Chapter 3

The Expedition

An hour before dawn Badri, Ammu and Ponnu sat behind a thick hedge watching the road on the other side of the fence for the patrol to pass. Badri worked his tongue along his lips. His mouth was dry as much from excitement as from fear. Presently the patrol appeared in the distance. A turbaned N.C.O. shining a powerful torch led the team. Behind him came two soldiers, and behind him a German shepherd and its handler. The dog was sniffing the road for intruders. There was no knowing when and from what direction the next patrol would appear. It might be half an hour, or it might be just three minutes or even less for the patrol teams sometimes did an about turn to return in the direction they came from.

Badri and the boy set up a portable ladder as soon as the patrol rounded the corner. Badri and the girl were over it in seconds. The boy removed the ladder as Badri and Ammu crossed the road walking backwards, dragging a dead bandicoot over their footmarks. They crossed the road and entered the stream and were soon knee deep in the water. Badri twirled the bandicoot tied at the neck with jute string and let go. He was lucky. The dead animal went over the fence and the Ponnu collected it. He in turn dragged the animal a long distance, put it in a plastic bag, and cycled away.

Luck was with Badri and Ammu; the next patrol came after forty minutes, an exceptionally long interval. The dog stopped when it came to the point where Badri and Ammu had crossed the clearing. It led them to the stream and then back to the fence. The N.C.O. opened a gate in the fence and the dog and its handler followed. There were no footprints close to the fence for Badri had chosen rocky ground. The NCO and the dog with its handler followed the trail till the dog lost the scent. The N.C.O. found footprints and cycle tread marks at the point where the scent ceased. He examined them with proper gravity, and then he measured them. He retraced his step and found another footprint closer to the fence. He measured that also. He then spoke into his walkie-talkie. They waited. Within twenty minutes a lorry came and disgorged two dog teams. The teams swiftly went to the stream, one on each of the banks. At an order from their leader the teams started off, the excited dogs dragging the handlers with them. At that moment a siren sounded. The manhunt was on. Badri and Ammu were an hour and ten minutes ahead.

Badri and Ammu were making good progress. The only bother was the immense amount of splashing noise they were making. They saw plenty of birds along that stream, especially the pied kingfisher. This was a good sign. The pied kingfishers lived on fish alone. If kingfishers are present in large numbers then it means that the river’s stock of fish was untainted with radioactivity. Presently Ammu thought she heard sounds up the stream. They stopped and listened. The wind shifted and they heard the dogs—the unmistakable high-pitched yapping noises dogs make when following a scent. A crisis was upon them.

They had to get away from the stream in a hurry. A hundred metres from where they were standing a large branch of a rain tree was overhanging the stream. They advanced up to this as quickly and silently as possible. Badri, who had a wide experience of action movies, was prepared for this emergency. He unpacked a grappling hook of the type villagers use to drag buckets that fall into wells. He had tied a thick rope to it and had knotted it at regular interval to enable hand and foot hold. He twirled it and swung it up. Assiduous training in throwing the hook paid off. He got a firm hold in his very first try. Ammu shinned up. Badri followed. Badri released the hook and wound up the rope. They climbed higher up into different branches and hid behind the leaves. They had hardly settled down when they sighted the patrol teams as they came round a bend.

The handlers were in the water allowing the dogs to sniff the water edge. From time to time they loosened the dogs to allow them to work through the undergrowth. Pretty thorough thought Badri. His hope of escaping detection was ebbing fast. He compressed himself further into a foetal position and breathed in small gasps. His hopes took another dip when the handlers came to a low overhanging branch. One of them lifted the smaller of the dogs to allow it to have a sniff at the branch. Badri thanked their luck that their branch was too high for the dogs to sniff.

They were now directly under the tree. The N.C.O. came up to a clearing and examined the tree with intensity. Badri was not looking at him. He had read somewhere that mere glance generated telepathic waves. He turned towards Ammu. There was no possibility of telepathic or any other type of waves emanating from her. She was invisible to Badri even though he knew where she was hiding. After what appeared an eternity the teams moved on.

Badri and Ammu did not move a muscle for well over half and hour. They were not safe as yet. Any shift in the wind can take their scent to the dogs. A group of egrets rose from the swamp just beyond and fluttered away disturbed by the men and dogs. From then on Badri and Ammu were able to keep tract of the progress of the teams by the flight of the egrets. The posture was telling on Badri. He had to make slight changes in position to ease the pressure on parts of his body. Parties of ants were roving over him and occasionally giving a nip or two. Badri was now able to make out the outline of Ammu in the thick foliage. Ammu's posture, her slender form, and her round, almost circular eyes combined to give the appearance of a Slow Loris. If he were to tell her that she reminded him of that ugly prosimian she might be very annoyed indeed, thought Badri. This brought a smile to his face. Ammu saw that smile and smiled in return. That smile as smiles go was not extraordinary by any means, but it somehow sent Badri's heart into a flutter. It was an entirely new sensation. He did not have time to savour it for brisk drizzle started. To add to the discomfort a swirling wind blew chilling them to the bone.

It drizzled for an hour, and then it became a tropical downpour. This was good; rain will wash away their scents. Badri signalled Ammu to get off the tree. This she did with monkey like agility, much to Badri's silent admiration. Badri let himself down much less elegantly. The ground was quite rocky and it was not difficult to avoid making footprints though it involved some jumping about. Provided they do not actually collide with one of the patrols they were safe. They made good progress. Presently they came to a deserted village. In the classrooms of the village school they dried themselves, and after a meal of peanut candy washed down with cold coffee, they were on their way. The rain continued unabated, but it did not bother them one bit. With light plastic overcoats for protection they walked without rest for ten miles.

The rain had now reduced to faint drizzle. Badri and Ammu rested under large cattle shed roofed with corrugated iron sheets. Apart from birds the only animal they saw was a solitary dog. It had the mournful look of a dog that has lost its master. Most of the dogs had followed their masters to the camps where they were a problem. It was to Badri's advantage that dogs had gone. Pet dogs left behind in deserted islands go wild and form hunting packs. They rested for half and hour and then did another five miles. The Blue Rock was still not visible, but Badri who had a compass was sure that his navigation was sound. They came to a grove of banyan trees, and here for the first time they saw the effects of radiation on living things. It must once have been a magnificent grove, a picnic spot possibly. There were no less than six very large banyan trees. Four of these were dead. Not only were they bare of leaves, but also the wood itself was drying out. The two remaining trees did not seem affected in any way. Close by they saw several palmyra palms that were leafless poles. No palmyra seems to have escaped the ravages of radiation. Badri opened his water bottle and poured it down his throat. There was a thoughtful look in his eyes. He wished, as many have done before him, that like flood and fire nuclear radiation was more open about its business. Badri took photos to show the effects of the radiation.

They climbed up to the broad first crotch of each of the live banyans and settled for the night. When Badri woke up he found Ammu dressed up and ready for the hike. The sky was clear with promise of a blazing sun to harass them. Badri and Ammu were on the point of leaving the protection of the Banyan grove when they heard the clakaty-clack of a helicopter. They had just time to throw themselves under a thick hedge when the machine was over them. They escaped capture by the narrowest of margins. The helicopter made several passes; each run cut swaths 500 metres across. It was clear that the helicopter had not spotted them. They went back to the crotch stayed there till they heard no noise of the helicopter. Badri swelled with pride. He had managed to stretch the army beyond its capacity. It had been forced to requisition help from the nearby air force station.

They waited for an hour. The helicopter had long since left. Very cautiously, with ears tuned for faintest sound, they left the safety of the banyan trees. They travelled under the protection of trees or thick hedges. When that was not possible they swiftly dashed across clearings. As they came closer to the reactor they hardly had any cover for most trees were dead stumps. But luckily for them there was no further aerial reconnaissance. This went on for six hours with but one break for refreshments. They were now close to the Blue Rock. Another hour and they were at the foot of the rock. They had just to get round the rock to clear and the mystery of the strange light. Badri, the planner, was however not too happy with the way he had done the staff work. What if those on the other side had been men who just stayed on? Men living by themselves for long periods are sure to be sex starved and may get ideas when they see a girl with little protection. Badri though unarmed was physically powerful but even he may not be a match for even two frenzied men. Shoddy planning, he was forced to admit. He should have brought at least a knife with him for defence. Badri decided he must first reconnoitre before confronting whomever it was who was there. Before that they needed some rest. There was still three hours of daylight; they decided to have a nap in a hidden shady place near the rocks. Removing his sneakers, Badri lay down with his feet in a pool of water. He was asleep almost immediately.

When Badri awoke the evening sun was shining on his face. As his eyes got their focus he saw a man seated on a rock across the pool just 10 feet from him. It took him a few seconds to register the fact, and then got up hurriedly.

“Don’t fear,” said the man with toothy smile, “welcome to Blue Rock.”