An Empty Court

An empty court, A royal seat.
A Kingly crown, A queen feast
A banquet for the victory won
A vigil for the departed son.

A kingdom won, Subjects lost,
A war fought, deadly its cost.
A clink of gold, the clang of swords.
A headstone and a table with different words.

History in all its wisdom,
Created a deadly system.
Kill or be killed was the natural law
For the planet after the thaw.

To what end, would this war lead
Leaving widows and heartache in its stead.
For what do we stand up and fight,
every moment from whence we see light.

The love we have remembers us,
The one’s whose eyes we close, hasn’t a fuss,
Every victory, every crown, every ego ever won,
Empty handed into the ground was how the emperor had gone.
Left behind were the people he loved,
Who remembered and wept for their beloved.

Love Lost and Lessons Larned - I

When there’s only one of us all you think of is dying, but when there are two of us all you think about is surviving atleast for the sake of each other

You get to know more about love not when you are falling in it but when you are falling out of it.

The days are all the same, each resembling the other. The routine was getting a bit tedious. The office looked the same a hundred different cubicles divided into the large expanse. They resembled each other down to the last detail. This was his new acquisition, the new area he had acquired to shift his company to after expanding it. He was already starting to feel the strings of a headache beginning, the precursor to bad night’s sleep and an even crazier morning. The strange feeling that was engulfing him looking at this new office was new to him. He was aware from where the feeling stemmed and why they existed but he wasn’t sure what he could do to stop them.

He was nostalgic, guilty and happy. This was a bittersweet memory. He was happy that he had achieved what not many people had achieved. He had his own company and not a small one either. It was now a company that employed around a thousand people. All the hard work since when he had passed out of that graduation college six years ago was finally paying off. He was happy that he had all that but he was sad that he didn’t have the right people to share it with. He had lost his parents two years after he had graduated. They were coming back from a small family drive. The ass who had hit our car had been drunk early in the evening. He didn’t even stop to tend and check if we were alive. He was least concerned about what happened. The only reason he lived was because he was thrown out of the car at the initial impact. The others were crushed like matchsticks when the car did three barrel rolls after impact. All of his family, including his parents and his sweet little sister. The ass who hit the car had paid for what he did with his life in prison. Their memories were what made him this melancholy. But he was also happy that his mother would’ve been proud that her son had grown this much, his sister would’ve been happy that she could shop like crazy with the elder brother’s money and well as for his father. He would’ve been glad to prove the old man wrong when he always said ” You are good for nothing kid,  You’ll never make anything good”. For all of their happiness and his shared feelings he would’ve been happy and for his loss of that he was now sad.

The sharp ring of his phone brought him back to reality. The image of his love flashed across his screen. Well a bit of cheer on this murky day he thought. “yes love, what can I do for you?” The smile in  her voice upon listening to him was evident in her reply of ‘just come back fast. I have something to share with you.’ “is it important?’ ‘what do ya think?’ came the taunting reply. “be there in half an hour I replied and started from my office. I had a company for cyber security and forensics that was running in full swing and the demand for my work was also becoming something every CEO would be proud of and envious of. He had another thing to be proud of: he and his lady love were 8months into the making of their own baby. He was gonna be a father and his love was gonna be a mother. The picture was perfect for the future as far as one could see. The thing about love is that “Love is not about possession, it’s about appreciation”. I was well into appreciating all the things I was lucky to have and also all the things that I had lost. The drive back home was remarkably short inspite of the 8 km drive with a stop in between to pick up her favorite pistachio milkshake(which started after she got pregnant, making me wonder about what the child will turn out to be, but meh no worries, he/she is after all going to be our child, he/she will just be awesome). The greeting of ‘love im back’ was cut short as she rushed into my arms, held me tight and then gave me a tender kiss for a second. ‘What’s with the abundance love?’ I queried. ‘I can’t kiss my husband now?’ came her cross eyed but  beautiful looking reply. The sarcasm and the barbs were how we showed our love to each other. I guess those were the disadvantages of marrying a girl who was your equal in intelligence and more than a match for you in using it. The point that we both agreed on was rare but what we compromised on was more than enough and the one point on which we never argued was ”The world doesn’t lack intelligence but rather the ability, skill or courage to use it”. I know everyone wonders what my wife does or is doing, well not to break the bubble she does everything, and I mean everything. She is just the kind of person who can do any job, work anywhere and shell have people worshipping/following her like a pack of puppies. I might be exaggerating but what the hell, I will because I am proud of my wife and what she can do. The dinner that night and my nagging her to take her meds went the normal way. I didn’t even have an inking of the terrors that night would hold for me.

01:25am

I felt something warm, wet and stick underneath me. The bed it was wet, but how? I turned on the light to see her, my love lying beside me in a pool of blood, blood which the bed was dutifully soaking up. The circle of blood was extending radially outward from her belly. I tried waking her up, repeatedly to no avail. I took her pulse, she still has some life left, I had to get her to a hospital and there was no time to wait for an ambulance to arrive. I dashed out of the house carrying her in my arms, still dressed in the casual shorts and taking nothing but my wallet and my car keys from the house. So much as my terror at the sight that I didn’t even lock my house not caring if someone would break into my house. I ran to the car frantically carrying her in my arms as she came to. I deposited her in the front seat and was just getting into the driver’s seat when a dear friend of mine, Joseph laid a hand on my shoulder. I had no idea where he had come from, I had no idea when he had but I was just glad he had. “Why don’t you take the back seat Ro, while I drive” he said “I don’t think you’re in any shape to drive’. Seeing the hesitation on my face he just shouted saying “man you’re in no condition to drive” and in a gentler tone he added “I’ll drive as smoothly and as quickly as possible”. I reluctantly got into the backseat and looked over at her,  she was looking at me and obviously was in pain. I was at a loss, never had I been in such a state since I had grown 6feet tall and sprouted a beard. I told her “Breathe love breath, take a deep breath and hold it, don’t take shallow breaths love, no shallow breaths”. She held my hand below tightly while I was trying to get her to breathe. I didn’t pay attention to what Joseph was doing but apparently he was making a call. By the time I had realized we had arrived at the hospital.

A stretcher was out waiting along with two nurses and a doctor, apparently joseph had called ahead and had them waiting, I silently cursed myself for not thinking of that sooner. I ran alongside the stretcher still holding her hand till we reached some sort of room where the doctor was adamant that I leave her hand and go away till they were able to determine what the problem was. I was scared, I had lost everyone I had, she was my one anchor and she was in danger and I didn’t know what was causing it or how to protect her. I noticed Joseph walking through the lobby towards me and I realized the state I had left the house in. I sent him back to lock the house and take stock of everything there, I was sure his wife Sravani would help out too. I also had another reason to send him back, I worked well alone, I was basically skilled at getting things done on my own. Not that I wasn’t I team player but I like small groups or single work than to large groups. The large groups tended to take democracy a bit too far and always took too long to decide plan and execute something and this was a personal situation, I didn’t want anyone else to be there. Call it my ego r whatever but my faults are mine. I care for her far too much and I am possessive of her so much that I hate to let anyone see her like this so weak looking as if………………………………….as if………………………………………she might die.

2 days later

I was just unable to stand in one place, too much of nerves and too much of caffeine were in my system to allow me some peace and calm. I had called her parents on that morning when the doctors wheeled her into the ICU telling me that they couldn’t tell me anything for 24 hours and that they would keep her under observation until then. They insisted that I go home attend work and all that while they took care and stood by their dear daughter. I was beyond words, they never liked me much, especially not since their daughter married me against their wishes but I was glad that they still loved her just as much as I did. I knew she would get good care and as much as necessary and that I could come back later. As I was walking out I was surprised to see Jo in the lobby waiting for me. I asked him “office?”. He simply shook his head and brought my car around. He drove straight to his house (which is right beside mine). Sravani was there waiting anxiously for the both of us, she first looked at Joseph and then at me and told Jo “go clean up jaan, ill try and feed this one in the meantime”.

The situation in the dining room was comical when Joseph came back after freshening up. I was being stubborn as a child refusing to eat while Sravani was hovering over me a thunderous look on her face trying to feed me like a mother hen. I looked at Jo for help and he held up in hands indicating that it was better to shut up and eat as his wife was not one to give up. Even as he sat down he said “dude, u haven’t eaten in almost 24 hours, u had dinner yesterday, and I know you’ve had nothing in the hospital today because I’ve been watching you. Its 7 in the evening today and u need to eat”. I was already in a sour mood and I retorted “didn’t know u replaced your balls with a pussy Joseph” .  This time the mother hen smacked me on the head and said “Ro, if you don’t eat then we’ll have to throw you into the ICU beside you’re love and then for you she’ll have to get up and work. Is that how you want your wife to spend the days just before delivering your baby, worrying her head off about you? Now just sit up and eat”. I didn’t know Sravani could be so in your face but I guess I took her merits of the argument and ate up. I wanted to go back to my house, Jo escorted me back. Notwithstanding the still  bloodstained sheets in the bedroom I parked myself on the couch in front of the TV and started watching all non-sensical stuff. I called her father once in the middle of the night to ask him if he wanted me to come over and to check on her. Of course the first option wasn’t feasible since all of my vehicle keys were taken over by Jo and all the doors to my house were locked by Sravani so as to force me to take rest.

I wanted to know what they had mixed in that dinner. I was out for a solid of twelve hours and I woke up to find that the sun had risen well past the horizon and that my phone was ringing off the hook. The person calling was my father in law. He informed me that they all were coming home and they would be there in half an hour.

That was a long half an hour indeed.

The ambulance pulled up and instead of my wife getting up from it smiling at me two orderlies got out carrying a stretcher between them. A stretcher on which someone was lying whose face was covered by a white cloth. The stretcher was accompanied by my father in law and mother in law. I started hyperventilating, my heart was beating too fast, my mind refused to  process what was being shown in front. I suddenly felt something give away under my feet; I didn’t realize I had come out of the house. I was utterly flummoxed by the scene unfolding in front of my eyes. I refused to believe what logic told me was true.  Every neuron in my head told me it was true, yet ever cardiac muscle refused to believe it for if it was true then they all would be dead. There was no way that his heart would continue beating without hers to accompany him.  There was no way his lungs would still be breathing without the air touching her. There was no way his eye would still be capable of watching the world once their light had been taken out. There was no way he could still be standing, there was just no energy left in his body.

There was only darkness. The cold understanding darkness. The nothing there was just like what my heart was right now. It was just that good. It was time he began ruining what he had planned the last two weeks. He had sold all of his company in the last two weeks to a friend for the investment he needed. He had spent every waking hour investigating what had happened to her. He knew that she could’ve been save but she hadn’t been. He had wringed every last details from wherever he could. Now was the time for action…………….

Missteps and Misinterpretations

When coming to information and knowledge, our parents are our first teachers, then comes the closest of your family that is the people you spend your childhood with. Growing up we further come into contact with friends and then the formal education system which includes teachers and other subjects which are to form a basis of our education for the future. But before we even get to school, we are already taught and have ingrained in us some of the most important concepts in life. The most important among them being the difference between good an evil, perceived right and wrong, the socially acceptable do's and don'ts, the codes of ethics and moral and also importantly love. There are a lot more of the nuances and fine print details that our parents do their best to teach us and our grandparents try to imbibe in us or our extended family tries to impression on us at that tender age. Our very patient grand parents explain, Our parents love and our aunts and uncles try to bribe us with sweets, chocolates, biscuits but overall they try to teach us something, something that in its core is faulty. We are taught all this but the one fact our people forget to teach us is to think for ourselves We are told to listen to advice and to listen to our parents and elders always apparently because "they know better". What we are taught are pre-fabricated notions and conclusions on what is right and what is wrong

Lets take an example:

A certain set of people in India practicing Hinduism as an active religion are told not to eat meats or any kind of Non-Vegetarian. When a kid gets curious and asks why, he is told that because that certain sect has practiced it since long and since they do pooja you shouldn't partake in meat or alcohol. That in itself stifles that kid's thinking ability, giving him a pre conceived notion and enforcing onto him without a logical or even a remotely valid one with no links to fact is why that kids thinking might be a bit curtailed. The logical reason that this particular community in question are not usually involved in much physical activity, their main profession once upon a time being  spirituality and bureaucracy hence their need for a high amount of protein intake would be low. The elders of old knew this and to keep everyone healthy they gave out wisdom saying that for their own health the members of this community shouldn't partake in much of protein containing meat. The health and the historical precedence, the logical and factual basses are not covered and in India most of our knowledge is being covered as superstition. This needs to change.


A lot of other similar analogies could be applied to our interpretation of good and evil. According to our texts and the knowledge that was passed on to us since old times, A good son is one who cares for his parents, cares for their need and does as much as he can to keep them comfortable and happy. An exceptional son never abandons his parent even in their old age. We tell the tale of Srvana Kumara just to prove this point. To make my point I shall now take the example  of one out greatest villans in mythology, the Demon King Ravana,, whose example is taken as the epitome of evil and someone whom kids should never emulate.



Taking the King Ravana, he ruled over an immensely rich kingdom of Lanka. In all aspects he led a rich comfortable, not lacking for anything life. However on his mothers whim, just to fulfill her wish he left his home for over a year and performed great penance for Lord Shiva. He obtained on his mothers wishes one of the most powerful and exceptionally impossible to obtain articles in all of Hinduism. No other person in all of our epics is supposed to have got the Atma Lingam of Lord Shiva through penance. The other side afraid of the power he was gaining and his skill tricked him into losing it before he took it to his mother. Again the king was just trying to follow all the rules good men had to follow at the time. Taking advantage of that they denied him his hard work that he had done so that he could take care of his mother. Yet our country hails Ravana as the villan who didn't care for anyone and was bent on destroying Dharma. In face this story tells us that Ravana was indeed an ideal son who cared for his mother and his family a lot.

What we need to teach the younger generation is that Good and bad is just a matter of perception based on the side you are on and that all evil is bad but not everything your side says is bad should necessarily be evil. There will be people opposed to me writing this and will ask me if i am an atheist or a mad man to praise Ravana. I would like to remind all such people that even Valmiki calls Ravana Ravana Brahma in respect of his great knowledge and even Rama does penance to get rid of the Brahma Hathya he was forced to commit because of killing Ravana. if you still have doubts then please do read the Ramayana. Do ccurse if you feel that I've made  mistake, after all that's a part of the learning curve. If you feel that we are evil for supporting Ravana then please by all means call us evil for that we would happily be. After all everyone cant be Rama in the world, we woud rather be ravana's and keep the world in balance so that we don't descend into chaos .

The Mistress called Destiny

Destiny it seems is a funny mistress. It reminds us always of an old quote

But once you find happiness you wish for it to last and in that you do a lot of stuff that might make other people unhappy. You believe that you are right and that you think of everything but the truth is being in your spot no one can predict everything and no one can see all the angles in your life, similarly you cannot as a person think of every small situation the other person is going through. So if you ever want to make plans, make them but always remember even the greatest of tacticians cannot account for the quirks of the mistress. Always be wise, make plans but always remember to also be prepared for the unexpected.

The thing about happiness and sadness as  Leo Tolstoy puts it is



You can be happy eternally but the unique shades of sadness that colour us are what we need to balance out. if you ever want to connect with people and stay as happy or possible or even love others you need to learn to love yourself first and then you can approach others and if you are ever lucky to ind the one person who loves you as much as you love yourself and if you can come around to loving him/her equally strongly then please ensure that you don't forget all the people who already love you and you love. The ones that kept you going in bad times should never be forgotten just because you have fallen on good times

Also remember that each person is unique in themselves and remember to respect that other persons life and opinions but i would also say when in love respect has no place. If you care about respect then you are not in love.  Sorry to say it but respect is something that is used to cover up where love should've been but cant. The best of us are lucky in a few places and sadly insufficient in other  places (not in the sense we normally think  but in an extremely normal sense of meaning) . This causes a few of us to cause pain to the people we love, sometimes so much that they never come back to us. The fact here is that if you ever loved that person you will let them go, if its meant to be it will be. In the wide vast universe there exists so many wonders that we cant even count and trust the universe. Even science preaches balance. energy and matter cannot be created from nothing, they are interchangeable and only interchangeable. But just because the universe is conspiring in all its magnanimity doesn't mean you don't make your efforts. even the universe could use help no matter how inconsequential. Also remember that time and patience are the strongest of warriors and in case you can find someone who you can love beyond  yourself remember to tell them this just theh way Frank Underwood says this about Claire



Finally don't ever be normal, always keep moving, for stagnation is eternal  death and try your best to be yourself because again as Leo Tolstoy put it

And finally 

A Traveler's Tempest.

Drenched in sweat, with a bated breath,
Trudging long in an embrace of death,
Waking dreams and lonely screams,
without the tiniest of gleam,
Is what is destined for this lonely being.

Floating clouds in a sky so high,
Without a glimmer of an ally,
Swimming in the clouds alpine,
Is not for every weak spine,
So swimming alone is the destined sign.

Flowing streams and swirling minds,
Will thy keep his  cognition blind,
Nothing stable and  nothing kind,
Will only lead to an empire lined,
Waiting for itself to be inclined,
Towards an eternal decline.

Fanatics and phrases go hand in hand,
But in deep dark places they always band,
For groups of more they shall be weak,
and for one or none it shall be bleak,
The future belongs to us all,
How we shape it shall lead to a rise or fall.

So hence the lonely traveller goes,
The tempest raging in his heart,
The storms thundering in his mind,
Confused but determined,
To make his worth know to thine.

A Hearts Lament

This interview was just going to be another one in a long line of interviews he had given and was yet to give.  He noted with sarcasm that once he had become famous people wanted to know about him, everything and anything and before they never cared about who he was. He reminded himself that if he tried selling his books as a roadside vendor in the markets of the city no one would even look at him twice but if he walked into a fancy bookstore they would throng him and hardy give him room for breathing. He walked onto the stage smiling as was expected of him. To his surprise it wasn’t just one person who was sitting there but 5 people. He kept his calm and sat down in the chair left empty for him and raised an eyebrow. The host he knew simply smiled. He surveyed the people arrayed before him, two gentlemen and 3 ladies including the lady who was originally supposed to interview him. The  show began and the host began by explaining that to make this interesting for both the audience and for him they had introduced the 4 fans into the show. These fans would be the ones who would interview him and that the host would just play the role of a moderator. This was going to be interesting he thought. As the fans began he answered them as enthusiastically as he could and as coolly as possible. They started with his basic background and worked their way up. Most of the questions were ones for which the answers were already well known, but he still answered them patiently and perfectly. All was going well and nothing was out of place until one of the men started asking awkward questions. Questions about why he picked a story of heartbreak to write, why he felt that his book deserved no happy ending. He was used to the first question a lot but his explanation was a standard defence that there was more sadness in the current world than happiness. Then the real trouble started when one of the ladies asked way he felt that sadness was what defined us and not happiness, why there was more sadness in the world than happiness. He replied with a small story “ Consider this, you have a boyfriend, you loved him a lot and he loved you  too came a point wherein he unable to do anything else unfortunately took hiss frustration out on you. You get angry that this is not the first time and that he has crossed a limit this time. You however are unforgiving, he knows it’s his fault but you still refuse to forgive him. Why?? Do you hate him now just for a mistake? Where has all the love you shared gone off to? I personally believed that love was and is the strongest force in the world. That being said, what world is ours when love cannot survive because one of the partners might be broken. Love is supposed to cut through everything, someone might get angry sometime but doesn’t mean they mean you harm or wish to hurt you, they after all are your beloved and they would still defend you just as hard and fight for you just as long. In a world where the strongest force cannot be strong what else is left but sadness. It is love that gives us our happiness and without it what else do we have but sadness?”. That little story left everyone shocked and dumbstruck. It was a while before someone spoke and the next one left even him surprised. The lady who was quiet for a lot of while asked her first question. Do you believe, really believe that love is the strongest force?” He replied in the affirmative and then she popped a question that made  many a jaws drop. “if love is the strongest then I love you and will you marry me?” He was amused at the proposal itself but he kept quiet and calm and said “I’m sorry but I cannot.” The audience released its collective breath as the girl looked possibly distressed. He said I’ll explain and I shall explain only once once I’m done I shall leave but I am doing this so that you and any others can understand why I cannot. Long ago I loved a lady. She was bright beautiful elegant and very very kind. I loved her and she loved me. Everything I told you in the above example happened to us. After that I always blamed myself for what I had done. How with my actions I turned the person I loved the most and the person who had loved me the most into total strangers. It took a toll on both of us and finally I was left heartbroken and she was left feeling betrayed. I tried and tried to get her back. I took the pain out on my body, I fought against myself and finally I realized I hated myself for what I had done but I still loved her every bit as much as I had loved her ever. I decided that since the heart was gone anyway its better it be lost on one person. I have loved her, I still love her and will love her. However since she shall not have me and since I caused her too much pain I decided that she can live so that she remains happy and she remains as she wishes and I shall always love her irrespective of whether she loves me or not so that in the end love can at least remain in one of our hearts. That pain and burden are all mine to bear and I shall bear them as long as I can but I cannot in my full level of conscious agree to do that to another lady and be a cause of even greater misfortune SO until I die I have made my bed and I shall sleep in it. Good Bye” 

A Game of Hope

(Part-II of Angels Who Cry)

The horizon is always rosy at dawn and dusk. A lamp burns at its brightest just as it’s lit and just before it goes out. What can you offer a lamp that hasn’t been lit or that has gone out? What can you offer a man trapped in darkness, left with no hope?

The cell he was in looked forbidding. He was in the enemy’s lair, deep within the bowels of the enemy fortress where there was absolutely no hope. He knew his friends wouldn’t come for him, there was no contest about it. The best he could hope was, his body feeling some fresh air out in the open than the stale air of these endless labyrinths. After what felt like endless centuries trapped in those passages along with his tormenters who always were innovative about methods of torture to make him spill his friends secrets, he was pleasantly surprised to see his friends walk up to him one day. He was trying to lose himself in his nightmares before the real one began again, only to be rudely awoken by a loud noise. It then turned to music as his friends and allies trooped in only to see him and lead him to freedom from the jaws of the enemy. His silence earned him respect, medals and a rank.

A decade later and at a highly respected position he received a piece of news that shattered his world. His son, one whom he loved from the moment he opened his eyes to the moment the enemy closed them would no longer stand by his side but rather rest to eternity in the warm earth, enclosed by the cold embrace of death. He used every piece of influence and fury he had in him to find out the reason as to how his dear little one had passed on. The answer was simple, there was a traitor in the midst. The traitor then paid the price for his betrayal but since left him with a very bad taste for traitors and a very strong sense of duty towards weeding them out. That zeal is what made him opt for his current job and what made him a ruthless expert in it.

He prided himself on his ability to pick out traitors and do what was needed to get what they wanted to know about the enemy and to plug the gaps they might have created in his army’s amour. As he walked, every once a while to that room that was kept pristine until his arrival, he would hold his head high and walk with pride. Once inside, his demeanor changed. From a proud soldier, he transformed into a a soulless, heartless and a ruthless interrogator who stopped at nothing. People who knew his reputation trembled just from the mention of his name and the fact that he was interrogating them. And as a professional responsibility he took care that almost everyone in his army knew his name.

This time it was a sniper, someone who was trusted to watch over his fellow buddies and warn them in advance was accused of shooting his troops and causing losses. The others in his battalion suspected that he was passing information to the enemy and then shooting the respective people in a specific area allowing the enemy to make advances. This was a serious problem and he was here to solve that.

The soldiers in the room was normal looking. He apparently had a family and yet he seemed to have betrayed his country. This was something he never understood. A man either stood for principles or for his family or at least for himself. This one fell in the middle category and yet he seemed to support the enemy, knowing the atrocities he was committing. This worried him. He concluded that this man was someone who had lost hope. He didn’t trust that his own comrades could win the war and therefore had succumbed to the enemy to try and gain asylum for his family and himself. He never thought about what would happen if he got caught. Disgusting brat he was. Walking into the room he saw the confusion in his eyes that he classified as feigned, but the terror, once he realized who was interrogating him was real. The start that he displayed when he asked questions was real but the answers he were giving were lies. He was telling me that he hadn’t colluded with the enemy and that he in fact didn’t know about what he was being interrogated. He heaved a sigh of exasperation at the lies everyone told at the start.  He asked him nicely one more time. Then he began what he did best.

After four grueling hours he came back to a small room he formally called office, disturbed. He hadn’t seen a case like this. The man was put through everything he knew. By the time he was done with him even he wasn’t sure if the man he had interrogated would survive or not. The thing that nagged him was that he stuck to his story. There wasn’t an instance anyone had ever done that. He had broken the best of soldiers, people so highly trained that they were touted as unbreakable. Even they sang like canaries in a coal mine after two hours with him. This man however hadn’t changed his version. He was pretty sure he wasn’t highly trained and that left just one horrifying thought. He was actually innocent and that the actual traitor has him captured to have a bit more free reign for a little longer. However another logical conclusion from this was, the spy was playing a dangerous game. He knew he’d be found out, the fact that he was risking discovery by using such a tactic only spelt that he was delaying for time. Time that he had unwittingly granted.

He had tortured a man who was probably innocent, granted and enemy time to do exactly as he wanted and had now grown a conscience who didn’t feel like leaving him alone for the near future. Who was the real traitor, what could he do with this innocent man and what would be the fate of the plan they were devising. Too many questions and no answers. Thinking of all this he loaded the man who had come into interrogation onto an ambulance. Looking at his form he felt a sense of responsibility and got into the ambulance. It was a whim, a fancy. The ambulance pulled away from his building and was checking out when a gigantic explosion took out the building behind him. All hope seemed lost but the enemy had moved the first pawn in a long game of speed chess.