Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel (9 page)

“All this secrecy is necessary.” t
he man spoke. He knew Neel could hear him easily
despite the wind rushing fiercely around them.“As long as this project was in the
experimental stage, it was easy to keep it a secret, since hundreds of experiments are done in
the army on various subjects, and it was easy to lose this one among them. But now that the
operation has shifted beyond study to the practical stage, the secret will be harder to preserve.
With the turn of events this project has taken after your accident, we need to maintain our
secrecy for as long as possible.That‟s why the entire staff of the hospital you stayed at has
been replaced and sent to different parts of the country, to avoid any possible trace back to
you through the hospital. The information about your accident has been removed from the
official records, the doctors who operated on you have been visited by our agents, and the
newspapers that were intending to make a report about your accident have been suppressed.
The coaching centre you attend has been bought to help keep an eye on you.”

Neel stared ahead in silence, again feeling stunned. Since talking to Doctor Fahim he
had been aware that the people he had become involved with had great authority, yet only
now was he beginning to get a true idea of the vast extent of the power they wielded. An
unconscious shiver ran through his body as they made their way through the seemingly never
ending tunnel.

After twenty minutes of racing through the dark maze at breakneck speed, the man
slowed down and brought the car to a stop in front of a wall with a great steel door at the end.
He got out of the car and walked up to the door.

“Y
ou need to memorize the code.” he said to Neel, who was right behind him. “It‟s your
birthday backwards.” The man punched in the numbers 5092 on the keypad next to the door.
There was a grinding sound of heavy machinery moving unseen, and the door swung open
inwards, letting in a blast of fresh air from the other side and revealing a storage room. Neel,
who had been expecting something more impressive, felt nonplussed.

“This,” the man said, moving to one side to let Neel in first. “Is Swan Laboratories.”

 

CHAPTER 4: New Limits

Swan Laboratories was a 200 acre complex located outside the city. Every inch of the
complex had been used in military research projects. Now, the innermost part was being
remodeled for a new use.

The man took Neel through the tiny supply room they had entered, and out into the open
ground. As they walked across the complex, Neel noticed that the huge area seemed entirely
deserted.

“Are the people working on the project the only ones who come here?” he asked.

“The
buildings are cleaned and restocked at night by army personnel.” the man said, not
slowing down the speed of his rapid stridesfor an instant. “During the day, only those who
are intimately connected to the project are allowed inside. All other visitors are stopped
outside by the guards. Officially, this place has been reassigned for the storing and research
of medicine supplied to the army.” He took Neel to the central building, a white, six storey
structure that looked as commonplace as the rest of the complex. They stepped inside a large
lobby that looked a little like the waiting room of a hospital. Making their way up the stairs to
the second floor, Neel saw a room marked DOCTOR A. FAHIM at the end of the corridor.
They reached the room and the man opened the door, ushering Neel in. A chill ran through
Neel that had nothing to do with the cold air coming from the air conditioner as he stepped
inside.

The room was large and airy, with a desk and chair in the centre, and a shelf full of thick
and richly bound volumes in a corner. There were four people in the room. Doctor Fahim sat
behind the large desk. Divya was seated in the chair opposite him. There was a sofa arranged
at the side on which sat two men who looked at Neel with great interest as he entered the
room. Doctor Fahim rose from his seat.

“
Good afternoon,Neel.” he said with a smile.“And welcome to Swan Labs.” Divya rose
and smiled at him as well. The other two men in the room did not rise but continued to stare
at him. Neel heard the door close behind him, and turned to see that the man who had brought
him there was gone. Neel walked over to Doctor Fahim and shook his hand.

“You have already met Divya.”
Doctor Fahim said. He turned and introduced him to the
two men. “This is General Arihant Bakshi, the Chief of Army Staff of the Indian army. And
this is Mr. Subroto Rai, the defense Minister of India. They are the sponsors for this project.”

Mr. Rai shook Neel
‟s hand politely. Neel had seen him on the news several times, and
tried to hide the shock he had felt upon seeing him. The Minister was clean shaven, and had a
kind, alert face, although he looked tired at the moment. General Bakshi‟s face held a
sternness that reminded Neel unpleasantly of his math teacher, Ticolo. He merely nodded, a
slight frown on his face as hesaid, “I hope you understand what a big responsibility you have
now that you are a part of this project.”

Neel was taken aback by the abrupt remark, but before he could answer, Mr. Rai broke
in.

“Calm down,
General, don‟t make him more nervous than he already is.” He smiled at
the young boy. “It‟s a pleasure to meet you, Neelanchan. On behalf of the government of
India, and the indian army, we wish you the best of luck with the program.”

“Thank you, sir.” Neel said awkwardly, feeling extremely self conscious.“I‟ll, er… try
to justify your trust.”

“Divya, please take
Neelto the gym.” Doctor Fahim said. Divya nodded and moved to
the door. She beckoned to Neel, who followed her quickly out of the room. Before the door
closed, he distinctly heard General Bakshisay, “Remember our agreement, Doctor Fahim…”

As they walked down the corridor, Neelasked “General Bakshididn‟t look very happy
with me. Have I done something wrong already?”

“Don‟t worry about him”. Divya said with a reassuring smile. “He‟s feeling sore.
He has
very definiteideas about how things should be done, and he doesn‟t like how your accident
has changed the army‟s plans for the serum.”

“Oh.”
Neel said, feeling the excitement that had been building up inside him since the
morning fizzle out as though someone had thrown cold water on him. “I suppose he chose the
passwords for today?”

“Well… yes, he did.” Divya said, smiling apologetically.

 

“Great.” Neel sighed.“Two minutes in and already they don‟t like me.”

 

“It‟s nothing personal against you, Neel.” Divya said. “He‟s just having trouble with the
idea of a teenage soldier.”

 

“One thing he and I have in common.” Neel muttered.

“Well, don‟t worry about any of that, you don‟t have to deal with
the General right
now.” Divya said comfortingly. “Just focus on the training. Take this whole experience one
step at a time, and you‟ll be fine.” Neel nodded silently. Perhaps it was only his imagination
that Divya did not sound very confident.

“Do you know what this is?” Divya
asked as they passed by a table in the lobby, trying
to take his mind off the General‟s behavior. Neel had noticed the table when he had first
entered the building. It had a jug of water and a packet of plastic glasses in a corner, and the
middle was filled with packaged boxes which seemed to havearrived recently. “These are
some of the things you will be using over the course of your time spent here. We need to
confirm their proper dimensions and quality before they can be put to use. This material is
quite interesting.”

She took out a curious piece of black cloth and handed it to Neel. He unfolded it and ran
his hand over it, and saw that it was in the shape of a full face mask. It looked like ordinary
cloth but there was something differentabout it. “It feels strange.” he said as he felt the
texture.

“Its
surface is covered with hydrophobic polymers.” Divya said. She took the mask from
him and held it out on her palm. “Watch this.” She took the jug of water in her other hand and
poured it over the cloth, soaking it completely.

Placing the jug back, she handed the cloth to Neel. “Notice anything strange?”

 

Neel examined the cloth. It was completely dry. Not a trace remained of the water it had
been drenched in seconds ago. “How did you do that?”

“They‟re
called nanofibres.” Divya said, smiling at his look of amazement. “They‟re a
new type of clothes that uses nanotechnology to create a special surface on the clothes. No
amount of dirt or fluid or oil can stick on its surface. It all rolls away, leaving the clothes
completely clean. Quite interesting, isn‟t it?”

“I never knew these kind of clothes existed.” Neel said, examining the cloth closely. But
even his superior vision could not trace the tiny metallic spikes embedded on its surface.

“
The world is a lot bigger and stranger than you realize, Neel.” Divya said quietly.
“You‟re scared right now, but think about all the new things you‟ll be discovering while
you‟re here.”

Neel nodded, the smile fading from his face as Divya
‟s words brought his mind back to
why he was there. “I know. I‟m just a little nervous. But I‟m not reallyscared or anything.”
His voice did not sound entirely convincing, even to his own ears.

“You certainly look scared.” Divya remarked
. She took out her mobile and turned on the
camera. “Say cheese.” She clicked the picture and flipped the mobile to show it to Neel. He
stared at his picture. He looked completely bemused and lost, holding the mask and staring at
the camera with a frozen expression. “Now does that seem like the face of a soldier?”

“I guess not.” Neel admitted with a small grin, putting the cloth back on the table.

“So just stand up straight, be
confident, and give the rest of the day a chance before you
start feeling depressed, okay?” Divya said with an encouraging smile. Neel nodded, and the
two continued on their way out of the building.

They arrived outside a large hall a hundred yards away from the main building, where
the driver from the morning was standing waiting for them.

 

“This is Captain Arjun Shukla. He will be your trainer.” Divya said, introducing Neel to
the driver.

“Nice to meet you
, Neel.” the Captain said, shaking Neel‟s hand. For the first time since
meeting him the man smiled. It was a slow, careful smile, as though he was unused to the
gesture, but it was unexpectedly warm and comforting.“It seemsyou‟re capable of some
amazing things. I‟m glad we‟re working together.”

“Yeah, me too.” Neel said, shaking his hand. “Although I don‟t exactly know what I can
do…” It was a point that had been preying on his mind a lot.

“We‟ll worry about that later.”
Captain Shukla said. He studied Neel for a moment, then
spokequietly, “I understand that this must all be new and intimidating for you. Just
remember that we‟re all here to help you deal with your situation.”

Neel nodded to him gratefully. He still remembered the sickening, panicked emotions he
had experienced yesterday in his room. Those feelings were still present within him
somewhere, but now he was also aware of one more thing. No matter what situation he found
himself in now, he was glad he had people like Doctor Fahim and Divya and Captain Shukla
to help him get through it.

* * *

Neel followed the Captain and Divya into the huge hall. He stepped inside the building
and stared around. The room was filled with a strange mixture of what seemed like normal
exercise equipment, and a host of other, strangely shaped gadgets, the likes of which Neel
had never seen before which were hooked up to computers.

“This
hall shall be the focus of your visits for now.” Captain Arjun told Neel as they
entered the gym. “These machines are used to measure the force behind kicks and punches.”
He indicated the gadgets lying on the tables. Walking over to the nearest table, he pulled out
a black bag and handed it to Neel.

“Put these on.”
he said. Neel opened the bag and drew out a shiny new set of navy blue
track clothes. “The changing room is that way.” Captain Shukla pointed towards the far right
of the hall, where a single room with an attached shower had been added recently.

Neel emerged from the room wearing the track suit. The clothes fit him well, although
the slacks were slightly too long for his legs, as was usually the case with most pants he
bought. At five feet two inches, Neel was shorter than most of his classmates, a fact that he
was self conscious about. He found himself wishing that the miraculous serum could have
added a few extra inches to his height as well.

He returned to the hall to find Doctor Fahim standing next to Divya and Captain
Shukla. Next to them stood two other men of around Captain Shukla‟s age, their eyes
studying Neel as closely as the Defense Minister and the General‟s had in DoctorFahim‟s
room. The way they both stood at attention with their hands behind their backs confirmed
their military background.

“Excellent.”
Doctor Fahim nodded, looking Neel over as he came up to them. “The
clothes seem to fit reasonably well, and the extra length of the pants will probably serve you
well for the more…
athletic
part of the program that we have planned today. But before we
begin, allow me to introduce to you to your other two trainers.” Doctor Fahim indicated the
man directly next to him. “This is Lieutenant Tejas Negi.”

Negi was a stocky, barrel chested man. The ruggedness of his broad features told of a
hard life, but his face had an open, friendly quality to it. He grasped Neel‟s hand in a firm
handshake. “Nice to meet you, Neel.” he said. His eyes crinkled with a glint of playfulness as
he smiled. “I‟m looking forward to working with you. From all I‟ve heard, it seems you can
demolish me in a fight with both hands tied behindyour back. You‟ll need thorough training
to handle that kind of power, and that‟s what we‟ll try our best to provide you with.”
“Thanks.” Neel said, and found himself returning the smile.