CHAPTER 1
Delhi. September 2030. The country has been at war five years, the enemy coalition had finally launched their attack and World War III took millions of lives. The bombings were launched from thousands of miles away, missiles crossing the oceans trying to hit the major cities of the world. The planet was divided into two camps: The Eastern coalition formed by the India and most Asian countries, and the enemy coalition which contained several extremist groups. Which for so many years had tried to control the world. World leaders never measured the consequences of a war of this magnitude.The enemy groups had joined military arsenals and joining the socialist governments in South Asia, the military bases in the region had prepared for more than two years the deathly blow against the city of Mumbai. The same day from China were launched long-range missiles against major Asian capitals, to start this war, the president and commander in chief of the Indian forces ordered to respond the attack, even at the risk of knowing that the enemies were in possession of nuclear weapons that could have serious consequences for humanity. The fate of civilization was foreseen. The third world war could destroy the planet if unleashed an atomic attack. Since Hiroshima and Nagasaki, such weapons had not been created, these were two hundred times more powerful, if one of the two sides launched a nuclear warhead, the other group would respond in the same way.
The coalition of India and Asian countries had easily mastered the Pakistan’s. The bases in the South Asian territory had not been a big problem for the India Marines, the bad news came when closely guarded stockpiles were found in the Arab Sea. Six nuclear warheads. If there were such weapons, it was the confirmation that the enemy had managed to manufacture these weapons. The whole world was on alert number 1.
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The phone rang on my desk, I had been looking out the window of my office in the commanding headquarters in Delhi. Only days ago I had returned from the battle. The call came directly from the Ministry of Defense. I had to go to the president’s as soon as possible.
I picked up some papers on my desk, put on my vest which displayed my medals of Brigadier, walked into the courtyard of the base. There a helicopter was waiting for me. A something in my gut told me that something serious was about to happen. I remained startled for the two hour journey.
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The Ministry of Defense was quiet, the wide hallways were desolate. I was received by an infantry general named Gupta. Without a word and with a simple gesture of his right hand told me to follow him, leading me to a small elevator that would take us to the bunkers in the basements. I arrived at the office there was the president himself waiting, I noticed his tired face, in his eyes you could see the several days without sleep, was taking a toll on him. He had a white shirt with rolled sleeves to mid-arm, it seemed he had not changed in days. There were also several generals, all with the same face of concern. I did not understand why I was cited to this high-level meeting when I all took with me was my vest with my medals on it. With a military salute one of them ordered me to sit. Behind the table a screen reflected a world map, with different colors where I could see the territories that we had won and small spaces that were still dominated by our enemies. The deep voice of General Singh, military and counterintelligence adviser to the president, began the concerned meeting.
- Gentlemen, you have all been summoned to this meeting to give you extremely classified information. Our intelligence agencies have sent us a report informing us that the commander of the enemy force is launching the first nuclear attack on Asia and the India second. We are doing everything possible to avoid this catastrophe, but have not yet located the exact point where these weapons are hidden. If this attack happens life on the planet is at risk of disappearing. Now they will be taken to a secret facility of the department of defense, I think it is worth mentioning that what you are about to see is of extreme secrecy. You could see the faces of concern and curiosity everyone sitting at oval table. No one dared to utter a word. The president was at the table with his hands covering his face, General Singh had to let him know twice that the meeting was over. We all left from the opposite end to which we had entered, another elevator, this time bigger, with access to a courtyard of the Ministry of Defense unknown. There, a twin-engine Agni-42 plane was waiting.
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We flew several cities over Mizoram to enter the territory of Tripura. At this time of the year, the snow had covered part of the ground like a big white blanket on the ground. Inside the plane were fur coats to protect us from the cold. The pilot, a master in admiration, managed to land on a firm frozen lake. I was surprised when, poking my head outside, I saw many dogs and several sleds. The silence was still ruling the environment, in the president's face increased signs fatigue and worry. We spent exactly 48 minutes traveling by sleds. A man who led the group in front, never showed his face, one because of the heavy clothing he was wearing and another because it was an order not to be seen, he stopped between two hills, so high that their tops were visible.
I had my right hand on the gun on my waist. There was nothing there, just snow and rocks and I was afraid it was an attack, but suddenly a big rock started moving revealing a tunnel out of the same stone. Nobody mentioned a word, the huge stone closed behind us as we entered.
I lost count of how many times we went left or right. Obviously we were in a maze of which we had to pass several checkpoints, General Singh showed the identification he carried on his left hand, and the soldiers opened the doors to clear our path. We reached the end where a thick metal door step stopped us. This time the General raised his hand and placed it in a hole in the stone. Typed a secret code and the double door opened. An elevator swallowed us all. I felt a strange sensation as we descended, 3 minutes and 27 seconds-long journey to the depths, which by my calculations and my military experience told me that we were more than 500 meters below ground level. At the end of the fall, we stopped and the elevator opened. Another corridor between the stone, but this time shorter, until I walked through a door that led us to an office. As my eyes adjusted to the light that attacked us in that room, I could see clearly that there was only a round table with only eleven chairs, against these, eleven refractive monitors all identical in the air, on the wall to my right another monitor, but of a larger dimension, on the left a duplicate of the world map I saw at the Ministry of Defense, with the same colors marking territories, the only difference about this one was ten points of the same size were scattered throughout the map. In front of me, a very dense brown curtain covered the entire wall. This time it was General Bhatia who broke the silence.
- We're here because it's time to reveal our plan against possible attacks from enemy forces. If that were to happen in the next 72 hours, if our enemies were to activate all they’re nuclear warheads, which at least we think they have about ten, the planet would not survive, the air would be unbreathable, all our species would disappear. The destruction would be complete. Our allies also have similar facilities like this one and also share our plan. Gentlemen, it's time to introduce to you NIRMANA 394, our newest Noah’s Ark. The brown curtain opened. Behind this, a glass let our eyes look into at a huge hangar the size of the spacecraft for which it was designed, it was a floating city. Our view was lost, we could not figure out where it began or ended, it was a masterpiece of science and technology, we were in it, around the, a gate on the side of the ship swallowed trucks, with what I assumed was necessary supplies. Finally, after so many hours I heard the voice of the President.
- We have gathered together the efforts of all the scientists in our Allied countries, including this one, now we have 3 ships, ready to take off into space. We conducted a selection process, as we cannot save all our citizens. We cannot, do not have time. We have chosen mainly young ones. I want to make it clear that the economic status for this selection was not a factor, our lists are of the best students of each university, divided into specialties. Also as many children as possible, prominent figures of art and literature, scientists, doctors, all have been medically checked in depth. We want you on this ship, out of this catastrophe, we need to save the best of our society and nation, let this group of Indian men and women rebuild the nation or otherwise, start at another destination.
We also have a section of the ship where we will save at least a couple of copies of each plant and animal species, genetic laboratories, are cloning the process and will be determining the power of each to regenerate, depending on the time delay. We also have workshops with the latest technology, the highest level hospitals, technical and scientific personnel. In other words, this ship, has everything you need. I realized the seriousness of the matter. What I did not fully understand was why they had chosen me, what role was I to play in all of this, I am a young man, I'm 26 years old, although I had reached several Brigadier status, 14 search and rescue missions even in the most difficult terrain, the military were my endorsement, but I knew nothing of outer space, although I am a pilot, I knew nothing about the spacecraft. An elderly man in a white coat, entered the room where we were. He only greeted the president and he introduced him as Dr. Shetty, the most experienced of all the scientists who worked on this project. The man took a remote control from the table and all monitors were lit, images began to appear in front of us, while the scientist spoke.
- The risk of those ten warheads exploding are of incalculable damage to our planet and that would be irreversible, all our species would disappear, and life as we know it, the decomposition of the atom as a weapon of war reduces everything on its path in a field of thousands of miles around, any point on the planet would not be safe, oceans would reach unimaginable temperatures, it would destroy the ozone layer, the sun’s ultraviolet rays would not have anything in their path to stop them, in realistic terms, it would cook the surface. If this happens, and this is the best of forecast, we could not make it back to Earth until at least 15 years have passed, this hoping that the impact would not move the planet out of its orbit. If this were to happen, the option of returning would be out of the question. Right now our elite group of astronomers are looking into the nearest galaxies, a planet where we can start life over and settle our culture. But so far, we have not found anything.
On the monitors, while this man talked, we saw three-dimensional images of what could happen. In front of my eyes I saw the whole planet blow off and the blue areas were disappearing. The man was about to leave, justifying that he should continue to work, he walked to the door, one of the generals who was at the table, asked a question that stopped the scientist on his course.
- Why did we allow our enemies to build these weapons? The white-coated man took a 180 degree turn, staring at the general and answered.
- The permit was given to them the day the first bomb was built - He turned around and left.
The monitors remained with the frozen images of the earth completely destroyed, we only listen to the commotion of trucks entering the ship when the rubber of their wheels touched the entrance of the vast spaceship, a sound I will never forget. General Singh, chief operating officer of NIRMANA 394’s secret plan stood up, walked over to the glass window standing with his back of the window, stared at me, and began to give me orders which explained why I was there.
- Brigadier Jay, you have 20 hours to choose among your troops 100 of your best top qualified marines, preferably the ones that are not married, or do not have children, it's hard to say but we cannot afford more people on the ship. I understand this serious and painful situation that I'm putting you it, but you must understand that it is necessary. You were chosen to command the NIRMANA 394’s security. In your experienced hands we have delegated the responsibility of caring for the stability and tranquility of civilians chosen to board the ship. We are all here. We are supplying you with the floor plans of all levels of NIRMANA 394, we rely on your sole discretion. You need to come back tomorrow at 17:00. The routine is the same. Outside is a plane that will take you back to your headquarters, make sure upon your return you bring with you your men. I stood up, and with a military salute, walked up to the door opposite where the scientist had left minutes earlier. I felt behind me the voice of the president when he called my name, with just a twist of my shoulders to face the table. I saw in the eyes of the man in the corner of the table, not the president of the nation, this time, I managed to see the human being.His voice was strong yet painful.
- May GOD bless you. My answer was simple. It's almost with my back to everyone, with the metal door opened hoping and about to leave with concerns of my own, I replied.
- May GOD bless India.
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