Chapter 07: Shining Knights

Inspector Indrajit watched Cecil place his calls to the next of kin. He wondered. Could this be a hoax, after all? It could very easily be a bunch of wealthy kids, trying to have their fun with the strong arm of the law. If it turned out to be so, Inspector Indrajit gravely thought, then he would ensure that each person involved understood the implications of the word ‘strong’ in the phrase ‘strong arm of the law’. The thought of teaching a lesson to such nuisance-creating youngsters brought a smile to the Inspector’s lips. One way or the other, he was going to have a hectic few hours.

Inspector Indrajit had been brought up in a home where reading and literature was held in high regard. As a consequence of this, he had finished reading most of the popular classics by the age of 12. Dickens had always been his favourite. In fact, Mr. Bumble’s ever-famous quote, “If the law supposes that, then the law is an ass,” helped push the young Indrajit towards studying more about the huge machinery of the law and its various functions. He could have become a lawyer, or something else, but he wanted to get into the Police force so that he could be directly on the frontline, defending and upholding the law while bringing criminals to justice. And now, looking at Cecil finishing his call to Rachel, the Inspector wondered if he would be required to defend, or deliver justice, in this particular case.

When Nate returned, the Inspector requested him to sign a few papers required for the First Information Report. The general public widely believed that policemen would not file a First Information Report without a bribe being handed over. But the general public has rarely walked into a police station, let alone filing an FIR. Cecil was pleasantly surprised to find that the general public were misinformed regarding this fact. Inspector Indrajit did not hint or request or stall, for a bribe of any sort. Nice, Cecil thought.

An hour after the phone call to Rachel, Cecil was among the tiny ‘force’ that was being gathered by the Inspector in the Station parking lot. He had put together a team of six, including the Inspector, with two jeeps for transportation. He also loaded some gear like a high-powered GPS Receiver, Satphone communications device and a few powerful-looking handheld searchlights. A camera, voice recorder and the Inspector’s laptop were added too.

Riding out of the police station on his black Pulsar, followed by two police jeeps with their sirens blaring and their lights flashing, Cecil felt he was leading a pack of modern knights. In the days of old, when a damsel was in distress, she could always rely upon any passing knight to save her…

“Sire, please save me from my predicament.”

“O fair maiden, what foe hath befallen thee?”

… or something like that. In the modern world, chivalry had all but died. Men unsuccessfully attempted to defend their dignity, their place, and their rights in a society and world which was filled with protests and demonstrations to help the ‘fairer sex’, as women termed themselves. The only ‘knight’ that a modern-day lady recognised would be the metaphorical ‘knight in shining armour’, whom she would marry and live happily ever after. Such ‘knights’ rarely wore shining armour. It was ever rarer that such men could even be termed as ‘knights’. Turning his thoughts to the tiny army following him in the two jeeps, Cecil wondered. How different were Policemen from Knights, really? Sure, they wore caps at jaunty angles, and donned uniforms that pre-dated the Jurassic era. But at the heart of it all, weren’t they, right now, coming to the rescue of people in distress? Much like the Knights of old. Without any actual armour, but shining, nonetheless.

As they sped down the last few kilometres to the spot, Cecil noticed that not many passers-by were present. This gave him a tiny source of happiness – just for a second. Cecil hated being noticed. He was no introvert, but that didn’t make him feel good about people staring at him. Who does like such things, really?

Nate, Rohit and Susan could hear the sirens a few minutes before they could actually see the headlights and the flashing lights. Hope stirred in them again. They’d been waiting in this desolate spot for nearly three hours. They’d begun to wonder if something had happened to Cecil as well. The relief that sprung up inside them upon his return was huge. The sight of the Police jeeps almost turned that relief into sheer joy. Cecil quickly filled them in on what had happened. He told them of losing his phone en route to the city, the phone call to Inspector Indrajit, and the visit to the Police station. When he finished, all four turned to see the Policemen shaking their heads, as if disappointed. Apparently, none of their equipment was functioning. To be more precise, none of their radio/wirelessly-connected equipment was working. The Laptop was booting fine, but the BSNL EVDO modem wasn’t obtaining a network signal. The Satphone didn’t appear to be logging onto the network at all. The GPS receiver was behaving in a bizarre manner.

Inspector Indrajit was stumped. What could this mean? He had read several stories related to the Bermuda triangle, but none of that had been proven. Here was a spot along the National Highway that was totally cut off from any means of Wireless communication. A crazy thought entered his head. He walked over to one of the jeeps and tried tuning into the FM Radio. Nothing but whines and static. Wow, he thought. Who could have known that we’ve got our very own Bermuda triangle-like scenario right here on the National Highway?

He decided that nothing could be done about their communications. He had to search the area, as soon as possible. They still had to confirm if this was a simple ‘Missing Persons’ case or a criminal case. They had to make sure. He asked the men to fan out and search the area, sending them out in twos, each pair holding a hand-held searchlight. Two pairs of men went off to the left of the road, where the tyre marks had been seen going of the road. The Inspector, and another policeman, pointed a searchlight into the darkness on the opposite side of the road, and decided to check out this side.

What’s he doing??? Nate’s mind screamed. He’s wasting time! Why’s he looking on that side of the road??? The tyre marks clearly lead off onto this side! Frustrated, tired and now angry, Nate spoke loudly. “Inspector sir, the tyre marks go off to this side. Wouldn’t we save time to search on this side of the road? If you want, we could even show you the place where we saw some strange ‘dragging’ marks on the ground.”

Right. The Inspector mused. That’s what I need. A smart alec.

“Listen,” he replied. “It makes sense to ‘sweep’ the entire area to ensure that we’re not missing anything. We are the police, and we’re experienced. Trust me.”

Nate shrugged and turned away. What a waste of time!

The first mistake humans make when under stress is to doubt and question everything. The second mistake that humans make, is to lose the ability to view a situation from multiple angles and to try and obtain a birds-eye view of the whole thing. Nate, had succumbed to both. It was inevitable, and it had occurred. It was only a matter of time now, before he succumbed to the complete loss of hope itself.

An excited shout from the Inspector brought all four of them running to a bush on that side of the road. What was going on?! The Inspector appeared to be holding up a small black object. Cecil and Nate looked at each other. That was Sudha’s phone!

The phone appeared to be nearly out of battery, but the voice recorder application seemed to be open. With trepidation, the Inspector reached out and pressed the buttons to playback the last recorded file.

There were a few seconds of a hissing sound that recorded audio makes, when nothing is heard. There seemed to be a faint rustle accompanying the standard hiss, but it was too faint to be sure. Everyone leaning in close to the phone had to move their heads away when they heard Sudha’s shout next “WHAT ARE YOU???” They looked at each other quizzically. Who or what was Sudha talking to? Then the rustling appeared to grow louder. When the rustling sounds suddenly stopped, they heard something like a whimper from Sudha, with screams of “No… No….. NOOOOO!” Then pure silence. Complete silence. The stunned group looked at each other. The Inspector, the policeman by his side, Nate, Cecil, Rohit and Susan. The file was still playing on Sudha’s phone. There appeared to be more than half a minute left. But this time, there was nothing else to hear, apart from the recording hiss. With a grave face, the Inspector turned to Cecil and the rest.

“Kids, we’re gonna have to treat this as an abduction case. You’ll all need to go home as soon as possible, for your own safety.”

Thoughtful as ever, Cecil ventured “But what could it be, sir? What do you think happened?”

“To tell you the truth, at this point, I’m not sure. It’s obvious that Sudha saw something, and decided that it might be worth leaving behind a clue; but it’s not obvious as to what happened. It may not be a human being, as you’ll notice, she didn’t ask the obvious ‘Who are you?’ She instead asked what it was. Until we gather more details, we’ll need to assume it was an ULO – Unidentified Land Object.”

The four felt dejected and scared. Sudha was not simply lost. She had been abducted by some – thing. Which possibly meant that Shiloh had been abducted too. Who would want to abduct these two? There was no connection between the two of them, apart from the fact that Shiloh’s brother was Sudha’s friend. Neither of them was rich, or had wealthy parents. There was no motive.

Finding Sudha’s mobile phone had confirmed a scary fact. The two whom they’d thought were missing, were truly gone. They had no way of finding them. Cecil sincerely hoped that his previous allusion of the police being knights was true. He really needed some damsel-saving heroes now.

Chapter 06: My Darling!

Rachel looked at the clock. It was only half-past nine. Too early to call Nate. She missed him. Of all the things that made up her life right now, she wanted more of him. She couldn’t wait until they were married and she could go down south to live with him. What a joy, that would be! Oh well. Let’s watch some TV instead.

The Steven Curtis Chapman song, though usually loud, was barely audible above the din of the TV. Her elder brother, David, was adding more noise to the room by just being there. Faint as it was, she still heard her mobile ringing from her room. It’s not Nate. That’s not the ringtone I’ve set for him… Who could it be? Curious to find out who could be calling her at this hour on a Sunday evening, she picked up her mobile and looked at it. It was Cecil. Interesting. She thought. She answered the call.

If her brother or her mother had been in her room, they would have been wondering as to why Rachel had such an expression of shock on her face. Pure disbelief was written over the pretty features that made her smile usually light up many hearts. Oh my God! She couldn’t believe what Cecil was telling her. She had known that Nate was going on a bike trip that afternoon, but it had seemed totally harmless. To hear that Shiloh and Sudha were missing was terrible news. She knew both Shiloh and Sudha quite well. She’d met them each a few times. She couldn’t bear the thought of something happening to them.

“How’s Nate taking all of this?”

“He seemed pretty okay when I left him…”

“You left him? Where are you now?”

“Our mobile phones were not working. I came to get help, and am currently at a police station in the city.”

“Where’s Nate?”

“He’s still out there on that deserted Highway, searching…”

Cecil’s voice trailed off into silence.

“How could you leave him there alone? After what just happened? Are you mad?”

“Listen, Rachel, it’s not that big a deal. My cousin, Susan, and her friend Rohit are there with Nate. The three of them are together.”

“Still…”

Rachel wasn’t thinking straight. She was thinking Nate. To expect a woman so in love to think about anyone other than her lover, when her lover seemed to be in possible danger, is a great expectation. Rachel was not prepared to fulfil any such great expectations. She was brought out of her private reverie by Cecil’s gentle voice.

“Don’t worry, dear. Things will work out.”

Cecil spoke with a hint of bravado that he could not, that he did not feel.

“Right now, Rachel, we’d like it if you could inform Nate and Shiloh’s parents.”

“You’re asking me to tell the parents of the man I love, that their elder son is missing?”

Rachel was incredulous. She wanted all this to go away. She wished it was all just a bad dream. But it wasn’t. It definitely wasn’t.

“Yes. I know it’ll be difficult… That’s why it’s best if you called. I’ve already informed Sudha’s family”

“Okay… I guess I have to do that.”

Giving in. Not giving up. Rachel knew what the situation demanded. This was no time to fool around. No time to not want to give bad news. Someone had to do it. And it had rather be her than someone else. With dread, Rachel pulled up Nate’s Dad’s contact on her phone, and dialled.

Ten minutes, dozens of tears, a lot of hurt and a thousand questions later, Rachel got off the phone with Nate and Shiloh’s parents. It hadn’t been easy, but she’d told them. She’d told them all what she knew. Now, it was upto them to deal with their grief. She had a good portion of her own to deal with.

Left to her own thoughts, Rachel brought to the forefront of her mind that nagging thought that had been buzzing around at the far reaches of her mind ever since Cecil had called. Should she go to be with Nate now? She knew she wouldn’t be able to do much to help the situation. But Nate would definitely be glad to have her comforting presence around. She decided to think of the pros and cons of going or not going, but couldn’t come up with a concrete solution. She took the dilemma over to her mum.

Rachel’s mum, as usual, wisely told her the facts – her presence would add further complications to an already-complex situation, as Nate would have to take care of her as well, while looking for his bro. Yet, her presence could help Nate find a little comfort during this harrowing experience he must be having. After stating the facts, her mother looked straight into her eyes and saw that Rachel was hurting. The solution was simple.

“Go to Nate.” Her mum said.

“Are you sure, Mum?”

“Yes, of course. You must be where your heart wants you to be.”

“But I don’t have a place to stay there…”

“I’m sure you can stay at Sudha’s place, dear. Just go. Take the next flight out of here.”

As Rachel packed, her mind was a whirl. She had only one thought inside her head – I’m gonna see Nate in a few hours!

Chapter 05: A Maniac

The wind moving past his face chilled him. He had lifted the visor of his helmet, since dirt and grime had settled on the visor reducing his visibility. A good few kilometres from the spot should do fine. That should take care of the lack of network range. After driving for nearly ten minutes, he felt he should stop and call for help. Stopping his bike by the side of the road, he pulled out his mobile phone. Still no range. That was strange. Trying to find his bearings, he pulled out his PDA to check his location using Google Maps. No GPS signal here, either. Very strange.
Well, nothing to do, but ride on. Starting his bike again, he decided that he’d keep on riding till he reached some signs of civilisation. A good twenty minutes or so later, he saw street lights appearing every few meters. After he passed a turn-off from the Highway, he could see other bikers and motorists travelling along with him on the Highway. This should be a place which has range. Cecil pulled over for the fourth time in the past couple of hours. He reached into the pocket of his pants to pull out his mobile phone, but his hand touched nothingness, apart from the inside cloth of the pocket itself. In disbelief, he checked all his pockets. No phone. The world seemed to be completely unravelling all around him. Cecil Thomas was desperate. He had dire need of two things. A phone, and an aspirin. A painful headache was starting to set in. Unknown, missed and in several pieces, his mobile phone lay where it had fallen on the Highway. Shattered. Useless any more. Far away, a man holding a whip smiled. This had been a satisfying day.

Life plunders the lives of several people, by stealing from the not-so-poor, and handing atuff over to the not-so-rich. The not-so-poor in things other than materialistic wealth. And the not-so-rich in things other than materialistic wealth. A hard thing to understand, life is. Whether people understand it or not, they are bound by its laws, and give in to its demands. Mostly.

Awesome. A cluster of lights lay up ahead. There must be a phone somewhere there. Cecil had gotten back onto his bike, and had decided to go for it, no matter what. This time, he really rode like a maniac. Worst of it all, he had to. It had started to rain. When you’re all alone on a pretty deserted National Highway, and all forms of communication to the external world have been cut off, and the one you love is missing, and you’re trying to get aid at the quickest possible time, rain doesn’t help the mood of the hour. Actually, rain seldom helps the mood of the hour. Unless one can dance in it. Alone. And free. Cecil couldn’t do such things. Atleast, not yet.
The sales man behind the counter of the general store where Cecil had stopped, looked up with a curious expression on his face. Why was this biker stopping here? From the looks of him, he should have stopped ages ago, if he had not wanted to get wet. He was thoroughly drenched. As the young man approached, the sales man quickly deliberated on whether Hindi, the supposed national language of the country, or the regional language should be used. He settled on Hindi.
“Kya chaiyi hai?”
What do you want?
”To wake up in bed and find that all this was a nightmare,” thought Cecil. But he asked instead “Phone hai?”
The man pointed over to a phone placed on the counter.
With trembling fingers, Cecil picked up the receiver and dialled.
1....
0....
0....
“Hello. You have reached the Police department. To report a crime, press 1. To file a complaint, press 2. To obtain details regarding police certificates, press 3. For an emergency, press 4.”
4....
“Hello. Inspector Indrajit speaking.”
“Sir... You need to come. My friends are in trouble... We’re on the Highway, and we don’t know what happened.”
Another one of those prank callers. Indrajit had atleast a dozen of them each day.
“Whoever you are, stop fooling around. This is the police. We can trace you and ....”
“Sir... You don’t understand. I’m calling from a public telephone...”
“So you think you can get away with it? We’ll find you and fine you. Do you know that harassing a police officer is a punishable offence?”
“Sir, please! I need your help. My name is Cecil. I’m on the National Highway, just outside the city. I’m telling you, this is not a prank call. My friends have gone missing. You’ve got to help me find them.”
“Alright. Let’s assume that I do believe what you say. When exactly did your friends go missing?”
“About a few hours ago. We’re not really sure.”
“Son, you’re wasting my time. We cannot file a missing persons report until 24 hours after the person was last seen. Where did you say you were?”
“I’m on the National Highway, en route to the Nagi Falls.”
“That’s not even under the jurisdiction of the city police! There’s really not much that we can do.”
“Sir, you need to find them. Please.”
Nobody needed to tell Inspector Indrajit that the caller was pleading with him now. At that instant, he knew that this wasn’t a prank call. It could be a mentally unstable person, with a good imagination. Whoever he was, he really believed that his friends were missing. And that the police should help.
“Listen... Why don’t you come over to my station, and we’ll have a chat?”
“We don’t have TIME, sir. We need to find them.”
“Without paper work of any kind, we’re not authorised to do a single thing. Please try to understand.”
Cecil was defeated. He felt that the Police Inspector talking to him believed him now, but he also felt that the machine of bureaucracy took a lot of fuel to get moving.
“Sure, Sir. I’ll come ...
Defeat. Giving in to life’s demands. Whether people like it or not, they are forced to live by certain orders of life. Life says jump, and they have to jump. There is no choice. Atleast, that’s what most people think. Many a time, the apparent lack of choice is harmless. At other times, it can be extremely dangerous to proceed past a certain point in life without acknowledging the available choices. Thankfully for Cecil, this wasn’t one of those times.
... Just tell me where.”
The Inspector told him. He knew the place quite well. It was atleast another half hour’s ride from where he was. At this time of the night, there would be not much of traffic.

As Cecil neared the city, he was leaving behind poorly paved roads, which gave way to the smooth, recently laid roads leading into the city. Now, he thought, I can really drive like a maniac. Usually, he was a careful rider. He never pushed his bike past 80-85 during the daytime, and never past 50-60 in the night. This night, he was past 75 kmph on unknown roads with the rain coming down in sheets. At those speeds, the rain was not falling down like dainty little droplets of water. The rain became thin ice-cold needles of pain that poked him wherever his skin was exposed to the elements.
He loved riding a bike. He really loved it. But this night, wasn’t filled with an ounce of joy. Sudha. She was all that mattered. If she couldn’t be found... If something were to have happened to her... If she couldn’t be saved in time.... Oh, God. No.

A strange thing. Love is. It beckons each person who partakes of it, to give everything with abandon, to fully empty himself or herself, and then expect nothing in return. Well, not nothing, really. All people want to be loved back. They love because they are born to love. From a mother’s womb, a human being is pursued relentlessly by love, throughout life, until on the deathbed, love holds their hands as life ebbs away; leaving behind love without life. As useless as a life without love.

Nearly an hour after the phone call, Cecil found the police station. Parking his bike outside, he rushed in. Inspector Indrajit was sitting behind the third desk on the left. The name plate on his desk said so. Cecil walked up to him. Struggling to push all emotion out of his mind, he sat down on a chair in front of the Inspector’s desk.
“Sir... It’s me, I’m the one who spoke to you over the phone.”
“Ah... Tell me. What has happened?”
Cecil told him. From the beginning. Of this terrible tale. He spared no detail. None that he knew. To expect Cecil to tell the Inspector of things he hadn’t yet seen, hadn’t yet heard or did not even know about, would be too much to ask.

When Cecil finished, the Inspector was all business. He instructed Cecil to immediately contact the next of kin of all six. When Cecil explained to the Inspector of the mishap with his mobile phone, the Inspector guided him to a phone which had a sign scrawled above it that read “PubLiC Greivances”. He called his parents, first. Assuring them that he was perfectly safe, he informed them of the evening’s happenings. They agreed to inform Susan’s parents as well. Informing Rohit’s parents was easy too; since it wasn’t their son who was missing, they were quite relieved. Sudha’s parents went into shock. They hadn’t even known that Sudha was taking such a bike trip. They were totally devastated. Sudha’s brother had to take over from his father and finish getting all the details from Cecil.
Finally, only Nate and Shiloh’s parents were left. Here was a problem. He didn’t have their parents’ contact details. There was only one option. Rachel. Nate’s girlfriend. She would be able to get in touch with Nate and Shiloh’s parents. With a heavy heart, he dialled her number.

With its many twists and turns, life can be quite harsh. With love, with hope, with determination, it still ends up being a tough ask, sometimes. At such times, giving in does not necessarily mean that one gives up. Giving up would be a total surrender to the situation. Giving in is a simple acceptance of the cards that life deals out, hoping against hope that better cards are on the way. Cecil hadn’t given up. He had simply given in. To life. Quite unlike a maniac.