The Enemy Within

Chapter 36

Stepping out of the Lear Jet, walking tall, is a man he has respected his whole life, a man who was on a wheelchair for the last many years and now striding down the steps like nothing happened – Major Kumar – who looks at him and smiles condescendingly.

Rohan gasps in utter disbelief, "Sir... You... You are an I.S.I. agent?"

Major Kumar walks up to Rohan and hugs him, "Great job, Rohan. You proved once again that you are a top agent. You have helped our cause a great deal."

He steps away still smiling. Rohan looks at him open-mouthed.

Kumar's smile suddenly changes to one of anger and he steps forward and slaps Rohan hard across the face splitting a lip and making him spit out blood.

"And because of you and your friend Alan, I have had to reveal my true identity after nearly 10 years. But everything will be swept under the carpet now. We will spin the most convincing yarn you have ever heard.... But of course, you won't be alive to hear it – double agent Rohan!"

Still struggling to comprehend it all, Rohan stutters, "But. But. How... Why... Your legs..."

"Yes, my legs are fine. I am so tired of that damn wheel chair. But as they say, a good actor needs to live the role. And let me introduce you to another incredibly fine actor – Anu."

He points to Tanya and she steps forward smiling.

Rohan is at an absolute loss for words and just stares at them blankly.

"Yes, my dear boy. Meet my newest protégé, Anu. I thought I could groom you into an ISI agent, I tried to approach the topic a few times, but I failed miserably. Then I stumbled onto Anu. I changed her looks and her name, and soon she could seduce any man into doing her bidding. And it worked so well on you."

Both Kumar and Anu laugh out loudly. Chopra and the others join in.

Rohan struggles to regain his composure, "You were one of the most loved and decorated people in the Intelligence setup. How could you turn on your country? Why did you become a spy?"

Kumar suddenly looks angry again, "Why? Why? Let me tell you a little story..."

"I held one of the highest posts in the Indian Intelligence community for many years but never became chief of any of the departments. But I put all that behind me, my job and my country always took first priority."

Kumar pauses glaring at Rohan, "In today's day and age, having a son like Rahul who was willing to follow in my footsteps and serve the country was the proudest moment of my life. Though my wife didn't want another service man in the house, I convinced her to let him follow his dream. He graduated at the top of his class in the Air Force and was destined to become a fine fighter pilot. And then you know what happened? My son, the patriot, the fighter pilot, dies in an air crash on a trial run in his second year..."

Rohan looks at him scornfully, "He joined the Air Force to give his life for the country – so what's the problem?"

Kumar's eyes flash with anger, "If he had died fulfilling his duty, fighting for his country, there would have not been a more proud father than me. But do you know how he died?"

Rohan look confused as Kumar continues, "It was a faulty part in the aircraft, in a scam deal struck by some politician; who was trying to make a quick buck on the side. And what happened then? The politician goes scot-free and they say Rahul made a mistake! I collected enough circumstantial evidence to prove them wrong, but things got swept aside due to the upcoming elections. That just tore our family apart. My wife couldn't take it. She had a stroke. I lost my wife and my son to an ungrateful, wretched country!"

Kumar's voice breaks as he pauses to control his emotions.

Rohan stares hard at him, "But you could have fought it. There was legal recourse to clear his name. You were in the system."

"Ha – legal recourse – we all know how many years that would have taken. And with the bureaucracy, I knew I was fighting a losing battle. Then one-day, my life took a complete turn. I was interrogating one of the top I.S.I. agents, whom my team captured, at a safe house away from prying eyes. He had done his research on me... in fact he got captured on purpose – to try to turn me. He goaded me into thinking about what my country had given back to me for all my sacrifices. The answer – not a damn thing! That was all it took for me to snap."

Kumar smiles wanly, "I became the I.S.I. mole in the Indian Intelligence – the enemy within. With my contacts, I recruited spies within the intelligence community and the government. I became code-name 'Khan Bhai' – the supreme commander of I.S.I. operations in India. Things were getting too hot for me to handle from the inside, so I faked the stroke, since I knew exactly what was required after taking care of my wife - then I took voluntary retirement. But I still had total control and knowledge of what was happening on the inside because of the network I had cultivated."

Kumar pauses and smiles grimly, "Until, one day, one of the analysts at the N.I.A.– your friend Alan Fernandes – stumbled on to some residual trail that gave him a sniff of this operation. We tried to ward him off through various ways, but he was stubborn like you and nosy too. His research took him across the country and we tried to terminate him a couple of times, but failed. He had gone to Rajasthan on a mission for Chopra, so we were tracking his every move. We allowed him to get access to one of our databases from there but we had encrypted it to give us his location. I knew this was my last chance to finish him off – and to create a cover story that he was actually a mole. I then found out from my agents that the missing flash drive had a very complex code as they managed to recover a backup on Alan's laptop but no one could crack it."