Present-day,
Near Aurangabad, India
Day 2
(At
some single-story house)
‘So, what
you are saying is that there is an ancient weapon capable of yielding unlimited
energy?’ Asked Ranveer.
‘I’m
not saying that there is an actual such weapon but back in 1965 Dr. Krishna D
Murthy disappeared right after the discovery of the so-called secret tunnel at
Cave 16 and his dear friend, the manager of Ellora caves at the time was
kidnapped the next day and there were talks about Burman’s confession about the
weapon to the kidnappers. But there have been carried out a lot of
investigations legally as well as illegally to find the truth but no clue was
to be found and days later the bodies of both the personalities were found in
front of the same secret tunnel.’ Dharam replied.
Dharam
was Ranveer’s professor in college and also the same person under whom he took
his archaeological training. They shared a very strong bond. Dharam looked fit
for fifty-six years old, a dark, short heightened fellow but well-built and had
a dense mustache to go with his physique which made him look just quite younger
than his actual age. He had more than thirty years of experience in the field
and everybody admired his skills as an archaeologist without a doubt. He was a
man full of wisdom and honesty. Any person who saw Dharam would mistake him for
the idol of Lord Shree Krishna.
On
the other hand, Ranveer still in his late twenties had the body type of an
athlete. He was tall, well over six feet and a lanky frame added quite the
glitter to his physicality. He was an old-fashioned shy type guy who was too
into fitness and his passion for Archaeology, the exact copy of his Guru.
Whenever these two distinguished individuals met, the third person for sure
would lose his calm after a non-stop history debate right in front of his eyes.
Ranveer’s
parents had died in a gas explosion at their place while Ranveer was still in
college. No doubts arose on this incident and it was declared an accident
instantly. Ranveer was forced to live in the dorm and had started spending most
of his free time with Dr. Dharam either in his office or at his home. His
weekly dinners at Dharam’s place were what he always looked for. Although they
were mostly an excuse to meet Ira, still it gave him the feeling of a family
and that is why he always loved them.
Ira
was the daughter of Dharam. She was like the wisest poem ever to be penned down
by someone. A gawky young girl with glasses bigger than her face but still
always the most intelligent person in the room even with her father standing in
there. She had the eyes of an eagle focused and unpredictable. She had a finely
chiseled face that came hereditarily from her father.
‘Dharam
sir, do you think that there might be such things? The person on the call
sounded pretty confident though. Right, Shawn?’
‘Uhhhh,
Yeah! Sorry RV sir, I was not listening to you. Everyone, please act cool. I
think that we are being followed, I mean maybe. You know, that black BMW, it
was at the Mumbai Airport first, then we also saw it at the Aurangabad toll
plaza and then here it is again. Something’s fishy and I am sure it’s been
cooking under our nose for some time,’ Shawn gazed defiantly at the black BMW
through the hall window.
‘What!
You guys are being followed?’ Dharam enquired Tremulously of Shawn and Ranveer.
A cold shrill coursed through him as he slowly glanced at the mystery car
outside the window and frowned.
‘NO, this is just his Netflix thrillers
speaking. Don’t worry everything is fine. No one’s following us and you don’t
try to change the topic now, Shawn. Look, it’s the safest we can be at right
now so stop worrying for us.’ Ranveer persisted and grunted at Shawn firmly.
‘Ranveer
we cannot disregard the fact that this information is highly classified and
there are people who are after this and these people, they are not normal
people like us. We’ll be putting ourselves at a huge risk for this intel so you
might want to think again before calling that person back.’ Dharam advised
Ranveer in the thought of changing his mind but it all went in vain the moment
Ranveer dialed the unknown caller’s number.
