The Honeybee Conspiracy

Part 48

Chapter 46

"Somnath, I want you to go down to the Andamans personally. Meet the guy and check out the veracity of his claims and see what he wants. We'll take it up from there." said JK and kept the phone.

A week later, Shyam was waiting at the arrival gate for Jet Airways JW 914 from Chennai to Port Blair for his guest or perhaps his savior was a more apt term.

Rajinder had called him a few days earlier with the good news that he had a relative who worked with the Department of Archeology in New Delhi and he would be the right person to help since this mission had to be kept under wraps. Shyam was eagerly waiting, the placard announced the name of Dr. Bipanshu Chatterjee.

At 13.50 pm, JW 914 touched down at the Sri Seewakar Bahadur Airport in Port Blair. Twenty-five minutes later, Somnath emerged dressed in a pair of blue jeans with a white polo t-shirt paired with rayban sunglasses, carrying a black backpack and a leather laptop bag. He saw the placard, Dr. Bipanshu Chatterjee. He muttered to himself, of all the names the R & D team could think, that asshole Javed is going to get it.

Somnath smiled and pointed to the placard. There was a big smile on Shyam's face as they shook hands.

"Welcome to the Andamans, Dr. Bipanshu", said Shyam.

"Oh yeah, and you must be Shyam. It's really hot here, isn't it?" remarked Somnath.

"Yes sir, the humidity levels are pretty high out here," said Shyam while they boarded the waiting SUV which took them to the resort.

"So tell me Shyam, how did you land up here in the Andamans? You were in Ooty right, that's what Raj had told me," said Somnath, playing his part well as Dr. Bipanshu.

"Yes sir, well, I was in a place called Sholur, which is around 18 km from Ooty. I was scouting out for a better opening when this offer came through," replied Shyam.

"So how do you like it?" asked Dr. Bipanshu.

"Well sir, it's not bad, but I guess at heart I prefer the jungles. That's where I'm more comfortable," replied Shyam.

Somnath laughed, "I know what you mean. Being among animals is any day better than being among humans. Especially in today's world." said Somnath. He had now opened the gates to Shyam's world. They shared one aspect, a love for jungles and animals. The ice had been broken and had made Shyam feel at ease. The file on Shyam was only a few pages but he knew more about him than perhaps Shyam knew about himself.

"You too feel so?" asked Shyam.

"Yeah man, city life sucks. I'm looking out for a nice quiet place for my retirement, I have another four years left," said Somnath. Now, this was a frank submission. Somnath too had had enough of the life he was living and wanted to retire to a nice lonely place where he could have some peace of mind and be away from civilization.

After a couple of hours of rest, Somnath alias Dr. Bipanshu and Shyam sat over a couple of beers in the bar overlooking the Arabian sea that evening. Shyam recounted all the events, his interactions with Commander Singh and the gold bars.

"So tell me Shyam, in what way do you want me to help you?" asked Somnath.

"I need help in getting some of the gold bars out of there. I can't do it alone without running the risk of getting caught," replied Shyam.

"Ok. And what do you intend to do with it?" asked Somnath.

"Sir, let me be very frank with you. There was a time when we as a family were very well settled. My dad had a factory in Bangalore employing almost 250 people. Unfortunately, life changed and we lost everything. I later got married and also lost everything after thirteen years, my family, my kids, all of it because of a crazy wife. I came into the resort business purely by chance and I love what I do. I need the money now. I've seen a nice plot of land in Sholur where I want to start a small homestay, just a couple of rooms and live in peace. I don't have any other means of doing this. I don't have any family money and I have a lot of responsibilities to my kids, my mother, sister, and brother. I'm forty-four, age is catching up with me. Can you help me out?" Somnath was staring into Shyam's eyes. He was amazed that a guy from this kind of background had come so far after crossing so many personal setbacks and that too without a helping hand. Infact, he appreciated this guy's positive attitude, his desire of trying to succeed inspite of all these failures.

Somnath looked at the sea, the moon was now slowly bidding farewell and receding below the horizon. The sound of the waves splashing on the bare white sand was soothing.

"I'll tell you what Shyam, let's check out the site tomorrow and I'll see what best I can do. Ok. Don't worry Shyam, you won't be disappointed."

Shyam smiled. Those words were very soothing and more than anything, it gave him hope.