RESONANCE (23 page)

CISF Office

The seven Jihadists
burned all their clothes:
angavastram
,
dhoti
, turban and any attire resembling Hindu dress. They offered
Namaz
and proudly got into their new olive green uniforms of the 108 Rapid Action Force Alpha platoon, the Indian Commandos. The shining badge, the embossed insignia, the black shining boot, -- all of them were a perfect replica of the uniform of the Alpha Platoon. They drove an SUV mounted with a red beacon light and siren straight to the CISF office.

Shalim Amār Khan entered the Deputy Commandant's chamber with the air of a man who owned the place. He retrieved the CISF security deployment map of the dam and the reservoir. He called the radio operator and asked him to change the frequency 138.225 MHz of the VSAT antenna, atop the temporary shed on the far side of the hill. Shalim Amār Khan smiled to himself, because he knew that even if the
Hindustāni
Intelligence jammed all other frequencies in the event of an emergency caused by an attack on the dam, they could not block this particular frequency, since it was the disaster relief operation channel.

Little did the Indians know that the same lifesaving frequency channel could turn into a life-threatening medium at the hands of Shalim Amār Khan!

As soon as the frequency changed, the timer device of the massive explosives underneath the three big hills started their pre-determined countdown.

Shalim Amār Khan called the Assistant Commandant and discussed the fax received from the Ministry of Home Affairs. "The reinforcements from the Alpha Platoon have arrived and are waiting in the adjacent room. Since they are experts at anti-sabotage operations, they will guard the sensitive locations around the reservoir and dam."

"But sir, the protocol of redeployment needs approval from the office of the Director General in Delhi."

"I've already briefed him over the phone regarding this fax message. He will send the formal approval as soon as he reaches office."

"But sir…"

"No questions."

The officer nodded and left the room. The redeployment was done within an hour. The majority of the CISF Security personnel were deployed at the most unimportant places: Machine Hall, Bus-Duct Gallery, Diversion Tunnels and the Computerized Control Room. All strategic positions were reserved for Jihadist control.

While four Jihadists took control of the diversion tunnels T1 to T4, another went to the surveillance room, adjacent to the Computerized Control Room. The room monitored the entire dam and reservoir site by video camera, fitted at different locations. Real-time video data was captured and sent to a centralized computer server. An inbuilt program pinpointed any perceptible change and would trigger off an alarm if any suspicious activity were captured.

The Jihadist took charge of the equipment. He pulled out a DVD from his pocket and loaded a new program into the server. As soon he had done so, the monitor began to screen data captured a year back, instead of giving real time output.

The technicians sitting in front of the monitor could not detect the change. They stared at the monitor showing the shoals of fish swimming and algae clinging tightly to the wall of the dam wearing a thoroughly bored look.

Khalil Deek, the explosive expert reached the office of the CISF and straightway went to the room of the Deputy Commandant.

"Good you are not late."Shalim Amār Khan smiled.

"I had to survey all four diversion tunnels. They were dug so many years back that they are now overgrown with grass leaves and covered by foliage. These tunnels run into miles, and are sealed by concrete lining with steel reinforcements at the reservoir side. Stone, earth and concrete linings cap the dry side of the downstream. So, it is a prerequisite to calculate the precise timing and the placement of semtex for the plan to work perfectly."

"We don't have much time. You'll need to place them quickly."

"My device is ready. I only have to enter the diversion tunnel one by one. Within eight hours, my work will be done. The system that I've designed will work simultaneously in all four diversion tunnels. When the first semtex explodes, it will blast off the seals on the reservoir side. Water will gush inside, filling up all four tunnels. Precisely at that moment, the second firing of the powerful semtex will push the water outwards into the lake with a tremendous unidirectional force. It will create an underwater wave of three metres, albeit imperceptible on the surface. This will travel rapidly to the opposite side. Then your roles come into play. As soon as the water strikes the hill, which is five miles from the dam, you will explode the first hill using your remote. A massive amount of soil, earth, trees and stones will suddenly fall into the reservoir. This will amplify the underwater waves and simultaneously create a surface wave of thirty metres. The wave will return, rushing towards the dam. Since the reservoir rests on the canyon, which narrows down as it progresses towards the dam side, the water will go higher and higher in height, creating a huge wave front."

He continued, "When the wave will return to the dam, my explosives inside the diversion tunnel will explode, again amplifying the underwater wave. This combination of underwater wave by the semtex explosion in the diversion tunnel and surface water wave caused by the landslide will continue to grow."

The description continued:

"In this stage, we will allow billions of gallons of heaving water to move to and fro in simple harmonic motion for thirty minutes. You will not blast any of the hills during this time. The world has seen the greatest elemental display of fireworks in the thunderous eruption of fire-spewing volcanoes; it has witnessed the biggest craters created by thudding meteor impacts, it has watched tidal wave fronts and devastating tsunamis; the world has also beheld swirling tornadoes that have whipped up cattle and human dwellings like twigs in the air. Now imagine the scene when the gargantuan body of the water of this lake will begin to sway like a mammoth in a state of
masth.
Such a water show has never happened in history and it will be the greatest that man will ever see."

Almost at the point of exhaustion, he continued giving details:

"After half an hour, when the wave reaches the far side of the dam, you will explode the hill on the left side of the tributary. The surface water will grow to one hundred metres while the strong underwater currents of the wave underneath the surface will gain immense power. Phase three will be a repeat of the preceding phase. The only difference will be that the height of the water, rushing towards the dam, will grow beyond imagination."

After listening with rapt attention, Shalim said, "Not even God or the Biblical times have created such a phenomenon on earth. The forty days of incessant rain, which caused Noah's Arc to float in the bubbling Mediterranean, was probably nothing compared to what the last forty minutes of this show will be."However, a little doubt crept into his mind, "What if the wave still does not break the dam?"

Khalil Deek laughed. "I'm going to open the hatch covers of the diversion tunnels. But where is your diver and submarine? It's time they placed the explosives at the toes of the dam."

"I want you to do one more thing."

"At your service."

Shalim Amār Khan handed a jacket to Khalil Deek. "Spare a small amount of semtex for making a transparent lining on the inner side of this jacket and put a timer so that it explodes only when it touches water."

"Oh! That's very simple. A very thin metallic tube, almost invisible to the naked eyes, with the wire connector at its two ends will act as a trigger. We all know how well water conducts electricity. As soon as the water enters the tube, the circuit will be complete and the button cell will charge the miniature capacitor inside the jacket. A tiny pulse will ignite a miniscule fire that will be sufficient to blow up the semtex."

"Wonderful!"

"Do you want to wear it, sir?"Khalil Deek smiled sheepishly.

"I have an honourable guest to do the honours."

Drone

A few years ago,
a sleepy village Kotgala, in the North West Frontier province of Pakistan, on the left bank of the Indus River was severely affected during an earthquake. Death and destruction had turned this village into a ghost town. The few of them, who survived went to Lahore and Karachi to eke out a livelihood. Government officials took no interest in reviving a dying village and so the victims and saviours alike forgot about it.

However, an old man and his daughter continued to live in a small hut.

They hosted a small group of people who offered the old man a few thousand rupees and a promise of more. He never suspected that the burly men, who came to the village in an ambulance, painted with the Red Cross sign, were from the al Qaeda. He happily did everything the guests asked of him. The daughter prepared delicious meals and served steaming, aromatic
Kahwa
whenever the men demanded.

After offering evening
namaz
, all of them got into the ambulance and sped off on the Karakoram Highway. The cleverly hidden boxes of RDX and mortar went undetected with them.

Instead of crossing the Youi Bridge on the Indus River, the ambulance climbed a rugged mountain and then descended on to the banks of the river. A speedboat was waiting for them.

In the sky, invisible to eyes on the ground, an American Drone picked up the location of the ambulance, painted the target and fired its missile.

A blinding flash lit up the entire area. Within seconds the ambulance was torn into smithereens. Charred bones and flesh scattered all over the place. The mortar and RDX, kept in the vehicle, turned to dust. A small portion of it fell into the Indus River with a small splash.

The high-resolution video camera of the Drone captured everything and relayed it to the Command Centre.

The speedboat laden with explosives and mortars sped away towards the dam. The Marine commando fixed the crosswire on the boat captain and triggered the sniper rifle. The boat lost control and exploded after a while.

Another Marine commando recorded everything and activated his 3G systems on camera. He uploaded it to the Command Centre before the sky darkened once again.

Landing at Rawalpindi

The USAF C-17
Globemaster declared full emergency over the Pakistani AFB (Air Force Base) at Rawalpindi, Islamabad, asking for immediate priority landing. Permission was granted and the ATC cleared the runway.

The Globemaster taxied to a remote area of the tarmac. Two shipment trucks, labelled 'United Nations Organization' neared the aircraft. Weapons and gears were unloaded on to the trucks that headed for Constitutional Avenue. They drove into the National Library of Pakistan, opposite the Prime Minister's Secretariat. Once again, the unloading of weapons and gears started.

Two hours later, a United Airlines Plane from New York landed at Benazir Bhutto International Airport. The passengers, who were US Special Army Personnel in plainclothes, deplaned and boarded the waiting bus, which took them to a building, opposite the Indian High Commission Office in Islamabad.

They formed small groups and crept into the National Library in the dead of night. They got into uniform, picked up the weapon and entered the Prime Minister's Secretariat, positioning themselves at vital exit points and other strategic locations.

The Central Control Room, set up earlier on the first floor of the residence of the Prime Minister of Pakistan captured the movement of the US Special Army Personnel and informed the Prime Minister.

Another team, which had already bugged the entire perimeter, was left with the last job of installing small concealed video cameras, a big-sized LCD monitors and state-of-the-art audio-video device for the next show.

Fitting

The stealth submarine
had been working silently in the reservoir for the entire week without surfacing even once. It had profiled the contours of the entire bottom surface of the lake. This data was fed in the computer of Khalil Deek to determine the exact timing of the successive blasts of the explosives.

A night before, the submarine had dived near the dam, reaching maximum depth. Semtex, molded in the shape of Indian Hill trout and
mahseer
fish, were tied to the submarine's tail end with wafer thin transparent glass strings.

When the winding rotor of the submarine activated, it slowly pulled at the strings. The semtex floating and swimming on the surface of the water as a shoal of fish dived and followed the predetermined path. When the 'shoal' reached close to the submarine, the autopilot activated the robotic arm, isolating the 'semtex fish' from one another and patched them at pre-calculated gaps on the entire one-kilometre stretch of the toes of the dam.

Although the semtex would not blow the dam on its own, Khalil Deek was to time the precise moment at which the semtex would explode. This would happen when the massive underwater wave and the surface wave would strike together with full force.

While the humongous wave force would cause the dam to overturn, slide and get crushed, the semtex would cause the liquefaction of the soil. Even a slight liquefaction can cause dam failure because the gooey soil beneath the dam begins to act like a greasy lubricant, dislodging the dam from its very foundations. This had been proved by the case of the Lower San Fernando Dam in California.

The rest of the job lay on the shoulders of the diver, who came from Her Majesty's Naval Base in the United Kingdom. He would connect the semtex with electrical wiring, fit the capacitors, set up the blast caps, adjust the actuator and trim the timer like a master musician preparing his instrument in order to play.