Neel Dervin and the Dark Angel (27 page)

He hesitated for one more second. But then he turned towards the road on the left.
Unconsciously, his body language changed, becoming that of a much more dangerous person.
Automatically, he started to walk in the more shadowy regions of the path as he moved
swiftly down the road.

* * *

Priyanka hurried down the well lit road, scanning the ground in front of her. Suddenly
she saw the little furry figure again several feet away. She broke into a run, hoping the kitten
would recognize her. But it was still frightened. The sound of a dog howling nearby seemed
to give it a fresh burst of energy. It raced down the road, disappearing into a side alley.
Priyanka followed as fast as she could, determined not to lose it again. The two wound
around several buildings, slipping steadily into the dark and poorly lit alleys. Finally, she
caught up with it, grabbing it by the scruff of its neck as it attempted to climb over a dustbin.

She stood there panting and held it close against her, feeling its body shiver and tremble.
And then she became aware of her surroundings. She was in a dark street behind a rundown
house. There were no lamp posts anywhere. The sky was covered with clouds which
completely hid the stars. Pitch black darkness surrounded her and she could not see two feet
in front of her. She took a few hesitant steps forward, hoping to spy out a road with some
lights. But then suddenly she heard coarse voices approaching in the gloom. She pressed
herself against the wall, reminded for a second of the kitten hiding under the bed.

The voices were coming closer. She could hear several men talking and arguing loudly
together, clearly drunk. They had not seen her and were passing by her hiding place when the
kitten, which had been struggling in Priyanka‟s grasp, started mewling again.

The voices stopped abruptly, and the men stared around the alley, trying to find the
source of the noise.

 

“Think there‟s a cat around here somewhere.” One of them said slowly, peering into the
darkness.

“Let‟s find it, I‟ll have some fun with it and my dog.” Another voice said, as rough and
surly as the one before, but sounding younger. There were a few teenagers among the older
set.

“Hey!” another man called out, who had been peering into the alleyway. “I think there‟s
someonehiding in here.”

 

The others gathered around the one who had spoken, trying to make out the vague shape
of Priyanka in the darkness.

 

“Looks like a kid.” One of them mumbled, squinting uncertainly.“You lost or
something?”

 

Priyanka finally found her voice. “I‟m from Mr. Malhotra‟s house on Kila Street.” she
said, trying to keep the fear out of her voice. “Please, could you-”

 

“What‟s that?” theman said irritably, cupping his ear and stepping closer. “Where are
you from, girlie?”

“One of those kids from those fancy houses
upfront, I suppose.” another man said
disdainfully before Priyanka could respond. “I‟m sick of those mutts, thinking they‟re better
than us. Lording it around in their fancy cars.” They had been to Mr. Malhotra‟s house to ask
for some free whisky in celebration of Diwali, and been turned away unceremoniously by the
head servant. None of them were feeling kindly towards the plutocratic class at the moment.

“Maybe we should give this one a message to bring back to them.”
the younger voice
from earlier suggested. The boy reached inside his pocket, bringing out a large and ugly
looking cracker. “Anyone got a match?”

Priyanka stood frozen in fear. They had her surrounded, and from the hoots of laughter
and appreciation she heard, they were all in favor of the idea. She opened her mouth to speak,
even while her mind remained frozen. She was rooted to the ground, her heart thudding
wildly.

Suddenly the man at the back slumped, falling over backwards without a word. He slid
away to reveal someone standing behind him. The men at the front seemed confused, staring
at the vague figure which had suddenly appeared at the back. One man gave a shout and
rushed towards him. The figure seemed to blur, moving past the fallen man. The man who
had tried to rush him also fell to the ground in a noiseless heap. The rest of the men scattered,
unnerved by the strange apparition, all except the one at the front, who stood frozen in place,
a cracker burning in his hand. The figure moved closer to him. The boy holding the cracker
panicked. He threw the cracker as hard as he could at Priyanka and turned to flee in the
opposite direction. Priyanka saw the firecracker come towards her, too fast to even think
about dodging.

But the figure was faster. Inches away from Priyanka‟s face, he caught the cracker in his
hand. It exploded with a loud bang, the hand shielding Priyanka‟s face from the flames, the
sudden explosion of bright light temporarily blinding her.

* * *

Neel stood in front of Priyanka, his mind racing. He had found her easily enough after
he had started after her on the road. Keeping a discrete distance, he had seen her run after the
kitten down a side alley. Priyanka had been too intent on the kitten to notice where she was
going. He had followed her deeper into the area, the feeble glow coming from behind the
overcast clouds being enough for him to track her, to watch as she finally caught the kitten,
and then got surrounded by the group of drunken men. He had intended to try to talk them
both out of the situation. But then he had seen one of them bring out the cracker bomb, and
had had to act quickly. His hand was still hurting horribly, but his skin carried no wound.

Now he stood in front of Priyanka while she tried to blink away the bright lights from
her eyes. He could not let her know it was Neel who had just taken down those two men, and
grabbed an exploding bomb in his hand. But on the other hand, they were in a part of the
colony they had never been in before, and she would have trouble finding her way back in the
dark. Neel was also aware that there were other groups of equally drunk and dangerous men
out celebrating in the area.

After deliberating for a few seconds, Neel stepped close to Priyanka, bringing his mouth
close to her ear.

 

“Are you okay?” he murmured, keeping his voice as low as possible.

 

Priyanka stiffened, her eyes closed. Slowly, she nodded.

 

“The kitten?” he murmured again, and again she nodded.

 

“Hold on to it tight.” he said. “And keep your eyes closed.”

Neel hoisted her off her feet, the kitten held tightly but awkwardly in her hands, and felt
completely ridiculous. He imagined that this was how Superman must feel, except that the
latter could actually fly.Resisting the urge to shout “Up, up and away!” he took a deep breath
to clear his head, and jumped.

They soared together high in the air, the cool wind swirling all around them. The kitten
had become completely quiet. They traveled on the rooftops of the houses, rarely touching
down on the road. Neel took a straight path back to Aryan‟s house, concentrating on keeping
the journey as smooth as possible for Priyanka‟s sake.

They landed in front of the house. Aryan had still not returned. Neel set Priyanka down
near the gate. A quick jump and he was gone.

Priyanka had kept her eyes shut ever since the stranger had told her to. Her mind was in
a whirl, not even beginning to comprehend what was happening around her. Suddenly she felt
a light shining on her face, and her legs touched solid ground. She opened her eyes. She was
back in front of Aryan‟s house alone, the kitten still held in her arms. She looked around her,
but there was no one else about. She leaned against the gate of Aryan‟s house, remembering
again the blurring speed of the figure in the alley, and the hand appearing in front of her and
stopping the bomb inches from her face. There had been a dream like quality to the whole
scene in the alley, and then the sensation of lightness while the figure was carrying her.

A few minutes later, Aryan came back down the opposite road, Prince right behind him.
He spotted Priyanka and headed towards her.

 

“Did you find it?” he called out. She nodded, and wordlessly gave the kitten to Aryan.
Just then, Neel came down the left road.

 

“I couldn‟t find it anywhere.” he called out to them.

 

“It‟s okay, Priyanka found it.” Aryan called back, showing him the kitten.

Neel joined them and bent over the kitten. It had stopped trying to escape, and simply
had its eyes closed, as if resigned to its fate. Neel felt sympathy for it. What with being
chased around by dogs and humans, having cracker bombs exploding all around it, and then
soaringthrough the air, it hadn‟t been an easy day for the kitten.

Neel turned to Priyanka, who was looking extremely dazed. For a second he hesitated,
wondering if she knew. “You okay?” he asked carefully.

 

Priyanka stared at him, and for a moment, Neel felt a stab of apprehension. But then she
nodded and turned away, staring at the gate, and he knew she hadn‟t recognized him.

 

“Let‟s get back in the house.” Aryan said, opening the gate. Neel followed, looking
questioningly at Priyanka. She came after them slowly, her eyes still unfocussed.

 

Neel turned his face away from her as he looked in front, hiding a grin.

 

* * *

The next day, Neel went to swan labs again. It was still not time to go forward with the
case on Mehta, so Arjun spent the day making sure Neel remembered everything. Neel went
through various circuits around the field, meditated with Arjun to practice control over his
senses, then sparred with Arjun, Negi and Premi. His three trainers had to leave early to scout
out the Phlicer complex and prepare for when Neel would have to go there, so Neel was let
off early from training. Neel was sufficiently familiar with the facility and the surrounding
area by now to make his way back home without Arjun. He strolled into the main control
room to find Divya on the giant computer.

“Hi, Divya.” Neel said, coming to stand beside her.

 

“Hello,Neel.” Divya said, looking up briefly at him before turning back to the screen.
“No training?”

 

“Arjun let me off early. He‟s gone to see the Phlicer Complex from up close with Negi
and Premi.” Neel leaned on the counter of the keyboard. “What are you doing?”

“Cataloguing all the information we have on the serum.” Divya said, her fingers flying
overthe keyboard. “There are so many aspects to look into. And it‟s a work in progress. Plus
I and Doctor Fahim are the only ones who know enough about the experiments to keep the
files in order.”

“Why don‟t you get some more people to help?” Neel asked.

 

“Trust issues.” Divya said. “This is the cornerstone of the project Alpha. Not to mention
it‟s the result of years of DoctorFahim‟s work. I‟m the only one he trusts to do this right.”

 

Therewas pride in Divya‟s voice as she said this. Neel nodded in appreciation. “So how
much of this stuff is about me?” he asked, gesturing to the screen.

“You have a whole section to yourself.” Divya said, smiling at him. “That‟s the section
that needs to be updated the most. Like you‟ve heard often enough by now, you‟re the first of
your kind.”

“So if this project is a success, there‟ll be otherslike me?” Neel asked.

 

“Yes, perhaps… if everything goes according to plan.” Divya said vaguely. “So did you
enjoy Diwali yesterday?”

 

Neel sensed that Divya was trying to change the subject and realized some things were
to be kept secret, even from him.

“Sure, we had a good time at Aryan‟s house. We found a kitten
-” Neel trailed off,
wondering how much to tell her. There was a strong chance that the people at Swan Labs,
especially the General, would disapprove greatly of what he had done. But he needed to get a
second opinion. He decided finally to tell her confide in her.

She
was looking at him questioningly. “Actually, a little incident happened yesterday.
We found a kitten under Aryan‟s bed and…” Neel told Divya about the night before. Finding
the kitten, going after it on the road. Following Priyanka, and what he had done to protect
her. He finished the story and stared at Divya apprehensively. There was a small frown on her
forehead, but she did not seem as angry as might be expected. He waited for her reaction,
perched awkwardly on the panel.

Divya sighed, leaning back in her chair and staring at Neel.“Do you have any idea what
General Bakshi would do to you if he found out whatyou‟ve done?” she asked.

 

“That‟s why I told you first.” Neel said, relieved she wasn‟t yelling at him. “But I was
careful, and nobody got hurt. Except maybe those drunk guys, and they deserved it!”

“That‟s not the point.” Divya said, shaking her head. “You were operating without your
mask, near someone who‟s known you for years and could have very easily recognized you.
Mehta‟s men are looking for any information they can get on the Alpha soldier, and you were
jumping around on rooftops right inside the colony where you live.”

“Oh.” Neel said slowly. When she put it that way... “But what else was I supposed to
do? I couldn‟t leave Priyanka there!”

“No, I understand that.” Divya said musingly. “You did what you had to do to save your
friend, and those men were probably too drunk to remember what happened, let alone grasp
it. Are you sure Priyanka didn‟t recognize you?”

“Definitely.” Neel said at once. “She had her eyes closed the whole time. It was too dark
for her to see my face anyway. And I only spoke to her once. She didn‟t know it was me
talking. I watched her after we went back to Aryan‟s house and she didn‟t do anything
suspicious.”

“Then we‟ll keep this little incident between us now.” Divya said, getting up to get a
drink of water. “I‟m fairly sure there wasn‟t any damage done. But don‟t make a habit of
doing thistype of thing outside your uniform.”

“Right.” Neel nodded quickly.

 

“So what happened to the kitten?” Divya asked.

 

“Priyanka took it home.” Neel said. “She said she‟ll take it to the vet today. It was in
pretty bad shape. And probably the animal shelter after that.”