Arith : The Undiscovered Planet
CHAPTER 11

Far away from the I. S. E. A, the C. S. R was holding astakeholder’s meeting. The head of the C. S. R , Mr Declan excused himself whenhis phone rang . They had been in the meeting for about five hours. The ‘new discovery' had been the topic of the day. Recently,the satellites for C. S. R , discovered a ‘strange planet' , that had humanbeings in it. This was a very important replaceing and it was kept a secret, sothat no other agency or institute would take their glory. The C. S. R wanted this to be awarded to them only.

Declan was so boredand tired, and felt very lucky when the call came. So he used the opportunityto leave the meeting ground , in order to answer his call. The number callinghim was a U.S number. He had very few friends in the U. S, so wasn’t reallyexpecting any call from there . He wasn’t the type to ignore strange numbers.Moving from the meeting ground to an inner room (he felt this call was confidential),he picked up.

“Yeah”?

“Hello, am I on to Mr Declan”? The caller asked.

“Yes, who is this”?

“Well, let’s just say that I have information you wouldlove”.

Declan who was already tired, wasn’t ready for anysuspenseful game. He loosened his tie impatiently . What a hectic day!

“Get on with it I haven’t the time”. He barked.

There was a deep breath intake on the other end. It seemedthe caller was about retorting but decided against it on the last minute andsaid instead:

“Its about Mr Kennedy of the I .S .E. A. The information Ihave about him would help you bring himdown”.

There was a pause.

“Do you want it or not”? The caller asked.

This time , the pause intensified.

Declan smiled slowly,anyone looking at him this moment, would deduce that this smile was an evilone. He had always wanted this day to come. The day he would send Kennedybehind bars for life ; the day he would get back at the man who killed hissister. This happened years back.

Declan and Kennedy had been best of friends , they trained togetheras astronaunts in the U. S . Declan andKennedy were then referred to as the 'twins'. This closeness grew to the extentKennedy started dating Declan's only sister , Laura . Declan was so happy thathis best friend and sister we’re seeingeach other. They continued as one family, always doing things together.

Then, Kennedy’s behavior changed. He started going to clubsand doing drugs. Declan seeing this , tried to change his friend but it wasfutile . Infact Kennedy had already forgotten about Declan and started hangingout with people like him. This really annoyed Declan and stopped Kennedy from seeing his sister. Hepractically had to lock up Laura to stop her from seeing him. He even had series of fights with Kennedy in his bid to stop the ‘unhealthy’relationship. But Laura was so deeply in love with Kennedy and therefore hadnone of it.

Their parents had to send her to London to start college. Sothey felt everything would be okay .Well , it won’t have been , if not that Laura died before she could go toLondon.

It happened that particular Friday, Declan thought, stillwith the phone in his clenched fingers. Laura had sneeked of the house. Hence,he and his parents couldn’t replace her. They called Kennedy’s home and were toldshe wasn’t there. Kennedy’s mum also said he wasn’t home. It occurred to Declanthat Kennedy and Laura were out together, but where?

He could no longer understand Kennedy’s movements. Well… shewould come back definitely and would have you take drastic actions . So … hewaited , his parents too. Why would Laura change ? She was always cool andrespectful . What had happened to their innocent Laura? It then became obviousto them that this Kennedy of a boy, had already influenced her. Well this wasthe dead end. So they waited for her return.

But that was the last time they saw her. Laura and Kennedywere involved in a car accident on their way back home. Kennedy survived whileLaura was unlucky. When Kennedy was found , he was very drunk. Why would he dothat, after the whole warnings from Declan and his parents . He knew he wasvery drunk and still drove?

Declan and his parents mourned their Laura and decided to dojustice on Kennedy. But Kennedy’s parents were very wealthy , they used theirinfluence and wealth to die down the matter. Thus the case was closed.

Declan was still holding the phone in his clenched fingersand the caller on the other end was breathing softly , waiting patiently forhim to come back. He closed his eyes andsaid softly :

“This is my time”.

“What was that” thecaller asked.

“Send me the information you have about him” Declan saidinstead.

“Okay”.

“It’s good you made this known to me , but how do you knowthat I would be interested”?

“Well… let’s say it was a hunch, but does it really matterhow I knew? As long as you’re interested , it’s okay right”?

“Damn right. Now another question for you. What is yourbenefit in bringing down Kennedy”?

“That’s my greatest wish right now . He did somethingunforgivable and you are the only one who can bring him to face justice. So wehave a common enemy , meaning we are friends , right”?

“I wouldn’t call you a friend , as I don’t know if youactually exist or not . But be it as it may , the enemy of my enemy is myfriend”.

“All good” the caller said.

And they fixed a day they would see. Declan smiledvictoriously . That snake! He thought, he was going to get the snake definitely.Well… that would be after the C. S. R's space exploration. He didn’t want to bedistracted when dealing with his enemy.