Chapter XX: The Little Red Book.
1823hrs, 6 October 2013, Sagayapura, Bangalore, India
"How can I think of the future if I cannot even put food on the table tomorrow?" Anonymous Villager, Koppal District, Karnataka, India.
"The revolutionary war is a war of the masses; it can be waged only by mobilizing the masses and relying on them." Quotations of Chairman Mao Zedong.
Beyond all the glitter of the skyscrapers and the apartments, there lived the poor people of Bangalore. Again, they weren't as bad off as some might be in Mumbai or Delhi or Kolkata, but it was still bad to be poor here. The fact that it was "only" ten percent slums added to the sense of a less poverty stricken area.
Jadeite had asked his driver to drop him off near Hennur Road and Gospel Street. He took out two duffle bags from the boot and started walking down the street.
From up above, if you looked at it from Google Maps or something like that, the neighborhood in Sagayapura didn't look so bad. But if you looked at it from the ground, it told a completely different story. A road named "Tannery Road," wouldn't even get a glance in the West, but here, that meant the unclean people lived there. They weren't even people, but nonhumans, people who ate meat, who skinned the cows that had died, made and processed the leather hide, polluted themselves and those around them with sin. Supposedly. They weren't any worse than normal people, but these were the Untouchables, the people outcast by society. They had dark skin, gaunt eyes, bellies empty and growling due to hunger, calloused feet and hands. They did the work that no one else wanted to do. They cleaned the toilets, did the laundry, swept the floors, roads, and picked up the mountains of trash left behind by careless partiers. They were the invisible ones, the ones not even worthy of a simple thank you. It was here that Jadeite walked, looking for a specific building that would take him to that person he wanted to meet.
"There it is," he said to himself. It was a dull, tan concrete building that had been hastily built to accommodate several families. He looked around, then walked up to the metal door and knocked on it.
Quickly, the metal view slit opened up and a pair of brown eyes stared back.
"Have you eaten today, sir?" That was the prompt for the passphrase, spoken in very accented English.
"I have only eaten until my belly is full," was the response from Jadeite.
"Come on in." The door opened up, and Jadeite stepped into the house.
Inside, it was very spartan. In the West, the house would have been for only one family; here, there were at least five crammed into the place. Several bare light bulbs hung from the ceiling, flickering from time to time; the electricity was illegally siphoned from the power network.
"Comrade Jadeite," a man said coming up from the (also illegally dug) basement. "It was a surprise. I did not expect to see you so soon here."
"Comrade Ramesh," Jadeite replied. "I was in the area, and decided to bring by some supplies."
Jadeite handed the duffle bags over to Ramesh.
Ramesh used to be a Naxalite, part of the many Maoist insurgent groups that had given the Indian government so much trouble over the years. They resorted to extremely effective insurgent warfare, completely outclassing the police and even the paramilitary groups sent after them. But as of late, they had been on the decline and most of them had gone into hiding, waiting to strike again. Ramesh however, was an ex-Naxalite simply for the reason that he was too extreme, even for the Naxalites who kicked him out after he killed two members of their group who he deemed to be police informants (they weren't). Jadeite had the fortune of running into Comrade Ramesh as he was wandering the streets of Bangalore, passing out the Little Red Book of Chairman Mao's teachings. He was more than willing to follow Jadeite's plan, along with so many others. And, he spoke good English as well.
He checked inside the bag and whistled.
"This…this is very nice. It will help our cause very much." Inside, there were several disassembled AKMs and Makarov pistols, along with magazines, ammo, spare parts, grease, and some C4. Fittingly, the AKMs were Chinese produced.
"I certainly hope so, because I have a date for you."
Comrade Ramesh looked up at Jadeite from the bags.
"Are you certain? If we do this…?"
"I am well aware of the risks. It will be December 17th, at 0400hrs, two months and eleven days from now. You have the maps, and the plans."
A huge smile appeared on Ramesh's face. "But why on the 17th of December? Is there something important on that date?"
Jadeite smiled back in return. "The attack is actually on the 16th, but for timing reasons, it is the 17th here. But going back to your question, the big one that I can think of for you is the end of the Bangladeshi War of Independence. But in the West, it concedes with the beginning of the Battle of the Bulge in WWII. This is of course, when America is awake, and Asia is asleep. "
Comrade Ramesh was very ecstatic now. There was nothing holding them back…well, the police, the CISF, the military...but he had been evading them for years now. What was a few extra months?
"Thank you Comrade Jadeite. We will show you the weakness of the West and their puppets in the Indian military and government. Only then will the veil of consumerism and oppression will be lifted from the people's eyes, and they will begin to reap the benefits of Chairman Mao and his vision for the oppressed."
Oh what you don't know about Chairman Mao, Jadeite thought. Let's see; Autocrat who ruled with an iron fist? Check. Killed Hundreds of Millions of his own people? Check. Set back the Chinese Economy by decades? Check. Paranoid? Check, and Check. Hey, I'm not saying I don't dislike the guy, but if you want to dominate the world, do it right.
"Would you like to stay for tea?" No meeting could go without tea, especially in India.
"Ah…yes." Jadeite would have liked to have left, but it would have been rude and very detrimental to his mission if he refused. So he sat down, on the ground while he waited for one of the women in the house to make some tea.
"Comrade, I would like to go over some of the details again," Ramesh asked.
Jadeite looked around the room. Several men and women stood around, staring back.
"They're with me," Ramesh prompted.
Jadeite knew that, but still, he had to be extra careful.
"Well, I'll point it out on the map to you." Ramesh asked one of the men to bring a map of Bangalore out.
"This is where I want you to attack." Jadeite circled the areas around Shivajinagar, a district within Bangalore; "I want you to attack Safina Plaza, the Army Grounds and the Parade Grounds nearby. Once you're finished, move over to Brigade Street and make your escape from there."
"Is that all? What about the Metro system?" Ramesh had seen more and more of the light rail system go up during his time here, and it seemed like an enterprising target.
"There are other teams," Jadeite said hesitatingly. "This mission will be very large. But I must keep the other teams separate from each other, because if the police find out."
Although Ramesh was upset that Jadeite had not told him about the others, he completely understood the need for security in conducting an operation of this size. Even the small area of operations that he would be attacking took a considerable amount of time and effort to plan, gather supplies, and then finally execute, let alone a whole citywide operation.
"How many teams are there?" It was a question that Ramesh had to ask.
Jadeite sighed. "There are about twenty others, all assigned to attack different targets in the city. Some on the outskirts, some attacking tech parks, the Metro system, like you mentioned before, etc."
"Who are in these other teams?" Ramesh persisted. He was putting his life on the line here, and he had at least the right to know who was making up this large operation.
"Comrade Ramesh…"
"I'm sorry, but I must know? Are they like me and my kin?"
Jadeite just had to open his mouth and spill the beans, but there was no going back now.
"Some are like you, yes. Others…well, I had to recruit some others."
"Like…?"
"LTTE."
The Liberation Tamil Tigers Eelam was a terrorist group that had operated in Sri Lanka, fighting against the Sinhalese (Buddhist) majority that had oppressed the Tamil (Hindu) minority for years. They were among one of the first groups to use suicide bombers, and had defacto control over a huge chunk of Sri Lanka until the army got its shit together and defeated them in 2009. But some of the former members fought on, and Jadeite couldn't pass up that opportunity to recruit hardened and experienced troopers who hated the Indian government for interfering in Sri Lanka in 1987.
"Oh for…" Comrade Ramesh threw up his hands, nearly knocking the woman bringing them chai over.
"Sorry." She served them tea and then retreated into the background.
"Why are you getting those bastards into this?" Ramesh interrogated.
"Look, we need everyone I can get my hands on," Jadeite replied. "If they used to be LTTE, fine. Ex-Naxalite? Fine. Disaffected RAW agents? Yeah, them too." (RAW is the Research and Analysis Wing, the Indian intelligence service).
Ramesh sipped on some tea. As committed to his Maoist ideology as he was, he recognized the pragmatism that Jadeite exhibited.
"Alright Jadeite. I see your point. If I was in your position, I would probably do the same."
"Besides," Jadeite added. "It's the Indian government you want to bring down, not the others that want the same goal."
"The enemy of my enemy," Ramesh began.
"Is my friend," Jadeite concluded.
Jadeite left an hour later, satisfied that the mission was progressing smoothly. He left the small, concrete house, with the occupants looking at him as he walked down the street toward his car and driver, who had been faithfully waiting there.
"Take me back to my hotel," he commanded to his driver.
"Yes, boss."
The drive back again, was traffic filled and tiring. Jadeite didn't understand how sitting in a back of a car could tire him out. It was like something was sucking the energy right out of him or…something like that. Maybe one of those New Age-y religions would have an explanation for that.
His phone rang, again.
"Beryl. Great." He picked it up. "Hi Beryl."
"Jadeite? Jadeite, can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I can hear you."
"Hold on, I can't…there we go, that's much better." Overseas phone calls were difficult in India, even with the rapid infrastructure that had been built up over the last couple of years.
"What's going Beryl?"
"Well, we have a problem."
Jadeite put a hand on his forehead. This problem would more than likely entail him to stay in the country for a couple more days. "What's the problem?"
"Somebody from the CSR desk in India sent an email to a congress member we've been spying on in the United States, informing them of our operations. This congress member has also been…giving us some trouble. Poking around, asking questions and stuff. I've got Nephrite handling that situation over there right now, but you're going to have to deal with the problem."
"Why can't the SAILOR team deal with it?"
"Oh, that's a great idea," Beryl replied facetiously. "I'm going to pull off a team that's falling apart right now and put them back on a mission."
"I told you that they weren't up for the job," Jadeite retorted.
"It's just a couple glitches in the program, nothing to worry about," Beryl said. "They're stressed, it was their first month out, and they killed a lot of people. So give them a bit of time."
"Beryl, you're not becoming soft, are you? Sounds like you're having an attachment to that team." Jadeite really liked to press her buttons sometimes.
"Please. I'm just stating the obvious and what Dr. Kobayashi reports to the PM. So, stop worrying about me and find this person who sent the email. Don't kill them though, just…find out who it is and make them stop. Fly back to Japan after you have done so."
"Okay Beryl, I'm moving, thanks."
He hung up the phone and wondered why she didn't want him to kill the particular person. People died in India all the time and nobody noticed, so why not now? Oh well. He would deal with that problem tomorrow.
Sudhir was really sleepy after a long day at work. More calls, more idiot customers, more of everything. D.D had been acting strange after that Jadeite guy came by and complemented him for his work. He seemed afraid of Sudhir, and piled on the work after the inspection. The auto rickshaw ride home to his apartment in Kanaka Nagar. The traffic nearby was so busy at times, and it kept him up at night but that was the price one had to pay.
"Hey, boss, that's enough," he said to the auto rickshaw driver. He was almost at his apartment block. But the rickshaw driver kept going.
"Uh…I want to get off here," Sudhir protested.
Quickly, the driver sped into a dark alley and hopped out, leaving Sudhir there wondering what the hell was going on. He got out of the rickshaw…and was clobbered on the head.
"Ow…" But the beating didn't stop there; legs, arms, sticks all beat on his body for a good thirty seconds before they stopped. He was in a lot of pain when they did so; he couldn't even move his body.
"Hello there."
A familiar voice came from above him. Sudhir could barely look up and see the face of Jadeite, looking down at him with several hired goons.
"Mr…Sudhir…Reddy, I believe. I heard from someone that you sent an email to somebody in America."
"What…what are you talking about?" Sudhir tried to deny it, but he knew that he was caught.
"Don't be coy with me," Jadeite said. "I know that you sent that email to that Representative in America, and Ms. Mercy Abraham was all too willing to give up that information."
Sudhir choked on that last one. "You…you better not have done anything to her."
"We didn't," Jadeite replied. "I'm not that much of a monster. So anyway, I've been left a little conundrum. Part of me wants to kill you, but you've been such a great asset to this company and so, I have a piece of advice to you."
He leaned in close to him.
"Stay out of politics and drop the good guy act. This world already has enough of those, and well, you know how they end up."
Sudhir didn't want to respond to that, but he forced himself to.
"And what if I don't 'drop' the good guy act? What's to keep you from spying on ordinary people and invading privacy?"
"Oh, that's the least of my concerns right now," Jadeite replied. "I'm only dealing with this problem you've created right now. So, be a good boy, and cut that shit out."
There really wasn't much Sudhir could do about that.
"Well, I'm glad that we could reach some sort of agreement." Jadeite took out a ten rupee note and placed it by Sudhir's head. "Take another rickshaw home."
He started to leave, but then turned around and whispered one last time to him.
"I ever hear about you contacting foreign agencies about our overseas operations, I will not hesitate to kill you next time."
With that, Jadeite left, dismissing his hired goons and getting back into his chartered car.
"Beryl," he said, talking on his phone. "I got the guy. He's not going to be doing any of that superhero stuff anymore."
"Very good Jadeite. I knew I could count on you."
"Beryl," Jadeite hesitated. "Why didn't you want me to kill him?"
"Because," Beryl replied. "There was no reason to. We took care of the problem in the US with no incident. There shouldn't be an incident here. Besides, you'll have you chance later on."
"I see." Jadeite didn't, but again, Beryl was a strategic thinker. Not killing someone today might leave open opportunities for other plans…considering if they didn't change their minds along the way, which humans had a bad habit of doing.
"Get back to Japan ASAP," she commanded. "I'm going to have a meeting here of all the company heads."
"Everyone?" Jadeite was a little surprised, but this was to be expected. The big event was coming up soon, and everyone needed to be on the same page, in the same room. Teleconferencing left too many things to chance.
"Yes, everyone. Nephrite, Zoisite, Kunzite, the whole lot. We're going to have a nice chat about upcoming events."
"Of course, Beryl."
"By the way, is everything going well with your…special plans in Bangalore? The ones we talked about?"
"Yes, everyone is in place. I've informed all of them in person or by SMS, and they are fully equipped and briefed."
"That's very good to hear. Zoisite is moving a bit slower than I would have liked, but he's always been like that. Plus, the British are a bit paranoid, and that makes setting up things there problematic."
"Uh-huh."
"Well, glad to hear that everything is working out on your end. See you here."
Beryl hung up, leaving Jadeite with a sense that things, despite the setbacks and problems, were finally falling into place.
At long last, they could begin on the road to their destiny.