The Black Flames

Chapter 7 - The Target

Kiara was feeling rather sleepy after a good sobbing session once Dan left. Her eyes had just drooped when a sudden sound jolted her back. She pushed her head to the side to peep who it was.

Ved was standing on her door, with one hand leaning on the door frame. He had returned with a big white bag that looked heavy and two water bottles in hand.

Kiara straightened herself in the wheelchair. She hated crying in front of anyone and always saved a sobbing session for her time alone. She definitely was not going to let Ved know she was weeping till a few moments ago.

"You're back," Kiara remarked.

As if he had got the permission to enter, Ved stepped in.

"I am sorry. Did I wake you?" he asked.

"No, no, I just shut my eyes for a moment," she looked away and lied. She shoved her grief deep within and put up a blank face instead. She had had ample practice over the years. No one could tell when she was shattered inside.

But she felt Ved's eyes on her. As if he saw through her lie.

"So, what did you get in that white bag?" Kiara changed the topic.

He lowered the bag onto the couch, took a deep breath, and opened it. There was no zip, so his hands just dived right in and pulled out an unopened pack of white bread.

"Just something to eat. I thought you may be hungry." He replied, lifting the bread in his hand and looking at her.

Food was the last thing on her mind. But he was not wrong. She was going to prepare a meal when the plane had crashed. She nodded, and Ved pulled out butter, two plates, a bottle of mixed fruit jam, a pack of cheese slices, and some cutlery.

"That's a lot of stuff. You planning to stay here for the rest of the day?" Kiara joked but immediately regretted her statement. She knew she needed to doze off for a while or lose her social skills temporarily.

Ved paused, pulling stuff out of his bag for a moment, and then, without looking at her, asked.

"Will that be a problem?"

She turned around and thought before replying, "No... I wo..uld like that. Thank you." She wanted to quell his hesitation. Or maybe put it out there so she isn't left alone for now.

Kiara was deep in thought when Ved looked at her and gave a reassuring smile that said it was okay.

I guess he can see I don't want to be alone. Not now. She thought.

"So, I got everything since I didn't know what you like. What do you want on your bread?" he asked.

"Just butter is fine, thank you," she responded, swivelling her wheelchair towards the couch.

Ved took out two slices of bread and pulled open the pack of butter. He picked a knife from the cutleries he had managed to forage and started covering each slice with a thick layer of butter.

"Ummm...a little butter is fine with me," Kiara retorted, stifling a grin.

"Ohh... sorry about that. I often presume everybody likes a heavy layer of butter on the bread, like me," Ved scrapped some off and put the knife on his plate.

He handed the plate to Kiara, and she put it on her lap. He put together two slices with a thick layer of butter and jam in between and sat down on the couch. They nibbled for a while silently. Then, Kiara picked the question Dan had responded to before leaving.

"Ummm...Ved, do you think this plane crash was planned?"

Ved paused abruptly, sandwich hanging in front of his half open mouth. He took a bite, stood up, and walked to the door. Looking over to the crashed remains, he gulped down and turned around.

"Yes, I do."

It was Kiara's turn to pause eating, "What makes you so sure?"

He turned around and walked towards her,

"Well, for one, the pilot is missing. That looks like a deliberate escape...as if he wanted the plane to crash," he came to the couch and sat down again.

"Second, there is a level of secrecy around the box we found. There were two scientists inside. It just reeks of a conspiracy," he gulped down the final bite of his sandwich.

"But..." Ved interrupted the silence. Kiara turned to him again, "I don't understand one thing. What was inside the box? I mean, were the scientists the target or that box? If the person behind all this was trying to get rid of the box, didn't he or she know it was made to survive a crash?"

"Well, I can tell you what was inside the box. I opened it for Officer Dan," Kiara confessed.

Ved gawked at her blankly, "So, you managed to open it?" emphasising on 'you.'

"Yes. It.." Kiara stifled the words was my father's box. She needed more time to trust Ved with this confidential information.

"...took a while, but I managed. There were some glass tubes inside with some liquid."

"Did it say what it was?" Ved asked.

"No, there were no labels. But the tubes were kept in a cold container. There was some cold gas inside." Kiara revealed.

"Hmmm...any idea what the liquid could be for? I mean, you are familiar with PrismCare's work, right?"

"Only that they hired a bunch of scientists to do stuff for them. The only thing my father told me was that he was creating something to save a lot of lives. That was eighteen years ago."

"So, is it possible he may have continued with it all this while?"

"I don't know. As far as I know, he left PrismCare twelve years ago. I don't know how he ended up back with their box and staff. But you are right; there is a possibility he could have picked up the same research. He was their star scientist at one point in time, you know. He was working on some medical treatment then."

Ved just nodded and went back to being silent. He knew talking about her father was a sensitive topic. They just sat in silence until Ved sat up and said, "I'll just go and check if they found anything else in the plane," and walked out the door.

Kiara was left with her thoughts. But sleep interrupted, and she dozed off.

A series of noises woke her up. There was some shouting outside. She heard Officer Dan's voice and came out to check.

Dan was just a few meters away from her door and talking to Pritam. He put his right fist on his waist and held his forehead in his left hand.

"And when did you realise this?" even from a distance, Kiara saw rage at its peak in his eyes.

"Just now, sir.." Pritam looked scared.

Dan stepped closer, boring his white hot gaze into Pritam's face, "Then you better get going, Pritam. I want that box back at any cost."