Nervous members

Another bout of silence.

None of the council members spoke. Ayaan sighed and shook his head.

"The guidelines of the special team and the council clearly state that when a special team is accused of something by the council members and they are not convicted of it, the special team has the right to know of the accusers and the reasons behind it.

I would like to invoke that right."

"Rear Admiral, is this necessary? I mean, the misunderstanding has cleared up. There is no need to…."

The judge spoke once again. But before he could finish his words, Ayaan stood up and walked close to the table.

"Sorry, Judge. You were one of the founding members of this council and you should know why it was created along with the special teams.

All six of you are people of great importance. Even an hour of your time at night is way too important to space.

So is the time of the special teams and their leaders.

You need to pay a price for doing that. And on top of that, as I said, the information that you guys mentioned was only available to two entities. One is my internal team and the other is the perpetrators.

You either got the information from my team members, which means you overstepped your bounds or you got it from the perpetrators, which means you have already crossed the line.

I need that answer right now."

They didn't speak. They all stayed silent. But Ayaan didn't press them any further. He just had a smirk on his face. He turned around and left.

On his way out, he called Raj.

"Check the records, find out who convened the council hearing." Ayaan didn't lower his tone. All six council members heard his words.

And that's what pissed them off.

Because Ayaan had all the privileges to check in on the information. He didn't need to ask them. He just threw it in their face, to let them know that they are under his radar now and they couldn't do shit about this.

All six of them had some kind of misgivings with the way Ayaan behaved. But three faces had become darker than the rest.

"Who does he fucking think he is? Doing whatever the fuck he wants. I knew this special team is just bullshit. These guys are acting like they are fucking gods with no regard to human life."

The Home minister cursed as he loosened his tie and stood up. Throughout the conversation, he couldn't even breathe freely or move an inch. That chair felt suffocating and he couldn't sit on it anymore.

"Don't yap your tongue minister. The crime rate which is your concern has reduced significantly since the establishment of the special teams. They are cleaning up our enemies internally and externally, far better than any other measure that we have taken before.

Give them some credit."

The director of national intelligence, who was silent throughout the council hearing picked up her laptop and started packing, getting ready to leave.

"So, what if they did their fucking jobs. Can they just go around and kill people as they please? He killed an IGP, his son, the son of a minister, and the son of the third-highest tax payer in Nandhra state.

If they committed the crime then make them pay according to the law. What right did he have…"

The Director didn't say anything and left, and so did the minister of foreign affairs. The Home Minister felt frustrated because of their lack of attention and turned around.

Chief of the Staff looked at the remaining three. The Head of the Department of Defense, the Judge, and the Home Minister before he spoke.

"Gentlemen, do you know one thing that makes the most soldiers angry in the troops? Not a fit of individualistic anger, but collective anger, something that brings even the bitter rivals among the troops to feel for each other?"

He paused the remaining three looked at him in confusion, not knowing what he was getting at.

"It's when the safety of their families is compromised. Since the time when I was on the frontlines, whenever we got the news that one of the soldiers' families was having trouble because some government employee was not giving them the benefits they deserved, or when some local goon who got high on some cheap liquor tried to harass the wife or sister of a soldier who was risking his life here, or when the father of a dead soldier finds himself in a predicament of having his pension stolen by a corrupt officer..

These incidents… they make their blood boil.

And when this news comes out, all their patriotic ambitions and sacrifices will seem like they are in vain.

What is the point of asking the soldiers to sacrifice their lives for a country that doesn't even guarantee the basic rights of their family members?"

The judge and the head of DOD stayed silent.

The minister on the other hand..

"What are you getting at Chief?"

The chief chuckled.

"Why did I even bother….

Minister, the special teams deal with crimes and situations that you couldn't even imagine. Ayaan Rakshit, the one you were so frustrated about, had stopped eighteen terror attacks directed at us before they could reach the Bhavaran land.

He made enemies with the people that will make you shit your pants if you were in the same room with them.

The least you could guarantee is that his sister won't get raped by some lumps of vermin.

It is our responsibility and when we fail, he should at least have the right to get justice. We already agreed upon this.

I know you don't care about this stuff. But the least you could do is not ruffle his feathers about things like this."

He left.

The remaining three exchanged a glance. They didn't speak anymore and went their separate ways. However, they all had some things in common. Their hearts raced and they were sweating, they ground their teeth and fiddled with their fingers.