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.But eyewitness accounts say it wasn’t a bomb that went off there.’ He raised an eyebrow.‘Several people described the attackers as possessing a large contraption that was used to fire a projectile at the vault door; a contraption in the shape of a bow.In fact, one eyewitness even called it Lord Shiva’s bow.’ He snorted.Vaid fixed Imran with a piercing gaze.‘If the eyewitness accounts are to be believed, a low-grade explosive must have been used to fire something at the vault door.But why go to the trouble of hauling a machine that fires projectiles? Why not simply blow open the door using explosives?’‘Imran shrugged.‘I can only guess that they wanted something from that vault.Something that was too important to risk damage by using explosives on the door.But, I can’t see what they had to gain by targeting that vault.And no one has claimed responsibility yet, either.’There was silence for a few minutes.‘What about Murphy?’ Vaid looked quizzically at Imran.‘Good news and bad news.Homeland Security in the US was able to determine that he boarded an American Airlines flight three days ago under an alias.We traced his arrival in Delhi.He checked into a five-star hotel in Gurgaon, but checked out yesterday.That’s when his trail goes cold.We’re still trying to locate him, but so far we’ve had no luck.I’ve got the Gurgaon police involved as well.’Vaid looked at the report again.‘Fine.I know you’re on it.But I want to close this one way or the other.And soon.The Home Minister’s breathing down my neck after this report.He’s got enough on his hands and doesn’t want something that can give the media another scoop.We have to find out if this is a real threat and contain it.Or put it to rest.’Imran understood.There were five state elections looming, all critical for the ruling political party.That gave this matter a totally different perspective, apart from the more obvious one of national security.He returned to his office and dialled a number.‘Pramod, listen carefully.I have a hunch.’ He proceeded to give detailed instructions to the person at the other end of the line and then replaced the receiver in its cradle.He had no idea if his hunch would work.He knew he was grasping at straws.But what else could he do?Tour Around Jaungarh Fort‘I really haven’t come been to the fort too often, so I don’t know my way around very well,’ Vijay confessed as he guided the group along the maze of corridors and narrow staircases that led from one room to another, connecting, through narrow staircases, the different levels of the fort, as it climbed the hillside.They had finished dinner and Vijay had offered to take them on a tour of the fort to take their minds off the puzzle.The stairways between the levels were steep.Five hundred years ago, the architects of the fort had designed it with the intention of thwarting enemies who managed to infiltrate the outer defences.Pursuit by the enemy on these stairs would be difficult.Each stairway ended in an intersection of four corridors, a design aimed at confusing and delaying an enemy in pursuit.These intersections had doorways leading out of them that were less than five feet high, compelling passage through them by bending; another device to slow the enemy while the inhabitants made good their escape through numerous secret passages and tunnels.‘Are these secret tunnels still accessible?’ Radha asked excitedly.Vijay shook his head.‘Some of them would have deteriorated and become dangerous to enter with the passage of time.I think uncle blocked them all up when he renovated the fort.’They were now passing through the inner rooms of the fort which had smoothed, plastered walls with large, colourful murals painted on them.‘Frescoes of scenes from the Mahabharata,’ Shukla observed.‘Your uncle loved the epic.Vijay nodded.He recalled his childhood, sitting at his uncle’s knee, listening to stories from the epic embellished with a child’s imagination.‘That is a portrayal of the Bhagavad Gita being delivered on the battlefield.’ Shukla pointed to a painting that covered the wall from floor to ceiling, with horses hitched to a chariot, stamping and tossing their heads while a man with blue skin clad in armour seemed to be preaching to another man armed with an enormous bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.‘Lord Krishna, the avatar of Lord Vishnu, delivering the Gita to Arjuna, the archer.’There were other scenes from the Mahabharata, in the other rooms; the death of Karna—the son of Kunti, mother of the Pandava brothers, and Surya, the Sun God—as he tried valiantly to free his chariot’s wheel from the mire; the famous scene where Draupadi, wife of the five Pandava brothers, is humiliated after she is gambled away over a game of dice.It was nine o’clock when they finished the tour.Everyone was tired now, especially Vijay and Colin, who hadn’t slept the previous night, and they all retired to their rooms, glad to be able to rest.For a few hours, the puzzle of the verse was forgotten.12Day 6Jaungarh FortVijay shifted uneasily in his sleep.He hadn’t slept well since he’d first received word of his uncle’s death.It was the same tonight.Nebulous dreams filled his sleep.He now dreamt of a king carving inscriptions on rocks, going from boulder to boulder, chiselling away until each rock’s surface was fully covered with unreadable squiggles.Finally, nine rocks stood in a circle, like an eye gazing at the sky.And then he found himself watching the scene from above; looking down on the ring of rocks, in the centre of which stood the king, his hands triumphantly raised to the sky.In one hand he clutched a metal disk.Vijay awoke suddenly and sat up in bed, dazed.Then it came back to him; his dream,the king,the rocks [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.But eyewitness accounts say it wasn’t a bomb that went off there.’ He raised an eyebrow.‘Several people described the attackers as possessing a large contraption that was used to fire a projectile at the vault door; a contraption in the shape of a bow.In fact, one eyewitness even called it Lord Shiva’s bow.’ He snorted.Vaid fixed Imran with a piercing gaze.‘If the eyewitness accounts are to be believed, a low-grade explosive must have been used to fire something at the vault door.But why go to the trouble of hauling a machine that fires projectiles? Why not simply blow open the door using explosives?’‘Imran shrugged.‘I can only guess that they wanted something from that vault.Something that was too important to risk damage by using explosives on the door.But, I can’t see what they had to gain by targeting that vault.And no one has claimed responsibility yet, either.’There was silence for a few minutes.‘What about Murphy?’ Vaid looked quizzically at Imran.‘Good news and bad news.Homeland Security in the US was able to determine that he boarded an American Airlines flight three days ago under an alias.We traced his arrival in Delhi.He checked into a five-star hotel in Gurgaon, but checked out yesterday.That’s when his trail goes cold.We’re still trying to locate him, but so far we’ve had no luck.I’ve got the Gurgaon police involved as well.’Vaid looked at the report again.‘Fine.I know you’re on it.But I want to close this one way or the other.And soon.The Home Minister’s breathing down my neck after this report.He’s got enough on his hands and doesn’t want something that can give the media another scoop.We have to find out if this is a real threat and contain it.Or put it to rest.’Imran understood.There were five state elections looming, all critical for the ruling political party.That gave this matter a totally different perspective, apart from the more obvious one of national security.He returned to his office and dialled a number.‘Pramod, listen carefully.I have a hunch.’ He proceeded to give detailed instructions to the person at the other end of the line and then replaced the receiver in its cradle.He had no idea if his hunch would work.He knew he was grasping at straws.But what else could he do?Tour Around Jaungarh Fort‘I really haven’t come been to the fort too often, so I don’t know my way around very well,’ Vijay confessed as he guided the group along the maze of corridors and narrow staircases that led from one room to another, connecting, through narrow staircases, the different levels of the fort, as it climbed the hillside.They had finished dinner and Vijay had offered to take them on a tour of the fort to take their minds off the puzzle.The stairways between the levels were steep.Five hundred years ago, the architects of the fort had designed it with the intention of thwarting enemies who managed to infiltrate the outer defences.Pursuit by the enemy on these stairs would be difficult.Each stairway ended in an intersection of four corridors, a design aimed at confusing and delaying an enemy in pursuit.These intersections had doorways leading out of them that were less than five feet high, compelling passage through them by bending; another device to slow the enemy while the inhabitants made good their escape through numerous secret passages and tunnels.‘Are these secret tunnels still accessible?’ Radha asked excitedly.Vijay shook his head.‘Some of them would have deteriorated and become dangerous to enter with the passage of time.I think uncle blocked them all up when he renovated the fort.’They were now passing through the inner rooms of the fort which had smoothed, plastered walls with large, colourful murals painted on them.‘Frescoes of scenes from the Mahabharata,’ Shukla observed.‘Your uncle loved the epic.Vijay nodded.He recalled his childhood, sitting at his uncle’s knee, listening to stories from the epic embellished with a child’s imagination.‘That is a portrayal of the Bhagavad Gita being delivered on the battlefield.’ Shukla pointed to a painting that covered the wall from floor to ceiling, with horses hitched to a chariot, stamping and tossing their heads while a man with blue skin clad in armour seemed to be preaching to another man armed with an enormous bow and a quiver of arrows on his back.‘Lord Krishna, the avatar of Lord Vishnu, delivering the Gita to Arjuna, the archer.’There were other scenes from the Mahabharata, in the other rooms; the death of Karna—the son of Kunti, mother of the Pandava brothers, and Surya, the Sun God—as he tried valiantly to free his chariot’s wheel from the mire; the famous scene where Draupadi, wife of the five Pandava brothers, is humiliated after she is gambled away over a game of dice.It was nine o’clock when they finished the tour.Everyone was tired now, especially Vijay and Colin, who hadn’t slept the previous night, and they all retired to their rooms, glad to be able to rest.For a few hours, the puzzle of the verse was forgotten.12Day 6Jaungarh FortVijay shifted uneasily in his sleep.He hadn’t slept well since he’d first received word of his uncle’s death.It was the same tonight.Nebulous dreams filled his sleep.He now dreamt of a king carving inscriptions on rocks, going from boulder to boulder, chiselling away until each rock’s surface was fully covered with unreadable squiggles.Finally, nine rocks stood in a circle, like an eye gazing at the sky.And then he found himself watching the scene from above; looking down on the ring of rocks, in the centre of which stood the king, his hands triumphantly raised to the sky.In one hand he clutched a metal disk.Vijay awoke suddenly and sat up in bed, dazed.Then it came back to him; his dream,the king,the rocks [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]