going out of the city"

"Tell them to aim for the tires! I don't care if it loses control. Also contact the department in the other city and ambush them from the front" ordered Vikaya

"Yes mam, on it!"

It was a tumultuous few minutes but they nabbed down the car successfully

"There's no one in the car!" the officer yelled in shock

"WHAT?" yelled the whole police station

"There's just a driver but he's says he was paid to drive away, he doesn't know about the robbers" said the officer on the other side

"Bring him in, he might be lying, did he make a stop?" asked Vikaya

"We have been chasing it since the beginning" said the officer

"How could this be? There are witnesses who saw them get away!" yelled an officer in the station

Their superior gets up urgently

"Deploy all our people to search and scan each corner of the city!" ordered their captain

"No!" Vikaya chimed in slapping her hands on the table

"What?" the captain demanded an explanation glaring at Vikaya

An epiphany hit Vikaya like a truckload of bricks and she couldn't contain it

"First, all of us should be in our regular clothes, not uniforms" said Vikaya

"And second, we should not go there in small group not more than 3 per team, if it's 2 much better" said Vikaya

"We don't have time for this! The robbers could have been anywhere by now!" said one of their colleagues annoyed

"That's what I'm saying Jiro, why is your badge still out?" Vikaya glared at him

The captain stared at Vikaya and let out a deep sigh

"Everyone! Follow Vikaya's lead" the captain ordered

The crew quickly got ready, some of them sulked, some of packed courage and determination and in just 2 minutes all of them were out into the city

"Are you out of your mind Vikaya? Why are we in front of the store building?" demanded Jiro via the ear piece they were all connected with

"If you mess this up Jiro, I will beat you up myself" Vikaya threatened

"Oh shit! I just got it!" said Aisha, Vikaya's team member

"What?" asked others

"The robbers are in the building" said Vikaya

"Wow! That makes total sense. They hid at the place they just robbed" sneered Jiro

"What is the last place you will search when anything like this happens?" Vikaya asked calmly

There was complete silence from all ends

"Everyone, pay attention" said Vikaya

"3 teams will cover each entrance of the building, 2 teams should cover the basement parking, there might be another getaway car there. Call back up from local police station but tell them to send officers in regular clothes" said Vikaya

"Rest of us will search inside the building" she said

"As they have looted a large amount, look for suspicious luggage bags, backpacks etc" she said

Each of them casually placed themselves around and inside the building, cleverly scanning and checking people without triggering any suspicion

"Do not let anyone know you are the police and do not mess this up Jiro" said Vikaya

"Oye, why are you singling me out?" demanded Jiro

"'Cause sometimes you use your butt before you use your head" said Vikaya

Muffled chuckles were heard at the other end and Jiro was ready to argue but one officer interrupted

"I see a male, leaving the store with a large handbag, looks heavy" he said

"Follow him, let him get away from the building then check him" ordered Vikaya

"Do not let him alert the others, remove his ear piece if he has one" said Aisha

"Got it" said the officer

The store was bustling with customers, the robbers only looted the cash counter and vanished and the store decided not to create a panic by alerting the customers

"Don't you think we should evacuate the store before we catch them? What if they have weapons and they hold someone hostage?" asked Aisha

"Evacuation will give them a 50% chance of escaping, we can't take that risk" said Vikaya

They carefully scrutinized every area and every person at the store. It wasn't a large building but a very crowded one

"This feels like a dead end" said one from the other team "There are way too many people"

"Tim, what about the guy you caught?" asked Vikaya

"He wasn't the one, we checked him thoroughly" said Tim

Frustration arose as Vikaya thought that this was one of those few moments she messed up, how could her instincts betray her, she was already on a grueling ride of blaming herself until she saw an odd sight. She nudged Aisha and her eyes widened with surprise when she saw it too.

She signaled her to follow the old man, Aisha went ahead and tapped on the employee's shoulder who was carrying the man's large bag and accompanying him. She showed him the badge and gestured to stay quiet and took the bag from him

With silent steps she closely followed the venerable looking man who was bent and walking slowly, taking each step with effort. Meanwhile Vikaya told the teams to be inside and in front of the basement while one stays at the front

"Check the bag" she mouthed Aisha but she was one step ahead

She nodded that the money was in there

The old man went out the front gate to the waiting area in front of the store

"I will call a taxi" he said but before he could turn to look at Aisha she quickly took off his bucket hat and slipped out the ear piece

Both Aisha and Vikaya held each of his hands and lead him aside near the alley, two more officers came running

"I must say the disguise is impressive" said Vikaya as she snatched off the salt and pepper wig from his head and under it was a young, sharp-looking man

"But you are a little lazy and careless I must say" said Vikaya and glanced at his shoes

A pair of smart looking tactical boots donned his feet

"So you are telling me that old people can't wear boots now?" he sneered at him "Ageist" he said

"Old people can and they should but old people, bent down walking like a snail should not" said Vikaya and cuffed him. She showed him his ear piece

"Tell the others to take the basement" said Vikaya "Do you have a car in the basement?"

The man glared at Vikaya and snorted at her audacity

"You cannot do anything to me, they might be gone by now" said the man

"And you are the bait for those fishes old man" said Vikaya "Now do it" her tone suddenly changed to a threatening vibe

The man was silent and just glared at them. Vikaya took a deep breath and fished out her famous knife

"Oh no" groaned Aisha, she knew what was coming

"You cannot-" began the man but before he could finished he shrieked loudly but the officers shut his mouth

A large cut leaked blood from his arm

"I will put two more cuts, the next one will be on your wrist" said Vikaya and began to grab and turn his hand. Her eyes gave away the glint of cold-blooded inclination

"Alright alright" said the man, a shot of fear in his eyes

They put the ear piece in

"Everyone, change of plans, I see the police. Get out of the basement, all of you take the car, I am already out" he said

They snatched away the ear piece

"Get ready guys" said Vikaya to all the teams

and in just 10 minutes they were on their way to the headquarters with culprits cuffed neatly like Christmas gift bows

As all culprits were being brought in, one of them was particularly angry

"What the hell Kaden!" yelled the woman "It was the tactical boots wasn't it? I told you not to wear them. You screwed us all up!" she yelled at him

Kaden was silent and a little scared of her. They were all put behind the bars

The team gathered

"Good work team. Good work Pekassador but what the hell!" the captain's praise was short-lived and his scolding was never-ending

"Why did you attack the culprit like that?" he asked

"Like you said captain, he is a 'culprit' that's the only solution I could come up with" replied Vikaya indifferently

But the captain continued to lecture her which was a complete waste as Vikaya had already tuned out.

The next morning arrived like a whirlwind and Vikaya was forcibly woken up by the aggressive chirping of the birds outside the window. With squinted eyes she dragged herself out of the bed and slid open the window loudly

"I love you guys but do you have to be so loud right outside my window?!" she scolded

One by one the birds lowered their voices

"That's better" she said and hopped on the bed again but as soon as she rested her head on the pillow an annoying noise reminded her that she could be annoyed even further

"UGH!" she groaned loudly and shut off the alarm and dragged herself out of bed, again

In an hour Vikaya was ready and already munching a delicious sandwich and gulping down juice. She gathered her things and opened the door only to step back

"Huh?" she exclaimed and bent down to pick it up "A fruit basket?"

"Oh no, it must be mom" she said "I eat fruit ma" she said and grabbed a pear and kept the rest of the basket inside

In a few minutes she had already reached the headquarters and to his surprise something awaited her there

"Ah yes, something came for you" said Aisha "Must be your mom, I guess"

Another large fruit basket sat patiently on her desk with a variety of shining pears, apples and guavas.

She sighed picked up the basket and went around the station, sharing a fruit with each one of her team members

"I will give some to the captain too" she said and before she could move ahead

"Vikaya!" exclaimed Luna from her team

Vikaya turned only to have her eyes pop out of her head. Luna held the partially cut apple in her hand, split open in half the fruit had a large, shiny ruby inside it.

"Guys! Check does the fruit seems tampered in any way?" asked Vikaya

The team checked thoroughly

"It just looks like a normal fruit" said Aisha

Vikaya fished out her knife and opened each of their fruits and to everyone's surprise there was a ruby in each one of them!

"I am showing this to the captain" she collected all the fruits and took the rest of the basket

Simultaneously she called her mom

"Hey maa. This is an urgent question. Did you send fruits to my house or to the office today?" she asked

"No dear" said her mom

"Ok thanks ma, I talk to you later today. Love you" she hung up

She almost ran to the captain's office

"Captain, this is urgent" she said as she burst in his cabin

She handed a whole, unopened fruit to the captain and a knife

"Please cut it open" she said intently

The captain sighed and took the knife and the fruit and in one swift cut he too had the same reaction. A glowing ruby peeked from inside the fruit

"What the-" the captain was too shocked "What kind of trick are you playing Pekassador?" he said

"Someone delivered these here and there's no card or anything" said Vikaya

"This is very strange" said the captain

"Can you find out whether this is a real ruby or not?" asked Vikaya

The captain nodded, Vikaya excused herself and ran towards her bag. She took out the fruit she got in the morning and cut it. Even after seeing so many of these peculiar fruits her shock didn't change the intensity. The one from her house turned out to be the same strange, ruby-hiding fruit

"Who sent these? and why?" wondered Vikaya

Vikaya was suddenly sent in a spiral of deducing. She was determined to find out who was behind all this. But what Vikaya couldn't comprehend was the 'Why'

'Why would someone send these?' A simple bribe? Isn't it too much to be a bribe?

Or was it a clever tactic to get someone's attention?

---------------------The dry throat would be drawn to the well with effortless ease--------------------