A Zygotic Stunt

After Yuvaan left to return the boat, Abhay dropped Charu home. They were too tired to discuss anything after their underwater adventure with the Zygotes. They agreed to be in touch on the phone and Abhay left for his home.

‘Charu, where have you been my child? What’s up with you, nowadays?’ asked her Dad worriedly.

Charu looked at him and quietly hugged him trying to hide her moist eyes from him. ‘I am so sorry, Dad. There is nothing to worry about. It's just that I am not feeling like staying here any longer. I have just been for 6months in New York and had to come back. I am missing NYU Law school and my studies too are taking a hit. Granny seems to be coping up slowly. Allow me to leave, Dad.’

‘Sure, my child. I am here to take care of your Granny. I am ok with whatever you decide. I just want you to be happy.’

‘Thanks, Dad, I love you, ‘said Charu and went to her bedroom.

She lit a cigarette in the balcony and started processing the strange events that had unfolded – ‘So, I am bloody Sheryl Varghese reincarnated, but I don’t recollect anything from my past life. They say that my parents were murdered, and I was adopted by the Oomens. I am the sole heiress of the Varghese family and its fortune. I am the only hope for two alien races to return to their planet and they somehow need to inject Sheryl’s soul from the past into my body to accomplish their objective. I somehow get my cop friend and my childhood friend to help me out and end up being sandwiched in their love and creating a rivalry between them. What the hell have I landed myself into? I’ll end up in a Mental Asylum if I stay here any longer. To hell with the Zygotes, to hell with the Mermitans. Once I leave, Abhay and Yuvaan too won’t be distracted and they’ll get on with their lives. I am happy being an Oomen and let me stick with it. To hell with the Vargheses and their bloody fortune. Yes... This is what I should do. Get the hell out of Fort Kochi and get back to my studies in New York.’

With this clarity of thoughts, Charu felt a sudden gush of rejuvenated energy inside her that lifted her spirits and she fell on the bed with a smile on her face. She fell asleep in no time.

 

‘Hi, Uncle Vincent. How are you doing? How’s your health?’ asked Charu presenting with a basket of fruits.

‘Oh, Charu Darling. I am fine, child. Just counting the years, I suppose. Where have you been? You haven’t visited me since the last time you came inquiring about ‘Hotel Mount Varghese’? Come, have a seat.’

‘Yeah, Uncle. I’ve been catching up with some old friends. I’ve been to some nearby places. Sorry, I couldn’t catch up with you.’

‘Well well well... I totally understand and know where you’ve been and what you were up to.’ thought King Zygote who was in Uncle Vincent’s form.

Meanwhile, Martha (Another zygote in Martha’s form) served them tea and biscuits.

‘Uncle Vincent, I have come to say goodbye. I am leaving for New York tomorrow,’ said Charu sipping from her cup.

The expressions on Martha’s face changed whilst Uncle Vincent maintained his composure.

He calmly asked, ‘Oh, is it so. Has your Granny recovered completely? I guess your sudden visit had to do with her health, right?’

‘She’s recovering slowly. I can’t afford to miss my education any longer. I am still in my first year.’

‘That’s right, your education comes first. I hope you’ve got all the info you were looking for about ‘Hotel Mount Varghese’. Do let me know if you need to know anything. I have a lot of old tales in my brain’s archive,’ said Uncle Vincent cleverly trying to bait Charu into a dilemma to back off from her decision of flying back to New York.

Charu felt tempted for a bit to inquire about the Varghese family line but backed off. ‘Thanks, Uncle Vincent. Maybe some other time, I’ve got a lot of packing to do.’ She kissed Uncle Vincent on the forehead and took his leave.

‘My king, do you want me to follow her?’ asked Martha.

‘Transform into her handbag, keep me posted and wait for my orders,’ said Uncle Vincent.

Charu felt guilty about not informing Abhay or Yuvaan about her sudden departure, however, she felt it was in the best interest of all. She also didn’t want anything to influence her decision to fly off. She bid farewell to her dad & granny and boarded the taxi to the airport.

Sitting in the taxi, she rolled down the car window to let the cool Fort Kochi breeze in for one last time before her next visit. She closed her eyes and felt the breeze brushing her cheeks as she thought about New York and her classmates there. She was feeling so relaxed, reflecting on her future in New York that she almost forgot her underwater adventure.

Alas, how was she to know that New York was farther than she thought!

The Etihad flight was on time. She boarded and settled in her seat. The plane took off and after a few minutes, she removed her seat belt and asked the air hostess for a drink.

She raised her glass and toasted to herself in her mind – ‘To hell with Sheryl, Zygotes & Mermitans. In no time I’ll be in a place where aliens exist only in movies.’ After a couple of drinks, she dozed off.

‘Etihad Boeing 787 plane goes missing after take-off from Fort Kochi. 208 passengers onboard.’ – The headlines on the newspaper read.

‘Wake up, Charu darling. Look what your dad has done. You’ll be mighty proud of me,’ said Mani Oomen affectionately and handed over the paper to Charu.

Charu shrieked in unimaginable horror. She looked at the newspaper and her dad alternatively.

‘Dad, what’s this? Where are we? How did I come to this place? What the hell’s happening?’ asked Charu suddenly bolting up.

‘Your proud papa has hijacked your plane. Isn’t it amazing?’ said Mani Oomen and broke out into a thundering laugh that echoed inside the cave.

Charu glanced at the headlines once again and stared at her dad. ‘No, it can’t be. You aren’t my dad. You are either a Zygote or a Mermitan.’

‘There you go! The Sherylness inside you seems to be kicking in. By the way, Nice headline, right. Courtesy – You. Now, do you think we get the attention we deserve? The whole world will be looking for this plane and clueless about its disappearance. You humans never understand the significance and magnitude of anything until we create a situation full of complexity & adversity. Oh, by the way, we haven’t met, right? I am King Zygote, ‘said Mani Oomen (King Zygote in Mani Oomen’s form)

Charu looked around her. She seemed to be in a cave. There were several luminous, cloudy figures around. There was a huge glass cabin inside which all her co-passengers sat with their eyes closed as if in a trance. There was a sky-bluish, transparent cloud of smoke engulfing them all. At a far end, she saw Ruth and Martha in a separate cabin. All her fears returned. From a seat in a plane to a cave in a mountain!

‘What the hell happened? Please get me out of this nightmare. I’ll kill myself rather than living this nightmarish life,’ pleaded Charu. ‘And why the hell are you in my Dad’s form? It’s so embarrassing and awkward for me.’

‘You’ll get out of this nightmare only if you get us out of your damn, nightmarish earth. Do you suppose, just because we have the powers, we enjoy transforming ourselves into anything? God-damn-it… You forced me to transform into a Big Boeing plane with your decision to fly off. My fellow zygotes had to transform into pilots and air hostesses. I have taken up your dad’s form to give you a teaser of how he’d look in the role of a Hijacker! You threaten to end your life, right. End your life and I’ll ensure your dad becomes the biggest hijacker of all time. He’ll be found guilty for the hijack and murder of all the passengers on board. Would you like that to happen?’

‘Why this big stunt? If you knew that I was flying off to New York, you could have apprehended me at home itself,’ asked Charu still unable to fathom the rationale behind such a mammoth stunt.

‘Because, you clearly weren’t understanding the gravity of the situation and our plight; Instead, you were clearly enjoying your flight! Did you really think we couldn’t reach out to you in New York? Such a huge stunt was necessary for you to understand the lengths we could go to accomplish what we want. As of now, we’ve put all the passengers into a ‘time-freeze-zone’. They are stuck in a period when they were on the plane. They’ll stay stuck in that zone until we free them out. During this phase, they won’t feel any sense or emotions and they won’t remember anything once they get out of that zone.’

‘I’ll listen and do as you say. Please change into some other form. I can’t speak comfortably looking at my dad’s face on you,’ pleaded Charu.

‘Ok, pick your choice. Abhay, Yuvaan. Brad Pitt or Tom Cruise, maybe!’

‘Oh no…None. Just the Museum executive’s form, please.’

‘So boring of you, Charu,’ said King Zygote taking up the Museum executive’s form.

(The poor museum executive would have applied for a copyright on his face if he’d known that his face was becoming so popular)

‘Enough of your choices & icebreakers, now listen to our choices. Not only India but all the countries will also be stupefied by this missing plane. They’d break their heads but won’t get a clue. You help us in getting out of this planet and I promise to deliver the plane along with all its passengers safely. The sooner, the better for everybody. Albeit, this event will be listed on the top spot of the ‘Unsolved mysteries of all time’ and you’ll be the only person on the planet who’d know the truth.’ 

‘Ok, let’s finish this off. Tell me what to do?’ asked Charu.

‘Perfect, you rest for a while with your comrades. We’ve got some literal ‘Soul-digging’ to do. Let me discuss it with my fellow-zygotes,’ said King Zygote and escorted Charu into the glass cabin holding Martha and Ruth.

King Zygote transformed into his original majestic form and thundered out in a loud voice only audible to his fellow zygotes – ‘My fellow zygotes, it’s time to go home. We now have Charu, the sword, our mound, and the secret that the Mermitans held close to their heart – ‘Sheryl’s soul has to be brought into Charu’s body to recite the divine prayers and acquire the divine powers in order to open the Gateway’.

The zygotes applauded in a style incomprehensible to humans. King Zygote gestured to the zygotes to fetch the sword as he felt a sudden urge to raise it in all its glory. The zygotes looked at each other in shock.

One of them gathered courage and said, ‘My King, did you forget? You had visited the cave earlier in Uncle Vincent’s form and collected the sword and left stating that you had an important mission with it. You seemed to be in such a hurry that you didn’t even speak much to us. We were just about to ask about the important mission with the sword.’

King Zygote laughed hysterically and shrieked, ‘You fools, don’t you realize? It wasn’t me. He outwitted us on this occasion. I’ll get you, KING MERMITAN!!’