Maaze Part-4

It was Sunday. Kate went to the movies with her uncle and aunt. During the interval, Kate and his uncle came out to buy some popcorn.

“The movie sucks. I wanted to see that movie with the aliens. I told you it would be much better.” Her uncle said.

“I told you I don’t like aliens,” Kate said.

“Well, I didn’t know that you hated aliens so much.”

“I’ve always hated them. They’re disgusting.”

They bought some popcorn and went back inside the hall.

I never thought my mom would be a secret agent who combats aliens for a living.

 

When Kate reached her office the next day, she found Steve sitting at her desk and using her computer.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing on my computer?” Kate screamed.

“Easy there! I was just doing some research. My computer isn’t working so I decided to use yours.” Steve replied.

“What are you researching?”

“Um, it’s related to a client.”

“Well, what does a client have to do with UFO sightings?”

“Sorry, Kate. I just couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“Just when I was starting to get that alien stuff out of my head, you had to—”

“Wow! It actually worked! I finally found the location.” Steve shouted with joy.

“What location? It’s not as if you’ve found my mother’s location. She’s probably in another Galaxy right now.”

“I’ve found where the top-secret base of the Donut Warriors is located at,” Steve whispered.

“The what?”

“The Donut Warriors is the codename of the Secret Space Force of our planet.”

“Why would they keep such a name?”

“I don’t know. Maybe they like donuts.”

“Oh, come on! Do you think I’m going to believe all that nonsense? I’m not a 9-year-old.”

Steve grabbed Kate’s hand.

“Where are you taking me?” Kate shouted.

“Don’t worry. I told Mr. Andrews that you won’t be coming today because you’re sick.”

“Wait! What?”

Steve took her outside the building and into the parking lot.

“Here, get in my car,” Steve said.

“No, why—”

Steve pushed her into the car and turned on the engine.

“That’s no way to treat a lady!”

“I’m sorry, Kate! We don’t have time to talk. We must hurry.” Steve said as he put his foot on the accelerator.

“Whoa! Watch out! Can’t you drive a little slower?”

“No. I must drive fast. Don’t worry, Kate. You’ll get all your answers once we get there.”

After a 1-hour journey, Steve finally stopped the car in the middle of a desert. He took out some sort of radar.

“Aha! There it is. I’ve got the location on my radar. It is 2 kilometers away from here in the northeast direction. My car can’t go any further so I’m afraid we’ll have to walk from here.” Steve said.

“We have to walk? Are you insane? There could be wild animals here.” Kate said.

“Do you want to meet your mother? Yes, or no?”

“Yes.”

“Then start walking.”

Steve and Kate got out of the car and they started walking toward the location that was shown on the radar. After walking for 20 minutes, they were finally close to the blip on the radar. Unfortunately, there were gigantic rocks between them and their destination.

“Oh gosh! Look at the size of these rocks.” Steve said.

“Don’t tell me you want us to climb them. I’ve had enough adventure for one day.” Kate said.

“Man! These rocks have the base completely surrounded. I guess that’s why they set up the base here so that no one can get in.”

Kate and Steve were trying to find gaps between the stone boundary when the ground beneath them suddenly opened up and swallowed them in.

When they came back to their senses, they found themselves tied to chairs and surrounded by men wearing purple clothes.

“Who are you?” The man in front of them asked.

“W-Well, we were trying to find my mother, a-and,” Kate said.

“Your mother?” The man shouted.

“Yes, sir. My name is Steve Cooper. My father is an ex-Army Officer and he was a Military Expert in the intelligence agency. Through his help, I was able to find out that my friend’s mother is a special agent in the Secret Space Force.”

“What’s the name of your father?” The man asked.

“Colonel Charles Cooper.”

The name brought a smile to the man’s face.

“You’re Charlie’s son? Ha-ha, you do look like him.” The man said.

“You know my dad?”

“Know? I’m one of his closest friends. We worked on many cases together. Hey Sam, check their IDs.”

“Yes, sir!” The man on the left said and took the IDs out of Kate’s and Steve’s pockets.

“The boy is telling the truth, sir. He is indeed his son.” Sam said after examining the IDs.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Untie them.”

“Yes, sir!” Sam said.

The man took Kate and Steve to his room.

“My name is Colonel Nick Smith. I’ve been working with the Donut Warriors for 7 years. What can I do for you, Steve?”

“Nice to meet you, Colonel Smith. This is my friend, Kate Sandler. We work in the same office. Kate’s mother left her and her dad when she was little. Her dad died in an accident a few years later. She has been searching for her mother ever since.” Steve said.

“Oh, you poor thing.” Colonel Smith said.

“A few days back, a man tried to attack her and told her that her mother is a special agent. I did some research and found out that her mother is a Donut Warrior. She was involved in Project E-00241X.” Steve said.

“She was a part of Project E-00241X? She must be a pretty talented warrior. Only the top warriors were recruited for that project. How did you come to know all this? Your dad isn’t allowed to share this information with anyone.”     

“I-I…hacked into his computer.”

“You did what?”

“I told him not to do it but he didn’t listen,” Kate said.

“That’s extremely wrong, kid. Normally, I won’t tolerate this kind of stuff but I’m willing to make an exception this time. I’ll forgive you only on one condition.” Colonel Smith said.

“What’s that, sir?” Steve asked.

“You have to promise me that you’ll work for us. We could use talented hackers like you.”

“Yes! Absolutely! This is like my dream job. I’ve been waiting to do this kind of job all my life.”

“I’m so happy for you, Steve,” Kate said.

“Ok, pause the celebrations for now. Let’s focus on the present issue. What is the name of your mother, Kate?”

“My surname is Sandler. Steve scanned the folders for that surname. There was one match.”

“What was it?”

“Patricia Sandler.”

“Patricia Sandler! You’re Patricia’s daughter! She has been waiting for you for so long.”

“Really? You know her?” Kate asked.

“Everyone knows her! She’s a hero! Now, don’t waste your time here. Go and meet your mother. Sam, take her to Patricia. Steve, you stay here with me.” Colonel Smith said.

This is the moment I’ve been waiting for my entire life. Meeting my mother. I can’t believe that it’s actually happening.

After walking for a few minutes, Sam and Kate finally reached the room. There was a nameplate above the door. It read “Patricia Sandler”. Sam pressed a button and the automatic door opened.

“Please proceed, ma’am,” Sam said.

“You won’t be coming in?” Kate asked.

“No, ma’am. I’ll stay here.”

As soon as Kate walked into the room, a woman dressed in a purple suit came in front of her.

“Who’re you?” The woman asked Kate.

It was her. It was Kate’s mom. Kate could feel it. Kate just stood there. She looked at her mother’s face. Her mom was exactly as she thought she’d be. Kate had a thousand questions to ask her mother but she forgot everything. She just wanted to look at her for eternity. She was experiencing intense emotions within her. The most intense she had ever experienced. These emotions came out in the form of tears from her eyes. At this moment, Kate’s mother also realized. She realized that the person standing in front of her was no one else but her daughter. She could feel it. Silence is the best form of communication and all the languages are just poor translations of true emotions. Without speaking a single word, the two had already expressed their emotions to the fullest. Kate ran towards her mother and hugged her. Her mother hugged her with an even tighter grip. They wiped each other’s tears.

“How are you, Katie?” Patricia asked.

“You know my name,” Kate said.

“Yes. Your name is the last thing I could ever forget. I and Kevin gave you this name the day you were born.”

“Oh. U-uhm… actually, I-I have been through so much. I had a really hard time finding you. I’ve been searching for you my entire life.” Kate said while trying to control her tears.

“I know, dear. I also have been waiting to meet you for years.” Patricia said.

“I don’t get it. Why? Why did you leave us? If you wanted to see me then why didn’t you come to see me? Do you know that dad died in a car accident soon after you left?” Kate asked.

“I know everything, dear. Please, give me a chance to explain.”

“Ok. Explain,” Kate said while controlling her anger.

“Do you know about my profession, dear?”

“Yes, I do. You are a warrior who fights aliens.”

“Yes, that’s one part of my job. Your dad was also a Donut Warrior, like me.”

“What?”

“Yes. He was a very brave warrior. We didn’t leave each other. A few months after you were born, I had to go to planet Rion for an important mission. The mission went on for 4 years. We couldn’t tell anyone about our jobs so your dad and I came up with this excuse that I had left him. We couldn’t tell you because you were too small to understand. Your dad was getting local patrol duties near Earth at that time so he was able to stay on Earth and take care of you. All was going well until one day, the Martians declared war on our planet. Your dad left you with your uncle and aunt. He told them that he had to go on a business trip. He fought very bravely. He took out hundreds of Martians single-handedly. Unfortunately, that battle took his life.”

“Oh, God!”

“When I received the news, I was in complete shock. I wanted to come home. However, I couldn’t do so because of my mission. When I came back to Earth, the first thing I wanted to do was meet you.”

“Then why didn’t you come?”

“I couldn’t. The Martians had been spying on us. They had been spying on our families. A lot of my fellow teammates wanted to meet their children and families. All those who went to spend some time with their loved ones had to pay a heavy price. The Martians killed their families.”

“They did what? How could they?”

“That was the cruelest act I had ever seen. I didn’t want the same thing to happen to you so, I cut off all my ties with you. Everyone whose family was alive had to do the same. They are still spying on us. We couldn’t reach out to our families but we prayed that our families reached out to us.”

“That’s the same thing. They’ll still get killed.”

“No, they won’t. The Martians can only track the locations of the Donut Warriors. If our families come to meet us here, they don’t notice a thing.”

“So, family members of other warriors have come as well?”

“Yes, they have. I knew that you would also come one day. Kate, you have no idea how badly I’ve been waiting for this day.” Patricia said. Her eyes were full of tears.

“Oh, mom. I’m sorry. I misunderstood. I’m sorry that I blamed you.”

“No, you don’t need to be sorry. I would’ve done the same thing if I were in your place. Tell me, dear, how did you find me?”

“Actually, I have a friend named Steve. He’s really good with technology. His dad was in the military. You might know his dad because Colonel Smith knew him as well.”

“What’s his name?”

“Colonel Charles Cooper.”

“Oh, yeah. I do know him. He’s a good friend of mine. He worked with the Donut Warriors for a few years. So, Colonel Cooper told you about me?”

“No. Steve asked his dad but he refused to tell anything because all this is confidential. So, he hacked into his dad’s computer and came to know about you.”

“Wow! He hacked into the military database. He must be pretty talented. Is he your boyfriend?”

“No. We’re just friends.”

“Yeah. I see. Your face wouldn’t turn red if he was your friend.”

“Ok. Ok. I do like him. He’s helped me a lot. He’s the one who brought me here.”

“I would love to meet him but first, there’s something we have to do. Come here.”

Patricia took Kate to a big room. There were lots of square-shaped papers pasted on the walls of the room. A few words were written on each of them.

“This has become a tradition here in the headquarters of the Donut Warriors,” Patricia said.

“Before you tell me why we’re here, I would like to ask you a question. Why is the Secret Space Force named Donut Warriors?”

“That is because the person who was the founder of the Secret Space Force loved donuts.”

“Oh. I was expecting a more interesting story but that’s ok. So, what do I have to do here?”

“Finding me was very difficult for you. It was the same for the families of all the other Donut Warriors. Everyone had a different journey they had to experience in order to get to their loved ones. Whenever a family member is able to get here, they describe their journey in a few words on a piece of paper. The paper then gets pasted on this wall. Here is your pen and paper. Describe this special journey of yours.” Patricia said and handed the pen and paper to Kate.

Kate wrote her journey down.

“Here, I’m done, I described my journey in one word,” Kate said and handed the paper to her mom.

“Maaze? Did you properly attend your English classes, dear? This is not the correct spelling of maze.”

“I misspelled it intentionally. Maa means mother in Hindi. I had to find my way through a maze to find my Maa.”

“Oh, I see. That’s a brilliant way to describe your journey!”

The End.