An Imperial Affliction

Chapter 37- fight an enemy

It's hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.

-Sally Kempton

IB is bad news.

Its one thing Agent Rahane had heard over the course of his career, in the whispers of outsiders, in the outright admission of his own colleagues and seniors. For outsiders, they evoke fear and dangerous situation. To his own department, they are bearer of bad news, called only when internal situation of country is out of control. Only second best to RAW, and that organization is another level altogether. Merciless and dark.

Until a few months ago, he would like to think his days and work in Agency was relatively simple. He had those usual liaison meetings with RAW, discussions with PR and media personnel about potential harmful news running all over print media and news channels, and of course, NSA levels where they were updated about regular infiltration from borders and their own success and failures overseas. It was all about meetings, keeping tabs on assets and suspects in office through his IT team and chosen group of junior field agents, and more meetings. Like many things, it changed when Haqqani came to picture, trying to portray himself as God and dictate their lives on their own soil, thinking he could get away from it. Capturing him, and the stonewalls they hit afterwards due to the alleged breach of contract by Central, then his interrogation threw him off his usual routines.

Deep down he knew it started way before Haqqani's God complex, but that's a thing for another day and too big to dive in in this current state of scenario.

Haqqani's confession threw them off the track. The man knew too much, but not enough for their liking. His confession only established firmly what they had suspected so long - Intelligence Service from across the border was dangerous for the diplomatic relation for both country, as well as for their own safety. Skeptics who always protested the baby steps to fix the relation between two countries and failed cheered at the discovery and pushed for stronger retaliation, people who were minority not too long ago now actually threatened to overpower both IB and RAW. It was a new thing, to hear how weak they were appearing to the globe and what extreme measures they should take to ensure the world that they are next super power, to take revenge from 'Enemy', to punish 'them', every time, and not for one or two minutes in a day as a part of heated argument about India's foreign policies. The changing atmosphere made Rahane squirm, while he supported the thirst for vengeance, having sworn on it over an ex-Agent's grave, he was not too keen on the idea of all -out war. He liked politics and quiet meetings better where they can have victory without the bloodbath.

Staring at the scattered papers all over his desk, he put his palms on the edge of it and leaned, closing his eyes as he wondered maybe he should also sign up on the blood bath list.

Because this was huge. So much more than any of them could ever imagine, sophisticated and different than they have ever encountered and expected from their neighbour. And yet, for all the things they knew, big pieces of the puzzle were still missing, thus not letting them understand what is the final product is.

This latest chunk of discovery started as innocent. After hanging up on the eccentric ACP last night, his mind started to wonder why on Earth her personal hacker guy would ever try to get into RAW database. He remembered that dark, cold basement, boxes and computers parts filling up every corner, the comics' posters on wall and empty canes of coke on floor. He remembered the man child with over grown beard and round foggy glasses, talking about government conspiracies and how his life was in danger, his paranoia about security and suspicion of Rahane being an Agent. He only visited him once, he didn't even know his name which was a grave mistake on his part, but nevertheless, he had to agree with what Riya said, the hacker guy was not someone who was interested in dangerous criminals who didn't make their names to official guilty list of state police. He liked better to get into banned websites, read hungrily assassination theories, not criminal profiles.