Obscured Glimmer

15. The Head Marine Engineer

NANDINI:

Demons of hatred transpire from the perfidiousness of the ones we put on pedestals. Under the cognizance of treachery, the heart succumbs to great affliction, cicatrices of which continue to perpetuate undeniably effectuating our lives in implausible ways. Manik was one such individual in my life.

Incredulity flooded my mind as I stared at one particular person on his mobile screen, whom he called 'Cabir'.

When I had questioned his whereabouts Manik told me that he went to meet Cabir. As I was dubious, he started showing me proofs of Cabir's involvement in the very base of the case.

"He is the 'Head Marine Engineer' of the 'Ballistic Missile Submarine Project', the one who coded the special software with the help of his team. He was always this smart, you know.", Manik smiled painfully looking at that picture while his eyes became teary as he slid the pictures back to back showing Cabir working with his team. It was the first time I heard his voice cracking in despair.

Was he trying to emotionally blackmail me?

Despite his facial expressions and his cracked voice, I couldn't help but remain skeptical of those golden-brown eyes which had lied to me innumerable times.

"Cabir was attacked by the gang four months back.", Manik caressed the photo while he seemed to be lost somewhere.

"If he is one of the Marine Engineers, he should have been in Kochi, right? Why is he here? And how come you never mentioned about him if he was 'that much' involved in the case?", I questioned while quoting 'that much' in the air with my fingers as I contemplated his words.

"I know Nandini, you think I'm trying to prevaricate, again. But trust me, I'm not. Cabir is the biggest and crucial most reason for me getting involved in this case. Of course, the other reason being I was allotted the case by NIA.", he looked at me hoping I would trust him. But I had lost my credence in him long back. Or maybe it never existed in the first place.

How was I supposed to trust the man who always proved to be toxic for my department?

"Wow. How do you do this every time? You are one hell of an amazing storyteller Mr.Malhotra. Or wait, is it not your real name?", I snarled while staring at him in disbelief.

"Cabir is the only family I have, except grandpa. We have grown up together. We were always there for each other. But our career choices were different. You know that one friend with whom you can be yourself. The one who teases you without caring about your angry glares, the one who knows you inside out, who stays by your side when you feel sad in those sleepless nights, and is ready to do everything for you.", he seemed much like a normal human when he said those words.

Maybe Cabir was really someone important.

"Why didn't you tell me about him, when we were at Mangalore port?", I raised my doubt.

"Because I didn't know if I will ever be able to see him, again. He was in a coma for the last four months. Moreover, his security was really essential as only he had seen the leader of attackers, so we shifted him here, to his sister's in-laws. Today, when I was coming back from the port, I got a call and came to know that Cabir was conscious, finally.", he said and I wondered how much truth his words held.

"So, did he tell you about the Gang-leader?", I clutched the jacket I was wearing while Manik nodded his head in 'No'.

"He woke up from a coma but he suffered aphasia and upper motor neuron paralysis due to brain-injury. He is not able to say anything meaningful, a few non-fluent words come out but they make no sense. He is not even able to move properly. I just can't see him like this.", Manik moved a hand through his hair in perturbation and sighed.