At last I found the notebook 🥲.
Hope you all enjoyed the year 2023.
Thank you for all your love and patience.
Loads of love 🤗.
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The atmosphere in the reception room immediately turned icy cold.
General Rawat and Chairman Bhatt did not look happy. They had just extended an olive branch to the Prime
Minister on account of the fact that Devika's slip-up had had "no serious consequences"-and now they were
forced to eat their words! The two of them glared at Prime Minister Gandhi. They had been thoroughly humiliated, and it was all because of the Prime Minister!
Sidharth's face grew solemn. He bowed politely to General Rawat, Chairman Bhatt, and Prime Minister Gandhi, before saying gravely: "Please excuse me, I have to deal with the loss of two of my soldiers. I will report to both the military and the parliament once I finish my investigations."
The Special Operations Forces was part of the military. Sidharth had to report to the military Supreme Council and the Senate, but he did not actually have to report to the
Prime Minister. He had only addressed the Prime Minister to be polite.
Prime Minister Gandhi could not keep his embarrassment from showing on his face. He had prepared a little speech, but had been interrupted
by the news of the death of two of the Special Ops soldiers.
Prime Minister Gandhi's face darkened. He slammed a fist into the coffee table. "Yes, you have to run a thorough investigation! We can't have our own men killing and backstabbing each other. You know very well that-"
Sidharth frowned as he interrupted the Prime Minister. "Prime Minister Gandhi, my Special Ops men only act upon external threats. We would never try to kill our own. Please, have a seat. Now, if you'll excuse me..."
He turned and left without another word.
General Rawat and Chairman bhatt got to their feet. "Now that we have a situation on our hands, we have to go back to our office and make the necessary preparations. Please excuse
us, Prime Minister Gandhi." The two men nodded slightly to the Prime Minister, before walking out of the room together.
Prime Minister Gandhi narrowed his eyes at their retreating backs. He was feeling uneasy. The day before, he had called the two men and begged them to help him put in a good word with Sidharth. They had been reluctant at first, but had eventually agreed to help him. Now that there were casualties, they had immediately turned their backs on their promise to him. He seethed inwardly, but consoled himself with the thought
that neither of them would be able to win against him in an election. He was the Prime Minister, while General Rawat was just the commander of the military, and Chairman Bhatt was just the Chairman of the Senate...
...
The Special Operations Forces had a dedicated department to deal with the deaths of their soldiers.
Before Sidharth arrived at the Indian Capital Airport, the men from that department had already placed the entire airport on lockdown and brought all the passengers who had
been on the same flight as the deceased to the airport's special reception room for questioning.
Half an hour later, Sidharth's car arrived at the Indian Capital Airport.
He was wearing his black officer's uniform and a military cap pulled over his eyebrows. He had put on a pair of sunglasses, obscuring the upper half of his face. All anyone could see of his face was his nose, which looked like it belonged on a handsome Greek sculpture, and his perfect lips, which were now tightly pressed together.
He strode through the airport's VIP passageway, unhindered by the usual crowds. However, the ground crew at the Indian Capital Airport instantly became his fans the moment they laid eyes on him. They had seen famous
celebrities from all over the world, but they were nothing compared to Sidharth's breathtaking beauty. The
ground crew ran after Sidharth, clamoring for his signature and a selfie with him.
Sidharth's retinue comprised of Deepak, Rohit, and five orderlies, all dressed in plain clothes. They were all taken aback by the behavior of the ground crew, and had to yell at them to keep them away. "What do you think you're doing? Where's your manager? Look at yourselves-you're an embarrassment to our country!"
They had to yell at the stubborn "groupies" several times before they finally went away.
...
"Sir!"
Sidharth walked into the airport's special reception room, and gestured for the Special Ops members saluting
him to be at ease. "Where are they?"
"Still on the plane," replied the Special Ops officer overseeing the operation.
"Do you want to see them?"
"What about the other passengers?"
"They already disembarked from the plane and were already waiting to go through customs when the flight attendants discovered what had happened. Our men had been sitting
apart, one near the front of the cabin and one near the back, and the flight attendants thought they were asleep.
They shook them to wake them up, and found their bodies were already stiff..."
Sidharth stroked his chin thoughtfully. He turned to Rohit. "Interrogate the passengers, especially the ones sitting near the two soldiers. Little Deepak and I will investigate the plane."
Deepak and Rohit responded with a "Yes, sir."
Rohit hurried off to interrogate the passengers. Deepak followed Sidharth as they made their way to the plane.
"This is the Airbus A380, the world's largest passenger airliner. It has a seating capacity of up to 853 people, and can flying at speeds from 559 mph to 634 mph, with a maximum range of 8,500 nautical miles, or 15,700 kilometers." Deepak rattled off the specifications for the plane as he walked behind Sidharth. "The plane
costs 400 million US dollars." He paused, before adding: "It's more or less comparable to Professor Sen's private jet in terms of function, performance, and size."
Sidharth did not reply. He stepped through the aircraft door and into the First Class cabin.
The flight attendants had discovered the bodies before they had had time to clean up. That meant that the scene of the crime was virtually untouched.
The seats in First Class were strewn with blankets and magazines. There was also the occasional headset hanging from the back of the chairs. There was a solitary slipper lying in the middle of the aisle, its companion nowhere to be seen.
Sidharth calmly made his way through the First Class cabin and into the Business Class cabin.
It was, strictly speaking, cleaner than the First Class cabin, but the smaller space made it look more cluttered. The Economy Class cabin was behind the Business Class cabin.
The two Special Ops soldiers had been sitting in Economy Class on their return flight to the Empire. They had bought seats in the Economy Class cabin in order not to attract attention. They had also made sure not to sit together, but their precautions had been in vain-someone had figured
out their true identities.
Sidharth stood at the entrance to the Economy Class cabin, his eyes fixed upon the two men still in their seats.
They both had their headset on, and were leaning into their seats with their eyes closed. They looked like they were asleep. Their complexion remained rosy, instead of a lifeless
white-no one would have guessed they were dead.
Deepak looked upon the scene from behind Sidharth. He felt a sob rising in his throat. He hastily lifted his head and desperately blinked back the
tears in his red eyes.
"You've taken photos?" Sidharth asked impassively. "Investigated the crime scene?" The questions were directed to the man standing behind
Deepak, the Special Ops personnel in charge of the investigation. He hurriedly replied, "Yes, we've checked
everything, and taken the necessary photos. We were going to take the two men away, but we heard you were coming, sir, and decided to wait."
Sidharth took off his cap and bowed his head as he said a silent prayer for his fallen comrades. His fingers tightened around his cap. He closed his eyes, and put the cap back on his head. "We'll take them back with us in the military vehicles. Remember to drape a flag over their coffins."
This was the only way they could show respect to their brothers-in-arms who had given their lives to the country. The Special Ops men, as a general rule, could not receive a proper military funeral due to the covert nature of their work.
As soon as he disembarked from the plane, Sidharth received a phone call from Rohit. "Sir, we found the culprits..." Rohit's voice was subdued. He did not sound happy.
"What's wrong? Are they dead?" Sidharth calmly asked.
"Yes." Rohit was so frustrated he felt like crying. "I'm sorry, I should have taken the necessary precautions. As
soon as I interrogated them, they killed themselves with some kind of poison. It looks like the same poison they used against our men." The poison killed instantly, but preserved the bodies for 10 hours.
"It's fine. It's a good thing they're dead, now we won't have to kill them ourselves." Sidharth shoved his free hand into his trouser pocket as he walked towards the airport exit.
"Bring their bodies back to the base. As for the other passengers, detain them for 48 hours. Continue your investigations, and make sure to pay special attention if someone tries to put a good word in for any of them. I want a complete record of their names, and what they said."
The men in the Special Operations Forces did not point their guns at each other, but that did not mean Sidharth
would stand idly by if it turned out one of his men was trying to sabotage the Special Ops.
By the time they walked out of the airport, the weather had turned gloomy. Gray clouds had gathered in the sky, blocking out the sun.
Deepak stood behind Sidharth. He kept a close watch on their surroundings, but did not say anything.
Sidharth clasped his hands behind him. His gaze swept across the open space before him, before resting
upon the bare trees in the far distance. The naked branches of the trees, clawing desperately at the sky, seemed to blink in and out of existence in the foggy, gloomy weather.
Everything seemed unreal.
"...Mr. Shukla? Are you feeling all right?" Reva had immediately spotted Sidharth as soon as she got out of her car. "Is everything settled? Where are our colleagues?"
"They've been carried off." Sidharth calmly added, "Go look for Rohit, he may need the assistance of the Legal Department."
"Yes, sir!" Reva saluted him. She sighed. "When the photos were leaked I thought nothing of them. I thought it
was just a silly romantic dispute... haha... who would have thought our colleagues would end up sacrificing their lives on the altar of Miss Gandhi's unrequited love for you..."
Sidharth lowered his eyes. "Director Reddy, you should save that for when you testify in court."
Sidharth's car arrived and he bent slightly to get inside. Deepak jogged ahead to open the door for him.
Sitting straight inside car, Sidharth placed both hands on his knees and he appeared as lethal as an unsheathed sword. Deepak followed him in and knocked on the back of the driver's seat to signal for Harsh to start the car. After the car started moving, Deepak began to report to Sidharth the details he learned from Rohit. "...Two white men committed suicide, they had British passports but those could be fake." Deepak showed Sidharth the photos Rohit sent, "The
authenticity still needs to be verified.
For both the murders and suicides, they used a lethal agent typical of the Israeli Mossad. It's not yet possible to determine if the killers are from Mossad." Mossad was the Israeli intelligence agency, although they were not as internationally known as the American CIA and British MI5, they were like silent dogs with a lethal bite. No one could ignore how fearsome the Mossad could be.
Sidharth stared at the photos and shook his head, "That can't possibly be the Mossad, there's no doubt about
it."
"Oh." Deepak didn't question any further, if Sidharth said the Mossad wasn't responsible, then it was certainly true. They had absolute faith and trust in Sidharth.
Sidharth dared to make such a conclusion because he knew the Mossad far better than the CIA or MI5. The instructor who brought him into this line of work was originally a Mossad veteran..."Besides, the drugs the Mossad uses isn't exclusive to them. Anyone willing to pay can get it from them." Sidharth looked at Deepak, "This point was clearly taught in the training course."
Deepak then also recalled this and hastily said, "Right, we can't conclude the Mossad is responsible just from
looking at the drugs."
"These two people are mostly like MI5 spies. Have Rohit start the investigation with looking at the MI5 and not waste time." Sidharth made the command and Deepak forwarded it to Rohit.
Just then, Rohit was arguing with Reva. Rohit agreed with Sidharth that the Mossad wasn't responsible, but Reva thought that they couldn't reject
the possibility. Upon receiving Sidharth's orders, Rohit smiled victoriously at Reva and spread his
palms, "Sorry, Director Bai. It's Mr. Shukla's orders that I start by investigating the British MI5, so we will not look into the Mossad for now."
Although Reva didn't agree, she also didn't oppose the idea and merely nodded, "Since Mr. Shukla gave the order, we have to obey." She paused before continuing, "You go ahead, I'll go collect more evidence from the plane."
This case involved the death of foreigners, so it was no longer domestic. Even though the Special Ops' legal department wouldn't go head to head with the families of
foreigners in court, they still had to collect all kinds of evidence and prepare testimony so that their colleagues in the civil law department could prepare a defense. With the
correct direction of investigation, the task of finding clues became very simple. By the next morning, they had
collected enough evidence to directly send to the British MI5. The British MI5 had intended to use Reuters to start a scandal about "Evil Huaxia People Murdering Foreigners," but immediately shut down the idea as soon as they received the fax from the Indian Special Ops. They didn't even dare collect the bodies of the spies and brushed off the whole incident.
...
Devika Gandhi's case proceeded without delay. On January 3rd, the special military court began hearings. Prime Minister Gandhi and his wife worried at home, and only allowed
their eldest son, Rahul Gandhi to get news from outside the military court.
Their youngest daughter, Falak Gandhi didn't realize how much trouble her sister was in, but for the first time saw that there was something her dad couldn't handle.
She slumped on the bed and hugged a huge teddy bear in a daze. Holding her phone, she kept rubbing it and finally couldn't help calling Kartik. This was his work number so he never picked up. Falak's call was transferred to his work voicemail. She thought about it and left the message, "Professor Sen, it's me, Falak. I wanted to ask how to prepare for the application to be your graduate student? I just entered the B University Law Department as an
undergraduate and am starting my first year courses this year. I hope to get guidance from Professor Sen in the future."
Rashmi, who was responsible for handling Kartik's work, heard the voicemail and asked Kartik, "Professor Sen, do you want to consider accepting Falak. She's the youngest daughter of the Prime Minister, she can help us expand in the India."
Kartik's face was stony as he shot her an icy look, "Do you think that I have to prostitute my body or skills to expand?"
"...Eh, I didn't mean that." Rashmi stuck her tongue out playfully, "Of course Professor Sen doesn't have to do such things, but it's always good to have less trouble and better to have a friend than an enemy."
Kartik remained silent and took a sip of coffee.
"How about I take her under my wing." Rashmi smiled, "I was hired by B University as an Associate Professor
anyway, it would also be suitable if she wrote papers with me."
"Do whatever you want, don't ask me." Kartik's cold voice was a little raspy, like he hadn't slept for several days.
"Professor Sen, does your head hurt again? Do you want me to give you a massage?"
"No need. I want some quiet, you can go now." Kartik rested his head on one hand and waved her off with the
other.
Rashmi could only put down her documents and leave his office.
...
A trial was occuring in the special military court of the India. The defendant was Devika Gandhi and four Special Ops members, and the plaintiff was the prosecutor
from the Special Ops legal department. He represented the
two murdered colleagues and had filed a lawsuit to the special military court. Devika's face was withered-she
had huge dark circles, unkempt skin, sallow complexion and no eyebrows. She usually drew them on, but she was locked up in the detention center, how can she get makeup? She
appeared more than 10 years older than before. Standing alone in the dock, the four other accomplices hung their heads behind her. Reva and Sidharth sat together in the gallery, and a personnel from the legal
department stood at the plaintiff's stand. The judge of the special military court announced the start of the hearing, then allowed the plaintiff to read the indictment. After listening to it, the judge asked Devika, "Do you plead guilty?"
Devika turned tearfully at the stoic faced Sidharth in the gallery. She sobbed, "Even... even though I got my hands on the photos, I never intended to show them to anyone, and never thought of betraying national interests! I was abroad for six years, you can check to see that no one knew who I was! No one was knew what I did before moving overseas!"
"You never intended on showing anyone the photos, then how did they end up in your study trip video? And you also let so many guests see?"
"I was framed!" Devika pulled her hair and screamed in terror, "Someone framed me! I'm innocent! I never hurt anyone! If you think loving someone is a crime, then you
can go ahead and sentence me!"
"You still won't see reason?" The prosecutor at the plaintiff's said laughed mirthlessly as he threw photos of the two members of the Special Ops murdered in North Ireland, "Because of you 'undying love,' these two colleagues lost their lives! And you still have the gall to say you never hurt anyone?!"
"What happened? How did they die? How can I be blamed for their
deaths!" Devika denied, "Anyone in this line of work faced death at any moment. They died because their identities were exposed, how is that my fault? I retired six years ago!"
"Their deaths are certainly tied to you." The prosecutor turned to the judge, "These two soldiers were targeted because the photos Devika stole got leaked. The MI5 took notice and killed them on the flight."
The four accomplices behind Devika looked up suddenly, "Are they really dead? Just because of these photos?!"
"Yes, it was exactly because of these photos." The prosecutor closed his eyes, "You have to remember that our
enemies are carefully selected. They are the best and brightest of their countries, so they can see what you can see. They can also see what you can't see. Mr. Shukla attempted to delay as much as possible so that our soldiers had a chance to return home, and even crossed the upper circle of Indian society by detaining their direct relatives for 48 hours. That was to prevent this type of mindless leakage."
"You also have to remember that mindless leakage is still leakage. Someone must take responsibility of the losses caused!"
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I hope you enjoyed reading it.
Love you all ❤️.