Hello, Mr. Major General (1)

Chapter 139- Worried For Him

“Let’s go.” Kartik escorted Shehnaaz out the courtroom doors and into the parking lot.

Kartik was puzzled by the worried expression on Shehnaaz’s face. “I told you, don’t worry. Those tapes represent the final weapon in their arsenal. They have no further cards to play.”

“It’s not my case I’m worried about,” Shehnaaz said truthfully.

“What are you worried about, then?”
Kartik was even more perplexed.

“I’m worried about what Shruti is hiding—what if it’s something she can use against the India?” said Shehnaaz uneasily. In truth, she was worried for Sidharth.

Shehnaaz knew that Sidharth
considered it his duty to safeguard the interests of the India. It was his number one obligation as a soldier: he was devoted to his mission, and would willingly lay down his life for it.

Kartik put a hand in his pocket and stared at her in silence. After a moment, he gave a sudden snort and murmured, “…You actually love that country? That’s surprising…”

Shehnaaz had been too absorbed in her own thoughts to catch what Kartik had said. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I said, I didn’t think you were the patriotic type.” There was a hint of ridicule in Kartik’s voice. His eyes flashed enigmatically, a reservoir of inscrutable emotion.

Shehnaaz did not like Kartik’s tone. “So what if I’m patriotic? I’m a citizen of the India. Why shouldn’t I love my country?”

Kartik saw her displeasure and was about to say something, but changed his mind at the last second. He tousled her hair and forced a smile,
suppressing the cold, contemptuous expression that was threatening to show on his face. “Well, whatever makes you happy.”

Kartik gave a small, expressionless nod to Deepak before getting into his own car.

Shehnaaz frowned as she watched Kartik leave in his car. She followed Deepak to Kartik’s yellow Hummer; they would be traveling in it for the time being, as a safety precaution.

Once she was back in her apartment, Shehnaaz entered Deepak’s room and repeated to him, in a hushed voice, her conversation with Kartik. “Brother Deepak, what do you think? Does Shruti still have something she can use as leverage?”

Deepak’s brow furrowed. He shook his head and said, “I didn’t hear anything about that while I was in the India. Still, we better tell Mr. Shukla about this, ASAP—we’ll have to act quickly if we missed something.”

Shruti’s father had already been dismissed from his post. On top of that, the foreign connections of all GSAT-7 System personnel had been thoroughly investigated and vetted a second time. There had been nothing out of the ordinary when Deepak left the India for America.

Had they overlooked something?

“Call him quickly, then…” Shehnaaz hesitated. “Can I… stay and watch?”

Warning bells rang in Deepak’s head; he knew it was a bad idea, and immediately refused her. “No, there may be sensitive information. You can’t listen in, you don’t have the security clearance for this.”

“Oh.” Shehnaaz was a little disappointed, but did not insist. She returned to her room without another word.

Deepak hurriedly contacted Sidharth.

It was exactly 11 o’clock at night, over in the India.

Sidharth was in his study, writing a report on improvements that could be made to the administration of the 6th Military Region.