Operation Camouflage Read online

  She went back to the one about the facility. The video started with the unique attributes of the place. The facility had a single entrance and one could enter only from the top. Person had to enter the building at the top and then take the elevator to go down the different floors. Access was controlled through biometric scans for employees and through the wrist band for guests. Ritu saw the bathing facility, the auditorium, the Prayer room, the dining room, the office rooms, the apartments, the veterinary centre including the state-of-the-art operation theatre, the physio therapy and rehab centre and the patient wards. The advanced technology and upkeep of the place could even put a 7 star hospital to shame.

  Next she saw the recreation centre. Expecting this also to be too colossal and sumptuous, she was actually surprised to see it being of an average size. It had a tennis court, 2 badminton courts, a squash court, cricket pitch, half basketball court, cricket pitch with bowling machine, table tennis, gymnasium, swimming pool, bicycles with a small track of 800 metres. The bicycle track was surrounded by another track for walking. All in all, it was somewhat similar to the club house of a 200 flats apartment complex. Only thing different was a small chlorophyll pool the size of a Jacuzzi. A dip in this pool not only cleansed the body but due to the high oxygen concentration in the surrounding also refreshed the mind and body.

  Ritu asked her wrist band ‘How come the recreational centre was so small, something that could accommodate not more than a 100 people at a time, as compared to the rest of the facility which was designed to accommodate thousands of people?’

  ‘This has been done keeping in mind the importance and utilization of each facility. Auditorium, Prayer room, Dining room gets utilized very regularly and by all the people simultaneously, whereas the recreation facility gets seldom used and never by all the people at the same time. With the limitations in space availability this is the best that could be accommodated here,’ informed the wrist band.

  Ritu now started looking for specific sections within the video, she started looking for answers with the intent of which she had started browsing the TV, ‘to find out the peculiarities about the room.’ And when she was watching that section, a small movement in the video caught her eye. Startled, she went back to the section and saw it again. YES. It was not her imagination but actually true. She had seen the room ceiling moving.

  She spoke to the wrist band ‘Open Ceiling.’ The ceiling slided and a staircase appeared from the wall. She climbed up to see what lay there. Above the ceiling was yet another room, sparsely furnished having some packed food and not more than 4 feet in height. Good enough to serve as a hideout. She was surprised at the fact that her voice command had opened this room. But then later thought that she being family might have access to this one, not any other guest. Whether this was an access to her or a malfunction in the security system, in either case she had to inform this to Aadi.

  It was 11:45 pm by the time Aadi reached back at his apartment. Ritu was still awake. As soon as he entered the room, she quickly hugged him and started sobbing. Aadi knew, she had controlled her emotions for a significantly long time. She had not cried for such a long time even after knowing about the attack on Aadi. But now she needed that outburst. For ten minutes she lay in his embrace sobbing all the time. No words were said between them. Aadi knew, she needed the feeling of comfort that everything was fine. And this was only possible through touch. There would be time for words later.

  After ten minutes, Aadi walked her towards the bedroom where Dhara was asleep. Made her sit against the headboard and offered her a glass of water. Ritu took a few sips and kept the glass on the bedside table.

  After a minute of silence, Ritu spoke ‘I am sorry about this outburst of tears, but I couldn’t control myself. Couldn’t imagine something so dangerous happening to you.’

  ‘I understand Ritu’ Aadi was completely calm and composed and looking into her eyes said ‘Infact you and Dhara have been much stronger than I could have imagined. And this strength of yours is what I need going forward.’

  Looking back in Aadi’s eyes Ritu nodded a yes. No words required. Her eyes gave the assurance that Aadi was looking for.

  Ritu spoke ‘I can understand why you didn’t tell me all this earlier, but how does our life change from now? Will our life be normal as before? Will I be able to go back to my office as usual? Will Dhara be able to go to her school like a normal child? Will we continue to stay at the same place? Will we hang out with our friends and relatives like before?’

  Aadi replied ‘I do not want to give you any false hopes. Life will never be the same again. The sooner you understand and accept the reality, easier it will be for you to settle down. While you can continue with your existing job, it will be a better idea if you join any one of our group companies. Dhara will continue her school as usual, till we come up with our own school. Both of you will be accompanied by invisible security robots. While they can be relied upon to handle any kind of a security threat and you can continue to live a normal life just like before the risk of an attack or a kidnapping attempt cannot be denied.’

  ‘There are many enemies out there. Not just the culprits of Mother Nature, but there are chances that even the government could deploy forces against us as we are treading into their territory. They might not like us doing something that they should have done but have been incapable of doing. And that is the reason behind this stronger than a fortress facility, the army of invisible robots, the more than ten steps ahead warfare technology. Regarding our stay, we plan to come up with a state of the art residential colony for our entire workforce. Till that time we will continue to stay at our existing place. On the pretext of security I do not want to deprive Dhara of her childhood and socializing opportunities. Her and your safety is my responsibility.’

  ‘But would it be right for me to join any of your companies? Being your spouse wouldn’t it be a conflict of interest?’ quizzed Ritu.

  Aadi continued, ‘As a policy we will be encouraging family members of our team to join us. This is because they will share the same purpose and hence be able to easily understand and support us in whatever we do. Going ahead there are many initiatives by which the families will contribute to the cause of protecting Mother Nature. And since our company policies would be supportive of that it will be easier for all to balance their work, social responsibilities and personal life. This may not be easy if someone is working elsewhere.’

  ‘Regarding potential conflict of interest, each person would go through the same selection process, would be designated based only on their capability and merit and not because of their relations. Their growth will also follow the same path as decided by the company for all the other employees. In fact the onus will be on the individual to be able to work efficiently and without expecting any preferential treatment. If anyone not able to adjust to this, will have to leave.’

  For a moment Ritu was stunned. She was going to ask what kind of initiatives? How would the families be involved in those? Were the families also expected to do something that would not be considered as legal by the law of the land? More she dived deeper in search of the answers to her questions, more new questions popped up in her mind. She could only imagine that whatever her husband and his team were about to do was much larger than had been revealed in the last twelve hours.

  And even more surprising to her was the fact that all these future programmes had been planned to the minutest of details already in advance. Her mind was not in a state to absorb any further new information. Content with having received the answers for her original questions, she decided to stop for now and face further new developments as and when they came.

  She changed the topic to the possible flaw that she had discovered in the security system. She demonstrated activation of opening of the ceiling through her voice command and also showed Aadi the video where she had seen the ceiling moving.

  Aadi glared at her. For a moment Ritu was frightened. Had she discovered something that she was not sup
posed to? But slowly the glare faded into a smile. ‘You’ve proved that you are my wife. Good find. You are right. Being family, you have access to the hideout. But the video should not be showing it.’

  Aadi immediately called Avanish and informed him about the flaw. Within ten minutes he got a call back from Avanish confirming that the portion had been deleted from the video and apart from Ritu no one else had accessed that video.

  When Aadi informed Ritu about this, there was a joy on her face. Although a small thing, she had been able to identify something that was overlooked even by the facility security head. Tired as they both were, Ritu and Aadi as per their habit kissed Dhara on the forehead and wishing each other a good night, went to sleep.

  Chapter 11

  NEXT DAY AT THE DINING ROOM

  9th May 2015, 8:30 am

  The dining room was filled with about seventy percent of the guests having their morning tea and breakfast. After a heavy dinner previous night, breakfast was a simple affair with Idli, Sambar and Chutney, Salads, Cut Fruits, three varieties of smoothies, tea, coffee and bread toast.

  The media personnel who had been brought in for covering ‘Operation Reveal’ were sent back the previous night itself. They had received a breakthrough Cover Story and each wanted to be the first to take it to their audiences. Even before dawn all the media channels- Internet, TV, and Newspapers were highlighting only one news ‘Operation Reveal and emergence of a new super power GALAXY.’ The TV in the dining room was also playing one of the news channels and all the eyes were glued to it. Everyone was interested to know what the media had to say about an event they all had witnessed live. In between this cover story there was a BREAKING NEWS which created a spine chilling atmosphere in the dining room.

  ‘Deaths under mysterious circumstances of two prominent businessmen and arch rivals of each other Hrishabh Veer and Shekhar Sathey and fourteen other people in seven different cities.’

  All eyes turned towards the trio of Aadi, Samir and Jivika who sat there silently sipping their morning smoothies, watching the news and chatting as if nothing unusual had happened. That’s when Avanish entered the dining room with tired eyes, which indicated that he had not slept the entire night, picked up his breakfast and beverage and joined the trio.

  ‘So two guys have been busy working overtime?’ asked Jivika looking towards Samir and Avanish with a mischievous smile on her face.

  In return both of them just smiled back towards Jivika and Aadi.

  Aadi had already received the update and spoken with them in the morning. So there wasn’t anything about it that he had to speak now.

  It did not require rocket science for not just the people in the dining room but anyone who would have watched the news to find a correlation between different stories and interpret a linkage between a corporate executive being attacked in the morning, operation reveal and disclosure of businesses owned by GALAXY but managed by different corporates, in the afternoon and the sixteen deaths at night.

  The only sound in the large dining room was of the TV and an occasional falling of the spoon. To say that people were petrified was an understatement.

  Aadi muted the TV and addressed the people in the room, ‘I can understand how shocking and disturbing this can be for you. But this was necessary for our own safety. Eliminating the enemy not only prevents any further attacks from them but also silences any other enemy who might have thought of raising their head up. Our ways and at times our speed could be mind-boggling, and you will definitely take some time to come to terms with it. We too have gone through this phase when we started. So, it’s perfectly normal. Try not to think too much about it. It will help.’

  There was a long silence in the room before one gentleman spoke up, ‘Can I ask one question?’

  ‘Sure, go ahaead.’

  Glancing towards the TV screen he said ‘Couldn’t Minister N K Sathey prove to be a threat? Couldn’t he try to avenge his son’s death?’

  Avanish replied this time, ‘He was nowhere involved in the attack on our Chief. He hasn’t caused us or Mother Nature any harm, at least till now. We do not believe in unnecessary bloodshed. Regarding he being a threat, care has been taken. He has been silenced with a copy of evidences of his political crimes. If at all, he still tries to be a threat, he will meet the same fate as his son.’

  Everybody in the room went into a thought, ‘So there was a human side as well in the hearts of these people. They were not barbarians with an objective to destroy the entire human race for protection of Mother Nature. Their hearts did not just cry for Mother Nature but were also kind enough to have feelings and consideration even for humans not related to them.’

  Really it was difficult to understand these guys. Aadi literally meant when he had said ‘Our ways could be mind- boggling.’ The people were definitely going to take some time to come to terms with it.

  With no further questions, Aadi and his team walked out of the dining room. They had a long list of things to take care of, that had come up unexpectedly due to pre-mature Operation Reveal.

  The team got working on these unexpected requirements and whenever possible squeezed out time in between to spend with their families. Seeing their work so closely, the family members also started developing an emotional attachment with the purpose. Admiration and appreciation was already there from the revelation earlier, now the families themselves started feeling a connection with the cause.

  The families saw animals being treated at the veterinary centre and being dropped back to their natural habitat live, similar to the videos that Ritu had seen previous night on TV. The simultaneous emotions of joy of curing and grief of separation from the veterinary care team, on the faces of animals were beyond description. Everybody wished they had their phones to capture those priceless moments but they would have to be satisfied with preserving them in their minds itself.

  Over the next two days everyone had come to terms with the new found revelations and had returned to a state of normalcy. They had also started adjusting to the fact of being under the observation of their individual security robots. That evening, arrangements were made to send back all the family members to their respective homes.

  Chapter 12

  REGAINING CONTROL OVER BUSINESS AND EMPLOYEES

  11th May 2015

  Separation of business entities from their previous parent company and bringing them under the GALAXY group was a cakewalk, which was accomplished in three days. Bigger challenge was in on-boarding of the employees with their mind, body and soul. Continuation of employees was important. At the same time, it had to happen willingly and not due to a lack of choice. By now, after the news of the death of sixteen people within a night, the world had got a glimpse of the power of GALAXY group. While this power was going to keep some problems away, at the same time it was going to create a fear amongst the employees about continuing with the group. There was no reason for the employees to fear but Aakash knew he had a challenge in front of him of soothing apprehensions about their safety. He also knew there was anxiety amongst the employees with respect to their careers. And he also had to accomplish the commitment he had made to Aadi about unparalleled support from employees.

  He had to accomplish not one but multiple objectives on different fronts. His approach had to address employee apprehensions about safety and stability, ensure continuity of business, identify people suitable to continue with the group, turn them into supporters and ensure their long-term commitment.

  He finally narrowed down on an approach. There was a risk… but he had to take it.

  All the employees of the companies that belonged to GALAXY group but run by different corporates so far received a mail first thing in the morning, when they opened their mailbox.

  Dear Employee,

  By now you are aware about the company that you are part of belonging to GALAXY group. On behalf of the group I whole heartedly welcome you to the GALAXY family. You will continue working with pride at the same role, designation
and compensation.

  The larger purpose of the group is ‘Conservation and Flourishment of Mother Nature’ and the company that you are part of contributes through monetary support and environment friendly products, services and policies.’

  Expectations from you

  1. We believe that above purpose should be the motto of each and every human being, and particularly without exception for all our employees.

  2. Going forward there will be a drastic change in the way the company works, which will be in line with the overall purpose of the group. So be ready for it with an open mind. While this is not the right time to get into the details, I can assure you that from the employee perspective, the changes, the approach and policies will definitely be more friendly than now.

  3. Starting three months from today, the company will follow a ‘Once with us, Always with us’ policy.

  We understand that this could be a very difficult decision to make and hence we are giving a one month time to think over it and decide. I can personally assure you that you will have a rewarding career and will never regret the decision of continuing with GALAXY. However, in case, you feel you may not be able to comply to any of the above expectations or desire a different career path, you may choose to voluntarily move out without having to worry about your career. You will be absorbed in another company of the erstwhile parent group, at a designation and remuneration commensurate to your current one, with a 100% assurance.