Mission Orion: The Travel through Time

Chapter 42

Rithvik's Point Of View:

"Their lives depend upon you and your plan, Montwik." I told him. We had finished discussing about our plan to save Konrad and Anna and were on the hallway, talking with each other. The mood of the whole base was gloomy. "Don't worry, Rithvik." He replied, putting his hand on my shoulder, trying to reassure me. "I promise you, we will get them out of there safe and sound. But at the same time, I still don't think it would be a great idea for you to go with the rescue team. We would need you with us."He said to me, his eyes boring into mine. "You don't need my help, Montwik. Konrad and Anna do. They are my crew. And guess what? It becomes my responsibility to keep them safe. So no matter how much you try to convince me, Montwik, Reneesh and I are going with the rescue team. And Souvik becomes your responsibility. Not one scratch on him, Montwik, not one scratch." I replied. "And by the way, we are taking off tomorrow." He said. "About time." I replied. "What about the weapon? The one which apparently turns things into dust?" I asked. "It's almost here, Rithvik. So is most of the Crux Army. Almost ninety percent of their destroyers are here on this planet and have already been assigned their respective bases and they already are en route. We will be ready by tomorrow, there's no doubt upon that." He said. "And, go grab some sleep, Rithvik. We launch at 10:00 in the morning. And it will most probably be long before you have a chance to catch some proper sleep." He continued. "Sure will. And by the way, all the jets ready?" I asked him. "All jets have been stationed at their respective bases. Both destroyers and battleships are ready for the war. And all soldiers have been briefed and armed. Believe me, after years of fighting with each other, if there's one thing the Vortex and the Crux army have learned, it's how to fight." Montwik replied, smiling at his last statement. "Now, go catch some sleep as I said before. " He said, walking away. 

I did not go to sleep. Instead, I went out to the surface of the base, where people had set up temporary barracks to accommodate the inflow of the soldiers of the Crux Army. It was chilly, and fog had set in from the skies. It then struck me how similar this planet was to Earth, before the nuclear strikes, before it all. This would have made a wonderful home. But all this was a game, right from the beginning. Did we really travel into the future? I made a mental note to ask Montwik that. If we really had traveled into the future, if we look at the place where our solar system once was, Earth would have been long gone. I was so engrossed in my thoughts that I didn't realize that I had walked to a place very far away from the main complex. There was nothing here except a few trees here and there, and the enormous outer boundary wall casting a huge shadow. I was about to turn away and return to the base when I heard voices. Based on the voices, I guessed that there must have been two people talking with one another. I followed the voices and walked over to a place by some thick bushes. I could see two shadows standing in the dark, one with a tall and a well built body, the other was a short person with specs. And based on their voices, I recognised them both:  Profus and Jack. Profus had a laser gun slinging over his  shoulder and Jack seemed to have been unarmed. They seemed to be arguing over something. I hid behind a nearby bush, eavesdropping. "I am not doing this. Never in my life. I am going straight to Montwik with this. Your game is over, Profus." Jack suddenly shouted, and made an attempt to walk out of that place. "I would not do that if I were you." Profus said, with his teeth gritting. "Oh yeah? What would you do, huh? What will you do with your sissy butt in the bunkers?" Profus replied. Profus raised his gun, aiming it towards Jack, who had his back against Profus. Before I could make a move, Profus pulled the trigger and Jack fell to the ground, his shirt rapidly drenching in his own blood. "This is what you get for threatening me, you half-human piece of crap." Profus said, before pulling the trigger once again. Jack's body twitched for a while before it went slack. Profus coolly slung his weapon over his shoulders again and looked around to make sure nobody had watched what happened. There was no way he could see me hiding behind the thick bushes. For a split- second, I had the urge to confront Profus for killing Jack, but I soon realized it was a no-brainer. I had to inform about this to Montwik. Whatever was happening, Montwik would make better sense of it. Having these thoughts in mind, I carefully made my way back to the main complex, hunting for Montwik.

"I saw, with my own eyes, Profus killing Jack with his laser gun." I tried convincing Montwik, taking deep breaths in middle as a result of running throughout the main complex, searching for Montwik. "I have known Profus since ages, and he knows Jack for about the same period of time, there is no way he could have done that." Montwik replied, exasperated. "I am telling you, I SAW IT WITH MY OWN EYES!" I yelled, infuriated by the fact the nothing what I said was getting into Montwik's head. "Rithvik, you're stressed out. You must have been hallucinating. Go catch some sleep. I'm sure Jack is perfectly alright." Montwik replied. "If you're so sure about it, call Jack." I told Montwik. I had to convince him about this. "Why in the world would Profus kill Jack? No offense, but are you out of your mind?" Montwik replied. "Just call Jack. You'll see." I told Montwik. If Jack doesn't respond, which he won't, Montwik would atleast send out a search party and Jack's body would surely be found. Hell, I could lead them straight to the spot where the incident took place. "Hello, Jack. Yeah, please come to the Cortex of the main complex." Montwik said over the phone. He then turned to me, his face showing hints of annoyance. "That was Jack, and he is coming." He said, turning his back on me to carry on with his work which I interrupted. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door and the door swung open without waiting for a reply. 

Jack entered the room, followed by Profus.  I was shocked. Profus had his laser gun still strapped over his shoulder. "How are you alive, Jack?" I blurted out. "What do you mean?" Jack asked me, surprised. I looked at Profus, who seemed to have been taken aback by my question and was fidgeting with his identity card. "Profus, Rithvik apparently saw you shooting Jack with your laser gun and thinks that you are a spy for the kenjah." Montwik said, laughing at his last statement. I couldn't find words to say. I was taken aback by all this. But there was something odd with Jack's face, it had absolutely no expression on it, which was completely opposite of the lively person he usually was. "He must have been hallucinating." Profus replied, who, taking Montwik's lead too started laughing. "Why would I kill him? Who would want to kill this half human piece of crap?" Profus said, still laughing. "That is exactly what he said before killing Jack." I muttered, inaudible to anybody in this room. 

"Rithvik, catch some sleep man. I've been waiting for you in the cabins." Said Reneesh, who had just opened the door. "And what is everybody laughing at?" He asked. "Rithvik was just sharing a little dream he had." Profus replied, smiling. "C'mon, man. Let's go." Reneesh said, gesturing me to follow him. I took one last look at the people in the room and walked out of the room with Reneesh. "What was the dream about?" Reneesh asked me, chuckling. "It was NOT a dream, Reneesh. I saw Profus shooting Jack with his laser gun." I started. "But Jack was standing right there, unharmed." Reneesh interrupted. "I have a hunch that Profus is the Spy who has been leaking information out from this base, Reneesh." I told Reneesh, boring into his eyes. "That's a bunch of baloney. The stress must have cracked your head open, Rithvik. Catch some sleep. We're launching tomorrow." Reneesh said. "Fine. It might have just been my imagination." I told Reneesh, not meaning one word of the sentence. We finally reached the door of our cabin and pushed it open. Souvik had already fallen asleep and the both of us made our way to our bunks and lied down on the soft mattress. There was faint light entering the window from one of the two moons and I could see a beacon flashing red at a distance. "Shut your eyes and sleep, Rithvik." Reneesh said from the far end of the room. "Sure, man." I replied.

I stayed up for a long time before sleep caught up to me. I kept thinking about the events which happened a fee hours ago. It all seemed so real. It couldn't have been a hallucination. But Jack was there in flesh, standing there without a scratch on his body. Something was wrong in this base. Horribly wrong.

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Thanks for reading the chapter!
Hope you guys understood the different point of views. It's the first time I did that in my books and I hope it was clear. If it isn't, ping me!
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Thanks again!
-Rithvik/LPS21