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.‘I guess it won’t hurt,’ he said, finally, ‘to tell you the truth.After all, you’re not going anywhere.’Imran smiled inwardly.He was right about the Maharaja’s ego.‘This is much bigger than the US.By wiping out the leaders of the G20 countries and installing our own men in their place, we will control the most economically powerful countries in the world.This will give us unprecedented access to business opportunities across the globe and therefore global domination.Unhindered’.He beamed at Imran, visibly pleased with his own forecast.‘And just how do you intend carrying out your plan?’ This was exactly what he and Blake had surmised earlier.‘Let me start with a discovery made by my ancestor, the first Maharaja of Rajvirgarh, 1,500 years ago.’Bheem Singh explained the discovery of his ancestor and its link with the Mahabharata; informing Imran about a celestial secret weapon that had been lost in the mists of time and erased from public memory.While building a new fort, a book written in stone was discovered.It was remarkably well preserved and the inscriptions told a tale from the Mahabharata.A tale that was missing from all recorded versions of the epic.When he had finished his story, Imran looked sceptical.‘How can you believe in a legend that goes back thousands of years? The Mahabharata is mythology.There may have been some truth about a fierce war fought thousands of years ago, but fanciful descriptions of weapons from the gods? Surely you can’t be serious?’‘That’s where you’re wrong.Look around you.What you see are some of the so-called celestial weapons from the Mahabharata; ancient designs used to create modern weapons in modern factories.Whatever the truth behind the Mahabharata and its historical authenticity, those weapons existed; including this particular weapon that was described in the stone book.You see, my ancestor also made another startling discovery.‘Asoka the Great had unearthed the location where this weapon had been hidden away and cobbled together a secret brotherhood to conceal its location and ensure that no one ever found it.My ancestor’s court astronomer was a member of this brotherhood.Unfortunately, however, before my ancestor had a chance to interrogate him and learn more, the astronomer disappeared and was never seen again.Until, eleven years ago, by an amazing turn of events, his bones were discovered in Afghanistan, along with texts that gave clues to the location where the weapon was hidden.’‘And you have found that location and plan to use this amazing weapon to further your plans.’ Imran couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice.‘Not really.We haven’t found the location yet.But our partners are on the job.We already have a prototype of the weapon with us.The texts found in Afghanistan led us to another hidden location where we found more details on how to build the weapon.We’ve been assembling the prototype for the last three years.Unfortunately, those texts were incomplete.The prototype isn’t perfect.We need a sample of the original weapon to complete it and make it fully operational.’A sudden realisation dawned on Imran—Vijay Singh and his friends.Somehow, they were involved in this.So that was what Farooq wanted from them—the location of this weapon.But how had Vijay Singh come by this knowledge?Another thought struck him.He had heard Bheem Singh tell Buckworth that he had instructed Farooq to take Vijay and another person hostage.The woman.He remembered her from his visit to the fort.She and Vijay were in danger!‘I still don’t see how this ancient weapon will help you,’ Imran persisted.‘After the announcement by LeT, you don’t have a hope in hell of carrying out your plan.’Bheem Singh smiled, and his teeth glowed again.‘Wrong again.The weapon will actually help us carry out LeT’s threat.Let me show you the prototype and you’ll see what I mean.’ He gestured to a corner of the room.Imran stared, unimpressed, at the device that stood there.‘This is it?’Bheem Singh flicked a switch and suddenly the room was flooded with cool white light from compact fluorescent lamps.Imran stared at the device he had seen in the ultraviolet light and sucked in his breath sharply.He couldn’t believe his eyes now that the UV light had been switched off.This, then, was how they intended carrying out their plan.The Maharaja was right.If they perfected this weapon, nothing could stop them from succeeding in their mission.28September 2001Bamiyan, AfghanistanWinter was upon them again and Baran opened up the trunk in which their winter clothes were stored.He pulled out the simple robes, cloaks and shawls and dumped them in a pile by the side of the trunk.As he pulled out a brown shawl something fell from within the folds of the cloth.It was a package which had been stored away for safekeeping.He recognised the package as the one containing the metal disk and the texts he had discovered a few months ago, when the statues had been destroyed.He had forgotten about them.A thought struck him.Mohammed Bin Jabal had arrived a few days ago.He had been introduced to him at one of the gatherings that had been held to facilitate the Al Qaeda leader.The destruction of the World Trade Centre in New York two weeks ago had created a buzz within the Taliban and respect for Al Qaeda and Bin Laden had risen by several notches.Bin Jabal had come to review the operations of the Taliban in this part of Afghanistan, as rumours swirled fast and furious that America was planning to launch military operations in Afghanistan with the objective of flushing out Bin Laden.But it wasn’t the purpose of Bin Jabal’s visit that Baran was now thinking about [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]