The EX-Factor

On the fourth day of July 2010, a first sergeant was approaching the mansion of a terrorist cum drugs/arms dealer. The first sergeant’s name was, ‘Kenneth Rodriguez’, codename ‘Falcon’. The operation was, ‘Chayton’. 

Somewhere in Pakistan, near the Indian border, ‘Abul Muzahir’ was peacefully resting in his mansion while Falcon was approaching him in the night’s shadow. Like a beast stalking his prey in the wilderness and that’s when he heard his radio beep:

“Base to falcon”

“Falcon reporting”

“What’s your status falcon?”

“Target’s hideout in sight, ETA 07 minutes, infrared and night-visions are working just fine, time check-2130 hrs on my clock”

“Acknowledged. Affirmative falcon, you’re good to proceed”

“Falcon out”

The night was of the chase, and praise of his duty, his loyalty and his sins of honesty. That first sergeant was me. Two months ago, I was transported to Pakistan, to prepare a reconnaissance report on Abul Muzahir. His recent bank records came up a few months ago as a tragic signpost that danger was coming our country’s way. 

He had a pretty huge transaction, I wouldn’t tell you how much, but I will tell you it was worth sweating us. But more horrifying was the man who dealt with him, the London bomber was up the list and we had a lot of work to do. Oh, I wish I could ever tell you how much trouble it is to safeguard the country. I was in love with guns and my job, until this one came up, Operation Chayton. 

I was chosen as the job required an espionage/reconnaissance cadet and I was the first sergeant in the Scout Sniper Platoon. I had no reason to deny or oppose it as if my superiors would have listened if I would have said no. The Sergeant Major of the Scout Sniper Platoon suggested my name for the mission emphasizing my sniping records. 

As I mentioned earlier, I had no particular reason to deny it, only if I would have known. They shipped me to Pakistan through Indian borders; INDO-US relations played a significant role in my placement. My primary contact of mine was a local named ‘Adil Ahemad’, an undercover Indian R&AW agent working there in the zone for 3 years, he supplied me with equipment, meds and other necessities. 

I started working on the primary target only weeks before this day, two weeks maybe. Gathering every intel I can, seeking out information through locals. Well, to be honest, I had no idea that I’ll be babysitting there, but you never know what you might have to do for the nation. I had no other option but to report everything to the base and await further orders, so I did. 

Through a local fruit vendor, I was able to place a bug in the mansion, and that’s when we came to know what he was actually up to. But none of it mattered to me; I was a mere puppet in the hands of my superiors, and I had to do nothing but follow orders. If you’d asked me, I would have captured him that night instead of taking him out, but likewise extremists, officials had the same plan, “Kill one, and terrorize thousand”. 

It was just 3 days ago that based on the intel gathered from the bug planted, the base ordered me to take him out. 

And so arrived, the Fourth of July.

After a brief stoppage for the radio, lying prone behind a tiny hillock I turned the safety of my gun to the secondary position with the bolt cocked out. Meanwhile adjusted my scope for the distance and read the pressure chart. I will not hesitate while tell you, using, having proficiency in using a sniper rifle is heavenly. 

When you place your eye a little further from the exit pupil and look through the scope while your finger rests peacefully at the trigger. It’s just like making love; you have to do it carefully, to fully cherish the best out of it. 

The weather was fine that night; I was on the same spot for the last half an hour watching the enemy movements, closely observing every vehicle that crossed the gate. I was right in front of the main gate, just 800 metres away from it; lying prone in bushes for long was one of the things we were thoroughly taught at the training facility. 

In one of my previous operations in Iraq, I and my spotter lay at the same spot for three days until the orders came to retreat, we felt we were left for dead in there, in-between the battle zone but the base called. I knew somehow this operation was nothing alike. 

Positioning myself less than a kilometre away from the target’s residence was not such a good idea, but this was my best shot you know. He was a man of potency, lunatic, extremist religious nut job. His mansion was more of a base than a house. I was seeing guards patrolling at the main gates with AKs and snipers at rooftops, 3 of them, with Remington 700. Quite a competition I knew it was going to be.

 I was in the bushes on the small hillock, with a camouflage suit on me. Guerilla warfare was not my style, I loved stealth, sneaking up to the enemy's groin and a hard kick there off. While keeping the spotter aside I was doing the entire job myself, I had a detailed map of the area readied before night, so I knew there was no other entry or exit from here. 

The primary target was spotted on the building’s first floor, in his bedroom. I had the target in sight through the window. I was clear to engage. I started making final preparations. The 7 kg “AW .300 WIN MAG” sniper was amongst my most trusted friends. Built in the UK, used by me, you know the standard issue USMC sniper is a piece of iron and nothing else. A 5.52*45 mm short barreled rifle with no muzzle break, broken lugs, no safety locks, and a piece of junk. 

Getting the rifle ready I unfolded the chassis to bring it to life, the bipod wasn’t the standard issue, I had to procure one myself, but the R&AW agent was courteous enough to provide me one. The bipod attached to the chassis scoped the rail and then mounted the rifle on the ground in front of me. 

You won’t come to know what assembling a rifle is, until you’ve assembled one, years of theoretical knowledge dies when compared to days or a single day sometimes, on the battlefield. You don’t have any option but to win, to lose is to lose a life. So, you cannot afford to lose, can you?

My scope was “800px Schmidt and Bender”, 20x magnification, windage, elevation and parallax control. Pretty neat I’d say. I was making the final preparations before the showdown. The winds weren’t against me, calm and subtle; no sign of any sandstorm was in sight. Moon wasn’t that much glorious on that night, so my infrared night visions were at full functionality. 

A couple of years ago we were in Baghdad on a mission, the mission was a spoof, and we had to abort the mission midway. The intel we had acquired by the time, was enough to nab the company whose reconnaissance report we were working on. Later back at the base we came to know the spoof alarm was a spoof and the company's CEO was indeed present there that day.

We missed him, had to surrender all the gathered briefs and the evidence box was taken over by the CIA. Claudia, sergeant, spotter and my friend, was now posted in the CIA to work on this very case. So I was left alone for the time being. Anyways, I was trained to survive alone for 40 days. Although we had the measures to call in evacuation anytime we wanted, that was like giving up in the enemy territory. Even if someone is almost caught, we USMC men prefer being a POW to a coward.

*Beep*

“Falcon reporting, what is it base?”

“Kenneth is that you?”

“Falcon reporting ma’am”

“It's Claudia, I got your frequency from Jayne’s briefs. Listen to me very carefully. Remember the last op we were together in? Abul Muzahir was present that day in Baghdad. Operation Chayton is a set-up. Get out of there now! I’ll meet you at the Indian border, at daybreak 700hrs IST. Recon with Adil he’ll explain everything to you. He has been briefed on this.”

“Okay but, what about the base, where is Jayne”

“She’s been murdered before she could inform you about the set-up”

“What the hell! Call in the gunnery sergeant. I want to talk to him.”

“He’s away at the moment. The place is pretty disturbed and occupied right now as of Jayne’s murder.”

“How come you spoke to her before she was killed, and when she was killed?”

“Same calibre shell found near her body which we found in Baghdad, .9mm, the shell looks rugged, the weapon was silenced. Maybe a silenced Beretta or Kruger. Shot from 6-7 metres, heavy damage to heart, died of heart failure caused by damaged tissues. And I didn’t speak to her, found your frequency in her notes.”

“This is just so terrible, someone killed a USMC private inside the headquarters and we’re still digging the waters? Can’t you make me speak to anyone in charge of the telecom centre right now?”

“Kenneth, I know it’s hard for you to believe me a second time, but please, trust me. Get out of there. I’ll explain to you everything tomorrow morning.”

“Roger that. “

Claudia, hard to accept, harder to resist! Last time I believed her both of us got in trouble. And I was having a similar feeling about this night as well. I wasn’t sure whether to believe her or not, so I tried to contact the base once more

“Falcon to base”

“Come in base”

“Nest, do you read me?”

Like they were ever going to reply, I spoke to Jayne like thirty minutes ago and then Claudia tells me Jayne is dead. What the hell was happening over there, I kept thinking while staring at the window of the primary target. I had to make up my mind and that too pretty quickly. Whether or not to listen to Claudia, the base wasn’t responding, the commander wasn’t present. Chaos, I would describe the situation as. 

I lay there thinking about what might happen if I abort the OP right now and evacuate as suggested by Claudia. The thing that was pinching me to reality now and then was about Abul’s presence in Baghdad and how that is related to this op.

To hell with politics. I hated it hard when conspiracy grew in our department; something was there in Claudia’s voice, something she was hiding. Although I knew she didn't tell me anything about the set-up, I felt anxiousness in her voice. We were together for the past seven years. Claudia has been my spotter since we had our first co-op in the Brazilian rainforest. 

USMC and their high-budgeted operations! Now that I have a full understanding of what the actual scenario is, I can tell it’s just a show-off. Yep, about that night, 

I was prone 800 metres from Abul’s mansion with my rifle fully operational, except the safety switch still in secondary position; we were trained and taught to keep the weapon’s safety on till we were in the last minute of the shot. So I still had time for it. It was 2230 hrs by now and I was still fresh as the morning sun. Well, I cannot say that now for my mental health, at least not after Claudia radioed in.

 I somehow had to know what was going on inside USMC’s telecom centre and there was only one way to do that. NATO. Also, I thought, what if Claudia is somehow part of the spoof?

I now had a terrible feeling that Claudia was close to something; she had something which I was unaware of. After that hoax calls in Baghdad by an anonymous informer, I had a susceptive eye on Claudia but never had enough courage and evidential backbone to support my doubt. But the slight speck of doubt never died and tonight, it gained some strength. I radioed NATO immediately. 

“Falcon to Bacon-home” 

“Your birthday falls on?”

“It never does, I was born in the facility”

“Wait for the patch”

“Bacon-home to Falcon”

“Reporting captain. I just received a call from USMC’s command centre about a bug in my current op. I wanted to know what’s going on in Sierra right now. I heard about an operative’s murder in-house. And I also wanted you to do a background check on a USMC’s second sergeant, ID no 256-X-GHK-24. My operation is ‘Chayton’ and I’m radioing you from the primary zone. Please be quick. I need the intel now.”

“Clearance ID module?”

“I knew you’d say that! My heart bleeds for the nation”

“Thank you. Please stand by”

“Can you please radio me back? I’m in the middle of an operation where clinging to the radio for long can mean death”

“Roger sergeant”

*Click*

Those minutes of uncertainties when your heart races much faster than your mind. I knew that when the NATO operative would contact me back, I would be fed some news worth using. Something that would help me piece this jigsaw puzzle together, something that will help me out tonight. I

By now it was almost 2200 hrs and the inmates of the house were still as ever. And in these moments of rest, I remembered Claudia taking Adil’s name in a conversation I had with her. She said he was briefed on my evacuation. I phoned him while awaiting a response from NATO.

“Hello, Adil? Kenneth here”

“I was trying to reach you, where are you at the moment?”

“Outside of Abul’s house. What do you know about the set-up?”

“Yes, I was trying to reach you regarding the same. Have you spoken to Claudia yet?”

“Yes I did and she named you, now you better give me something or I’ll serve your filthy carcass on a plate”

“Who, me! Claudia named me in-between?”

“Yes, she said that you’ve been briefed about my extraction and setup in tonight’s operation!”

“Ohh that, yes! I thought she had my name on the setup list”

“Just spill the beans God damnit!!!”

“Abul Muzahir is not in his mansion tonight, the guy we’re targeting is known to be one of his clones. CIA networks intercepted a call from Baghdad yesterday night claiming Abul’s presence in India at the moment. Though no confirmed reports have been issued on this, yet CIA’s beliefs are quite strong about Operation Chayton being a spoof.”

“SIGH! Prepare for my evac. Claudia told me she’ll rendezvous somewhere around the Indian border tomorrow morning.”

“Aye aye serg.”

*BEEP*

“Wait, I’ll get back to you in a minute”

“Roger.”

*CLICK*

“Falcon reporting”

“Sergeant Rodriguez, CIC of the Eastern Division here”

“Sir!”

“Claudia Firdausi, I reckon you requested a background check on her”

“Yes sir”

“May I know why?”

“Sir, with due apologies, I’m in the middle of an operation right now which is going sour, can’t we do this as and when I get back on the base.”

“Sergeant Rodriguez, do you even have an idea who you’re speaking to!?”

“I have a fear that Sergeant Claudia is a double agent.”

“Do you know what that even means son?”

“Yes sir I do! 2 years ago an operation was carried out, code name ‘Bag-Dad’. I and Claudia were supposed to capture the CEO of a giant arms manufacturer in Baghdad. The op went sour on Claudia receiving a call from an anonymous informer claiming the CEO’s absence from the site. We had to evacuate the enemy territory immediately and the evidence we had gathered of the espionage in the factory was taken over by the CIA.”

“Wait a minute, you’re telling me that the CIA was involved in it? Wasn’t that a military operation?” 

“Indeed it was sir. But after briefing superiors on the mission, we heard from the white house that the case should be taken over by the CIA’, since then Claudia is working with the CIA in unison on operation ‘Bag-Dad’. ”

“So how exactly this operation is related to that one and how you could even believe that a USMC’s sergeant can be a double agent.”

“Abul Muzahir, my primary target in operation ‘Chayton’ was present in Baghdad during op ‘Bag-Dad’. This intel has been provided to me by Claudia half an hour ago, and she also spoke about some kind of setup, this operation being. USMC’s radio operator at the Sierra Nevada facility has been shot dead inside the house as informed by Claudia. I think she, along with the CIA has either figured out something pretty neat, or she’s a double agent.”

“She’s not! I got a call from the white house minutes ago regarding operation chayton and I have done a detailed check on every aspect of this case. Now, you need to get out of there ASAP. Adil will escort you to Indian R&AW’s HQ in Delhi. We’ve intercepted a call which revealed that Abul will try to blow up the Indian R&AW HQ in Delhi. You don’t have much time left, he might already be there. Be there before the first morning light. I’ve spoken to the Indian Defence minister and arrangements for your escort are being made as we speak. Sergeant, it’s up to you now. The bomb should not blow up. The United Nations military’s pride is on your shoulders. And another thing, execute Abul, only if you have to! Try to take him, alive son. I know you can do this. Make your country proud!”

“Roger that sir! I will not let you down. You have my word!”

“Adil will contact you shortly”

“Sir!”

“Base out”

“Over and out!

Wish I hadn’t taken this one job. Just one job!! Adil called meanwhile which I wasn’t able to take as of ‘commander in chief's manifestation. I seriously had no clue that the issue would get so messed up ending up in CIC’s involvement

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. Adil probably was aware of everything he had to do by now. All I had to do was retreat. But that too involved a lot of trouble. Adil’s hideout was 6 clicks south toward the east, which takes me closer to the Indian border.

I packed all my gear except the night vision goggles and plucked out my sidearm. ‘Beretta .9mm’, is the standard issue but I prefer ‘Desert Eagle’ more; the firepower, I just love to handle. Standing up I scanned the surroundings with a keen glance and routed my plan. 

I needed to find a vehicle if I wanted to save time. It was 2300 hrs by now and I had another 5 hours to get to Delhi, which was again something like 400 km from the border. Time, all that I was falling short of that night!   

From the mansion I saw a bright blip of light approaching me, slowly the blip grew into two and within no time a light truck was distinctly visible. As soon as I saw it, I knew this was my best shot out. I thought that they would turn into extremist lunatics as soon as they’ll come across US personnel. Still, I had to take my chances. 

I went to the muddy pathway and asked for a lift, and they agreed to let me hop at the back. Miracle in the night of constant unfortunate happening; I’d regard this incident as! While driving I saw from the rear shack, that they were readying their AKs which these guys have an abundance of. I wonder how Kalashnikov supplies such a huge block to South Asia! 

The 7.62 version is the most preferred version of all extremists around the world. Back in Baghdad as well, AK and FN-FAL with a few sights of M16 were all the weapons I saw. Back to the crime zone. In the driver's cabin three men were plotting my death, they had bolted their guns by now and I had only a few more seconds to react, my desert eagle wasn’t enough to fight three fully automatic weapons. I had to flee. So I did! 

On one tight bend which had bushes on one side of the half-built road, I fled from the rear opening of the truck and ran as fast as I could towards Adil’s hideout. It ate half an hour more while reaching his place. Panting heavily, which was understandable. 

“You took more than I expected”

“What’s the plan now?”

“Chopper’s waiting at the Indian border.”

“Good, how much time will it take to get to the Indian border?”

“Two hours if we find transport, else 5 hours minimum!”

“Are you out of your mind?! We have 5 hours to reach the RAW HQ. You have to make sure that I reach the base before the first morning light. Direct orders from NATO’s eastern divisional CIC, dare to deny! There is a bomb threat, do you have any idea your base is about to be blown up!”

“What in the name of god are you saying?”

“Don’t waste time, find a goddamn transport!”

“On it. You gather equipment and explosives, just in case!”

“I will go now. And don’t take long; you only have ten minutes with you!”

“I’ll be right back”

And Adil was gone in search of transport. I emptied my backpack and found a rather odd thing that wasn’t supposed to be there. I was sure I left it back home but it was right there in my bag, a tape named THE EX-FACTOR. Though no one knew its presence and it was no harm either, it shouldn’t have been with me that night. 

Anyways; back to work. I poured a hefty chunk of C4, claymore, remote detonators and frag grenades into my bag. I had plans to keep this hidden from Adil, who’d be overly worried if he’d come to know I’ve taken such fire powers with me. As said, he was back within a few minutes with an SUV. Purpose utility vehicle I have called it ever since. 

I barged in as soon as he stooped at the front door. Threw his bag on the back seat and he swished through the dusty roads of Pakistan. It was almost midnight and stars were seemingly still in their place, or it was ironic what was happening in our lives back on earth. Adil drove through bushes and small streams and marched into unknown destinations, those one would never prefer to tread otherwise. We seldom spoke while he was driving; I kept on cloaking my eagle. 

A huge thud brought me back to reality and I almost tripped over the dashboard. A huge ditch Adil just crossed.

“How much more time?” 

“You sound restless and desperate!”

“Give me a reason not to be!”

“Chill out man, Indian soldiers are there, they must be having the situation under control by now. Relax.”

“Please, just drive!”

“One hour if we drive at a constant current pace.”

“Thank you”

And in that one hour, I tried and tried to fix the things that were broken between the lugs in my mind. What is Claudia’s role in all this? And what operation ‘Bag-Dad’ had in unison with operation Chayton! All these questions in everybody’s head were about to be answered with the final curtain-raiser in R&AW HQ where the final move of this chess had to be played. 

Planning of three years I’d say because now I will connect operation ‘Bag-Dad’ and operation ‘Chayton’. I never actually heard of any terrorist organization associated with Abul Muzahir. He worked alone, CIA records claimed! At the end of the operation, chayton was about to prove this very fact. I don’t recognize a single fact to prove him a terrorist, never been involved in any terrorist activities, we only had a few cases of drug smuggling where his name came up. Until this one, where we have actual claims that he was about to blow up Indian HQ. Reasons though blurred, were about to be revealed in the coming hours.

“Do you see that light-post?”

“No, which, that small one?!”

“Yes, that’s the Pakistani side of the border.”

“Do you have a way to get to the other side?”

“Nope, but the chopper’s pilot does!”

“And what about S2A missiles, aren’t they acting in this zone?”

“Not really! Far inside the country, they have them placed, to defend the nation from all around, so it’ll be like 2 minutes until the nearest air defence reaches us.”

“What about RPGs and mortars? Don’t tell me they’re inside too!”

“No they’re right here, but then what are you and me here for?! You have your sniper, right? Show me what you can do! Hand me the M4, I’ll watch your back.”

“Alright then. Let’s do this!”

 And I placed myself in the bushes once more lying prone, opened the bipod stand and aligned the rifle. This time I had to kill. Last time I went empty-handed, but this time, it was as real as I was! The bunker in my sight had to be not more than a mile. We couldn’t have afforded to go any closer as the cover was only up till here. 

I placed myself on the exit pupil on the scope to observe the bunker. There wasn't much movement inside the den. I spotted three men. Adil told me this was the only bunker in a 10kms span of the border, so there were just three men between us and India! Although the trouble was, all three of them were in the same bunker, 

I needed at least a 4-second delay before taking another shot. We had to make a plan, so we did! I explained everything to Adil and we executed it! 

The first thing I did was attach the suppressor to my rifle; I wanted to keep it low. The next part of the plan included taking out lights and CCTVs in the area. I spotted three cameras and Adil spotted one on the other side of the bunker, where was positioned now, just a lot closer than me. I took them all out without much hassle and Adil did too with his silenced Beretta. 

With cameras and lights gone, they were almost blind. For they still had eyes. Now was the time for some real action. I firmly placed my finger on the trigger after turning off the safety of my rifle. My scope was on 10x magnification. Winds were not much; the distance was the only factor affecting the shot apart from gravity. No winds, no humidity, not much trouble. 

I repositioned Adil right outside the bunker’s opening and gave him cover till I moved onto the spot. Once he was on the mark, I was clear to make the shot. The idea was to smoke them out. I was to take out one, the rest two were on Adil. As they’d come out seeing a dead mate. Without much hesitation, I slowed my breaths. In a flash, all the training at several facilities hovered in front of my eyes and adjusting the minute of angle, I took the shot. 

The muzzle flash blazed my eyes for a moment. As soon as I regained my sight, I jolted the rifle and readied it for another shot, but to my surprise Adil already had the job done. Impressive I’d say. His M4, which is an American gun, did his job well. 

“Call in the chopper quickly!” I said while running towards the border.

“Already radioed them. ETA one minute and counting”

“Back in the mountains, we learnt that teamwork was the last hope. Tonight, we proved it!”

 “Which mountains you’re talking about”

“Hi…Oh sorry, Sierra Nevada, arctic training range!”

“That’s good”

“There, is that the bird for us?”

“Seems like the much of it”

“They’ll only cross the border once I flare the signal. Here, fire this flare!”

And I did.

“Welcome aboard sergeant Rodriguez. Flight Lieutenant Ajay Kaushik here.”

“Kenneth Rodriguez, codename falcon, of the USMC’s Third Scout Sniper Platoon reporting sir.”

“Debrief me in-air. We can’t wait here; this is enemy air-space technically.”

“Roger that sir.”, and with that, the pilot lifted off with Adil, me and lieutenant Ajay. Adil debriefed Ajay, meanwhile and I was still figuring out all that was happening. It felt like life was suddenly on a fast-paced track. But this day had to come. 

Off his planning, for three years he waited. Patiently he waited for the right time to strike, for just the right moment. What brains he must have injected into this operation to carry it out alone. I was about to fight a force that I knew was stronger than me. I was already having an inferiority complex toward Abul Muzahir. ‘Let’s see, I thought to myself, ‘how this will end.

It was four in the morning and I even had a small nap in-between. Adil did too. For it was going to be a never-forgettable night. The Lieutenant offered us some food as we were without food for almost twelve hours now, maybe Adil might have had something but I was without calories. It was in those silent moments my radio beeped. Adil handed over the headphones as the rotor would never allow me to speak otherwise.

*BEEP*

“Falcon reporting” I was Kenneth by now but on the radio, I had to follow the protocol.

“Kenneth it’s Claudia!”

“Where were you, I didn't hear a word from you after your first and last radio.”

 “There is bad news Kenneth, CIA and NATO have held me as a susceptible double agent. They claim I’m playing rouge. With all of my influential efforts, I was allowed to make this call. I just wanted to know that you’re safe.”

“WHAT! Let me speak to any official present there!”

“Wait, I'll get you online!”

“Officer Bernard here, who is it that I’m speaking to?”

“Sergeant Rodriguez of the USMC’s Scout Sniper Platoon. Oh, so you’re a well-wisher of Sergeant Claudia?”

“No, actually I’ve shown an interest in speaking to you so that I can highlight the fact that she is indeed a double agent. I too have suspected that for a long time.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve worked with her for almost ten years, no, only two years actually.”

“Here sergeant, speak to your mate!”

“Claudia?”

“You were never the same after coming back from the holiday you took before going to Baghdad. I always saw a change in your attitude after you returned. You used to love me at some point in time and now, you’re also claiming me to be a double agent. How could you!”

*CLICK*

 This was the radio I was waiting for. It was just another ten minutes or so, we were at the Delhi border and the night of tussle was near its end. And in no time, we were there. R&AW HQ. A beautiful facility about to be blown up by some terrorists. We landed on the helipad right above the building. And without wasting time we rushed into the building. It was 500hrs and the sun was just about to sprout from the east.

Inside the building, we split into different teams and I chose to be alone, for some reason. All of us went in different directions in search of a terrorist whose no photograph was ever issued, no info other than a phone call intercepted by NATO and CIA both, led to this moment. But something was sure about to happen, I was having a feeling. Call it a soldier’s instinct.

I went to the basement into the server room and locked it from inside. This particular room swept the whole building. This was the only structural flaw in the building, informed about, but the engineer who built that building. Supported by 5 pilled at equal distance, two-inch thick reinforced concrete! A kind of support a five-story building needs. This was the heart of all spying from and in India. The servers had all the files related to all the operations being carried out by R&AW all around the world. You still don’t get it do you? 

‘Chayton’ means Falcon in Arabic, and ‘Subaru’ means falcon in Hebrew. Subaru, I remember this name, three years ago from this night I saw, made a file. Named it THE EX-FACTOR. The agent’s name was ‘Subaru’. After kidnapping Kenneth Rodriguez from Omaha beach, the only job Abul Muzahir had was to make his people call themselves talking about tonight. All that I had to do to get into one of the most secure locations in India. I had no particular reason for doing this. Just to tell the world, smartness lives. The C4 I brought from Adil’s hideout was for this very purpose.

While in Baghdad Claudia told me that I am behaving differently from the way I used to be. She should have trusted her instinct then and there. A pound of C4 on every pillar, and on walls with equal distance, securely adjusted to time right, I least cared about how the building would collapse but perfection meant everything in my jobs that I assign to myself. 

This was it. The time had come. Detonators were all thoroughly checked for functionality. Now the only task remained, escaping! 

“Adil, come in!”

“Rohit now!”

“Alright, Rohit. I think he’s not here.”

“Are you sure enough?”

“Haven’t we already searched the whole premise? Haven’t your people checked every individual in the building twice? Then these extremists are not some cowards to hide and kill. They are nothing but religious nutjobs, with vengeance, rather than intelligence driving them.”

“Should we tell the Indian authorities about this?”

“Yes go ahead, talk to your superiors, I need to go home.”

“I’ll see you in a few minutes. Make yourself comfortable.”

“Sure, be quick though!”

Mind, a thing that can pull anything off! Three years of patience, planning and executing every step with caution. From Baghdad till now, every single thing was planned. I really should admire myself again and again. Every time I think of that night, I gain some more respect in my own eyes. It’s just a couple of months but I feel like I’ve travelled so far in time after that incident like I’ve grown on myself even more. But killing humans was never my motive; I am not like my ‘jihadi’ brothers who in name of religion go on a killing spree mindlessly. Yes, the HQ!

“This way Kenneth, or should I call you Falcon!” he laughed off while saying this. I thought to myself, call me Abul instead.

“Sure.”

“The chopper will take you to IGI airport and from there you’ll board the flight to California.”

“Thank you Rohit, without you it was never possible” he had no clue what he had done for his country.

 “Just doing my Duty sir”

“Oh don’t call me that!”

“Goodbye sergeant.”

“Khuda-Haafiz,” I said from the chopper while he watched me drifting upwards. My last words kept rolling in his mind again and again. But it was too late now. I was almost a mile high with the altitude. Oh, meanwhile, slashed the pilot’s neck and gained control of the chopper. You cannot even imagine what terrorist training ranges master you in. After I replaced Kenneth in USMC, everybody in his platoon kept on asking me, ‘Have you been under some secret training session during holidays?’ I always wanted to reply, “No before my holidays, which are now over”. 

And as I was two and a half miles away from HQ, I heard the sound I was craving. BOOM! And turning my head back I saw a giant heap of rubble coming to the ground. A shrill of victory ran through me, that moment of success. 

I was now outside the city far and safe. The chopper had enough gas to take me somewhere south and my guns had enough bullets to take me anywhere on the map. A new name, a new team and a new assignment. What is a name, isn’t it just a false illusion? I was born with the name Bahrain Bakhtyaar which I soon changed to Aditya when I was taken in by a Hindu family, then Abul Muzahir, then Kenneth Rodriguez. Now a new name awaits me, a new identity and a new plan!

“For all that will die, is the shell, the name goes on, in spite being illusive”

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