Ishq-e-Watan

Chapter 11- Mission Foxtrot

CHAPTER 11

MISSION FOXTROT

Knock knock.

Sanju looked up. "Siddharth? Aa jaa. Monami mess mein hai."

"I know. Main Monu se nahi, aap se hi milne aaya tha", he said, walking in.

"Humse? Kaahe ke lane?"

"Mujhe training mein thodi help chahiye. Boxing mein. Aap jab bhi free hain, if you could help?"

She nodded. "Raat ko, khaane se pehle koi class hogo teri?"

"Nope. I am free after 5."

"6 baje hume training room mein milno. Ek minute bhi late hua, toh hum chale jaayenge."

He grinned. "Thank you", he said. He clutched her hand, bringing it up and kissing her knuckles. She stared at him wide eyed, snatching her hand back. She wiped her knuckles on her shirt, staring at Siddharth as he ran off happily.

"Boranta."

---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---x---

"Humaare paas aapke liye ek mission hai", Karan announced. The cadets looked at each other, eyes wide and lit up in excitement. He clicked his tongue, drawing their attention back to himself. "Mock mission hai. Aap 6 subgroups hain- Alpha to Foxtrot. Saare cadets apne apne subgroups ke hisaab se groups form kijiye. Fall out!"

The cadets parted from the lines they were standing in, standing in their particular subgroups in order. Karan's eyes flickered around, and he nodded in satisfaction.

"Toh karna kya hai, ab wo suniye", he said."Humne chhe missions plan kiye hain. Saare unrelated hain. Sab subgroups ko ek ek mission milega. Aapke paas maximum do hafte hain mission ko complete karne ke liye. Aapko ek file milegi, aur us mein aapko details aur clues milenge mission ke liye. Mission ka matlab yeh nahi hai ki aapki classes ya drills kam ho jayengi. Aapko pressure aur zyaada kaam handle karna bhi aana chahiye. Kya, kab, kaise karna hai, wo aapko manage karna padega." He paced in front of the groups. "In do hafton mein, mission ke liye, aap apne rooms ke bahar lights out ke baad reh sakte hain. Par agar kisi bhi trainer ne aapko mission ke alaawa kuchh karte hue pakda, you'll be punished. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir", they said.

"Ab sab subgroup mein se ek cadet aayega, aur apne subgroup ki file lekar jayega", he said.

"#Can I go?" Chitra asked quietly to her teammates, smiling enthusiastically. They nodded, and she ran up. She took the file with their subgroup's name before falling back into the group.

"Cadets", Karan warned when everyone stared chattering. Silence fell back. "Any questions?" Sid raised his hand, along with a few others. "Go ahead, Siddharth."

"Sir, real missions mein toh tech support bhi hoti hai. Hum mock mission mein tech use kar sakte hain?"

Karan glanced at Faizi. He shrugged back, nodding. "Agar tum logon ko lagta hai ki mission tech ke saath better execute ho sakta hai, toh tum log humaare paas aa sakte ho and apna case present kar sakte ho. Agar hume theek laga, toh we'll allow it and provide you with the tech."

"Thank you, Sir."

"Anyone else?" His eyes stopped on another cadet. "Yes, Pooja?"

"Sir, agar hum logon ne mission successfully aur achhe se execute kara toh hume reward milega?"

"Reward ka toh pata nahi, par agar fail hue, toh punishment zaroor milegi", he snapped. "Tum logon ko punishment ya reward se koi farak nahi padna chahiye. Har mission mein apna best dena hota hai. Commandos don't back out. Aisa ghatiya sawaal aage se puchhna mat."