Disappeared

The trio climbed out of the car and walked over the beach, towards the rocky cavern where Tanik had set up his research center. A feeling of dread overcame Ishar's nerves with each step. In a minute or so, they reached the camp, just when Tanik and Venkatesh came running towards them.

Panic was clearly etched on their face, and they stopped, slightly panting.

"He- I, he just…" Tanik started, "I don't know how, but he..."

Ishar looked at him curiously, and spoke in a soft tone, "Dude…just calm down. What happened?"

Venkatesh looked at Ishar. He could see guilt and fear dripping from his eyes. Venkatesh hesitated for a moment, but then said, "We…we are so sorry, Ishar. We were keeping an eye on that back-stabbing doctor, like you told us, but…"

Ishar furrowed his eyes.

"But what?"

Venkatesh took a deep breath. "I don't know why I am always the bringer of bad news, but five minutes ago, hardly just before you came here, Dr.Tanvir just…disappeared."

Ishar blinked once. Then twice.

"Disappeared? He just disappeared? What, did he just dissolve into thin air in front of your eyes?"

Tanik said, "We just went to check on the dimanium scans for a minute, and when we came back, he was gone. Literally gone! We have been searching everywhere, it's too bad this place doesn't have security cameras."

Ishar gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists, trying hard to not scream or yell. "How could you guys lose him? This is such an important matter, how could you have been so careless? I swear…" He took a deep breath, composing himself, "Fine. What's done, is done. Now, our priority is finding Dr. Tanvir, and doing our best to stop him in the scarce days we have left."

He looked at Naren, "You go there and search. Tanik, there is a good chance that Dr.Tanvir used a submarine to escape, so you scan the waters. Venkatesh, Mahendra-"

"Wait…", Venkatesh interrupted, "Who is Mahendra?"

Ishar sighed. "He is a person who descends from the Moriya seafarers. It's a really long story. It's best if you and Mahendra search together, you know, get to know each other. I have a feeling you will be really good friends."

Venkatesh and Mahendra nodded simultaneously, hiding their secret glee behind their eyes.

"What about you Ishar?" Naren asked.

Ishar sighed. "I will look over there, in the caverns. I promise, if I find him, I will let you guys know."

They nodded to each other in agreement, and set upon doing their tasks. There was nothing more important than finding that doctor, and saving the country.

If you had told Ishar, a few days ago, that Dr.Tanvir was the mastermind behind the evil plans involving aliens, he would never have believed it. In fact, Ishar would have even laughed, or ridiculed you.

But now, here Ishar was, searching for that 'sweet' man, the last person Ishar would have considered evil. Why Mahendra hadn't talked about General Aarush, or why the General had sided with Tanvir, Ishar had no idea.

All he could think of right now, was getting a hold of the doctor, and slapping some sense into him. 

Ishar noticed the caverns turning darker and darker. The sand below splintered into rocks, and the stony walls around held different earthen colors. If Ishar wasn't so busy finding a genocidal mastermind, he would've considered the place to be beautiful.

As Ishar turned on his flashlight, he heard a soft sound coming from a faraway, rocky diversion. He held his breath, walking as slowly as he could to the spot. There was absolutely nothing there. He looked to his left, and he looked to his right. All Ishar could see were rocks, more rocks, scratches on the walls, and more rocks.

Wait. Ishar directed his flashlight to a particular scratch on the wall. It was only after a minute that he noticed that it wasn't a scratch, but a logo. A very familiar logo. He had seen it before, but where??

Ishar racked his brain, scanning through memories. It didn't look like Mahendra's tattoo, nor Venkatesh's. It didn't look like the logos of various shopping companies either, nor like printed letters or-.

That was it! Ishar's eyes widened. He looked at the wall and grinned in triumph. 

The blueprint.