It’s a long long day – Mission clears… but Plot thickens!

“So, what did the Chief say?” I asked Praveen, unable to control my curiosity, as soon as he cut his call and was still bringing down his hand from his ears.

“Hmm. This looks serious” he said.

“What?” I asked raising my tone a bit.

We were by now driving on the Bangalore Honnavar Road towards Sagara. It was newly constructed road that curved neatly amidst the dense forests of Western Ghats. Thick forest with abundant greenery on both sides of the road; the road with nice competitive curves; the fresh oxygen with an aroma that comes only amidst this thick greenery; cool breeze without any sunrays to strike into our eyes via the windshield; not much vehicles to disturb the silence; if only I was not on a job at the moment and my head was not filled with thoughts, questions, missions, dangerous groups and a life at stake, I would have driven slower and stopped every mile and enjoyed that drive to the fullest.

“First thing that Chief said was he sent that encrypted message hidden in those riddles because he has got a message that some of the IDs in our mail server have been hacked. They have locked down the entire mail server and stopped all the e-communications. The technical team is working on any leaks and any suspicious traffic recently.”

“Shit man! That’s hell! How did that happen? And how did they know? Any leads?” I exclaimed almost jumping out of my seat hearing to his words.

Though spies have been thriving from the era when no one knew what a computer was, in the present Software Era spies have to rely on multiple software technologies for most of their communications, encryptions and storages. And with the most recent technical advancements, software has almost become an integral part of a spy just like his gun. A spy in these has to know using these technologies at his fingertips as much as he knows how to reload and shoot a gun within seconds in any condition he is stuck in.

This was one of the most secured networks of Indian Intelligence and hacking it didn’t show the weakness of our country’s most secured network. It clearly meant some rich pocket and some very dangerous brain is behind this who could reach any risk to get into it. One more message any hacking incident delivers is ‘look out for a traitor in your team’.

“The technical head has not yet confirmed it but the GPS tracker on this missing RAW agent stopped working within 30 mins after he sent out this mail. That’s what has spooked a guess on this hacking and also this spy’s kidnapping.”

“No other clues?”

“That’s not to it. This agent had to handover the information he had collected on whatever he was working to another local IB agent before he infiltrated that group which he mentioned in his mail. He had even called him and they had confirmed upon a meeting place and time but this RAW guy never showed up. The local agent waited for an hour and then went looking for this guy in the local surrounding areas of their decided meeting place trying to get any information on him. He even took help of local police to search for him just in case he was stuck up in some accident or anything of that kind. But nothing came up. Upon contacting the base at Bangalore they confirmed the agent’s GPS had stopped sending signals within minutes after he sent out his last mail to his head which was after the call with the local agent. There has been no sign of him or his activities or any of his belongings since then. His last known address, a small rented house in Honnavar has been swiped clean.”

“Hmm. Strange. So he is a smoke now”

“Yeah. There are only few clues with this local agent whom we will have to meet and he would be helping us.”

“Who is this guy?”

“He is a former spy now into special ops on information gathering working on Western Ghats Area as Info Gatherer. He is purely into being a local contact whose main job is to collecting information on the local happenings and from such spies working around this area and what not and encrypt all the information and send it to the main base. His code name is Ram. By the way Chief spoke about him, it looks like this man has earned some respect both in the Bureau and also locally in Honnavar as a local grocery shopkeeper.”

“Hmm. So he would be joining us in Honnavar?”

“No. First thing that Chief cleared is, Agent Ram is completely into information gathering and his job is only to do what he does. In no way he is a spy now and in no way he can get involved into any action and at any cost his cover id should not be blown. We would be driving for an approximate of 68 kms from Sagara towards Honnavar. Then we would get this place called Herangadi Bus Stop on Bangalore Honnavar Highway. This place comes within the Honnavar Taluk. Agent Ram would be waiting for us there. He would brief us on the clues and next preferred actions and any other local information that would help us in our mission. His part is done” Praveen said, opening a bottle and gulping down some water.

He had been on call for atleast 20 minutes and now was sharing the information with me. I thought it better to spare him few minutes to gulp in some water and help himself with his dried throat. I took a moment and looked out of the window on my right. Though it was still the same mesmerizing scenery surrounding us, the thoughts of the mission had blocked any outside signals, especially about enjoying the scenery.

Declining his offer of water, I asked, “What else did Chief say?”

“No one clearly knows what this missing agent was working on and what organizations are involved in whatever he was working on. The one thing that is for sure is he was working with INTERPOL which confirms that this is something international but even they don’t have any details about what information he had laid his hands on. INTERPOL has been notified and they are also sending down their team. They are looking for an update within 24 hours; else they want their involvement in all this. That’s all he said. This is the mission. We now have less than 24 hours to find him.”

“A RAW agent working on something big and dangerous happening in this Ghats and suddenly goes mission without any trace. Just like smoke in the air. No clues, no contacts. Now I understand why Chief gave this mission code 206” I said raising the speed a bit.

“True”

“And what about that text? Why he wanted us to text him ‘it’s hot’?” I asked trying to get another piece of the puzzle.

“Ah that! That was one of his ways to find out if we were able to decrypt his message and had got the exact message without missing out any word or message”

“Makes sense. That’s our Chief!”

“At what time are we meeting Agent Ram?”

“No certain time. He has been notified about our whereabouts and would be waiting for us near that Herangadi Bust Stop at a roughly calculated time of 1 PM. We have to reach by then. How many days has it been since you showed your speeding skills in Ghats?”

“There has been a long gap. But today is the chance” I said raising the speed a bit more as we drove towards Honnavar.

The brain of any spy is specially made and further more trained to stop thinking about anything other than the mission. Especially when a mission involves something like saving a life, the brain rarely gets a chance to think about anything other than plotting the next actions for the mission.

Our brains too had started putting up all the required thoughts for this mission and had turned as noisy as silent it was out in that lovely green  scenery which had turned blank and useless for us now. The only thing that we saw now was this Rescue Mission and a Long Long Day!

Mission Begins next Sunday!

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Riddle Solved!

We had been reading over the same mails again and again trying hard to identify any clue from any word. The key to any riddle is a clue hidden within the riddle itself. We just need to keep looking for that clue from different angles. The road was getting busier and the there were few persons going into the hotel who were using the parking lot and gave us a strange look every time they came in or walked out.

“Sir you need anything else?” the waiter had asked few times signaling us promptly that the table was needed for other customers.

Respecting the hotel rules and regulations and even considering the hungry customers who would really be in need of that table, we had cleared our bill and got into the car. But were desperate to solve the riddle without which we had no clue of continuing our journey.

It was after long and silent gap of half hour when Praveen said, “There should be something in that last line. That’s why it’s repeated in both the mails.”

I read the line again - You both work together. Team work always wins. Mix in your thoughts into your work. That brings the desired result!

“It says work together. What if Chief was saying that both mails need to be put together” Praveen said.

Reading the line again brought a twinkle in my eyes. Finally he had given a new angle to look at the riddles. It was not two but one riddle and both the mails were two parts of that riddle.

“Yeah, you are right” I screamed.

“You got it?” he asked bending over to my laptop.

“Look here. Chief’s last line refers to the mails not us. Both the mails need to be put together.”

“But what can we get putting them together. Both are just as meaningless and clueless as the other” he said.

“Let’s just put them together in one notepad and read again” I said copying his mail and mine into a notepad.

“I guess these should not be one after another. He says mix your thoughts. If he is referring to the mails as you, then the thoughts would be words. We need to mix in the words” I said.

“Cool. Let’s try” he said trying on his laptop.

“We can’t mix randomly. Let’s start mixing one word after another” he said, trying something.

“If we start picking up one word from each mail? Try that” I said.

“Agent raw was went missing. This doesn’t make sense. Let me reverse order of mails and pick the first word from your mail. Raw agent went missing. Bingo!” Praveen yelled.

“Awesome. Finally we got something. Now let’s continue word after word.”

After putting together few words we had – RAW Agent went missing. Was Mike on working international.

“Again it’s not making sense” he said.

“Let’s not just pick word after word but try identifying the next meaningful word. Check this one” I said, trying to make the second line.

With that new idea of picking the next meaningful word to make up a sensible line we got our second line - Was working on something international along with INTERPOL.

Finally after a hard work and lots of trial and error of building up sentences and lots of yes and no’s we had got the answer for the riddle. Chief had put in an encrypted message giving a little detail of the mission within those mails which was –

RAW agent missing. Was working on something international along with INTERPOL. Probably kidnapped by the group he was looking into. But no demands, no contact. His last mail says 'Case Cracked. Seen contents. Need to be one of them to spoil them.' This proves he was alive yesterday evening. His safety and the information he holds is very crucial. Highly secured mission. Text me just 'its hot' for local contact.

Code 206. Location - Narayanpur, UK

“Awesome. Finally we atleast know where to go and what to do and what the mission is. I will start driving while you text the Chief” I said starting the car and reversing it from the parking lot.

“But why does the Chief want us to text him. And why he has been hiding the message. He sent a short message with just the code. Then he sent an encrypted message. Now this text” Praveen said typing the text to the Chief.

“I too don’t have any clue. Atleast we got this.  And if the agent himself had said he would be going undercover into that group he was dealing with why is he being assumed kidnapped?”

“Yeah right. I just hope we clear out atleast few things before reaching Narayanpur” Praveen said relaxing back into his seat as we headed out of Shimoga.

The time was already 10:40 AM. We atleast had cracked the riddle and got an overview of the mission. It was a rescue mission of an agent who was dealing in something international. This obviously made the code 206 meaningful! But still there were few questions left answered or maybe it was part of the mission to find the answers and there was one doubt as Praveen put out as to why Chief was hiding messages. Mobiles are ok but weren’t our mail ids untraceable? The thoughts kept building up as I drove onto the highway and started a long drive continuing the real long day!

Meet you all in Narayanpur next Sunday to begin the rescue mission…

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Stuck in middle of the riddle!

One glance at the bottom of the screen while Praveen was opening up his mail alarmed me. It was already 9:15 AM and we had lost 1/4^th of the day. It is always difficult but one of the many first mandatory things thought to spies to keep up on time. Every action and every decision any spy makes has time as one the major factor in its making. Since spies are always handed tasks that involve either a major threat or some danger to national security or sometimes even a task wherein a life keeps hanging, the ticking time matters the most.

I knew even Praveen was as much worried as me but both of us hid our worries very well within ourselves.

“Check this” he said keeping his right palm on my shoulder and taking a light support.

I pulled the laptop in front of me and read the mail which went exactly as below –

Agent Mike was travelling on an international flight with his wife. Probably travelling by the group package was never his interest but his wife had forced it into his head. "No never again" he said to himself as he closed his eyes. "Is he thinking about work? No, atleast his latest mail says he is not into any case" his wife thought and enjoyed the clouds as seen from the window. "I need to be back early to get hold of one of the proof to catch them" he continued thinking. This clearly proves he was atleast until yesterday that he was working on a case. As his mail and the information it holds makes it very clear. "Highly critical mission awakens me and it’s obvious that I reach my limits working on it" he used to say. He was heading out but his mind was into that local case he yet had to solve.

Code 206. Location Chelsea, UK.

You both work together. Team work always wins. Mix in your thoughts into your work. That brings the desired result!

“What on earth does this mean?” I asked a bit frustrated by reading some extract that made no sense at all.

“I don’t have even the slightest idea” he replied with his voice as frustrated as was mine.

“This atleast looks like a meaningful extract from some novel or book but read the one that Chief sent me. I am damn sure you will go mad” I said opening up my mailbox in a new tab.

He walked around the table and sat beside me, to my right, while I was logging in and opening up the mail for him to read.

Finally when it opened, he pulled the laptop in front of him and started reading, in his mind, which read exactly as below –

Few raw vegetables went missing while Mike was working on something. Then he had nothing along with him and finally he called Interpol. They looked into who kidnapped the vegetables. He said he will be looking into it but the demands the missing vegetables case forced him to contact Interpol. At last as he says, "They cracked the contents of all boxes to make sure one of them had vegetables" "Spoil the boxes and get the contents. This theory not only bothered the passengers but angered them" he thought. Vegetables were alive till evening and their safety was the one thing he knew was is and will be crucial. It was a highly secured flight but still vegetables were gone. He read the text he just got wiping the sweat and said, to himself, "Its as hot as oven and it’s never comfortable for anyone in this miserable heat" rechecking the contact from whom he had got that strange text after the vegetables went missing.

Code 206. Location Narayanpur, India.

You both work together. Team work always wins. Mix in your thoughts into your work. That brings the desired result!

“There is absolutely no meaning in this. What novel talks about kidnapped vegetables?” he said with his eyes still fixed on the mail.

“That’s what is driving me crazy. This definitely is not any extract from any book that can give us any clue and is not something that carries neither any meaning nor any message for us. Then what the hell is this all about?”

“The only thing common is Mike” he said

“And Code 206 and that last line” I said, sipped in some more caffeine and continued, “There must be a clue in this for sure”

“If Chief says then definitely our thoughts need to be mixed” Praveen said.

“We are stuck in middle until we solve the riddle” he said again while I was reading the last line again and again and again.

“Hmmm” I replied and then said to myself, “This will be a real long day!”

The mails look meaningless but there is always a clue hidden somewhere. We just need to find the hidden clue and figure out the answer. That’s what riddles are!

Can you readers find the clue and figure out what Chief has hidden in his messages and help us out?

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Riddle Riddle!

Good Morning Readers,

Let’s wish A Very Very Happy Mother’s Day to all the Sweet Lovely Mothers!!!

I read my last year’s blog today again to take a moment and feel what this day meant to me - http://sundayreaders.blogspot.com/2013/05/happy-mothers-day.html

“It’s been more than 2 hours staring at this mail and I still get nothing out of it” I said with some disappointment and little hunger clearly being shown on my face.

“It’s really tough sometimes to know why Chief behaves the way he behaves. He sent a message saying some rescue op but no details”

“He sent a page long mail with heading Solve the Riddle and keep driving on BH Highway until you solve it. I am done cracking my head reading the riddle for over hundred times.”

“If Chief wanted to keep this mission fully secured what was the reason he sent that message saying Rescue Op?”

“As you said it’s tough to understand what he does and why he does that. Leave it. Let’s fill our stomach.” I said, getting down from the car.

“May be some delicious breakfast might help us” he said closing the door of the car and locking it.

“Or a cup of strong coffee which I need badly” I said turning away from him towards the entrance of one of the most famous breakfast hotels in Shimoga.

The time was little more than 8:30 and we had already lost some time due to some construction work on the highway. We were hungry and bit tiered. Praveen had been driving non-stop since 2 long hours during which I just kept reading the riddle and kept scratching my brain to solve it. As we entered the Mahalaxmi Bhavan, it seemed like we were the first customers and had almost dropped in even before the cook in kitchen had lighted on the stove. Walking towards a corner table we took our seats and ordered a plate of Paddu each.

Quickly gobbling up the breakfast as soon as it was served freshened up our mind and energized our body. Another plate of Upma not only completed a complete South Indian Breakfast but gave a perfect start for the day. But it was only when I sipped the coffee, I opened up my laptop again.

“Again?” Praveen asked, raising his head from tea cup.

“We need to solve this riddle. There would be nothing without the answer. We don’t even know where to go and what to do”

“I say let’s call up Chief and get the details”

“You know him” I said, pursing in my lips and opening up the mail.

Praveen rose from his seat and walked towards me and stood beside me glancing at the laptop.

Suddenly he exclaimed, “This is different”

“What?” I asked turning at him.

“This mail, it’s different”

“What different?”

“The mail which I have got is different. I mean the riddle. I mean Chief has sent us separate mails with different riddles”

“Open up your mail,” I said pushing the laptop towards him and continued, “in a new tab”

Without saying anything he quickly opened the mail he had received from Chief. The first thing that crossed my mind while he was opening up the mail was, “If it’s been this tough and so long in solving the riddle then it would definitely be a tough job and a long long day!”

Come back next Sunday for the Riddle…

Vishal…

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It’s a long long day – Dawn breaks!

“I am hungry and I am already sick of keeping my foot on this accelerator” Praveen said, breaking the long silence which I had mainly utilized in enjoying the fresh morning cool breeze kissing my face.

I slowly turned to him and said, “I will take the wheels”

“If you take the wheels how will the car move?” he said and suddenly burst into a wild laughter on his own freshly cracked PJ.

I too couldn’t resist a chuckle, atleast that broke down our hour long silence and the boredom with which we had been driving on the highway that was almost empty except for the few trucks that we left behind.

“Sorry, but wanted to take revenge on your last PJ” he said controlling his laugh.

“I knew you have been struggling for this revenge since an hour” I said.

“Forget revenge, what about breakfast? I am damn hungry”

“It’s still 5 AM. We can stop at any tea stall, get refreshed and continue”

“Till?”

“Shimoga. We will stop there for breakfast. It will be around 9 when we enter Shimoga.”

“Fine. Sounds good. Let me drive for another stretch and stop over for a strong tea” he said and resumed his highway speed.

It was almost 6 when the needle on the speedometer of our car came down and the car moved from the fast lane to the slower lane and then further left just in time to stop in front of the smallest tea stall that we could find on the outskirts of Tiptur. If not for the breaks just in time, we would have entered Tiptur. I ordered a strong tea for him and a coffee for myself while Praveen quickly washed his face and freshened up.

The shopkeeper, a simple looking old man with shaggy beard and brown teeth, the result of tobacco, smiled widely showing off all his brown teeth while handing over the cups and asked, “Anything to eat Sir?”

“What’s there?” Praveen asked

“Bun, biscuits and anything Sir. But if you wait for another 30 mins you will get Lemon Rice, Tomato Rice, Upma” he said, still showing off his marvelous tobacco effect.

“Just give 2 biscuit packets” Praveen said, and then taking those from the old shopkeeper he walked towards me.

We preferred to be silent and enjoyed the dawn that was just breaking in on us while we gulped in the hot beverages that not only helped to freshen up our brains but also provided a soothing effect to our throat and stomach that early in the morning. The birds had started flying out of their nests as the first few rays of Sun had already lighted up the place here and there warning the Earth of Sun's arrival any minute. A lazy dog still slept just beside the tea stall uncomfortable with one of those rays that was falling on its body. The biscuits Praveen picked up were a great help in settling scores with the hungry stomach and making a deal with it to be silent till we reached Shimoga.

It was not until when we were back in car and the speedometer had picked up that we spoke.

“Are you sure you will drive?” I asked

“Yes, until breakfast. Then you can drive” he said, busy in increasing the speed.

“Cool. Then I will take a nap”

“I will kill you if you close your eyes. You have to be awake with me” he said suddenly turning at me.

I laughed enjoying the sudden ruffle I had created.

“Ha ha don’t worry. I am opening the mail from Chief to go over the details” I said.

“We know nothing except the location. It says rescue but what rescue?”

“I too don’t have even the smallest idea on what it is. But the mail and message both said Code 206”

“Yeah that’s when I packed up my things. It sure is something big and crucial”

“You are right, it’s surely is something crucial; something that cannot wait. Let me go over the mail to find if Chief put in some coded message” I said, opening the laptop.

“Rescue operation, that too in that remote location. Mission completion time 24 hours max. Chief has something big for us this day”

“Yes, I too am not able to make out what it would be.”

“Never mind, read the mail if you can crack any encoded message in it. Anyhow we would be getting details from a guy we would be meeting as soon as we get there. Until then I will play songs to keep me awake and away from your useless jokes” he said turning on the player.

“Wow. This is your mini rescue operation from me?”

“Of course!” he said and started singing the song that started up in the player.

I opened up my mail box and opening the recent mail from Chief, I read it again. Again and again; over and again; trying my best to get atleast something more than those plain words.

Finally, taking a break and bending my neck to both side and then taking a look out of the window glass I said, to myself, “Today will be a long long day!”

Contd Next Sunday…

Vishal…

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