These Colors Don't Run (Completed ✅)

Chapter two: JOKER

Monica: We were supposed to meet at the headquarters right?

Saurav: Yes, we were. And we will.

Monica: Then what are we doing here in this restaurant, right now?

Saurav: I wanted to tell you something important and I don’t think the headquarters is safe enough for that.

Monica was meeting Lieutenant Colonel Saurav Upadhay. He head a classified department of the army called JOCKER that investigated anti-national elements and also provided information for Intelligence. Monica headed a team that worked on field and her team was one of best in the department. Both of them were sitting in an almost empty restaurant on nearby seats facing opposite directions. Both had their headsets over their ears to make it looked like they were on phone and Monica had a cap that covered her head. The headsets were not fitted in to their ears as if it is, then they won’t be able to understand how loud they are speaking. They used a very low voice.

Monica: Our headquarters is the safest place that can ever be.

Saurav: Not anymore. Our department is compromised.

Monica: What do you mean? That’s impossible.

Saurav: Do you think I would ask you to cancel your leave and come here so that I can crack a joke?

Monica: What happened?

Saurav: Make sure that you don’t reply by raising your voice no matter whatever I am going to say now.

Monica: Okay.

Saurav: The man you caught, I mean your team caught before you went for leave right? Our officers were trying to interrogate him. As he had severe bullet wounds, we had to wait for two weeks for the interrogation. Our men tried to make him speak and they couldn’t.

Monica: But why?

Saurav: His tongue had been cut off. That too only a month or two ago.

Monica: A Sleeper.

Saurav: Yes.

Monica: So what else do we know?

Saurav: With the documents that you found, all we know is that he has something to do with the new allotment of IAA. That’s all we could extract.

Monica: Why would a sleeper be interested in IAA cadets? Why can’t we get an expert and study his actions?

Saurav: We can’t because he is dead. Someone poisoned him.

Monica: That is impossible. He was in our facility.

Saurav: That is why I said that we are compromised. There is no one else I can trust in our team other than you and I want you to carry out a mission for me.

Monica: What should I do?

Saurav: There are new batches of all forces joining IAA this week. They are now in Delhi and would leave to IAA tomorrow. I want you to join them, go by our special forces train along with them. You are an alumnus of IAA and it won’t be an issue if I send you there as a guest to interact with the cadets and to train them. It will be only for a month. You have to figure out what these sleepers are up to by then. We can’t let this mission be known by anyone. The trust in our establishment will go in to thin air if anyone comes to know that someone in the armed forces in involved with sleepers. I have already informed Brigadier Shah about your arrival and he is excited. I have also said about the impending security threat at IAA and he said that he would take care of it. You go and figure out about what the sleepers want with the IAA and till then I will find out who is selling us out in our own department. Figure out if anyone at IAA is associated with the sleepers.