When it all happened – The Blow!

With top class submachine guns, that could fire bullets faster than we could think, pressed to our backs, hands helplessly held high in the air, uncertain of anything, we walked slowly towards the gate. With few more steps to the gate, we were stopped by the men holding the guns. The rear door of the vehicle opened and a man got down and walked straight to us. His face was as expressionless as any stone but he was determined in what he did and what he needed to do, like a brilliantly preprogrammed robot. Walking with brisk steps, he stood in front of me showing his hugely built personality.

“Turn around” he said.

Without talking anything or looking at his face, I turned around and stood still. I felt his hands check my shoulders, waist, chest, lower back. It was when he pressed his hands to my lower back he felt the pistol I had forced into my belt and covered with my shirt.

“He has it” he shouted mildly and proceeded to legs. Even his voice sounded like a robot that has been programmed to obey each and every instructions of its master perfectly.

Taking out the Colt, he moved to Praveen. After checking him and taking out his Colt too he walked to the car thrust his head inside and handed over the pistols. There was some discussion for a minute and then he moved out, turned and walked back to us and stood in front of me.

Then I saw another man, equally well built, dressed in black trousers, black shining shoes and a maroon shirt tucked in neatly. His shirt looked as though it had been ironed till it turned to a cardboard. Cleanly shaved, hairs combed till they glued to the head, he had the charm of being someone who could lead that big group and handle such a tight network without any glitches. He sure would have, I thought, been impressed by Al Pacino from the Godfather series, as his style and mannerism clearly imitated Al Pacino’s character in the Hollywood series.

He walked with slow steps and stood right in front of me staring into my eyes. His sharp small eyes that were darker than the dark sky of that night stared courageously into my eyes.

Spies have to be in situations where they face each and every type of characters, fears, attacks, interrogations, panics, tortures and all this begins not on the day they are sent into the field but on the day they decide to become spies. They are nothing but the iron passed through every type of fire and hardening and beating until it becomes what it was meant to be. Upon all this, they are well trained to do their own part of thinking in avoiding what is being passed onto them and in parallel keep thinking, without any pause, about the escape route.

As he stared into my eyes, I kept calmly looking into his’. After a complete moment he smiled but his eyes remained the same giving me that intense look. I replied him with my smile and that was when, suddenly, I felt his hard and huge palm hit my left cheek very hard and even before I could realize anything I was on ground feeling the tight slap on my face. He really was as strong as he looked. Turning back at him, getting back the same smile on my face, as I tried to get up, his robot held my shoulder and helped my stand up.

Smiling impatiently, he finally spoke, “So this how we had to meet?”

I just pursed in my lips and nodded raising my shoulders.

“I had thought I would shake your hands when I would meet you, but now I am sure you don’t like shaking hands. Sitting on my nerves since a year, you really deserve this” he said, raising his hands and giving me another tight slap. Thanks to his robot who had held me tight by my shoulders, I dint had to fall to ground this time.

“I had told you clearly. Throw out your weapons. But no, you guys never listen. Always adamant. What the hell did you think? You guys, with your pistols would fight my men holding those machines?” he shouted impatiently pointing at one of his men.

“This is what you brought to fight me?” he snatched my Colt from the pockets his robot’s pants and held it in his hands.

“You thought you would attack me with this?” he said, calming down.

None of his words could change my expression nor could alter my thinking. I kept smiling at him with my eyes cold like iced lake.

Seeing me smile he nodded his head negatively. I was getting luckier the impatient he grew. These are one of the few situations in life when you don’t need attack on your enemy to win. You remain winner until your enemy is impatient, restless and until you are irritating his nerves. The complete situation is under your control till you know you are not going to break and your every smile is going to hit your enemy harder than the slap you are taking. But once you give in, break down, and let him see through your eyes and realize that deep inside your heart you are scared of him and you are not sure of the situation, the whole table turns.  He takes complete control over the situation and makes sure you start suffering and he starts enjoying getting an upper hand with every blow he gives.

“I neither have time for a chat with you nor any interest. Just hand over the Data card” he said.

“I want to see my girlfriend first” I said, in a quite determined tone.

“I told you, I am the one giving orders here” he said

“But I am the one having what you desperately need. You know how important that is for you” I smiled again.

“Just shut up, ass” he shouted and turning to his robot, he said, “Check him. Look for anything that looks like a Data card”

His robot, happy enough to get orders from his master, pushed me, and then pulled me, trying to shake my calmness as much as possible. Finally making me stand he started checking me in detail. Other than my watch and wallet he couldn’t find anything. Handing over those items to his master, he stepped back to his original position and stood like a pillar.

Not finding anything from my wallet, he asked, looking at me “Where is the Data card?”

“I told you. I want to see my girlfriend”

“You are an ass” he said and then again ordered his robot to get Sonali out of the car.

“Those guys brought bags with them” one of the four guys shouted from near the door.

“Very nice” he said and quickly turning back “don’t let her out of the car” he ordered.

“Get me those bags quickly. Run” he ordered impatiently.

The guy who had impressed his master giving him some information which he liked ran into the house, as I turned back to look at him. He came out within seconds holding two bags from the house and ran to us. He stood in front of us holding the bags.

“What are you waiting for? Check the bags. Quickly!” the don of one of the top rated gangs in the world ordered.

It was obvious he had such obedient brain washed brainless people working under him that easily helped him build such a ruthless empire dealing in all kinds of wrong doings.

The guy searched again and again in detail but couldn’t find anything that looked like a Data card and finally nodded a no with a dull face to his boss.

“Give them to me” his boss said taking over the bags and started looking every corner of the bag, neatly, only to find many of the spy gadgets and items but nothing that helped him.

“Where the hell is the card?” he asked looking into my eyes.

His eyes were burning now with an impatient rage in them. They were now clear of doing anything they wanted to.

“Bring her out” he ordered to his robot and turning back to me he said, “Now you will tell me”

I turned to the car as Sonali stepped out of the car and walked towards me, with weak steps. Her hands were tied back and her face looked pale as though she had been suffering from fever since months. Eyes had wearied off lifelessly. She slowly looked at my face and tried smiling. I could see her eyes getting happier but her face still remained afraid and expressionless.

Holding Sonali by her right arm and pointing my pistol on her head, he said, “It’s either Data card or her. I don’t have time”

“You touch her you lose your data”

“I won’t touch any of you but will kill you all three right here right now” he shouted and signaled his robot to pull Praveen.

His robot quickly went to Praveen and holding him by his neck, he pointed his gun on Praveen’s head.

“Its now one card to two heads. All four of us don’t have much time and you don’t have much option” he said.

“Don’t dare to touch them both”

“I will” he said and turned to his robot who immediately understanding what his master wanted pulled the trigger of his gun and pointed it on Praveen’s head. I looked at Praveen who was still standing in his cool posture, not the slightest moved by the gun as though it was not gun but a comb. He just blinked at me and neither signaled me nor gave out any expression.

“Okay fine. Let them free and I will give you the card”

Without wasting a second he came forward and hit the butt of my Colt to the side of my forehead with all the power he could and the harsh blow sent me down to the ground. With a sudden unbalanced fall I could feel an immediate pain in my head and could feel a wet liquid flowing down the side of my face. All I could see was black and all I could hear was a sigh from him followed by a wild yell from Sonali as she started crying.

It was a real violent blow…

Continued Next Sunday…

Vishal…

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